Krauthammer on Putin’s Ukraine gambit

Charles Krauthammer   "Henry Kissinger once pointed out that since Peter the Great, Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgium per year. All undone, of course, by the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.”

 

"Putin’s mission is restoration. First, restore traditional Russian despotism by dismantling its nascent democracy. And then, having created iron-fisted “stability,” march."

....

"What Obama doesn’t seem to understand is that American inaction creates a vacuum. His evacuation from Iraq consigned that country to Iranian hegemony, just as Obama’s writing off Syria invited in Russia, Iran and Hezbollah to reverse the tide of battle.

 

"Putin fully occupies vacuums" ....

....

"Secretary of State John Kerry says Russian intervention would be a mistake. Alas, any such declaration from this administration carries the weight of a feather. But better that than nothing. Better still would be backing these words with a naval flotilla in the Black Sea."

Law Prof Who Voted For Obama: We’re At a Constitutional Tipping Point

American Glob   "I’ve written about Professor Jonathan Turley at College Insurrection.

"Turley is exactly the type of academic the left would have loved to trot out when George W. Bush was president. One little problem… Turley voted for Obama.

"Allahpundit adds this…

These Turley clips always get attention because it’s gratifying to see at least one scholar willing to challenge the Unicorn Prince on his “virtuous” power grabs, but the whole point of his testimony, really, is to challenge Congress and the courts, not Obama.

"Here’s the video.

 

"Remember when people at The New York Times, CNN and all three big networks were claiming that Bush was usurping the United States Constitution?

"The same people told us Obama was a Constitutional law professor.

"Where are their concerns now?"

'I was given every s*** job in the world by Obama': Biden makes astonishing revelations about his relationship with the President as it's claimed he was 'frozen out' by White House over gay gaffe

The former London Daily Mail

 

..."He went on to admit that Obama kept up his end of the bargain for the majority of their dealings, but the article reveals that there has been a definite frost between the two men that came after Biden announced his approval of gay marriage before the President.

"Two years later, the chill in their once buddy relationship is only now beginning to thaw." 

....

"The two men met and Biden apologized, asserting that it was an accident- just another in Biden’s long history of gaffes- but insiders apparently felt that it may have been a calculated move to signal his loyalty to the progressives who felt they were being ignored by Obama. 

 

"The apology was not enough and Obama’s staff reportedly turned hostile to the Vice President."

 

Where is Obama's anger at America's enemies who demonstrate their disrespect for him and, by extension, the United States?

 

Top 10 Joe Biden Gaffes   "Throughout his decades of public service, the former Senator and current Vice President has earned a reputation for often saying the wrong thing at the wrong time."

 

huffingtonpost.com

Obama: the Pen, Phone, and Failure

William L. Gensert    "Barack Obama is a failure as president, and with a little less than 3 years before he leaves office, people are starting to notice.

 

"On the economy, he has presided over the worst economic recovery from recession since WW II, and the lowest labor force participation rate in decades.  He spent a trillion dollars of ‘stimulus,’ rewarding political backers and cronies, while exploding the budget line. 

....

"Under Barack Obama, our friends and enemies alike view the president, and by extension the nation, as weak and vacillating (see Syria). 

 

"Everyone knows that the only people who fear Barack Obama are Americans.

The Chinese know they have only the next 3 years to make their move for hegemony in the South China Sea.  The clock is ticking.

 

"Clearly, the world will be a much more dangerous place in 2017 than it was in 2008.

 

 

Legal Scholars Said Arizona Law Was ‘Egregiously Misrepresented’ by Critics; SB1062 did NOT say that businesses could discriminate for religious reasons.

Paula Bolyard   "The letter noted that the federal government and eighteen states have Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRAs) that require the government to have a compelling interest before burdening a person’s religious exercise. The legal scholars assert that the standard makes sense. “We should not punish people for practicing their religions unless we have a very good reason.” Arizona has had a RFRA in place for nearly fifteen years with only a handful of cases and little controversy. SB 1062 merely sought to clear up two ambiguities in the existent law:

It would provide that people are covered when state or local government requires them to violate their religion in the conduct of their business, and it would provide that people are covered when sued by a private citizen invoking state or local law to demand that they violate their religion.

 

But nothing in the amendment would say who wins in either of these cases. The person invoking RFRA would still have to prove that he had a sincere religious belief and that state or local government was imposing a substantial burden on his exercise of that religious belief. And the government, or the person on the other side of the lawsuit, could still show that compliance with the law was necessary to serve a compelling government interest. [Emphasis original]

Full article here....

 

"Given the unadulterated spin characterizing this as an anti-gay hate bill, it would have taken a great deal of moral courage for Brewer to sign it. The truth was so obscured by the widespread propaganda that she would have paid an extraordinary political price. As has often happened in the debate over same-sex marriage, truth took a back seat to the meme. Unfortunately, Brewer’s constituents, who depended on her to defend their religious liberty, may now be the ones to pay the price."

 

From National Review Online: Celebrate, or Else

NRO appears now to be subscription only, so this was the most I could get.

 

How Conservatives Can Take Back (Some of) Hollywood for Oscar Time

"If conservatives give up Hollywood, they give up the country. Game over."

 

Roger Simon at PJ Media;  ... "But as you run your personal boycott of Hollywood, remember this. Almost everyone else you know — be it family, friends, business associates and, most especially, your children — is not. They are consuming Hollywood entertainment in mammoth gulps. And politics, as the late Andrew Breitbart said repeatedly (and he was far from the only one), is downstream of culture.

 

"You give up Hollywood and you give up the country. Game over. And as we all know, it’s almost over already. Want that? Well, if you do, you can skip the rest of this article." ....

