Obama and Air Force One: It's good to have a 747

LA Times Blog  "We are privy to some of these numbers thanks to CBS' Mark Knoller, a bearded national treasure trove of presidential stats. According to Knoller's copious notes, during the last year Obama made 65 domestic trips over 104 days and six trips to eight countries over 22 days. Not counting six vacation trips over 32 days.
"He took 196 helicopter trips, signed 203 pieces of legislation and squeezed in 29 rounds of left-handed golf."

Hat tip to Val Brose, Santa Maria, Ca

Do You Feel Like We Do

Mike Adams "That night at UNH a good discussion of an important topic was hijacked by self-absorbed students who could not stop talking about their feelings. One could almost say that higher education is over-run by students who are possessed of an endless range of emotions and a boundless desire to share them with others. But one emotion is notably lacking from their repertoire: Humility.
"It’s really easy to sit around and talk about your feelings. It means never having to defend an idea on its own objective merits. It means our nation can continue to feel smarter while its collective mind continues to atrophy."
Mike Adams is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and author of Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" On Campus

Professor Mike Adams Wins Court Victory  ""No individual loses his ability to speak as a private citizen by virtue of public employment," wrote the court. "Adams' columns addressed topics such as academic freedom, civil rights, campus culture, sex, feminism, abortion, homosexuality, religion, and morality. Such topics plainly touched on issues of public, rather than private, concern.""

Fantasies, Present and Future

Victor Davis Hanson  "...How in the El Paso speech can one pontificate about and deplore partisan politics and “ugly rhetoric” on immigration when at the same time asking the audience to log on to a White House website to lobby for the president’s political agenda — a few months after asking “Latinos” to “punish” their Republican “enemies”? Is the latter “ugly rhetoric”? If not, why? And was it not more ugly rhetoric, when his whipped-up audience interrupted his own cheerleading with “they’re racists!”."
Obama's election healed few racial divides; it has mainly served to open more wounds where many had not existed before. Without Barack Obama, we would never have heard the words of Rev. Wright, Van Jones, Father Pfleger and other purveyors of racism from the left. It counts for nothing that many conservatives admire men such as Herman Cain, Allen West, Thomas Sowell and so many others; these people are dismissed by the left with vile, racist terms that no conservative would ever dream of uttering.
And they are given a free pass by a press with not a shred of integrity. TD

Interrogating terrorists: Imprecise Language Breeds Dangerous Policy

Bruce S. Thornton  "In the case of the Times and most other liberal critics, I suspect partisan advantage and ideology lie behind the continued misrepresentation of the techniques that have generated a torrent of actionable intelligence. Unfortunately, their distortions led to Obama’s Executive Order rejecting the same techniques that have generated such useful and life-saving information. This means that the next Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a goldmine of information after he was waterboarded, will remain mute, and the next Osama bin Laden will never be brought to justice. Worse yet, attacks like those thwarted over the last decade will have a better chance of success."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/brianfarrington

Charles Krauthammer: Obama’s Demagogic immigration speech was meant to gin up votes, not advance sound policy

Demagoguery 101 "Constructive and civil debate — like the one Obama initiated just four weeks ago on deficit reduction? The speech in which he accused the Republicans of abandoning families of kids with autism and Down syndrome? The debate in which Obama’s secretary of health and human services said that the Republican plan would make old folks “die sooner”?"
Also this: Krauthammer Scolds 'Inside Washington' Host for Calling GOP 'Mediscare' Letter HypocriticalSaluting Obama, Our Demagogue in Chief  "It’s dangerous when the 4th Estate utterly abandons any pretense of unbiased reporting, simply operating like brain addled celebrity hacks; functionally no different than a star-struck high school girl “reporter” doing a feature on the quarterback/homecoming king."  Kelly O'Connell, Canada Free Press

Obama’s Demagoguery Knows No Bounds  "Use the class-warfare rhetoric to demonize Republicans and the rich. Blame Wall Street and Big Oil for high fuel prices. Rig the game for unions against business while paying lip service to the need for new jobs.
"All that’s left is to stoke racism, right?
"Wait – we have that, too."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/chipbok

