UPDATE: One more reason Joe Biden cannot be considered seriously for any national position

The US will be a long time healing the damage to our international reputation this administration and those who voted it into office have caused

jramirezcaricatures

 



Biden apologizes to Turkey president in phone call
"ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden apologized Saturday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was angry over comments in which Biden said Erdogan had admitted that Turkey had made mistakes by allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria.

 

"Erdogan denied ever saying that and told reporters in Istanbul before Biden's apology that he "will be history for me if he has indeed used such expressions.' " ...

 

Biden apologizes to Turkey’s Erdogan   ... "But this furor comes at a critical moment in the United States’ already fraught relationship with NATO ally Turkey. The United States is urgently seeking to persuade Turkey to join the international coalition formed to fight the Islamic State. The participation of Turkey, which shares a long border with Iraq and Syria and already hosts U.S. troops, is considered vital."

"But Turkey so far has declined." ...
...
"In the comments at Harvard, Biden said he had “a great relationship” with Erdogan. That now seems to be in question.

"Biden’s remarks also risked angering other allies who have already signed up for the fight against the Islamic State, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who he said fueled the rise of the Islamic State."

UPDATES



Update:   Biden calls UAE prince to clarify remarks on Syria   "Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday called the crown prince of the United Arab Emirates to clarify that he did not mean to imply in his remarks last week that the Gulf ally was supporting al-Qaida fighters in Syria.

 

"Biden spoke with Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and a key Emirati leader, the White House said.

 

"It was the second time in two days that Biden had to call a key partner in President Barack Obama's coalition ... "

The code of BESA: Muslims who Saved the Lives of Jews

Feeling so much anger toward Islamists and their useful idiots in the West, I have frequently searched for stories such as this to help soothe the thoughts I was having toward Islam.
Will this help? The import of stories such as this is made significant by their rarity, sadly. TD

American Thinker   "The horrors committed by evil people during the Holocaust are well known and documented. Less well known are the merciful deeds performed by good people during the years of World War II. Among the least known of these decent individual are the Muslims in Albania who saved Jews. The screening in October 2014 of a film BESA: The Promise, directed by Rachel Goslins, with music by Philip Glass, is a welcome reminder of this minor but significant segment of Albanian history, in which a small number of Muslims protected Jews from Nazi Germany." ...
...

"The hatred of Jews on the part of the Mufti of Jerusalem is well known, along with his eager approval of the extermination of Jews in Europe and in Iraq, his raising of an SS Muslim Division in Bosnia, and his association with Heinrich Himmler and other leaders in Nazi Germany. BESA tells a different and compelling story of Muslim behavior. The book and the film document the participation of some Christians but mostly it was compassionate and kind Albanian Muslims (Sunni Muslims make up about 58 per cent of the population) who sheltered Jews who had fled to their country to escape from the Nazis."
Full article ...

Albanian Muslims risk their own lives to save Jews from Nazis during World War II
"It's a story you've likely never heard. It is a story told through the faces of Albanian Muslims who risked their own lives to live by a code of faith and honor called Besa.
...
"Hayat said while Besa is an Albanian word, it is part of Islamic culture and teachings. According to Dr. Hayat, Besa is an ancient code which requires people to endanger their own lives if necessary to save the life of anyone seeking asylum. To this day, Besa is the highest moral law of the region, superseding religious differences, blood feuds, and even tribal traditions. " (Emphasis added, TW)

The Heroic actions of Muslims during WW2 to save Jews   ..."Oren claimed Palestinian Arabs supported Nazis W/O mentioning how in fact, many Muslims risked life to save Jews in WW2. And that the Grand Mufti was able to accomplish minimal of his goals, the grand Mufti was largely ignored by the many good Muslims during WW2. Muslims even assisted allied forces during WW2. Oren does not include this in his remarks. "

Description of the Besa project   "Muslims Who Saved Jews? Who Ever Heard of It?"

... "Besa is a message to the world of brotherhood and compassion for those in need and unique to the Albanian people. Equally important is the message, through my portraits and stories, of the compassion extended to Jews by Albanian Muslim families during the Holocaust."

This commenter stresses that the code of BESA is not Islamic, but Albanian. Still, it was Muslims who honored the old code:

May I remind you ; that "BESA" is the "WORD" that means ,I give you my word,that I will not betray you.But this word "besa" or the word of honor,egzisted long before the some albanians became muslims.So dont confuse , our language which is very old and islamik religion.So there absolutely no evidence that comes from arabic.Part of us became muslims when turks came here taht is in the 14 century.But our language egzisted long before that time.

Faltering Obama Still Blaming Messenger

Jonathan S. Tobin  "Fox News may be demolishing its more liberal cable news rivals in the ratings but to Democrats it’s still the bogeyman. That’s why President Obama took the opportunity to criticize the network during a speech defending his economic record at Northwestern University today. But in doing so, the president not only demonstrated the weakness of his position but also why he doesn’t understand Fox’s appeal.

" During his speech, the president said this about Fox and its audience: " ...

What’s Racist, What’s Not (As of Friday, Oct. 3, 2014) Note: Will update as necessary

Washington Free Beacon

 

"Liberals tend to devote a significant portion of their daily lives to proving how not racist they are. One particularly expedient way of doing this is to declare that something a conservative has said or done is totally racist, and then to place oneself in opposition to the thing that was racist: “See, I’m not a racist!”

"As result, the List of Things That Are Racist has grown incomprehensibly long.  The Free Beacon‘s devotion to public service obligates us to provide this list (not exhaustive by any means) of what liberals do and do not consider to be racist."   List of what is racist here.   On the other hand...

Things That Are Not Racist
1. Suing a fertility clinic after giving birth to a mixed race child that you wish was white* (Salon)

Teachers Ordered To Remove Bibles From Their Classroom Desks

Downtrend

 

... "In this case, a Peoria, Ariz., teacher was told to remove her bible from the classroom after a complaint by an atheist organization.

"And after the “Freedom From Religion” foundation complained about the teacher’s bible, the Scottsdale-based Alliance Defending Freedom shot back, warning the district of “overreach.”
Bibles and other religious symbols are generally permitted, as long as they are within “personal spaces.” A U.S. District court in Texas ruled as such:

Items on a teacher’s desk often include such as things a family photos and mementos. Having a small cross, which oftentimes is simply a gift from a student, alongside family photos or other student gifts, clearly does not demonstrate government endorsement. The mere fact that it occurs in a government setting does not render it unconstitutional.

Full article at the link. 

The Week in Pictures: In His Majesty’s Secret Service Edition

Is there any agency controlled by liberals that does not produce mediocrity?

Power Line  "Is there any government agency whose reverse-Midas touch Obama hasn’t reached?  I’ll really start to worry if Obama puts the Secret Service in charge of dealing with Ebola.  Then we’ll know we’re doomed for sure."

 

More toons here

Anyone who said cat and dog friendships would never work, YOU ARE WRONG

Buzzfeed

4. And these two who defy all expectations of “big spoon, little spoon” dynamics.

Muslim leaders play victim in Oklahoma beheading

Thomas Lifson   "Colleen Hufford of Moore Oklahoma may be dead, but the real victims are Muslims, or so we are being asked to believe. In fact, according to the Imam of the Islamic Institute of Boston, Islam suffers a “double hurt.” And here I thought Ms. Hufford had it bad."

"We’re once again hearing the narrative that came of age in September 2001...that religion has absolutely nothing to do with the violence committed in its name, and in accordance with its most holy scripture, the Koran.  As Andrew McCarthy points out, beheading is not only called for in the Koran, it is widely practiced today in Sharia-compliant Saudi Arabia, and throughout the history of Islamic conquest:..."  Read more:

Don’t let old people decide the election, says a new ad campaign

Washington Post  "At least Thanksgiving is after the election. You're sick of hearing about the midterms anyway, but you really can't bear the thought of having to listen to Uncle Gary go on and on about lazy millennials living in basements.

