Charles Krauthammer; Syria: America Sidelined

After Iraq, Obama wasted a golden opportunity to keep a presence in the region.

Charles Krauthammer  "The war in Syria, started by locals, is now a regional conflict, the meeting ground of two warring blocs. On one side, the radical Shiite bloc led by Iran, which overflies Iraq to supply Bashar Assad and sends Hezbollah to fight for him. Behind them lies Russia, which has stationed ships offshore, provided the regime with tons of weaponry, and essentially claimed Syria as a Russian protectorate.
"And on the other side are the Sunni Gulf states terrified of Iranian hegemony (territorial and soon nuclear); non-Arab Turkey, now convulsed by an internal uprising; and fragile Jordan, dragged in by geography.
"And behind them? No one."

Lets have no more snide comments about the French being "surrender monkeys"

More and more nations pay the price for a timid US president

 

The world becomes more unstable and hostile because of a feckless, guilt-ridden US president who has been taught to hate American power. This happens when liberals want the US to be liked instead of respected. Entities around the world that oppose us have become ascendant and future administrations will have Obama's mess to inherit. TD
 

Related to the subject: Moscow sets up Russian Golan brigade, warns Israel Sunnis plus al Qaeda are bigger threat than Assad   "DEBKAfile notes that this was the first time any Russian official had mentioned the unmentionable: a possible future turn in the wheel of the Syrian conflict that would oust Assad and bring his foes, the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda, to power in Damascus."

Taliban 'Embassy' Is a Surrender by Obama  "The decision by the Taliban to hoist their own "Islamic Emirate" flag above what was supposed to be just a "political office" in Doha, Qatar is more than just an embarrassment for President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, and more than a stumbling block in negotiations over U.S. withdrawal from the country. Rather, the provocative gesture unmasks that withdrawal for what it is: a surrender, and a betrayal of the war against terror."  Obama's negotiating partners

Counterterrorism efforts have been weakened by the administration’s policy of dissociating Islam from al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorism

 

Obama and his team have subverted the government they pledged to serve.

Victor Davis Hanson   "Truth is the lifeblood of democracy. Without honesty, the foundations of consensual government crumble.
"If the Internal Revenue Service acts unlawfully, our system of citizens’ computing their own taxes implodes.
"Yet Lois Lerner, one of the IRS’s top officials, would not answer simple questions about her agency’s conduct during congressional testimony, instead pleading the Fifth Amendment. Any taxpayer who tried that with an IRS auditor would end up fined, if not in jail."

 

Catholics Fire Back at Obama over School Comments: 'Anti-Faith, Secular Agenda Shamelessly on Full Display'

Big Government   "Speaking in Ireland this week, President Obama stated that Catholic schools were divisive: “If towns remain divided—if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can’t see ourselves in one another and fear or resentment are allowed to harden—that too encourages division and discourages cooperation.” On Thursday, the American Catholics for Religious Freedom fired back on President Obama’s words to 2,000 young people at the G8 Summit."

From the Scottish Catholic Observer: US President undermines Catholic schools after Vatican Prefect praised them
"The US President has made an alarming call for an end to Catholic education in Northern Ireland in spite of the fact that Archbishop Gerhard Müller told Scots that Catholic education was 'a critical component of the Church.’ "
Some of the comments to this article:
"The expert of division making speaks about division making."
 
Irish culture is not alone in Obama’s ignorance. Trust me, he is just as ignorant of American culture too. Yes, he stinks and his manners to Americans are equally atrocious.
Please don’t blame me as I voted for the other guy & am watching Obama destroy our country & culture. 
 
"showing his ignorance and intolerance once again.. sigh..he is making America a laughing stock.. If it weren’t for Catholic education in the USA, there would be far less successful, moral, citizens in this country.. he hates the Catholic religion because we don’t allow abortion,we won’t go along with same sex marriage, and we are fighting his stance on making us pay for the above and for contraception in his Obamacare disaster ...."


"I’m still waiting for the dear leader to go to the podium in a Muslim country and make the same speech. Why is it with this guy that only Christians are required to suborn their faith to the state?"

"So ashamed of our President…he’s such a disgrace."

Obama, in Belfast, adopts Unionist argument against Catholic schooling 
"President Obama continued his charm offensive in Belfast yesterday. Emphasis on “offensive.” " ....Read what he said at the link.

This seems pretty innocuous, unless you know the context. The notion that religious education is the real problem in Northern Ireland is very politically controversial — a unionist argument that’s been used to attack Catholic schools’ right to exist. (Nearly all Protestant schools there handed over control to the state years ago.)

It is interesting to note here that he only mentioned Catholic and Protestant schools and didn’t bother to mention Madrassas,....

CHILLING – Obama Calls For End To Catholic Schools  "It was likely among the most shocking and classless attacks against the Catholic Church by any American president of the modern era – words spoken by Barack Obama right after a high ranking representative of the church praised Catholic education in Ireland."

Obama Declares War On The Catholic Church: An Explainer  "Do you find this sudden rush of stories about Obama being in open conflict with the Catholic Church confusing? 

"We've done a simple Q&A to help clear things up."  Read more:

2016: Can America Afford An Over- the-Hill Lefty and Her Meandering Hubby Back in White House?

Will you let your daughter become a White House intern then?

John W. Lillpop
"After Obama’s disastrous speech in Germany following his pummeling at the hands of Super Bowl ring thief and Russian hit man Vladimir Putin, the world is surely asking: How was this man elected in the first place, and how in the hell was he re-elected?

"Is this what the once-great America has come to?

"Great questions, those! In answer, America needs to cull out pretenders and naïve community organizers from the pool of candidates offered as presidential candidates in the future.

"Our nation also needs to get over the Rock Star phenomenon when electing presidents!"

Lets see how the Clintons are viewed in this former Soviet republic called Abkhazia:

Politico (Via Surrogates) Tells Snowden: Shut Up!

Sweetness and Light 
Edward Snowden is milking it.
The briefly anonymous leaker has leaped into the public spotlight — and now he’s risking overexposure in a big way. Public relations pros and image makers say Snowden’s repeated interviews and growing number of claims are making him look like someone who’s exploiting his sudden worldwide fame for personal glory, and that threatens to undermine the very privacy crusade for which he said he’s willing to give his life.   Politico

"We have actually been saying this from the start. But we have never said he should stop talking. The more he talks, the more truth comes out. About himself, as well.
"But the Politico and the rest of the Democrat operatives in and out of the press are noticing that his charges are hurting Obama, after all. (Witness that CNN poll from two days ago.) So they want him to shut up.
"And, if they can’t get him to stop talking, they will settle for discrediting him as a ‘celebrity wannabe.’ "

From Forbes: Edward Snowden Blows It  "Spilling the beans to his fellow Americans over the depth of surveillance being carried out by the National Security Agency within the borders of the United States is one thing—disclosing the nation’s covert activities involving spying on other nations is something else entirely."

On Illegal Immigration

Tentative deal reached in Senate on enhanced border security  "A tentative deal has been reached on border security that would go a long way toward meeting the concerns of nervous GOP Senators and may even convince some Republicans in the House to vote for some kind of immigration reform."

Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal makes this case against the border fence: A fence built along the border with Mexico will stand as a permanent embarrassment to the United States.  "The idea of sealing the border with Mexico against illegal entry originated years ago with citizens in communities in southern Arizona and Southern California, where violence and murder accompanied illegal crossings. Residents there were under siege. In time, the desire of these people near the border to be protected from unlawful cross-border flows was expanded by party activists beyond a policy goal into a commit-or-die litmus test, like opposing amnesty, for any Republican presidential candidate. This symbol sits in the middle of the Senate immigration bill."

My problem is that Democrats want to give the vote to those whose first love is Mexico and who intensely dislike the US. Watch US- Mexico soccer games played in Los Angeles if you need an example. Their first concern is the best interests of America? TD

Obama's Turbulent European Vacation

National Journal   "With vague pledges and backtalk from Merkel and Putin, the president shows how far America's standing with Europe has fallen."

