Explaining the Inexplicable

Victor Davis Hanson  "Almost daily we witness things that make no sense. A few examples, from the profound to the trivial."

We list here the topics Mr. Hanson discusses in this article with just a few excerpts to lure you in:
Rich Without Being Rich
"The president, as is his wont, blasted the “one percent,” the “millionaires and billionaires,” and the “well-connected” in his recent State of the Union speech — and then he flew off to golf and hang out with the one percent of the one percent in South Florida while his wife and kids jetted to Aspen to ski. Then Obama flew back for more class-warfare rhetoric over so-called sequestration, ridiculing the Republicans as again being for the “rich” — and on Al Sharpton’s radio show, no less (of Tawana Brawley fame)."

$4-a-Gallon Cheap Gas
"Any gas station that is now just 10 cents cheaper per gallon is packed with cars that trail out to nearly block traffic. (On this clear day, we could see the eastern face of the Coast Range Mountains in the distance — beneath them is reportedly 20-30 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Monterey Shale formation that apparently will remain mostly untapped.)"

Non-racist Racism
...."It is almost as if the sick policy is: “Come here to read how sensitive to race we are while experiencing how racist our readers are.” "


I Love What I Leave
"Polls taken in Mexico reveal the absurdity: a majority of Mexican citizens believes both that southwestern America properly belongs to Mexico and that they would prefer to live there. One of two things is thus probable: people are nuts and would prefer to extend a failing culture that they are fleeing to a country that they would flee to; or...."

When Debt Is No Debt
"There are no major programs that the president wishes to cancel, but plenty of new ones he envisions. Given the scale of borrowing, and given the abject denial that there is a spending problem, what gives? Here are some possibilities."....
I kinda lean toward this fifth possibility:
...."5) The president is more interested in golf, photo-ops, or picking the Final Four, and so he shrugs and thinks: “Debts, schmebts. Who cares?” "

politicsandfinance 

Left-wing group urges Obama to shut down campaign apparatus

The Daily Caller  "The president of the United States should close down his new lobbying, advocacy and fund-raising organization, says a left-wing group that has long sought to reduce the role of donations in politics."

“If President Obama is serious about his often-expressed desire to rein in big money in politics, he should shut down Organizing for Action and disavow any plan to schedule regular meetings with its major donors,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, which helped pass the 2002 campaign finance law.

"OFA is a novel advocacy operation run by Obama from the White House, via his 2012 campaign staff. It is expected to play a role in the 2014 election, and likely will try to help Democrats gain a majority in the House, and buffer their Senate majority.
"The group has caused Obama some embarrassment in recent days, following news reports that OFA’s leaders were offering political access in exchange for cash."

 

How Should the United States Respond to State Failure in Egypt?

JINSA  "U.S. policy thus contributes to state failure while identifying American policy with this state failure. America has become part of the vicious circle, and runs the risk of being identified as the cause of the vicious circle.

englishblog.com

"What should the United States do? If there are no good alternatives, America should choose the least bad alternative. U.S. policy should be guided by self-interest. It may not be in the world community's power to avert Egyptian state failure, short of a massive and continuing commitment of financial aid that seems outside the realm of political possibility. At a minimum, America should seek to prevent Egypt's crisis from turning into a regional security disaster, while maximizing its influence over Egyptian institutions and prospective governments."

Only one chance to make a first impression

 

Sequester hysterics

Putting Sequesteria in Perspective 

 "Now, I want to put it to you this way.  If spending more money this year than we did last year is going to bring this country to its knees, shouldn't that tell us that the government has way too much control over our lives?  Shouldn't that tell us that they have seriously overreached?  Shouldn't that tell us that we are way too dependent on government if all of this can happen while we spend $15 billion more than we spent last year?"  Rush Limbaugh

Neal Boortz; Sequester Fraud Continues  "What does 0bama want?  Simple .. higher taxes on the rich.  He already got a 4.6% increase in the tax rate on the rich in December.  Then ....;  Then ....  It seems rich people won’t be allowed to take care of their own health needs without paying a penalty.  Now 0bama wants tax deductions removed so that the hideous rich will pay even more. 

Last Honest MSM Reporter in America: Obama Sequester Cuts 'Madness'

"In this flood of government and government-media propaganda, though, there remains a single honest mainstream media reporter, the legendary Bob Woodward, with the courage to call out Obama for his demagoguing of sequester."  And, as you would expect, the leftist Media Matters turns on Woodward.
Pity the poor soul who dares disagree with Obama and his people, which is frightening.

DNC Boosts Obama Sequester Job Loss Threat Of 750,000 To 2 Million…
 

The Hagel House and its import for Israel

Alan Caruba on Obama and Hagel vs. Israel  "“What if Mr. Ahmadinejad is not lying” about Iran already being a nuclear power?” asked Kuhner. “Then the West—and especially the United States—faces a major crisis. It means the West’s policies of sanctions and diplomatic engagement have failed.”
"It means that President Obama’s efforts, as executed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, throughout his first term have failed. It does not bode well that the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, in his first major foreign policy speech on February 20, believes that the real threat is climate change, not Iran and the other known enemies of the nation.
...."The designate for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, is, if it is possible, an even worse choice so far as Israel is concerned."....
And Ron Paul would have been better... how?

