Inside Special Forces

By Greyhawk h/t to Mudville Gazette "This National Geographic special isn't new, but it never gets old - a brief history of U.S.Special Forces teams and accounts of their activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. "

A PR Nightmare for the Obamas

By Victor Davis Hanson "The more we hear about Valerie Jarrett, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Ayers, and all his old Chicago friends, along with rumors about Tony Rezko–style backroom deals to cash in on Chicago real estate involving the Olympics, and continuing stories about Chicago’s street violence and corruption — the more it hurts the president to be identified as a “Chicago politician” who tries in heavy-handed fashion to implement change through the “Chicago way.” "

Bitter Harvests to Come

By Victor Davis Hanson "If one were to sum up the Obama speech to the joint session of Congress, it is the same old, same old formula: "I am a uniquely post-American fresh start; the era of Bush and our dreadful past is over; and because this is our moment, you, the world, owe me attention and support for my redefining America more to your tastes."The problem with all this is endless:..."

This Time, Let's Say Something Different to Iran

JINSA "The only thing that would make tomorrow's exercise mildly interesting would be to discover that President Obama had something to say other than, "We're very, very angry about your secret nuclear facilities and your medium- and long-range missiles, denying the Holocaust and calling Israel 'bacteria.' If you don't stop, we're going to be even angrier." In yet another triumph of hope over experience, we suggest a different approach:..."

The deadly siege at Kamdeysh

Michelle Malkin "Firing rockets and rifles, Taliban militiamen attacked American and Afghan military outposts in a daylong siege on Saturday that killed eight U.S. soldiers and two Afghan security forces in one of the deadliest battles in months, according to U.S. and Afghan officials."

Obama wins popularity contests, not much else

NY Post via Lucianne "Obama’s efforts — mostly intentional — are to make the US look small, unthreatening, humble. That may make us more popular, but the IOC’s rejection of Obama’s personal appeals was yet another indication that there are far more significant metrics of global influence than being liked. I would rather the United States be respected than liked."

Caught in a lie

American Thinker "John Kerry is leading the charge to bring the cap and trade bill to the floor of the senate before year's end. I would be very surprised if this news didn't kill the House bill for good. That doesn't mean that some kind of energy bill won't make it through the senate, but it will almost certainly not contain the carbon credits and other schemes to tax the American people into paupery." Now THERE'S hope.

The Obamas Violated First Three Rules of Selling

American Thinker# "In their academic arrogance, they thought they could sell a product they clearly do not believe in (the United States) and moreover, they could do so by stressing the benefits to the seller (Chicago) and not the buyer (the IOC). And to top it off, they committed the faux pas of talking too much about the sales force (themselves) and not about the product or the buyer. "

Hollywood's rally around admitted rapist Roman Polanski has resurrected the limousine liberal, reminding much of middle America why they hate the left

Daily Beast "Like their forebears, today’s limousine liberals display a very special brand of class-conscious hypocrisy. These people would never rally around an admitted child rapist—unless that admitted child rapist made great films, won prestigious awards, and went to the same dinner parties they like to attend." h/t to Hot Air

Video: And now, an important message from non-celebrities on ObamaCare

Hot Air "Meanwhile, Will Ferrell’s comedy collaborator Adam McKay has responded to arguments that he should pony up some of his vast fortune to buy poor people health insurance if he’s that concerned about it by calling them “sub-moronic” and then staying very, very quiet."

Reply to Andy McCarthy

By Max Boot "McChrystal’s strategy is the only way to achieve this goal, as the past eight years should have proven. During those years, we did not pursue a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan. We focused on killing bad guys—something that McCarthy presumably approves of. The result has been that the Taliban are seizing control of large parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan. What experience teaches—most recently the experience of Iraq—is that only by placing troops among the population can we prevent safe havens for terrorists from emerging."

Obama's Olympic Failure Will Test the Washington Press Corps

by Fred Barnes "The Washington press corps will never fault Obama for pushing hyper-liberal policies in a moderate-to-conservative country. Ideological criticism by the press is reserved for Republican presidents. But the media is faced with three facts as a result of Obama’s embarrassing failure in Copenhagen. 1) The failure itself. 2) The incompetence. 3) The lack of persuasive ability. There’s nothing ideological about any of these items."