Abbas’ Vision of an Ethnically Cleansed Palestinian State

Jonathan S. Tobin  at Commentary Magazine  "This demand for an ethnically cleansed Palestine would mean the forced removal of all Jews living in the territories. Since he is calling for that state to exist in all of the territory of the West Bank, Gaza and the part of Jerusalem that was illegally occupied by Jordan from 1949 to 1967, that would mean in theory the eviction of over a half a million Jews to accommodate his ambition."

Art by Bosch Fawstin

11th Circuit strikes down Obamacare mandate

Legal Insurrection    "We first conclude that the Act’s Medicaid expansion is constitutional. Existing Supreme Court precedent does not establish that Congress’s inducements are unconstitutionally coercive, especially when the federal government will bear nearly all the costs of the program’s amplified enrollments.

"Next, the individual mandate was enacted as a regulatory penalty, not a revenue-raising tax, and cannot be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s power under the Taxing and Spending Clause. The mandate is denominated as a penalty in the Act itself, and the legislative history and relevant case law confirm this reading of its function."

The Iowa Republican debate

American Thinker: Testy exchanges mark Iowa debate  "Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum also had some criticism for Bachmann, taking her to task for not coming to Iowa to campaign against three judges who voted for gay marriage. And everyone piled on Ron Paul for his ludicrous position on Iran. Paul thinks that if Iran wants a nuclear weapon, they should be able to develop it without any interference from us. Thus speaks the radical isolationist sage from Texas."....

All in all, a pretty good night for the GOP. They showcased their candidates who all came off, to one degree or another, as presidential. Given the expectations, that's probably the best they could have hoped for. Rick Moran, who picked Huntsman as the loser.

http://fawstin.blogspot.com/

Fox News: Fireworks Erupt at GOP Presidential Debate in Iowa  "Romney comes out of the debate looking to keep his position at the top of the pack, as the candidates head into the nonbinding, but influential Iowa Straw Poll this weekend."....

" "It's about time we talk to Cuba," Paul said at one point. He also said the United States had created the hostile relations between it and Iran."  

 I see Ron Paul attracting Obama voters. TD

WSJ: Debate Jolts Republican Race to Life Former House speaker Newt Gingrich spent much of his debate chastising the debate panelists, accusing them of "gotcha questions."

"Every one of the candidates raised their hands to attest that they wouldn't accept any deficit-reduction deal with tax increases, even if the deal included $10 of spending cuts to $1 of revenue rises." Via Lucianne.

National Review Online: Scoring the Iowa Debate   "An NRO panel of experts assess the Republican candidates’ performances on Thursday night in Des Moines."

....

"Americans may be focused on fiscal problems at home, but the Republican party needs a nominee in 2012 who can challenge Barack Obama’s disastrous foreign-policy record as well as his mishandling of the economy."...."This attempt to morph the party of Reagan into that of Carter is not only dangerous, it raises questions about whether the GOP has a candidate ready to fulfill perhaps the most important and sacred presidential duty."  More here, here, here, NRO has more.

 

Pajamas Media: First Blood in Ames  "None of this, however, means that there weren’t plenty of moments of interest. It’s very possible that the next few days will see some significant movement in the primary race, in part due to the performance of the candidates on that stage. As usual with these dog and pony shows, I’ll begin with the folks who didn’t seem to fare very well."

Stephen F. Hayes: The Winner in Ames  None of the above. "It’s a problem for the Republican party when the best performance of the evening came from a marginal candidate who lost virtually all of his senior staff in resignations over the past two months."



http://dekerivers.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/iowa-caucus-political-cartoons/

 William Kristol: The Use and Abuse of History "History suggests that the race—absent an intervention—is predictably headed toward a showdown between 2008 runner-up Mitt Romney and Texas governor Rick Perry."

Obama and the Nation

Somebody loves the guy  "How do various religions view the job Obama is doing in office? We get the answers from a poll conducted by Gallup with the participation of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Here are the results."

•Mormons – 25% approval.

•Protestants – 37%

•Catholics -- 50%

•Athiests, agnostics – 60%

•Jewish Americans – 65% (amazing!)

•Muslims – 80 %

Not surprised.   Neal Boortz.

Obama doesn't have a clue  "Our Dear Ruler gave a little speech yesterday at an advanced battery plant in Michigan. The man had some really innovative ideas on how to turn this economy around. Are you ready for them?"

• Extend the payroll tax holiday

• More infrastructure spending on roads

• Pass trade deals

• Patent reform

• Jobs for returning veterans

"Sound familiar? It should...."

....

"The bottom line is that Barack Obama doesn’t have a clue as to how to get this economy going. He believes that the more government is involved, the better. He believes that the more he can punish the achievers, the more votes he can win in 2012. He believes that his government knows better than the free market capitalists who drive this economy." 

 So...the entire Soviet Union suffered seven decades of economic and political misery because of leaders as ignorant as this? Inept and powerful: a dangerous combination. TD

Barack Obama school in Asbury Park, N.J. has been closed by state officials.

President Obama Sticks to Stimulus Script  "It’s time to stop re-running the same big-government storyline and put America on a new road of fiscal discipline headed toward economic growth. Congress and the President can start by balancing the budget, lowering spending, and reforming entitlements as laid out in Heritage’s “Saving the American Dream” plan. Yesterday, President Obama said, “We can’t afford to play games—not right now, not when the stakes are so high for our economy.” He’s right. But unfortunately, he isn’t proposing the ideas needed to put American back to work."

The Role of Islam in American History (Updated) ; WH says Thomas Jefferson hosted first Iftar dinner

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Barack Obama, The New York Times, that Iftar Dinner, and the rewriting of history  "It is disgusting for an American President to misrepresent American history to Americans, including all the schoolchildren who are now being subject to all kinds of Islamic propaganda, cunningly woven into the newly-mandated textbooks, that so favorably misrepresent Islam, as here."

This best documents the relations between Thomas Jefferson and Muslims:  Christopher Hitchens

"When they inquired by what right the Barbary states preyed upon American shipping, enslaving both crews and passengers, America’s two foremost envoys were informed that “it was written in the Koran, that all Nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon whoever they could find and to make Slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Mussulman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

They believed it then as they did in the seventh century and they believe it now. But much less than Thomas Jefferson is in charge today. TD