Now it's Romney vs. Santorum

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/walt-handelsman-1.812005

Rick Moran: Santorum in Mitt's crosshairs  "There are a lot of Republicans who remember Santorum's flippant remarks about earmarks during the height of the battle to ban them from congress. That would appear to be a more productive line of attack than criticizing Santorum for not having experience in running a business. Santorum's legendary pork procuring skills for Pennsylvania will no doubt come up for scrutiny."

 Jonathan S. Tobin: Nothing Left in Romney’s Bag of Tricks  "Should Romney try to change his approach in order to keep up with Santorum’s passion or should he allow his advisers to convince him to go negative on the Pennsylvanian the way he took down Gingrich, it will not help him. It may be once the cloak of inevitability is stripped away from Romney, most conservatives will flock to a candidate like Santorum who is better at playing to the conservative crowd. But if Romney is to win it will be as the Mitt Romney we already know. He literally has no more tricks to pull out of his bag, and to expect him to come up with new ones is unrealistic and somewhat unfair.


Legal Insurrection: Insulting our intelligence appears to be Romney’s campaign strategy   "Insulting our intelligence seems to be the Romney campaign’s only game plan:

“And Senator Santorum and Speaker Gingrich, they are the very Republicans who acted like Democrats. And when Republicans act like Democrats, they lose.”

"As we know, Romney never would act like a Democrat."

The Atlantic:  Rick Santorum Is Right: Gas Prices Caused the Great Recession...... but it was one of many factors! 

"In 2009, economist James Hamilton published a paper that retroactively forecast what an oil shock, like the one we experienced in 2007-08, would do to GDP. And guess what? His model accurately predicated much of the collapse in GDP that resulted from the Great Recession -- as if there had been no housing bubble or financial crisis! The oil spike was that bad."

http://www.dickmorris.com/blog/cartoons-by-clayton-liotta-dickmorris.com/

John Fund: Mitt Romney Has Reason to Be Concerned  "Mitt Romney doesn’t seem to realize he is campaigning for two jobs, not one. He is doing quite well in the race to become the Republican nominee for president, and must still be considered the strong favorite. But ever since Barry Goldwater captured the GOP nomination in 1964, the Republican nominee has been more or less the titular head of the conservative movement, the most important single component of the Republican party. It is that race that Romney is doing so poorly in, as evidenced by the willingness of many conservatives to vote against him."

http://terrellaftermath.com/

‘African Americans for Obama’ Launches, but remember on which side the DNC bread is buttered

Mediabistro

"To kick off Black History Month, President Barack Obama and his presidential reelection team has launched African American for Obama, a campaign that will go grassroots to build support for the President and, more importantly, encourage black voters to head to the voting booths in November."

THE ‘PEOPLE’S’ CONVENTION? DNC IN CHARLOTTE TO FEATURE MILLION-DOLLAR TICKETS, LUXURY SUITES, CONCIERGE SERVICES FOR THE 1 PERCENT

(All caps in the original)

" Local sources say the DNC is approaching wealthy Bank of America executives in an effort to unload some of its premier convention packages. A number of these executives have been shocked at the audacity of the proposition, given the administration’s attacks on not only the bank but also on wealthy Americans in general. President Obama and his Democratic colleagues have repeatedly charged that wealthy Americans are not “paying their fair share” to the federal government in the form of taxes." Via Drudge.

Ann Coulter; by her and about her

Ann Coulter: Plutocrat Dems Attack Romney As "Richie Rich"  "Until we hear ferocious denunciations of FDR, JFK, Kerry, Edwards and Corzine, liberals have no business criticizing Bain Capital.

"Maybe some people are irrationally offended by the rich, but Democrats aren't. This is the party of George Soros, Goldman Sachs and Nancy Pelosi!

"The six wealthiest senators are all Democrats, half of whom married or inherited their money. Some of the multimillionaire Democrats are:..."

....

"Democrats don't hate the rich; they are the rich, luxuriating in fortunes acquired by inheritance or marriage, fleecing the taxpayer, trial lawyer hucksterism or disreputable money manipulation. Their contempt is reserved for those who engage in honest work for a living, whom they accuse of "greed" for wanting to pay the government a little less."  (emphasis added just because I felt like it. TD)

 American Spectator: Who Castrated Ann Coulter?

