A new CNN poll is out saying a majority of Americans don’t approve of the way Obama is handling the war with ISIS. If they only knew. Graeme Wood’s piece in The Atlantic — What ISIS Really Wants — explains how little we actually know about the Islamic State, how it differs from al-Qaeda and how we need to understand the differences in order to develop a winning strategy. According to Wood, The Islamic State is not simply an army of psychopaths. He says it’s a religious group that believes it is an agent of the coming apocalypse and that it all starts — and maybe ends — there.
A Texas federal judge, who’s an outspoken critic of Obama’s immigration policies, has ordered a halt to Obama’s executive orders on immigration. Most legal experts expect the Fifth Court of Appeals in New Orleans to overturn the ruling.
Millions at risk of losing their health care coverage as Obamacare goes to court. Again. Via the Washington Post.
Denmark’s commitment to a civil society is part of what makes the terrorist attack so hard to absorb. Via the New Yorker.
Why Rand Paul scares Wall Street execs and the GOP establishment. It starts when he takes up his father’s call to audit the Fed. Via Politico.
The pundits and the polls say that Hillary Clinton is, at this point, the 2016 favorite. The people who do the political modeling say it’s just not so, no matter who wins the Republican nomination. Via the National Journal.
John Dickerson writes in Slate that Clinton needs to come up with something that doesn’t look like Obama’s third term.
Why science is so hard to believe: Everyone has access to his or her own information now, and if the information is not necessarily accurate, well, that’s just like your opinion, man. Via the Washington Post.
Lesley Gore, who didn’t invent teen angst but certainly sang about it, has died at age 68. She also sang the pre-feminist anthem, “You Don’t Own Me.” Via the New York Times.
Statetap:
Reported sexual assaults fell at the Air Force Academy last year, but a school-wide survey shows that 20 percent of women at the Academy experienced unwanted sexual contact at some point during their academy career. Colorado Congressman Ken Buck, who in a 2010 bid for US Senate drew criticism for dismissing a rape case when he was Weld County DA: “I’m interested as a prosecutor, I’m interested as a husband and the father of a daughter and the father of son who attended a service academy.” The Air Force Academy is currently undergoing an investigation by the Defense Department’s Inspector General into whether it properly handled allegations of misconduct among its athletic teams. Via the Gazette.
The Gnome Liberation Front, a garden gnome freedom movement sweeping Boulder, appears to be leaving cheeky poems in the place of Boulder residents’ cherished little ceramic Renaissance figurines. Longtime resident David Smith says he got a sassy email after he got his gnome plucked. As the Daily Camera’s Sarah Kuta reports: “The location of Smith’s faithful lawn guard is currently ‘ungnome.'”
At a press conference, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said he supports Police Chief Robert White’s call to step down police tactics at protests. About the recent vandals of a police memorial, Hancock said that “these are folks who are looking for a confrontation […] They’re asking and baiting the officers to start something.” He also called out Denver police union President Nick Rogers, who has been openly speaking out against these orders. The union wants more power to intervene in protests, make arrests and suppress the movement against excessive force and racial profiling in law enforcement. Via the Denver Post.
[Photo by Michael_Swan.]
