On Obama’s Speech

Jonah Goldberg  "Will he hold to the spirit of his speech? Who knows? Bill Clinton’s Oklahoma City remarks were more high-minded than people remember. It was his comments the day after that were so horrendous and shameful.
"Like the man said, trust but verify.
"One last point. It is amazing how moving to the center amounts to taking the high road. Obama wants to be president again. That requires being a better one than he has been. The press will launch its usual lick-bath fawning, but I doubt they’ll acknowledge the subtle rebuke they’ve received."



http://townhall.com/cartoons/stevebreen



Punishing the Victims of Islamic Gender Apartheid?

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=32312

Phyllis Chesler "She is marked for certain death.
"Her final hearing takes place on Friday, January 14, 2011. If American Immigration decides to deport her back to her Muslim family in Africa, she will, without doubt, first be genitally mutilated and then honor murdered for insisting on remaining a Christian, for having fled an arranged Muslim marriage—and for having secretly married a Christian man.
"I doubt she will be able to take her case to the United Nations. After all, that august body has condemned free speech/truth speech as hate speech, especially where Islam is concerned. Incredibly, presumably “progressive” European countries have increasingly launched criminal investigations against their own politicians, human rights activists, academics for daring to tell the truth about Islamic gender apartheid if that truth shows Islam in a negative light."

Fire Krugman, Olbermann Now For Blood Libel Against Palin, Americans, In AZ Shooting

Big Journalism  "This week, a senior Democrat operative apparently told Politico.com that Obama needs to “deftly pin this on the tea partiers just like the Clinton White house deftly pinned the Oklahoma City bombing on the militia and anti-government people.”
"Well, it looks like media like Krugman and Olbermann are doing their best to help them out. In the light of this tragedy, it is unfortunate to have to reduce it now to political terms. It would not be the first time a tragedy was misused by both politicians and the media. As some commentators have correctly pointed out, some members of the media didn’t wait even 24 minutes before trying to exploit, degrade, and distort this true American tragedy for their own gain. They should be worse than ashamed.
"They should be fired."

THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

Neal Boortz  "Another thing ... no matter how wonderful Obama was last night in Tucson, we cannot let his expert and moving performance cause us to forget the agenda he harbors for our country. This speech does not mean that he suddenly believes in American exceptionalism; that he now realizes that the private markets are not "the enemy;" and that more government is not the answer to every problem, no matter how trivial, that faces us. He is still proceeding with his goal to radically transform our country ... and the Tucson tragedy doesn't give him that license."

The Non-Accusatory Case for Civility  by Rich Lowry  "The pep-rally atmosphere was inappropriate and disconcerting, but President Obama turned in a magnificent performance. This was a non-accusatory, genuinely civil, case for civility, in stark contrast to what we’ve read and heard over the last few days. He subtly rebuked the Left’s finger-pointing, and rose above the rancor of both sides, exactly as a president should. Tonight, he re-captured some of the tone of his famous 2004 convention speech. Well done."
  Via National Review

Instapundit  "ANOTHER UPDATE: “It was pretty close to a rebuke to his liberal supporters. He was telling them, and everyone, that the entire process of casting blame for a lunatic’s crime is foolhardy and simply wrong. He deserves credit for that. This sounded like much of what I and others have been writing since Saturday.”"

The Tab Comes Due in 2011

Victor Davis Hanson  "On a variety of fronts — health care, the budget, energy, defense, and politics — we have heard lots of easy rhetoric the last two years. But now the reckoning comes due in 2011 — and it may be not a pretty thing to watch."

We Don't Fetishize the Constitution; We Dread Tyranny

Pajamas Media  "What we recognize is that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. That is, what it says must be followed, until the text is amended or a new basic law enacted. Because a Constitution that is not knowable, a Constitution that is twisty-stretchy and dictated by the needs of the moment, is no Constitution at all. When the law becomes whatever the current ruling clique decrees, then we have taken the first step (and middle, and last) on the road to serfdom."

The True ‘Cost’ of Defeat in Afghanistan

Max Boot  "Norquist seems quite enamored of Ronald Reagan’s pullout from Lebanon after the suicide car-bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983. Perhaps he is not aware that this incident was routinely cited — along with the U.S. pullout from Somalia in 1993 — by Osama bin Laden in the 1990s to justify his belief that the U.S. was a “weak horse” that could be attacked with impunity. Note to Grover: Even the great Ronald Reagan was not infallible." Via Weekly Standard

A US Foreign Policy Marked By Competence and Strength  by Victor Davis Hanson: "...appearing weak only encourages such violence. After the three-week brilliant victory in March-April 2003, Gaddafi gave up his WMD arsenal, Syria got out of Lebanon, Dr. Khan was shut down in Pakistan, and the Gulf states curbed their subsidies to terrorists. By 2007, however, anti-Americanism in Middle Eastern nations arose again commensurate with our apparent incompetence in Iraq. And yet by 2010 and apparent victory in Iraq, the US was regaining greater influence among the Arab community, especially as it looked for our leadership to stop Iran. Proven competence and strength, especially in pursuit of a good cause, can do far more than expressions of good intentions; a weak nation that is most considerate and full of deference will nevertheless be ignored or despised if it loses wars — given the universal nature of man."

Congressional Security and the Tucson Shooting

STRATFOR  "A common mindset of politicians and their staffers is that better security will limit their accessibility and thus hinder their ability to do their job (and win elections). In fact, there are a number of measures that members of Congress and other public officials can institute for better security without limiting accessibility. While staying in a secure facility would be the safest, it isn’t a realistic option. What is realistic — and effective — is the prudent employment of protective intelligence as well as some measure of physical protection on the move."