Can all of Obama's ex-Secretaries of Defense be wrong?

"The two men also still have a friendly relationship, Hagel told Foreign Policy. Nonetheless, he just took several large steps down the same road as Robert Gates and Leon Panetta, who preceded Hagel at the Pentagon and later laid out their grievances in memoirs written after they left office."

Another secretary of defense talks?  "Secretary Hagel is now the latest to say something negative about President Obama's managerial style.  
Mr. Hagel now claims that the White House tried to destroy him:

In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine published Friday, he said he remains puzzled why White House officials tried to “destroy” him personally in his last days in office, adding that he was convinced the United States had no viable strategy in Syria and was particularly frustrated with National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who he said would hold meetings and focus on “nit-picky” details.

. . . "At the same time, there is a pattern here going back to Secretaries Gates and Panetta.
It goes like this:   

1) The secretary of defense makes a presentation, but the president does not want to hear it.

2)  The Secretary gets frustrated and decides to spend time with family.

Chuck Hagel’s Astonishing Admission on Syria  "The former defense secretary has exposed yet another example of the White House’s negligence."

. . . "However, the most revealing moment of the interview was not an instance of White House micromanagement, but rather indecisiveness. " . . .

Must-see ISIS recruiting video uses American politician (and it ain't Trump)

Thomas Lifson  "Hillary Clinton has got a lot of 'splainin to do.  And just wait until Donald Trump takes a look at the ISIS recruiting video below that zooms in on a picture of her husband as it denounces “fornicators” among the American infidels.
"I urge readers to view this 4-minute-plus English-language video in its entirety.  It is stunningly well done, and it helps explain how ISIS is able to appeal to Muslims living in the West, often upset at their place in society, and looking for a way to assert their righteousness and strength."

Trump demands apology from Hillary over claim ISIS using tapes of him for recruiting
. . . "This puts Hillary in a very awkward place. Does she try to brazen through, the way Trump does? If so, will it work for her? My guess is that it will not, that a double standard will apply – the politician (Hillary) being held to a different standard than the outsider (Trump). This will knock her off balance, to say the least." . . .

Weekly Standard has this on the subject

Hillary’s Debate Fact-Check Request Backfires

Daily Caller  "When Hillary Clinton urged viewers of Saturday’s Democratic presidential debate to vet her claim about donations she’s received from Wall Street, she may not have expected people to take her literally.

"That’s because a check of OpenSecrets.org — which Clinton said supports her contention — shows that the Democratic front-runner has received more campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry than she has from the education industry.

“I think it’s important to point out that about three percent of my donations come from people in the finance and investment world,” Clinton said.

“You can go to OpenSecrets.org and check that,” Clinton continued, adding that “more donations from students and teachers than I do from people associated with Wall Street.”

According to Open Secrets, Clinton got more money from Wall Street than teachers.

"During her 2008 presidential campaign, Clinton likewise received more contributions from the securities and investment industry than she did from the education industry."  . . .  
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/19/hillarys-debate-fact-check-request-backfires/#ixzz3uyGEZEVx

Six Ways Pro-Choice People Try to Censor Pro-Lifers

Timothy Brahm

. . . "Any open-minded person should be disgusted whenever people try to silence their political opposition. I’m almost never disgusted with pro-choice people. I honestly think most of them mean well, but suffer from a combination of self-deception, flawed reasoning, and difficult emotional experiences. But I become truly angry when anyone attempts to shield himself and others from hearing arguments against his view by preventing his opposition from speaking." . . .

. . . "Censorship is at its strongest when it is hidden in the shadows, so out of a desire to make it as weak as possible and make it easier to recognize in the future, I am going to briefly share six experiences (or types of experiences) where I have seen attempts to censor pro-life people."

Obama cites weak messaging, media saturation for Americans' ISIS fears

CNN More video at this link.

"In the past few weeks, the White House has sought to step up its messaging efforts on counterterrorism, scheduling a prime-time television address and visits to the Pentagon and National Counterterrorism Center in an attempt to better explain progress made against the Islamic State group.

"But Obama conceded those efforts, prompted by an ISIS-inspired attack that killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, came after inadequate efforts to relay the work of a U.S.-led coalition in combating ISIS.

" 'We haven't on a regular basis, I think, described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL," Obama told NPR in an interview taped before he departed for his holiday vacation in Hawaii. He called the communications blunder a "legitimate criticism of what I've been doing and our administration has been doing."

"But he also pinned Americans' renewed unease about terror attacks on U.S. soil to blanket media coverage of ISIS attacks. The November ISIS terrorist massacre in Paris, which left 130 people dead, led to "a saturation of news about the horrible attack there," Obama said in the interview." . . .

School Reverses Ban On Prayer, After Being Reminded Of Constitution

Weasel Zippers

"While school cannot endorse any religion, they also cannot forbid students from praying. And the fact that they would forbid it because others might see it, is a ridiculous violation.

"Via Daily Caller:

A Wyoming school that told students they couldn’t pray in the cafeteria has lifted the ban after a Christian legal group threatened legal action on constitutional grounds.

A small group of students at Platte County School District #1 created a prayer circle in the cafeteria of Glendo High School to pray for their meal on October 15. The students prayed audibly, and it was not part of a regularly scheduled group. Afterward, the students say Principal Stanetta Twiford accosted one of the students and accused the student of forcing their religion on other students.

The principal allegedly said students needed permission to pray and then must go in the hallway or gymnasium if they wanted to talk to God. That way, other students wouldn’t see the prayer. The school argued the students were a captive audience being forced to witness the prayer. The father of two of the students appealed to the principal, who stood firm on the rule.

The parents of two of the students then reached out to the Alliance Defending Freedom, A Christian legal group, which now represents the students. ADF sent a letter to the district Dec. 4, threatening to take legal action if the district continued to ban the students from praying.

Keep reading…

The Dem Debate: "Hillary is still, alas, massively unlikable. . . "

To repeat: Hillary is "massively unlikable". Um, in a nice way, of course. TD

http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/

Hillary's debate claim can't be verified  . . . "It's at least equally logical to state that Paris and San Bernardino will inspire more terrorist attacks and recruit more jihadists than anything Donald Trump has said."

Dem Debate: Saturday Night Lites . . . "No one brought up her criminal activities, no one addressed her foundation's slush funds, her husband . . . "
. . . She is still, alas, massively unlikable, but one can forgive that, if one has not sat, stupefied, by her endless lies and cover-ups, her dissembling and self-aggrandizing."

Hillary Clinton criticized over ISIS comments, Trump recruitment video claim

Hillary Clinton caught in another video lie  " . . . “‘He is becoming ISIS‘s best recruiter,’ she claimed. ‘They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.’” (DailyMail Dec. 20, 2015)

"ISIS has only been recruiting jihadists since Trump came onto the presidential election scene?" . . .

The Daily Mail said, "The Clinton campaign did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for evidence of the former secretary of state's claim about Mr Trump and ISIS recruitment."  Is this the video?
. . .Politifact when looking for the purported videos after her claim Saturday night but found nothing.
Legal Insurrection dumped on Hillary as well

FACT CHECK: Glossed-over realities in Democratic debate

Bernie Sanders, left, speaks as Hillary Clinton listens during a Democratic presidential primary debate shown on TV screens in the media filing room, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H

The Democratic Candidates Do Their Best to Preserve ISIS

. . . "For Hillary it's an embarrassment -- or should be.  She's the woman who refused as head of the State Department to name Boko Haram (now pledged to ISIS) a terrorist organization at the very time they were raping and kidnapping girls in the name of Allah.  Now she's telling us we have ISIS where we want it -- or something like that.  Her remarks to that effect during the debate are being explained away or placed "in context"by Democrats, but that she could even claim something close to that is reprehensible.  She and Obama are, if not the mother and father of ISIS, at least their aunt and uncle." . . .

Ted Cruz Parodies Himself And Mocks Democrats In Clever New Campaign Ad

Watch the Campy Christmas Infomercial Ted Cruz Is About To Play During SNL . . . "Cruz is no stranger to non-traditional campaigning, he has cooked baconon the end of a machine gun and performed full-throated “Princess Bride” impressions on the trail in 2016. The above video features Cruz reading to his two daughters, along with his wife, in a traditional Christmas setting. However, the Christmas tales he tells are political satire."

"The greatest American recruiting tool ISIS has is our feckless leader, Obama "

Sharp-eyed people will notice the mug on the nightstand.

Obama -- Disengaged, Delusional, or Diabolical?  . . . "In a recent TV discussion of Obama’s effort to change the subject in this manner, Charles Krauthammer suggested that Obama was either disengaged or delusional. But in fact, "diabolical" may be the better term. But Obama may have foreseen just such happenings when he informed us that it was his desire to “fundamentally transform” America. No one thought at the time that he might have in mind the weakening of America to the point of our being so vulnerable as to possibly being taken over by an Islamic caliphate that his neglect had made possible. And while this may seem far-fetched, let’s take a closer look at what Barack Obama and his feckless former secretary of state have accomplished in just seven short years." . . . By Ken Eliasberg

"Shortly after taking office (and not long after his “fundamental transformation” speech) Obama flew to Cairo to deliver an apology and a loving outreach to Islam -- going so far as to suggest that Islam has deep roots in the USA. As recent events have made clear, there is no question that they are buried deep in the soil of the Obama administration. One very stark example is the Muslim Brotherhood, mother of all Islamic terrorist organizations; it is banned in Egypt, its birthplace, but welcome in the White House."

VIDEO: Uncovered Trump Interview From Over 25 Years Ago Will Shock A Lot of People

Oprah Winfrey interviews Donald Trump 25 years ago

"Part of an Oprah Interview with Donald Trump that took place about 25 years ago. NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 

Hat tip to Robert J. Hope; Sacramento, CA. Semper Fi, Bob

You may not know what "Vocal Fry" is, but you hear it every day

We hear it often on "House Hunters" for one.
Vocal Fry  "You sound like a Kardashian? Speech therapists "vocal fry" the call is low, throaty-up of young women are gaining importance. "Sunday Morning" Faith Salie contribute girls should be encouraged to find their voices, however, say that there should be creaky uncomfortable.

More on this here.

"Vocal fry: An attack on women?"

Then there is the ubiquitous "like"

If You Use This Word, People Will, like, Think You're, like,, Stupid   . . . "When the first "like" pops out of my mouth, I can already tell that someone is immediately taking me less seriously, something I already have a problem with, as a 24-year-old woman working in media.

It goes something like (appropriate use of word as conjunction) this:

Me: "Hi, I'm Zoë, the Associate Books Editor for Huffington Post Books."

Serious publishing person: "Nice to meet you, Zoë."

Me: "We're, like, doing a TON of interesting things right now on our Books page. It's, like, really cool."

How to talk like a Valley Girl

Hillary Clinton’s video problem; William Safire called Hillary a "congenital liar" in "Essay; Blizzard of Lies"

Hot Air  . . . "Bernie Sanders once again seemed to only make headlines for apologizing to Hillary Clinton and making her look good. For her part, the former Secretary of State trotted out some of her usual misleading talking points against a pair of flailing wannabes who aren’t ever going to get within smelling distance of the Democrat nomination.
"There were some golden oldies, such as Clinton’s long debunked claim of “30,000 deaths due to gun violence every year.” (We covered that one exhaustively when she first trotted it out at the President’s request.) And of course she had to explain away her cozy ties with Wall Street. But the one thing which seems to get Clinton in more trouble than anything else is whenever the subject of videos comes up. And I’m not talking about this disturbing image:

DNC failed to allow proper time, apparently

http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/221904/

"The actual event I’m referring to had to do with Donald Trump. (Of course.) In one of the more jaw dropping moments of the night, Clinton stared down the audience and proclaimed as fact that ISIS was showing videos of Donald Trump to aspiring radicals in an effort to recruit them.

"Say what, now?

"Politico was running their “Wrongometer” again and they lit into that one.

. . . "To their credit, the media actually covered this outrageous claim at length." 

As William Safire wrote in Essay; Blizzard of Lies: 

Americans of all political persuasions are coming to the sad realization that our First Lady -- a woman of undoubted talents who was a role model for many in her generation -- is a congenital liar.
Drip by drip, like Whitewater torture, the case is being made that she is compelled to mislead, and to ensnare her subordinates and friends in a web of deceit.

 Hillary's debate claim can't be verified . . . "It's at least equally logical to state that Paris and San Bernardino will inspire more terrorist attacks and recruit more jihadists than anything Donald Trump has said.
"Neither narrative is provable. But it just goes to show that Clinton has upped the ante and will now blame Trump and Republicans directly for "playing into the hands" of terrorists."