Op-Ed: Israel vs. Islamists: Setting the Record Straight

Muslim-on-Muslim violence is what the world should be condemning. Instead, the Brits put up a "wall" in London the protest the security wall that discriminates against suicide bombers.

Phyllis Chesler  "Israel is not an apartheid Nazi state. Islam is the largest practitioner of both gender and religious apartheid.
...
While the West may be imperfect, mea culpa, mea culpa, Islam has a very long and bloody history of imperialism, colonialism, anti-Black racism, conversion via the sword, slavery, and the above mentioned apartheid.

"The miserable Brits have just built a large "Security Wall*" at St James Church in Piccadilly and plan to use it to continue demonizing the Jewish state for the next twelve days. It is an "art installation," political theatre, very trendy.

"Not shown, never mentioned, are the names or graves of Israeli civilians, including children and the elderly, who were being blown up and butchered during the height of the Al Aqsa Intifada; not mentioned are those who were disabled for life; but mainly, it is forbidden to say that the "security wall" worked, that the number of Israeli civilian casualties plunged because it existed."

*What you won’t see projected onto the replica wall are scenes of bombed out Israeli buses, hotels, pizza restaurants, bars and nightclubs that were ubiquitous in Israel before the wall.

St James Church website has a page discussing the wall.

Anglican Mainstream; Thousands visit Piccadilly Separation Wall
Open letter from Embassy of Israel, London, to St James's, Piccadilly

I'm writing to inform you that our embassy's representative will not be able to participate in Saturday's panel on the security barrier. As you know, our intention has always been to conduct an open dialogue with Church institutions, and it is rare that we turn down an invitation to participate in a church event, especially when it concerns Israel.
 
However, we have closely followed the unfolding of the Bethlehem Unwrapped event this past week, and have been brought to the inescapable conclusion that this is not an event which is intended to deepen understanding or promote reconciliation but rather is a transparent attempt to incite against Israel and Israelis.
 

If lane closings end Gov. Christie's career, what about Obama's closing of national monuments and parks?

“We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”   “ 'It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.' ”

More:  "... the administration has made it clear the effort in shutting these things down is not about saving money, but about using these actions to make a political point.
 "A senior administration official actually fluffed off the shutdown, noting that “they were winning” so they didn’t care about the shutdown (or who it might hurt)."

Networks Torch Christie for Lane Closures, But Ignored Obama Admin's Corrupt Shutdown Tactics
"The same network evening news shows that ignored vindictiveness by the Obama administration during October's government shutdown were up in arms Wednesday over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's "Bridgegate" and the possible tarring it could give his image."

Cones are shown along the road to Mount Rushmore. The National

Parks  Service placed the cones there to prevent viewers from

stopping on the side of the road to view the monument

Obama Forcing Shut Down of Parks the Feds Don't Even Fund   "Looking to cause as much pain as possible to the American people during this shut down, President Obama sent National Park Service (NPS) police officers to shut down hundreds of parks and historic sites that the federal government doesn't even fund."
....

"The famous Ford's Theater--site of Abraham Lincoln's assassination--was also forcibly shut down even though the theater and its programs are run by a private non-profit group.

"Another unnecessary shut down occurred at George Washington's home, Mount Vernon.
"In the case of Washington's home, the park is run by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, a group that takes no federal or state money to operate. After the NPS arrived on the scene, though, the MVLA insisted that they were open despite Obama's attempt to send his NPS stormtroopers to shut the place down."

The work of a vindictive, petulant president: Federal Government Park Service blocking view of Mt. Rushmore from highway    "With South Dakota’s most famous park, Mt. Rushmore, many people can stop along the highway and take pictures because… Well, because IT’S A MOUNTAIN.
....
"But the Obama administration won’t have any of that. They have actually gone to the step of putting parking cones along the highway, so you can’t stop and take a freaking picture of the nation’s most famous mountain from the road..."

This viewpoint was blocked by the Obama administration

Shut down: George Washington's Mount Vernon, owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association holds the Mount Vernon estate in trust for the American people.

We receive no funding from federal or state governments.

We are not a national park or monument.

We rely solely on the generosity of caring people to whatever degree they are able.

 



 

The Great Pretender

Politizoid  "Little did the Platters know in 1955 that this song would be so popular, and appropriate in 2013, 58 years later. You folks who lived in the 50's will remember the words, and will probably be singing along with the Platters."

Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, CA.

