Krauthammer: The GOP’s suicide march

Charles Krauthammer  "If you can’t run on stewardship or policy, how do you win reelection?

Create an entirely new narrative. Push an entirely new issue. Change the subject from your record and your ideology, from massive debt and overreaching government, to fairness and inequality. Make the election a referendum on which party really cares about you, which party will stand up to the greedy rich who have pillaged the 99 percent and robbed the middle class of hope."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/01/20/95625

....

This is no mainstream media conspiracy. This is the GOP maneuvering itself right onto Obama terrain.

The president is a very smart man. But if he wins in November, that won’t be the reason. It will be luck. He could not have chosen more self-destructive adversaries.

Obama’s Racial Politics

Victor Davis Hanson  "When [Obama] is ahead in the polls, has won an election, and is not campaigning, then he emphasizes the unity of the country. But when he is running for president, or campaigning for others, or sinking in the polls, he and his closest associates predictably revert to charges of racial bigotry, albeit usually coded and subtle. America is redeemed when it champions the Obamas, but retrograde when it does not.
....

http://conservativedailynews.com/2011/10/race-cards-3/

"This is going to be an ugly campaign. The Obama team will revert to race unceasingly, in cry-wolf fashion, and thus cheapen the currency with every charge. In turn, the more we will hear allegations of “racism,” the less people will pay attention to them. And so all the more frequently will such discounted slurs have to be repeated — sort of like pushing about wheelbarrows of Depression-era inflated German marks to purchase ever fewer commodities.
"There will be many legacies of Barack Obama. Racial divisiveness is proving the most disturbing."

Canadian oil going to China isn't as easy as it might seem

Bloomberg:  Obama’s Keystone Denial Prompts Canada to Look to China Sales  Via Drudge.  "Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama “Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports,” according to details provided by Harper’s office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country’s “financial security.”

"The “decision by the Obama administration underlines the importance of diversifying and expanding our markets, including the growing Asian market,” Oliver told reporters in Ottawa." " Emphasis added.

What about that Canadian pipeline to the west coast if they sell the oil to China?  "The plan is to pump over half a million barrels a day of unrefined bitumen from the Alberta tar sands over the Rockies, through the heartland of B.C. - crossing a thousand rivers and streams in the process - to the Port of Kitimat in the Great Bear Rainforest.....

"Dubbed the Northern Gateway Pipeline, the project is of concern for three main reasons: 1. It would facilitate the expansion of the tar sands, hooking emerging Asian economies on the world's dirtiest oil; 2. the risk of leaks from the pipeline itself; 3. the danger of introducing oil supertankers for the first time to this part of the B.C. coast."  The Enbridge site.


Rick Moran in American Thinker:  Rejecting Keystone is 'insanity': Samuelson

The big winners are the Chinese. They must be celebrating their good fortune and wondering how the crazy Americans could repudiate such a huge supply of nearby energy. There's no guarantee that tar-sands oil will go to China; pipelines to the Pacific would have to be built. But it creates the possibility when the oil's natural market is the United States.

"This is the Obama we have come to know and love; piously proclaiming his priority being job creation while taking actions that directly contradict that priority. He says he wants business to thrive -- and then throws up roadblock regulations to prevent it. He says he wants the economy to grow -- and then advocates policies that stifle growth.

"And then he blames his failures on others."

Newsbusters  "ABC trotted out the "best of" Newt Gingrich slams on Thursday, finally revealing the results of an exhaustive Brian Ross interview with Marianne Gingrich, the former Speaker's ex-wife. Ross boasted that his scoop could be seen as a "January surprise" to harm Gingrich. Recycling old attacks, Ross eagerly prompted the ex-Mrs. Gingrich: "You know his secrets. You know his skeletons." "

Obama, the Keystone Kop in Kartoons

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

Newt vs. the Media

Above: Let's relive the moment.  The Hill has this.  NY Times: "ABC Worked for Months to Get Marianne Gingrich Interview."


 Gingrich Daughters: 'Open Marriage' Charge 'Simply Not True'


Gingrich daughter's letter to ABC  They really do not dispel the charges by Newt's ex-wife. Let's move on now, shall we?


Why Google should not be trusted by conservatives. I did a search with these words: "press defends bill clintons bimbo affairs" and most that came up were posts on Herman Cain.  Try it and see.


Sarah Palin: Media overplayed their hand with Gingrich "Sarah Palin is spot on, though, when she says that conservatives and independents are sick of the politics of personal destruction because it’s played so selectively. As Ed pointed out this morning, it’s maddening that the media is all too willing to revive talk of Gingrich’s past when they ignored John Edwards’ affair, which was going onas he ran for president. "


Neal Boortz: South Carolina .. now it's the voter's turn  "When the decision to be made is between capitalism and economic fascism, I’m not going to worry whether or not the president once had a perfectly legal investment account in the Cayman Islands."


Washington Times : Why use ‘despicable,’ clueless left-wing media to moderate GOP debates?  "For these left-wing networks, the last thing they want to deal with in this election is ideas, truth and fairness. It is their undying goal to make it all about style and personality, which is all President Obama has going for him. But if the election becomes about ideas and truth and fairness, the GOPwins in a landslide and the left-wing media cannot abide that."

Obama and Congress

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Obama’s EPA Opens Another Front in the War on Coal  "Indeed, while the past few months have seen tiny signs our economy might be growing despite Obama’s anti-job policies, the White House is ramping up its effort to make sure our labor force is expunged of every last coal job it can find. It’d be humorous if it wasn’t so real."
More on coal regulations here.

What's good for the goose, etc. dept:  Congress plots new moves to sidestep Obama on Keystone pipeline  

" “I’ll just say this: this is not the end of the fight,” Boehner said. “Republicans in Congress will continue to push this because it’s good for our country and it’s good for our economy and it’s good for the American people, especially for those who are looking for work.
" "President Obama is destroying tens of thousands of American jobs and shipping American energy security to the Chinese," Boehner said. "There’s no other way to put it: the president is selling out American jobs for politics." "

Harry Reid; donkeyhotey

2012: Anyone but … Harry!  "On January 24, 2012, while we focus on Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address, Harry Reid’s Senate will be celebrating their 1000th consecutive day without passing a budget. Not only is this an unprecedented dereliction of duty, it may actually be a violation of law. However, given the president’s cavalier attitude towards the legality of recess appointments and his attorney general’s reluctance to protect voters in Philadelphia from Black Panther harassment, don’t look for the feds to come down too hard on Harry and the boys."....

"I am unrepentant in my desire to make Barack Obama a one-term president but unless we devote as much time, energy, and treasure to winning the Senate as we do to regaining the White House, Republicans, conservatives, indeed anyone disaffected by the Obama presidency, will be in for a bitter disappointment. One that may last much longer than 1000 days." (emphasis added)

Fred Grandy has been a successful actor on television (The Love Boat), a four term congressman from Iowa, the CEO of Goodwill Industries, International, and until recently the host of The Grandy Group, a weekday morning news/talk radio program on WMAL in Washington, DC.

Obama rejects the Keystone Pipeline

On the news last night, one expected to see our Republican candidates to utterly shine as they waxed eloquent over what this pipeline means to our economy AND our national security. But what comments made it into the news? More attacks on each other and doing more of Obama's work for him while passing up this opportunity to speak of how Democrats keep us in slavery to middle-eastern oil producers; nations who dislike us with a passion.
What a chance for each candidate to demonstrate their contrast with Barack Obama, which I think would have done more to present each one as someone to lead this nation much better than what we have now.
But what was in the news? Immediately after the story of Obama rejecting the Keystone Pipeline was a sound byte of Newt discussing Romney's tax reports. Disgusting.

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2012/01/18/95509

Obama rejects Canada-Texas oil pipeline _ for now  "Environmental advocates have made it clear that approval of the pipeline would dampen their enthusiasm for Obama in the upcoming November election. Some liberal donors even threatened to cut off funds to Obama's re-election campaign to protest the project, which opponents say would transport "dirty oil" that requires huge amounts of energy to extract."


Neal Boortz: Obama panders to environmental anti-capitalists   "Won’t the unions be upset at the loss of all those jobs, most of which will be union?  Sure .. they’re mad, but they’re not going anywhere.  They expect Obama to continue with his pro-labor policies, his stacking of the NLRB, his promotion of card check, and his program to make it easier to have flash union elections to increase unionization of the private workplace.  He is not going to lose union support over the pipeline in light of what unions think he can do for them in a second term."
What about Obama's claim that oil production is up?


Obama on Keystone XL: Blame Hillary!  "Is Barack Obama pinning the blame for his failure to approve the Keystone XL pipeline on Hillary Clinton? Look at this White House statement from yesterday (emphasis mine):"   Read on... 

Details of Obama’s Letter to Iran Released: Obama Says “US Will Not Take Hostile Action Against Iran”

Gateway Pundit

"Obama’s letter indicates that the United States has become afraid of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s might and has realized the point that an arrogant spirit is of no use, and therefore, he has softened his tone when speaking about the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he stated." (Emphasis in the original)

He added, “The important issue is that without the Islamic Republic of Iran’s permission, no country can benefit from the Persian Gulf.”

CNN reports Perry to drop out today, will endorse Gingrich

Hot Air  Quoting ABC News: “It’s over. It’s long over. Sometimes things are finished before they’re over. It’s embarrassing to come out of the gate and get shot down, but it happens,” said a Perry fundraiser who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “You’d think a guy who had 11 years in office … that he’d prepare, he’d read the paper and get prepared.”


Daily Caller: Exclusive: 100 tea party leaders to announce support for Newt  "The Daily Caller has learned that 100 tea party leaders from 25 states will announce Thursday that they are supporting Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and will form a coalition called Tea Partiers With Newt.

"The news comes as signs appear that tea partiers here in South Carolina, which holds a primary Saturday, may be coalescing around Gingrich.

"“My sense is there is a growing coalition behind Newt Gingrich,” Joe Dugan, who leads the state’s chapter of Tea Party Patriots, told TheDC.

"A news release that will go out Thursday from the Gingrich campaign says the coalition will “help elect Newt and defeat Massachusetts Moderate Mitt Romney and then President Barack Obama.” "  Hat tip to  Legal Insurrection

One caller to Rush summed things up as I tend to see them: he wished that Newt could campaign and Mitt Romney could govern. It is time in this campaign for the American people to re-learn (or just learn) the strength and soundness of capitalism and the free markets because that is at the root of this next election. Someone must confront the socialism taught in the media and academia before the economic foundations are dissolved under the structure of this nation and I feel Gingrich is eminently more qualified to do that than Romney. 
Yet too many sources who should know indicate that Newt is a poor administrator, that Romney can run a government so much better. A.B.Stoddard quoted a source who said that Gingrich "couldn't govern himself across the room". 
A great combination might be Romney as president and Newt as Vice-President, who serves as attack dog, but who could see that as possible?  Batman and the Joker on the same ticket would be more do-able than this combination. TD


With Newt as the candidate, expect a lot of this in the media:. "Gingrich's Daughters Send Letter to ABC News Ahead of Network Airing Interview With Ex-Wife."


Newt's ex "reminded people that she could bring down any campaign Newt might pursue for the presidency if she chose to do so".  "You will have to make up your own mind as to the motivations of Newt’s ex.  The motivations of ABC might be a bit more clear. There are a few absolutes in this election.  Here’s a partial list:" ....
"That is why you see ABC allowing themselves to be the conduit through which Marianne Gingrich attempts to torpedo her ex-husbands run for the presidency.  If Newt doesn’t make it to the White House it will be the final gotcha from an ex-wife, and a victory for the folks at ABC". More at Nealz Nuze...

WSJ: Romney needs to rebut the Bain attacks, quickly and substantively.


Uh-oh; CAIR does not like Gingrich  "The largest Muslim civil liberties group in the United States on Wednesday condemned Newt Gingrich for saying he would only hire Muslims to his administration if they renounced the use of Islam's Shariah law as a tool for U.S. government."
Our multi-culties will not like this either.


Caricatures above from donkeyhotey

US Fruitless Talks with Taliban

By Sajjad Shaukat  "It is notable that in the past, Taliban leaders had refused any dialogue with America and Afghan President Hamid Karzai until foreign troops leave Afghanistan. They can again put this condition by rejecting American military presence on limited scale.
"American officials also say that the Taliban must accept the constitution and honour the gains made in the last 10 years by the Karzai regime and NATO, since they were ousted from power, but about these conditions, Taliban have shown no sign of acceptance."


Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
 H/T to Watching America


West's romancing of the Taliban  by Praveen Swami of The Hindu  "Last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to reassure secular Afghans, promising that her country “intends to stay the course with our friends.” “We will not leave you on your own”, said Germany's Foreign Minister, Guido Westwelle, echoing her words."


Obama's Surrender in Afghanistan

2009: Obama: "Victory" is not our "Goal" in Afghanstan.

Will the courts rein in Obama's illegal recess appointments?

Rick Moran  "But there are also judges who wish to expand the power of the courts and this would seem to present them with such an opportunity. If the courts end up siding with the administration, the president will have been handed a new power not granted in the constitution. At the very least, it makes a mockery of the senate's "advise and consent" role."

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/glennfoden/2012/01/09/95333

The Hill: Obama's recess appointments might not hold up in court:  "Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, said waiting until Cordray or the new NLRB appointees act would make for “a much stronger case than the one they moved last week.”


NRO: Obama’s Overreach  "Yet Obama has betrayed the original understanding of the Constitution in another sense — as did Pres. George W. Bush before him. Prof. Michael Rappaport of the University of San Diego has argued that the Constitution, as originally conceived, empowered the president to make recess appointments only to those vacancies that arose when the Senate was in recess. This vacancy, however, has existed since Obama signed the Dodd-Frank bill into law in July 2010.

"If Republicans want to put teeth back into the Constitution, they should demand a return to the original understanding of the recess-appointment power in full."