Can AOC win the Obama primary?

 The inch-deep TV woman say America isn't ready for a woman president. Actually, we want a Margaret Thatcher, not some DEI clown. TD

Don Surber 

"Another problem is the two women Democrats sent were unpleasant. Trump is affable and. Biden too. They have fans. Hillary and Kamala couldn’t buy a friend."

"The 2028 presidential election will for the fourth consecutive time be a referendum on Donald John Trump. If his second presidency succeeds, as I believe it will, then the Republican nominee will prevail. If not, Barack Obama’s candidate will take the government over.

"Everyone who is anyone tells me the Republican race will be between JD Vance and Marco Rubio. At this point in the 2016 cycle, the Republican race was between Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.

"For Democrats, Obama will decide who will represent the party. He’s the kingmaker. In 2016, Obama picked Hillary Clinton and the party paid off Bernie Sanders to clear the way for her. In 2020, Obama picked Joe Biden and the party paid off Bernie, Pete Buttigieg and a few others. In 2024, Obama made Biden debate Trump in June to clear the way for Kamala Harris’s nomination—after taking one last shot at Donald Trump.

"In Butler, Pennsylvania.

"Obama is Wile E. Coyote. His quest for communism is based on the belief of inevitability. He has been meticulously patient. No matter how many setbacks he has, he believes time is on his side.

"Installing a meat puppet behind the Resolute Desk on January 20, 2021, was genius. Biden was just in politics for the money. What he lacked in intelligence, he made up in avarice. He stayed bought. OK, all that lawfare backfired. But all Obama needs is another anvil, balloon and jet roller skates to make it work this time." . . .  

"Men don’t have that problem. Unfair? I suppose. Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher did not build their careers on their looks. That paid off in the long run. AOC went for the looks. Her clock is ticking. She can freeze her eggs but not her looks." More.

More on Obama candidates:   ‘The List of His Failures Goes On’: Unearthed Receipts Haunt El-Sayed As Obama Tries to Save Him   "Former President Barack Obama is preparing to ride into Michigan to help save Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, who is now locked in a tight race with Republican Mike Rogers.

"CNN’s KFile just unearthed a major problem with that rescue mission.

"Footage and interviews reviewed by the network show El-Sayed spent years calling Obama’s presidency a failure and insisting the country was no better off after his eight years in the White House. Finally, something we agree on.

"Will the unearthed comments create friction even as Obama is forced to grit his teeth and pretend Abdul is the right man for Michigan? Probably not. Democrats are well-trained theater kids. They'll keep up appearances.

"Still, El-Sayed's criticisms will surely sting." . . .   Video: CNN EXPOSES El-Sayed BLASTING Obama for ‘LIST OF FAILURES

Stupidity: Is It The New Political Power?

 American Thinker

 What if the real winner is a political system that no longer requires citizens to think for themselves?  If that is happening, we should probably figure it out before we discover the answer the hard way.  

 "We have spent centuries building societies on the assumption that people can govern themselves. Our institutions are premised on individual responsibility, private property, free expression, voluntary association, markets, constitutional limits, and the belief that adults can generally be trusted to govern themselves.

Yet much of today’s politics appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

"Competence increasingly seems negotiable, perhaps even disqualifying. Expertise is often treated with suspicion. Complex problems are compressed into slogans. Identity matters more than accomplishment, authenticity more than knowledge, and how a politician makes people feel more than that politician’s ability.

"Why? And more importantly, what happens to our democracy when understanding a political argument matters less than producing the politically correct reaction?

"That is a different question from whether conservatives or liberals are right. It is a question about self-government itself. The old populist argument was simple: the elites have failed you, so “power to the people.”

"The emerging version may be something stranger: you don’t need knowledge; you only need someone or something to blame.

"That’s a very different kind of populism.

"Self-government is hard work. It requires citizens to absorb facts, recognize tradeoffs, distinguish evidence from assertion, remember history, tolerate disagreement, and occasionally accept outcomes they don’t like.

"None of that is particularly riveting. Anger, outrage, fear, and identity are." . . .More.

Too many Black people play the victim card - Charles Barkley refuses to blame White America for Black struggles

Barkley says personal choices matter and rejects blaming slavery and racism for every problem facing Black Americans.

BasketballNetwork.net  

“People don’t see famous Black people as regular Black people," Barkley said. These comments fit with the way he has approached the subject for years. Barkley has never claimed that racism doesn’t exist, but he also doesn’t want that to become the only explanation for why the Black community struggles."

"​Charles Barkley has never been shy about discussing his beliefs, even when some of those words could put him in an uncomfortable position within the Black community. His recent appearance on The Chris Cuomo Project was no different, as the former NBA forward discussed race in America.

"Barkley made sure to clarify that he doesn’t believe slavery and racism should be used to explain every problem facing Black Americans, while he understands that racism still exists.

"“I’m not one of those black people who hangs on to slavery – I don’t blame White America for every ills of the Black community. I don’t do that. I’m not gonna play the victim card. I think too many black people play the victim card, because of all the slavery and racism. No, sometimes your choices matter,” Barkley said.

"Personal responsibility has been a topic of conversation when Barkley speaks about the Black community. He has previously spoken about fatherhood, education and the choices young Black men make, but he believes that some Black people need to take a hard look at problems within their own community, rather than pointing fingers." . . .More.

It’s the Iran War, Stupid

Ann Coulter   

"Moreover, respondents rank immigration the third “most important issue facing the country today,” just after inflation and the economy. The Iran War comes in sixth. (Climate change is 614th.)"

"On a recent New York Times podcast, columnist E.J. Dionne claimed that the “key” to Trump’s “ victory in 2024 was his promise “to bring order to the southern border,” but instead — for some inexplicable reason — he “launched this massive campaign” to deport illegals.

"Great analysis, except Trump never promised to “bring order” to the border. That was Kamala.

Trump’s promises were slightly more grand. In particular, he said — repeatedly — that he would implement “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” His immigration plans were memorialized in panicked Times headlines like these:

"'Sweeping Raids, Giant Camps and Mass Deportations: Inside Trump’s 2025 Immigration Plans” (Nov. 11, 2023)

"'Trump Says He Would Try Again to Revoke Haitian Immigrants’ Protections” (Oct. 3, 2024)

"'What if Trump Deported Millions of Immigrants?” (Oct. 22, 2024)

"'Trump’s Deportation Vow Fuels Fear and a Potential Showdown in New York” (Nov. 9, 2024)

"For proposing an immigration crackdown that appalled the Times’ newsroom, he was rewarded on Election Day with a sweep of all seven battleground states, a majority of the popular vote and a newly Republican Senate.

"No Republicans proposed to bring “order” to the border. Under Biden, the border had plenty of “order,” in the sense that the 20 million foreigners sneaking into this country did so with a minimum of pushing and shoving.

"To avoid the mayhem of throngs of people rushing our border, the Biden administration gave third-worlders an app to schedule their illegal crossings, whereupon Border Patrol would dust them off and direct them to the nearest welfare office. True, this was a direct violation of federal law as well as traitorous, but the one thing you couldn’t say was that it lacked order.

"It was Democrats who ran on bringing yet more “order” to the border, meaning they wanted illegals to be admitted even faster." . . .  More.

Why Did French Police Help the Nazis Deport France's Jews?

Muslims remember the French helped in the murder of Jews then; why not now? The shame still clings to them as I expect it will cling to today's keffiyeh-clad college kids and their clownish co-conspirators. TD

War History Online  

. . . "Now, in 2018, comes a new book and companion film by historian Laurent Joly and film-maker David Korn Brzoza, which shine a light on the extent of French police involvement in the deportation of French Jews to the Nazi death camps. "The book, entitled L’Etat contre les Juifs (The State against the Jews), and film The Vichy Police show the extent of police involvement which ran deep." . . .

. . . "The author and film-maker state that “Vichy was always trying to demonstrate its goodwill towards the Germans … There were ways in which they could have resisted their pressure. But the policy of collaboration was a deliberate choice.”

"Sometimes that choice was made due to anti-Semitic feeling. Sometimes it was to show the Germans that the authorities were going to “toe the line” and hopefully get the Germans to allow the French the semi-independence they had enjoyed until then." . . .

Vichy and the Nazis: A Deal with the Devil,   

Why Did Vichy France Cooperate?,  

Revisiting Vichy; French Betrayal of the Jews - Yated.com   . . . "It was the French police, not German ones, who rounded up Jews, holding them in the Vel d’Hiv stadium for transportation to Poland and the death camps. Historians note that before the Nazis ever demanded the Vichy government participate in anti-Semitic policies, the French on their own initiative had enacted policies that removed Jews from civil service and began seizing Jewish property."

The dark truth of Vichy France, 1940–1944 -

Philippe Pétain - Wikipedia   . . . "Pétain did not wait for German orders to implement antisemitic legislation, instead drafting them on his own initiative. Plans for antisemitic laws began to be drawn up almost immediately after Pétain signed the armistice, and on 3 October 1940 he and his ministers signed the Law on the status of Jews into law, which provided a legal definition of the "Jewish race". Pétain signed the Law regarding foreign nationals of the Jewish race on 4 October, which authorised and organised the internment of foreign Jews in Vichy France and marked the regime's first step in collaborating with Nazi German plans for the Holocaust.^{[63]" . . .}

The World is Waiting for Israel to Name the Enemy

 Israel Unwired 

"Israel must now fulfill its responsibility to be a light unto the nations. The time has come to name the enemy clearly, not only for our sake, but for every free society threatened by it:  Jihad."

 

 . . . "Western governments must identify genocidal jihad for what it is, a 1,400+ year ideology that is deep within their countries, dismantle organizations promoting it, prosecute incitement and material support for terrorism, and deport all those in their countries who advocate jihad, discriminatory sharia law, or support terrorist organizations.

"If Western governments continue confusing tolerance with surrender, fearful of being called “racist” or “Islamophobic”, the situation will not magically improve. Extremist movements interpret weakness as opportunity.

"Israel should be leading the intellectual fight.

"Three years after October 7th, it is time to stop speaking only about Hamas. Not only is Hamas the enemy, but the Palestinian Authority is the enemy. All those who believe in jihad are the enemy.

"Name the ideology. Expose the genocidal basis of the ideology. And deport all those who believe in that ideology." . . .More.

October 7 hostage Mia Schem tells the Mail what she thinks of pro-Palestine 'sheep' who hate Israel     . . . "Ms Schem has previously spoken about what she says she witnessed among civilians during her captivity, including the behaviour of the family of one of the men holding her.

'Everyone—even the children. I saw it with my own eyes. They teach their children from the very beginning to hate, to become terrorists and to glorify death. If you kill Jewish people, your parents in Gaza are proud of you. You have brought pride to your family.'"

. . . "She says she initially hoped the women she encountered might show her greater compassion.

"I thought perhaps the women would be different. Woman to woman, I thought there might be a little humanity. But there was nothing. It was worse with the wife of the man who held me captive.

'She hated me because I was being kept in the same room as her husband, the man who had kidnapped me.

'She was jealous and so cruel. Sometimes she would give me food only once every two or three days. I would get one bottle of water, perhaps two, for the whole week. It was only enough to keep me alive, not because they cared about me.'

Ms Schem says even the captor's children, who she said were 'around 10, 11 and 14', could be cruel towards her.

'They would tease me with food: "Do you want food?" Then they would not give it to me. They treated me like an animal in a cage. 

'They would talk about terrible things in front of me, not realising I could understand some Arabic. I had learned Arabic before, although the Arabic in Gaza was different. 

'I understood a lot of what they were saying. What shocked me was how proud they were.'" . . .

Hollywood Didn’t Learn Its Lesson. Then Came Digger

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Three years after Oct. 7, the haters are still celebrating terror

NY Post  "It’s nightmarishly grotesque, and horribly revealing, that crowds will gather in New York and other cities on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 atrocities to celebrate the mass slaughter of Israelis by the “Islamic Resistance Movement,” a k a Hamas.

"Not to protest Israel’s actions before, during or since the war those attacks began, but to cheer the 6,000 or so who invaded the Jewish state to kill, rape and kidnap civilian kibbutzim and dance-festival ravers — and filmed it all, instantly sharing it with their victims’ families and the world.

"Why else gather on this day, the high mark for the terrorists and their cause?

"The organizers, including the “youth section” of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s beloved Democratic Socialists of America, say it’s because the date “marks three years since resistance against imperialism changed the fate of our world forever.” . . .

Hundreds of Israeli flags vandalized outside church in McKinney, Texas, ahead of Oct. 7 observance

Hundreds of Israeli flags vandalized outside church in McKinney,
 Texas, ahead of Oct. 7 observance - CBS News

. . . "But when the pastor arrived at his church Tuesday morning, he found hundreds of flags pulled up and tossed into piles. 

"'They pulled all of them up and stomped all them all of them into the ground, really just showed total disrespect," McLaughlin said. "... They came in the darkness of night. They're cowards who did this. They're not patriots."

"The pastor filed a police report, but said he was moved by the sight of people he didn't know who came to the church and were working to restore the display. 

"'And to my surprise, there were five strangers from our community, a couple of ladies from the veterinary clinic across the street," McLaughlin said. 

"The church is also receiving support from residents in the neighborhood. 

"'It's beyond belief," resident Russ Mortenson said of the vandalism. "It's hard for me to understand that. I found them to be very impressive and hopefully meaningful."

"McLaughlin says the church has also been receiving threats over the exhibit. 

"The flag display has been restored, and the church plans to expand its security while the display is up."  

Former Hamas hostage counters Hasan Piker’s UT Austin event with her story of survival   . . . "Regev said students concerned about cases like the sexual assault allegations against Cornell fraternity members may be listening to a person who's said "rape doesn't matter."

"Asked about his controversial remarks about the reported rapes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, Piker told The New Republic that there was "definitely testimony of sexual violence that had taken place amongst the hostages. But that doesn’t change the dynamic of Israel committing a genocide against the Palestinians, and my opposing that genocide.' " . . . 

Hard times for FlyDubai

FLYDUBAI FALLOUT: “Significant Number” of Employees Fired as Israel Moves to Overhaul Flight Security Procedures | Matzav.com   . . . "The investigation reportedly uncovered a series of failures in the airline’s security and personnel-screening systems. As a result, FlyDubai dismissed a “significant number” of employees who were involved in the areas where the failures occurred.

"The findings have taken on particular significance amid reports that the Omani co-pilot had previously raised security concerns while employed by Oman Air. He had reportedly been removed from flying duties there amid concerns over his conduct and interest in radical ideology, yet was subsequently hired by FlyDubai and allowed to operate flights to Israel.

"Following completion of the investigation and the disciplinary measures taken by the airline, FlyDubai asked Transportation Minister Miri Regev to authorize the resumption of its flights to Israel." . . .

Now we know the FlyDubai terrorist's target UPDATED

 

AfterMath - Home

American Thinker   "We’re learning more about FlyDubai flight 1073. As every sane, reasonable person immediately knew, the co-pilot was an Islamist terrorist who intended to turn the 737 into a 9-11 style missile. What we didn’t know until now was his target:

Under interrogation, Hamam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot, confessed that after killing the pilot his plan was to fly a normal landing approach and, in the final seconds, when interception was no longer possible, crash the plane into Ben Gurion Airport. That is why, rather than striking at the outset, he attacked the captain only once the plane was over Jordan. . . .

. . . "As with many acts of terrorism, the secondary effects of the attack would have been greater than the initial death toll:

Had his original plan succeeded, it would have been, by a wide margin, the worst attack in Israel’s history, and it would have closed far more than one flight corridor. Even if the physical damage at Ben Gurion could be quickly repaired, no airline would risk flying to Israel. The country would face an aviation isolation worse than anything it experienced even at the peak after October 7. . .. More.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, lifelong athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer, and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. 

Senator Tim Sheehy just turned the Iran war debate into a history lesson.

UPDATE: Vichy France to the Miracle of Flydubai FZ1073 - Clarice Feldman

A commercial pilot describes in great detail how miraculous was the ending:

"This will go down in history as one of the best examples of aviation bravery. For this story to have the happy ending that it did, 3 things had to happen perfectly: First, Cpt. Smit, who, while on the floor (being attacked with an axe!!!), thought, "These are my last moments, but I can't let these people die," and somehow opened the cockpit door. Without his bravery and determination, Everybody dies no question. Second the passengers Yaniv and Yitzhack rushed the cockpit the minute they heard screams. Dont minimize this. Most people in a situation like this would freeze in their seats. Not to mention getting to the front of the plane in a zero G nose over. I'm assuming IDF training (mandatory for all Israelis) but even then excellent reactions under pressure." . . .

Why does an American state have Somali gangs?

 Washington Examiner  

"We should not have Somali gangs in America. Republicans have perhaps realized this too late, but they have realized it. Democrats, both nationally and in Minnesota, continue to defend, excuse, or ignore this issue, and they will gladly make the problem worse if they are put in charge of the immigration system again in 2028." 

ChatGPT

"The Democratic Party is entirely in favor of importing third-world migrants on a massive scale, leading to such absurdities as Midwestern American states having to deal with violence from Somali gangs.

A high school football game between Eden Prairie and Minnetonka was canceled on Friday night after a shooting in the stadium’s parking lot. The matchup, which was Eden Prairie’s homecoming game, was scheduled to resume on Monday, which would force both high schools to play twice in the same week, as they have games scheduled for Friday. The shooting that sent fans scrambling out of the stadium was, according to authorities, the result of local Somali gang violence.

So, how is it that a high school football game in Minnesota becomes the site of gang violence involving people from a country that is more than 8,000 miles, an ocean, and a 29-hour flight away?

Our Washington Examiner editorial from January detailed how Minnesota’s Somali population grew exponentially from the 1990s onward, including how the United States admitted more than 110,000 Somalis between 2000 and 2024 alone. From that editorial: “More than half (52%) of children in Somali immigrant homes in Minnesota live in poverty, compared with just 8% of children in native-headed households. Roughly 39% of working-age Somalis lack a high school diploma, versus 5% of natives.” Minnesota’s Somali community has become the subject of scrutiny with regard to Minnesota’s mass-scale welfare fraud, for good reason.

As much of the country learned Friday, Minnesota’s Somali community also has a violence problem. In July, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher detailed Somali youth gang activity and the shootings for which those gangs were responsible. “Somali leaders” in Minneapolis then held a news conference to denounce the sheriff for his comments." . . .   More.

Want Lower Gas Prices? Don’t Elect A Democrat

 Issues & Insights  

"Moreno had it exactly right when he followed up by saying, “If you want gas prices to go down, the last thing you should do is allow Democrats to take office, because it’ll make it permanently high. That’s what we saw under Joe Biden, and that’s what we’ll see under whatever lunatic comes next.'”

"But you could. And prices came down sharply under Trump, only to go flying back up Joe “We’re Going to End Fossil Fuels” Biden."

"You can’t open a newspaper or watch cable news these days without seeing a story about the pain and suffering Americans are feeling at the pump, with scary headlines such as “no relief in sight” and “the worst is yet to come.”

"Actually, when it comes to gas prices, the worst has come and gone – three times – all while Democrats were in the White House. Not that you’d ever know that from the mainstream media.

"Shortly after those headlines ran, gas prices started to moderate. AAA says they are down by about 10 cents a gallon from a week ago. That’s not much, but it’s far from “soaring.”

"And while it’s true that President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Iranian regime have pushed oil prices sharply upward, you have to consider everything in context.

"When news reports talk about “record high” prices, they aren’t accounting for inflation. When you do that, today’s prices are far from the highest they’ve ever been.

"As a reader service, we compiled monthly data on real (inflation-adjusted) gas prices starting in 1977 – the year Jimmy Carter took office.

"We then averaged them for each administration." . . .

"What do you see? Except for the Clinton administration, prices have been unusually high under Democrats, and relatively low under Republicans."

 More.