Obama Just Found Media’s Limit

Commentary Magazine  "At the Washington Post, James Downie reviews the minor kerfuffle blow by blow, and can’t quite believe what he’s seeing:"

•If the White House has spent months working to appear above the partisan fray – as they insist they have – then pulling a blatantly partisan stunt like this torpedoes all of that PR work.

•Pretending the timing was a coincidence has backfired with the press and pundits. Did the White House really think, when it sent Jay Carney to his press briefing, that people would swallow his line that the timing was “coincidental”?

•In the aftermath of the announcement, the narrative of the afternoon on cable news ran in part that the White House had not cleared the date with the speaker, with some outlets suggesting that Boehner’s office had only been given 15 minutes notice. If true, the White House was disrespectful and should rightly be admonished.

Krauthammer: Let’s face it, Boehner should have let Obama speak on the night of the GOP debate  "Simple logic: When your opponent’s in the process of making a mistake, get out of his way. Krauthammer’s theory is that letting The One address Congress that night would have made him look petty (or rather, pettier than usual) while setting up the GOP field for a sweet Obama pile-on at the debate immediately afterwards."

Shelby Steele: Obama and the Burden of Exceptionalism   "Post-'60s liberals, with the president as their standard bearer, seek to make a virtue of decline."

"But then again, the American people did elect him. Clearly Americans were looking for a new kind of exceptionalism in him (a black president would show America to have achieved near perfect social mobility). But were they also looking for—in Mr. Obama—an assault on America’s bedrock exceptionalism of military, economic and cultural pre-eminence?"

The global warming debate

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

Proof that Al Gore is right about global warming!

"The south polar ice cap of Mars is receding, revealing frosty mountains, rifts and curious dark spots."

Actual proof!

Where are the 2.5 Million Jobs, Mr. President?

Karin McQuillan  "We sat down together at the internet and did a Google search, 'stimulus job creation.'

"We found out where the number 2.5 million jobs' created or saved' comes from. It comes from a formula. The formula comes from a theory. The formula says that for every dollar the government spends, 1.5 dollars' worth of economic activity is generated, and presto, jobs come out. The economic geniuses working for Obama want us to believe that by definition, since they spent almost a trillion dollars in 'stimulus', they automatically created 2.4 million jobs. This is called the multiplier effect. "

....

"The 2.5 million jobs are invisible because they don't exist. The suffering of my relatives and friends and that of 25 million unemployed Americans is real, and increasingly desperate. It's time to follow the success in job creation of Republican states such as Wisconsin and Texas, and drop the unsuccessful ideas of this wastrel White House. Please, Mr. President, we can't afford another 2.5 million of your phoney jobs."

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

Life under Democrats: Food Regulators Out of Control

Heritage  "First Lady Michelle Obama’s obsession with “childhood obesity” has bothered many since it began two years ago, especially those who think that White House nagging of parents should be reserved for more pressing issues. Now it is getting more serious, with food regulators starting to infringe on the free speech rights of advertisers."....

"As Katz wrote, “Nutritional staples such as Cheerios, peanut butter, and yogurt are verboten under the proposed standards, which effectively constitute a government-regulated grocery list.”

"The regulations hit traditional favorites where it hurts. In turn, the free market and consumer choice is manipulated to fit a misplaced government agenda that doesn’t solve the problem."

President Obama’s Regulatory Dust-Up

                          More on this at Bloviating Zeppelin

Obama’s Tour of Denial and Blame   "It’s being billed as a listening tour—a three-state journey across the Midwest where President Barack Obama will hear directly from Americans about the economy and talk about his ideas for job growth. Instead, though, it has the characteristics of a political campaign swing, and the rhetoric the President has brought along for the ride is marked by a desperate effort to blame someone other than himself for America’s economic woes."

Regulatory Cost Battle Flares Anew Between Obama, House GOP  "In fact, a tally of regulatory cost ranges identified by Obama has a high-end total of $105 billion for four rules administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, and another $5 billion for regulations that would be administered by the Department of Transportation. The most expensive regulation on Obama’s list, dealing with health hazards from smog, is estimated to cost the economy between $19 billion and $90 billion."

Why Al Qaeda is Unlikely to Execute Another 9/11

STRATFOR  "It must be remembered that simple terrorist attacks are relatively easy to conduct, especially if the assailant is not concerned about escaping after the attack. As jihadist groups such as AQAP have noted in their online propaganda, a determined person can conduct attacks using a variety of simple weapons, from a pickup truck to a knife, axe or gun. Jihadist ideologues have repeatedly praised Nidal Hassan and have pointed out that jihadists operating with modest expectations and acting within the scope of their training and capability can do far more damage than operatives who try to conduct big, ambitious attacks that they lack the basic skills to complete."

But whatever terrorists do, there will be many who will insist the US government was actually the cause of it.

'Al-Qaeda jihadist animation targets children' 

 "The cartoon was posted on al-Shamouk, a genuine al-Qaeda-linked Web forum. But, Kohlmann and others note, it didn’t come through the official media arm of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. "It didn’t even come from a well-known figure within the group.

Forums like Shamouk are basically huge bulletin boards, making it relatively easy for anyone to contribute."

....

"Raisman said they’re pleased that the cartoon has inspired fears about the recruitment of children. 

"They are also probably quite happy for the publicity."

Doesn't this poster make you want to blow up an airplane?

Iran: how serious the threat?

Maseh Zarif : Al Qaeda's Safe Haven in Iran

"The coexistence of these various networks in Iran may be creating safe haven for terrorists not unlike the militant sanctuary in Pakistan."

Iran's Strategic Offensive in Iraq  "In recent months, the Iranian regime has reinvigorated its use of hard and soft power tactics in Iraq as a means to undermine the American presence in Iraq and exert greater influence over the Iraqi government’s policies. Through its actions Iran is demonstrating that it is willing and capable of both exploiting the Iraqi state and killing Americans. "

Andrew C. McCarthy : Iran Is at War with Us  "If we’re not in it to win it — for victory, not for tilting at windmills — we should come home. But regardless of what we do, what was true in 1983, when Hezbollah bombed our Marines, remains true today: Iran is at war with us, whether we choose to engage or not. If we are not going to win, we are going to lose. Happy talk about democracy and springtime won’t obscure the fact that there is no middle ground."

The deadly threats of Hizbullah and Iran  "WE have the patience needed to destroy the Jews and spread Islam throughout the world,” one Iranian Islamic fundamentalist said recently. “After all, we have been weaving carpets for thousands of years. The decadent West doesn’t understand what patience is.”

Tom Gross Media

Many in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad wonder what Obama's vision for Iraq is. "Still, the Iranian ambassador in Baghdad remains very active, and the Americans refuse to meet with him -- a surprising change given the meetings that took place under the Bush administration."

Tehran pulls strings of Gaza missile war through proxy Jihad Islami  "Tehran managed to transfer to its Palestinian arm in Gaza, the Jihad Islami, more than 10,000 missiles well in advance of the violence launched three days ago. Most of them are heavy Grads bringing Beersheba, capital of the Negev and Israel's 7th largest town (pop. 200,000), within their 30-kilometer range for a sustained, massive missile offensive."

Jihad Watch:  Iran preparing nuke strike on U.S.?  "“The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”...."

Wind power; America's future

http://terrellaftermath.com/

California bill would require parents pay workers comp to babysitters. Authored by a Democrat

Rick Moran  "The Feds have already cracked down on evil garage sales. Municipalities have outlawed lemonade stands. And now, we can imagine empowering that 18 year old girl who babysits your kids to sue you if you don't pay minimum wage, overtime, or vacation.

"The never ending stupidity of government at every level never ceases to amaze us."

