If lane closings end Gov. Christie's career, what about Obama's closing of national monuments and parks?

“We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”   “ 'It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.' ”

More:  "... the administration has made it clear the effort in shutting these things down is not about saving money, but about using these actions to make a political point.
 "A senior administration official actually fluffed off the shutdown, noting that “they were winning” so they didn’t care about the shutdown (or who it might hurt)."

Networks Torch Christie for Lane Closures, But Ignored Obama Admin's Corrupt Shutdown Tactics
"The same network evening news shows that ignored vindictiveness by the Obama administration during October's government shutdown were up in arms Wednesday over New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's "Bridgegate" and the possible tarring it could give his image."

Cones are shown along the road to Mount Rushmore. The National

Parks  Service placed the cones there to prevent viewers from

stopping on the side of the road to view the monument

Obama Forcing Shut Down of Parks the Feds Don't Even Fund   "Looking to cause as much pain as possible to the American people during this shut down, President Obama sent National Park Service (NPS) police officers to shut down hundreds of parks and historic sites that the federal government doesn't even fund."
....

"The famous Ford's Theater--site of Abraham Lincoln's assassination--was also forcibly shut down even though the theater and its programs are run by a private non-profit group.

"Another unnecessary shut down occurred at George Washington's home, Mount Vernon.
"In the case of Washington's home, the park is run by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, a group that takes no federal or state money to operate. After the NPS arrived on the scene, though, the MVLA insisted that they were open despite Obama's attempt to send his NPS stormtroopers to shut the place down."

The work of a vindictive, petulant president: Federal Government Park Service blocking view of Mt. Rushmore from highway    "With South Dakota’s most famous park, Mt. Rushmore, many people can stop along the highway and take pictures because… Well, because IT’S A MOUNTAIN.
....
"But the Obama administration won’t have any of that. They have actually gone to the step of putting parking cones along the highway, so you can’t stop and take a freaking picture of the nation’s most famous mountain from the road..."

This viewpoint was blocked by the Obama administration

Shut down: George Washington's Mount Vernon, owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association holds the Mount Vernon estate in trust for the American people.

We receive no funding from federal or state governments.

We are not a national park or monument.

We rely solely on the generosity of caring people to whatever degree they are able.

 



 

The Great Pretender

Politizoid  "Little did the Platters know in 1955 that this song would be so popular, and appropriate in 2013, 58 years later. You folks who lived in the 50's will remember the words, and will probably be singing along with the Platters."

Hat tip to Harley Standlee; Placerville, CA.

BREAK UP: Will California splinter into 6 states? Voters, Congress could soon decide

 Washington Times  "Mr. Draper’s proposed six states are called, from north to south: Jefferson, North California, Silicon Valley, Central California, West California, and South California. His money will be needed: Proponents need to collect 1 million signatures just to get the idea on the ballot this fall.
“ 'I think it’s wonderful and excellent that someone of means has taken in an interest in our lack of representation,” Mr. Baird said."

 

"Pollsters Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field wrote that opposition “is bipartisan, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and non-partisans opposed. While there is slightly greater support for the proposals among voters in inland counties and parts of Northern California outside the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Valley, even in these areas more disapprove than approve of the idea.' ”

The idea should have great interest in the areas away from the rich, liberal California coast for reasons like this:
Bruce S. Thornton: The Other California  ... "Diverting water from the Valley and dumping it into the Pacific during a drought to protect the three-inch Delta smelt, as happened a few years ago, is the most recent example. Tens of thousands of jobs were lost and land left uncultivated just so city dwellers could indulge their romantic environmentalism, a luxury of the well-fed who take the abundance of food for granted. It’s a safe bet that if San Francisco’s drinking water came through the Delta pumps, the smelt would have been history."

Delta smelt, not too far from actual size

Obama's Gates-gate

Gates’ Book

 

"The Democrats hoped to change the subject for the new year from ObamaCare to income inequality. Former defense secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, didn’t get the memo. " ...

