The Gettysburg Address 150th Anniversary commemoration

http://www.nationalreview.com/slideshows/364286?slide=7

Silvio Canto, Jr.: Why my late, great uncle loved the Gettysburg Address   ..."My guess is that he'd really enjoy the upcoming Ken Burns' documentary on the speech.

"He would also have a hard time understanding President Obama's absence for the 150th anniversary.  

"My great uncle would ask:   "What else is more important"?"

President Woodrow Wilson (third from right) attends a 50th anniversary

  commencement ceremony in 1913.

 

Wall Street Journal: From 'Four Score' to 'Yes We Can!'  "Barack Obama is not scheduled to be present at Gettysburg on Tuesday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the address. Maybe he figured that the world would little note, nor long remember, what he said there. Maybe he thought the comparisons with the original were bound to be invidious, and rightly so.

 

"If that's the case, it would be the beginning of wisdom for this presidency. Better late than never."

President Obama’s Historic Gettysburg Slight  "To compound the mystery is the way the snub was delivered. Rather than make the announcement of his decision not to attend the festivities from the White House, he left that distasteful task to the National Park Service, the federal agency that administers the Gettysburg National Military Park.

....

"The president is scheduled to speak that day at the annual meeting of the Wall Street Journal CEO Council in Washington, D.C., so it’s not like he’s indisposed otherwise. The fact that he would prefer to speak to a bunch of rich white guys rather than appear at an historic setting with the hoi polloi only adds to the unfathomable nature of the snub."  The President's schedule today

Don't you find it a bit vicious that the President is represented by someone from the NPS, which spent millions barricading all national monuments, ensuring the shutdown inflicted as much pain as possible?

Obama Leaves ‘Under God’ Out of Gettysburg Address  "President Obama has elected to skip today’s commemoration of the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. But he participated in video readings of the address for a Ken Burns project. Along with 61 other lawmaker and celebrity participants, Obama read the address on camera from a teleprompter. But unlike the other participants, all of whom recited the entire address, Chris Plante noticed that Barack Obama left out two words: “Under God.' ”

"Obama leaves out “under God” at about the 1:35 mark, in the line “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.' ”

Carney Can’t Explain Why Obama Is Skipping Gettysburg Address Memorial, Locals “Stunned” By Decision Not To Attend…  "You can pretty much guarantee if this was prior to the 2012 election he would attend."

Via Fox News:
Salena Zito of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review said on “The Kelly File” that she has spoken with Gettysburg residents of all political affiliations who are “incredibly disappointed” over Obama’s decision to send Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to represent his administration instead of attending himself.
“They are just stunned by his decision not to attend the Gettysburg Address, it’s the 150th anniversary, it’s one of the most pivotal speeches in our nation’s history…” she said.

Pfeiffer: Obama Too Busy for Gettysburg Anniversary Because of 'Whole Website Thing'  "Barack Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer says the president won't be attending the Gettysburg address anniversary today because the "whole website thing." He appears to be talking about the ongoing problems with the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov."

      @pfeiffer44 @jmartNYT @jfsolnet Serious question: What is on his schedule that is more important than Gettysburg anniversary?

 

@ron_fournier @jmartNYT @jfsolnet Oh, I don't know, there's this whole website thing that someone suggested might destroy the Dem Party

 Why Obama Is Blowing Off Gettysburg Address ..."Obama used to love comparing himself to Lincoln so much that he explicitly denied doing it."
....
 "No failure is as astounding as America’s inability to see through the fog of media promotion to what Obama is and has always been. But people are starting to catch on at last. Obama is well-advised to avoid standing in the shadows of his betters."

Post-American President: "The end of American world leadership"

http://legalinsurrection.com/tag/a-f-branco/

Amazing what changes can affect a nation run by a man with no governing experience, whose world view has been shaped by -among others- the anti-American Bill Ayres and the demagogue Rev. Wright.

Atlas Shrugs   "Just as I predicted in my book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America ......  Caroline Glick explains what happened in Geneva last week and what it means. It was one of those infamous historic turning points from which there is no turning back. The world, whether we acknowledge it or not, is in free fall.

"Obama has destroyed America's credibility and relinquished American hegemony, and in doing so has destroyed whatever semblance of peace and tranquility there was in the world before he came into office."

Half the world are vying to try to take advantage of regional opportunities if the United States is not there to stop mold, and to stop rust, which is the natural organic order of the world. They take advantage of it and our friends are there waiting to see which side to join.  (Victor Davis Hanson in 2008 here)

Ms. Geller cites this article by Caroline Glick, Israeli columnist:

The demise of Pax Americana This piece is only a portion of Ms. Glick's article:

Global leadership is based on two things – power and credibility. The United States remains the most powerful actor in the world. But last week, American credibility was shattered. Secretary of State John Kerry spent the first part of last week lying to Israeli and Gulf Arab leaders and threatening the Israeli people. He lied to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Saudis about the content of the deal US and European negotiators had achieved with the Iranians.

