Monday, March 3, 2014

What's this about "standing" preventing this president from acting in rebellion against the Constitution?

"In an op-ed in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, I discuss the Obama Administration’s embrace of standing doctrine:
President Obama’s proclaimed strategy to “bypass Congress” — most conspicuously his broad rewriting of the Affordable Care Act — has given unusual prominence to a fairly arcane legal doctrine: standing. Standing is what is preventing a potential blizzard of litigation against the president’s unilateral decrees, and ironically, it’s a doctrine liberal jurists have long decried.

Republicans: Obama violating Constitution, but little can be done about it   "Washington Republicans on Sunday restated their argument that President Obama has violated the Constitution by using executive orders to alter the Affordable Care Act but acknowledged they likely have no recourse or ability to stop another incident." ...
 
There seems to be a consensus pictured here:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Anti-Left Street Posters Mocking Obama (and Oscars) Can’t Be Making Academy Awards Folks Happy

oczars-e1393806167548
Note the O above is the Obama logo.
 
"Also why didn’t Sandra Bullock win for Gravity?  Not liberal enough? Perhaps.
142084-sandra-bullock
"Bullock’s politics are as mysterious, if not more so, than her religion. Here, there are conflicting reports.
 
"Allegedly, Bullock self-identified herself as a conservative on her Facebook page at one point.
 
"Then again, she is reported to be a Democrat, but has said she has “as many Democratic ideas as she does Republican.”7
 

Pro and con of the Obama/ Democrat foreign policies


TD has done an internet search to find positive assessments of the Obama administration's foreign policy achievements. These are among the top five that Google came up with. Two others were White House links, so, well, you know...

From Madame Noire:  Top 8 Foreign Policy Achievements of the Obama Administration

CBS praises Obama's foreign policies Norah O'Donnell, just before the 2012 election.

You knew you the posts above would be placed next to these didn't you? Weigh the arguments of the above against these:

Why Russia No Longer Fears the West  The "West" meaning to me the democracies of Western Europe as led by the major democracy, the United States (referred to by Winston Churchill in World War 2 as the enormous power of the New World that would overcome the Nazi conquerors of Europe).
Sadly, today's Democrats will not overcome anything but academia, the media and Republicans.
This Politico columnist holds western business just as culpable as liberals.

... "When Russia sees Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal outbidding each other to be Russia’s best business partner inside the EU (in return for no mention of human rights), they see America’s control over Europe slowly dissolving…"

But Ben Judah at Sweetness and Light does not let left-leaning Politico's opinion above go unchallenged:
"This article is 1,575 words long. Obama’s name is not mentioned once. Which is simply ludicrous. The reason Russia no longer fears the West is be due to one person alone: Barack Hussein Obama.
 
"And that is because after decades of Russia nearly being frozen out of the Middle East, Obama invited the Russians back in to help with Syria. It is because Obama is gutting our military, while Russia and China are building up theirs. It is because Obama gave away our missile defenses in Europe and those at home. And he even gave the Russians our missile secrets for good measure." ...  Full article here. 

Video: Did Obama's foreign policy stumbles lead to Ukraine crisis?
  
"If Ukraine likes their sovereignty, they can keep it"    "Once again, America's chicken has come home to roost. Barack Obama's utterly spineless response to Russian military action in Ukraine has pretty much signaled to the world that the United States is officially no longer a meaningful player in foreign affairs and no advocate for freedom or democracy."
obama, obama jokes, cartoon, humor, political, hope n' change, hope and change, stilton jarlsberg, ukraine, russia, like it, keep it, fundraising, youtube

Why Are Christians the World’s Most Persecuted Group?

Józef Kazimierz "Meaglin" Sokołowski
 
"... Christians are the most likely targets of Islamic intolerance; because sharing the Gospel, or “witnessing,” is a dominant element of Christianity, Christians are most likely to fall afoul of Islam’s blasphemy and proselytism laws, as even the barest pro-Christian talk is by necessity a challenge to the legitimacy of Islam; because most Muslims who apostatize to other religions convert to Christianity, it is as Christians that they suffer persecution; and because boldness in face of certain death—martyrdom, dying for the faith—is as old as Christianity itself, Christians are especially prone to defy Islam’s anti-freedom laws, whether by openly proclaiming Christianity or by refusing to recant it, and so they die for it."

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Obama threatens not Putin, not al Qaeda, not Syria, BUT Israel on eve of Netanyahu visit.

Barack_Obama_with_Benjamin_Netanyahu_in_the_Oval_Office_5-18-09_2 (1)
"When Bibi Netanyahu lectured Obama on the Middle East in a White House press conference in 2011, Goldberg leapt to Obama’s defense with the following declaration:
"That niche is why Goldberg landed an interview with Obama on the eve of Netanyahu’s visit to the White House, detailed in Goldberg’s column today, Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out.
 
"The interview is best described as preparing the public for what is to come: The Obama administration twisting Bibi’s arm off as to John Kerry’s “framework” under the threat of the U.S. stepping aside from defending Israel against the worldwide, decades-long lawfare and boycott movement.
 
"It’s the same threat John Kerry made several weeks ago, but now it’s coming from Obama’s own lips, as Goldberg noted (emphasis added):
On the subject of Middle East peace, Obama told me that the U.S.’s friendship with Israel is undying, but he also issued what I took to be a veiled threat: The U.S., though willing to defend an isolated Israel at the United Nations and in other international bodies, might soon be unable to do so effectively...Full article. 

Weekend Box Office: PC, Islamo-Friendly “Non-Stop,” Moronic “Adult World”

Debbie Schlussel   "Another disappointing weekend at the box office. I did not see “Son of God.” Here are the movies, new at theaters this weekend, which I did see."
nonstop
 
"* “Non-Stop“: As I’ve told you in the past, actor Liam Neeson said he considered converting to Islam and claimed that the lion in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe” movies is Mohammed (and not Jesus, which author C.S. Lewis specifically wrote the lion to represent).
..."And this movie is consistent with Neeson’s multi-orgasms for Islam. In other words, you know who the villain probably isn’t." (And that turned out to be the case)
....
 "But the identity of the hijacker(s) in this movie and their motive is so absurd–so outrageous!–that it makes the rest of the movie absurd. The first 1.5 hours of this movie is okay, until the identity and motive of the villain(s) is disclosed. And while a good mystery/thriller gives you some hint of who the villain is and his/her motive, this movie gives almost none."  (Spoiler coming)
 
Let's mentally scroll through the list of previously known Hollywood villains:
Developers?  Hedge-fund managers? Republicans? Talk show hosts? Christians?  White supremacists! Yes, that's who must be the bad guys! No...not that either. It's.....it's....wait for it....bitter ex-military guys, mad about the war in Iraq/ Afghanistan. The old Springsteenish "what were we fighting for?" meme.  TD
 
"As I said, it’s a great movie until these revelations drain all juice from the film. Until then, I’d have given it TWO REAGANS. But the “resolution” of the movie changes it entirely to . . .
"TWO MARXES PLUS TWO BIN LADENS
karlmarxmovies.jpgkarlmarxmovies.jpgplus.jpgbinladensmallerbinladensmaller

Exporting Hollywood: Liberal Policies Driving Film Industry from California

Big Hollywood   "The contrast between Jerry Brown’s dangerous high tax policies that are encouraging businesses to flee his state and the tax incentives offered by New York that allow liberals like Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio to stake their claim as job creators could not be more ironic, especially when the industry being forcibly exported out of California is Hollywood entertainment. But the scenario, and the lesson to be learned, even by left-wingers, is exactly how economic development should work. California’s liberals have simply not learned the lesson."
 
 
For well over a decade, the Amazon Associates Program has worked with thousands of California residents. Unfortunately, a potential new law that may be signed by Governor Brown compels us to terminate this program for California-based participants. It specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates like you – even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.
Read more at http://themoderatevoice.com/115088/california-internet-sales-tax-cartoon/#6IDuzH4d5ukzheIq.99

"It's Not a Betrayal of Islam"


Mark Steyn  Right: "the Israeli cabinet minister, invited to surrender more land to the Palestinians, asks his BBC interviewer, "Would you hand over half of Britain to someone who keeps on killing you?"
 

Saturday, March 1, 2014

A Bad Time For a Food Stamp President

Powerline   "Maybe Russia will be satisfied with annexing Crimea and will have no further imperial ambitions. Maybe China is just kidding about going to war with Japan. Maybe the Islamic terrorists have done their worst and will turn to peaceable pursuits.
 
"Then again, maybe not. The world continues to be a dangerous place, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reminds us. The timing of President Obama’s announced intention to drastically downsize the U.S. armed forces could hardly be worse. But that downsizing is just one manifestation of Obama’s overarching desire to retreat from the world, to make the United States weaker, and to concentrate on “transforming” America. As Michael Ramirez puts it, Obama wants to beat our swords into food stamps. Click to enlarge file size:
RAMclr-030214-swords-IBD-CO.jpg.cms

Mother-of-two tries for 3 MONTHS to enroll in health exchanges as shocking waits of over an hour continue to frustrate callers

"For those trying to enroll through online health exchanges, help has long been advertised as just a phone call away.
 
"Yet the challenge in some states has been trying to get a call through at all, never mind the multiple transfers once contact has been made.
 
"Long wait times of an hour or more have been commonplace in some states, primarily those running their own health care exchanges.
"California, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada and Washington are among the states in which consumers and insurance agents have complained."
Jacki Manley - pictured with husband David and two-year-old son Tyndale - has been trying to enroll in a Maryland health plan since December

"The most recent statistics, from the first week of February, show the average wait time for those dialing in to a California call center at about 47 minutes.
 
"Sherrie Larsen, a 49-year-old truck driver in Tacoma, Wash., said the first time she called the exchange, she was told after waiting an hour and 27 minutes that the computer system was down, and she would have to call back."
 

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee greets more than 250 new employees at a call center in Fresno, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. The new employees began training to help uninsured Californians navigate the health care exchange

Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee greets more than 250 new employees at a call center in Fresno, Calif., on Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. The new employees began training to help uninsured Californians navigate the health care exchange



Obama signals Putin he isn't really serious about Ukraine

Thomas Lifson  "President Obama yesterday signaled Russia that he doesn’t intend to go to the mattresses over Ukraine.  First, he made a televised statement from the White House that kinda, sorta sounded a tough if you weren’t paying close attention, but which, upon analysis, was appallingly weak."
....
"No serious analysts in Moscow, Kiev, Beijing, Pyongyang, or any other capital thinks that the United States under Barack Obama is willing to go to war over a little thing like the invasion of a friendly country. It’s state of nature time.
"Fasten your seatbelts, it could get very, very ugly.
 
Thomas Lifson: ....A Democrat by birth, Thomas became more conservative in adulthood as reality taught him that dreams of perfecting human society always run smack into human nature.
In 2003 he founded American Thinker.

Want an example? Here: Obama Skips National Security Team Meeting on Russia, Ukraine
"A White House official emailed some reporters to say that President Obama's team met today to discuss the ongoing situation on Ukraine. It appears President Obama did not attend. 
" 'The President's national security team met today to receive an update on the situation in Ukraine and discuss potential policy options. We will provide further updates later this afternoon," reads the full statement."
Zeke Miller         @ZekeJMiller     

Obama did not attend the meeting, but WH official says he has been briefed by Susan Rice and his national security team.
 
 

This was posted in a blog, but I can find no substantiation of this anywhere, including here. Until it is corroborated, treat this story as an urban legend:
Russian official reacting to Obama ‘threatening’ to not attend the G8 meeting in Sochi later this year, because of Putin and the Ukraine

How they filmed "The Lone Ranger"

Neat short movie about the production of The Lone Ranger.
"A train movie with a faux train set - FULL SIZE!
"Used for the making of the movie ‘The Lone Ranger’.  They built 5 miles of track in the desert, their own locomotives plus a lot of other expensive stuff.  They must've had a heck of a budget."
 
Your basic "business bad; working stiffs oppressed" story. Pretty much like what you see every evening at home.

Hat tip to Walt Stier: Santa Maria, CA