Aftermath of the bin Laden killing

Massacre in Pakistan: A Teachable Moment for the West  "There’s something particularly poignant about news that at least 80 people were killed in Charsadda, Pakistan, by a Taliban attack on a police training center there. It isn’t that the event was so unique — except for one feature — but it is a suitable symbol of the situation in the Muslim-majority world today and how messed up is the Western perception of that part of the world." Barry Rubin

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/

Osama: Release the Porn, Not the Photographs  "Besides that, the promulgation of bin Laden’s porn choices would reduce this holy man further and continue to mock him as a pathetic old man. This, I imagine, was the intention of letting the news of the porn collection out today. More, please. Don’t spare the details." Roger L Simon is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, novelist and blogger, and the CEO of Pajamas Media. His book, Blacklisting Myself: Memoir of a Hollywood Apostate in the Age of Terror, was released in February 2009.

The Death of Bin Laden and Obama’s Re-Election Prospects  "Barack Obama’s election victory in 2008 was one that made many Americans feel good about their country and the racial progress that has been achieved. Americans bought into the hope and change monikers of the Obama campaign. But the second time around, the president will be judged by his record, not the promise of what is to come."...

U.S. officials: “Fairly extensive” porn stash found in Bin Laden’s compound  "Speaking of incoherent White House messaging, here’s Bob Gates warning America that Navy SEALs and their families are now at risk for retaliation thanks to the media frenzy over the raid. You can thank our semi-moronic vice president for revealing which unit carried out the operation... What did they think would happen to U.S. servicemen, either the SEALs or others, once they did so?"

After bin Laden: Bringing Change to Pakistan's Counterterrorism Policies  "After years of denying bin Laden’s presence in Pakistan and complaining that Pakistan was unfairly labeled the “epicenter of terrorism,” Pakistani military officials must now accept the reality that the world’s most wanted terrorist was found in their backyard. U.S. Director of Central Intelligence Leon Panetta admitted that the U.S. had conducted the operation unilaterally because Washington decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize its success."  Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow, Heritage.

Bin Laden Is Dead: Is It Time to Leave Afghanistan?  "The mostly Pashtun fighters we had armed and the mostly Punjabi officials we had partnered with in Pakistan felt that we had used them when convenient and abandoned them when they were no longer immediately useful. And Pakistanis have never forgiven us for it. Fairly or not, our promises of a strategic partnership ring so hollow among the Pakistani people today because, in their view, they’ve seen this movie before. If we leave behind an unstable Afghanistan, we run the risk that an entire generation of Afghans might come to feel the same way, and it is not clear we can afford to have two countries in that region of the world filled with people who mistrust us that much." Emphasis added.
Robert D. Lamb is senior fellow and deputy director of the Program on Crisis, Conflict, and Cooperation (C3) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Bin Laden stayed obsessed with mega-attacks in US  "The captured files show Bin Laden is attaching no strategic importance to lone wolf operations of the kind the US Secretary of the Interior referred to Thursday – unless they use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. So far, there is no indication that Al Qaeda ever had the practical ability for this sort of attack."  DEBKAfile

From one captive to another, welcome to our new home.

Killing Osama bin Laden is justice, but waterboarding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is an outrage? 
"Because KSM violated the most fundamental laws of war, he does not merit the rights and privileges due an honorable soldier who, once captured, becomes a prisoner of war obligated only to reveal his name, rank, date of birth, and serial number, and entitled to such privileges as cooking implements, musical instruments, and a modest salary.
"Nor should an unlawful combatant be regarded as a common criminal entitled to Miranda rights, a speedy trial by a jury of his peers, and the presumption of innocence. The distinction between a terrorist who targets innocent civilians for mass murder and a guy who holds up a grocery store should not be as difficult to grasp as it apparently is for many who fancy themselves “human-rights activists.”"
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism and Islamism.

Court Ruling: U.S. Terror Victims Beat DOJ in Claiming $5M of Hamas Funds

American victims of Palestinian suicide bombing are the first to leverage a recent congressional act.  "It’s another courtroom victory for the terror victims — this one against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). On April 27th, a district court in Dallas handed down a historic court decision with truly far-reaching implications. The court in Texas has found that the terror victims’ right to collect on their judgments against the terrorist groups, their front-charity organizations, and the outlaw regimes overrides the government’s right to confiscate the terrorists’ assets."

Suicide bombing at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall in Jerusalem - 1-Dec-2001

Herman Cain Talks About His Growing Popularity, Race

Nealz Nuze   "Herman Cain says, “The fact that I grew up in the segregated South and realize that we have gotten passed that is why I don’t harbor any anger toward this country, because one of the greatest things about America, even from its founding, is its ability to change.” He goes on to say, “People who want to focus on what was wrong with America are the ones who aren’t going to go very far in America.”"

"Raising Cain" may be just what the lethargic, lacklustre GOP presidential field needs to get more motivated.  "But Cain, unlike Trump, also knows the language of contemporary conservatism – taxes, the deficit, and what he compellingly calls "the threat to the American Dream" from three great "ations" – "regulation", "legislation" and, of course, "taxation". And like Tea Party movement darling and rising GOP star Marco Rubio, Cain also likes to extol America's presumed "exceptionalism", its privileged place in world history as a beacon of hope, freedom and prosperity."

Top Ten Reasons to Support Herman Cain for President  " I mean that it would be the kind of doggone honest and refreshing campaign the country needs.  It would be the opposite of the stale McCain run.  Cain does not speak Washington drivel, and he's not afraid to take a strong position."

Which is the racist party now?  "Leftist Blogger Dismisses Black Conservative, CPAC Speaker Herman Cain As 'Minstrel'"
"The far-left's racially-tinged paranoia and hatred of black conservatives rears its ugly head from time to time, often without the notice let alone disapproval of the liberal mainstream media.
"Herman Cain is just the latest target."

As you know, I find ...black conservatives fascinating not because of what they believe, but rather because of how they entertain and perform for their White Conservative masters.  Chauncey DeVega

International Association of Machinists issues marching orders to its membership

Pay particular attention to page 2, item 2

Immigration vs. illegal immigration: It Wasn't A Dig At Fox News, It Was A Dig At You

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion   "Opposing illegal immigration, and demanding enforcement of immigration laws is not anti-immigrant, as Obama portrays it. That's just another in a long line of strawman arguments which has become the primary way Obama makes arguments.
"And once again, the focus is in belittling opponents. Because he just can't help himself: And it's why giving the go ahead to the bin Laden operation has changed nothing about why Obama needs to be defeated in 2012."

Latinos and Blacks Share Frustration Over Obama

Ruben Navarrette Jr. "Actually, it’s not as wide as you might think. As loyal as most African-Americans are to Obama, there is a contingent of activists, intellectuals, and media personalities within the black community who are angry with him for abandoning some of their causes and focusing his attention elsewhere. And interestingly enough, when you hear these African-Americans talk freely about what they think Obama has done wrong, it sounds an awful lot like what Latinos are saying."
Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union Tribune, a nationally syndicated columnist, a frequent lecturer, and a regular contributor to CNN.com.

Obama Courts Latino Voters With Immigration Speech  “He’s talking to everyone except those people who really count,” Mr. Aguilar said. “At the end, you can do all the events that you want, but if Latinos don’t see any serious action on immigration it won’t matter. We need to see a White House plan.”

Rules for Killing Rogues

Victor Davis Hanson  "Americans rejoiced at news of the end of this psychopathic mass murderer, and, privately, are probably relieved that he was not to be captured and extradited to Guantanamo. If bin Laden had been taken alive, we might be revisiting the controversy surrounding the Obama administration's failed efforts to try in a civilian federal court bin Laden's subordinate, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — the master planner behind 9/11."


http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/glennfoden