News Analysis from China: Unanswered questions surround White House scandals

Xinhua   "Some critics charged the White House with attempting to avoid embarrassment in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential elections in a bid to continue its narrative that terrorism was on the wane after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.
"Critics are calling for the administration to release the name of the individual who told Rice to provide the talking points.
"Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that the IRS scandal is the most damaging to the White House of all the controversies, as many Americans are distrustful of the powerful agency that has the power to tax, levy financial penalties and prosecute individuals for allegedly breaking tax laws."

Benghazi Terrorists: 'Dr. Morsi Sent Us'

Middle East Forum  "The terrorist attack in Benghazi is far more disturbing than previously thought. Although it has not been reported in the U.S. media, the possibility exists that the Egyptian government may have played an operational role in the attack. YouTube videos of the terrorist strike raise a serious problem that only an Arabic speaker would detect: some of the terrorists are speaking in the Egyptian dialect of the Arabic language.
Indeed, one of the videos shot with a cell phone of one of the attackers emerged around the time four Americans were killed. It shows a mob Mahadesh, mahadesh yermi, Dr. Morsi ba'atna" — which translates to: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, Dr. Morsi sent us."
approaching the American compound under siege, clearly telling the terrorists in the dialect of Upper Egypt: "

"The words "Mahadesh yermi" for "don't shoot" are characteristically spoken in Egyptian Arabic, while Libyans from Benghazi would say, "Matermey" for "don't shoot."
""Dr. Morsi" refers, of course, to president Mohamed Morsi of Egypt. The name Morsi is Egyptian and does not exist in any other Arabic speaking country."...
Cynthia Farahat

Just Stop Being Offended.

Logicology  " Now, this may seem impossible to some of you... and I understand that it might be difficult, but I assure you, it is both possible and necessary if you no longer wish to have your mental and emotional well-being constantly compromised by other people whose words and actions are beyond your control.

"What's more, I've found over the years that some people are not just offended by things intended to be offensive, but instead, seem to be looking for reasons to take offense to anything and everything that anybody does.

"For example... Just today, one of my favorite Facebook friends posted a Salon article about the supposed homophobia present in Disney movies: "Why are there no gay Disney characters?"

"And sure... There aren't any gay Disney "princesses", and no sweeping same-sex love-affairs in their whole universe really. Perhaps that's a tragedy... But I actually have far too many other (and I think actually much more substantive) criticisms of most of the messages contained in Disney movies to spend a ton of time on why there aren't any overtly gay characters...." Read more.... 

A frightful look into the mind of a Democrat

Found on Facebook
"To Understand(sp) the mind of this woman be sure to read the whole 'letter to the editor', including her definition of a natural born citizen! From the Carteret County News-Times (Editor's note: The following Letter to the Editor, published in the Jan. 23 edition, has gone viral on the Web after a reader linked it to a Fox News Facebook page. It had received more than 4,000 comments and been shared more than 12,000 times by Tuesday morning. We have now discovered something with less intelligence than a moon rock. I am now dumber for having read it. When you're done, Share it. Cause no one deserves to suffer thru this libidiocy alone."

This thinking has third-world banana republic written all over it.

 

Like sheep led to the slaughter

http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/the-sheeple-of-london/

If That’s the Case for Holder Lying Under Oath, It’s Not Just Weak — It’s Bordering on Silly

Help me mull this over, will you?

Volokh Conspiracy  "The [Privacy Protection Act] prohibits the government from conducting a search or seizure of a reporter’s property unless there is probable cause that the reporter was involved in the crime. As it applies to investigations of national security leaks, the PPA requires the government to make the case that there was probable cause Rosen was involved in the offense before it can obtain a warrant.

"Importantly, the PPA doesn’t require the government to actually be considering prosecuting the reporter. It only requires the government to establish probable cause that the reporter’s conduct was prohibited by Congress’s law. So, again, there is nothing inconsistent between Holder concluding that there was probable cause to believe Rosen committed a crime and Holder testifying that he has never “been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy” to bring a criminal prosecution against a reporter.
In the comment threads to Jonathan’s post, some commenters argued that you can read Holder’s testimony as saying that there was not a “potential” for prosecution against Rosen. If the affidavit stated the basis for probable cause that Rosen committed a crime, they argue, isn’t there “a potential” that Rosen could be prosecuted, at least in a certain sense, thus making a possible case for perjury? This argument misrepresents what Holder said. "

‘Stupid Bible-Thumping…B**ch’: Bakery That Refused to Make Gay Couple’s Wedding Cake Speaks Out Amid Threats, Economic Woes

The Blaze  "In February, Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa, an Oregon-based bakery, found themselves at the center of a media firestorm after refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple’s ceremony. Nearly four months later, the small business continues to receive threatening and harassing phone calls and e-mails, as they grapple with the ongoing fall-out from their controversial decision. This week, they spoke with TheBlaze about the ongoing drama."

....

