Obama, Geithner Hold All the Face Cards in Debt Ceiling Fight

Jazz Shaw  "The president could also reduce checks or simply fail to pay any number of defense contractors for work already performed or scheduled. This would hit a lot of major Republican donors, not to mention potentially leading to layoffs in that industry for lack of work. And once again, Jay Carney will be out on the White House lawn every day at noon with his big, sad puppy dog eyes detailing how it’s all the fault of the GOP.

"Next up we find a clever way to get the seniors out in the streets. As previously noted, Obama would obviously send out all of the Social Security checks, but he doesn’t have to pay everything associated with Medicare."

I think we can all be sure all cuts will be designed to make Republicans look bad and most people will buy into it.  Conservatives should begin now to inoculate public opinion against this, but that would require a press that was objective, wouldn't it?

Norway: Lessons from a Successful Lone Wolf Attacker

STRATFOR  "While Breivik’s manifesto indicated he planned and executed the attack as a lone wolf, it also suggests that he is part of a larger organization that he calls the [Knights Templar], which seeks to encourage other lone wolves ... and small cells in other parts of Europe to carry out a plan to “save” Europe and European culture from destruction.

"Because of the possibility that there are other self-appointed Justiciar Knights in Norway or in other parts of Europe and that Breivik’s actions, ideology and manifesto could spawn copycats, we thought it useful to examine the Justiciar Knights concept as Breivik explains it to see how it fits into lone wolf theory and how similar actors might be detected in the future."

You knew this was coming didn't you?  Google  Justiciar Knights and the left-leaning search engine will direct you to at least one to the JN as the equivalent of the TEA Party, such as here.

Other perspectives here and here.The following quote is from the latter:

To facilitate the new Crusades, Breivik and a group of others refounded the Knights Templar in April 2002. On page 817 of his tome, he notes that the 12 founding members included an “English Christian atheist,” a “German Christian atheist,” a “Russian Christian atheist,” a “Dutch Christian agnostic,” and three people with no religious description. That is, seven of the 12 founders do not feign any religion whatsoever.

While the TW attempts to diligently warn of the dangers inherent in socialism, liberalism and Islam, in the final analysis it is the God of Creation who puts "hooks into the jaws" of nations to bring about His purposes, no matter what we do.

Birthdays, Peaceful Protests and Code Pink Loonies

Big Peace  "One of the distinguished people I have met through my travels supporting the troops has been Ambassador Bolton. I saw him walking down the sidewalk and went over to say hello. We chatted for a few minutes and then he was on his way."

"As I went to pick up my sign, I noticed Medea Benjamin and her Code pink Cronies approaching Ambassador Bolton. This couldn’t be good I thought to myself. She introduced herself and it wasn’t long before she started her rant."

....

"They had their bullhorn with them and they started ranting about Ambassador Bolton being a war criminal. Criminal … These are the same despots who gave $600,000.00 to the terrorists in Fallujah, and they have the audacity to accuse Bolton of a crime.....

"I went up to him and put the two signs I had between Bolton and the Code Pink loonies, sheltering him from these vile and despicable individuals. Soon Bev Perlson from the Band of Mothers, and Chad Longel a longtime supporter and Army Vet did the same protecting Bolton from the antics of these attention seeking hippies who hate our military."

....

"Bolton continued to thank us, over and over, for standing with him until his ride arrived. He was stunned at how wacko these pathetic individuals were."

Posted by Debbie Lee  On Aug 2, 2006 she received a knock on the door that would forever change her life. She was notified that her son Marc Alan Lee had been killed in action becoming the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. Since that day Debbie has dedicated her life to honoring our troops and the families of the fallen, defending our defenders and fighting to keep the freedoms that our troops have fought for.

Comment in this post from one of the Patriot Guard Riders.

Great job! I am a Patriot Guard Rider and have encountered a few of these cowards. Fortunately I am 6'4" and weigh 225 lbs. My presence cuts down a lot of useless conversation often without a word being spoken. Of course the leathers help as does the motorcycle I ride complete with dual exhaust off a big two cylinder motor with headers. No match for their bullhorn. Wish I could have been there to cover your "6". Sounds like your friend did a fine job.