Harry Reid’s Horror Stories

Chip Bok 

 

"You like your doctor but you can’t keep him. You like your insurance but you can’t keep it. ObamaCare is a train wreck.

"Koch Brother Horror Stories

"These horror stories are all lies, lies, and damned lies according to cowboy poet Harry Reid. They didn’t really happen to you. They were ginned up at the un-American Brothers Koch Fairy Tale mill to send red state democrats running for cover."

I prefer the Koch Brothers to the Democrat's George Soros , the four-billion-dollar man.

Harry Reid: Liar    "Allahpundit described my reaction to Harry Reid’s latest broadsides against truth and decency rather accurately, writing that I was “virtually shaking with rage and disbelief that this tool could say this with a straight face.”  I eventually channeled that anger — and it was genuine anger — into a rapid fire Twitter fact-check of the US Senate’s dishonorable leader" ...

Cited in this post is: Stephen Blackwood: ObamaCare and My Mother's Cancer Medicine.   "The news was dumbfounding. She used to have a policy that covered the drug that kept her alive. Now she's on her own."

And then, because our lawmakers and president thought they could do better, she had nothing. Her old plan, now considered illegal under the new health law, had been canceled.

New health care law makes finding cancer coverage difficult, family says    Video.

Levin Tells The Tea Party to Fight Obama's Tyranny: 'Firewall of The Constitution Has Been Breached'

Big Government   "Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin spoke at the Tea Party's fifth anniversary on Thursday morning from the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C. about the importance of maintaining the integrity of the U.S. Constitution..."

 

So much for the Constitution being a "living, breathing document". (Updated)

Update: Our living, breathing Constitution  "Many judges these days like to refer to the Constitution of the United States as a "living, breathing document," implying that its text is designed to be flexible. It is not. The Constitution is a set of rules, and like any other set of rules, it is meant to be strict and uncompromising. Of course, the Constitution can be modified through the amendment process, but once ratified, any amendment becomes like the rest of the Constitution; rigid."

....

"Once accountability has been sidestepped at any level or within any branch of government, the result is, by the very definition of the word, tyranny." .... 

Until 21st Century Democrats took power.

 

http://terrellaftermath.com/

 

TheComicalConservative

Update: Chicanery … the Constitution as a “Living, Breathing Document”  say the statists.

"This ill-advised idea has been around since the early 20th century."

....

"Imagine contacting your auto insurance claims agent following an accident.  “I truly am sorry.  Your coverage is based upon a ‘living, breathing’ insurance policy.  What you signed up for has evolved and changed.  You’re actually not insured as you thought you were.' ”

 

Come to think about it, Obama's pledges about Obamacare could accurately be called living and breathing pledges; his redlines and threats to rogue dictators appear to be living and breathing. TD

 

 

 

 And Democrats in Congress enable this. 

Wounded War Hero’s Powerful Open Letter To ‘Elitist Rich Thug Obama:’ Dear Mr. President

Brian Kolfage

 

... "Regardless of why we went to Iraq, its water under the bridge. We went there, we waged war, and we not only owed it to our KIA’s but we owed it to the citizens of Iraq. We invaded their country and turned it upside down, and you bailed on them. You bailed on our soldiers and you’ve wasted every death and every limb, it’s all for nothing.  And to make matters worse you blame others for your failures" ...

Hat tip to Florin Parvu at Guardian Eagles

Hamburger, Coke And…Obamacare? Restaurants Now Charging Obamacare Fee On Your Meal

   Weasel Zippers

 

 

"Via CNN Money:"

Several restaurants in a Florida chain are asking customers to help foot the bill for Obamacare.

Diners at eight Gator’s Dockside casual eateries are finding a 1% Affordable Care Act surcharge on their tabs, which comes to 15 cents on a typical $15 lunch tab. Signs on the door and at tables alert diners to the fee, which is also listed separately on the bill.

The Gator Group’s full-time hourly employees won’t actually receive health insurance until December. But the company said it implemented the surcharge now because of the compliance costs it’s facing ahead of the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate kicking in in 2015.

“The costs associated with ACA compliance could ultimately close our doors,” the sign reads. “Instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the costs of ACA compliance, certain Gator’s Dockside locations have implemented a 1% surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only.”

Full article... 

Gov. Brewer vetoes Arizona SB 1062

 

From Feb 24th: Issue Analysis: Arizona Bill Does Not Give Businesses License to Discriminate Against Gays

 ... "While the bill is an attempt to broaden who is covered under its religious freedom protections, in all cases it actually narrows when a religious belief could be used to refuse service.

"Here are six important points to understand about the just-passed (but now vetoed) bill:...

 

 Razing Arizona: Conservatives Succeed at Failing Again   ... "After all, observers such as Napp Nazworth at The Christian Post contend that SB 1062 might actually — contrary to all the hysteria — have made it harder for most business owners to refuse service to homosexuals. This analysis may have merit and can be read here, but it’s irrelevant to a larger point:

 

"The GOP’s handling of this matter was a good illustration of conservatism’s fatal flaw."

The NY Times has it's opinion on this   "The bill was inspired by episodes in other states in which florists, photographers and bakers were sued for refusing to cater to same-sex couples. But it would have allowed much broader religious exemptions by business owners."

Rich Lowry: Brewer's Foolish Veto  "Clocking in at barely two pages, it was easy to scan for disparaging references to homosexuality, for veiled references to homosexuality, for any references to homosexuality at all.

"They weren’t there. A headline from The Week declared, “There is nothing Christian about Arizona’s anti-gay bill.” It would be more accurate to say that there was nothing anti-gay about Arizona’s anti-gay bill." ...

Rich Lowry is editor of National Review.