Obama takes inside hit from new Defense Secretary

Legal Insurrection
3-year timeline for ISIS campaign “political”

"Barack Obama is fighting a losing battle to defend his foreign policy—and the latest blow has come from inside his own cabinet.

"Today, new Defense Secretary Ash Carter went on the record as a critic of the three year plan to defeat ISIS contained in President Obama’s request for use of continued military force in the Middle East.

“ 'I wouldn’t assure anyone that this will be over in three years or that the campaign will be completed in three years,” Carter said, before admitting that he understands why that sort of timeline was included in the request." . . .
. . .
"Carter has done more here than challenge a talking point; what he’s done is shine light on the non-strategy used by the Administration to cook up this authorization. Their choices had nothing to do with the needs of the mission, but everything to do with what would make Obama look good before an increasingly hostile audience."

THE GREAT, AMAZING, INCOMPARABLE STAN EVANS IS DEAD

Ann Coulter
"If and when Congress votes on a new immigration bill -- whatever the "triggers," timetables or other provisos -- the real issue to be decided will be the same as it has been from the beginning. That issue is whether the Republican Party, dazed from a daily pounding by the Washington press corps, will agree to commit political suicide by enfranchising 11 plus million illegal aliens on U.S. soil, the vast majority of whom will soon be casting Democratic ballots." 

. . . "I can't remember Stan being on the wrong side of any issue -- including when he was screaming from the rooftops that Republicans' work was not done just because they had managed to block Hillarycare. 

"The GOP argument that "America has the best health care in the world!" may have sufficed to stop Hillarycare, but it was not going stop national health care forever. Fix it, he said. Make it market-based. Allow competition. Otherwise, some other Democrat would come along and dump socialized medicine on the country. 

"He was right about that, and he's right about immigration being the most dangerous threat to America's survival since the Cold War. Immigration, Stan wrote a few years ago, "is strictly about the votes, and nothing but the votes. All the rest is sham and smokescreen. Obama and his party want their 70 percent of these 11-plus million illegals and will stop at nothing to get it." 

"Two weeks ago, he told me not to give up. And neither should you, America. "

A flustered Marie Harf is grilled on Clinton’s private email

Legal Insurrection

. . . "Harf’s latest mess comes to us from a press conference held earlier today. Reporters asked if the Department of State could say with certitude that Clinton’s private email was never used to share classified information. DOS’s response? “It’s not really a pertinent question.”

“ 'Do you have anything further on whether there’s going to be any kind of comprehensive review on the contents of these emails or how it is you’ve reached the decision that there is no classified information included?” asks a reporter." . . .

From the comments to this post:

Marie Harf is the perfect spokeswoman for this administration.
Arrogant, dismissive, condescending, and above all, stupid and intellectually incurious enough to never think or deviate from the talking points given to her or ask for any information other than what her masters see fit giving her.
It really takes a special kind of person to deliver unbelievably stupid statements with the kind of arrogance Harf does.

Artist Jon McNaughton’s Painting Perfectly Captures Obama’s Blundering Foreign Policy

Downtrend

"See the beautiful painting pictured above? Controversial artist Jon McNaughton released it this past Monday as a critique of President Barack Obama’s blundering foreign-policy decisions, reports CBS Local:

McNaughton explains on his Facebook page, “I felt a need to paint a new image to capture the delicate situation we face as Americans. What has happened since he’s been in office? Where is the stability and peace in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Israel, Palestine, China and North Korea? How are our veterans doing? Are American citizens safer as they travel abroad?”

"This is certainly not the first time McNaughton has used art to slam the president.

"Back in February 2012, artist Jon McNaughton released “The Forgotten Man,” which depicts Obama callously stepping on the U.S. Constitution:" . . . More

ACLU demands removal of 'Christian' philosophy from school superintendent hunt

Michigan Live

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan urges McBain Rural
Agricultural Schools near Cadillac to remove "a strong Christian
background and philosophy" from a superintendent job description posting.

"MCBAIN, MI -- McBain Rural Agricultural Schools' search for a new superintendent who has "a strong Christian background and philosophy" is under scrutiny from the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan."

. . . "State ACLU leaders wrote a letter to the district on Tuesday, March 3, urging the district remove any reference to religion, saying the requirement violates multiple federal and state laws against discrimination

" 'There is no principle more fundamental to American public education than the requirement that schools be welcoming of all students, employees and administrators regardless of religious or ethnic background," Dan Korobkin, ACLU of Michigan deputy legal director wrote. "Our Constitution wisely requires public schools to remain neutral in matters of religion. When a school favors one religion over another, or religion over non-religion, students and teachers who do not subscribe to the favored religion are made to feel like they do not belong.". . .

"UPDATE: 'Christian' philosophy removed from school job ad, apology offered after ACLU complaint"

Netanyahu responds to Obama: We did indeed present practical alternative to Iran deal (UPDATED)

Jerusalem Post

"Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday his speech to the U.S. Congress offered a “practical alternative” to a possible Iranian nuclear deal and that lawmakers now “understand better” why the deal is bad.

"Netanyahu’s assertion came after President Barack Obama said the Israeli leader had offered no viable alternative to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

“ 'There was nothing new” in the speech, Obama said. He said Netanyahu made almost the same speech when he warned against the interim deal reached with Iran, but that the interim deal has resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran’s nuclear program." . . .

Update from Dry Bones

Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses Barack Obama’s criticism  "The prime minister told reporters that he got a good bipartisan impression at the U.S. Capitol."

Iran Rejects Obama’s 10-Year Nuke Offer, Leads the attack on ISIS

Patterico's Pontifications   "Back to the drawing board.

"Look for the Obama/Kerry Axis of Stupid to cave in 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . .

That’s precisely the rationale the Mullahs have settled on. Especially since the Iranians have seen Obama’s bargaining position slip from obstructing, to containing (remember Hagel’s Freudian slip during his Senate confirmation hearings), to enabling.
The grovelling and begging was never a negotiating position, as some have observed; rather, it was President Jarrett/Obama’s preferred tactic.
Kerry told reporters: “We’re working away. Productively.”

 Obama’s Iranian-nuclear strategy brings dividend: Rev Guards lead military assault on Tikrit

Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Tikrit battlefront

. . . "For four reasons, this battle is loaded with ramifications for Obama’s Iran policy and the Islamic Republic’s drive for recognition as the leading Middle East power:

1.   For Tehran it is a high-stake gamble for prestige, Its top military strategist, Al Qods Brigades chief Gen. Qassem Soleimani, was thrown into the Tikrit operation, to become the first high-ranking general Iran has ever placed publicly up front in direct command of a key battle as a guarantee of its success.

2.  However, three days after the offensive was launched on Sunday, March 1, the 25,000 Iranian and Iraqi troops, backed by Iraqi Shiite militias, were still fighting outside its gates, upsetting the high hopes of a swift victory and breakthrough into the city.
Islamist forces slowed their advance by strewing hundreds of mines and roadside bombs on all the roads leading to Tikrit, while teams of suicide bombers jumped out and blew themselves up amidst the invading army – a tactic seen before in the battle for the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
ISIS boasted that one of the suicide bombers was an American citizen whom they dubbed “Abu Dawoud al-Amriki.”
3.  The United States has no military input in the battle - neither US advisers on the ground nor aerial bombardment.  . . .

Lib Rag Slate Outraged: Netanyahu A Big “Bully” For Criticizing Obama…

Bullying? How about a President who spends great sums of money barricading national monuments during a government shutdown to make sure the American people were "hurt"?

Weasel Zippers

The Betrayal Papers, Part III Of V: Obama’s Scandals And Assaults On Freedoms Explained

"The Obama administration’s scandals and domestic policies are often directly linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and their goals for Islamic conquest."

Noisy Room

The Betrayal Papers Part I – Under Obama: U.S. Captured by the Muslim Brotherhood, presented a picture of a conspiracy that is manipulating the American government. Part II – In Plain Sight: A National Security “Smoking Gun”named several people in the Obama administration who have documented associations to Muslim Brotherhood front groups and the State of Qatar. This article will explore the deliberate strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Obama administration to cripple the middle class and to steer the American economy, as well as identify, to the extent possible, their role in many Obama scandals.

. . . "Abu Musab al-Suri had a terrorist superstar with Osama bin Laden. However, when it comes to economically knee-capping the American economy, Barack Hussein Obama has proved far more effective than the cave rat, Sheikh bin Laden." . . .

Maybe Hillary Clinton Should Retire Her White House Dreams

Maybe she doesn't want to run in 2016, top Democrats wonder. Maybe she shouldn't.

Ron Fournier

"Perhaps Hillary Rodham Clinton shouldn't run for president.

"Maybe she should stay at the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, where the former secretary of State could continue her life's work of building stronger economies, health care systems, and families. Give paid speeches. Write best-selling books. Spend time withCharlotte, her beloved granddaughter.

"Because she doesn't seem ready for 2016. Like a blast of wintry air in July, the worst of 1990s-style politics is intruding on what needs to be a new millennium campaign: Transparent, inspirational, innovative, and beyond ethical reproach.

"Two weeks ago, we learned that the Clinton Foundation accepted contributions from foreign countries. Assurances from the Obama administration and Clinton aides that no donations were made during her tenure as secretary of State were proven false." . . .

Related: Clinton's 2016 Gender Play

Democratic NY Assemblyman on Iran Deal: 'I Am Really Ashamed of Obama'

 Fox News Insider

"Democratic New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind today took on the administration and members of his party who boycotted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress today.

"Hikind said that Netanyahu powerfully discussed the implications for both Israel and America if a deal is made with Iran. Hikind slammed Secretary of State John Kerry for “negotiating with the terrorist state of Iran.”

“ 'I am really ashamed of the president of the United States and his administration, that they are pursuing the deal that is dangerous for the people of Israel,” Hikind said.

"Hikind said that the people of Israel “do not trust Obama,” and that America’s strength and leadership have been “missing in action.' ”    Via Lucianne

Wiesel on Iran: ‘When Evil Begins Its Work Don’t Give It Another Chance’

“I learned to rely not on the promises of our friends but the threats of our enemies,” Wiesel said. "

PJ Media

"Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel will be in the House chamber to hear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

"But first, Wiesel stopped Monday at the Dirksen Senate office building — accompanied by his wife, coming straight from the airport — for a heart-to-heart with Israel supporters and a bank of TV cameras to remind America that “silence is not an option.”

"Code Pink interrupted the meeting in the Senate hearing room, brandishing signs criticizing AIPAC and one that read “parking for Palestinians only.” Many of those who showed up to hear Wiesel bore lanyards from the AIPAC megaconference at D.C.’s convention center.

"The crowd chanted “get out” at Code Pink, and organizer Rabbi Shmuley Boteach lectured the protesters after they grabbed hold of a mic. They were led out by Capitol Police before 86-year-old Wiesel arrived.

"Boteach called Wiesel “the living face of the six million murdered in the Holocaust.”

“'The privilege of hearing Elie Wiesel on any occasion is historic,” the rabbi explained, but Wiesel coming to Washington to support the Jewish state on the eve of Netanyahu’s address made it an especially “historic discussion.”

“ 'I learned to rely not on the promises of our friends but the threats of our enemies,” Wiesel said. “When our enemies make threats, take them seriously.”

“ '…If they say so and they repeatedly say so we should take them seriously.”. . .