"This prospect, of course, is entirely possible, as the bakery is struggling following the cake debacle.

"It’s unclear what will happen next, as the lesbian couple is reportedly still considering its legal options. Regardless of what the government decides, though, Aaron says that he and his wife will stick by their convictions and that their religious freedom is protected under both Oregon and federal constitutions.

"“I can say I don’t want to take part in something that violates my religious beliefs. If they want to shut me down because of it, then they could shut me down,” he told TheBlaze."
How progressive.

Report: Obama Regime To Blame For Jailing Of Hero Pakistani Doctor Who Helped U.S. Kill Bin Laden…

Weasel Zippers introduces this Fox News piece thus: "This guy is rotting away in some Pakistani s--thole jail thanks to the big mouths in the White House while Obama runs around taking credit for killing Bin Laden. Sickening. 

Here is the Fox News report.

It was the Obama administration that sealed the fate of the Pakistani doctor jailed for helping nail Usama Bin Laden, by divulging key details after the fact and dooming any chance Shakil Afridi's cover story could win his freedom, according to a confidential Pakistani report..... 

“The lesson from the Afridi episode is, if it suits the political purpose of the Obama administration, you’ll be exposed and placed in jeopardy,” said Thomas Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.

Read more: 

See No Evil; President Obama may think that the threat from al Qaeda is receding. It isn’t.

Thomas Joscelyn at the Weekly Standard; 

 

"The rest of [bin Laden's] 27-page document undermines the president’s case. “We still have a powerful force which we can organize and prepare for deployment,” bin Laden wrote. This cuts against the president’s claim that al Qaeda is mostly a spent force. And bin Laden emphasized that al Qaeda needs to “concentrate” its “jihad efforts in areas where the conditions are ideal for us to fight.” Bin Laden surmised that “Iraq and Afghanistan are two good examples.” Yet much of President Obama’s speech was devoted to proclaiming the “end” of the post-9/11 wars in both countries.

"The president cited just one of the 17 bin Laden documents declassified and released to the American public. And those 17 documents are just a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of documents and files captured during the May 2011 raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, hardly sufficient for any robust analysis of the al Qaeda network.

"Still, the president’s selective citation of bin Laden’s files is illustrative of a larger point: When it comes to fighting al Qaeda and its affiliates, the president and his advisers see only what they want to see."

Let him be clear

WaPo

How I Became Islamophobic

Infidel Bloggers Alliance  "The following was written by a British college student. The original article is posted here."

...."I was sitting in class one day, near the back of the room. The lecturer had finished talking and now we were told to discuss amongst ourselves the things we’d heard. A group of Muslim men just across from me were apparently uninterested in the lecture that day as they commenced to discuss videos they’d been emailing each other instead. It took me a short while, but I came to understand that these were decapitation videos. After hearing words and descriptions that I never want to repeat, I nervously looked over at the faces of the men and saw sick, sadistic smiles curling up their bearded faces.

"At the end of that year, I was a fully developed ‘Islamophobe’. I can’t and won’t deny what I witnessed and what I saw others go through. And more than this, I won’t help the taboo to survive which allowed for these abuses to go unreported."....

Obama-Bashing Leno Trounces Letterman in May Sweeps

Newsbusters  "As NewsBusters has been reporting, NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno has been outfront amongst late night comedians in humorously attacking Barack Obama for the numerous scandals facing the White House.
"Viewers must be loving it, for as The Wrap reported Friday, Leno trounced CBS's David Letterman in the May sweeps:"

 

In reaction to news of a prostitution ring being run out of a retirement home.

“Boy, that Obamacare is amazing! It just provides everything!”

On a new IRS commissioner: “They’re called ‘acting commissioner’ because you have to act like the scandal doesn’t involve the White House.”

On comparisons to Nixon: “At least he’s not being compared to President Carter.”

On the Miami Heat beating Obama’s beloved Chicago Bulls: “You now what that means? LeBron James is going to get audited by the IRS.”
May 17:
“It’s casual Friday, which means that at the White House, they’re casually going through everybody’s phone calls and records.”
On Obama’s dismissal of the IRS commissioner: “Apparently he was fired for acting like Richard Nixon’s IRS commissioner.”
“Love him or hate him, you have to admit that President Obama is a new kind of Democrat. He’s embroiled in three scandals and not one of them involves sex!”
“This morning he called Mitt Romney and said, ‘Look, if you still want the job …’”
“Fox News has changed its slogan from ‘Fair and Balanced’ to ‘See, I told you so!’”
May 20:
“These White House scandals are not going away anytime soon. … People in Kenya are now saying he’s 100 percent American. That’s how bad it’s gotten.”
On Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying the Obama administration operates in a culture of intimidation. “Really? Anyone intimidated by Barack Obama? He can’t even keep Joe Biden in line.”
May 21:
On Obama’s commencement address: “He told the young graduates their future is bright unless, of course, they want jobs. Then they’re totally screwed.”
Read more.