"Rock the Vote!, the organization dedicated to getting young people interested in the political process, doesn't want you to miss that experience; they want you to remember that the country is full of Uncle Garys. And that the data predict that a whole lot of Uncle Garys are going to be voting this November. But who is going to vote on issues young people care about -- like student debt, the environment, unemployment and the unfairness of trend pieces? (Editor's note: Jaime is 25 but acts much, much older.)

"After this new #CareLikeCrazy ad campaign, which is basically 1984 for the Thought Catalog set, Rock the Vote! hopes the answer will be, "young people."
...
They're trying everything. On National Voter Registration Day they debuted a new online voter registration app, and have more celebrities yet to unload in "to be announced" ways. The #CareLikeCrazy Web site invites visitors to "Take a selfie. Shoot a video. Tell us —— What do you #CareLikeCrazy about?"

My Idea For A New Ad Campaign: “THANK G-- They Don’t Vote!”
... "They are trying to get that vaunted “youth vote” to show up and cancel out us old codgers that vote for things like traditional values, self-sufficiency, national defense, and economic sanity.  So instead they sponsor a strawman-laced set of videos/ads that make them and their “constituency” look like the spoiled brats they are."
...
checkmate2012 • 3 hours ago

It's the prime demographic for Democrats: the younger and dumber the easier they are to keep on the reservation. Maybe the Elbert Guillory ad could just be tweaked a bit for the youth vote.
.
Come to think of it, the same ad could be used against all the Left's favorite micro-constituents. No need to re-invent the wheel.

 

The Lincoln-Obama Comparison

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Leon Panetta destroys what little was left of Obama’s excuse for not leaving troops in Iraq

Power Line   "Following in the footsteps of Robert Gates, his Obama administration predecessor at the Pentagon, former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has criticized the president’s handling of a key battleground in the war against Islamic terrorism. Gates’ criticism centered around Afghanistan. Panetta’s focuses on Iraq.

"In Panetta’s forthcoming memoir “Worthy Fights,” which Time Magazine has excerpted, Panetta argues that Iraqi leaders privately wanted U.S. forces to stay behind after the formal 2011 withdrawal; that the U.S. had “leverage” to strike a deal; and that the Defense and State departments attempted to do so. However, says Panetta, “the President’s team at the White House pushed back” and thus no deal was reached.

"Why? Because “the White House [was] so eager to rid itself of Iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interests.' ” ...

 Megyn Kelly discusses Panetta's claims with Jen Psaki  I do wish Kelley would let Ms. Psake finish a sentence more. Same for Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly.

Some snark from Blackfive

 

Why Panetta’s Lament Is Newsworthy    ... "But that, paradoxically, ought to be a reason for this to be especially newsworthy. Panetta’s lament serves as an “I told you so,” not a “you’ll be sorry” moment. Even the president’s close advisors understand Obama was wrong, and everybody knows it. It’s safe now to disavow Obama’s Iraq strategy because it’s crystal clear it was a mammoth, deadly failure. The idea that Obama was completely, irresponsibly wrong is not controversial, even among dedicated Democrats. Panetta’s criticism isn’t really news, which is why it should be."

http://comicallyincorrect.com/2014/06/17/obama-iraq-policy/

California’s next big political fight: Plastic grocery bags

WaPo  "Go to a grocery store in California and buy all the milk, eggs and vegetables you want. But there’s one thing you won’t find at the checkout line, beginning July 1, 2015: Plastic bags to carry your stuff home.

"Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Tuesday signed into law a ban on single-use plastic bags, making California the first state to prohibit stores from using the ubiquitous carry-alls. Shoppers will be charged 10 cents for every paper bag and heavy-duty plastic bag they use."