Kerry told them that in exchange for Iran temporarily freezing its nuclear weapons development program, the US and its allies would free up no more than $5 billion in Iranian funds seized and frozen in foreign banks.

 

mikereport

"Kerry threatened the Israeli people with terrorism and murder – and so invited both – if Israel fails to accept his demands for territorial surrender to PLO terrorists that reject Israel’s right to exist.

"Kerry’s threats were laced with bigoted innuendo"....

Jay Leno Savages Obama & The Democrats Over The Government Shutdown

The Gateway Pundit from October.
"Signs that this shutdown isn’t hurting the GOP are everywhere, including this Jay Leno monologue."

Although Jay Leno has admitted that he leans Democrat, one wouldn’t have guessed it from his monologue Friday night, when he launched a brutal attack against Obama and other top Democrats for their behavior during the shutdown. Aside from a few jabs at Boehner’s orange tan and general government failings, this one was personal – and the audience ate it up.
You can hear all his zingers on the video, but here are just a few highlights:

 

Alan Caruba: The Free Pass Has Expired

Warning Signs

"A news report about Oprah Winfrey said she “is going around the world telling everyone that Americans are racist while she promotes her new film.”

"She “has been a prominent supporter of Barack Obama. She thinks that both he and the office of President have been treated with contempt because of the color of his skin quoting her saying “There’s a level of disrespect for the office that occurs. And that occurs in some cases and maybe even many cases because he’s African American. There’s no question about that and it’s the kind of thing nobody ever says but everybody’s thinking.' ”

Sixty-nine years ago: the battle of Betio Island on Tarawa Atoll in November, 1943

This account has a special significance to the Tunnel Dweller because 17 years later I was privileged to serve with the Second Marine Division for two years in Alpha 1/2. Always we wondered if we would have been as courageous as those Marines on Tarawa in 1943, often fearing we might not be.  TD

Battle of Tarawa Overview and history of the War in the Pacific

Battle account: Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa
"The Tarawa operation became a tactical watershed: the first, large-scale test of American amphibious doctrine against a strongly fortified beachhead. The Marine assault on Betio was particularly bloody. Ten days after the assault, Time magazine published the first of many post-battle analyses:

Last week some 2,000 or 3,000 United States Marines, most of them now dead or wounded, gave the nation a name to stand beside those of Concord Bridge, the Bon Homme Richard, the Alamo, Little Big Horn and Belleau Wood. The name was "Tarawa."

Combat Photographer Recalls Bloodiest Battle

(Below) The 8th Marines makes its final assault on the large Japanese bombproof shelter near the Burns-Philip pier. These scenes were vividly recorded on 35mm motion picture film by Marine SSgt Norman Hatch, whose subsequent eyewitness documentary of the Tarawa fighting won a Motion Picture Academy Award in 1944.

1st Lieutenant Alexander Bonnyman (pictured, right) leads the assault on the command bunker "... 1st Lt. Bonnyman had inspired his men to heroic effort, enabling them to beat off the counterattack and break the back of hostile resistance in that sector for an immediate gain of 400 yards with no further casualties to our forces in this zone. He gallantly gave his life for his country."
Bonnyman's body was never found and the assumption is that he was buried in a mass grave near the bunker.

Below, the fight for the bunker. Filmed by Norm Hatch.

 .

How would the NY Times cover Tarawa today?  ..."Shortly after the battle, a New York Times editorial dealt with the numerous American mistakes at Tarawa by noting that "a cunning enemy like the Japanese will always present us with problems that can never be quite solved in advance." The editorial went on to say that the approach adopted by the enemy "makes the war against Japan a war of extermination in which there is virtually no quarter."

 

"Incredible! A paper that now worries about depriving captured terrorists of their sleep was writing in 1943 about a war in which enemy garrisons "will have to be killed off to the last man."

"One can only wonder how today's New York Times would have dealt with Tarawa and what the impact might have been on American public opinion."
Col. Theodore L. Gatchel (USMC, ret.), a monthly contributor, is a military historian and a professor of operations at the Naval War College. The views here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Naval War College, the U.S. Navy or the Department of Defense.

Morale boosting narrative of the battle here.


USMC Casualties after The Battle of Tarawa. WARNING: Contains Graphic Material!


With the Marines at Tarawa (1944) - Academy Award Winning Documentary

Video; Tarawa - Then and Now   "Scenes from the 1943 invasion and Military Historical Tours 2008 "Return to Guadalcanal and Tarawa" visit on the 65th Anniversary of the Tarawa Invasion."
At the 3:36 mark you begin to see relics from the battle as they are now.

The battle plan in 1943:

Betio today from Google Earth; solid streets and houses:

 

Battle of Tarawa - November 20-23, 1943  Excellent private post on Tarawa.