 

Behind Obama’s Gates   "In hindsight, we can today see more clearly what the president was doing by using West Point to announce a timetable for withdrawal: He was sounding retreat."

From the UK: Robert Gates's memoirs add to the sense that Obama's presidency is unravelling

 

"Mr Biden is many things – a useful foil, a skilled Congressional negotiator, a folksy stump politician – but "leading statesman" is beyond funny.
"It's also the kind of reflex over-reaction that is provoked by the sting of truth. And coming from a figure like Mr Gates, the truth sure hurts."

The above two from Lucianne

Also from the UK: If the Taliban retake control of Afghanistan, blame Obama    "When the unhappy history of America's involvement in the Afghan conflict comes to be written, the damning critique provided by former US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on President Barack Obama's inept handling of the war will be required reading."

Gates’ Book: White House Betrayal, or Bonanza for Democracy?   "What a difference three years can make. When White House aides were leaking juicy details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011, then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates famously exploded. “Shut the f— up,” he demanded."

How long before Clinton machine turns Robert Gates into “trailer trash”?

Legal Insurrection

 

"Expect former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to quickly be turned from hero of the Democratic Party for being a Republican willing to work for Barack Obama, into just more trailer trash because of his tell-all book about that service which reinforces an accurate meme about Hillary Clinton: She has no core, and will say anything to win.

"From Chris Cillizza at WaPo, How Bob Gates’s memoir could haunt Hillary in 2016:" ....
 

"Drag a dollah bi-yull through the Pentagon halls and this is what y'all catch!"

Cuba: 55 years of human rights violations

Silvio Canto, Jr.  "The Castro regime just turned 55.  At the same time, what do they have to show for it?  The answer is nothing, specifically in the area of human rights.

"From the beginning, the regime shut down dissent and closed newspapers. The political prisons were full of Cubans, in some cases for simply calling Castro a communist.  

"This is a regime built on lies and more lies, as Fabio Rafael Fiallo, a Dominican-born economist and author, reminded us:"  More.

Castro and Terrorism: A Chronology  "Castro also became involved with African-Americans in the U.S. and with the Macheteros, a Puerto Rican terrorist group.  Cuba focused particular attention on the black struggle in the U.S., providing aid and training to the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army, as well as a safehaven on the island for black leaders."

African American activists, including Jeremiah Wright and Cornel West, blast Cuba on racism   ... "But Obama may also be a factor. Suddenly, Cuba's great enemy -- long denounced as hopelessly racist by the Castros -- has a black president, one who has toned down the U.S. rhetoric toward Cuba."

Rudy Giuliani not really a big fan of Bill de Blasio or his “basically Marxist ideas”

http://terrellaftermath.com/

If New Yorkers don’t think de Blasio’s pitch is tired and juvenile, they deserve it.  

"... De Blasio’s “new” inequality agenda borrows heavily from the old War on Poverty, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. And no city has poured more money into government anti-poverty programs — to negligible results — than New York."

Hot Air   ... "Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, however, thinks that even the term “progressive” is too generous in describing the egregiously old-and-busted policies of which de Blasio is now trumpeting himself as a noble pioneer. “Retrogressive” is rather closer to the mark, Giuliani insisted on Fox News last night:"  Video.

Two by Ann Coulter

The Anus Monologues  "Instead of the government censoring speech, what we have is shock troops of liberal agitators demanding people's heads for the slightest divergence from Officially Approved Liberal Opinion.

"Evidently, the word of God is on the banned list. As Robertson himself has said, all he did "was quote from the Scriptures, but they just didn't know it.'  ....
....
"Gays have gone from being the bullied to the bullies -- a modern American phenomenon detailed in my book "Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault on America.' " ....

Could We Get Some Immigrants Who Can Take A Poll?

 "Not only that, but a Fox News poll last year showed that a majority of Americans would like to curtail legal immigration, with 55 percent supporting a decrease in legal immigrants and only 28 percent supporting an increase.

"My thought is: Republicans should push policies that are popular.

