Obama, Iran and National Defense

NRO: Obama’s Indefensible Cuts; On national security, decline is a choice.  "The president’s remarks, as well those of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, contained much vague talk of a “smarter,” more “agile” military that would “evolve” to find new ways to meet its existing commitments in Europe and the Middle East, along with a reaffirmation — all but offered as consolation — that we will be enlarging our footprint in Asia. But behind the euphemistic vocabulary and the strategic veneer is a simple truth: This is a retreat."


President Obama’s Pentagon cuts are indefensible.  "More important, President Obama doesn’t understand that our military’s role isn’t just fighting wars. It’s providing a strong strategic presence that will influence events in our favor — and away from that of adversaries and rivals."

Saudis, Gulf states on war alert for early US-Iran clash  "America's failure to rise to Iran's challenge will confirm its rulers in the conviction that the US is a paper tiger and encourage them to press their advantage for new gains"   What would Ron Paul do?


Max Boot: A Powerful Case for Force Against Iran  "As a result of the growing danger, Iran is getting closer to what should be “redlines.” Writes Kroening: “If Iran expels IAEA inspectors, begins enriching its stockpiles of uranium to weapons-grade levels of 90 percent, or installs advanced centrifuges at its uranium-enrichment facility in Qom, the United States must strike immediately or forfeit its last opportunity to prevent Iran from joining the nuclear club.” "

The Foreign Policy Initiative: The best hope for deterring Iran is to put the military option front and center, says FPI Executive Director Jamie Fly  Continued Iranian aggression, including the killing of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and even a plot to carry out a terrorist attack on American soil, has gone unanswered. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has vacated Iraq and is reluctant to intervene to oust Iran’s closest ally, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.


American Enterprise Institute  The Iranians Certainly Think They've Won in Iraq  "Lebanese Hezbollah secretary general “Hassan Nasrallah has described the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq as a historic defeat for the U.S. and a true victory for Iraqis. . . . In a televised interview, Nasrallah said on Monday that Iraqis owe this remarkable achievementto the resistance groups, adding that U.S. troops would have stayed in the country if they had felt secure. . . . He also compared U.S. pullout from Iraq to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.” October 25"  More Arab-Iranian quotes offered here as proof...

Media Bias 101: What Journalists Really Think -- and What the Public Thinks About the Media

For you students of Journalism, here is valuable research material for you.


Media Research Center " Over the years, the Media Research Center has catalogued the views of journalists on the subject of bias. In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many journalists still refuse to acknowledge that most of the establishment media tilts to the left. Even so, a number of journalists have admitted that the majority of their brethren approach the news from a liberal angle."


MEDIA BIAS 101.pdf
Part One contents:
Exhibit 1-1: The Media Elite
Exhibit 1-2: Major Newspaper Reporters
Exhibit 1-3: The American Journalist
Exhibit 1-4: U.S. Newspaper Journalists
Exhibit 1-5: Survey of Business Reporters
Exhibit 1-6: Journalists -- Who Are They, Really?
Exhibit 1-7: White House Reporters
Exhibit 1-8: The Media Elite Revisited
Exhibit 1-9: Washington Bureau Chiefs and Correspondents
Exhibit 1-10: Newspaper Journalists of the 1990s
Exhibit 1-11: Newspaper Editors
Exhibit 1-12: The People and the Press: Whose Views Shape the News?
Exhibit 1-13: How Journalists See Journalists in 2004
Exhibit 1-14: Campaign Journalists (2004)
Exhibit 1-15: TV and Newspaper Journalists
Exhibit 1-16: Journalists' Ethics and Attitudes, 2005
Exhibit 1-17: The News Media and the War, 2005
Exhibit 1-18: Slate Magazine Pre-Election Staff Survey


Go here to see the contents of parts two and three.

