“Very progressive” blogger changes stance on transgender bathroom issue – when it affects her

by Mike Opelka 

The controversy over people using restrooms that don’t match their biological sex has been raging for quite some time now. People against the change cite men who will take advantage to gain access to women’s restrooms. Those on the “pro” side respond by labeling people as bigots if you have reservations on the issue. Monday on “Pure Opelka,” Mike Opelka shared a story of a liberal mother and influential blogger whose position on transgender bathrooms changed dramatically when a burly man walked into the ladies’ room at Disneyland.

“Very progressive” blogger, Kristen Quintrall Lavin, of The Get Real Mom blog wrote an account of her experience in the ladies’ room at Disneyland. Lavin expressed her shock when a man, who was in no way transgendered, walked into the women’s restroom with no hesitation whatsoever.

“‘In walks a guy with a hairy chest and nine or ten size shoes, and looks like a guy, not even trying, she said. Doing absolutely nothing to make it look like he’s a woman and apparently that’s her litmus test — is how hard you try,” Opelka stated.

In her blog, Lavin recounted how it seemed to make no difference to the man that every woman in the restroom was openly staring at him in clear discomfort.

“‘There have to be guidelines, it can’t be just a feeling.’ Wow, the clouds have parted, the sunshine of truth is descending upon this liberal. ‘The gender debate needs to be addressed, and quickly’ says this mom,” said Opelka, reading from the blog. He went on to discuss how the blogger has come to the conclusion that being shamed into silence for fear of offending someone on this issue has gone too far.

“I’m looking around to see if it’s April 1st. This is a liberal who’s having an awakening, saying this notion that we’re shamed to silence because we might offend someone has gone too far. Thank you, lady!” Opelka concluded.

see more at http://www.theblaze.com/podcasts/very-progressive-blogger-changes-stance-on-transgender-bathroom-issue-when-it-affects-her/

Cartoons of the day

Mark Levin destroys Obama over allegations that he wiretapped Trump

by Chris Enloe 

During a lengthy appearance on “Fox and Friends” Sunday morning, conservative radio host Mark Levin explained why he thinks former President Barack Obama undoubtedly spied on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during last year’s presidential campaign.

Levin spent the first handful of minutes, nearly half the interview, laying out the evidence for why he believes Obama is guilty, including reading reports directly from mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post, McClatchy and the Guardian.

When Fox News host Pete Hegseth tried to move the segment along, Levin interrupted, “Hold on! Hold on! I need to make the case because the media seems to be confused about their own reporting!”

According to Levin, the evidence is clear.“The issue isn’t whether the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign or the transition or certain surrogates, the issue is the extent of it,” Levin explained.

“The evidence is overwhelming,” he went on to say.

The conservative radio host continued:

They were so aggressive, they waited four or five months, they go back in October, weeks before the general election, they narrow their request, all of the sudden we have leaks coming out on [Michael] Flynn. Then we have a “Oh horrible” meeting that took place between [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions and so forth. And I’m telling you as a former chief of staff to a United States attorney general in the [Ronald] Regan administration, these are police state tactics.

Now what did Barack Obama know? He knew everything I just read you apart from one or two articles. You wanna know how I know? It’s in the newspapers! It’s right there! So Barack Obama not only knew this, but he gets a daily intelligence briefing.

Later in the interview, Levin emphasized that the case he just previously laid out against the Obama administration wasn’t of his doing, but of the mainstream press — he just pieced it together.

Then he defended Trump.

“Donald Trump is the victim. His campaign is the victim. His transition team is the victim. His surrogates are the victims,” Levin explained. “These are police state tactics.”

“I’m telling you as a former chief of staff to attorney general, if this had been done to Barack Obama all hell would break lose,” he added. “And Barack Obama’s statement [on the wiretapping allegations] is just pathetic.”

Moving forward, to get to the bottom of these allegations, Levin suggested that the two FISA court warrant requests from the Obama administration need to be released, in addition to the daily presidential intelligence briefings from the past year being released to Congress.

“There ought to be public hearings on this stuff, too,” Levin told the “Fox and Friends” hosts.

see more at http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/05/watch-mark-levin-absolutely-destroys-obama-over-allegations-that-he-wiretapped-trump/

Violent protesters beat pro-Trump demonstrators

by Chris Enloe 

A small riot erupted Saturday afternoon in Berkeley, California, after violent protesters confronted pro-Trump demonstrators and allegedly began a confrontation that turned violent.

The confrontation occurred on a day when Americans across the country held peaceful demonstrations in support of President Donald Trump, free speech and America.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the pro-Trump demonstrators participating in the “March 4 Trump” rally began marching at 2 p.m. PST Saturday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. Just several blocks up the road, they were met by counter-protesters dressed in masks and black clothing who began the confrontation.

