Western Cultural Suicide; We are blind to the contradictions in welcoming an immigrant but not making him one of us.

 Victor Davis Hanson   " What happened to create such fissures among America’s diverse tribes? At no time in our history have so many Americans been foreign born. Never have so many foreign nationals resided in America, and never have so many done so illegally. Yet at just such a critical time, in our universities and bureaucracies, the pressures to assimilate in melting-pot fashion have been replaced by salad-bowl separatism — as if the individual can pick and choose which elements of his adopted culture he will embrace, which he will reject, as one might croutons or tomatoes. But ultimately he can do that because he senses that the American government, people, press, and culture reward such opportunism and have no desire, need, or ability to defend the very inherited culture that has given them the leeway to ignore it and so attracted others from otherwise antithetical paradigms.

"That is a prescription for cultural suicide, if not by beheading or by a pressure cooker full of ball bearings, at least by making the West into something that no one would find very different from his homeland."


 

Our Enemies Get a Vote

Finding more palatable names for the War on Terror won’t change — or end — it.    "When it comes to love, both parties need to be in on it. In war, all it takes is one to tango. Sure, if the non-belligerent party doesn’t want to fight, it can try to talk, or cut a deal, or even surrender. But it’s up to the guys willing to kill to decide how things will proceed."

....

" We know that there are plenty of Islamists eager to murder Westerners, even cut off our heads in broad daylight. No one doubts that they’d use something more lethal than a rusty machete if given the opportunity. And so the success or failure of Obama’s grand strategic vision depends entirely on what our enemies do next. That’s because they get a vote, and they vote “nay.” "

 

Obama Goes from Lincolnian to Carteresque

http://conservativebyte.com/2013/05/brewing-scandals/Peter Wehner

 

Peter Wehner  In 2008, "Mr. Remnick also compared Obama’s rhetorical skills to Lincoln. The campaign also “shows him in a decision-making mold that is very encouraging.” Obama demonstrated a “receptivity to ideas outside the frame” and possesses a “worldview that allows for complexity.” He “assumes a maturity in the American public” and possesses “great audacity.” Not to believe Obama’s election will have “enormous effect” on the streets of Cairo, or Nairobi, or Jerusalem is “naive.” It continued in this vein until Remnick finally had to say, “We’ll climb out of the tank soon.” (For the record, Remnick never has.)"

....

 "Before he took office, we were told time and again that Obama was a Lincolnian figure. Now that he’s been in office and demonstrated his governing skills, his strongest liberal supporters and his own staff are defending the president by insisting that we have a White House that is being run by Carteresque idiots."

Breaking News: House chairman subpoenas documents on Benghazi!

Yahoo News  Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is pressing for material from 10 current and former department officials, including several who had worked for former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. He gave the department until June 7 to comply.
"Rep.

"The State Department has not lived up to the administration's broad and unambiguous promises of cooperation with Congress. Therefore, I am left with no alternative but to compel the State Department to produce relevant documents through a subpoena," Issa said in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry.

"The intelligence community's talking points compiled for members of Congress suggested the Sept. 11 attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans stemmed from protests over an anti-Islamic video rather than an assault by extremists. Five days after the attack, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice relied on the talking points in a series of interviews on the Sunday talk shows."

Hat tip to Carl Boyd Jr., with the comment, "BREAKING NEWS: HOUSE CHAIRMAN SUBPOENAS DOCUMENTS ON BENGHAZI! IT IS ABOUT DAMN TIME! I post, you decide."

Obama and Christie, together again

http://terrellaftermath.com/

What the LGBT Lobby Hath Wrought in California

Scientia Media  "I think the question we should all be asking is if the end of LGBT efforts justifies the means. The end is the destruction of the traditional family, and also to force, through law, the full acceptance and even special protection of same-sex couples. Whatever they want,
you have to provide unless you want to be labeled a bigot or a homophobe. Recall during the civil rights in the 1960s, Martin Luther King refused to call white people derogatory names, demonize them, or instigate violence. He knew that even though his end, civil rights for blacks, was paramount, using the wrong means would do nothing but poison the well and create mistrust of the black community into perpetuity. You don’t see this type of gravitas from the LGBT community,"....
 

