Saturday, July 27, 2013

Reflections from a Lonely Rooftop in Benghazi

Political Cartoons by Chip Bok
Chip Jones   "As the story unfolds about the heroism of the diplomatic security officer (Conservative Reports Online has declined using his name out of respect for his safety) who was gravely wounded and lost a leg in the second wave of fighting in the debacle now simply called “Benghazi”, the general public deserves to know the experience of this man and his colleagues Glen Dougherty and Tyrone Woods.
"But to totally appreciate what this unnamed ARSO (Assistant Regional Security Officer) endured on that lonely rooftop, so far from home, let’s look back at what he had done just before, starting after supper at the CIA Compound just down the street."....
 
And all the while those men were rushing upstairs, into the possible teeth of death, to honor their commitment to their brethren, the President  of the United States climbed stairs as well….off to go to bed….

And there were our men, left stranded on a lonely rooftop in Benghazi…..

Friday, July 26, 2013

Krauthammer: Stein’s Law

Charles Krauthammer  "If there’s an iron rule in economics, it is Stein’s Law (named after Herb, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers): “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

"Detroit, for example, can no longer go on borrowing, spending, raising taxes and dangerously cutting such essential services as street lighting and police protection. So it stops. It goes bust.

"Cause of death? Corruption, both legal and illegal, plus a classic case of reactionary liberalism in which the governing Democrats — there’s been no Republican mayor in half a century — simply refused to adapt to the straitened economic circumstances that followed the post-World War II auto boom."....
 Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler

President Obama ran against cynicism — and defined his presidency by it.

 
Jonah Goldberg  "Even now, the Cynic-in-Chief admits that his “highest priority” is neither economic growth nor job creation but reducing income inequality. In fairness, he says he wants to reduce inequality through something called “middle-out” economic growth by taxing the wealthy (again). But my hunch is that the highest priority for those without work is . . . work. While the president’s highest priority is to exploit resentments."
`
Michael Barone: “Pivot to the economy” may be a useful catch phrase, but Obama has few serious policy recommendations.   
"We have a president who loves to give campaign speeches to adoring crowds, but who doesn’t seem to have much interest in governing.

"That was apparent Wednesday, when Barack Obama delivered the first of several promised “pivot to the economy” speeches at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., where he spoke eight years ago as a newly elected U.S. senator."
Political Cartoons by Nate Beeler
 

THE NAZIS AND THE PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT

Vimeo   "Documentation, chapters, and videos at: hirhome.com/colapso/colapso.htm

"Traces the history of PLO/Fatah, now better known as the 'Palestinian Authority,' the organization that will govern a future Palestinian State. The video shows how PLO/Fatah emerged from the German Nazi Final Solution. Hajj Amin al Husseini, father of the Palestinian Movement, creator of Fatah, and mentor to Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, was co-director with Adolf Eichmann of the death camp system that exterminated between 5 and 6 million European Jews in WWII."
 


THE NAZIS AND THE PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT from FACESHIRHOME on Vimeo.

Alan Caruba; What "Phony" Scandals is Obama Talking About?

Warning Signs
"It is absolutely astonishing that Obama could refer to “phony scandals” when the list of genuine scandals keeps growing. Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media to deflect attention from them, they have become a constant factor from Obama’s first term to his second. To dismiss them as “phony” is a display of arrogance that is breathtaking."....

The Democrats just can’t seem to take America’s side

PowerLine  "Let’s see. The current Democratic standard-bearer (and U.S. president) believes that Ho Chi Minh was inspired by America’s founding fathers and, apparently, that Harry Truman should have cooperated with the mass murdering Vietnamese Communist.
"The previous Democratic standard-bearer, John Kerry, considered the U.S. troops who fought against Ho Chi Minh’s forces to be like “the Army of Genghis Khan.” Kerry is now the U.S. Secretary of State.
"It almost makes you nostalgic for the days when the Democratic standard bearer was merely a war-hating draft dodger."....
 

Heroics Revealed As Barack Obama Abandons Benghazi, Again

Political Cartoons by Glenn Foden
Chip Jones   "As the President circles the country referring to his recent scandals as “phony”, the story of another Benghazi hero is unfolding. The identity of a diplomatic security officer has been revealed, one whose role in the Benghazi raid is no less that mind numbing."

