Silence From U.S. and Its Allies Allowed Iran to Get Seat on U.N. Women’s Rights Body

CNS News "Had one of the Western countries in the chamber – or any other ECOSOC member – protested, a secret ballot vote would have been called for, putting to the test Iran’s ability to win the required majority of at least 28 votes. But the U.S., Canada, Australia and 10 European countries raised no objection, and the meeting elected Iran “by acclamation.” "

States’ Rights (and Wrongs)

Jonah Goldberg  "Forget that when George W. Bush was in office, standing athwart the government was all the rage without conjuring any Confederate demons. Liberals talked about Blue State secession from "Jesusland" with condescending glee. The New York Times ran a love letter to the “states’ rights left” by contributor Jim Holt arguing that “states’ rights has not always been the intellectual property of reactionaries.” But forget all that. Consider that even now there are more than 30 so-called “sanctuary cities” that formally ban their own police from enforcing federal immigration laws or even cooperating with federal officers trying to enforce them. "

Obama's fatal flinch on immigration reform

Washington Post "Air Force One was about seven miles over Appalachia this week when President Obama dropped a bomb on his party. Senate Democrats had that very day circulated an immigration reform proposal, and the Associated Press, receiving a leaked copy, reported on the "draft legislation." But as Obama returned to Washington from Illinois Wednesday night, he walked back to the press cabin on the presidential aircraft and, in an impromptu Q&A, essentially declared immigration reform dead. He said "there may not be an appetite" for it. " Via Drudge.

Political Cartoons by Gary Varvel

http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/GaryVarvel/2010/04

Obama Justice Department Tells Court to Shield White House Visitor Logs from Full Disclosure and FOIA Law

Judicial Watch " "The Obama administration would undermine a key transparency law in order to keep White House visitor logs secret,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Only the Obama administration could offer to release pre-scrubbed White House visitor logs while withholding tens of thousands of other records and call it transparency. President Obama has violated his campaign promises of openness and transparency. We hope the court will do what it has done on previous occasions and uphold FOIA law.” "

The Coming Constitutional Debate

Imprimus  "Rights to abortion, contraception, homosexual behavior, and similar sexual privacy rights have already been imposed by judges detecting such rights in the Ninth Amendment. The problem is that, in the words of Justices Stewart and Black, this understanding of the amendment “turns somersaults with history” and renders the courts a “day-to-day constitutional convention.” "  Stephen Markman, Justice, Michigan Supreme Court

The Dust Bowl Congress created

Hot Air "For decades, the California’s Central Valley provided food to the nation and the world, and made California an agricultural powerhouse through wise water management. In weeks, the federal government brought it to an end after determining that the Delta smelt was more important than the thousands of people employed by Central Valley agriculture or the millions of people fed by it."  TW published a similar article and photo last December; the issue contunues.

Obama’s Appeal Is Lost on World Leaders

Max Boot "...But it’s far from clear that Obama’s global popularity is much of a boon for the U.S. insofar as he hasn’t been able to translate his celebrity status into policy results."

Those Crazy Iranians

Blackfive

""...On Iran, Clinton will say the administration is still open to engaging with Tehran but that it must meet international demands to prove its suspect nuclear program is peaceful as it claims and not a cover for developing atomic weapons. Short of that, the U.S. will continue to press for tough new U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran..."

Riiiiggghhhtttt...."

Democrats unveil immigration-reform proposal

Washington Post  "Senate Democrats officially unveiled a proposal to reform America's immigration system on Thursday, looking past the fact that no Republican has offered support for the effort and President Obama a day earlier played down the chances of legislation passing this year."   H/t toHeritage.

An Appetite for Real Immigration Reform

Heritage   "..Reid, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and their colleagues from the left introduced an immigration reform framework that on the surface is identical to the legislation America rejected in 2007. When you dig down, it may be worse. Of course, once introduced, President Obama issued a statement that his administration would take “an active role” toward ironing out the details. This confusing flip-flopping from the White House is indicative of how the administration has treated border security and immigration reform since taking office. "

Limbaugh to Arizona’s critics: The time for talk is over

Hot Air "Silly Rush, doesn’t he know that only The One is entitled to arbitrarily declare public debate over?"