Reply to Andy McCarthy

By Max Boot "McChrystal’s strategy is the only way to achieve this goal, as the past eight years should have proven. During those years, we did not pursue a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. We focused on killing bad guys—something that McCarthy presumably approves of. The result has been that the Taliban are seizing control of large parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan. What experience teaches—most recently the experience of Iraq—is that only by placing troops among the population can we prevent safe havens for terrorists from emerging."

Obama's Olympic Failure Will Test the Washington Press Corps

by Fred Barnes "The Washington press corps will never fault Obama for pushing hyper-liberal policies in a moderate-to-conservative country. Ideological criticism by the press is reserved for Republican presidents. But the media is faced with three facts as a result of Obama’s embarrassing failure in Copenhagen. 1) The failure itself. 2) The incompetence. 3) The lack of persuasive ability. There’s nothing ideological about any of these items."

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past

UK Telegraph# "The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth." Lotta those birth certificate issues out there lately.

The Obamas and school lunches

Big Fur Hat.com I wanted to give a hat tip to whoever sent this to me, but the email got deleted and I can't remember the sender.

Airborne laser

Blackfive "Fyi, attached is newly available video of the in-flight Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) aircraft precisely firing its laser at a stationary ground vehicle target during an Aug. 30 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. As you can see, the laser damaged the vehicle." This is all I know.

Change and Hope

By Victor Davis Hanson# "I am not a fan of the Obama agenda. But I am don’t want an impotent Commander in Chief abroad for three very dangerous years to come. So I am worried that the U.S. will be crippled with a weak, unpopular executive, as happened to Bush (35% approvals) in 2007-8. Our currency is tanking. Our debts are climbing. Our energy needs are breaking us. Our borrowing is out of control. The country is divided in a 1859/1968 mode. And the world is smiling as Obama, now hesitant and without the old messianic confidence, presides over our accepted inevitable decline. The country needs to buck up and meet these challenges head on, since the world smells blood, whether in Iran, Russia, the Mideast, North Korea, or South America, and in a mere 9 months of the reset button."

White House, lefty blogs going ape over righty rejoicing at Obama's failure

By Rick Moran "Now some might think it hypocritical for the left to point to anyone and say they hate America or wish America to fail. Given the incredible crap George Bush had to put up for 8 years from this crew, it might behoove our lefty friends to recall their own cheering on the insurgency in Iraq, gloating over American casualties, and generally acting as if losing the war would be a good thing."

State Department relaxes inspection deadline for Iran

By Rick Moran# "Credibility. In international affairs, credibility is vitally important. It makes negotiations possible and agreements stick."...."Then where would Obama be? Another failure to explain away. Hence. the relaxation of the two week deadline. In effect, we are sacrificing our credibility so the president's credibility doesn't take another hit. What must the Iranians be thinking now?"

What is "Begging the Question?" FYI

http://begthequestion.info/ "To beg the question does not mean "to raise the question." (e.g. "It begs the question, why is he so dumb?") This is a common error of usage made by those who mistake the word "question" in the phrase to refer to a literal question. Sadly, the error has grown more and more common with time, such that even journalists, advertisers, and major mass media entities have fallen prey to "BTQ Abuse."" Having discussed that, you may now read the next post....

Sacrifice 350 Million People to Save 45,000?

Canada Free Press "While [Grayson's] choice of words is reprehensible, and blaming the situation on Republicans absurd, the statistic he is referring to does beg a very interesting question: Why put a system at risk that provides quality healthcare to 350 million Americans on an effort that may only directly benefit 45,000 individuals?"

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

Townhall

Obama’s Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency

UK Times# "Chicago’s dismal showing yesterday, after Mr Obama’s personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good — but carries no heft."...."Meanwhile, America and its allies are being forced to witness a very public agonising by Mr Obama and his advisers over his Afghan strategy — six months after he announced that strategy. "

The unintended consequences of the UN's latest indictment of Israel.

The New Republic# By Yossi Klein Halevi "Limited victories on the battlefield are being turned into major defeats in the arena of world opinion. That untenable situation may well leave Israel no choice but to return to the post-1967 policy of preventing altogether the presence of terror enclaves on its borders. Better, Israelis will argue, to deal decisively with the terror threat and brace for temporary international outrage than subject our legitimacy to constant attrition, even as the terrorist threat remains intact."

Oliphant

WaPo