"President Obama's honeymoon with the world is over.
"What was it, exactly, about Obama's controversy-marred trip to Germany and the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland that fell so flat? Ummm, how about … everything?
"There were the snarky words from Vladimir Putin, who expressed an almost Soviet-esque distance from Washington in his views about Syria. "Of course our opinions do not coincide," the Russian leader said bluntly. There was the coded warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel about spying on friends, and her and Obama's continuing frostiness over the issue of economic stimulus versus austerity. Above all, there was Obama's vague attempt at the Brandenburg Gate to capture some wisp of his past glory by pledging vague plans to cut nuclear arms and an even vaguer concept of "peace with justice." "

Obama's Influence, Limitations on Display at G-8   "The president escaped public criticism of the programs during the G-8 summit. Merkel, however, says she plans to raise the issue with Obama in Germany, which like most of Western Europe has stricter privacy laws than the U.S."
US President Barack Obama repeatedly addressed Chancellor George Osborne as Jeffrey during the recent G8 summit.
"According to the Sun and the Financial Times, Mr Obama apologised to the chancellor for calling him Jeffrey three times during the meeting - saying: "I'm sorry, man. I must have confused you with my favourite R&B singer"."
Remember how the left mocked Dan Quayle and President Bush for much less than this?
More here on this: President Obama seems incapable of going abroad without embarrassing himself.   "But good grief: the first obligation of a diplomat is to keep track of whom he is speaking to. One can imagine the hilarity if George W. Bush had referred to Gordon Brown, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister during his administration, as “James Brown,” "....
And the people around Mr. Obama are, well, kinda like that too:  Obama's Inept Secretary of Defense Asks Indian Audience Member If He's A Member Of Taliban
"Imagine the outrage if Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney had made a racist comment like that... But no, since this RINO Chuck Hagel is a member of the Obama Administration, the left and the media will brush it off as a harmless joke."

laughzilla  The editorial comic illustration features the French President,

Francois Hollande, the President of the United States, Barack Obama,

 and the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel.

 

 

 

Tamerlan Tsarnaev memorialized at Mayors Against Illegal Guns rally

Yes, THAT Tamerlan Tsarnaev

Daily Caller  "An event held yesterday in Concord, New Hampshire by out-of-state supporters of Mike Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns movement turned ugly when a 2nd Amendment activist (who was protesting the event) was arrested. But buried in the Union Leader story was an arguably more interesting nugget.
"During the rally, supporters of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns read the names of those “killed with guns” since the Dec. 14 Newtown shootings — and Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s name was reportedly memorialized among the names of the dead. (Tsarnaev, of course, was killed in a police shootout.)"

Nanny Bloomberg Forced To Apologize After His Anti-Gun Group Names Boston Terrorist A Victim Of Gun Violence…  "Alex Katz, deputy communications director for the Mayors Against Illegal Guns campaign, said rally organizers relied on a list compiled by Slate.com of people killed by guns since the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., “and his name was on the list.” "

Avoid the Need for Spying Using This One Not-So-Weird Trick

Ann Coulter  "Well, of course the government is spying on Americans! Look at the havoc caused by American citizens engaging in terrorism.
"There's "American citizen" David Coleman Headley, who conspired with Pakistani military officers to commit the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that left more than 160 people dead.
"Headley's ancestors served under Gen. George Washington -- no, I'm sorry, Headley was born "Daood Sayed Gilani" in Washington, D.C., to a Pakistani father. Like your typical American boy, he enjoyed TV's "Happy Days" and murdering innocent people in terrorist attacks."

....
When we're referring to "American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki" -- provoking Rand Paul to carry on for 13 hours about Obama killing an "American citizen" with a drone -- the phrase "American citizen" has lost its essential meaning. We don't have a drone problem. We don't have a spying problem. We have an immigration problem.  

Our president, who art in Washington...

 

 

 

The ruins of Normandy: Unpublished color photos taken in northern France in 1944 show the devastating impact of the Allied Force's battle to defeat the Nazis in World War 2

UK Daily Mail  "A series of never-before-published color images of the devastation in northern France after the D-Day landings have been released by LIFE.com" "The battle-scared landscapes of Normandy in northwest France are sharply brought into focus in a series of never-before-published color images taken in the aftermath of the D-Day landings on June 6 1944.

"The five images were finally published earlier this month by LIFE.com to mark the 69th anniversary of the landings, a significant moment in World War 2 which resulted in the Allied liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.
"The pictures show allied soldiers shifting through the rubble of buildings reduced to dust and entire towns destroyed by intense warfare with the Nazis."