The Jerusalem Post is concerned over what Hagel will mean with Obama's position on Iran  "Expert tells 'Post' the decision by US President Barack Obama to appoint Chuck Hagel as defense secretary raises questions over Washington’s commitment to preventing Iran from going nuclear."
Well, as Ron Paul said, if we are nice to Iran, they will be nice to us. 

The Hagel Finagle  "Unfortunately, if the last two presidential elections are proof of anything, during this period of American politics qualifications have little or no bearing." 
To digress a small bit; Shawarma Mayor asks, "Well, what if Israel had done a small bit of what it is accused of?"

Do you really think Hagel/ Obama are up to confronting Iran? All signs point to no.

Caroline Glick on Hagel, Hamas and the US Senate  "Hagel supports US engagement with Hamas. He also allegedly received money from a Hamas-associated organization.

"In all the verbiage we are exposed to everyday, sometimes it is hard to understand the significance of positions like this."....
So here is a clip of a speech by senior Hamas leader... Mahmoud al-Zahar. Students of the Old Testament will appreciate his remark about Pharaoh kicking Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt because they killed Egyptians.

Remember that Code Pink loves these people. (Obama supporters all.)

Obama's Sequester Strategy Backfiring

Thomas Lifson  "Barack Obama is overplaying his hand in the latest manufactured crisis of his presidency, Sequestration, and may be alienating his most important constituency of all, the media.  He and his advisors are heedless of the psychology of the media, who have been battered by downsizing and budget cuts far more draconian than the piddling 2.4% at issue in the Sequestration Crisis."
...."It may be that administration wolf-crying evokes a certain degree of scorn in the minds of event of their media allies. At same time, a degree of insulting high-handedness, if not contempt, is being demonstrated by the president lately:"....
...."The press corps is firing back, giving Jay Carney a hard time lately.

 

...."If Obama loses enough degrees of his media support, he might even (gasp!) start being held accountable.
"Maybe Obama will wise up and star making amends. But self-critical thought has not been his hallmark. "

GAO's own report shows we cannot afford ObamaCare

It’s official: Government ‘Confirms Everything Critics and Republicans Were Saying’: GAO Report Finds Obamacare Likely to Add $6.2 Trillion to the Deficit

"Back Benghazi who has continued to lie to We the people has finally been busted by his own government auditors on the actual costs of Obama’s Health Care, Rationing and Denial Program.

"Though he would love to keep doing it with smoke and mirrors, it’s over. ObamaCare is unaffordable and must be disemboweled ."


National Review has a copy of the GAO report and Sessions’ remarks:

Bread and Circuses; Economic growth is anemic, but at least we have a cool first couple.

Mona Charen

"When Americans were under fire in Benghazi and pleading for help, we’ve finally learned, the president did not make a single phone call. After learning of the attack, he failed to follow up with his defense secretary, secretary of state, or chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The following day, he left for a fundraiser in Las Vegas.
"But it sure is great that he’s so cool. And didn’t Mrs. Obama look lovely in her shimmering, silver designer gown?"

 A $9000 designer gown at that, I might add.  "That stunning silver dress must have cost a fortune, an odd choice for a woman whose husband is constantly seeking ways to punish the rich and once declared, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money." " More here.

Heroes, Not Props: FLOTUS Ignores Military Members During Oscar Appearance" Folks on both sides of the ideological aisle will be debating First Lady Michelle Obama's appearance on the Oscars for some time, but one matter is instantly clear. The First Lady was flanked by several members of the U.S. military during her live streaming appearance to announce the Best Picture winner, and she failed to acknowledge their presence or their heroism."
Well, the Clintons used them for waiters and waitresses at a White House function.

The military blog BLACKFIVE took note of the military window dressing.
I'm sure Obama's former Weatherman anti-war friends enjoyed the spectacle.
 

Kerry says we have the “right to be stupid” and then proves his intellectual “disconnect” in the very next sentence.

Bookworm Room  " ‘In America, you have a right to be stupid, if you want to be,’ he said. ‘And you have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be. And we tolerate that – we somehow make it through that.’  (Emphasis mine.)"

"Let me repeat: “[Y]ou have a right to be disconnected to somebody else if you want to be.”  In what word does that even remotely make sense?  Bush pronounces “nuclear” the Southern way and is ridiculed for the next 12 years.  Kerry says something completely meaningless and all you hear are crickets."

Kerry to American Diplomats: 'We Are Also Citizens of the World'  "John Kerry says his experience as the son of a Foreign Service officer -- living abroad in various cities in his formative years -- is helping him now that he's secretary of state."

The sequester in pictures

The lap-dog press

http://terrellaftermath.com/