Will foreign policy be a campaign issue in 2012?

It was with Neville Chamberlain; who remembers him for sound economic policies in Britain during the 1930's? Or is he remembered for selling out his ally to appease an evil dictator?

Obama Administration’s Eyes Are Closed on Completely Predictable Middle East Crises  "President Barack Obama’s determination not to give headaches to America’s enemies guarantees that he brings them onto U.S. interests. Here are examples happening right now and certain to blow up before the November 2012 elections."

....

"...a time bomb is going to go off in late September or October when the Obama administration vetoes the Palestinian bid and all hell breaks loose as Muslims and Arabs proclaim that Obama is worse than his predecessor! All the president’s apologies and all the president’s courting won’t put his (alleged) popularity together again.

"Indeed, Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader who started the bloody 2000 intifadah, is warning that a U.S. veto would be an act of “terrorism” that would wreck Palestinian relations with the United States. All that money and diplomatic support doesn’t count. Unless you do 100 percent of what they want — very detrimental to U.S. interests–it amounts to zero percent in their eyes. And he is openly threatening anti-American terrorism." Barry Rubin

Success Against al Qaeda Depends on Success in Afghanistan  "Simply put, if the U.S. abandons the mission in Afghanistan before achieving the objectives President Obama announced at West Point, the “counter-terrorism” operations in Pakistan will also fail."

about.com/

How the GOP should attack Obama's foreign policy in 2012  "But it is not too early to begin thinking about how they should be distinguishing themselves from President Obama. Herewith a few foreign policy themes that GOP presidential candidates should consider highlighting as challenges to the Obama administration:"....

Diminished American power....

Declining American leadership....

Politics trumping policy....

Deferring problems....

Flailing on free trade....

"GOP candidates should offer agreement where agreement is merited, since as the above points show, there is plenty else to disagree with."

Russia in talks to build more nuclear plants in Iran: report

How Budget Cuts Will Limit the United States’ Global Role "The recent deal over the debt ceiling guarantees that the U.S. government will reduce its spending on foreign policy, which will force America to scale down its ambitions abroad."

The EPA- here it comes!

Getting ready for a wave of coal-plant shutdowns  "The regulations, they say, will cost utilities up to $129 billion and force them to retire one-fifth of coal capacity. Given that coal provides 45 percent of the country’s power, that means higher electric bills, more blackouts and fewer jobs. The doomsday scenario has alarmed Republicans in the House, who have been scrambling to block the measures. Environmental groups retort that the rules will bring sizeable public health benefits, and that industry groups have been exaggerating the costs of environmental regulations since they were first created."  Check out this timeline.

But how will we be able to charge up our Chevy Volts?

Tunnel Dweller's hometown of Garibaldi, Oregon before the EPA struck

The Garibaldi mill today.

Energy prices on rise.

Utilities warn of higher rates because of pollution rules  "The new rule has been in development for several years but the first phase of compliance hits utilities in 2012. WPS said it won't have time to install pollution controls by next year at its plants, but will be able to comply by purchasing credits from other utilities that have cut emissions."

Via Drudge

States Start Realizing that the Obama EPA is Threatening Their Economies (Update: Texas Hits Peak Demand)  "I’ve written quite a bit about the Obama EPA’s regulatory assault on Texas, mainly because I happen to live in Texas. The fact is, the EPA is chipping away at 26 states and their economies via the cross-state rule and the Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule. The MACT rule alone could force enough power plant shutdowns to cost 30 to 70 gigawatts of power (one gigawatt powers about 750.000 homes). Some of the targeted states are starting to wake up to the threat: rate hikes, lost power production leading to outages, lost jobs, worse economies. Here’s a sample of reaction in states beyond the Lone Star."

Alan Caruba: Black America's Gains and Losses

Warning Signs  "As a general observation, blacks in America have chosen to ignore the gains in legally protected civil rights equality.

"By most indices the black community has not changed. In U.S. cities they remain ghettoized, as much from choice, as external circumstances. Instead of moving forward, integrating and assimilating into the larger white population; blacks have emotionally remained apart, nurturing a sense of being victims, holding onto an animus for whites."

....

The Congressional Black Caucus

"When whites became aware of Obama’s preacher, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, saying “God damn America”, they had to actively ignore the fact that Obama had spent many years in his church, that Wright had married him and Michelle, and baptized their children. Theirs was no casual relationship, nor were others from any earlier point in his life such as the Communist Party member, Frank Marshall Davis, who advised young Barack that his white grandmother had a right to be scared of blacks because “She understands that black people have a reason to hate.” " 

Powerful article and a subject addressed in the sidebar to the right on this blog.

Courage in Hollywood: Angie Harmon

whatscookintoday

Townhall  "Hollywood A-list actress and longtime “Law and Order” star Angie Harmon  caused a bit of a stir recently when she made the following comments about our new president: “If I have anything to say against Obama, it’s not because I’m a racist, it’s because I don’t like what he’s doing as president, and anybody should be able to feel that way. But what I find now is that if you say anything against him, you’re called a racist.”

"But Harmon’s brazen outburst of political incorrectness was just getting started."...

For Angie Harmon, her family is her 'badge of honor'  "One of her L.A. obstacles, she says, has been finding a church to connect with. And then there's Harmon's conservative politics. "The thing that is interesting about being pigeonholed in your political party is that everyone thinks, 'Oh, you're a Republican; that means you're intolerant.' And no, I think we're down the middle," says Harmon, speaking for herself and Sehorn."

More here:

• Angie Harmon Defends Bristol Palin's Pregnancy, Says GOP Is More Understanding
• Angie Harmon: A Conservative Voice from Hollywood

Be advised that when speaking to liberals about Harmon, they will point out that she has done nude photo shots for upscale magazines. Just keeping you from getting ambushed with that and I can't explain it; it's something all celebrities seem to feel they can do.

Outrage! Obama’s Latest Perfidy.

Skip MacLure  "Barack Hussein Obama needs these alien votes. Let’s be quite clear about this. Maobama cannot win re-election in 2012 on the merits of his performance or his policies, every single one of which has been, and is, an absolute disaster. He and his DeMarxists need that infusion of illegal voters."

I must have missed the C-Span debate on this.

Facebook Removed Jan Brewer Post Criticizing Obama’s New Immigration Policies  "Barack Obama announced this week that his administration would not enforce the current immigration laws. Just last month Obama admitted he did not have the authority to make such a decision.

"Jan Brewer later posted on Obama’s actions but Facebook removed the post. KFYI reported:"...

Obama’s Constitution Trampling Rages On: Nine Impeachment-Worthy Acts  "One thing we know today is, the Democrat party is not your Mamma’s Democrat party. If the current Democrat Congress had an ounce of integrity, the House would be impeaching Barack Obama and the Senate would be convicting him. But today’s Democrat is willing to let Obama unconstitutionally bypass them. There is no way Republicans can stop it, but they could at least try – and make a hell of a lot of noise doing it. Congress has abdicated their duty and violated their oath of office, just as Obama has violated the Constitution to which he swore."

 

Conspiracy Theory: The Curious Case of the Obama-Osama Movie

PJ Lifestyle  " "There is every reason to believe that this Administration is pressuring legitimate arms of the government to assist popular culture in the making of a propaganda film." --Lionel Chetwynd"

directorblue.blogspot.com

King requests investigation of ‘administration-sanctioned’ film on classified bin Laden raid

“Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated that ‘Too many people in too many places are talking too much about this operation, and when so much detail is available it makes that both more difficult and riskier’ for such missions in the future.”

Catholic Charities in IL loses foster care contracts

Rick Moran  "The state of Illinois is about to throw the foster care system in chaos because a large provider - Catholic Charities - opposes placing children with same sex couples.

"The 2200 children placed by Catholic Charities will now be transferred to other social welfare agencies. The state says they will try to keep the kids with the same foster parents, but there are no guarantees that this will occur during the transition." ....

"When the welfare of children takes second place to the very small number of gay couples who would actually want to go through Catholic Charities in the first place to become foster partents, you know that things are royally screwed up in Illinois."

We do live in a Democrat-ruled world, do we not?

(Cartoon link fixed) Obama Will Soon Offer Plans to Create Jobs. Conservatives Must Help.

Pajamas Media   "Such cynics as those at PowerLine just don’t have the enlightenment to understand:"

There are, of course, many things the federal government could do that would help the economy, like lightening the regulatory burden and cutting spending. But to acknowledge that would be a repudiation of liberalism, so the administration comes up with a laughable “Department of Jobs” proposal instead. Mostly, at this point, the administration is just hoping for the best.