BREAK UP: Will California splinter into 6 states? Voters, Congress could soon decide

 Washington Times  "Mr. Draper’s proposed six states are called, from north to south: Jefferson, North California, Silicon Valley, Central California, West California, and South California. His money will be needed: Proponents need to collect 1 million signatures just to get the idea on the ballot this fall.
“ 'I think it’s wonderful and excellent that someone of means has taken in an interest in our lack of representation,” Mr. Baird said."

 

"Pollsters Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field wrote that opposition “is bipartisan, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and non-partisans opposed. While there is slightly greater support for the proposals among voters in inland counties and parts of Northern California outside the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley, even in these areas more disapprove than approve of the idea.' ”

The idea should have great interest in the areas away from the rich, liberal California coast for reasons like this:
Bruce S. Thornton: The Other California  ... "Diverting water from the Valley and dumping it into the Pacific during a drought to protect the three-inch Delta smelt, as happened a few years ago, is the most recent example. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost and land left uncultivated just so city dwellers could indulge their romantic environmentalism, a luxury of the well-fed who take the abundance of food for granted. It’s a safe bet that if San Francisco’s drinking water came through the Delta pumps, the smelt would have been history."

Delta smelt, not too far from actual size

Obama's Gates-gate

Gates’ Book

 

"The Democrats hoped to change the subject for the new year from ObamaCare to income inequality. Former defense secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, didn’t get the memo. " ...

 

Behind Obama’s Gates   "In hindsight, we can today see more clearly what the president was doing by using West Point to announce a timetable for withdrawal: He was sounding retreat."

From the UK: Robert Gates's memoirs add to the sense that Obama's presidency is unravelling

 

"Mr Biden is many things – a useful foil, a skilled Congressional negotiator, a folksy stump politician – but "leading statesman" is beyond funny.
"It's also the kind of reflex over-reaction that is provoked by the sting of truth. And coming from a figure like Mr Gates, the truth sure hurts."

The above two from Lucianne

Also from the UK: If the Taliban retake control of Afghanistan, blame Obama    "When the unhappy history of America's involvement in the Afghan conflict comes to be written, the damning critique provided by former US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on President Barack Obama's inept handling of the war will be required reading."

Gates’ Book: White House Betrayal, or Bonanza for Democracy?   "What a difference three years can make. When White House aides were leaking juicy details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates famously exploded. “Shut the f— up,” he demanded."

How long before Clinton machine turns Robert Gates into “trailer trash”?

Legal Insurrection

 

"Expect former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to quickly be turned from hero of the Democratic Party for being a Republican willing to work for Barack Obama, into just more trailer trash because of his tell-all book about that service which reinforces an accurate meme about Hillary Clinton: She has no core, and will say anything to win.

"From Chris Cillizza at WaPo, How Bob Gates’s memoir could haunt Hillary in 2016:" ....
 

"Drag a dollah bi-yull through the Pentagon halls and this is what y'all catch!"

Cuba: 55 years of human rights violations

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "The Castro regime just turned 55.  At the same time, what do they have to show for it?  The answer is nothing, specifically in the area of human rights.

"From the beginning, the regime shut down dissent and closed newspapers. The political prisons were full of Cubans, in some cases for simply calling Castro a communist.  

"This is a regime built on lies and more lies, as Fabio Rafael Fiallo, a Dominican-born economist and author, reminded us:"  More.

Castro and Terrorism: A Chronology  "Castro also became involved with African-Americans in the U.S. and with the Macheteros, a Puerto Rican terrorist group.  Cuba focused particular attention on the black struggle in the U.S., providing aid and training to the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army, as well as a safehaven on the island for black leaders."

African American activists, including Jeremiah Wright and Cornel West, blast Cuba on racism   ... "But Obama may also be a factor. Suddenly, Cuba's great enemy -- long denounced as hopelessly racist by the Castros -- has a black president, one who has toned down the U.S. rhetoric toward Cuba."

Rudy Giuliani not really a big fan of Bill de Blasio or his “basically Marxist ideas”

http://terrellaftermath.com/

If New Yorkers don’t think de Blasio’s pitch is tired and juvenile, they deserve it.  

"... De Blasio’s “new” inequality agenda borrows heavily from the old War on Poverty, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. And no city has poured more money into government anti-poverty programs — to negligible results — than New York."

Hot Air   ... "Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, however, thinks that even the term “progressive” is too generous in describing the egregiously old-and-busted policies of which de Blasio is now trumpeting himself as a noble pioneer. “Retrogressive” is rather closer to the mark, Giuliani insisted on Fox News last night:"  Video.