Obama’s myopic worldview

The Washington Post  “ 'The world is more stable than it was five years ago,” Barack Obama assured the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. This transparently self-serving but otherwise baffling claim came at the beginning of a long and dense address aimed at answering the critique that he lacks a coherent foreign policy, particularly regarding the Middle East.

"Judging from the widely varying reactions he inspired, Obama didn’t end the confusion about what he stands for. But his boast that his presidency has calmed the globe opened a window on his peculiar outlook on foreign affairs — and why it has led him to mismanage the most important crises on his watch.

"So: Why, according to Obama, is the world better off than in 2008?"... More.

Obama admin. knew about WWII veterans’ request and rejected it

Daily Caller

"The White House and the Department of the Interior rejected a request from Rep. Steven Palazzo’s office to have World War II veterans visit the World War II memorial in Washington, the Mississippi Republican told The Daily Caller Tuesday.
"Palazzo helped the veterans commit an act of civil disobedience against the Park Service Tuesday, when the heroes stormed through barricades around the closed memorial. (Related: WWII vets storm closed memorial as GOP congressman reportedly distracts cops)"  Via Drudge

 

WWII Veterans Plan To Storm Lincoln Memorial Today  "Both memorials are open air memorials. The Lincoln Memorial is open 24 hours a day, normally. If you’ll recall, it was wide open to having someone throw green paint on it in the evening a few months ago.
"So that means the Obama administration is making a conscious effort to spend more in time and money to shut off something which is normally open."

Think about this: why the expense of putting barricades around an open-air memorial? If push comes to shove, I can hear Jay Carney now; "The president first learned of this on the news this morning and took action to see that our honored veterans could tour the memorial."
Obama will say he learned of this the same way we did; on MSNBC this morning.

Too Late Opened, Too Sacred to Be Closed   ..."From that experience I hold a reverence for that memorial and the waning old warriors it honors, which tells me it is totally dishonorable for the Obama administration to deliberately and spitefully use this sacred site of tribute as nothing more than just another pawn in the political chess game it is now playing with the Republicans in Congress."

US government shutdown: Barack Obama is presiding over the end of America's superpower status

UK Telegraph  "Thanks to President Barack Obama obduracy* over his flagship healthcare policy, Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach agreement in Congress on the federal budget, forcing the US Government to close down for the first time in 17 years, with around 700,000 federal workers being placed on indefinite leave.
"While the White House insists that essential areas of the government, such as the military, will continue to function, the shut down represents yet a further blow to the prestige of the Obama administration at a time when it is still reeling from its inept handling of the recent Syrian crisis."

*obduracy; "The state or quality of being intractable or hardened." I had to look it up.

Obamacare; as Michael J. Fox once said, "Nobody can do things as well as the US government!"

This Is What Government-Run Healthcare Looks Like  "It went just as well as one would expect an undertaking of this magnitude to go, especially when it’s handled by the government."

Chip Bok; Government Collapse  "The majority of Americans don’t like ObamaCare but they don’t want it to collapse. They don’t want to risk a government shutdown either. Republicans hate it but are divided over risking a shutdown.

"Charles Krauthammer, and Brit Hume are among conservatives who thinks it’s unlikely President Obama will sign a bill abolishing ObamaCare. They have a point.
"Here’s a column by Daniel Henninger betting that Obamacare will be the straw that breaks the donkey’s back, causing the progressive agenda to collapse. Hmm."

Jimmy Kimmel asks people whether they prefer “Obamacare” or the “Affordable Care Act.”

Daniel Henninger: Let ObamaCare Collapse ; Congress can't kill the entitlement state. Only the American people can.

Enacted with zero Republican votes, ObamaCare is the solely owned creation of the Democrats' belief in their own limitless powers to fashion goodness out of legislated entitlements. Sometimes social experiments go wrong. In the end, the only one who supported Frankenstein was Dr. Frankenstein. The Democrats in 2014 should by all means be asked relentlessly to defend their monster.

Republicans and conservatives, instead of tilting at the defunding windmill, should be working now to present the American people with the policy ideas that will emerge inevitably when ObamaCare's declines. The system of private insurance exchanges being adopted by the likes of Walgreens suggests a parallel alternative to ObamaCare may be happening already.

Gov. Brown signs bill to raise minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016

 

LA Times  "Some Southland companies were already fretting about the squeeze on their bottom lines.

"Sunder Ramani, general manager of Westwind Properties, a real estate firm in Burbank, said he typically hires about four students over the summer to help out in a warehouse. But after the minimum wage edges up to $9, he said, the firm probably will hire fewer students next summer.
"Ramani is also worried his 15 full-time employees will ask for raises. They all earn more than the minimum, he said, but when pay goes up "there is a natural push to pull all wages higher.' "

Also in California: California lawmakers approve measure to allow driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants  This should help them to vote.