10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Running for Office

John LaRosa   "It’s only 2013, but the 2014 election cycle is already upon us. If you’re thinking of running for office, now is the time to start moving. But before you “move” in any direction, it would serve you well to “think” about where you are, where you want to go and why it’s in anyone’s interest to help you get there."
"Before FourTier Strategies takes on any new clients, we ask candidates to answer many key questions. Each of our questionnaires is candidate-specific, but whether you’re running for local school board or President of the United States, there are ten basic points that must be addressed. Clearly, the answers to these questions make a difference, but the thought process they trigger is even more critical. In business and politics, strategy must always precede tactics. Our questions and subsequent feedback will help you and your team develop a winning strategy.

"While our customized “Q and A” often includes up to fifty questions, here are ten that apply to virtually any campaign:"  Read more

Terrifying Footage From Inside Kansas Twister

Incredible video: what it’s like inside a violent tornado
Storm chasers inside a specialized tornado intercept vehicle captured the stunning footage.
"It might strike you as foolish, but storm chasers Brandon Ivey and Sean Casey literally rode out a raging tornado with winds to 175 mph from inside a motor vehicle on Memorial Day.
"Watch the astonishing, “ear-popping” video below…" 

 

"But the vehicle, positioned intentionally to bear the brunt of the raging Kansas vortex, is no ordinary vehicle. Called the Tornado Intercept Vehicle 2 (TIV2, the second vehicle of its kind), it is designed to withstand a top of the scale EF-5 twister, with winds over 200 mph.
"Wikipedia offers the following details on this 14,000+ pound, armor-reinforced machine:"
 

Obama 'a passenger on the ship of state'

Thomas Lifson   "[Jennifer] Rubin attributes Obama's style to focus on image and disinterest in actual management:"

...he's not interested in really being commander in chief; he just likes to play one on TV. He "ends" wars as if it doesn't matter whether they are won or lost, whether aims are achieved or not. Ending a war requires a single order; running a successful one requires constant attention and effort and expenditure of political capital. It also forces one to come to grips with the tough decisions his predecessor made.

AT's Ed Lasky has not shied from using the "L-word" - lazy. Political correctness demands that no person of African-American heritage may be labeled with the L-word, but in Obama's case, the show seems to fit. Golf, parties, bracketology, vacations, and absence during critical moments like 9/11/12 all suggest a poor work ethic. 

Russians size up Obama, think he will bail on Syria

Jonathan S. Tobin   "But while McCain restarted the conversation about the need for the U.S. to stop pretending it can ignore the crisis in that war torn country, his venture was actually overshadowed by the Russian announcement that it would persist in its determination to sell air defense missiles to the embattled Assad government.

"It is still possible that the West will act to prevent more bloodshed and to make good on President Obama’s prediction. But the Russian decision to stand by their Syrian ally effectively renders McCain’s quest moot. Though Israel has issued a warning to Russia that any such missiles — and by extension the personnel servicing them — could be targeted by airstrikes, Moscow’s willingness to stake its reputation on Assad’s survival is likely enough to deter even the possibility of action by President Obama with the added bonus that doing so humiliates Secretary of State John Kerry after he trooped to Moscow to plead with the Russians not to do it. Though the Russians may not want to tangle with the West or even the Israelis, they seem to be betting that a U.S. president that prefers to lead from behind can be counted on to stay out of any conflict where there is a risk of confrontation. They may be bluffing but it’s hard to argue with their reasoning.

 ....
Tobin concludes with this dreary outlook:
"But the main point is that Russia is hoping that its intervention will nevertheless serve to keep its friend afloat while frustrating a timorous American administration that would prefer to pretend that its conflict with Islamist extremists is over. The net result is bound to not only keep a butcher in power in Damascus to embolden an Iranian government that is the prime threat to peace in the region."
Go back as far as the 1930s and the pacifist British government's failure to stand against Hitler's rearmament. You will see how liberals have a consistent track record of endangering peace loving nations and causing the death of millions. 

Boston Marathon Survivor Throws Out First Pitch

Jeff Bauman, who survived the Boston Marathon bombings, threw out the first pitch at tonight’s Boston Red Sox game.

 

Buzzfeed 

Red Sox’s David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia applaud as Boston Marathon survivor Jeff Bauman and Carlos Arredondo, who helped rescue Bauman, take the field to throw out ceremonial first pitches before the MLB interleague baseball game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Full article and more pictures here.

Charles Krauthammer Explains Why He Thinks Benghazi Is Important

Independent Sentinel

"The only thing Charles Krauthammer left out of this clip is the president traveling off to a fundraiser in Vegas the next day after Benghazi when the fate of our people in the consulate was still unknown."