‘Over My Dead Body’: Spies Fight Obama Push to Downsize Terror War

 

The Daily Beast
The Obama administration concluded in 2012 that al Qaeda posed no direct threat to the U.S.—and has sought to scale back the fight ever since, over intel officials’ rising objections.

... "Since that internal clash—and since Obama said in his 2012 State of the Union that “al Qaeda operatives who remain are scrambling, knowing that they can’t escape the reach of the United States of America”—the terror group has thrived throughout the Islamic world. In the last year alone, al Qaeda has established safe havens in Libya, Syria  and Iraq.

"And so naturally, the White House has softened its earlier position, concluding that al Qaeda and its affiliates still represented a serious threat. But the tension between the White House and many top military and intelligence officials fighting the long war remain."...

What happens when Pat Sajak calls libs ‘unpatriotic racists’

BizPac Review  “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak, a rare Hollywood conservative, is known for expressing his point of view, and for having a little fun along the way.

"As he does frequently, Sajak took to Twitter Monday to share a bold opinion on global warming and the predominantly liberal “alarmists” who are shoving it down our collective throats. Boy, did he ever stir up a fuss:..."

Pat Sajak        ✔ @patsajak Follow

I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night.

 

Then later:

Pat Sajak        ✔ @patsajak Follow

Sometimes it's fun to poke a stick in a hornets' nest just to hear the buzzing.

 Pat is a virtuoso of snark, as we saw when he tweaked Mayor Bloomberg's ban of large sweet drinks.

Watch the American left run foreign policy

Krauthammer’s Take: Obama’s Foreign Policy Has ‘Psychologically Demobilized’ America

 

"President Obama’s eagerness to end the War on Terror has “psychologically demobilized the country,” according to Charles Krauthammer.

“ 'We have a president whose last foreign-policy address had one major theme: ‘The War on Terror must end, because it has corrosive effects on the country,’” he said.

"A country can’t unilaterally end a war when the opponent survives and doesn’t agree to it, Krauthammer said. Obama ”downplays the threat,” Krauthammer argued, so no one should be surprised that there is not a “robust opposition to terror” among Americans.

"The president’s job is to recognize a threat and mobilize support against it, Krauthammer said, “and [Obama's] done precisely the opposite.' ”

As George Orwell wrote, "The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it."

Blackfive: Worst Foreign Policy Team Ever (Thanks, Twitter!) ... "The girls were taken from their school by Islamic terrorists.  So this Twitter attack is designed to build pressure.  On who?  

"According to the WH, the pressure is on the Nigerian government. Riiiight."
....
"Anyway, the Ranger Up guys posted this photo (of one of their own, Jack) which sums up my feelings about pouty Twits believing that social media works better than action...

Has anyone asked Cat Stevens, er, Yusuf Islam what he thinks of all this, recently?

Haram; " forbidden by Islamic law"

Islam: ‘appalling and abhorrent’ in the eyes of a blind world?   "A few days ago in Sudan, an eight-month pregnant wife and mother was sentenced to death by hanging for refusing to renounce Christ and embrace Islam.  According to the LA Times:"
...
"Of more significance is the Amnesty International statement concerning Meriam Ibrahim’s plight. While its criticism is aimed at Sudan’s legal system, the statement unwittingly provides a glimpse of how the international community would view Islam if it could actually understand that these human rights abuses are not products of this or that government or regime, but of Islam itself.

"According to the Amnesty International statement:" More...

.barenakedislam

 

U.S. Becomes Chief Enabler of Christian Persecution: Muslim Persecution of Christians, January 2014 ... "Libya offers a more recent precedent.  Since U.S.-backed “rebels” overthrew Qaddafi, Christians—including Americans—have been tortured and killed (some for refusing to convert), their churches bombed, and their nuns threatened.

"January’s roundup of Muslim persecution of Christians around the world includes (but is not limited to) the following accounts, listed by theme and country in alphabetical order, not necessarily according to severity."

Happy is haram! Iranians Arrested and Forced to Repent on State TV for Dancing to Happy Song

"The original purpose of making the video, one of the dancers shared, was to show that Iran’s young people “have moments of joy and happiness even though they live with many difficulties.' ”

“Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.” — Ayatollah Khomeini

The First Lady's Control-Freak Lunch Program

Michelle Malkin   ... "Progressives blame kid-hating Republicans and greedy businesses for the revolt against Mrs. Obama's failed policies. But the truth is right around the corner in your students' cafeterias. Districts are losing money. Discarded food is piling high. Kids are going off-campus to fill their tummies or just going hungry.

"According to the School Nutrition Association, almost half of school meal programs reported declines in revenue in the 2012-13 school year, and 90 percent said food costs were up. Local nutrition directors are demanding more flexibility and freedom. Look no further than school districts in Los Angeles and Chicago." ...

New O’Keefe video “punks” Hollywood enviros

Hot Air   "For those who remember the controversy surrounding the financing of the anti-fracking Matt Damon film Promised Land, this new undercover video from James O’Keefe and Project Veritas will simply confirm suspicions. O’Keefe set himself up as an ersatz Middle Eastern oil baron in order to test the Hollywood environmental waters to see how welcome his supposed money would be in attacking American energy independence. The big names in this effort, Ed Begley Jr and Mariel Hemingway, will get the most notice but are in essence collateral damage. The real targets for this probe are Josh and Rebecca Tickell, award-winning producers who are all too keen to take Middle Eastern money to attack American natural-gas exploration:"
 

 

... The point of O’Keefe’s sting is to expose Hollywood enviro eagerness to accept oil-baron money from the Middle East to attack American energy production, and this video certainly does that much. Not that people couldn’t figure that much out from Promised Land‘s Abu Dhabi funding, if they wanted. ...

Sowell; Politics Versus Education (Updated)

Thomas Sowell

 

"Of all the cynical frauds of the Obama administration, few are so despicable as sacrificing the education of poor and minority children to the interests of the teachers' unions.

"Attorney General Eric Holder's attempt to suppress the spread of charter schools in Louisiana was just one of the signs of that cynicism. His nationwide threats of legal action against schools that discipline more black students than he thinks they should are at least as damaging.

"Charter schools are hated by teachers' unions and by much of the educational establishment in general. They seem to be especially hated when they succeed in educating minority children whom the educational establishment says cannot be educated." ... 

 Is this where Common Core will take us?

The Age of Academic Ruin    ... "America will have finally gotten what the Progressive’s have dreamed of: a substantive equality of result: not only in economics, but of the mind.  Without the impediments of a thousand competing voices pleading for their share of the human soul, the State will finally have the monopoly of hearts and minds it needs for attaining its quest of the Universal Homogenous State." ...

God help us….. 

Yes, Some People Will Have to Pay Back Their Obamacare Subsidies

Heritage

"Obamacare offers subsidies to help pay for health insurance – if you are buying insurance through the federal exchange and your income qualifies. But now the word is out that at least 1 million people are probably getting the wrong subsidy amounts.

"The Washington Post has inside sources providing all sorts of juicy details on this problem – but it didn’t take an investigative reporter to predict this was going to happen.

"Heritage expert Alyene Senger warned that Obamacare’s subsidies are tied to income – and if your income changes at any point during the year, your subsidy is supposed to change, too. She explained in January:" ..
...
"Is it any wonder that 60 percent of voters in a recent poll said the debate about Obamacare is not over? And 89 percent said Obamacare will affect their voting decisions this fall.

"Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is right – Obamacare is still not the answer for America’s health care needs. It’s time for Congress to look at patient-centered alternatives that would restore choice to American health care – and stop the unending tales of Obamacare disaster."