From the comments to this post:

"Californians get what they voted for. I have a hard time feeling sorry for them. show more show less

and...

"Californian liberal legislators are well on their way to achieving their Going Out of Business Plan. In fact, one could argue they are way ahead of schedule. I'm sure sensible neighboring States such as Arizona, Utah, Texas etc. will welcome the personal and corporate emigres and the prosperity they bring with open arms. In spite of their pathetic fiscal situation, these legislators keeping digging their hole deeper.  I am truly sad to read about all the moronic mismanagement of this once proud and beautiful State."

Who is this man?

If you think you know, enter your guess in the comments below the post.

In a previous post, the man pictured here...

                                                                                                                is none other than Gabby Hayes.

                                                                                                             (At link, scroll down)

Half of U.S. Muslims Want More Condemnation of Extremism; Wow! This is great news! Er, wait a minute here...half?

Fotosearch

Commentary Magazine  "With the recent controversy over Rep. Peter King’s radicalization hearings, it was interesting to see Muslim Americans have the same misgivings about Muslim community leaders  that the congressman does. Nearly half – 48 percent – say Muslim leaders haven’t done enough to speak out against Islamic extremists. And that number is even higher among women and American-born Muslims:"...

....

 "And the most prominent Muslim American group, Council on American Muslim Relations, has become so politically toxic in recent years that its influence has really been waning. It seems like there’s a major opening here for a new Muslim American group that’s more invested in (and more vocal about) combating extremism and radicalization, while still fighting to protect Muslim civil rights and political interests."

Two Major Examples of Why We Can’t Trust the Mainstream Media

Ron Radosh , "Two Examples..." Quoting from "American Theocracy Revisited" by Ross Douthat:

If you didn’t spend the Jeremiah Wright controversy searching works of black liberation theology for inflammatory evidence of what Obama “really” believed, you probably shouldn’t obsess over the supposed links between Rick Perry and R. J. Rushdoony, the Christian Reconstructionist guru

"Both subjects of my blog today make it more than clear: we can no longer trust a great deal that appears in the mainstream media."  More on this here.

NYT Shocker: 'MSNBC Is Less a News Provider Than a Carousel of Liberal Opinion'  "When one of the nation's most liberal papers thinks the nation's most liberal cable news network is too biased, the owners of said network should sit up and take notice."

Politico’s ‘Is Rick Perry Dumb?’ Hit Piece Is Just a Taste of What’s Coming in 2012  "Desperate to change the subject from Obama’s default socialism, Jonathan Martin at Politico stepped in and did something that can only be described as morally obscene — he published oppo-research against this private citizen (who eventually came to be known as Joe the Plumber).

"So what does this have to do with Politico’s Rick Perry hit-piece?"

Related: Operation Destroy Joe the Plumber   From 2008; never forget!  " Welcome to Joe the Plumber Derangement Syndrome. If you can’t beat him, smear him. It’s the Obama way."

Verum Serum has this: How the Media Handles “You lie” vs. You Lynch  "Here we are two years later and the shoe is on the other foot. In audio that was brought to wider attention by Naked Emperor News, Rep. Carson accuses Tea Party members of Congress of wanting to see blacks “hanging on a tree.” There’s no need to hear any phantom words this time. The race-baiting is as plain as it could be."

Destroying America's Moral Fiber

Warning Signs

"This is occurring as America witnesses the most gay-friendly administration in its history. The appointment by President Obama of Kevin Jennings to a position in the Department of Education is an example. Jennings helped introduce Bill 4530 in Congress that would require the normalization of homosexuality, transgenderism, cross-dressing and other behaviors into the curriculums of schools from coast to coast. California has introduced legislation mandating such views in its schools."

....

"The nation’s economic problems can be fixed and we can ensure a strong defense, but the moral rot that is occurring with every passing day will destroy America from within more surely than any external enemy could hope for. "  Alan Caruba