"But instead of proposing immigration reforms that are runaway hits with a majority of Americans -- without anyone even having made the argument! -- Republicans have been hoodwinked by Democrats into trying to outbid Democrats for the Hispanic vote. They still won't win the Hispanic vote, but now the rest of the country will hate Republicans, too."

UPDATED: An incomparable strategic weapon for the United States: Fracking

Thomas Lifson  "As Russia prepares to strut its stuff before the world at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the economic foundation of Russian power and prosperity is crumbling, thanks to a strategic weapon developed by the United States. That weapon is fracking, and it is paying havoc with Russia's ability to exercise power on the world stage. Three articles lay out the devastating consequences of this technological revolution developed mostly not by a national laboratory, huge government initiative, or top scientists, but by guys out in the Texas and Oklahoma oil patches."

Top Saudi lets the cat out of the bag  "Thanks to the miracle of fracking, we have in prospect the breaking of the Muslim world's stranglehold on the world economy, making it possible for Western democracies to grow a spine and stand up to the oil-powered theocrats who want to extinguish other religions and impose their seventh century way of life on the globe.

"Self-interest would dictate that the Saudis and other oil oligarchs would be wise to fund American anti-fracking groups, in order to remove this potential game-changer. Any group that opposes fracking should be asked to prove they have received no oil money." Read more:

But the demagoguery of environmentalists will not rest:

UPDATE: U.S. Oil Boom Upsets World Markets - 15 Refineries Close In Europe - U.S. Cuts Back On Nigerian Crude, and Will Soon Cut Back on Saudi Arabian Crude As Well   "The Muslim world is about to take a big hit, and it is directly the result of American Capitalism.

"It is not because of Obama, or our war policy, or because Americans are, or are not aware of Sharia law and the evils of Islam.
"It is because Capitalists believed that with investments in Fracking technology, they could bring oil up from the Earth that was never previously thought to be recoverable." ...

Advances in extracting oil from shale rock drove a 39 percent jump in U.S. production since 2011, the steepest rise in history, and will boost output to a 28-year high this year, according to the EIA. While drilling in shale is more expensive than other methods and poses environmental challenges, the prospect of a growing supply is encouraging analysts to predict a more energy-independent nation.

UPDATE: Groundtruthing Academy Award Nominee 'Gasland'  "The oil and gas industry has not been as supportive as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Industry groups, such as the Independent Petroleum Association of America, have accused Fox of confusing hydraulic fracturing with drilling in general. They allege many other errors, large and small. IPAA's "Energy In Depth" campaign issued a seven-page rebuttal to the film, called "Debunking Gasland".
....
... "The filmmaker and industry have each made errors and have spun some facts to their outer limits. In an attempt to clear the air before the envelope is opened Sunday night, Greenwire sifted through the claims.
"We read the documents, the ones Fox and EID refer to, and many more. We called the experts and people involved and succeeded in "running to ground" many of the major points of contention." ....

Referring to a segment in the movie showing a water faucet emit flame:

The same agency found (pdf) that methane in the Ellsworths' well water did originate from oil and gas development. The Ellsworths settled with a gas company and Colorado officials replugged a 60-year-old well located near their well that the agency considered (pdf) to be a possible source of or conduit for migration of gas from drilling.  

"Filmmaker and journalist Phelim McAleer asks Josh Fox, the director of Gasland, some inconvenient questions about the accuracy of his Oscar-nominated documentary. For more go to: noteviljustwrong.com"

Even the Daily Kos denies filmmaker's claim the Gas industry is not regulated by the EPA   "This is...to give notice to both Democrats and environmental/conservation organizations that Gasland is not a reliable source of information for making decisions about the oil and gas industry for all reality and science based communities."

Thomas Sowell: The 'Trickle-Down' Lie

 
Thomas Sowell   "New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, in his inaugural speech, denounced people "on the far right" who "continue to preach the virtue of trickle-down economics." According to Mayor de Blasio, "They believe that the way to move forward is to give more to the most fortunate, and that somehow the benefits will work their way down to everyone else."

"If there is ever a contest for the biggest lie in politics, this one should be a top contender.

"While there have been all too many lies told in politics, most have some little tiny fraction of truth in them, to make them seem plausible. But the "trickle-down" lie is 100 percent lie."  More.

Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama’s leadership in ‘Duty’

Bob Woodward  "In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president “doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”
"Leveling one of the more serious charges that a defense secretary could make against a commander in chief sending forces into combat, Gates asserts that Obama had more than doubts about the course he had charted in Afghanistan. The president was “skeptical if not outright convinced it would fail,” Gates writes in “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War.' ” Via Drudge.

Hillary Clinton and Obama admitted they opposed Iraq troop surge only to look good politically   "Hillary Rodham Clinton, a likely Democratic Party standard-bearer in the 2016 presidential contest, staked out her military-related positions in the 2008 race based on how they would play politically, according to a former secretary of defense who served in both the Obama and Bush administrations."

Gates describes Obama as a feckless commander-in-chief who was less interested in winning wars than in taking political advantage of withdrawing America from them
....

"Obama, too, 'conceded vaguely that [his] opposition to the Iraq surge had been political,' Gates recounts. 'To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.' "



Gates Slams Biden in Memoir, Reveals He Nearly Quit    “ 'I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” Gates writes, according to the Times."

Krauthammer on Gates' revelations about Obama: 'How can a commander-in-chief do that?'  Video.

White House disputes Gates memoir claims   "I’m interested to see how quickly the media, having lauded Gates as a consummate professional capable of bipartisan feats of strength for years, can decide he’s nothing but a dishonest, partisan hack." ...  
Remember the adoration that Democrats gave to Scott McClellan for his tell-all book on Bush?

The National Journal stands  by the president: In Defense of Obama on the Gates Memoir   "Consider first what the memoir says about Gates himself. Criticism of a sitting president from a former Cabinet member is rare and should be taken with a grain of salt. In a breach of propriety that raises questions about his integrity, the excerpts reveal Gates to be surprisingly petty at times, such as when he complains about spending cuts at the Pentagon and the lack of notice about Obama's decision to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays serving in the military."
This same publication had this to say about former Bush press secretary Scott McClellan's tell-all book criticizing the Bush Administration.

Remember the adoration that Democrats gave to Scott McClellan for his tell-all book on Bush?

US News wrote this of Gates in 2008: America's Best Leaders: Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense

NRO: Gates: Hillary, Obama Admitted They Opposed Surge for Political Reasons

Gates describes the difficult relationship that he had with President Obama  "The same cavalier attitude is playing out again, as Islamists sweep the Middle East and Iraq falls apart thanks to Obama’s premature retreat from the country, and he allows anti-war politics coupled with his own tilt toward some Islamist factions to drive his moves. Obama’s whole approach to the war against al Qaeda has been to claim victory while sounding retreat."

Bob Gates vs. the White House  "Gates says his instructions to the Pentagon were: “Don’t give the White House staff and [national security staff] too much information on the military options. They don’t understand it, and ‘experts’ like Samantha Power will decide when we should move militarily.' ”
....
"But the splash being made by these (mostly unsurprising) insider claims is a testament to the credibility Gates has earned over his distinguished career, and suggests the considerable authority his account of these last few years will carry."
 

Top 10 Revelations From Robert Gates’s Memoir

Wall Street Journal

"Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is releasing his memoir, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” a 600-page book that offers a stark, insider’s view of Washington, the Pentagon, Congress and America’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (You can read an exclusive WSJ excerpt.) Here’s a look at some of the book’s most riveting revelations:"

Here are the sub-heads. A discussion of each is at the link

1. Contempt for Congress....

2. Contempt for Vice President Biden....

3. Suspicion of White House Control....

4. Friction with the National Security Staff....

5. White House vs. Pentagon....

6. Mr. Gates as Peacemaker....

7. The War in Iraq....

8. The War in Afghanistan....

9. Obama’s Domestic Politics....

10. Hatred for D.C.  ...