Thanksgiving 2015

hopenchangecartoons

"As we reflect on Thanksgiving 2015, it strikes us that one of the defining qualities of the liberal left is that they demand everything but are thankful for nothing.

"We suppose it's hard for them to count their blessings when they're more consumed with covetous envy of others. And it's seemingly impossible for them to swallow their pride (or is it hubris?) long enough to say "thank you" to their fellow citizens (including, especially, the "evil rich") who fund not only this nation's many generous social programs and safety nets, but the infrastructure that keeps our standard of living high and the troops who keep us safe.

"We enter this Thanksgiving holiday at a time of great world tension and, sadly, legitimate concern about the quality of our political leaders. But that shouldn't stop us from drawing a deep breath, turning off the doomsayers on television for awhile, and making a calm reassessment of the incredible bounty which all Americans enjoy.

"And of course, taking time to give thanks."

Obama, the president who lost his voice

Washington Post   "The presidency has changed Barack Obama. His hair has gone gray, which is to be expected, and he looks older, which is also to be expected, but his eloquence has been replaced by petulance and he has lost the power to persuade, which is something of a surprise. You can speculate that if the Obama of today and not Winston Churchill had led Britain in World War II, the Old Vic theater would now be doing “Hamlet” in German.

"The president has lost his voice, that is certain. The numbers say so. Obama has the approval of only 44 percent of the American people. During his time in office, Congress and much of the nation have gone Republican — statehouse after statehouse, governor after governor (soon to be 32) — an astounding feat when you consider that the GOP has become the Know-Nothing Party in all its meanings." . . .

Climate protesters in Paris destroy memorial to those who died in terror attacks

Carol Brown   "Climate marches were held around the world this weekend.  In France, the epicenter of the climate summit, things really got ugly.  Although the French government banned the protest, about 100 anarchists and communists came out anyway.  And as you might imagine, they were in fine form (sarc off), destroying the memorial to the victims of the recent Islamic terror attacks in Paris and using memorial candles as weapons to throw at the police, who were out in force."

"Nothing says we care about the environment better than leftist goons who use just about any occasion as an opportunity to become violent.  It’s their way."

Secularism will join nativity on display in Ind. this winter

Freedom From Religion Foundation

"The Freedom From Religion Foundation will display a Bill of Rights "nativity" and a Winter Solstice banner this year in Franklin County, Ind., to counter a nativity scene that has stood alone on public property for 50 years.

"FFRF has been battling the county over this nativity since 2010, when it was erected at the foot of the flag pole. FFRF renewed complaints in 2011 and 2013. The county refused to take down the religious scene, moving it closer to the courthouse entrance in 2011. FFRF, with the ACLU of Indiana, filed a federal lawsuit over this nativity in Dec. 2014 asking the court to order the county to remove the nativity permanently.". . .   

How Saul Alinsky, Reverend Wright and Bill Ayres would handle military intelligence

Fraudulent intelligence on ISIS developing into another Obama scandal
"More than four dozen U.S. intelligence analysts formally filed complaints that their honest intelligence evaluations regarding the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Qaida’s branch Al Nusra Front in Syria were altered by superiors to prop up President Barack Obama’s false proclamations that he and his “national security team” are winning the war."
. . . 
“ 'There’s only one problem: the reporters in the early 1970s despised Nixon and were more than happy to bash him, but the news media today loves Obama and although they will publish or air negative stories about him, they don’t want to see him fail. In fact, I will bet that these reporters already wrote their ‘comeback kid’ news stories in anticipation that nothing will come of any of the scandals in the Obama administration,” said Lovell."

No Known Threat. Also, No Confidence

. . . "But the concern here isn’t that some Americans are succumbing to unreasonable fears about terrorism and need the president to talk some sense about the subject. The problem is that much of the country understands all too well is that the president has been waging a half-hearted military campaign against ISIS and other Islamist terrorist groups like al-Qaeda that has clearly failed." . . .

U.S. Dithering on ISIS Continues   . . . "The Obama anti-ISIS policy seems to be to do as little as American public opinion will allow, no matter how destructive ISIS becomes in the West." . . .

arkansasgopwingl

Interesting family background of the Colorado Springs shooter Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/11/interesting_family_background_of_the_colorado_springs_shooter.html#ixzz3suKBF9nF Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

Rosslyn Smith  " . . .From a professional point of view, he seems to me like the type of person whose inheritance might be put in a spendthrift trust. And I do suspect there might be some money in his family.  One report says Dear listed his occupation as a "self employed art dealer." That's not usually an occupation for someone with middle or working class roots." . . .

"There is no information so far on why Dear, Jr. moved to Colorado after apparently spending so many years in the Carolinas.  It would be funny if legalized pot has something to do with it.   He does look like quite a few of the badly aging hippies, many of them scions of respectable, affluent families, who get drawn to low cost of living communities in areas around towns like Asheville or Colorado Springs."

American Silliness; Nov 29, 2015

PUT THE MENORAH DOWN AND SLOWLY BACK AWAY FROM THE CHRISTMAS TREE!  . . . "And to my Christian friends: Please don’t go get assimilated on me either. That tree in the mall, town square, or your living room is a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree. Santa is not a secular character; he isSaint Nick. You have a nice tradition. “Keep the Christ in Christmas.” Don’t try to make it politically correct by taking away its religious nature. And don’t take away the religious nature of Hanukkah by shoving it down the collective throats of public Christmas displays." . . .   by Jeff Dunetz 

President Barack Obama’s Department of Veterans Affairs has banned employees at its facility in Salem, Virginia, from saying “Merry Christmas” to veterans.

…Public areas may only be decorated in a manner that is celebratory of the winter season. Displays must not promote any religion. Please note that trees (regardless of the types of ornaments used) have been deemed to promote the Christian religion and will not be permitted in any public areas this year.

. . . 

The email also bars Christmas music, saying that if a supervisor has allowed an employee to have music in his workspace, such music must “be secular (non-religious).”

How reality-TV programming affects the way we understand the very concepts of truth and authenticity."

"With the rise and dominance of reality television over the last twenty-five years comes the concomitant belief that humanity is knowable via the investigative camera, the first-person essay, and the webcam confessional." . . .

Some highlights of the student demands  . . .  " 'Among the enumerated items on lists of demands popping up at dozens of schools—at institutions like the University of Wyoming, San Francisco State University, and Amherst College—demands that college authorities take steps to dissuade or even sanction community members who express disagreement with the protesters are worryingly common.+

1. " 'Particularly concerning are calls for speech codes demanding punishment of constitutionally protected “hate speech,” mandatory trainings requiring students to voice agreement with certain ideologies (compelled speech), and rules about what faculty cannot, or must, teach.' ". . . 
2. Wesleyan protesters demand tracking system for faculty migroaggressions (seriously)  "The Demands include:
3. 5. TRACKING OF FACULTY & STAFF BIAS & MICROAGGRESSIONS

   By November 30th, 2015: Report on how student input will be integrated into the formation of an anonymous student reporting system for cases of bias, including microaggressions, perpetrated by faculty and staff.

   By Spring, 2016: Revision of end of semester professor evaluations to include a section dedicated for reporting classroom biases, including microaggressions, perpetrated by instructors.

   David Sessions, a Ph.D. student in History at Boston College, correctly assesses the situation as a demand for totalitarianism:
   

Holdomor: For those of you who think capitalistic America is just as evil as Communist Russia

"With Ukraine commemorating the Holodomor famine of the 1930s, it will be interesting to see if President . . .  President Barack Hussein Obama will even mention the commemoration of the horrific genocidal campaign against farmers in Ukraine during the 1930s. (Barack Obama’s mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was quite fond of Stalin and the Soviet communists—being a hardcore communist himself.) "

Remembering Holodomor: Millions of People Were Killed by Stalin’s ‘Death by Famine’ Policy

. . . "The engineered famine known as the Holomodor occurred in Ukraine under the brutal and merciless reign of Josef Stalin. It is estimated that some 5-7 million people starved to death during Stalin’s forced collectivization of farms in the years 1932-1933. Stalin ordered that all grain be forcibly taken from Ukrainian farmers—namely, the kulaks (independent farmers). Stalin even ordered that the seed grain (required for planting a new crop) be taken from Ukrainian farmers, leading to the deaths of millions.

"Disturbingly, Vladimir Putin has been attempting to whitewash the sordid and murderous history of Josef Stalin as of late:" . . .

Refugee-O-Phobia

comicallyincorrect.com

This weekend Muslim “refugees” chanted the Islamic war cry as they stoned police at the border with Macedonia.    "The migrants, already angry about the fact that Macedonia has started to erect a fence on the border, started throwing stones at police officers who were cordoning off the official checkpoint. Some police vehicles were also damaged, the ministry says."

• Ex-Muslim warns Europe; ‘deport anti-democratic Islamists’ or face more attacks
• Christians stoned by American Muslims in Dearborn as police watch
• Rep. John Conyers calls for government policy to counter anti-Muslim attitudes

Obama: Republicans Are Afraid of Widows and Three Year-Old Children. (As seen above)

Kuwaiti Official Perfectly Explains Bringing in Refugees is Dangerous (VIDEO)   "At the same time as Obama is trying open the flood gates and bring refugees into the country, Arab nations are working hard to keep the dangerous refugees out."

Coming to a City Near You: Islamic Terrorism . . . "The person with the real fears is the one in the White House quivering in his mom jeans that something bad may happen in his last 14 months. Obama’s “Audacity of Hope” these days is that by not recognizing Islamic terrorists as a clear and present danger to the U.S., he will eke out the end of his term leaving his mess to his successor. Michael Makovsky  reasoned that it is Obama who has facilitated ISIS recruitment." . . .
"As Paris illustrates, that risk is far too real and too great to ignore.  History books will look back upon America’s self-destruction (and that of Europe and the West more generally) in fascination that this once great civilization willfully allowed itself to be kidnapped by the progressive left through lies, intimidation, ignorance, and a lack of common sense.
"Paris was a wake-up call. Will America awaken or slumber into disaster?"

Stephen F. Hayes on Obama’s Intel Scandal

"This is a scandal. And those involved believe that it reaches into the White House."

Stephen F. Hayes   "Barack Obama says he wants the truth. On November 21, the New York Times reported allegations that military intelligence officials provided the president with skewed assessments that minimized the threat from ISIS and overstated the success of U.S. efforts against the group. The Times story was an update of reporting from the Daily Beast earlier this fall. “More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military’s Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda’s branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials,” the Beast reported in September. These analysts say their superiors regularly massaged pessimistic assessments to make them more upbeat before sending them up the chain of command. The analysts registered their grievances with the inspector general at the Pentagon, who is investigating their claims.

"Obama was asked about this investigation at a press conference on November 22. The president said he doesn’t know the details of the allegations. But he added: “What I do know is my expectation, which is the highest fidelity to facts, data​—​the truth.”

"The allegations are serious. We’re told by sources with knowledge of the investigation that the analysts who made them knew well in advance they’d be filing an official complaint. So they were ready when they did, providing the IG with extensive documentation​—​going back more than a year​—​to support their claims.

Why were they so well prepared?" . . .

The System Worked, So Why The Protests In Chicago?

Investors.com

"Discord: The usual suspects were protesting again Friday and performing for TV news crews in Chicago. They disrupted tourists and holiday shoppers on tony Michigan Avenue. But what exactly were they protesting?

The ostensible reason for the chanting street anger was the shooting of a knife-wielding black teen by a white Chicago policeman. The violent death of Laquan McDonald emerged last week on a disturbing police video released by court order.

"Police had responded to reports of car break-ins and spotted the 17-year-old, later found to have PCP in his system, walking in the street waving the knife. When he turned toward one officer, he shot the teen 16 times, 15 after the youth had fallen.

"The officer, Jason Van Dyke, has been charged with first-degree murder. He's in jail without bail. The methodical American legal system is grinding along. The victim's family called for calm and understanding. Nothing will bring the troubled youth back.

"The truth is the awful death is demeaned by another outbreak of the nation's protest industry, one that unfortunately doesn't move itself overseas. The telling tip-off is the presence of Jesse Jackson. Or Al Sharpton. And protest leaders' choice of target, in this case a nationally familiar tourist area that — Oh, look! — is handy to all the local TV newsrooms. And it piggybacks on a traditionally slow news day's fascination with holiday shoppers. A perfect public-relations storm for protesters." . . .

If police shooting video had been released sooner,
would Emanuel be mayor?  

"Would Mayor Rahm Emanuel have been re-elected if voters had seen the video of Laquan McDonald´s execution? No. Rahm would have lost the election. Why? Because he would have lost Chicago´s black vote. Without the black vote, Rahm Emanuel would not be the 9.5-fingered boss of Bartertown. Black political figures would have been uneasy standing with Rahm. They would have run away. They couldn´t stand with him. Not if that video came out  . . ."

From Lucianne

Obama Spares ISIS Oil Facilities to Save the Earth

"President Obama would destroy the American economy to fight the mythical threat of climate change but protected the oil wealth of the very real and very deadly threat of ISIS because destroying it might hurt the environment. Go to your climate conference, Mr. President. That’ll show them"

Daniel John Sobieski  "One may be thankful that President Harry S. Truman didn’t have to file an environmental impact statement before he dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, acts which shortened and won World War II and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

"If you wondered why our air campaign against ISIS was inept, consider the statement by Mike Morell, speaking on the “Charlie Rose” program Tuesday night that we didn’t take out the oil facilities that ISIS was using to become the best financed terrorist organization in history because of our concern the environment would be harmed. As the Washington Times reported:

A former CIA director said the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State has been reluctant to attack oil wells controlled by the extremist group partly because of environmental concerns.
We didn’t go after oil wells -- actually hitting oil wells that ISIS controls because we didn’t want to do environmental damage, and we didn’t want to destroy that infrastructure,” said former spy chief Michael Morell, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

 . . . "President Obama wants to use the environment to degrade and destroy the U.S. economy based on ideology and not science – much pain for no gain. As Investor’s Business Daily noted:" . . .

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor’s Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications