White House offers little insight on conflicting Iran opinions

This administration has more and more similarities to the Carter Administration. Here is one like those we used to see in Carter's international dealings. That's one advantage to being 72 (and a half!); I haven't just read about Jimmy Carter's presidency, I lived through it at an age to understand what it was like.  Full disclosure: I voted for the man.


Politico  "White House spokesman Jay Carney isn't offering much in the way of explanation for why President Barack Obama and his intelligence chief offered dramatically different opinions in recent days on whether Iran is or is not trying to step up operations on U.S. soil."

" "We don't see any evidence that they have those intentions or capabilities right now," Obama said during a pre-Super Bowl interview Sunday on NBC. 

"However, in testimony to Congress just last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the consensus of the U.S. intelligence community is that prominent Iranian leaders are moving in that direction."

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

"Today would be Ronald Reagan’s 101st birthday.  To commemorate the occasion, the group Americans for Prosperity has produced a short video.  The video compares two starkly different versions of America: Reagan’s last best hope for mankind and Obama’s vision of an America increasingly enslaved by the shackles of big government.  Enjoy:"

From Conservatives4Palin.  Hat tip to Legal Insurrection

Walker recall's ripple effect across U.S.

ocregister.com   "If a national symbol exists for the movement to rein in the power of public employee unions, it is Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker. He pushed aggressive measures to curb the power and influence of government unions and now faces a union-funded recall campaign, which, if successful will empower unions and expand their power in Wisconsin and throughout the country, including in California."....
If the recall effort succeeds against Mr. Walker, public-sector union reform efforts will be stifled nationwide. It is most critical that he prevail.  (Emphasis added)

Obama and Afghanistan

White House Sends Confused, Unhelpful Message to NATO Allies on Afghanistan  "The mixed messages coming from the Obama Administration last week on the future of combat operations in Afghanistan have left our allies confused, the Afghan people anxious, and the insurgency stronger."
....
"The performance coming from the Administration this week on the future of America’s combat mission in Afghanistan was amateurish at best and hurtful for the campaign at worst. What should have been an internal debate between the White House, the Pentagon, and the CIA went too public. An important part of any counterinsurgency is the Information Operations campaign. This is, in part, accomplished by communicating a message of assurance to the people you are trying to protect while sending a message of strength to those you trying to defeat. The Administration failed this week. We hope this strategic error doesn’t have tactical consequences."

about.com

 Middle East Forum:  Rethinking U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan  "The emerging picture is very grim, indeed. How is it that, despite making Afghanistan the cornerstone of its struggle against militant extremism, the Obama administration's strategy is failing so miserably?"
...".Above all, Washington should recognize that Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Iran, Russia, and China—though having a vested interest in preventing the Taliban from returning to power—are reluctant to legitimate a large, foreign military presence in Afghanistan. The Uzbeks, in particular, fear that a Taliban-dominated Afghanistan will offer support to their own Islamist movement."
...." However, Tehran, presently confident that the Taliban will not retake Kabul, is reportedly extending them support.This is not so much a means of expanding Iranian influence in Afghanistan as it is a ploy to keep U.S. forces bogged down in an unwinnable counterinsurgency campaign, diverting attention from Tehran's nuclear program and preventing the possibility of a preemptive U.S. strike on these facilities."


The latter part of the above article seems solid and reasonable. One could have so much more confidence in the withdrawal from A-Stan if it were not being ordered by a radical, US military-hating leftist.
 Do these decisions rest on mentoring influences of geopolitical strategists or of Rev Wright and Bill Ayres? TD

Just who gives the occupiers moral ascendancy over authorities?

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Rick Moran: Rejoice. Washington no longer 'Occupied.'  "All this fuss over a couple of dozen protestors - national headlines, hand wringing, and ridiculous pronouncement about the "movement" and its popularity. The sane left has been moving away from these radicals for weeks. It's high time the press loses its starry eyed worship of these thugs and give them coverage commensurate with the size of their protests."


Occupier Vandalism Continues, “Class War” Spray Painted On Wells Fargo, Windows Smashed, Starbuck Targeted In Santa Barbara… "Class War” was written in black spray paint and referenced the Occupy Oakland movement, according to Sgt. Riley Hardwood. The wall of the CVS pharmacy at 1815 Cliff Drive was also damaged." Emphasis in the original.


Weasel Zippers: Occupy Oakland Holds “F*** The Police” Rally…

Where is the outrage at what these people are doing?

Yes, TW can profile; Here is wisdom from a few African-American Conservatives

On every TV channel we are subject to the racist rantings of black (and white) leftists that leave us with a picture of African-Americans who seem to be cartoonish, ill-informed demagogues. We are deluged with the shallow thoughts of Sharpton, Jackson, Clyburn, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, Louis Farrakhan, Tavis Smiley et al and we wonder if there is any other line of thinking among blacks. Our encounters out in public show most to be not angry, but warm and friendly and a pleasure to converse with, a strong contrast with those the news channels use to make "good TV". 
Here is commentary from a few of the many African-American conservatives that stands in sharp contrast to the racialists paraded daily before us on TV.  
For those who wish to call my words "racist", I will be prepared to publish words of all those listed above for the consideration of all. TD


Thomas Sowell:  Is Anybody Serious?  "Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican or an independent, this is a very serious and historically crucial time for the United States of America. What Mitt Romney did or did not do when he was with Bain Capital, or what Newt Gingrich did or did not say to his ex-wife, are things that should be left for the tabloids.
"With the economy still faltering and Iran on its way to getting nuclear bombs, surely we can get serious about the issues facing this nation. Or can we?"  Related: The Florida Smear Campaign 


This excellent illustration from Black Quill and Ink

Also from BQ and I: African Americans and The Obama Dilemma

Conservative Black Chick:  Eat, Pray, Love and Be Black but Don’t Be a Republican  "Unlike whites and Hispanics, blacks claim another phenomenon– black ambassadors sometimes loosely called “our leaders,” who speak on behalf of “ALL blacks and their black issues.” If you think Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Cornel West, etc. you get it. (Of course this is despite the fact, many blacks don’t call these clowns our leaders but somehow the liberal media trots them out over and over as the voices of black people. Again, as if all us blacks think alike or rather are incapable of thinking and have to have ambassadors tells us what to think and how to vote.

"If this wasn’t enough monolithic brainwashing to make you sick, gird your loins."  More, including this tweet ostensibly from Cedric the Entertainer...

From WAKE UP BLACK AMERICA: " MSNBC Analyst Melissa Harris-Perry compared Governor Jane Brewer to a white segregationist who talked down to kids?  As always with MSNBC, it's all race, all the time, 24/7".

I'm liking this cartoonist more and more

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/03/96009

Tale of Two Obamas

Which is it?  Which source do you trust as a more truthful news source: MSNBC or Human Events?


MSNBC: Obama said, “I deserve a second term”  Obama replied, “I'm going to just keep on doing is plodding away, very persistent. And you know what? One of the things about being president is you get better as time goes on.” It’s mildly surprising to hear a president say that, but it is also one of the truths the public does believe -- and it’s an additional hurdle for a potential challenger. In a close call election, the “don’t change horses in midstream” mantra can be a strong pull. 
Three words come to mind: Enn, Bee, See; those same people who grill Republicans as if they were suspects in some plot ("scheme" as Ted Kennedy would call it).


Obama presidency on life support  "Will the dim prospects for an Obama second term subject us all to a campaign of half-truths and smears? Conservatives in Congress should expect Obama to use the bully pulpit to blame them for everything from lousy unemployment numbers to congressional gridlock on his class warfare legislative agenda."  Brian H. Darling

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/04/96016

Urban Legend: Walter Williams didn't write "No Matter What"

Snopes   This article improperly attributed to Dr. Walter E. Williams (pictured at right). The retraction and apology from RiteOn.org  is quoted at the link and here: 

 We published an article that we thought was written by him and we have subsequently found out it was not. The title of the article we published was "No Matter What" and it was published on April1. Please be informed that this article was mistakenly attributed to Dr Williams.We admire Dr. Williams work and the article we published was not written by him and was, in fact, a "phony" that fooled us also. We hope, by way of this explanation, to inform those who took the article as genuine to know that it was bogus and that Dr Williams had nothing to do with thewriting of the article entitled "No Matter What" that appeared under the column entitled "A Bad Dream" published on the RiteOn web site on April 1.We erred in not researching the real source of the article prior to publication and we erred in publishing it. We try within our means to avoid publishing phony material of the sort represented by this article and we are sorry we failed to catch the mistake prior to publication.  Chuck MacNab, Editor and Publisher, RiteOn.org

This TEA Party site also publishes both the purported Williams article and the retraction.


We searched the web but couldn't find who the author of this piece is. It is regrettable that some of the ideas expressed in the article are lost in the turmoil over its authorship. TD

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: