No Joke: Obama HHS Secretary Praises Al Sharpton On MLK Day, “He’s Spent His Life Fighting For What’s Right”…

Weasel Zippers

“ 'Punk faggots” and the Jews lynched  in Crown Heights beg to differ."

Via Washington Examiner:

 Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell on Monday morning praised Al Sharpton in a breakfast speech before his National Action Network.

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing the Reverend for many years, and have worked with him from my time in the Clinton administration to my time at Walmart to now,” Burwell said, according to her prepared remarks.

After quoting Martin Luther King Jr., Burwell added, “Reverend Sharpton has spent his life fighting for what’s right, no matter how challenging. I want to thank you for your courage, tenacity and persistence.”

What exactly does Burwell have in mind as far as “fighting for what’s right”?

Does she think Sharpton was fighting for what’s right when he defamed a district attorney by falsely claiming the official had participated in the gang rape of a black teenager?

theswash.com

Just say it: Radical Islam has declared war on all non-Muslim civilization

investors.com

Pat Condell:  Islam "Has Nothing To Do With Islam"

Drawing Mohammad Cartoons is the "Worst Act of Terrorism"? 

Al-Quds ‘University’ allows supporters of Hamas to teach students how to murder Jews at prayer (Video)

Jonah Goldberg:  The Left’s Islamophobia obsession shows the extent to which victimology dominates our politics.  . . . "Simply put, victimology is the language and currency of our politics. Fighting for victims is a calling and minting new victims and grievances is a trillion-dollar industry. Heroism, fidelity, courage, duty, temperance: Their stock value may be volatile but the long-term trends have been bad for a while. But guilt and resentment are the gold and silver of our realm, a perfect hedge against the civilizational recession.

"And so before the street-sweepers even put a dent in the discarded “Je Suis Charlie” signs, the media was already on the prowl for signs of Western overreaction. The New York Times editors warned that “perhaps the greatest danger in the wake of the attacks” was a backlash against Muslim immigrants." . . .

An Islamic Reformation?   . . . "Without a centralized authority to say who can speak for the religion and who cannot, Sunni Islam developed more like reform Protestantism than traditional Catholicism.  Pretty much any Muslim with a Koran can claim to be an imam, and pretty much any room can serve as a mosque." 

Millions stand for free speech—and the media is still afraid

"Coverage of the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris this month may be about spun out, but questions regarding media censorship of the attacks, the cover of Charlie Hebdo, and Obama’s absence from the Paris unity march rage on.
"On Meet the Press this weekend, Chuck Todd spoke with the new editor of Charlie Hebdo, Gerard Biard, about American media outlets’ decision to blur out the cover of the satirical magazine." ...

ObamaCare slaps states with $15 billion in new costs

Galen Institute . . . "Punishing states for using Medicaid managed care is yet another ObamaCare attack on private health plans.

"According to the Milliman report, Florida could face added costs of up to $1.4 billion over the next ten years to fund ObamaCare, Pennsylvania, $1.3 billion, and Texas, $1.1 billion.  Tennessee, where Medicaid recipients are fully enrolled in managed care, could face added costs of $731 million over that time.  Maryland will need to come up with $680 million, and Louisiana with $787 million.  States that don’t contract with Medicaid managed care plans will not have to pay.

"The tax is due regardless of whether or not a state decides to expand Medicaid.  The worst decision would be to scrap their Medicaid managed care plans to avoid this new ObamaCare tax.  This is one more example why the best solution is to eradicate all of the ObamaCare taxes — along with the rest of the law."

 

The Galen Institute, Inc., is a not-for-profit, free-market research organization devoted exclusively to health policy. It was founded in 1995 by Grace-Marie Turner to promote a more informed public debate over individual freedom, consumer choice, competition, and diversity in the health sector.

"Selma": more windfall profits for Reverend Al

http://terrellaftermath.com/

Alan Caruba:  Al Sharpton Seeing Red Over All-White Oscars . . . "This is the same man who has been rubbing elbows lately with the President of the United States (!) and hailed as a civil rights icon at a recent fund-raising event by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Obama hailed him for his “dedication to the righteous cause of perfecting our union”, whatever that means. As The Times reported, “Major corporations sponsored the lavish affair.”

 

"There is the reek of corruption surrounding Rev. Sharpton that speaks poorly of the high ranked politicians who lend him credibility and the corporations that help underwrite his blatant exploitation of racial events such as those in Ferguson, Missouri. It does not speak well of MSNBC that has provided him with a television show as a platform devoted to stirring up resentment among blacks."
. . .
Mr. Caruba crystallizes his thoughts on this affair with these words:

I have reached an age where the analysis of every event in American life seems to come down to race, gender or some other factor often unrelated to what is occurring. We are too often a nation of unrelenting complainers unwilling to see what a great nation it is.

I can only speak for myself when I say I am deeply offended by the antics of Rev. Sharpton because he’s unhappy this year’s Oscar nominees are “white.” Last time I checked, not paying your taxes was a crime.

Oh, by the way, I will not be watching the Oscar awards. Other than the State of the Union speech, it is one of the most boring annual shows on television.

Full article...


Branco Cartoon – Hands Up, Wallets Out

 I give this next one a must-read as well:

Roger Simon; Oscar Report: Al Sharpton Calls Me a Racist!  "Maybe it’s actually a badge of honor — after all Sharpton himself makes Bull Connor seem like Martin Luther King — but the Rev Al has called me a racist because I am one of those (white!) Academy members who did not vote for Selma as an Oscar nominee.  I cannot tell a lie.  He’s right.  Not only that, I did not vote for the movie for screenplay either, the only other category for which I can nominate, since I am in the writers branch. "
. . .
"But I have bad news for Al.  I’m not going to pay him one penny to get one of his pseudo-papal absolutions saying I’m not really a racist (even though I was in the civil rights movement and a financial backer of the Black Panthers, to my ever-lasting shame)." . . .

US foreign policy vicars: a ship of fools.

 

No Room for Parody   "I was sound asleep when the phone rang and so I cannot be absolutely sure the conversation was not a dream, but it seemed real enough.

“ 'Hello,” the caller began. “My name is Mr. Mensch, I am president of the Parodists of the World, professional comedy writers, and we want to engage you in a suit against the administration for tortious interference with our livelihood.”

“ 'What exactly are you alleging, I mean specifics?” I responded.
He then launched into a litany of grievances against the administration which the Parodists claimed had made it impossible for them to continue making a living."... Read more:




 Thomas Lifson:  Worst. State Department. Ever.
"The State Department has been infiltrated. Not as much by communists or Islamists, but by morons.

"The Obama State Department has not only been downgraded to an afterthought, as foreign policy is controlled by a White House national security cabal that includes Valerie Jarrett and Ben Rhodes, it has been staffed by people who deeply humiliate us on the world stage.
A pictorial walk down memory lane:" . . .Read more:

German Embed Reporter: ISIS Plans On Killing “Hundreds Of Millions” In “Religious Cleansing”

Weasel Zippers

What’s not to understand? They’ve always been very upfront about their plans. Some in Europe are finally waking up to the threat.
Via Breitbart:

Jurgen Todenhofer, the first Western reporter to embed with Islamic State fighters and not be killed in the process, spoke to Al Jazeera about his time with the terror group.
Todenhofer lived side by side with the jihadist fighters for ten days in the Islamic State-stronghold city of Mosul, Iraq. He was accompanied only by his son, who served as his cameraman.
“I always asked them about the value of mercy in Islam,” but “I didn’t see any mercy in their behavior,” explained Todenhofer. He added, “Something that I don’t understand at all is the enthusiasm in their plan of religious cleansing, planning to kill the non-believers… They also will kill Muslim democrats because they believe that non-ISIL-Muslims put the laws of human beings above the commandments of God.”
The German reporter then elaborated on how shocked he was about how “willing to kill” the ISIS fighters are. He said that they were ready to commit genocide. “They were talking about [killing] hundreds of millions. They were enthusiastic about it, and I just cannot understand that,” said Todenhofer
Keep reading…

Just make it stop!

Mike Lester illustrates most effective form of torture used by Americans to date

Laughing along with the Islamic terrorists

 

Former FBI Special Agent K. Dee McCown wrote an open letter to Eric Holder. The response has been epic.

Corroboration by Snopes  "Since its initial appearance, the letter attributed to K. Dee McCown has circulated widely on social media sites and blogs. Dee McCown did serve as an FBI special agent between 1997 and 2008, and when we contacted him to verify his authorship, he responded: "I in fact wrote the letter and stand by every word. It's time to stand up and speak truth to power. Thanks for checking."  Read more

From Education Views;   The letter is posted here in its entirety:

Quoting:
K. Dee McCown
College Station, Texas
December 28, 2014
Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Holder,
It is unlikely that we met while I served in the FBI. That being said, we served at the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the same years and on the same “team” conceptually speaking. During my service in the FBI I worked with a number of U.S. Attorney Offices in the United States to include a tour at FBIHQ where I worked with the Department of Justice (Main) on a daily basis.
Additional Reading: Eric Holder Dodges Questions On Radical Islam
I begin my letter with this comment to highlight that I am not a bystander on the topic of law enforcement in the United States. I worked and managed a variety of federal investigations during my 12 years of service in the FBI, to include the management of several Civil Rights cases in the State of Texas. In fact, during my last tour in the Bureau, I was an FBI Supervisor responsible for managing federal investigations in nine (9) Texas counties, many of which were rural; in places where one would suspect racism to flourish given the narrative often pushed by Hollywood and urban progressive elites like yourself. I performed this mission diligently and under the close supervision of two FBI managers; an Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) and Special Agent in Charge (SAC,) both of which happened to be African American and outstanding law enforcement professionals. I also performed this mission serving side by side with a variety of law enforcement agencies at the Federal, State and local level.
I have observed you closely during your tenure as Attorney General and notably during these last tumultuous years; watching you negotiate a number of controversial public matters to include the ATF Fast and Furious scandal, Black Panther Party intimidation at voting booths, IRS targeting of American citizens (citizen groups opposed to the Obama Administration,) the ignoring of US Immigration laws, DOJ criminal indictments of select news reporters and your management of several high profile criminal investigations involving subjects of race, notably African Americans.
Until today, I chose to hold my tongue. However, with the assassination of two NYPD Lieutenants last weekend in New York City, at the hands of a African American man with a lengthy criminal record, fresh from his participation in anti-police activities; coupled with numerous “don’t shoot, hands up,” and “black lives matter” anti-police protests (some of which are violent) occurring daily around the nation, I am compelled to write you this letter.
To be blunt Mr. Holder, I am appalled at your lack of leadership as the Attorney General of the United States and your blatant politicizing of the Department of Justice. Your actions, both publicly and privately, have done nothing to quell the complex racial issues we face in our country and have done everything to inflame them. As the “top cop” of the United States, you share in the blame for much of the violence and protests we are now witnessing against law enforcement officers honorably serving throughout our nation.
During one of your first public speeches as Attorney General you made it a point to call America “a nation of cowards” concerning race relations. That speech, followed by other public announcements where you emphatically opined that the odds were stacked against African Americans in regard to the enforcement of law, your intention to change the law and permit convicted felons to vote after incarceration, and your changes to federal law ending “racial profiling,” are poignant examples of how detached you remain from the challenges faced by law enforcement officers serving in crime ridden neighborhoods throughout the nation. These opinions are also indicative of a man that lives and works in the elitist “bubble” of Washington D.C.
Your performance, as the nation’s Attorney General, during the Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, Florida and the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri clearly highlights your myopic view on this topic. Contrary to your embarrassing prejudgment in the Brown case and evasive post trial remarks on the Martin case, neither Brown nor Martin were targeted and/or killed because of their African American race. Rather, as non-emotive investigations determined, both teens died as a consequence of their own tragic and egregious behavior; behavior that involved a violent assault on a law abiding citizen in the Trayvon Martin case, and a violent assault on a young police officer in the Michael Brown case. Yet you, as the number one spokesman for law enforcement in the country, blame the deaths of these men on years of institutional racism and the alleged epidemic targeting of African American men by police departments around the country; nothing could be further from the truth. Following the Michael Brown case Grand Jury decision all you could muster was the following comment:
“The Department of Justice is currently investigating not only the shooting but also the Ferguson police department in what is called a “patterns and practices” inquiry to determine if the police department has engaged in systematic racism.”
So, let’s get this straight. At a decisive moment in history when our nation required a strong and unbiased voice from its’ senior law enforcement official, you Mr. Holder, made it your personal mission to join with other racial antagonist and politicize a tragic event, accusing a young white police officer of a racially motivated killing in what we now know was a justified self-defense shooting of a predatory felon. Your behavior is unbelievable. You sir, have sacrificed your integrity on the altar of political expediency. You, Mr. Holder, are the “coward” and hypocrite you so loudly denounce when speaking of broken race relations in America.
Further to this point Mr. Holder, law enforcement officers around the country remain dismayed and shocked at the counsel you keep; that being your close relationship with none other than Al Sharpton, a racist “shake down artist” who spreads hate, divisiveness and the promotion of anti-law enforcement sentiment throughout the country; a tax evading fraudster who has unbelievably visited the White House over 80 times in recent years. It is simply beyond my comprehension as a former federal law enforcement professional, that you, the Attorney General of the United States, joined arms in common cause with a charlatan like “the Reverend” Al Sharpton; and it speaks volumes to your personal character and lack of professional judgment.
Violent crime, out of wedlock births, drug abuse, rampant unemployment and poverty found in many low-income minority neighborhoods are not a result of racist community policing and racial profiling as you so quickly assert, and frankly most law abiding Americans are exhausted of hearing this false narrative repeated time and again by you and others in the racial grievance industry. While no one, me included, would ever suggest that African Americans have not suffered from institutional racism in the past, I would strongly argue that we no longer live in the Mississippi of 1965, nor do we live in a country that even closely resembles the “Jim Crow” South of yesteryear. Those days, thankfully, are in the past as are the generations of Americans that supported such egregious behavior and endured such suffering.
Rather, Mr. Holder, we live in a day and time where the root cause of many problems faced in our African American communities can be attributed to the breakdown of civil order due to the rejection of institutional and family authority and the practice of counter-culture values; and most notably, from the absence of strong male leadership in fatherless black families. The reason that our local police officers are so often entwined in tragic events in black communities is because it is the police that have filled the void in these communities that should be occupied by moral and strong black men leading family units with Godly values. You, Mr. Holder, especially, should be thanking the police rather than persecuting them for the gap they fill in these communities because if it were not for the intervention of local police many African American neighborhoods would be in a state of total anarchy.
Yet tragically, you and your race-baiting colleague Al Sharpton (a paid media personality under contract with MSNBC news) choose to remain silent because to publicly speak this self-evident truth threatens to not only alienate and offend the most loyal voting constituency of the Democratic Party but diminish your and Al Sharpton’s self-serving power base in these suffering communities. God forbid that you would suggest individual citizens accept responsibility for their own behavior and the collective failure of their communities; it is so much easier for you and others like you to make excuses, play the victim card, and pander rather than address the real root causes that plague many low income neighborhoods.
Mr. Holder, the public is aware of FBI statistics that tell a different story than the one you and Sharpton preach. We know that young African American males, representing a tiny fraction of the U.S. population, are by far the greatest perpetrators of violent crime in America when compared to their peers in other ethnic groups, and, we know that citizens of African American descent overwhelmingly make up the majority of their victims. We also know that incidents where white police officers shoot and kill black perpetrators are rare and on the decline. We know further that although there are legitimate and bona fide Federal Civil Rights investigations in the United States worthy of pursuing, they are miniscule when compared to the false narrative portrayed by you, President Obama and Sharpton declaring rampant discrimination against African American men by police officers throughout the country. You are just plain wrong.
In closing Mr. Holder I will leave you with this thought; you were given a rare opportunity to lead with integrity during a variety of divisive and controversial issues during your tenure as the 82d Attorney General of the United States and rather than be a man of moral courage you chose instead to cower, further inflame racial tensions, advance false narratives and play progressive political activist.
Time and again you chose to “politicize” the mission of the Department of Justice rather than pursue justice and now, tragically, we are witnessing the fruits of your irresponsible behavior in the murder of two innocent police officers in New York City, assassinated by a man motivated by the flames of racial hatred that you personally fanned. How many more police officers will be injured or die in the coming days because of the perilous conditions you helped create in this nation. You, President Obama and Al Sharpton own this problem lock, stock and barrel and now it is your legacy.
As thousands of NYPD officers turn their collective back on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, another dishonest politician and Sharpton disciple, so too do countless Federal law enforcement officers turn our backs on you.
K. Dee McCown
FBI (1997 – 2008)
CC: Senator Mitch McConnell
Senator John Cornyn
Senator Ted Cruz
Senator Harry Reid
The Honorable Bill Flores
The Honorable John Boehner
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
End quote
Via Political Ears Hat tip to Walt Stier; Santa Maria, CA

More corroboration:  Bravo! Ex-FBI Agent Calls Out Eric Holder

From Killing My Career
Hat tip to Robert Hope; Sacramento, CA

UPDATE: Islamist militants 'plotting to target Germany anti-Islamisation marches'

UPDATE: German police ban anti-Islamic rally citing terror threat 
UK Telegraph

A protestor holds a poster showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel wearing a head scarf in front of the Reichtstags building with a crescent on top and the writing 'Mrs Merkel here are the people' during a *PEGIDA rally in Dresden

"Foreign intelligence agencies have intercepted discussions by Islamist militants about possible attacks on weekly marches organised by Germany's new anti-Islamic movement, a news weekly reported on Friday, without citing its sources.

"Der Spiegel magazine said that foreign intelligence services had picked up the content of communications by some "known international jihadists", without giving specific details.

"The intelligence, which was passed to German authorities, indicated they had discussed possible attacks on the rallies organised by the so-called group, *"Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident" (Pegida), the magazine said in a pre-released story to appear in this weekend's edition." . . .
So how has refusing to use the words "radical Islam" worked out for us? We could have been speaking all along the way Gov. Jindal will be this Monday and how would we be any worse off?

Jindal's Brilliant Take on Radical Islam  . . . "Early in the speech Jindal says he’s not going to be politically correct. And he uses the term “radical Islamists” without hesitation, placing much of the blame for the Paris murders and all radical Islamist terrorism on a refusal of Muslim leaders to denounce these acts.
Jindal says, “Muslim leaders must make clear that anyone who commits acts of terror in the name of Islam is in fact not practicing Islam at all. If they refuse to say this, then they are condoning these acts of barbarism. There is no middle ground.” . . .
. . .

"This is the great challenge of our time. In the early years of the 21st century, it appears the great goal of our age is the defeat of radical Islam.

"Jindal gets it.​"

Reading List About "Le Hug"; The US Secretary of State Grovels Awkwardly Before France

 

 Buzzfeed

Allies Know They Haven’t “Got a Friend” in Obama’s America  . . . "While the real problem is the administration’s lack of comfort in standing up for the rights of cartoonists to offend Islamists as evidenced by the decision to stay away from the rally, it also tells us something significant about the inadequate man who is serving as the nation’s chief diplomat." . . .

Warrentoons

It is no small irony that an administration that came into office determined to work with the international community, and our allies rather than to be Bush-like unilateral cowboys, is now reduced to this sort of nonsense. What the French or any ally wants is not a touchy-feely Oldies song but a sense that the U.S. believes it is still part of the war against international terror. To the contrary, Obama’s instincts are such that allies have come to expect his contempt or disinterest in their problems.

The UK Telegraph reports: Le hug: How John Kerry made a Paris cheek-kiss faux pas

"When top US diplomat John Kerry rushed towards the French president, arms open, to warmly embrace him on Friday, what followed was a cringeworthy culture clash that has befuddled many a visitor to France.

 

"The French are just not that into hugging.

"Kerry had given fair warning to his French counterparts that some American-style affection was on the cards.

" 'My visit to France is basically to share a big hug for Paris and express the affection of the American people for France and for our friends there who have been through a terrible time," he said on the eve of his trip.

"The phrase alone sparked confusion in the media who struggled to pin down a translation for the word hug." ....

"You really can’t make this stuff up" "The best I could add to the farce was an imaginary Governor Chris Christie offering to hug France."   Chip Bok

 

 The Hindu Times used the term "big hug" as well: Kerry offers 'big hug' to Paris after attacks

Je Sweet Baby James

 

Kerry in Paris  ". . .What all this means -- President Obama’s no-show and his apparent decision to send in the clowns -- illustrates what Charles de Gaulle meant by his most dismissive criticism: Ils ne sont pas des hommes sérieux -- They are not serious men.

"It’s not just that I disagree with everything they say and do. It’s that I cannot even take them seriously. And like CNN’s Jake Tapper, I am ashamed."

John Kerry Should’ve Taken Barry McGuire to France Instead of James Taylor
 Much more appropriate for the occasion, non?

Networks Ignore John Kerry's Embarrassing James Taylor Stunt in Paris 

Twitter-Verse Doesn’t Like ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ As a Foreign Policy 

John Kerry Turns Soft Power Loose on France . . . "After snubbing the French memorial service for the victims of radical Islamic terrorists, the administration has unleashed Secretary of State John Kerry in a one-man blizzard of diplomacy to try to unscrew the situation. What could go wrong, you ask? How could anyone possibly screw up making amends to our oldest ally? To the first nation the infant Republic signed a military defense pact with? Keep in mind what you are reading is NOT from The Onion:" . . .
"You can watch our national humiliation . . ."

Barack Obama Hasn’t Finished Embarrassing Us Yet

independentsentinel.com "How do you follow up after making a fool of yourself sending John Kerry to Paris with James Taylor to sing, “You’ve Got a Friend” in commemoration of 17 people being massacred?

"You accept an interview with GloZell Green!. She is a YouTube sensation and a big Obama fan who sometimes wears green lipstick and starts each of her 2 to 7 minute videos with, “Hello this is GloZell! Is you ok? Is you? Good, cause I wanted to know!”

"No joke.

"It’s a sad commentary on our nation and an even sadder one on the presidency.

"Mr. Obama has confirmed that he will sit down for an interview with three of his favorite vloggers – YouTube stars – after the State of the Union address." . . .

But wait! There's more from this President of the United States!

Obama Scheduled To Be Interviewed After SOTU By Guy Who Created “14 Fart Facts” 

"Hank Green, whose most recent YouTube video at the time of this publication is “14 Fart Facts for my Flatulent Friends”, will be among those questioning the president.

"Glozell Green and Bethany Mota are the other two interviewers. " . . .Via CNS News

There is a video of this guy, but you can find it yourselves.