 

Aerial film of the battle in progress

 

Leatherneck Magazine has these photos 

ObamaCare on Schedule to Ruin Thanksgiving

American Thinker  "With Thanksgiving approaching, Americans reflect on what they can be thankful for.  Looking at the ObamaCare fiasco, it's evident that Americans can be thankful that one senator in particular, Mike Lee (R-Utah), has continued to propose plans to stop this train wreck.  ObamaCare was supposed to insure everyone in this country but instead has caused five million Americans to lose their insurance so far.  American Thinker interviewed Senator Lee and other Americans who have little to be thankful for since receiving a drastic wake-up call regarding their health insurance."....

In spite of all this, the left demagogues those who fear Obamacare with this propaganda:

cagle.com, Their cartoons may be commented on here.

 

Hat tip to Christy Waters in Conservative Bloggers on Facebook

The American People Rose Up to Repeal a Health Care Law Once Before. They Can Do It Again.

http://terrellaftermath.com/

 

Heritage  "The law that promised health coverage for all has so far stripped 3.5 million Americans of their insurance. Meanwhile, fewer than 27,000 people merely “selected” plans—without necessarily purchasing them—on HealthCare.gov.

"To date, then, Obamacare keeps creating more coverage losers for every Obamacare “winner.” And many of those “winners” have been dismayed to discover that their trophy coverage is far more expensive than their former plans, or denies them access to the doctors and hospitals they’ve come to rely on—or both."

Reprise: The Top Ten Obamacare Disasters to come

Jeff the Chef's recipe for gourmet toast

Jeff’s Toast Of The Town
Ingredients:
·         Bread
·         Butter
·         Toaster
·         Jam, Jelly or peanut butter

Instructions:

·         Reach hand into bread bag far enough to extract two bread slices that are nowhere near either heel.

·     Remove bread slices and drop them into the toaster- only one slice per toaster slot please.

 

·     Press down bread to engage toasting process. Toast to desired toastyness- ensuring bread is cooked long enough to be considered toast. Eating undercooked toast can cause illness.

 

·     After toasting is complete, remove bread from toaster and lay flat on the counter. Toast is much easier to butter in the horizontal position (the toast, not you).

 

·     Spread butter across the toast in a left to right manner ensuring even butterness. Using margarine or “buttery spread” is forbidden. While using a knife is OK, a spreader is recommended because it will be more gentle with the toast. Avoid using Disney’s so-called “Pooh Spreaders” because that just sounds gross.

 

·     Once you have achieved buttery perfection choose your favorite final coat. This can be peanut butter, jam, jelly or honey. If you are making toast for your kid brother you may also use hair gel, barbeque sauce or furniture wax.

 

·     Spread final coat in the same manner as the butter layer. Eat and enjoy! Especially you, Little Brother.

Jeff Hayden, Plano, TX

Getting rid of old regulations is much too hard

Marginal Revolution posted this column from the New York Times business section with the comment:  TYLER COWEN: Getting Rid Of Old Regulations Is Much Too Hard. Yes, it is….

 More Freedom on the Airplane, if Nowhere Else   "Conservatives typically complain about too much regulation, but liberals should be concerned, too, because pruning away rules we don’t need should help usher in an economy with more job creation and stronger economic growth.

"The total number of federal regulatory restrictions is now more than one million. And they’re not all necessarily good ideas. For instance, the Food and Drug Administration has banned some useful asthma treatments because they have a slight negative impact on the ozone layer. The nation has medical-device regulations that take longer to satisfy than those of the European Union."....

 TYLER COWEN is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

This Is A Delicious Take Down Of Nancy Pelosi. By David Gregory Of All People.

Chicks on the Right
Notice she continues to lie and attempt to change the subject
 

Alan Caruba: Is Obama Brilliant or Stupid?

This are the very words I had been hoping to write because they all need to be said:

Warning Signs

 

..."Playing devil’s advocate, I would argue that Obamacare is the ultimate example of how utterly stupid liberal programs to alter the nation’s economy are. Why would anyone think that the government could possibly take charge of one sixth of the nation’s economy and arguably the finest healthcare system in the world, and not completely ruin it?"

....

"The government took over the nation’s educational system and it has been failing students for decades...The government took over the environment and, instead of being responsible for removing pollution from the air and waters, now have an agency that is undermining all aspects of the economy, from access to energy reserves to increased costs of manufacturing.

..."Obama’s handling of the nation’s foreign affairs has been a dismal failure. Either he is stupid or his advisers are dumber than he is..."

 

But as liberals such as Chris Mathews would claim, all these problems caused by this president would be just fine with us on the right if only Barack Obama were white. TD 

Obama’s sorry story/ The President struggles to salvage his health reform law, and his credibility

NY Daily News  "Desperate times call for desperate measures, so on Thursday one desperate President, Barack Obama, attempted to sell the idea that he had found a way to keep his Obamacare pledge: “If you like your insurance plan, you can keep it.”
"This exuberantly delivered and oft-repeated sales pitch for the program that has dominated his presidency “ended up not being accurate,” as Obama mincingly put it.
"He had no choice — not when health insurers complying with his regulations have canceled policies for millions of Americans."  Read more: