‘Sucker’s deal’

Charles Krauthammer   ...."The only reason Iran has come to the table after a decade of contemptuous stonewalling is that economic sanctions have cut so deeply — its currency has collapsed, inflation is rampant — that the regime fears a threat to its very survival
.
"Nothing else could move it to negotiate. Regime survival is the only thing the mullahs value above nuclear weapons. And yet precisely at the point of maximum leverage, President Obama is offering relief in a deal that is absurdly asymmetric: The West would weaken sanctions in exchange for cosmetic changes that do absolutely nothing to weaken Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.'....
....
"The mullahs are eager for this interim agreement with its immediate yield of political and economic relief. Once they get it, we will have removed their one incentive to conclude the only agreement that is worth anything to us — a verifiable giving up of their nuclear program.

"Brilliant."

This Iranian political cartoon nicely captures the country’s view of nuclear talks

'In case you don't know your foreign diplomats by sight, the left panel shows U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gesturing to E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The joke is pretty clear: that the United States, under the guise of good-faith negotiations, is actually pushing Iran (and maybe the European Union) toward disaster. It's a reminder that, just as many in the United States are skeptical of Iran's intentions, so, too, are many Iranians skeptical of the Americans."

UPDATE: French Foreign Minister: Iran Nuclear Deal Reached  'The French foreign minister says Iran and six world powers have reached a first-stage agreement on curbing Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Laurent Fabius gave no details as he left a meeting of foreign ministers early Sunday in a fifth day of talks. A formal announcement was expected soon."

Senior General: US in Greatest Danger Since 1930s

israelnationalnews   "Senior military analyst Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney spoke to Arutz Sheva on Tuesday, warning that rising Russian and Iranian influence, coupled with America's waning Middle East presence, has put the US in the most dangerous situation it has been in since the 1930s just prior to World War II."....

"In particular McInerney highlighted the danger of US President Barack Obama's handling of longtime US ally Egypt, which has recently turned to Russia. Just on Wednesday reports revealed that Egypt signed a $4 billion arms deal with Russia designed to let Egypt attain parity with the IDF."....
Hat tip to Allyson's Geo-political Inspections

17 Scenes From Dallas’ Historic JFK Assassination Memorial Ceremony

Buzzfeed  "It’s been 50 years since Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository in downtown Dallas.

" Hundreds of people visited Dealey Plaza to pay tribute — or extol conspiracy — on Friday."
 

Textbook Tells Fourth Graders ‘White Voters’ Were Unlikely To Support Black President

Crow and Moore Show
"Children at Bluffview Elementary who have been assigned to read the book entitled “Barack Obama,” published by Lerner Publications and a part of Scholastic’s “Reading Counts” program, were informed on page 40 that despite Obama being a “nice fellow,” many allegedly believed that no white American would likely vote for him in 2008 based solely on the color of his skin.

“ 'But some people said Americans weren’t ready for that much change. Sure Barack was a nice fellow, they said. But white voters would never vote for a black president,” the book reads.

""The book, approved for children as young as seven years old, also goes on to specifically mention controversial comments made by President Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright, while also claiming that the president has worked to bring whites and blacks together.

" 'The book’s comments were brought to the attention of the “Moms Against Duncan” Facebook page, a group of parents and education activists opposed to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan who recently claimed that “white suburban moms” only opposed Common Core because it showed that their children weren’t as smart as they thought, attempting to paint the nation-wide backlash against the curriculum as a race based issue."....



 

Texas Navigators exposed in O'Keefe videos won't face government action

American Thinker "It looks like the Obamacare navigators captured on videotape telling applicants to lie about their income by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas will face no consequences from any governmental authorities. Eric Holder's Department of Justice, which wouldn't prosecute club-wielding Black Panthers at polling places will obviously do nothing. And Texas state authorities, where the videotapes were made, claim to have no jurisdiction over Navigator behavior in Texas.

