America’s enemies are emboldened by eight years of cowardice in the Oval Office

War: The Necessary Insanity  . . . "All of which gives context to the present moment. America’s enemies are emboldened by eight years of cowardice in the Oval Office. Our allies have become distrustful of us. To reverse all that, President Trump has sent a clear signal to the world, but it will take more than a few bombs to deter the madmen who intend to kill us. It will take popular support from Americans, support for a massive commitment to battle, and, if it comes to that, the endurance of tens of thousands dead. Is that insane?

"Half of all Americans are already more on the side of the enemy than on the side of freedom.

"Theirs is the true insanity."

N Korea missile launch fails, says South Korea

The cartoons capturing the imagination of Trump's America

America BBC  "Antonio Branco, an editorial cartoonist, is known for his conservative take on current affairs.

"He says he's a fan of a "president that talks directly to the people" and thinks conservatives are now getting their message across in online media after being slow to do so initially.

"Branco shares what he thinks about liberal "overreaction" to Trump and the current state of political speech."

Mr. Branco's site is at Comically Incorrect. As his cartoons demonstrate, Tony does not suffer fools gladly.

Much more here.

Car ploughs into group of people on the Sidewalk in Palma

Vlad Tepes Blog  "A driver of Northern African background drove onto the pedestrian walk at a main traffic road in Palma on Saturday morning. Five people who were waiting at a bus stop were injured, the Spanish sister newspaper of MM, Ultima Hora report on their webpage.

"The driver of the vehicle was arrested. He is being charged with battery and endangering the safety of the traffic. Word is that according to police, the young driver of Moroccan nationality lost control over the car. The car came to a stop at the outer wall of a branch bank.

"Panic broke out immediately after the accident at the scene of the accident at the Avenida Alejandro Rosselló near the central Plaza España. Police started a large scale operation to get the situation under control quickly. Initially, there is no information about the backgrounds of the accident which occurred around 10 AM CET.

"According to Spanish Media reports, the police are now investigating if it is a simple traffic accident, or if other motives could lie behind the incident.
One of the victims suffered grave injuries. Ultima Hora tweets that the injured are four tourists from the Northwestern Spanish region Galicia, all of them old age pensioners, and one young person from Palma." . . .

BareNakedIslam

Nikki Haley: A star is born on the UN stage

Washington Examiner  "Nikki Haley, on the job barely 12 weeks as ambassador to the United Nations, has become a driving force in President Trump's move to reassert American leadership abroad.

"This was most obviously on display in the days surrounding Trump's decision to punish Syria for using chemical weapons. In a globally televised presentation before the U.N. Security Council, the former South Carolina governor bluntly admonished Damascus for its barbarity, and, just as significantly, scolded Russia in similarly plain language for propping up dictator Bashar Assad.

. . . 

" 'She's doing a good job of talking tough, but that's not diplomacy," said a Republican who previously worked at the U.S. Mission to the U.N., and requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.

"Accomplishment at the U.N. is measured through critical resolutions and punitive sanctions. Americans, particularly conservatives, often dismiss the importance of U.N. action, but the organization carries weight in other countries. To deliver, Haley's is going to have to learn how to negotiate support for U.N. action from countries' whose interests, and values, aren't aligned with the U.S.

"That means winning over authoritarian countries like Russia that can't be swayed by the kind of eloquent public shaming the ambassador leveled recently during a U.N. session to discuss the crisis in Syria. It means securing the backing of moderate Muslim nations that can be persuaded to side with the U.S., but that, because of domestic politics, won't if Haley is too forceful an advocate for Israel, a key American ally." . . .

Former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich In Bed With Kim Jong-Un

Make that "former congressman", but still a Democrat.

Fox Commentator In Bed With Kim Jong-Un

The main sponsor of the anti-THAAD tour is the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a self-described “revolutionary Marxist party in the United States,” and its front, Act Now to Stop War & End Racism (ANSWER).
Individual endorsers of this campaign include Marxist academic Noam Chomsky and former Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is now a Fox News contributor.

. . . "It’s fascinating that Kucinich is now a leader of the campaign against defending South Korea from a communist attack.

"His “message of solidarity to the Korean people in the struggle to oppose the THAAD missile ‘defense’ system” reads like something written by a North Korean propagandist. “THAAD is not a technology for peace,” Kucinich says. “It is for war.”

"Kucinich says, “It could be argued that the installation of such a system, whether it works or not, is a provocation (‘first the shield, then the sword’). Added to the joint U.S./South Korean military exercises, it places an additional burden of tension to already strained relations with the North. I would instead urge greater reliance upon the wonderful capacity of the Korean people to engage in diplomacy with the brothers and sisters in the North, to avert conflict.”

"It is signed by Kucinich with the biographical information, “Member of the United States Congress, 1997-2013. Democratic Candidate for President 2004 and 2008.”

"It certainly looks like a major figure in the Democratic Party is acting like a foreign agent for the North Korean regime. There seems to be more evidence of his work on behalf of Kim Jung-un than there is for Trump being a Russian agent." . . .

Trump’s MOAB Drop Triggered a Tweet You Need to Read

unofficialnetworks-meet-daniel-riley-former-marine-vail-skier-double-amputee

National Review  "I want you to read this tweet, sent after today’s MOAB drop and written by an American patriot and a man I’m privileged to know, Johnny (Joey) Jones:

“I lost my legs because my gov’t was afraid to use the tools they had and saw me as expendable. I wish I’d had this admin.”

In response to online argument, he further amplified his point:

“We begged to use bombs on the minefield ghost town I lost my legs clearing.”

And again:

“Because, I believe, more of us would’ve come home alive and whole if we’d used bombs to eradicate enemy safe havens – Feel free to disagree.”

. . . 

"By the way, I quote these tweets not to spark any anger against the man Jones is addressing, Daniel Riley (who’s also a vet and amputee; he lost his legs to an IED in Afghanistan), but to highlight an important and painful point about our almost 16-year-long war. Excessive American caution has cost American lives and American limbs, and it has left families and friends of the victims with deep psychological wounds. Those wounds would be grievous enough in the best circumstances, but they’re compounded by the fact that many of the decisions not to shoot, not to use artillery, or not to drop bombs were based on a combination of rules of engagement and military misjudgments that were transparently foolish at the time.
. . . 

"Obama was notorious for not only implementing strict rules of engagement but for vacuuming an enormous amount of military decision-making authority straight to the White House. It’s hard to think of a more disempowering practice. It’s hard to think of a practice better calculated to lead to timidity in the field. Trump seems to be bringing a change, and it’s a change that’s long overdue. "