Decline Is a Choice

by Charles Krauthammer "Nothing is inevitable. Nothing is written. For America today, decline is not a condition. Decline is a choice. Two decades into the unipolar world that came about with the fall of the Soviet Union, America is in the position of deciding whether to abdicate or retain its dominance. Decline--or continued ascendancy--is in our hands." ...."There are things to be done. Resist retreat as a matter of strategy and principle. And provide the means to continue our dominant role in the world by keeping our economic house in order." h/t to The Weekly Standard

Obama, Afghanistan, and the Nobel Peace Prize

American Thinker "The award is a not so veiled attempt to make it psychologically impossible for Obama to now send 40 thousand more American troops to Afghanistan. To do so would be to spit in the face of his most adoring audience in his favorite venue, the vague and undefined world stage."...."And if General McChrystal does not get what he has requested, the lives of the very folks putting it on the line for freedom's sake are in even greater danger. The Nobel Committee's pathetic gesture today has literally endangered American lives in the near and distant future if they are successful in shaming Obama into not supporting the General's plan. " (emphasis mine)

Baucus Bill Would Cost More than $2 Trillion

CATO "Sen. Max Baucus’s (D-MT) health care overhaul would cost more than $2 trillion. It would expand the deficit. But he has carefully and methodically hidden those facts – so well that he has completely hoodwinked nearly all the major media."

Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize to mixed reviews

Reuters "While the decision won praise from statesmen like Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev, both former Nobel laureates, it was also attacked in some quarters as hasty and undeserved." Analysis: He won, but for what? "The Nobel committee, it seems, had the audacity to hope that he'll eventually produce a record worthy of its prize." Comment: absurd decision on Obama makes a mockery of the Nobel peace prize. "The achievements of all previous winners have been diminished." President Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize (updated) "Even Obama sycophants like NBC's David Gregory are gobsmacked by this ridiculous choice. How much of a backlash will there be?"

America, You've Been Punk'd

By Pedro Primavera "But you should have known better. Chicago has a long and storied run of thoroughly corrupt political bosses giving envy to any third-world dictator. Barack Obama also ran around with loony-tune communists and wild-eyed radicals including his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who makes the loosest of cannons seem laser-guided. Then he tells us absolutely nothing about himself other than what is in his -- not one but two -- autobiographies."

Key Democrats align with military on buildup

Washington Times "The Democratic chairmen of several key committees overseeing war policy, including the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, say they back the military's request for a troop buildup in Afghanistan - despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's stance that Congress will not support deploying more U.S. forces."

Civilian, Military Officials at Odds Over Resources Needed for Afghan Mission

WaPo "Everyone, save Vice President Biden's national security adviser, agreed that the United States needed to mount a comprehensive counterinsurgency mission to defeat the Taliban. That conclusion, which was later endorsed by the president and members of his national security team, would become the first in a set of recommendations contained in an administration white paper outlining what Obama called "a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan." Preventing al-Qaeda's return to Afghanistan, the document stated, would require "executing and resourcing an integrated civilian-military counterinsurgency strategy.""

Guru America

By Victor Davis Hanson "The rebuff of the well-received rock star Obama was a minor affair. But the snub was emblematic of all sorts of larger problems with America's new therapeutic foreign policy."

CHARLIE RANGEL GETS A PASS

Boortz "We have a tax cheat writing our tax laws. That's right ... Charlie Rangel is a tax evader. A tax cheat. And yet the Democrats successfully killed a resolution that would have removed him as Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee. Remember, only Republicans can be corrupt. Democrats? Theirs is a culture of caring ... right?"

Obama's 'safe schools' chief praised child-sex promoter

WND "A transcript from a 1997 speech shows Office of Safe Schools chief Kevin Jennings in the U.S. Department of Education expressed his admiration for Harry Hay, one of the nation's first homosexual activists who launched the Mattachine Society in 1948, founded the Radical Faeries and was a longtime advocate for the North American Man-Boy Love Association, NAMBLA."

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

Townhall

Change and Hope

by Victor Davis Hanson "What do most want? Not necessarily a Republican or Democrat, or at this 11th hour to be mired in messy issues like gay marriage ...but rather fundamental matters of finance, investment, and defense. Here are ten random suggestions; ..."