The Obama Doctrine

Elliott Abrams   "Since President Obama arrived in the Oval Office three years ago there have been many efforts to explain his foreign and defense policy succinctly. Is there an Obama Doctrine? While many theories have been propounded, the recent State of the Union speech settles the matter."
....
"...here is what it would look like: “I will undertake any military attack against our enemies, regardless of the risks and collateral damage, so long as it is over by the time I have to announce it.” "
"...divulging the secrets is at the very heart of the Obama Doctrine. Secret operations gain the president no credit. Revelation of the completed operations is the whole point, demonstrating Obama’s courage and his commitment to yesterday’s deeds. The trouble with wars like Iraq and Afghanistan is that they commit you to doing risky things tomorrow, when you may wish to give a speech about health care or jobs. Thus the beauty of the Obama Doctrine." (Emphases added)

http://theweek.com/section/cartoon/65/223312/us-military

The Nevada Caucuses and Mitt Romney. Plus a message to Obama from Victor Davis Hanson

CBS   Newt takes second over Paul, 23% to 19%.


Rick Moran: Romney wins big in NV: Still can't crack 50%
"All the entrance poll mumbo jumbo comes down to the fact that your increased tea party and conservative support came largely from the outsized Mormon vote."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/03/96006

Romney to Obama: "Not so fast" ;  Then this: DECONSTRUCTING ROMNEY, PART 1


Stephen Hayes: Romney in Context; The candidate’s rhetoric needs a safety net.  "But in many respects Romney’s words are more problematic because of their context. He seemed to consign the poor to a station in life. He suggested that society has done its duty because of the fact that “we have a safety net.” 
"In so doing, Romney seemed utterly unaware of a long strain of conservative thought on the morality of capitalism. He seemed oblivious to the argument​—​central to the conservative movement​—​that free markets allow the poor to transcend their position, that poverty is not destiny."   (Emphasis added). Hayes quotes Arthur Brooks :

Welfare programs rely on the idea that poverty is simply a problem of a lack of money. As W. C. Fields put it, “A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.” But the problem is that giving the poor money does not alleviate poverty in the long (or even the short) run. Instead, it masks cultural conditions by treating the symptoms.

Big Government: For the GOP, Moderate Is the New Conservative  "The completion of the takeover of the Democrat Party by progressives was shown to have come to completion 4 years ago and today I think it’s clear that the Neo-Cons and moderate conservatives now control the vast majority of the GOP. That includes all the Tea Party’ers that walked out their doors November of 2010 and voted establishment beltway insiders back into office. Shame on you.

"The GOP cries for another Reagan but it will never find him. Because the party of Reagan and Goldwater is dead. The tides have shifted. The Democrats will represent modern socialism. The GOP will represent wafflers, flip floppers, moderates, former Democrats, fiscal liberals that claim to be fiscal conservatives and social conservatives."

But can't we at least find a candidate who can explain and defend with conviction the greatness that is capitalism and free enterprise?

The bitter, conservative-hating, leftist Pat Oliphant does have a point here.

Finally, this message is for you, Mr. Obama:
Victor Davis Hanson:  What We Do Not Want to Hear Anymore

The State of the Union could have been written [1] by a computer program. All the now familiar Obama furniture was in the room: the mock outrage at “them,” the psychodramatic first-person boasting (as in, “I will oppose..,” “I will not work with…,” “I will decline…,” “I will not stand by …,” I will not cede…,” “I will not walk away…,” “I will not back down…,” “I will not go back…”); the now customary rear-view-mirror jab at his fading predecessor; the monotonous promising that something is so bad that we must have a new program for it (each year the same threat, the same solution, the same failure); and the silence about the Obama legacy of stimulus, debt, and ObamaCare.
But the people are tired and simply by now shut their ears [2]. Here are five things in the current age that exhaust us. Keep reading... 

Alan Caruba: The Looney Tunes Version of the GOP Campaigns

Warning Signs

My favorite Looney Tunes Characters (c) Warner Brothers

"I have begun to think of the Republican campaign as a series of Looney Tunes cartoons being replayed again and again. They are filled with a combination of laughs and the fantastical, self-defeating violence of Wily Coyote trying to catch the Roadrunner...."
...."Rolling over for the worst President of the modern era because our candidate is not “perfect” is not an option. 
"Voting for a third party candidate is not an option. 
"Staying home on Election Day because “your guy” didn’t get the nomination is not an option.
"The Republican compass has to point in only one direction and that is the resounding defeat of Barack Obama."  (Emphasis added)


This video would agree:

Iranian Organization Bids Communist Protests in US (Updated)

Noisy Room  "On Saturday, February 4, thousands of protesters will gather in cities all over the US and in several other countries, to march against alleged US plans to make war on Iran.
"In the US, the ultra militant, pro-Cuba and North Korea Workers’ World Party is taking a leading role in coordinating the actions."   (Emphasis added)


From the Workers World:  Anti-war groups to hit the streets
Watch for Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger to be there, I would guess.


UPDATE: 
IRAN WARNS WORLD OF COMING GREAT EVENT
"In the book, “A Time to Betray,” the CIA spy in the revolutionary guards reveals the mindset of the Shi’ite clerics and how they aspire for the destruction of the world. They truly believe the end of time is here. As revealed last year, the Iranian secret documentary “The Coming is Upon Us” clearly indicates that the radicals ruling Iran believe the destruction of Israel will trigger the coming of [the] last Islamic Messiah."


The House of Latin America is an Iranian group promoting the anti-war protests.

Time to repost this definition of useful idiots:  "Today, it refers to brainwashed liberals and leftists the world over (usually college students that aren't necessarily idiots, but just misinformed, naive, and ignorant of facts due to being indoctrinated with liberal/socialist propaganda through their public education) who believe that George W. Bush has committed more crimes against humanity than leftist darlings like Saddam Hussain(sp), Yasser Arafat, and Osama Bin Laden, and still defend Communism, the cause of over 100 million deaths to this day". 

The anti-war people were wrong in 1938 as well:  They discouraged any resistance to Hitler when he could have been easily stopped. They were successful, even in the face of all the things Hitler had said he would do and the goals he publicly declared for Nazidom, and how many millions died as a result of their caring, non-violent efforts (see "useful idiots" above)?
Pictured: gentle people who would never hurt a fly but would rush to the aid of anyone oppressing unarmed populations. Note faces of Hollywood celebrities and rock musicians in the crowd .




Here is some of the text accompanying this peace march photo. Anything here sound familiar to you?

In Britain, an anti-war campaign hoped that through negotiations war could be prevented in spite of the National Government’s policies and actions related to re-armament. Sheffield Peace March (1936) represents this moment very well. Made by the Sheffield and District Workers Film Society, it shows anti-war protests through the streets of Sheffield. Members of the Labour Party, the Communist Party and Trade Unions carry placards with slogans such as ‘Sheffield Workers Unite for Peace’ and ‘Re-armament Means Profit to Big Business’.  (emphasis added)

Ugliest NFL uniforms of all time

Youtube   "Ah, Sunday. The day of the week where football fans don their favorite team's colors and head to the couch or stadium in support."

I wonder if these were popular colors for body paint?

Apparently Iran is not one of Obama's enemies, but Israel and the Republicans are

Israel, U.S. Divided Over Timing of Potential Military Strike Against Iran "In Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that his nation won’t abandon its nuclear efforts and warned that a strike against the nuclear program would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East “10 times over,” according to the Associated Press. He said, without providing details, that he would disclose a letter that he said President Barack Obama sent Iran’s leaders."


Israel: Nuclear Iran could deter military action  "Military planning division chief Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel says a nuclear-armed Tehran could constrain Israel from striking Iranian-backed Islamists groups in Lebanon and Gaza — Hezbollah and Hamas respectively."


West to Israel: Do not attack Iran  "Some nations also are warning Israel that it would lose international backing if it should act outside international law. European nations, especially, are wary of unilateral Israeli action. US officials are careful on that point, saying the US bond with Israel is unbreakable. As a practical matter, the United States would be bound to defend Israel in a full war with Iran."


Atlas Shrugs: WHY WOULD OBAMA BROADCAST ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM IN IRAN?  "Why would the Obama administration betray our closest ally in The Middle East? Once again, Obama sides with our mortal enemies, a cornerstone of his foreign policy meticulously detailed in my book, The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America. This is consistent with the same anti-America, anti-freedom, pro-jihad platform we have suffered the last three years."...


Related, kinda sorta: Iran Offended By Israeli Samsung Commercial
"They are considering a ban on all Samsung products after a commercial shows a Mossad agent touting his new tablet to some interested Arabs who eventually hit a button and the Mossad’s tablet is wired to blow up a nuclear power plant.
"Iran can be offended all they want, Israel is still going to blow up their nuclear plants. I hope sooner rather than later.
"Great commercial, by the way. I think I’ll buy a Samsung flat screen."
It's in Hebrew, but I still enjoyed it.

iOwnTheWorld.com

Israel Hayom  Attack Iran – at all costs   "A pre-emptive attack against Iran would exact a non-lethal and short-term cost, but would boost Israel's long-term strategic image. It would also provide a tailwind for the opposition to the ayatollahs' regime. Will Israel embrace the legacy of Ben-Gurion and Begin, or that of their opponents?"