Netanyahu takes case against Iran from White House to UN. Israel stands pretty much alone as you can see here.

VIDEO and Full Transcript: Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech at the United Nations General Assembly

"Rohani spoke of, quote, "the human tragedy in Syria." Yet, Iran directly participates in Assad's murder and massacre of tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children in Syria. And that regime is propping up a Syrian regime that just used chemical weapons against its own people.

"Rohani condemned the, quote, "violent scourge of terrorism." Yet, in the last three years alone, Iran has ordered, planned or perpetrated terrorist attacks in 25 cities in five continents.

"Rohani denounces, quote, "attempts to change the regional balance through proxies." Yet, Iran is actively destabilizing Lebanon, Yemen, Bahrain and many other Middle Eastern countries."

Israel's Netanyahu: We Will Not Let Iran Get Nukes Even if We Stand Alone  " 'Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons," he said. "If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone, but in standing alone Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others," Netanyahu added."

Strategy to Prevent a Nuclear Iran  "In rhetoric and in action, President Obama and Congress must convey concretely the will to strike Iranian nuclear facilities as a last resort. We believe that the Iranian leadership, right now, perceives such will to be absent. But a credible military threat would provide an impetus to diplomacy that has heretofore been lacking. If negotiations ultimately fail to yield results, even after such pressure has been applied, U.S. policymakers must be prepared for military action and to consider regime change."  The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs

Jerusalem Post  "After presenting his case against Iran privately to US President Barack Obama for a few hours on Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will condense but dramatize his argument and take it to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
"It is unlikely, however, that Netanyahu will openly come out against direct US-Iranian talks, especially since a CNN poll on Monday found that three-quarters of Americans say they favor direct diplomatic negotiations with Iran."....

In case you may think that in a pinch, Obama will stand by the side of our faithful ally Israel, consider this: Top Obama bundler leads Code Pink in anti-Israel chants at AIPAC  "Here's top Obama bundler and Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans leading Code Pink in anti-Israel chants outside the AIPAC conference in Washington.
" Let's go to the videotape."

Do you think the Iranians will watch this and take Americans seriously?

Iran FM accuses Netanyahu of 'lies'   Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lying in his rejection of Tehran's overtures to the West as a cosmetic "charm offensive."

 "We have seen nothing from Netanyahu but lies and actions to deceive and scare, and international public opinion will not let these lies go unanswered," Zarif said in an interview with Iranian television broadcast on Tuesday.
Hat tip to Allyson Christy

Cagle.com/ Steve Sack

UPDATE: Rowhani Urged U.S. to Take Hard Line Against Iran 27 Years Ago

Iranian president said Khomeini would back down if threatened

U.S. Lawmakers and Staff to Keep Health-Premium Subsidy

Bloomberg  "U.S. lawmakers and members of their staffs can keep receiving the federal government’s medical insurance premium subsidy next year after the 2010 health-care law forces them into new insurance exchanges, according to a proposed Obama administration rule issued today.
"Starting Jan. 1, members of Congress and their aides must purchase coverage on health-insurance exchanges created by the law and being set up in each state. Ambiguities in the law had raised questions about whether congressional staff members would continue receiving government subsidies of as much as 75 percent of their health-care premiums, as they do under the benefits plan covering all federal employees."
....
Republican Amendment
"The provision was inserted into the health-care overhaul bill in 2009 by Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, then the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which drafted the legislation. Grassley said at the time that members of Congress should be forced to live under the laws that apply to other Americans."

On the Big Shutdown

Woodward: If Shutdown or Debt Ceiling Causes Economic Crisis, It’s on the ‘President’s Head’  "Woodward noted he respected President Obama’s objection to negotiating on the debt ceiling, but criticized the administration for failing to initiate any dialogue that could result in a deal on funding the government.

“ 'It’s on the president’s head, he’s got to lead, he’s got to talk” Woodward said:"....  Video.

Senate kills latest shutdown offer as effects begin to be felt   "But Republicans said Democrats now own the shutdown by refusing even to talk.
“ 'They literally just voted against working out a compromise,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republicans’ leader."

NPR: 8 Things To Know About A Government Shutdown  ..."Since a new budgeting process was put into place in 1976, the U.S. government has shut down 17 times. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan each dealt with six shutdowns during their terms in office, lasting anywhere from one day to 2 1/2 weeks." Neal Boortz comments:

The government has “shut down” (partial shut down of non-essential government services) 17 times since 1976.  Never did we see the “market melt-down” the Democrats are predicting, and in almost all of these “shut-downs” the federal employees were eventually fully paid for the time they got to take off.

