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DANA DiFILIPPO, Daily News Staff Writer difilid@phillynews.com, 215-854-5934 Posted: Tuesday, September 23, 2014, 3:01 AM

WHEN an anti-Islamic group decided to advertise on city buses and billboards this fall with photos of a terrorist poised to behead an American and a Muslim leader smiling at Adolf Hitler, transit officials in New York and Washington, D.C., huffed their disapproval - but allowed the ads to run.

They had no choice, they said, because the ads were protected under the First Amendment.

SEPTA's officials disagreed and rejected the ads.

But the group behind the ads - the American Freedom Defense Initiative - won't surrender quietly. The New Hampshire-based group sued SEPTA in federal court last week, complaining that the transit agency violated AFDI's free-speech rights.

One local First Amendment expert says SEPTA picked an unwinnable fight.

"The most fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that you may never bar any message based upon the content of the message," said Burton Caine, a law professor at Temple University and past president of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "This is absolutely prohibited, what SEPTA is doing.

"Everybody has this same idea that they like the First Amendment," Caine said, "but when the speech is offensive, people will make all kinds of excuses why it's not protected. The whole point of the First Amendment is to protect speech that offends. No exceptions."

A federal judge said as much in 2012, ruling that the AFDI could post ads in New York City and Washington, D.C., that compared Muslim jihadists to "savages."

Excerpt from:
SEPTA's ad refusal sparks free-speech fight

Benghazi documents scrubbed to protect Hillary Clinton, ex-State Dept. official claims
Benghazi documents scrubbed to protect Hillary Clinton, ex-State Dept. official claims http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/09/benghazi-documents-scrubbed-to-pr...

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Benghazi documents scrubbed to protect Hillary Clinton, ex-State Dept. official claims - Video

#PROGRESS FOR WOMEN?
Democrats Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Kirsten Gillibrand Patty Murray attended an economic conference last week, which was live tweeted on twitter with #progress4women. However, are Democrats...

By: juicysparkles

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#PROGRESS FOR WOMEN? - Video

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Indianola, Iowa (CNN) -- "It's been seven years, and a lot has changed," Hillary Clinton said Sunday in her first visit to Iowa since the state dealt her presidential campaign a devastating body blow.

But there was a moment in the afternoon when it seemed like not much had.

Roughly 200 credentialed media were gathered in a far corner of the Indianola Balloon Field, the grassy expanse where Sen. Tom Harkin was convening his 37th and final Steak Fry, an annual fundraiser that doubles as a point of entry for ambitious Democrats curious about the Iowa caucuses.

After a 90-minute wait, the press scrum -- scribblers and photographers alike -- were herded like cattle through a series of gates and escorted up to a hot smoking grill, waiting to capture the same image: a staged shot of Bill and Hillary Clinton, fresh out of their motorcade, ritualistically flipping steaks with Harkin.

Hillary Clinton stumps for Iowa Democrats, and herself

The Clintons ignored the half-hearted shouted questions from reporters -- "Mr. President, do you eat meat?" -- with practiced ease. They were two football fields away from the nearest voter. Mechanical, distant, heavy-handed: The afternoon spectacle felt a lot like Hillary's 2008 caucus campaign, a succession of errors that crumbled under the weight of a feuding top-heavy staff and the candidate's inability to connect with her party's grassroots.

And then the head fake -- and something different.

After a few minutes, the Clintons walked into a nearby barn, out of view. Most of the media swarm gave up and hustled back to the main event, where nearly 7,000 Democrats were eating red meat and waiting patiently in the sunshine to hear from two of the most famous people in the world.

A few dozen press were still milling about when the duo re-emerged. "There she is!" a television reporter screamed, clamoring for her cameraman.

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Hillary Clinton returns to Iowa; so is this a fresh start or deja vu?

Asking Hillary Clinton to serve as secretary of State was "one of the best decisions I ever made as president," President Obama told philanthropists and donors gatheredTuesdayat the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City.

The president showered the former first lady and front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination with praise, saying he "will always be grateful for her extraordinary leadership."

"She looks much more rested," Obama said to laughter.

The president and his former Cabinet secretary were making their first joint appearance since Clinton's interview with The Atlantic this summer, during which she levied criticism against the president's handling of Syria.

In the interview, Clinton said that she would have armed the Syrian opposition two years ago and suggested failing to do so had enabled the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against [Syrian President Bashar] Assad there were Islamists, there were secularists, there was everything in the middle the failure to do that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled, Clinton said.

Clinton subsequently called Obama to tell him the remark was not intended as an attack on him or his policies, according to a spokesman.

Last week, Obama won congressional authorization for a program to train and equip the moderate Syrian opposition as part of the administration's fight against ISIS. White House officials have defended the move, saying that they used the time to properly vet which rebels would receive U.S. arms and training.

The president did not discuss that program or the first round of airstrikes launched against ISIS and al Qaeda targets in Syria during his speech.

Instead, the president highlighted his administration's efforts to assist civil society groups. Obama on Tuesdaywill issue a new presidential memorandum requiring federal agencies to consult regularly with civil society groups and resist efforts by foreign governments to limit American assistance to activists.

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Obama: Making Hillary Clinton secretary of State one of my best decisions