So, President Barack Obama skipped the French anti-terror unity march.

Obama, Kerry absent from unity rally in Paris

Holder, top US official in Paris for terror talks, not seen at unity march

The roll call of world leaders who were in the march here.  Just to be snarky, let me point out that both the US and Iran sent no top officials. 


RedState  "There is a very simple explanation for this: “President Barack Obama will not join other world leaders at Sunday’s Paris march in tribute to the victims of this week’s Islamist attacks in France, a US official told AFP.” Basically, President Obama legitimately and genuinely does not understand why it is necessary for him – or a sufficiently dignified surrogate* – to represent our country at an activity such as this.  From Obama’s point of view, since no American was attacked, no American was killed, and no American was involved he clearly thinks that our involvement in this matter is thus unnecessary. And since the formal solace and condolences from foreign dignitaries would offer no comfort to him in similar circumstances, Barack Obama apparently feels that offering his own detached sympathies would be essentially equally pointless.
...
 "I think that the last few years have demonstrated pretty clearly why the American people default to looking to the Republican party for their foreign policy cues."

This is how it was seen by our allies in the United Kingdom: America snubs historic Paris rally: Holder skipped out of proceedings early, Kerry was in India, Obama and Biden just stayed home
"Neither President Obama or Vice President Joe Biden attended the historic event,  though both of their schedules were open" (Emphasis in the original)

 "Fox News host Greta Van Susteren said: 'This is really embarrassing - WHERE IS PRESIDENT OBAMA? Why didn't he go?'  

"While the President Obama is a busy man, his absence at the show of international solidarity was notable, considering his schedule was wide open today.

"Vice President Joe Biden often fills in for the president at events like this, but he was no where to be seen either, despite his similarly empty schedule.

"Most remarkable was the fact that Holder, one of the top members of Obama's cabinet, was in Paris on Sunday - but skipped the rally." . . .

Remember How Obama Regime Sent 3 Representatives To Mike Brown’s Funeral?

FLASHBACK: French President Jacques Chirac First Foreign Leader To Visit WH After 9/11
 "Fast forward to today where Obama snubbed France by failing to attend, or send any top officials, to a rally against Islamic terrorism in Paris attended by more than 50 world leaders."

 

Charlie Hebdo Could Never Have Existed on an American College Campus

toonpool

NY Times  …”If they had tried to publish their satirical newspaper on any American university campus over the last two decades it wouldn’t have lasted 30 seconds. Student and faculty groups would have accused them of hate speech. The administration would have cut financing and shut them down. …

“Just look at all the people who have overreacted to campus micro-aggressions. The University of Illinois fired a professor who taught the Roman Catholic view on homosexuality. The University of Kansas suspended a professor for writing a harsh tweet against the N.R.A. Vanderbilt University derecognized a Christian group that insisted that it be led by Christians.
…”Americans may laud Charlie Hebdo for being brave enough to publish cartoons ridiculing the Prophet Muhammad, but, if Ayaan Hirsi Ali is invited to campus, there are often calls to deny her a podium.
“So this might be a teachable moment. As we are mortified by the slaughter of those writers and editors in Paris, it’s a good time to come up with a less hypocritical approach to our own controversial figures, provocateurs and satirists. . . .
“If you try to pull off this delicate balance with law, speech codes and banned speakers, you’ll end up with crude censorship and a strangled conversation. It’s almost always wrong to try to suppress speech, erect speech codes and disinvite speakers.” . . .
Read the full column. Also see our reporter Christopher White’s look today at why comedians have such a tortured relationship with stand-up gigs on campus.
                                                                               ADFMedia
Via College Insurrection

Where Did Those Strange Old Phrases and Sayings Come From?

StrangeCosmos  "Ever wonder where some of those old sayings come from? Neither have I... and now I'll never worry about wondering again..."

A SHOT OF WHISKEY: In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents. So did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a 'shot' of whiskey. THE WHOLE NINE YARDS: American fighter planes in WWII had machine guns that were fed by a belt of cartridges. The average plane held belts that were 27 feet (9 yards) long. If the pilot used up all his ammo he was said to have given it the whole nine yards.    BUYING THE FARM: This is synonymous with dying. During WWI soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you "bought the farm" for your survivors. IRON CLAD CONTRACT: This came about from the ironclad ships of the Civil War. It meant something so strong it could not be broken. PASSING THE BUCK/THE BUCK STOPS HERE: Most men in the early west carried a jack knife made by the Buck knife company. When playing poker it as common to place one of these Buck knives in front of the dealer so that everyone knew who he was. When it was time for a new dealer the deck of cards and the knife were given to the new dealer. If this person didn't want to deal he would "pass the buck" to the next player. If that player accepted then "the buck stopped there". RIFF RAFF: The Mississippi River was the main way of traveling from north to south. Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people used rafts. Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a "riff" and this transposed into riff-raff, meaning low class. COBWEB: The Old English word for "spider" was "cob". SHIP STATE ROOMS: Traveling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms. SHOWBOAT: These were floating theatres built on a barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These played small town along the Mississippi River. Unlike the boat shown in the movie "Showboat" these did not have an engine. They were gaudy and attention grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life of the party is "showboating". OVER A BARREL: In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in an effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble. BARGE IN: Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into piers or other boats. People would say they "barged in". HOGWASH: Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they would be washed before being put on board. The mud and other filth that was washed off was considered useless "hog wash". CURFEW: The word "curfew" comes from the French phrase "couvre-feu" which means "cover the fire". It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles. It was later adopted into Middle English as "curfeu" which later became the modern "curfew". In the early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the centre of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would be covered with a clay pot called-a "curfew". HOT OFF THE PRESS: As the paper goes through the rotary printing press friction causes it to heat up. Therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press it is hot. The expression means to get immediate information. A SQUARE MEAL: Comes from old wooden sailing ships, where a sailor was served his meal on a square plate that fit in a set of wooden angles on a table so it wouldn't slide off during rolling seas. A THREE DOG NIGHT: In old England on a very cold night it was common to allow a dog to sleep in bed with you for extra warmth. If it was extremely cold night, it was called a THREE DOG NIGHT. POSH: An acronym from early English passenger vessels. As there was no air-conditioning in those days, the out-bound (north to south) leg exposed the summer afternoon sun to the starboard side of the ship making those staterooms much warmer than the port side rooms. This was reversed on the leg home. Wealthy passengers were allowed to change sides of the ship to be more comfortable, so their tickets read: Port Out; Starboard Home, and was abbreviated as P.O.S.H., which now denotes very comfortable quarters. BARRELS OF OIL: When the first oil wells were drilled they had made no provision for storing the liquid so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we speak of barrels of oil rather than gallons. HOT OFF THE PRESS: As the paper goes through the rotary printing press friction causes it to heat up. Therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press it is hot. The expression means to get immediate information. FALLEN OFF THE WAGON: The expression refers to the water wagons used to sprinkle water on the streets to keep the dust down. During the times of Prohibition in the 19th century, men often climbed onto these wagons and took an oath they would give up alcohol and drink only water. This gave rise to the expression to be on the water cart/wagon; it was later shortened to on the wagon. When these individuals broke their pledge and started hitting the bottle again, they were said to have fallen off the wagon.

Alfred Charles Sharpton, an American Excess Story

obamacartoon.blogspot.com

Townhall  "When a history of the American Presidency for the last fifty years is compiled, listed among the most curious aspects of those five decades of presidential administrations will be the inclusion of Alfred Charles Sharpton as a ‘trusted presidential advisor’ to the Obama Administration.Countless photographs from presidential and news media archives will show Alfred virtually glowing in his self-importance, seated at the side of the president...

"Alfred has been able to insinuate himself into countless incidents where a racial aspect might or might not be involved.If one isn’t there, he’ll create it.Having no facts or evidence (it never stopped him before), Alfred is always ready and able to inject charges of racism and stir up civil unrest.All for his own ego gratification and to line his own pockets with money. ...

"Alfred’s excesses will continue as long as the money keeps rolling in and the American news media keep providing him coverage. And American race relations will continue to suffer a setback every time Alfred arrives on the scene."   (All cartoons added; TD)

 D.W. Wilber is a former Intelligence and Counterterrorism Officer, and the owner of Secur-Intel-Solutions.

