Foreign Policy: From Bad to None; Our enemies are gloating, and our allies are grimly deciding where to go from here.

Victor Davis Hanson   " Barack Obama had a foreign policy for about five years, and now he has none.

"The first-term foreign policy’s assumptions went something like this. Obama was to assure the world that he was not George W. Bush. Whatever the latter was for, Obama was mostly against. ...

"If Bush wanted garrison troops left in Iraq to secure the victory of the surge, Obama would pull them out. If Bush had opened Guantanamo, used drones, relied on renditions, reestablished military tribunals, and approved preventive detention, Obama would profess to dismantle that war on terror — even to the point where the Bush-era use of the word “terrorism” and any associations between it and radical Islam would disappear.

"If Bush had contemplated establishing an anti-missile system in concert with the Poles and Czechs, then it must have been unwise and unnecessary. If Bush had unabashedly supported Israel and become estranged from Turkey, Obama would predictably reverse both courses..."  More...

  

Doctors And AMA Split Over Contentious Issue Of ObamaCare

It seems that just as the teacher's unions do not seem to have the education and welfare of our children at heart, neither does it appear that the AMA looks out for our doctors. Never assume because the AMA endorses a program that it helps patients or doctors.
Our own family physician has been burdened with much more paperwork, even having to hire an extra person just to put government-required patient information into a computer.
She has told us that after all patients have been seen for the day, she continues to do paperwork at home until bedtime. She admitted that her family life has suffered.  I can attest to that, having just recently received an email from her explaining results of some tests she had ordered for me.
The email came to me at 11:30 pm.  The Tunnel Dweller.

Forbes  "For more than 160 years, the American Medical Association has served as the self-appointed chief lobbying group for doctors. But the AMA’s lofty status has been under threat over the last several years — and is under attack today. In fact, the AMA now only counts about 17% of doctors as members.
" According to a new survey, the majority of doctors do not believe that the AMA represents their views and interests. Much of that dissatisfaction stems from the organization’s support for President Obama’s contentious health care reform package.
"That shouldn’t be surprising. The AMA declares that its core mission is to “help doctors help patients.” But ObamaCare undermines that pursuit by making life harder for physicians and driving down the quality of care available to patients."  More here.   Emphasis mine, TD
Sally C. Pipes is President, CEO, and Taube Fellow in Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute. Her latest book is The Truth About Obamacare.

The Radical Left’s High-Stakes Gamble on Intolerance

American Center for Law and Justice  "Not for the first time, the radical Left is moving rapidly away from any respect for free speech and pluralism and is decisively throwing itself into creating a self-righteous culture of intolerance and intimidation. It’s playing a dangerous game, one that is already alienating its own allies.

"I don’t often type this, but I agree with every word Andrew Sullivan says here about Mozilla ridding itself of its independent-thinking CEO:" ...

Bullies: How the Left's Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences Americans     ... "The left has created a climate of fear wherein ordinary Americans must abandon their principles, back abhorrent causes, and remain silent. They believe America is a force for evil, that our military is composed of war criminals, and that patriotism is the deepest form of treason. They incite riots and threaten violence by playing the race card, then claim they’re advocates for tolerance. Disagree with Obama? You must be a racist. They send out union thugs and Occupy Wall Street anarchists to destroy businesses and redistribute the wealth of earners and job creators. No target is off limits as liberal feminists declare war against stay-at-home moms, and gay activists out their enemies, destroy careers, and desecrate personal privacy."

Here is where leftist intolerance can lead you: Churchill Quotation Gets Liberty GB Leader Paul Weston Arrested

"At around 2pm Mr Weston was standing on the steps of Winchester Guildhall, addressing the passers-by in the street with a megaphone. He quoted the following excerpt about Islam from the book The River War by Winston Churchill:"

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property – either as a child, a wife, or a concubine – must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the faith: all know how to die but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith."

"Reportedly a woman came out of the Guildhall and asked Mr Weston if he had the authorisation to make this speech. When he answered that he didn’t, she told him “It’s disgusting!” and then called the police."...  Via Brenner Brief

Charles Krauthammer on Benghazi emails

Politico

 

"Charles Krauthammer is calling newly released emails “a smoking document” that the conservative columnist says shows the White House was involved in a coverup of the Benghazi attacks.

"Appearing on Fox News on Tuesday evening, Krauthammer said the email shows that the Obama administration fabricated its contention that the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, were a reaction to a YouTube video because the revelation of a terrorist attack would have been politically costly to the president’s reelection campaign."
...
"The documents were first obtained by Judicial Watch. According to Judicial Watch, other Obama administration officials who received the email include David Plouffe and Dan Pfeiffer."...  More...