The Weekend Debates

Neal Boortz:  "Perhaps the only good thing to come out of that absurd question was yet another stellar moment from Newt Gingrich.  As the line of questioning expanded to the issue of gay adoption … again, why is this a pressing issue?? … Newt Gingrich was the only person to really call out the ObamaMedia for their slanted questions.  You can watch the video here, but here’s a transcript of what he had to say."...


Mark Steyn: Debate Night in the Titanic Ballroom  "This country is broke, and the unprecedented scale of its brokeness is an existential threat. Yet, with the exception of Newt’s occasional flashes of contempt for the questioners, everyone else plays along with this absurd game. It’s not merely that the GOP is letting the left frame the contest but that a party willing to dignify this pitiful charade is sending a broader message about the likelihood of its mustering the determination to stand up to a Democrat-media establishment once in office and effect meaningful course correction."

drawfortruth.com

MEDIA BIAS, STAGE TWO  "Scott wrote this morning about the absurdity of Republican debates being moderated by liberal activists like George Stephanopoulos and David Gregory, who, as Scott put it, are “on a mission to take down the candidates by making them appear crazy or by separating them from the base of the Republican Party.” But that is just stage one of the liberal press’s effort to control the presidential election cycle. Stage two comes when Democratic Party activists posing as journalists report on the proceedings.

From now until November, the leading offender likely will be the Associated Press. Today the AP described last night’s debate in November; its account began:"...More...

In NBC GOP Debate, Questions Hit Candidates From Left by 8 to 1 Margin    Early in the debate, moderator David Gregory demanded to know how much "pain" the candidates would inflict upon Americans by cutting spending. Newt Gingrich called out Gregory for the slanted query: "David, you know, I, I find it fascinating that very, very highly paid Washington commentators and Washington analysts love the idea of pain. What – who's going to be in pain? The duty of the president is to find a way to manage the federal government so the primary pain is on changing the bureaucracy."

Speaking of NBC, Al Sharpton (NBC, um, news anchor) weighs in with this. 

NBC has neither shame nor journalistic pride.

The President's Recess Appointments

Heritage:  An Abuse of Power: President Obama’s “Recess” Appointments

"President Obama’s stunning appointments of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and of three more bureaucrats to the National Labor Relations Board has been described by many observers as a serious blow to the Constitution and the separation of powers."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/01/07/95272

This from the Daily Caller:  "Just a thought: Maybe President Obama wants to establish unprecedented power to make “recess” appointments–even when the Senate says it isn’t in recess–because he knows he will need that power to save Obamacare in 2013, even if he wins reelection, should the Republicans take the Senate. There must be all sorts of federal health care boards and agencies that will need staffing–and which maybe couldn’t function very well if the GOP Senate simply refuses to approve any Obama appointees, Cordray style."

Brian Darling: Obama's unconstitutional power grab  "The President has ignored the clear words of the Constitution. As The Heritage Foundation’s Todd Gaziano wrote, “The Constitution, in Article I, section 5, plainly states that neither house of Congress can recess for more than three days without the consent of the other house.” Congress has been in session conducting business every few days."

hopenchangecartoons

Alan Caruba: Barack Machiavelli

Canada Free Press  "We have witnessed and been victimized by a Democrat-controlled Congress that forced Obamacare on an unwilling public. We have seen the rise of Islamic fanaticism as the result of his failed policies toward Iran and the Middle East. We have had record breaking debt imposed on us by his failed “stimulus” policies. We have seen continued efforts to reduce our military power and to thwart access to our ample energy resources of oil, natural gas, and coal.
"It is a long list of usurpations of power that endanger the nation domestically and internationally. Whether it was done out of stupidity or a deliberate effort to harm the nation can be debated, but the most outstanding attribute of Obama has been his continual lying and Machiavelli notes that “the deceiver will always find someone ready to be deceived.”"

Machiavellian: suggesting the principles of conduct laid down by Machiavelli; specifically : marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith

DEFINITION: Machiavellianism*:   "The theory and practice of power politics elaborated from Machiavelli's The Prince: envisaging (1) seizure, maintenance, and extension of absolute power by the nicely graduated use of guile, fraud, force, and terror; (2) control by the ruler of all avenues of communication, thus facilitating the deliberate molding of public opinion; (3) the employment for surveillance and terrorist activities of subordinates who can be disowned and liquidated by the ruler, who thus escapes the blame for their atrocities." 


*How ironic that this site applies the analogy to President George Bush while the term is used by Mr. Caruba for Obama. I'd go with Mr. Caruba's application.

New website about the battlefield of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg Buff    (If that link fails to work, try this one.)
I discovered this site through a Facebook link here.  The Facebook page originates in the UK and is a roundtable for those in Great Britain who are students of the American Civil War, but many of us Yanks like to visit there including Randy Drais, the webmaster of this site. Randy  writes this about his new website:


..."Why? As a descendant of a Union soldier wounded at Gettysburg and fortunate enough to live only 30 miles away from the battlefield during my entire life, I have traversed various areas of the battlefield and town on my own or on "Battle Walks" conducted by National Park Service Rangers over 350 times, and yet I am still able to find new areas and topics to learn about and explore. That then, is the intent of this website --- to help provide you with new areas and topics to learn about and explore !!!
      You will also find more than 900 photographs and over 100 links scattered throughout my website, in addition to a page devoted to listing, in what I think is in an organized fashion, other websites of interest. I will continue to expand this website by adding pages, topics, photographs, and links, as well as updating information and photographs when necessary."


Mr. Drais gives us pictures of the old, ugly Cyclorama building...

...and the new one:

I also found this UK Civil War website very interesting as well.

YES, RON PAUL IS A 9/11 TRUTHER

Right Wing Nuthouse  "Did Paul buy in to 9/11 conspiracy theories? His supporters will no doubt look at the following evidence and, just as Paul intends, spin the information using the most favorable interpretation possible.

But any fair minded person would have to conclude, based on the following, that Paul is a full blown 9/11 truther and despite his denials, is one of the heroes of the Truther movement.

This video from 2007 was taken at a reception for Paul at a private residence where the congressman became engaged in conversation with a man from the organization Student Scholars for 9/11 Truth:"

Being There — the Obama Sequel

PJ Media  "But they do know the president is the president, at least sorta. He photographs well and can be generalizer-in-chief effectively. If he is tired and outsources his policies to others, he still can make recess appointments and do lots of things without congressional scrutiny that will keep the base happy. He is the first African-American president that makes the country proud and can be alleged to make all sorts of closet racists furious. He talks well when teleprompted on the banal and mundane, and now he is dead even in the polls. He can run for reelection in the manner he is now governing — tired, sleepy, mostly quiet, an occasional Skype message to the faithful to remain faithful."
Mr. Hanson here compares Obama to Chance Gardiner, played by Peter Sellers in "Being There". 

Chance (Peter Sellers) is a middle-aged man who lives in the townhouse of a wealthy man in Washington D.C. He seems simple-minded and has lived there his whole life tending the garden. His knowledge is derived entirely from what he sees on television. When his benefactor dies, Chance is forced to leave and discovers the outside world for the first time.

Another example of Obama's naive qualities:  One Year Later: Remember Obama’s Op-Ed on Regulatory Overreach?
"Although Obama appointees and civil service hires are regulating up a storm, one does have to give the EPA special recognition for its job destruction efforts. It has even designated dirt roads as pollution “point sources,” requiring businesses that use them to obtain permits. More paperwork, more bureaucrats, more expense for forestry and agriculture and other businesses. This is hardly the sort of thing one would have predicted if the president meant what he said in that January op-ed."


This man is a disaster and meanwhile, Republicans are destroying each other in the debates.

Rick Santorum: A worthy challenger

wickedlocal.com

Charles Krauthammer  "After every other conservative alternative to Mitt Romney crashed and burned (libertarian Ron Paul is in a category of his own), from the rubble emerges Rick Santorum. But he isn’t just the last man standing. He is the first challenger to be plausibly presidential: knowledgeable, articulate, experienced, of stable character and authentic ideology."

Tonight's debate and the NH Primary on Tuesday

CBS: What to watch in tonight's GOP debate   " Romney will be looking to land punches while also avoiding the sort of gaffe he made last time around, when his offer of a $10,000 betgenerated a torrent of negative headlines. Romney is a good debater but can seem uncomfortable when on the attack; if he can be convincingly aggressive against Gingrich, it will both diminish the frontrunner and help put to rest concerns among some Republicans that he won't take the fight to President Obama in a general election."
....
"The Fox News/Iowa Republican Party debate will take place from 9-11 p.m. Eastern Time. Check back to CBSNews.com during and after the event for our reports on the biggest moments of the night as well as our take on who had a good night - and who didn't."


Romney Headed for Blowout in New Hampshire  "The new polls from New Hampshire all show Mitt Romney headed for a big primary win next Tuesday."

Is it racist to require a photo ID to buy drain cleaner?

THE CITY SQUARE  "CBS reports from Democrat-run Illinois:

CHICAGO (CBS) – A new state law requires those who buy drain cleaners and other caustic substances to provide photo identification and sign a log.

"Republican efforts to require photo ID for voting are labeled as a return to the racist "Jim Crow" era (examples are here, here, andhere) and provoke outrage.   However, don't minorities, the poor, and the elderly need to buy Drano too?  Where is the outrage?"


The Astute Blogger asks us to LET'S MAKE A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED PHOTO ID FOR  

1. TO BUY BEER.
2. TO BUY DRAINO.
3. TO BUY SUDAFED.
4. TO BUY CIGARETTES.
5. TO GET ON A PLANE.
6. TO GET INTO MOST LARGE OFFICE BUILDINGS IN NYC.

Michelle Obama and the Evolution of a First Lady

NY Times " Like many of the president’s supporters, Mrs. Obama was anxious about the gap between her vision of her husband’s presidency and the reality of what he could deliver. Her strains with the advisers were part of a continuing debate over what sort of president Mr. Obama should be, with Mrs. Obama reinforcing his instincts for ambitious but unpopular initiatives like the overhaul of health care and immigration laws, casting herself as a foil to aides more intent on preserving Congressional seats and poll numbers.

"“She does think there are worse things than losing an election,” Susan S. Sher, the first lady’s former chief of staff, said shortly after the 2010 midterm elections. “Being true to yourself, for her, is definitely more important.” Back then, Mrs. Obama sometimes talked about what would happen if her husband lost in 2012. “I know we’ll be fine,” she told Ms. Sher."

From Political Wire: Quote of the Day   "I'm not accepting it. Your punishment is that you have to stay here and get this bill done. I'm not letting you off the hook."

-- President Obama, quoted in Jodi Kantor's The Obamas, not accepting Rahm Emanuel's resignation over a stalled health care reform bill.

Huffington Post: "That revelation is one of the more explosive included in The Obamas, a new book by Jodi Kantor of The New York Times about the first few years of the Obama administration and the strains that it produced on the president's marriage -- strains that were ultimately overcome."

OBAMA AS PHARAOH   "The movie The Ten Commandments came out when I was in elementary school. The Pharaoh would issue edicts and conclude with, “So let it be written. So let it be done.” 

Quoting Michelle Malkin: 

Like Yul Brynner’s Pharaoh Ramses character in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” the demander in chief stands with arms akimbo issuing daily edicts to his constitution-subverting minions with an imperious wave of his hand. His entourage of insatiable usurpers never rests.
Can’t delude legislators into adopting a $1.5 billion Kabuki summer-jobs boondoggle? Create an unfunded program through executive fiat.
Can’t muster up a filibuster-proof majority for radical nominees? Czar-ify ‘em.