You rock, Debbie. Thanks for your Patriotism and the sacrifice of your hero son. Keep the faith.     

                                             Below: Patriot Guard Riders logo

And you rock too, Riders. God bless you all. TD

Europeans Losing Patience with Washington Gridlock

Big Peace  "European leaders have long expressed confidence that the US would find a resolution to its ongoing debt impasse. But now there is growing concern that it won’t, according to Spiegel. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble says, “Everyone in the US should be aware of their responsibility for the global financial markets.” "

Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble in June (AP)

The Protocols of the Elders of Liberalism

American Thinker  "So now Geert Wilders, Marine Le Pen, Newt Gingrich, Peter King are all the equivalent of Breivik and Osama Bin Laden; monsters itching to kill! kill! kill! Subhuman brutes on the verge of genocide. And any attempt to defend ourselves is an act of aggression against a harmless people who just happen to cut off heads, blow up pizza parlors and airplanes, etc. No! The real villains are those E-VIL right wingers who say "you will not destroy us".

"We have seen this in liberals at least since the assassination of John Kennedy; Lee Harvey Oswald was a communist, yet liberals have invented all manner of conspiracy theories pinning his murder on the Right. Yet when John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan it was a disturbed man to the media. We've had Timothy McVeigh pinned on Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio, yet Major Hassan's little Allah Akbar! moment was said to have nothing to do with radical Islam."

New York Times Downplays Muslim Fort Hood Terror Plotter

"The New York Times downplayed the arrest of an AWOL Muslim soldier charged in connection with a plot to attack Fort Hood soldiers. The newspaper all but ignored the role Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo’s religious faith may have played in the alleged plot.

"Abdo was arrested in Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood. He was found with weapons, explosive, and jihadist materials. Sources said he was attempting to purchase more weapons at the same gun store where Maj. Nidal Hasan purchased weapons allegedly used to gun down 13 people and would 30 others in a 2009 terrorist attack at the military base."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/garyvarvel

Speaker Boehner, Please Stop Saying 'How High?'

Sara Goss  "Speaker Boehner: please stop trying to draft any further legislation. Change two words in the Cut Cap and Balance bill and re-send it to the Senate. Then dismiss the House members and tell them that you'll call them back when the Senate has submitted a response for consideration. Period. And make sure that every single Republican emphasizes that they have done their job and the Senate Democrats have not. They still haven't put anything in writing! Shout that from the rooftops! Stop playing nice and start saying it like it is."

Boehner's credibility gap  "There's perhaps a not-so-nagging suspicion among grassroots conservatives that even if the GOP captures Congress and the White House in 2012, the sort of far-reaching, fundamental reform that the nation needs will not be realized, much less seriously attempted. Washington's GOP leaders would no doubt make honest efforts to fix big government - straighten out the books, so to speak. But engaging in historic reforms that dramatically shrink the national government, sun-setting its authority in many areas and returning much authority to the states - the confidence among conservatives is lacking."

....

"How -- or if -- Speaker Boehner repairs his credibility problem with conservatives is a very good question, indeed."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/michaelramirez

Kerby Anderson: Cultural Captivity

Probe Ministries  "This is our challenge in the twenty-first century. American Christians cannot merely look at Christians in other countries and shake their heads about their captivity to their particular cultural values. We too must be aware of culture captivity in our midst and “see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception” (Colossians 2:8). We have been assimilated into the American culture and should “not be conformed to this world” but instead should be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2)."

Kerby Anderson is National Director of Probe Ministries International.

Ideals vs. Realities; Point/ Counterpoint (updated)

Thomas Sowell  "Now that the Republicans seem to have gotten the Democrats off their higher taxes kick, the question is whether a minority of the House Republicans will refuse to pass the Boehner legislation that could lead to a deal that will spare the country a major economic disruption and spare the Republicans from losing the 2012 elections by being blamed - rightly or wrongly - for the disruptions.

"Is the Boehner legislation the best legislation possible? Of course not! You don't get your heart's desire when you control only one house of Congress and face a presidential veto."