Greta Van Susteren Calls on African-American Leaders to Speak Out against the “Knockout Game” – Video 11/18/13

Freedom's Lighthouse 

"Here is Greta Van Susteren calling on African-American leaders to condemn the growing trend among African-American teens to take part in “The Knockout Game.” Reports are increasing around the country of African-American teen gang members sucker-punching unsuspecting victims with the goal of knocking them out with one punch. Greta takes the issue on, saying no one wants to even get close to the topic of race. But she “begs” African-American leaders like the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and President Obama to speak out against this crime as role models for black youth".

 

Greta has called on these leaders repeatedly to speak out against this all week. She pointed out how Mr. Obama previously spoke out against numerous other civil issues such as the Prof. Gates arrest and the Trayvon Martin issue.

Knockouts High and Low. Without self-restraint, we slip toward barbarism.

Mark Steyn    '“No justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous,” wrote Lewis — and, likewise, no law can prevent a thug punching an old lady to the ground if the thug is minded to. “A society’s first line of defense is not the law but customs, traditions, and moral values,” wrote Professor Walter Williams a few years ago. “They include important thou-shalt-nots such as shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat, but they also include all those courtesies one might call ladylike and gentlemanly conduct. Policemen and laws can never replace these restraints on personal conduct.' "

How sad that such great men as Dr. Ben Carson, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams and other noble African-Americans are looked at with fear by people passing near them because of these brutes. And those who fear these gangs of animals are considered the racists!

"That’s “visceral man.” What about Lewis’s “cerebral man”? In free nations, self-restraint is required not only of the underclass but of the rulers, too. Harry Reid is an unlikely gang leader, but, for a furtive little rodent, he landed a knockout punch on America’s governing norms. Like the lil’ old lady, Mitch McConnell never saw it coming. One minute, the time-honored practice that judicial appointments required supermajorities was there; the next, it was lying on the ground dead. Yes, yes, I know Senate procedural rules aren’t quite as gripping as “polar-bearing.” But, as I said, a free society requires self-restraint at all levels. Forget the merits of Reid’s move to simple majority rule, and simply consider how he did it."....

 

It's 1938 Again

Melanie Phillips

"When Hassan Rouhani was elected President of Iran, western leaders declared, in the teeth of stark evidence to the contrary, that this man was a reformer. So they rushed to do a deal with him over Iran’s nuclear programme, considered by the west to be a threat to the free world.
But Rouhani does not run Iran. The man who actually calls the shots – the only man who matters – is Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Earlier this week, Khamenei said the Jews of Israel

‘cannot be called humans, they are like animals, some of them’

"and that Israel was"

‘the rabid dog of the region’.

....

"Presented with unambiguous evidence of the Supreme Leader’s genocidal prejudice towards the Jews of Israel, the Obama administration merely flapped the limpest of wrists. A spokesman said Khamenei’s remarks were ‘not helpful’, while Secretary of State John Kerry said: ‘Obviously we disagree with it profoundly’."

 

 

Women of MSNBC Silent on Martin Bashir's Palin Comments

Big Journalism  "Breitbart reached out directly to hosts Chris Jansing, Rachel Maddow, Abby Huntsman, Andrea Mitchell, Savannah Guthrie, Mika Brzezinski, Alex Wagner, Krystal Ball, and Alex Witt, as well as reporter Kelly O'Donnell, through a publicist, requesting comment on the continued lack of discipline Martin Bashir has enjoyed since making his comments regarding Palin. As of press time, none of MSNBC's talent has responded to our request, nor have they commented publicly on the matter."

The Real War on Women–MSNBC Host: 'P*ss' and 'S**t' in Palin's Mouth 
 

First this, then the nuclear option

What does it take for Americans to grow disgusted with this Democrat Party?

 

Via Jack Hanley shared American Commitment's photo.

 

 

A Conservative Standing Up for Alec Baldwin? Really?

Ann Coulter (female): Alec Baldwin vs. Liberal Bullies
..."Liberals don’t mind abortion, sexual promiscuity, adultery, lying or criminal behavior. They save all their moral indignation for people who use politically incorrect words. Instead of simply filing this one away under “Liberal Hypocrisy” for future use, conservatives are validating the left’s next attack on a conservative."...

"This has real-life consequences. Feminists don’t care, just as they don’t care about the real-life consequences of women in combat, abortion on demand or insane sexual harassment rules. It’s only about their side winning. They’re for the Girl Team.