....

"These novel ideas are all workable and truly bipartisan; they should appeal to libruls and conservatives alike. They are just a start and many more can be proposed. All should be included in President Obama’s BS for our brave new and delightfully green world of abundance for all."

Dan Miller graduated from Yale University in 1963 and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1966. He lives in a rural area in Panama.



http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/

A Politicized Justice Department Strikes Again: DOJ lawyers target a 79-year-old pro-lifer.

Hans A. von Spakovsky  "The Department of Justice is now prosecuting a 79-year-old grandfather. The reason: Richard Retta walks alongside women on the sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood abortion facility and offers women hope that they can carry their babies to term."

While Obama’s Justice Department dismissed a critical voter intimidation case against a radical black revolutionary group, it’s going after a pro life advocate the agency calls one of “the most vocal and aggressive anti-abortion protestors.”

"Ironically, the administration claims that the pro life advocate, a Maryland man named Richard Retta, intimidated and interfered with women seeking abortions in Washington D.C.-area clinics much like members of the New Black Panther Party did to white voters during the 2008 presidential election. The difference is that the Black Panthers, clad in military attire, used weapons, racial insults and profanity to deter voters."

DOJ Special Litigation Section Strikes Out  "Last week Pajamas Media reported on the liberal ideologues hired in the Special Litigation Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. This week provided a good example of how they can force local and state authorities to waste lots of taxpayer dollars and land the Department in a lot of trouble."....

"Flash forward to today. Lareau is one of the Division attorneys who filed a complaint against Erie County, New York, making numerous claims that prisoners in the local county jail were being deprived of constitutional rights.

"Erie County decided to fight DOJ rather than just roll over, which is what too many local jurisdictions do even when they have not done anything wrong."

....

"The Special Litigation Section has a history of bringing unjustified, unwarranted, and frivolous claims.  Considering its most recent hires, that record will probably just get worse."

Tea Partiers, Doing the Job the Media Refuses To Do

Big Journalism  "The media take great pride in being there to protect us, to ask the tough questions, to be the voice of the people. Just watch their promos about themselves. They are constantly pitching their civic minded vigilance while patting themselves on the back so hard as to break their collective arms.

"As it ends up, tea party members have to go out and do their jobs for them."

"Rhodes faced the president straight up and dignified and called him on the carpet. It was a marvelous thing to watch a private citizen stand up and do this. Meantime the media panders, ignores and evades doing its job. My guess is that for the most part they will probably ignore this exchange between the President and Rhodes because — well, because they consider it wrong on so many levels. Rhodes is a tea party “terrorist,” he dared confront Dear Leader, and they know they don’t have the guts or desire to confront Obama as they should.

"If the media had the ability to be embarrassed, it would be."

Betrayed by their Elders — And Their Party; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter needs to look at who really "damaged their own race."

Pajamas Media  "While Mayor Nutter deserves some credit for calling out the teen hoodlums in his midst, it’s hard to take him seriously as someone who really wants to go after the black teen unemployment problem. You see, he has a lot in common with this country’s chief executive.

While Barack Obama was on a three-state bus tour this week in “Greyhound One,” shattering all previous presidential records for whining and excuse-making, Nutter, a deputy mayor, and the city’s water commissioner were on a junket in Rio de Janeiro accompanying Lisa Jackson, who heads Obama’s job-killing Environmental Protection Agency. Their objective: “to listen, learn, and lend their expertise on green development.” Nutter’s ultimate goal: “to make Philadelphia the greenest city in the country.”

Does the green font seem a bit too snide?





Another Day… Another Flash Mobbery…  (Video)  "In the latest incident, 10 women stormed the Shop Express convenience store along Benning Road in northeast Washington at about 3:15 a.m. Thursday.

"They loaded up on food, drinks and snacks at different parts of the store.

"Some of the women were carrying bags to hold some of the items. Then they all rushed out of the store at the same time without paying."

The economy is so bad...

The economy is so bad that:

 I received a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.

Angelina Jolie adopted a child from America.

Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.

A picture is now only worth 200 words.

They renamed Wall Street "Wal-Mart Street".

I called the Suicide Hotline and got a call center in Pakistan. When I mentioned being suicidal, they got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.

Ba-dump-bump. Hat tip to Greg Burtnett, Santa Maria, Ca

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