Boehner: If Democrats want to shut down Homeland Security over Obama’s amnesty, we won’t stop them

But the MSM will pursue a common narrative - that Republicans are to be blamed. Stories and interviews on every source beside Fox News will pursue this same narrative. I can visualize Al Sharpton on MSNBC asking a guest he has selected, "Is what Republicans are doing racist?" Of course his guest will reply yes. TD

Hot Air

. . . "Or … is it? There are two ways the GOP can spin a DHS shutdown. One: It’s no big deal. Only certain nonessential personnel in a single department will be affected. The NSA will still be listening to terrorists’ phone calls on February 28th. (If it’s no big deal, though, why use this as the key leverage in your bid to undo Obama’s amnesty?) Two: It’s a big deal and it’s the Democrats’ fault. You should choose the first spin if you think the GOP will be blamed for a shutdown despite its best efforts to the contrary and you should choose the second if you think they have a fighting chance at making Dems take the rap on this one. The risk in choosing the second spin, though, is that you’re conceding that the shutdown is damaging; if, as we all expect, the public leans towards blaming Republicans rather than Democrats for shutting down DHS, the media will gleefully point to all the GOPers who think funding is a very grave matter indeed. Here’s moderate Republican Mark Kirk and Boehner ally Charlie Dent choosing door number two:" . . .

Celebrate our great presidents, America

http://terrellaftermath.com/

I’m As Serious As An Embolism – I’ve Lost All Respect For Sarah Palin

"Unless she is giving him the finger over his shoulder, this is unacceptable."

Some comm-enters stood up for Palin:

Come on, relax. He’s going to be in way more trouble for this than she is. Let’s watch the left’s hate carnival instead of creating one of our own for the left to enjoy.
Even Breitbart invited the Occupiers to Applebee’s. Showing kindness and tolerance “heaps burning coals on their heads,” as the Bible says.

Well, sort of:

"Just bending over backward to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt, here:
"It sounds like Al Crap-ton was the instigator/pursuer, based on his tweets. Maybe Palin was caught off guard, then had a snap decision to make, deciding to prove that, even after being highly critical of Crap-ton, she has the courage to look him in the eye and be civil, if not even cordial.
"Some people will run in fear and avoid, at all costs, someone they have criticized, because they do not have the courage of their convictions. And if she had gone further, and made a scene by refusing to have her photo taken with him, the liberal media would, of course, have eviscerated her for being a racist hillbilly who can’t rub elbows with the Hollywood elite, blah, blah, blah…
"I dunno. Like I said, I’m bending over backward, for the sake of argument. I find the photo pretty damned disgusting and disappointing.

The Reckoning

Victor Davis Hanson

"Let us start our grand tour of an increasingly out-of-control world in Russia. Putin plays a two-bit Hitler in trying to gobble up his neighbors. The West responds with  a one-bit imitation of 1930s Britain and France. . .

. . .

"Racial relations have hit a new low in the age of “my people,” “punish our enemies,” and a “nation of cowards.” If an African-American entertainer does not win a Grammy, a celebrity rushes the stage to intimidate the winner. If an all African-American Little League team breaks the rules to win a crown, then the enforcement of the rules is deemed racist. If an Israel prime minister speaks to Congress without President Obama’s approval, then he is racist. What can be racism when almost everything is racist?

"Is the new racism something akin to integration and assimilation, racially blind criteria for admissions and employment, a wish to make skin color incidental not essential to our characters, and a desire for legal, measured and ethnically blind immigration?" . . .

Menendez and the Demise of American Liberalism. UPDATE: Part 2 with Guiliani

The Middle East Forum

Those who call themselves liberals have been unable or unwilling to name and recognize the affinities between Islamism in its Sunni and Shia variations and deeply reactionary forms of totalitarianism of the twentieth century. Liberalism, which was historically the home of anti-fascism, has, in its predominant currents, ceded that position to centrists and conservatives. 

. . . "He has led the push for deeper sanctions in the perhaps futile hope that economic pressure would lead the Iranians to turn away from the bomb without the need to resort to force.

Sen. Menendez has command of both broad strategic issues and technical details of the negotiations.

"The senator has done so with tact, deep knowledge of the subject and by holding numerous congressional hearings on the subject. In the process, he has earned the respect of senators in both parties because he is formidably well informed and has command of the broad strategic issues as well as the daunting technical details of the negotiations. It is precisely because the President cannot dismiss him as a member of the political opposition that he has been a thorn in the side of the Administration. Yet Menendez has been swimming against the main current of liberalism in the Obama era, one that finds little or no room for the traditions of liberal anti-fascism that were once one of American liberalism's defining features." .  Full article here.

Jeffrey Herf is a professor of History at the University of Maryland-College Park and a fellow at the Middle East Forum. His recent works include: Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World (2009) and The Jewish Enemy: Nazi Propaganda during World War II and the Holocaust (2006).\

Raging Rudy Giuliani Destroys Obama’s Policies on Islamism and Iran

UPDATE: WATCH PART 2: Raging Rudy Giuliani Destroys Obama's Policies on Islamism and Iran

Thankfully, Obama’s Dumb Capital Gains Plan Is Going Nowhere

Chris Edwards  "President Obama’s new tax proposals show that he is not interested in bipartisan tax reform. The plan ... outlined in his State of the Union address is anti-growth, anti-savings, and pro-complexity. Left-wing political consultants might like the plan, but not serious tax reformers. Obama himself has called for simplifying the tax code, but his proposals — including the expansion of tax credits — would make the code more complicated.

"Obama’s worst idea is raising the top capital gains tax rate from 24 to 28 percent, which would come on top of his previous increase from 15 percent. Low capital gains tax rates are not some sort of unjustified loophole. We've had reduced rates virtually the entire time we've had an income tax, and for very good reasons. Low capital gains rates are crucially important for spurring entrepreneurship, investment, and growth." 

. . .

Fear this president, but fear more the millions who elected him into office - twice.TD

Bill Clinton’s libido threatens to derail Hillary — again

NY Post   "She hasn’t even announced, but the question has already resurfaced: Will Bill Clinton’s baggage derail Hillary Clinton’s presidential hopes?

"Just a few weeks ago, reports broke that Bill Clinton had flown at least 11 times on “The Lolita Express” — a private plane owned by the mysterious financier and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. According to Virginia Roberts, who claims to have been one of Epstein’s many teenaged sex slaves, Clinton also visited Epstein’s private Caribbean retreat, known as “Orgy Island.”. . .

. . . "Hillary took another hit when Claire McCaskill, the prominent Democratic senator from Missouri, weighed in on Bill’s reputation on “Meet the Press.”

"I think he’s been a great leader,” McCaskill said, “but I don’t want my daughter near him.”

“ 'F—k her,” Hillary said.

"McCaskill endorsed Obama." . . .

Nightmare scenario unfolding for Obama at Ayn al-Assad Air base

Thomas Lifson  "The massive air base at Ayn al-Assad in Iraq’s Anbar Province hosts 400 US Service members, who are training Iraq Air Force personnel. They now are in danger of serving as hostages to ISIS, which has conquered the nearby city of Al Baghdadi and already threatened the perimeter of the base."
. . .

"Under the half-hearted leadership of Obama, such engagement could lead to a major disaster. It all seemed so simple under the illusion that if only the malign US presence were ended, peace, love and happiness would result.

"We are living in perilous times."

That ISIS attack on an Iraqi military base was a lot worse than the Pentagon let on
. . . "That’s disturbing. Over the course of the last several months, ISIS has demonstrated its interest in both attacking this base and in getting at American troops. This latest assault’s incredible success – coming within two miles of American troops – is only going to embolden ISIS forces to continue their efforts to penetrate al-Asad."

US coalition against ISIS is fraying. Gulf Arab partners mull withdrawal over Iran’s involvement   . . . "It is feared in Riyadh – and not just in Abu Dhabi – that the joint US-Iranian war effort against the Islamic State is providing a screen behind which the Obama administration is opening doors for Iran to advance its regional aspirations.

"They are adamantly opposed to Obama’s policy in this regard and are loath to lend their air strength for its support. Therefore the entire Gulf component, and not just the UAE, may be quietly taking its leave of the US-led coalition against ISIS."

Judge Jeanine Pirro: “Mr. President, You Need To Get Serious About What’s Going On in the Middle East”

What really destroyed Brian Williams’ credibility?

Jon Stewart announced he's leaving The Daily Show, setting off specualtion that the comic might replace Brian Williams as the NBC News anchor. Nobody saw this coming. A month ago, you would have said before that happens, Charles Manson will call of his wedding because his fiancee is too weird.  Comedian Argus Hamilton

"The vapid nightly news itself, says Bill Maher."

Legal Insurrection   "Bill Maher has some ideas about what really destroyed Brian Williams’ credibility with the American people…and it has absolutely nothing to do with his recent suspension.

From Mediaite:

See, what “destroyed” Brian Williams’ credibility in Maher’s eyes was “ten years of wasting precious news time with bullshit stories.” It really bothers him that national nightly newscasts shirk their “sacred responsibility” to report the news in favor of viral YouTube videos, cutesy human interest stories, and lots and lots of weather coverage.

He called it “journalistic malpractice” for Williams to spend so little time reporting on climate change and instead covering east coast blizzards “like white Godzilla is on the way.”

"Watch:"    (Language advisory)

Full article here.

THE FIRST THREE STORIES ON TODAY'S BBC-NEWS PROVE THAT DUE TO OBAMA'S FAILING POLICIES OUR ENEMIES ARE ADVANCING

The Astute Bloggers

"FROM THESE HEADLINES ONE MUST CONCLUDE THAT OBAMA'S POLICIES ARE FAILING US, BUT AIDING AND ABETTING THE ENEMY:
BBC: Battles rage ahead of Ukraine truce
BBC: Boko Haram attacks Nigerian city
BBC: Canada foils 'mass shooting plot'

MAYBE OBAMA ISN'T A MOLE FOR PUTIN AND IRAN AND THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, BUT HE MIGHT AS WELL BE.
OBAMA MAKES CARTER LOOK LIKE GEORGE PATTON! " . . .

SpongeBob soaks up 90 minutes, giving little in return

WorldMag

. . . "In the latter half of the movie, they exit the cartoon environs of the ocean and emerge on dry ground in a live action/computer graphics mélange. There they chase Burger Beard the Pirate, played by Antonio Banderas, who also narrates the entire story. The cartoonish action is for kids, but the humor—and, presumably, the several lingering close-ups of (real, not animated) bikini-clad women—is for grown-ups." . . 

Fox Host Bashes Obama For Saying ‘YOLO’ After Kayla Mueller Murdered By ISIS

"President Obama continues to get heat for his BuzzFeed interview, which featured him messing around with a selfie stick, after it was discovered it took place in the wake of him finding out about Kayla Mueller’s death at the hands of ISIS.

"While hosting “America’s Newsroom,” Fox News anchor Heather Childers chided the president over his actions during the interview, which was released Wednesday, during a panel with Juan Williams and Mary Katharine Ham, telling the pair Obama shouldn’t be saying “YOLO” in the wake of such a tragedy.

“ 'The president says, ‘YOLO, man!’ And for people at home who may not know what that stands for, YOLO stands for ‘you only live once,’” Childers told Williams. “Well you know who’s not alive, Juan, now? Kayla Mueller.' ”

Obama Makes Faces, Takes Selfies and Goofs Off in BuzzFeed Video