Mother of Benghazi victim asks how her son's death could be considered 'phony'?   ""I don't believe him anymore," Smith said. "He's wrong. My son is dead. How could that be phony?"
According to Smith, she has been given no answers about what happened that night. She said the administration told her she "didn't need to know." 

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Exactly which scandal do you call "phony", Mr. Obama?

Top 10 Signs Scandals Aren't 'Phony'  "But with this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. And I am here to say this needs to stop. (Applause.) This needs to stop." - President Barack Obama, Speech on the Economy and 'Phony Scandals,' Galesburg, IL, July 24, 2013

Nile Gardiner, in an article posted elsewhere here, Gardiner wrote that Obama "condemned what he called “an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals,” a direct reference to the Congressional investigations into the IRS and Benghazi scandals, which most Americans don’t see as phony."
Political Cartoons by Glenn Foden
Scandal Watch: Senior DHS Official and Top Obama Nominee Under Investigation  "The US government's Inspectors General have been mighty busy lately.  Whereas the IRS, DOJ and Benghazi scandals can all be succinctly summarized in a sentence or two, this latest emerging story cannot -- which is why it may lack the legs to really blow up."  http://www.lucianne.com/

Obama: 'Phony scandals' effort 'needs to stop'  "This contradicts his earlier promises to get to the bottom of the IRS scandal, but the president has moved into the realm of postmodernism where truth is optional, and all that matters is a narrative. His narrative is now set, and we can expect future speeches to mock the Republicans with the trademark sarcastic condescension that marks his humor when turned on his political enemies."  Emphasis mine, TD
Photo

Rep. Joe Wilson should have been at the Obama speech Wednesday

3 Whoppers from Obama’s Big Economic Speech  "President Obama sure was excited about his speech yesterday. He talked for more than an hour in sweeping, grandiose terms about everything that’s happened since he became President, and everything that’s still going to happen.
"If only more of it were true.
"Here are three major whoppers Obama tried to sell yesterday."....

Just hope Chris Matthews doesn't see this Rich Terrell toon.
 
Obama Road Show Is All About Politics, Not Economics "President Obama is speaking around the country to sell his economic program directly to voters--over the opposition of a reluctant Congress. But it's all about politics, not economics."
 
Obama on Economy: Sail With Me to 'Ocean of Tomorrows'!  Speaking on Wednesday at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, President Obama laid out his plan for the failing economy. After his hour-long mashup of old Keynesian bromides, leftist platitudes, authoritarian braggadocio, and demonization of political opponents, he concluded with this glittery line...." if we set our eyes on the horizon, we too will find an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows – for America’s people, and for this great country that we love." "
 
By Nile Gardiner in the UK Telegraph; Barack Obama flops in Knox: the president’s speech was a disaster   "In an hour-long address, which seemed to last forever (and par for course started 15 minutes late), the president spoke in deeply partisan terms, often with bitterness and anger, lambasting his political opponents, dismissing criticism of his policies, and launching into his favourite theme of class warfare, attacking the wealthy and what he calls the “winner takes all economy.” "  http://www.lucianne.com/


Obama speaks on the economy and no one cares   "The fact is, there was
nothing new in this, the 19th "pivot" Obama has made to the economy. Everybody knows it, and that's why nobody paid much attention to it."

Lecturer-in-Chief; President Obama should stick to his real job.   "Why are there demonstrations about the just and rigorous Zimmerman acquittal, and not about the spreading and deepening IRS scandal, about the cynical treatment of the Benghazi murders, or the crumbling economic recovery?..."

J. Christian Adams; President Alinsky Threatens Americans with Rising ‘Social Tensions’   "There was plenty of content in that speech, if you know what to listen for.  Boehner’s response might have worked during more civil times.  But with soaring debt and a new muscular federal government, sweet quips don’t cut it."

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

UPDATED: DEFENDING THE WEST; Jesus vs. Muhammad – scholarship vs. propaganda

Exclusive: Pamela Geller compares media treatment of 2 authors' books

Reza Aslan
UPDATE: Liberal media love new Jesus book 'Zealot', fail to mention author is Muslim
"Media reports have introduced Aslan as a “religion scholar” but have failed to mention that he is a devout Muslim.
"His book is not a historian’s report on Jesus. It is an educated Muslim’s opinion about Jesus -- yet the book is being peddled as objective history on national TV and radio."
"Zealot” is a fast-paced demolition of the core beliefs that Christianity has taught about Jesus for 2,000 years. Its conclusions are long-held Islamic claims—namely, that Jesus was a zealous prophet type who didn’t claim to be God, that Christians have misunderstood him, and that the Christian Gospels are not the actual words or life of Jesus but “myth.”
This is akin to the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses. An ardent Pakistani Muslim friend from work had a number of books on his shelf that he used to refute Christian beliefs and they included several Watchtower publications.

...."“Zealot” is not new work from a historian. It is a sophisticated presentation of views that Muslims have held about Jesus for more than 1,000 years.


"Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs   "It is critical to point out a small but stunning example of the low state of legitimate public discourse today.

Spencer
"Not so long ago, Robert Spencer, one of the world’s leading scholars on Islam, wrote an extraordinary book entitled “Did Muhammad Exist?” It was a brilliant, original and scholarly work investigating the legitimate questions surrounding the historical value of the early Islamic texts about Muhammad. Spencer pulled together information from ancient documents with linguistic and archaeological data in a remarkable reevaluation of Islam’s origins."
....
"But although Spencer didn’t entitle his book any of those things, and “Did Muhammad Exist?” is a straightforward, dispassionate historical investigation, the media treated it as if it were the one that was designed solely to denigrate and disparage the founder of a religion. That is not true of Spencer’s book, but it is true of Aslan’s screed “Zealot.” "

In the comments to this post, Walter Sieruk said:
Jesus never killed anyone and taught be love and pray for your enemies. In contrast Muhammad did murder many people and taught his follower[s] to do likewise. Let these facts speak for themselves. 

Obama's first big speech of the economic series today

Expect demagoguery toward Republicans and watch for straw men: "Some say..."

Morning Bell: 3 “Kitchen Table” Topics for Obama’s Speech Today 
"Obama told supporters earlier this week that his speech today will focus on the economy. He said: “There is no more important question for this country than how do we create an economy in which everybody who works hard feels like they can get ahead?”
"For liberals, that usually means that one person’s “getting ahead” is going to come at the expense of a hard-working taxpayer.
"But it doesn’t have to be that way."....

ABC News; Obama to Try to Focus Public Attention on Economy  
American Enterprise Institute; 8 ways for Obama to jumpstart the economy Here is one of their suggestions. Do you see Obama doing this?
President Obama should approve the Keystone XL pipeline, as suggested by official analyses, which would expand employment among skilled blue-collar workers. Moreover, the evolving administration policies on ‘carbon’ should be rethought fully and subjected to analysis far more rigorous than has been the case thus far.” Ben Zycher

The 'economy tour': It happens every time his polls drop 
"Does this guy know that he's been president for the last 5 years?  or that he passed a "stimulus" in the spring of 2009?
"President Obama is doing a little more distraction than unveiling anything new about the economy:" Read more.

The Weekly Standard; Obama 'Pivots' for 19th Time


Carney: Obama focused on economy not ‘phony scandals’  " “He’s not focused on pretend scandals.”... Carney engaged in a heated discussion with MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, who said the administration was trying to downplay legitimate probes into the IRS targeting scandal. “What we’ve seen is inappropriate activity that the president came out and forcefully said he would not tolerate,” said Carney."

Americans for Prosperity; Obama’s Talking Tour Proves Obamanomics is in Full Retreat   "Of course, the president has political reasons to divert the public’s attention away from touchy security issues.  A slew of scandals — Benghazi, IRS conservative targeting, and NSA data collection — have harmed the administration’s reputation and dominated media coverage for much of 2013."

Victor Davis Hanson; Lying in the Age of Obama  "When the president uses emphatics like “make no mistake about it,” “let me be perfectly clear,” and “in point of fact,” we know what follows will be untrue."....

Thomas Sowell; Random Thoughts

Townhall   ""A society that puts equality -- in the sense of equality of outcome -- ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for
good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests." (Milton Friedman)"