There is no conservative writer that I admire more than Ann Coulter. She's smart as hell and, more importantly, she is courageous. She has always been willing to write what other conservatives believe but don't have the guts to say in print. She has never played it safe and has certainly never adjusted her opinions for the sake of conforming to the conventional wisdom of Old Guard Republicans.
....
" As Coulter herself pointed out last year when she spoke at CPAC, Barack Obama will be reelected in 2012 if the Republican Party nominates Mitt Romney for President."

Obama's Middle East problems (Updated 2/7)

IRANIAN OFFICIAL LAYS OUT ATTACK PLAN TO DESTROY ISRAEL IN NINE MINUTES
"lireza Forghani, an Iranian politician and staunch ally of the regime, recently released an article titled, “Iran Must Attack Israel by 2014,” according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.
"....“When the outrageous rhetoric from Ahmadinejad and people like Forghani is coupled with the capability, with nuclear weapons, to actually destroy the Jewish State of Israel, we can’t afford to dismiss what they are repeatedly telling the world,” said a Capitol Hill aide who tracks Iran. “The Hill is taking the threat from Iran very seriously.” "    Rick Moran comments on this source.


Update: Obama, Democrats Own Syria Failure  "In pursuit of the war on terror, the Obama administration has been willing to give up its sanctimonious moral posturing in the fact of military and political reality. Yet on foreign policy writ large, it still clings to its fantasies. Syria’s impending collapse presents both dangers and opportunities–but the administration is ill-placed to confront either, having diminished the American power that Obama never understood, and still bitterly resents."


Heritage: Morning Bell: Middle East Crumbles Around Obama’s Foreign Policy  "Thousands are dead in Syria, with more blood spilled each day. Iran is within arm’s reach of a nuclear weapon, threatening Israel’s very existence. And in Egypt, 19 Americans are banned from leaving the country, making them veritable hostages in an unfriendly land. All indications are that the Middle East is crumbling, and President Barack Obama’s foreign policy is collapsing right along with it."


Alan Caruba: Taking Hostages: Tehran in 1979 - Cairo in 2012  "Just as Jimmy Carter was seen as weak, so too is Barack Obama and, for America and the world, that is very bad news. I don’t care if the Iranian leadership and other militant Islamists don’t like America. I want them to fear us."
...."Our present problem is that Obama does not like America any better than our enemies do."


Ron Paul with Megan Kelly Discusses Iran Threat and Nuclear Scientist Assassinations  "Watch Megan try to get an answer out of Paul. Basically he says Iran isn't dangerous-they just want attention."

Rick Santorum's Big Night

Video: Santorum’s Victory Speech in St. Charles   "Last night was not only a great night for Rick Santorum, it a great night for conservatism. Although he was massively out-spent by the front runner, Santorum managed to win by huge margins in Missouri and Minnesota.
"The final numbers in Colorado, where Mitt was projected to win:"...

Althouse: Santorum one point over Obama in one poll  Comments to this post are mostly anti-Santorum since they appear to be Democrat commenters.

donkeyhotey

What to Make of Santorum’s Hat Trick and the Return of the Social Issues  "But Santorum understands something that few of the other candidates can put into words: that the power to mandate is the power to compel and compulsion must be grounded on something higher than the mere will of the sovereign. This is a very effective argument against Barack Obama, but it it also a very effective one against Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich...."


Romney dealt punishing blow by three-pronged defeat to Rick Santorum  "Santorum’s sweep of all three states also lent new credibility to questions about whether Romney’s appeal among conservatives is strong enough to win him the nomination."

Don't change horses... yada, yada, yada

There is a gold mine of meaning in this Rich Terrell, um, cartoon.

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Discussion forum on Obama's campaign strategy choices


This says about what you would expect: The Progressive Professor   "FDR chose to emphasize the progress made, and the idea why would anyone want to revert to the policies that had failed under Herbert Hoover.

"He would use the concept of “Don’t Change Horses in Mid Stream” as the argument to re-elect him.

...."Now in 2012, Barack Obama is using the same appeal: that with unemployment skyrocketing in 2009, and the rate raising to almost ten percent before declining, that great progress has been made in job creation, about 3.7 million jobs, with the chance of regaining ALL of the lost jobs by the time of the election, and with the rate now 8.3 percent, it could go down below 8 percent by November."

The sly bit of misinformation is that electing ANY Republican is a return to Bush policies. It is well to remember that most Republicans disagreed with President Bush over many of his policies and said they would not do things the way he did.

Remember also that the collapse of the economy was in large part of the housing crisis caused by Democrat policies. President Bush warned the Democrat- controlled Congress of this, yet Maxine Waters, Barney Frank, et al all said there was no housing crisis. 

What does it say about the ignorance of Democrat voters that the Democrat Party can cause all this damage, yet successfully campaign on the fact that a Republican president was in office when they did it?

Mr, Terrell's illustration hits the bulls-eye.  TD

Ron Paul Defends Iran Yet Again, Says U.S. Decision To Toughen Sanctions “Terrible”…

donkeyhotey

Weasel Zippers   "The Mullahs couldn’t ask for a better friend in Washington."
Quoting The Hill:

“I voted against them and I think they’re terrible and I think it’s going to hurt the people who are trying to overthrow [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad. People, when they’re attacked from the outside and made to hurt, become more nationalistic,” Paul said on Fox News’s “On the Record” Monday night.

Video at the link of Paul saying this on the Greta Van Susteren Monday program.


From the comments to this post:

Arabianmoondog says:February 7, 2012 at 12:32 pmThe Paul-bots are out in force at ‘The Hill” and other venues expounding his “brilliance” yada yada.I replied to one delusional woman “Ron Paul is “brilliant” IF it’s 1936 and Hitler hasn’t struck yet – in fact he’s the toast of the town when everyone gets together to bash old Winston Churchill (the “war monger”)..Paul is the kind of guy who would have been all for dividing up Czechoslovakia and letting Poland fall (whining “It’s none of our business”).”

My line of thinking exactly, but people with liberal points of view resent being made aware of history. 

TOP TEN RICHEST CELEBRITIES SUPPORTING ‘OCCUPY WALL STREET’

The Blaze  "It is difficult to gauge who is most hypocritical in this instance — the wealthy “1%’ers” supporting a movement that claims to revile everything celebrity represents, or OWS protesters for “selling out” and accepting help from the purported “enemy.”

"Perhaps the greatest, and, most obvious hypocrisy of all is that, unless born into privilege — as is the case with some of our celebrities below — it can be argued that none of these high net-worth individuals would be where they are today without having availed themselves of the advantages of capitalism."

Always room in the budget for white guilt   "Teachers are headed for a conference that brims with fashionable grievances."
...."The Lakeville schools are sending a delegation of teachers to the 12th annual "White Privilege Conference"..."

"But don't despair, he counsels. We must look beyond our "declining empire" to "exciting progressive developments" in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela -- among them, "land reform and redistribution of wealth, neighborhood committees, recognition of women's unpaid labor, end of spanking."

"I feel better already."

http://www.funnydb.com/Pictures/Cartoons/obama_president-3759.html

Britain had to plead with US to take part in Iran flotilla

UK Telegraph   "Britain was forced to plead with the US to take part in the flotilla challenging Iranian power in the Gulf after American commanders decided the Royal Navy had nothing to contribute to the mission."
....
"Failing to take part when the French were doing so might have raised questions about the Special Relationship, which has come under doubt during Barack Obama’s presidency. Mr Obama last year described France as America’s closest ally."
....
"A Whitehall confirmed the sequence of events and described the international negotiations over the flotilla as “humiliating” for Britain."   

This UK Guardian cartoon seems to picture the British point of view, I'd say.

 It seems our next president will need to go on an apology tour of our pre-Obama closest friends. He may need to take a page from Obama's foreign policy manual, blaming all ills on his predecessor and bowing low before the Queen.
How regrettable; Britain stood beside us in both Gulf Wars and in Afghanistan, but I fear Obama has poisoned the atmosphere, just as he has with American society and his class warfare. How much more damage can Obama do in another four years?  TD

I'm green, and morally superior to you

The odds are that these cars usually have Obama 2012 stickers on them. Oh, wait...I just profiled, didn't I? TD

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/06/96054

Obama: Israel's staunchest ally

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/07/96067

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/02/05/96052

I knew Obama would play the race card, just not this soon

Don't Fire Until You See The Whites

Groucho Marx once famously said "I would not join any club that would have me as a member." And while that is usually our policy too, we're sad that we're being excluded from membership in "African Americans for Obama," a new group created by Barack Hussein Obama for the purpose of unifying Americans by dividing them by race.
....
Which is why, in an exquisite bit of weasel-wording, the president's website claims he "has helped strengthen the African-American community by addressing issues like education, health care, unemployment, and taxes." The magic word being "addressing," which Webster's defines as "demagoguing at a teleprompter without actually doing a damned thing."