Benghazi Documents Point to White House on Misleading Talking Points

All of which makes these videos seem reprehensible:

 

Life in Obamaworld; at home, on the road, and around the world

 

Just 8% Say Obamacare Lowered Their Health Costs   ... " Worse for Democrats, 47% of Americans say their health insurance costs have gone up because of the president's signature legislative achievement. "

 

"Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans for the city to build the Barack Obama College Preparatory High School that opens in three years. The school is already plagued with problems. People are trying to enroll their kids in the school, but the website's not working."  Argus Hamilton

CNN Money: U.S. economy slows to stall-speed    "Slumps in exports, housing and business investment, especially on equipment, were the main drivers behind the weak performance. All those things can be slowed by snow, hail and other winter storms as shipments are delayed or construction is put on hold."
 

Health Care Spending Soars 9.9% On ObamaCare In Q1    "This isn't what President Obama and other Affordable Care Act supporters have said would happen. They've argued that the law would rein in medical costs, even while providing massive subsidies to expand coverage to millions of people. The White House had touted recent data showing slowing health care costs, though that trend preceded ObamaCare and was global. The GDP report offers the clearest evidence yet that, at least in the short term, ObamaCare is having a big impact on spending."  More

Actor Tim Allen Question How Taxing High Income People Helps Middle Class



Michelle Obama 2-Day Hotel Stay in China Costs $222K  "First lady's group used 144 rooms at Shangri-La Hotel."

Taxpayers Shell Out $2.9 Million For Just Two of Obama’s Golf Outings In 2014…   "Total travel costs for all of the Obamas and Bidens vacations now more than $40 million."

Kerry Calls Egypt’s Decision To Execute Islamists Who Went On Christian-Killing Rampage “Disturbing”…

National popular vote bill could give Democrats permanent control of White House

Brenner Brief  "Democrats have quietly been working on a way to usurp the Constitution and subvert presidential elections forever. In the interest of being fair and balanced however, many misguided Republicans have signed on to this also. It’s called the National Popular Vote Bill and it could well give Democrats permanent control of the White House." ...

... "That is music to the Democratic Party’s ears. If Democrats can get this bill passed in enough states to reliably grant them the magic 270 Electoral College votes, they will wrap up the White House for decades to come. The heavily populated areas and big cities are right in the Democrats’ wheelhouse, and the blue states contain the majority of those areas. Imagine if all presidential campaigns were waged entirely in big cities and rural America was ignored. It would become a Santa Claus contest where each candidate must promise more goodies than the other to win and no matter who won that contest, America would lose."   More...

Look at this night photo of the US. If the US went from the Electoral College to the popular vote, the president would be elected by the voters in the brightest lit areas; virtually all campaigning would be done in those areas with little regard for the voters in the central area.  The Electoral College is a deterrent to movement candidates as a rule, but seemed to fail in 2008 and 2012. Liberal press, entertainment and academia played a great part in the choices we made then.TD

 

8 Things That Won't Get You Banned by the NBA

Breitbart Sports  ... "Good riddance to Sterling. But let’s understand that ginning up the mob based on private feelings is a dangerous business. We now live in a world in which racial feelings are more important than racist acts (as Sterling’s housing discrimination non-ban shows), and in which bad thought trumps bad action.

"Here, then, is a brief list of things that will not get you banned by a sports league for life. The good news: if we tape record all of these people and then hand the tape to Harvey Levin, presumably we can get them banned relatively quickly. Because privacy now extends only to comments with which we agree as a society." More...

 

Donald Sterling: Grand Marshall to a Parade of Stupidity   ... "Setting aside the comical aspect of Al Sharpton calling for any sort of public backlash at anyone who makes inflammatory statements this incident has not only shed light on a bigot who was forced out of his hole it has also given breath to those who wish to spew a different form of hate.

 

"While it angers some that Sterling isn't getting labeled as often as the democrat he is, be thankful he is on the political left. If Sterling was an owner who leaned republican the venom being spewed would be far worse and our society would be the worse for it." ...

Democrat mayoral candidate in New Jersey town allegedly caught on tape in racist rant    "Marie Strumolo Burke, who is running for mayor in Belleville, N.J. as a Democrat, was reportedly heard making the vitriolic comments on a voicemail from 2013, according to NJ.com."