Hat tip to Robert Hope; Sacramento, CA

 

I've avoided posts like this for seven years, but then came this one:

I'm aware of these oft-expressed points:

• Snopes says there is no evidence Obama is a Muslim
• From Urban Legends:  "We are asked to believe that Barack Obama, who for over 20 years has professed to be a devout Christian and spoken publicly of his "personal relationship with Jesus Christ," is in fact a covert Muslim who has lied his entire adult life about his true religious affiliation." ...
• Huffington Post:has this list of "Paranoid Obama Conspiracy Stories", but specifically they mention this: Obama As Muslim

So, being cognizant of all the above and much more, we present this case made over at Warning Signs

Alan Caruba: Our Muslim President 

"No, I cannot prove that Barack Obama is a Muslim, but a review of his public life from the days he was campaigning to be an Illinois Senator through his years as President have raised a lot of questions, including a notable slip of the tongue during a television interview when he referred to himself as a Muslim."

...

Obama surprised a lot of people when in London on April 9, 2009 he bowed deeply to the Saudi monarch, regarded as the protector of Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holy cities. No President had ever bowed in that manner to a foreign potentate.

Observers have pointed out that his wife, Michelle, does not accompany him to Muslim nations because Sharia law would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation. Others have noted that Muslims are forbidden to wear jewelry during Ramadan and during that Islamic holy month he has never been seen wearing his wedding ring or watch.

Obama did not travel to Israel during his first term as President. It was not until March 2013 that he visited Israel and he has consistently displayed a lack of sympathy, if not enmity, toward Israel during both terms, opposing the construction of Israeli housing and suggesting it return to its 1967 borders, echoing the complaints and demands of Palestinians and others.

...

If there is a baptism certificate for Obama, it remains sealed from public view along with many comparable documents such as a certified copy of his original birth certificate. The one put forth by the White House has been debunked as a fraud by many document experts.

There is an Islamic doctrine known as “taqiyya” that permits Muslims to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to or to knowingly deceive infidels.

Read the full article here.

Bravery in the Hostage Standoff: Malian Muslim Man Saved 15 People During Paris Market Siege; Brave Hostage Killed

Weasel Zippers  "Brave man."
"Via Buzz Feed:

Four people were killed Friday when the terrorist Amedy Coulibaly took several hostages inside a Kosher market in Paris, but that number may well have been higher were it not for a quick-thinking employee of the market named Lassana Bathily.
Bathily, a 24-year-old Muslim from Mali, was working in the store in the Porte de Vincennes neighborhood when the Islamist gunman burst in.
As panic ensued, up to 15 customers in the store hurried down to the store basement, when Bathily had an idea.
“When they ran down, I opened the door [to the freezer],” he told France’s BFMTV.
He quickly shut off the freezer and switched off its light. As he closed the door to shelter the customers inside, he told them, “Stay calm here. I’m going out.”
Eventually police raided the market, killing Coulibaly. As the hostages were freed from the freezer, they had a few words of thanks for Bathily. “They congratulated me,” he told BFMTV.
On social media, Bathily was being praised as a hero for his actions.

Keep reading…

Harrowing Account From Inside Paris Market Siege, Including Of Hero Who Tried To Take On Gunman 

A heroic customer at the kosher supermarket in Paris snatched one of the terrorist’s guns and turned it on the hostage A heroic customer at the kosher supermarket in Paris snatched one of the terrorist’s guns and turned it on the hostage taker – only to find it was jammed, leaving the extremist to execute him in cold blood.

Many photos and videos here.

 

Why Liberals and the Media Can't Use the 'Terrorist' Label

American Thinker   "After reading multiple articles and watching insane interviews of supposed experts trying to blame the victims in France for the barbaric acts committed against them by religious fanatics, I couldn’t help but try to come up with some sort of explanation as to how they could bring themselves to do that.

"Keep in mind that these are the same folks who refuse to let anybody implicate the actions of Michael Brown, Jr., Trayvon Martin, or Eric Garner in their own deaths, while insisting that admittedly offensive cartoonists should somehow be held accountable for their own tragic deaths.

"Here’s my explanation in fifty words or less:

Liberals are willing to protect to the death, Islamic fanatics’ right to be Islamic fanatics, while the Islamic fanatics are will to fight to their deaths in the name of Allah, to kill Liberals for the act of protecting anybody’s right to be Islamic fanatics.

"See -- it makes perfect sense.