We've Been Played for Saps, Folks: Boehner Bill Will Become Reid Bill   "There's no Obama bill. There's nothing set down on paper. So the Reid bill will become the Obama bill. The Boehner plan will become the Obama plan. I think that's the trap. And, of course, the establishment, Republicans are all gung ho. "Gotta get this done. It's the best we can get." Because they're telling themselves there aren't any tax increases in it, and there aren't. There aren't any tax increases in the Boehner bill. And there are spending cuts and there are caps, but what happens when that goes over to the Senate and Reid says, "You know what, I like some of this and I don't like that. Let's take some of this out and put some of this in," and gets his votes for it and the Boehner bill becomes something unrecognizable, then goes back to the House, what are they going to do? They've already passed the Boehner bill under the guise that we can't wait any longer, that AAA credit rating is in jeopardy, all this rotgut BS." Rush Limbaugh

Demagoguery exemplified:  That Daily Caller article  referred to by Rush.

Andy McCarthy: Against the Boehner Plan "Ask any rational person: “When a government is so addicted to reckless spending that it has run up a crushing $14.3 trillion debt that it has no plan to pay back — when it is borrowing $180 million per hour because it has taken on more obligations than it could ever hope to satisfy — would it be better to extend that government’s credit line another $2.5 trillion so it can continue heedlessly along, or to take every available opportunity to force it to alter course dramatically?” There is only one right answer to that question."

  Charles Krauthammer: The great divide   "I have every sympathy with the conservative counterrevolutionaries. Their containment of the Obama experiment has been remarkable. But reversal — rollback, in Cold War parlance — is simply not achievable until conservatives receive a mandate to govern from the White House."

Raging Elephants; G.O.P. is the New Black

Email to Tunnel Dweller from friends in the DFW area with the enclosed commentary about this man:

Claver

J----, S----- and I attended a tea party meeting last night and wanted to share with you. The man speaking was a young black named Apostle Claver (don’t let the name bother you). He is a strong conservative Christian who is trying to reach out to blacks and turn them Republican (conservative). His message was strong—the Republicans have lost the black vote and although many blacks live their lives as conservatives, they continue over and over to vote Democrat. I wish I could give you his message as to why they continue to do that, but perhaps if you go to his site and listen to some of his speeches you’ll find out. He contends that our nation is (what he calls) turning brown and in 25 years, the white people will be the minority. He contends that if conservatives don’t capture a percentage of the black vote, we’re in danger of losing our conservative movement in elections. He gave us a lesson on how our demographics and trends have changed over the past few years and it was scary. ...

The site: RagingElephants.org

Some articles in this site from July 28th:

Texas Dems Favor Taxpayer-funded Homosexual Education  July 18, 2011

Boehner Close to Enough Votes to Pass House Debt Bill  July 28, 2011

3 ways Obama could bypass Congress  July 28, 2011

Obama ‘Unpresidential,’ ‘Petulant’ ‘Dividing Us’: Langone  July 28, 2011

Obama's Iraq Abdication

MARISA COCHRANE SULLIVAN   "Upon taking office in 2009, President Obama inherited a winning hand in Iraq—and yet his administration has played it like a losing one. I recently returned from three weeks in that country, where I had dozens of meetings with Iraqi officials from across the political spectrum. They agreed on very little, except that the Obama administration is dangerously disengaged from the situation in their country.

""U.S. influence is waning," one senior official told me glumly. "Iran and Turkey now have more influence and they are taking advantage of what the U.S. has sacrificed for in Iraq." Another prominent leader joked that Iraq must have disappeared from every White House map."

....

"Failing to sign a new U.S.-Iraqi security agreement would redound to Iran's great benefit. The Obama administration has a fleeting opportunity that it cannot afford to squander." Article

www.comicallyincorrect.com

The only adult in the room

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/ericallie

Obama an easy mark on debt ceiling  "“Vintage Obama!” rejoiced Democrats. “I, for one, am happy with a president who is seemingly the last adult in the room,” read a letter to The New York Times. Obama, the thinking went, was following the wisdom of Kenny Rogers: He knew “when to fold ‘em.”

"The problem is that Obama tipped his hand. His professed unwillingness to see hostages harmed — even when polls showed public support for his position — told Boehner that all he needed to do was raise the stakes and Obama would concede."