The Week in Pictures: In His Majesty’s Secret Service Edition

Is there any agency controlled by liberals that does not produce mediocrity?

Power Line  "Is there any government agency whose reverse-Midas touch Obama hasn’t reached?  I’ll really start to worry if Obama puts the Secret Service in charge of dealing with Ebola.  Then we’ll know we’re doomed for sure."

 

More toons here

Anyone who said cat and dog friendships would never work, YOU ARE WRONG

Buzzfeed

4. And these two who defy all expectations of “big spoon, little spoon” dynamics.

Muslim leaders play victim in Oklahoma beheading

Thomas Lifson   "Colleen Hufford of Moore Oklahoma may be dead, but the real victims are Muslims, or so we are being asked to believe. In fact, according to the Imam of the Islamic Institute of Boston, Islam suffers a “double hurt.” And here I thought Ms. Hufford had it bad."

"We’re once again hearing the narrative that came of age in September 2001...that religion has absolutely nothing to do with the violence committed in its name, and in accordance with its most holy scripture, the Koran.  As Andrew McCarthy points out, beheading is not only called for in the Koran, it is widely practiced today in Sharia-compliant Saudi Arabia, and throughout the history of Islamic conquest:..."  Read more:

Don’t let old people decide the election, says a new ad campaign

Washington Post  "At least Thanksgiving is after the election. You're sick of hearing about the midterms anyway, but you really can't bear the thought of having to listen to Uncle Gary go on and on about lazy millennials living in basements.

"Rock the Vote!, the organization dedicated to getting young people interested in the political process, doesn't want you to miss that experience; they want you to remember that the country is full of Uncle Garys. And that the data predict that a whole lot of Uncle Garys are going to be voting this November. But who is going to vote on issues young people care about -- like student debt, the environment, unemployment and the unfairness of trend pieces? (Editor's note: Jaime is 25 but acts much, much older.)

"After this new #CareLikeCrazy ad campaign, which is basically 1984 for the Thought Catalog set, Rock the Vote! hopes the answer will be, "young people."
...
They're trying everything. On National Voter Registration Day they debuted a new online voter registration app, and have more celebrities yet to unload in "to be announced" ways. The #CareLikeCrazy Web site invites visitors to "Take a selfie. Shoot a video. Tell us —— What do you #CareLikeCrazy about?"

My Idea For A New Ad Campaign: “THANK G-- They Don’t Vote!”
... "They are trying to get that vaunted “youth vote” to show up and cancel out us old codgers that vote for things like traditional values, self-sufficiency, national defense, and economic sanity.  So instead they sponsor a strawman-laced set of videos/ads that make them and their “constituency” look like the spoiled brats they are."
...
checkmate2012 • 3 hours ago

It's the prime demographic for Democrats: the younger and dumber the easier they are to keep on the reservation. Maybe the Elbert Guillory ad could just be tweaked a bit for the youth vote.
.
Come to think of it, the same ad could be used against all the Left's favorite micro-constituents. No need to re-invent the wheel.

 

The Lincoln-Obama Comparison

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Leon Panetta destroys what little was left of Obama’s excuse for not leaving troops in Iraq

Power Line   "Following in the footsteps of Robert Gates, his Obama administration predecessor at the Pentagon, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has criticized the president’s handling of a key battleground in the war against Islamic terrorism. Gates’ criticism centered around Afghanistan. Panetta’s focuses on Iraq.

"In Panetta’s forthcoming memoir “Worthy Fights,” which Time Magazine has excerpted, Panetta argues that Iraqi leaders privately wanted U.S. forces to stay behind after the formal 2011 withdrawal; that the U.S. had “leverage” to strike a deal; and that the Defense and State departments attempted to do so. However, says Panetta, “the President’s team at the White House pushed back” and thus no deal was reached.

"Why? Because “the White House [was] so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests.' ” ...

 Megyn Kelly discusses Panetta's claims with Jen Psaki  I do wish Kelley would let Ms. Psake finish a sentence more. Same for Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.

Some snark from Blackfive

 

Why Panetta’s Lament Is Newsworthy    ... "But that, paradoxically, ought to be a reason for this to be especially newsworthy. Panetta’s lament serves as an “I told you so,” not a “you’ll be sorry” moment. Even the president’s close advisors understand Obama was wrong, and everybody knows it. It’s safe now to disavow Obama’s Iraq strategy because it’s crystal clear it was a mammoth, deadly failure. The idea that Obama was completely, irresponsibly wrong is not controversial, even among dedicated Democrats. Panetta’s criticism isn’t really news, which is why it should be."

http://comicallyincorrect.com/2014/06/17/obama-iraq-policy/

California’s next big political fight: Plastic grocery bags

WaPo  "Go to a grocery store in California and buy all the milk, eggs and vegetables you want. But there’s one thing you won’t find at the checkout line, beginning July 1, 2015: Plastic bags to carry your stuff home.

"Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday signed into law a ban on single-use plastic bags, making California the first state to prohibit stores from using the ubiquitous carry-alls. Shoppers will be charged 10 cents for every paper bag and heavy-duty plastic bag they use."

Charles Krauthammer: The real reason winning the Senate matters

Washington Post

 

... "The Democratic line is that the Republican House does nothing but block and oppose. In fact, it has passed hundreds of bills only to have them die upon reaching the desk of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He has rendered the Senate inert by simply ensuring that any bill that might present a politically difficult vote for his Democratic colleagues never even comes to the floor.

"Winning control of the Senate would allow Republicans to pass a whole range of measures now being held up by Reid, often at the behest of the White House. Make it a major reform agenda. The centerpiece might be tax reform, both corporate and individual. It is needed, popular and doable. Then go for the low-hanging fruit enjoying wide bipartisan support, such as the Keystone XL pipeline and natural gas exports, most especially to Eastern Europe. One could then add border security, energy deregulation and health-care reform that repeals the more onerous Obamacare mandates." ...

As the Obama administration crashes and burns, insiders begin to blame Valerie Jarrett.

John Fund

... "So how has she survived? Not only has she been close to the first couple for nearly a quarter-century, but she clearly makes the president feel even better about himself than he would anyway. Consider this quote from her...

I think Barack knew that he had God-given talents that were extraordinary. He knows exactly how smart he is. . . . He knows how perceptive he is. He knows what a good reader of people he is. And he knows that he has the ability — the extraordinary, uncanny ability — to take a thousand different perspectives, digest them and make sense out of them, and I think that he has never really been challenged intellectually. . . . So what I sensed in him was not just a restless spirit but somebody with such extraordinary talents that had to be really taxed in order for him to be happy. . . . He’s been bored to death his whole life. He’s just too talented to do what ordinary people do.

"Journalists who contacted the White House this week and asked to speak with Jarrett didn’t get very far. Maybe she’s decided to follow the advice of Greg Hinz and lie low for a while. But if journalists really want a fuller explanation for how the Obama administration has reached its current low ebb, perhaps they should continue to follow the threads of the Jarrett string that were revealed this week and see where those lead."

VIDEO: Cartoonist Michael Ramirez says cartoonists have gone soft in the Obama era….

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit

"The Flipside with Michael Loftus offers a fresh perspective by taking on the flipside of the news, commentary, and pop-culture that America now calls the status quo. This episode features Michael's inaugurating Michael Moore into The Flipside Capitalist Hall of Fame with special guest political cartoonist Michael Ramirez."

Zoom ahead to the 11:00 minute mark for the interview with Michael Ramirez.

The evolution of the New York skyline

 

Hat tip to Walt Stier; Santa Maria, CA

Watters’ World : ACLU Edition

Jim Campbell   The folks at the ACLU may not have been representatives of the entire organization but it’s likely they are.  A great interview with Waters.
Make America a better place, send ACLU Lawyers to Syria or Iran.

Fox News’ Jesse Watters showed up at the recent ACLU conference in Princeton, New Jersey, to find out what members of the left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) think about not only ISIS, but the war on terror in general. The answers were predictable. Here’s a sneak peek:

 

"Watters: “These ISIS members that are beheading Americans, what would you do with them?' ”

Entire transcript below.

ACLU member: “Nothing.”
Watters: “Do you think that America deserves being attacked by terrorists?”
Another ACLU member: “How else are they going to get our attention?”

"Watters played along:"

“Do you think if we listen more to ISIS, then maybe some of the terrorism wouldn’t be happening?”

"ACLU member:"

“They’ve got their own very extreme agenda. But we have people in this country who have their own very extreme agendas, very fundamentalist Christians.”