Brace yourself; Obama's State of the Union blame session is coming Tuesday evening

WSJ: State of the Union 2013
How to Watch the State of the Union on WSJ.com  
"WSJ.com will be showing President Obama's State of the Union address and providing in-depth analysis of it as well as the Republican Party's response on Feb. 12. Coverage begins at 8:45 p.m."
....

"President Obama is expected to detail an ambitious domestic agenda in his State of the Union address Tuesday, including measures on immigration, gun control, climate change and education."

John Steele Gordon;  Obama’s State of the Union
"Having devoted most of the inauguration speech to such tried-and-true liberal causes as gay rights and climate change—and gotten a fair amount of blow back even from usually reliably liberal media for its partisanship—the conventional wisdom among the chattering classes is that he will now pivot to jobs and the economy. But as Byron York points out, that’s what he is always about to do, he just never does it."     Emphasis added, TD

State of the Union to Feature Victims of Gun Violence

From ABC: What to Expect From President Obama’s Speech  "But the president will also make what the official called “a progressive case for deficit reduction” — warning that if entitlement spending is not brought under control it will crowd out spending on other social programs that progressives hold dear."

CATO's Live Blog of the 2013 State of the Union Address and the GOP Response  "Follow their comments directly on Twitter, or come back to this page at 9:00 PM ET on Tuesday, February 12, to join us. We look forward to having you, and sharing our insights with you."

State of Union response carries risk for Marco Rubio  "But when it comes to having an impact, he will be fighting history: The record shows far more washouts than standouts in the official opposition party’s response to the annual presidential address."

Here is a suggested speech for Senator Rubio to make Tuesday night: Next? The Barack Obama Campaign Promises Implementation Act of 2013
"The [proposed] legislation has a variety of provisions, but they have one thing in common — they’ve all been endorsed already by President Obama."
....
" I look forward to appearing at the White House with President Obama by the end of the month as he signs the Barack Obama Campaign Promise Implementation Act into law."

Ted Nugent to be guest at State of the Union But not a guest of the Democrats, I assume.  
"To add pressure, gun-control supporters in Congress have decided to invite victims of gun crimes to sit in the galleries.
"Mr. Stockman's decision, though, adds a prominent gun-rights advocate and outspoken conservative to the gallery. Mr. Nugent, who has been a frequent contributor to The Washington Times' commentary section, is a member of the National Rifle Association's board."  Via Lucianne. 

Pope Benedict resigns

He's now an ex-Benedict.

Pope Benedict in shock resignation  "Benedict - the former Cardinal Ratzinger - was always seen as a caretaker pope. Elected in 2005 at the age of 78 following the death of his predecessor John Paul II, Ratzinger was considered  a placeholder for other candidates who were in their 50's at the time and considered too young to fill the office."

Comedians are already turning on Pope Benedict
" "Liberals are generally humorless, but they think hate is hilarious," blogger Robert Stacy McCain wrote at The Other McCain in response to Boyle's tweet."
"A post at Da Tech Guy included what the blog called "a piece of twitter snark that speaks volumes."

 "With the hate going to the #Pope today I recommend Obama issue an apology and blame a YouTube video before some Catholics attack an embassy," tweeted "End of the Republic."

Hat tip to Joe Newby at Examiner.com

Experts: Top 5 picks for the next pope  "Expert Vatican watchers all name the same five 'papabile' — the Cardinals, princes of the church, who could be the next pope."

 

From the "Ain't Gonna Happen" file: "The growing case for impeachment of Obama"

The growing case for impeachment of Obama  "It’s not a question yet being asked or debated in the Big Media. But it is a question being addressed by some members of Congress, by an increasing number of pundits by activists on the left and the right – and for more than one or two alleged constitutional offenses.

American? Give me a break

"Some of those who have broached the subject include
Reps. Trent Franks, R-Ariz.; Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Trey Radel, R-Fla.; Steve Stockman; former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio; Fox News’ Mike Huckabee; former assistant U.S. attorney Andrew McCarthy; left-leaning investigative reporter Dave Lindorff; talk-radio host Mark Levin; former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; author and columnist Pat Buchanan and others."
I still don't have any problem whatever with the whacking of al-Awlaki; you take up arms against America, you pay the price. The discussion in here, however, presents the other side of the issue while conjuring the vision of law-enforcement people handcuffing Mirandized terrorists and getting them out of their terrorist camps to the US to be defended by some pro-terrorist lawyer who loves publicizing anti-American diatribes in front of jurors who have been threatened with beheading. Or jurors who think Chris Dorner is a hero.
Do not look to American liberals for wisdom; only unapologetic silliness. TD

Here are some reasons discussed in this article, each accompanied by expert opinions for and against each point:

• Operation Fast and Furious
• Obama’s U.S. citizen ‘hit list’
• Recess ‘ appointments – when Senate was in session
• Appointment of ‘czars’ without Senate approval
• Suing Arizona for enforcing federal law
• Illegal-alien amnesty by executive order
• Cap and Trade: When in doubt, bypass Congress
• Refusal to prosecute New Black Panthers
• Refusal to defend Defense of Marriage Act
• Illegally conducting war against Libya
• Benghazi-gate
• Gun-control executive actions

http://www.impeachobamacampaign.com/cartoon-obama-shrinks/

This thoughtful, well-presented article concludes with these words:

“If the American people really wanted constitutional government – if they were really committed to the kind of constitutional republic that is reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States – things would change.”   Read more

 

Which Obama listened to Dr. Carson's speech?

I had been wondering which Obama Dr. Carson would have seen if he had looked to his right during his powerful Prayer Breakfast speech.

I said to myself, "Self, which Obama was watching Dr. Carson's speech?"

This Obama?                                                                         ...or this Obama?

   

 

Well, Rich Terrell has revealed that it was this Obama: 

The Obaglare

Would you believe Democrats were critical of Dr. Carson's speech?

"In his address, Carson had specifically avoided taking a partisan point of view, noting that the American bald eagle needed both a “right wing” and a “left wing” to take flight."   Bob Beckel on "The Five" called the speech "disgraceful"  (They should change the name of this show to "The Four Out of Five".)

U.S. said to be target of massive cyber-espionage campaign

tucsonsentinel.com

The Volokh Conspiracy sends us this disturbing post:
Once again, Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post has broken a cybersecurity story:
The two events are tied together by something Steve Chabinsky said during the panel discussion: We’re used to the idea that cybersecurity is an arms race, with defense chasing offense and vice versa, and that the US and its adversaries are constantly trying to counter the other’s tactics.  What we haven’t absorbed is how quickly proliferation occurs.  
Once a nation has found a tool that overtops America’s national security defenses, the tool will only work for a while.  Eventually its thrust will be parried by the Defense Department. At that point, the code isn’t good for its original purpose, but it’s still plenty good for breaking into private networks, and it will keep working until a good defensive tactic has spread across the entire Internet.

Here is the story referred to above:
washingtonpost.com  "A new intelligence assessment has concluded that the United States is the target of a massive, sustained cyber-espionage campaign that is threatening the country’s economic competitiveness, according to individuals familiar with the report.
"The National Intelligence Estimate identifies China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate the computer systems of American businesses and institutions to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain."