President Obama as leader of a world power

WaPo

Jennifer Rubin; ‘Pretty please’ foreign policy   "Unfortunately, the president who fancies himself as the guy who ends wars and doesn’t start them has no idea that, without military success and the threat of military force, your influence wanes and our adversaries come to regard us, well, as a joke.

 

"We didn’t win the Cold War at the negotiating table. We won by continually challenging Communist aggression and maintaining a strong military that eventually helped bankrupt the Soviet Union."
Obama and Clinton were preceded by better men than they.

Obama's Emptiest Benghazi Talking Point  "On Oct. 26, 2012, Obama said his "biggest priority" was bringing the "folks" in Libya responsible for murdering four Americans to "justice." Tick, tock, tick, tock."

The Islamic Schoolyard-Bully and Obama's America   "Not especially large or strong, the schoolyard bully—generally a prickly, nasty fellow—picks on two groups: 1) those who are obviously weaker than him and 2) those who, while larger or stronger than him, willingly give in to him—willingly appease."

Edward Snowden Took the Job at Booz Allen Just to Collect (and Then Release) US Government Secrets

The Volokh Conspiracy   "The South China Morning Post reports:

Edward Snowden secured a job with a US government contractor for one reason alone – to obtain evidence of Washington’s cyberspying networks, the South China Morning Post can reveal.
For the first time, Snowden has admitted he sought a position at Booz Allen Hamilton so he could collect proof about the US National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programmes ahead of planned leaks to the media.
“My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked,” he told the Post on June 12. “That is why I accepted that position about three months ago.”

....
 "Asked if he specifically went to Booz Allen Hamilton to gather evidence of surveillance, he replied: “Correct on Booz.” "
Emphasis added. TD

How to Prevent the Next Edward Snowden 

WaPo

Alan Caruba; Will White Guilt Convict George Zimmerman?

Warning Signs

...."Much as I wish it were not so, I think George Zimmerman is going to get a fast ticket to jail for having defended himself against Trayvon Martin. On February 26, 2012, when the local police inspected the scene and examined the injuries George sustained, they declined to arrest him. Not only did Zimmerman’s injuries cry out “self-defense”, but Florida has a “Stand Your Ground” law.

"Never one to let an opportunity pass to get attention, the Rev. Al Sharpton showed up the day of Zimmerman’s arrest, April 11, to say, “Forty-five days ago, Trayvon Martin was murdered.” The Rev. Jesse Jackson also chimed in, referring to Martin as “murdered and martyred.”  Oh, let’s not rush to judgment here! Let’s not create any race-based anger and discord before the facts are presented in a court of law."....

 

Obama administration bungles Snowden, leaves great power diplomacy in shambles

 Thomas Lifson  "It would be comic if the national security of the United States were not in peril. The Obama crew, which smugly promised us "smart diplomacy," has totally bungled relations with China and Russia, America's two major potential global rivals, in its handling of the Edward Snowden affair. As Sarah Palin might ask: How's that "smart diplomacy" workin' out for ya'?"

Where's Edward Snowden?  "This may be an ominous development, or it may be a bit of misdirection from Snowden and his handlers. Ominous because you wouldn't put it past Putin to take Snowden into custody and try to exchange him for someone we have in our jails that the Russians may want. Or perhaps Putin might want to see if he could wring any intelligence out of the young man before he leaves the country."

Nobody respects Obama  "Second, no one is afraid of the US and that is very bad for the world's only superpower."

Kristol: GOP Senators Should Block Immigration Monday, Let Us and Them Read the Bill

The Weekly Standard "The boss this morning talked about the immigration bill on Fox News Sunday's "Panel Plus":"

An Embarrassing Truth  "Embarrassing. Nauseating. Truly and breath-takingly ignorant. That would be the current fawning capitulation of the Republican Party regarding immigration. What is it about these "professional" politicans in the GOP that forces them to be constantly in a reactionary-defensive mode regarding Progressives?"

The complete intellectual degradation of the abortion debate

Bookworm Room  "I’ve commented before on the factual dishonesty of the abortion debate.  Abortion proponents pretend that we’re living in the 1950s, when out-of-wedlock pregnancy was a stigma, not a commonplace.  I guess it’s unsurprising that the intellectual debate would be equally dishonest.  One could say that the good thing about mass murderer Kermit Gosnell is that his “post-birth” abortions have brought to light the intellectual paucity of the Democrat party when it comes to abortion.  The Supreme Court has insisted on a balancing act, and the Democrats have responded by putting their thumb firmly on the abortion side of the scale."
 

Obama’s stupid crack about parochial education

Bookworm Room   "Much is being made of Obama’s speech in Ireland, in which he managed to insult parochial education.  Catholics seem most disturbed, perhaps because (a) most parochial schools in America are Catholic and (b) Obama has been at war with the Catholic church by trying to make churches pay for abortifacients and birth control, which is a big First Amendment no-no.
"Reading what Obama said, there’s no doubt that, once you work your way through his sloppy formulation, it’s right up there with the best of Obama’s offensive statements:"...
....
Here the author twists the knife to make sure lower-information readers get his, um, point:

Obama is why I’m sour about the Ivy League schools.  They take in bright people (and I do think that Obama is innately bright) and turns out ignoramuses, who have no real knowledge, just a warped ideological framework to which they try to attach, however, poorly, what situation greets them at any given moment.  Obama’s not the only example of this problem; he’s just the most embarrassingly prominent.

Considering the above, this should not disturb the President: Christendom’s Greatest Cathedral to Become a Mosque
"Why does the fate of an old building matter?
"Because Hagia Sophia  — Greek for “Holy Wisdom” — was for some thousand years Christianity’s greatest cathedral. Built in 537 A.D. in Constantinople, the heart of the Christian empire, it was also a stalwart symbol of defiance against an ever encroaching Islam from the east."
....
Hanson's main point in this:
"Meanwhile, here are neighboring Turkey’s Muslims openly praising the same jihadi warlords who brutally conquered a portion of Europe centuries ago, converting thousands of churches into mosques, even as they openly prepare to finish the job — which may not even require force, as Europe actively sells its own soul."

Chelsea Clinton Laments: My Grandmother Did Not Have Access to Planned Parenthood

Bloviating Zeppelin   "This will be a short post. "Because evidently Chelsea Clinton laments her own birth."
Did she really think this statement through?

BZ comments in this post:

“What kind of a mind set does it take to lament your own existence?” It takes a mind set that worships Leftism and emotions.

Hoax: Johnny Depp is still alive and kicking

These people got taken in, it would appear.

At about 3 a.m. ET on Monday, our beloved actor Johnny Depp passed away due to a fatal car crash. Johnny was born on June 9, 1963. He will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.

 Today's News Gazette refutes this story.

Johnny Depp Dead? Another Celebrity Death Hoax? 

So much for that, now on to other stuff.

The top 9,486 ways Jay Carney won’t answer your questions (interactive)

Yahoo

"A Yahoo News analysis of the 444 briefings through June 18 that Carney has held since becoming White House press secretary has identified 13 distinct strains in the way he dodges reporters' question. Since Carney held his first daily briefing with reporters in the White House Brady Press Briefing Room on Feb. 16, 2011, for example, he’s used some variation of "I don’t have the answer" more than 1,900 times. In 1,383 cases he referred a question to someone else. But will he at least speculate on hypotheticals? No. In fact, he has refused to do so 525 times.

"In the following interactive, you can browse all 9,486 of Carney’s most-used responses and verbal crutches." 

British Girl Scouts: 'God' out, 'Me' in

British Girl Scouts: 'God' out, 'Me' in

The future Queen of England with her sister Princess Margaret.

"The 103-year-old Girl Guides oath always had the vow of fidelity to The Almighty until the new change just went into affect.
"The reference to God has been replaced with a promise to be true to "myself" and develop "my beliefs."
"Reportedly, the move was to attract more girls from secular households.
Earlier this week, The Times (of London) also reported that “my country” has been replaced by “my community.” "
Hat tip to T Kevin Whiteman at TEA Party Conservatives for America

But wait! There's more!

A 2007 survey of 1,000 Girl Guides determined that fourth on the list of life skills they would like to see incorporate into their official program would be courses on safe-sex.

George Will; Obama hits a wall in Berlin

German cartoonist's view of Obama and his speeches

George Will  "The question of whether Barack Obama’s second term will be a failure was answered in the affirmative before his Berlin debacle, which has recast the question, which now is: Will this term be silly, even scary in its detachment from reality?
"Before Berlin, Obama set his steep downward trajectory by squandering the most precious post-election months on gun-control futilities and by a subsequent storm of scandals that have made his unvarying project — ever bigger, more expansive, more intrusive and more coercive government — more repulsive. Then came Wednesday’s pratfall in Berlin."....

What was it Lincoln said about "better to remain silent and be thought a fool..."?

 

The world is not more stable and peaceful when US presidents have to have on-the-job training in foreign affairs.

 

The ordinary president  "Simply stated, the remarkable charisma of Barack Obama has fled. Fled, mainly because it was in large measure artificial from the beginning, embedded in external circumstances and fuelled in large measure by the media hyperdrive that attended his campaign."