NYPD Union Chief: Bill de Blasio Is the Problem

Big Government

... "New York police have recently expressed their anger at de Blasio by turning their backs on him when he appeared at the funerals of Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, who were ambushed and executed on December 20. At Liu’s funeral, one officer called out, “About face!’’ and officers who heard him joined civilians to turn their backs on the mayor. The New York Post reported that one officer said, “I turned my back last week on [de Blasio], and I will continue to turn my back whenever I hear him speak because he disrespected me, Officer Ramos and Officer Liu when he said he warned his son, Dante, to be wary of cops.” Another officer echoed, “I can’t stand even looking at him. He has no friends here.”...

Tony Branco

More Facts Obama Didn’t Mention Regarding His ‘Free’ College Tuition Plan

 

Joseph R. Carducci  "As with any typical liberal agenda item, the devil is usually in the details. Such is certainly the case for the bombshell Obama dropped on us the other day, saying how he wants to make community college nearly as universal as high school and he wants the first two years of such education to be free. Of course, it is only going to be free to those ‘willing to work for it.’ I’ll leave you to unravel how something can be free, if we are working for it.
At any rate, Obama also left out many important details about the program. Don’t look for any of the following details to be included in his State of the Union speech since he obviously wants to try and garner support for his plan. Here is just a sampling of what our President left out:" ...
Full article...

Muslims and the Left's Death by Tolerance

Selwyn Duke   "Aside from the three Muslim men who perpetrated the deadliest terror attack in France since 1961, there are some other individuals complicit in the Wednesday massacre. They have names such as Hollande, Merkel, Löfven and Obama. Their connection to the act will largely go unnoticed and unapprehended -- and they likely will never be held to account."  Read more...

Ms. Duke compares the message of the Islamic fundamentalists with that of the left: 

Believe what we believe.
Like what we like.
Hate what we hate.
Become one with our collective.
And we can live in peace.

THE ENEMIES OF FRANCE ARE THE ENEMIES OF AMERICA  Posted by Ronald Barbour

Freedom Fighter's Journal

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/01/muslims_and_the_lefts_death_by_tolerance.html

Victor Davis Hanson

 

... "Why, then, have Democrats lost the working class — especially white, lower-middle-class voters?
There are several obvious reasons.

"For one, high-profile progressives are largely rich, and their relatively small numbers live in a gentrified cocoon. Politicians, academics, media personalities, celebrities, and other Democratic-aligned professionals had just the sort of academic brands or technological, linguistic, cultural, and service skills that were well-compensated during the transition to globalism.

"Their out-of-touch privilege, however, led to agendas — radical green politics, hyper-feminism, transgender advocacy, forced multiculturalism, open borders — that were not principle concerns of the struggling working classes. A techie in Silicon Valley, an actor in Hollywood, a trial lawyer in Washington, or a professor at Yale had the income to afford the steeper taxes and higher housing, energy, and college costs that were the natural dividends of their own political agendas." ...

The hysteria over Sarah Palin’s gaffes in comparison to the more frequent lapses of Joe Biden was due to cultural bias. Palin was ridiculed as an ill-informed, working-class Alaskan mom. Good ol’ Biden earned a smile as an occasionally too candid East Coast liberal.

Baloney Detector

How the media educated me this week

Andrée Seu Peterson

 

... "Paragraph 2 could go in any direction at this point. It could situate the killings in the context of the ongoing murderous rampages in the Middle East. It could say the “why” is because Islam is a bunch of thugs bent on the destruction of Western civilization.

"But this is not in fact what the remainder of paragraph 2 says. It says that “the French satirical magazine … has a controversial history of depicting Mohammed often in an unfavorable light, which has angered many Muslims around the world.”
Oh dear, what an awkward situation. CNN has ferreted out the enemy—and the enemy is us!
...
 "The CNN article goes on for many paragraphs, most of them a remedial education in the religious scruples of Islam, the better to help you and me not be so darned offensive in the future. That way we will not bring more trouble on ourselves."

 Political Satire and Censorship in the Middle East

Skeptikai 

... "Indeed, the threats towards satirists is never greater than in the Middle East. In 1993, two Indian editors were given two years in prison and 500 lashes for printing the American comic strip “B.C.” in the Arab News. The rationale was that they were questioning the existence of God, which demanded harsh punishment. Luckily, intense international pressure ended in a pardon for the editors, but this case exemplifies the level of risk Arabs are dealing with when they print satire." ...

Related:   Top 10 Stand-up Comedians Who Joke About Muslims/Islam (With Videos!)