Controversial Artist Depicts Obama Trampling The Constitution

CBS Las Vegas  " In front of the White House a man is sitting on a park bench in the throes of depression. He is surrounded by all 44 presidents. In the forefront, purposefully ignoring the depressed man is President Obama, whose right foot is stepping on the Constitution. James Madison is next to Obama, pleading with him to stop.

"This tableau is called “The Forgotten Man”, a painting by Jon McNaughton, an artist who is known for his politically-charged work.

"The painting, which uses objects such as discarded dollar bills as symbols and scraps of paper with individual constitutional amendments scrawled onto them, has been making the rounds across the Internet."...

Obama, the Great Divider — Literally

David P. Goldman  "Standing in between prospective workers and prospective investors, preventing capital from employing labor, is Barack Obama. Someone really ought to to draw the cartoon: a $2 trillion cash pile gathering cobwebs on one side, an endless line of unemployment on the other, and Barack Obama in the middle, keeping them apart.

"Under Obama, the United States has suffered the steepest drop in private investment since data were kept, as well as the slowest recovery." "

Obama's name in lights on a lonely Missouri highway

Tunnel Dweller and wife were driving the back roads of southern Missouri this week and came upon this crossroads store north of Berryville, Arkansas on Highway 86, near Lampe.

I think the owner strongly leaned toward Ron Paul and his stand on the Fed. 
Here's their Facebook page.
TD

Great news: Roseanne Barr running for president

One word: thirdparty!


Hot Air  "The bad news: You’re going to have to endure this appearing (very) sporadically on your television for the next nine months. The good news: If Olbermann ever needs a washed-up comedian turned fringe-left demagogue to fill in for Garofalo on those tell-me-what-I-want-to-hear-about-the-right segments, now he’s got the perfect substitute."


Here she is on Russian TV. Yes, I said Russian TV

At least she can sing the National Anthem at her own inauguration

Barack Obama Using Scripture

American Thinker  "In America today there is a new fad called Designer Christianity. Cherry-picked Christian ideology has zero to do with God's Word and everything to do with the moral relativism that now pervades modern philosophy. It is a pick-and-choose brand of religion where a person selects exactly what they want to believe, misinterprets and takes Scripture out of context, and then labels those who object to that sacrilege as mean-spirited, un-Jesus-like, and anti-Christian."


The Bible passage from which Obama took his quote:
⁴² The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? ⁴³ It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. ⁴⁴ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. ⁴⁶ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.   ⁴⁷ “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. ⁴⁸ But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.   Bible Gateway; New International Version

Obama Mis-Uses Scripture To Proselytize Tax Increases At National Prayer Breakfast  "On a side note, isn't this demagoguery by liberals and President Obama actually an attempt to "shove their values down our throats"? Where's the separation of church and state, man? Why don't libs see the hypocrisy in using the Bible to invade our bank accounts when they repeatedly tell Christians to "keep their Bibles out of their bedrooms"?
"I have no problem with anyone, including the President, citing Scripture, but please, if you are going to do so, use it correctly."

Give Me Your Money in the Name of Jesus  The Bible also teaches that everything we have, including money, belongs to God. We are called to be good stewards with His money.  The government is the epitome of  mismanaging money. If you truly want to help the poor, you should probably seek out charities; but that would require a bit of work on the part of the giver and a great many find it easier to just let the government run every aspect of their lives. So it is that welfare moneyends up spitting out of strip club ATMs, and those same people who paid their charity to the government wonder why government hasn’t solved the issue. Perhaps they should ask the 27 Democrats who voted against stopping welfare checks from being used at strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores.

Catholics for Obama

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/01/95976

Catholics for Obama site.


Catholics for Obama? Life matters.  "I wish Democrats had not ceded the anti-abortion position to Republicans. I hope that those Catholics among them look again at Abraham Lincoln’s Peoria Speech of 1854, brought to our attention in Lewis E. Lehrman’s brilliant new book, Lincoln at Peoria.And I urge my old friends on the Catholic Left to be careful what they wish for, in wishing for Obama. And to make better arguments for doing so.

"And, please, to hurry the Democratic party back to natural-rights principles."

Catholic Democrats: Is Their Support for Obama Fraying?  "When he said that abortion should be 'safe, legal and rare,' we all believed him," railed then Commonweal editor Margaret Steinfels after Clinton vetoed a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions. Right now, Obama is surfing impressively high approval ratings. But he can't afford to alienate those liberal and moderate Catholics who could defend him when times get tough."