 

Neal Boortz:  "This Wall Street Journal Column, “An Obama-Cruz Shutdown,” opens the window on some of the little ploys 0bama is using to make the best political advantage out of 0bamacare. "

 

UPDATE: This Is What The Government Shutdown Means For You  

"What a government shutdown means is “nonessential” government services are no longer being provided. Some agencies will be able to survive for a few weeks based on leftover money, but the longer this goes on, the less they’ll be able to do.

You still have to pay your student loans.

 Don't plan on seeing these

Why The Left Can Never Be Trusted With Power

This may be over the head of the average low-information voter, including about 95% of Obama's voters and - I suspect- 100% of his former students.

Pacifist doing what pacifists do

Powerline Blog "If you want a good lesson in why the left can never be trusted with political power, especially in foreign policy, look no further than Mother Jones Washington bureau chief Nick Baumann, writing in Slate this week that “Neville Chamberlain Was Right.”  What was he right about?  Ceding Czechoslovakia to Hitler in 1938: “The maligned British prime minister did what we would want any responsible leader to do.”
"Do tell, Nick.  First, Britain was too weak to stand up to Hitler in 1938.  “In general, British generals believed the military and the nation were not ready for war.”   (And whose fault was that?)  “Chamberlain’s diplomatic options were limited as well.”  (Again, whose fault was that?  Chamberlain repeatedly declined to seek a diplomatic accommodation with the Soviet Union and Poland, or invite the diplomatic contributions of the United States, which FDR was willing to make.)  “Nor was the British public ready for war in 1938.”  Again. . . never mind.
"The most egregious part of Baumann’s revisionism has to be this paragraph:"....Full article here.

I don't regard pacifists as evil; if Hitler had been a pacifist the world would have been spared enormous slaughter and destruction. But this world will always have evil people in high places that will rule over pacifist nations who will not stand up to them as happened in World War 2. Winston Churchill called that war the most easily prevented war in history, saying it only took one nation to be willing to use force against Hitler's early aggressions.
Germany's rearming was excused by the left in Britain while they (led by British Communists) considered any war preparations by their own country to be "warmongering".
Someone remarked that if no one nation should be the world's policeman, what happens if there is a world criminal?   The Tunnel Dweller

Obama: Transforming America ; From energy to foreign policy to the presidency itself, Obama’s agenda rolls along.

Victor Davis Hanson "There certainly is no question that Barack Obama wants to change the United States. And there clearly is no doubt that such fundamental transformation is difficult, given our tripartite system of
government — even though Obama entered office with large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, an enthralled media, and a closely divided Supreme Court.

"So to what degree, after nearly five years in office, has Obama succeeded in changing the United States?"   Full article here.

If you disliked anything and everything about America, this politician is just the man for you.

Do overweight soldiers have anything to do with political correctness in this government?

Does this have anything to do with the Democrat policy against discrimination based on, er, weightism? As stated elsewhere, liberal policies create mediocrity in everything they touch. And who do you see anyone in the Obama Administration that cares about the quality of our military?

Fat Soldiers "What’s the deal with so many fat Soldiers? It Seems that year after year they just keep getting fatter and fatter...."

I noticed in the crowd at a recent Texas A&M  game, many military students in uniform who had protruding stomachs. Just sayin'.

Why are soldiers so fat and Marines not?

I'm a Marine poolee and I do PT everyday with my 2 recruiters and some other poolees. Next to our Marine office there is an Army office, and these people look so out of shape compared to the Marine I've seen and met. This can't be coincidence because over the past year I have met enough soldiers and Marines to know this is not just coincidence. And I will not talk about Airmen because I've seen some crazy ****, but I guess they're smarter so I don't really care. 
This is all from MY personal experience.

One respondent's opinion:

Marines are quality over quantity by a LONG SHOT. They'd rather have less people that can perform better than have more people that can't do s***. The Army has significantly lowered it's standards to recruit more people. That's why.

 Pentagon Says More Than Half Of The US Military Is Overweight  ..."Not because muscle-bound troops ware any less fit, but because an average male grunt can't drag a 250-pound buddy from the kill zone, regardless of whether that weight is from fat or from muscle."

CNN: Military leaders: We're still too fat to fight  "Childhood obesity isn't just a health issue, according to a group of retired military leaders. It's also a national security issue."

This song is politically incorrect in the extreme.

U.S. and Iranian Realities

STRATFOR   "U.S. President Barack Obama called Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week in the first such conversation in the 34 years since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The phone call followed tweets and public statements on both sides indicating a willingness to talk. Though far from an accommodation between the two countries, there are reasons to take this opening seriously -- not only because it is occurring at such a high level, but also because there is now a geopolitical logic to these moves. Many things could go wrong, and given that this is the Middle East, the odds of failure are high. But Iran is weak and the United States is avoiding conflict, and there are worse bases for a deal.".... Read more...
George Friedman
U.S. and Iranian Realities is republished with permission of Stratfor.