From the San Francisco Gate:

By 3 p.m., the self-proclaimed anarchists were dominating the crowd. Dressed all in black and wearing cloth bandannas over their faces, they stopped traffic as they marched from the park through downtown with the smaller mix of Trump supporters and counterprotesters. In the park, people opposed to Trump threw eggs and burned both American flags and the red “Make America Great Again” Trump campaign hats.

Photos and videos posted to Twitter and other social media showed fistfights, shouting matches, people being beat with sticks and signs, people pulling hair and some counter-protesters pepper-spraying the pro-Trump marchers, including an elderly man.

As a result of the violence, police in riot gear lined the streets and attempted to control the crowd and stop the violence.

Berkeley police said they arrested 10 people: five for battery, four for assault with a deadly weapon and one for resisting arrest. Seven people were evaluated for their injuries at the scene, but no one had to be taken to the hospital.

According to Matthai Chakko, a spokesman for the city of Berkeley, police confiscated items such as a dagger, metal pipes, baseball bats, two-by-four pieces of wood and bricks.

“A group of people carrying bricks were detained and the bricks were confiscated,” he told the Times.

Some reports also indicate that some of the counter-protesters responsible for the violence came from the militant activist group By Any Means Necessary and the so-called “black bloc,” two groups that many blame for the violence at UC-Berkeley last month.

see more pictures and video at http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/05/violent-protesters-beat-pro-trump-demonstrators-at-calif-rally-burn-american-flags-free-speech-signs/

media’s double standard on anonymous sources

by Chris Enloe 

Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tussled with ABC “This Week” host Martha Raddatz on Sunday during a discussion about President Donald Trump’s accusation that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower last year.

During the interview, Raddatz came out of the gate charging.

“These are extremely serious charges the president is making. Where is he getting his information?” she pressed.

Huckabee Sanders cited reports from mainstream media outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post and BBC that reported on potential wiretapping and FISA court order requests.

“I think the bigger thing is: lets find out, lets have an investigation,” Huckabee Sanders said. “If they’re going to investigate Russia ties, lets include this as part of it.”

“You guys are always telling us to take the media seriously, well we are today,” she added. “If this happened, if this is accurate, this is the biggest overreach and the biggest scandal.”

“The president of the United States is accusing the former president of wiretapping him,” Raddatz said back, emphasizing her point.

“If this happened—” Huckabee Sanders began to reply.

“IF! IF! IF!” Raddatz interrupted, almost screaming.

The ABC host went on to press Huckabee Sanders over why Trump insisted, as if it was fact, that Obama wiretapped him, while Huckabee Sanders went on to say there needs to be an investigation into the claims.

“I think he’s going off of information that he’s seen that has led him to believe that this is a very real potential,” Huckabee Sanders said. “And if it is, this is the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power that I think we’ve ever seen and a huge attack on democracy itself and the American people have a right to know if this took place.”

Raddatz followed up by noting that the reports Huckabee Sanders cite mostly cite anonymous sources themselves, implying they can’t be believed.

“I love how anonymous sources don’t count when it’s something that’s positive in this administration and against the former one,” Huckabee Sanders shot back. “You guys use anonymous sources every single day.”

See more at http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/03/05/watch-trump-spox-schools-martha-raddatz-over-mainstream-medias-double-standard-on-anonymous-sources/

Republican Women Applaud Bold, Brave President's Speech to Congress

From the NFRW  newsletter -  National Federation of Women

WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Tonight we saw a bold, brave leader stand before Congress and the world to lay out a carefully planned strategy to address the specific problems that have shaken the American dream and stood in the way of making America great again," said National Federation of Republican Women President Carrie Almond in a statement following President Donald Trump's Address to a Joint Session of Congress tonight.

"'Land of the free and home of the brave,' - words that stir us every time we hear our National Anthem - often refer to soldiers who fought on foreign lands," Almond said. "While our brave soldiers throughout the world continue to fight for our freedom, we are also battling right here at home, in our streets and schools, our places of work and worship, to restore American values and repair the decay caused by the past eight years of division, bitterness and elitist attitudes."

"Tonight President Trump stood before the joint session of Congress like any great commander, fully prepared with a battle plan, unafraid to take on a tough fight," Almond added.

In the first 38 days we have seen President Trump keep more campaign promises than the previous administration accomplished in eight years, she said. "He has done, and is doing, and will continue to do as president, precisely what he said he would do as a candidate for president."

"Our country was founded on the American dream of freedom, equal opportunity and initiative. But it is not free," Almond asserted. "The American dream does not mean that everything from health care to college should be free. It does not mean that free speech equals freedom from manners, decorum, common sense and decency. It does not mean freedom to come into this country illegally. Our president clearly showed tonight his commitment to defending American exceptionalism, preserving the American dream and restoring hope in every citizen."