"Alec Baldwin: Victim of feminism."

Reid, Democrats trigger ‘nuclear’ option. See and hear Democrats condemn this act back in 2005.

The Washington Post   "The partisan battles that have paralyzed Washington in recent years took a historic turn Thursday, as Senate Democrats eliminated filibusters for most presidential nominations, severely curtailing the political leverage of the Republican minority in the Senate and assuring an escalation of partisan warfare.
 ...."The change does not apply to Supreme Court nominations. But the vote, mostly along party lines, reverses nearly 225 years of precedent and dramatically alters the landscape for both Democratic and Republican presidents, especially if their own political party holds a majority of, but fewer than 60, Senate seats."   Emphasis mine, TD

Nuclear Option Watch (Update – BOOM!) Democrats can gloat again after giving us Obamacare; why are so few Americans educated to understand what Democrats have done to this nation?

What is the nuclear option?
The “nuclear option” refers to a move by the majority party in Senate — in this case the Democrats — to change the Senate rules to allow most executive branch and judicial nominations to be approved with a simple majority – 51 votes — rather than the 60 votes now required. Under the current rules, the minority party can block a nomination with just 41 votes, commonly called a filibuster.

When Democrats Hated and FEARED The Filibuster  "Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell traded barbs today over changes to the filibuster rule, but in 2005 Democrats attacked the so called “nuclear option,” a change to prohibit the filibustering of judicial nominees, charging that it would decimate Senate traditions."
Listen to Obama and other Democrats oppose this nuclear option back in 2005.  "Notice they call it a power grab".

That was then, this is now: Obama supports Senate's nuclear option, rule change

March 6, 2005 New York Times condemns the "nuclear option"  "If Republicans fulfill their threat to overturn the historic role of the filibuster in order to ram the Bush administration's nominees through, they will be inviting all-out warfare and perhaps an effective shutdown of Congress."

Harry Reid’s Nuclear Hypocrisy  "The hypocrisy here should not go unnoticed. Although the filibuster for legislation has a long history, prior to 2003 it was seldom used to block executive-branch nominations — and appellate-court nominees in particular. In fact, Democrats themselves began using it this way in the 108th Congress, after they lost the Senate in the 2002 midterm elections. Here’s the backstory...."

NRO:  “ 'In my view this is the most important and most dangerous restructuring of Senate rules since Thomas Jefferson wrote them at the beginning of our country,” Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee says."

Hypocritical Dems Think They’ll Always Rule   Well, considering the third-world electorate which chose for a president a man who had never administered a government of any size and had questionable leftist  mentors, it can happen.
"... Reid finally has amassed enough votes to ram through changes in the upper body’s time-honored rules and allow President Obama to pack the Court of Appeals with as many liberals as he likes. He claims they are acting in the name of civility and the need to keep the government working, but there should be no doubt that what is going on here is a hypocritical grab for power that should be stopped."  This cartoonist supports Reid:

Three - count 'em -three Democrats opposed Reid on this 
There were three Democratic defectors — Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) — on the rules change, which came to the floor over the block of three judges intended for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

 Levin said he was being consistent with his previous opposition when a Republican majority flirted with the nuclear option in 2005.

....Levin said ... “The nuclear option abandons America’s sense of fair play. It’s the one thing this country stands for. Not tilting the playing field on the side of those who control and own the field.”

 

March 2012 Op-Ed: Senator Mike Lee: Senate has ‘confirmed more than 80 percent of President Obama’s judicial nominees’   "Claims of Republican obstruction are not only demonstrably false, they are highly hypocritical. The very Democrats now seeking to manufacture confirmation controversy personally devised and carried out a systematic effort to block President Bush’s judicial nominees through an unprecedented use of the Senate filibuster."

Forbes has the opposite take:  GOP Gambles Big On Harry Reid's Nuclear Option: Why Not Just explode The Filibuster For Good?
"Interestingly, while suggestions along these lines have traditionally led to outrage and consternation by the minority party in the Senate, this time it appears to be a different story. Indeed, the Republicans seem oddly and calmly resigned to letting it all happen.

Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

"What’s up with that?"