The Four Horsemen of a Looming Apocalypse

"They could all be confronted. But by the Obama administration?" 

Victor Davis Hanson  . . ."Our ability to meet these four threats depends on three factors. First, checking the four horsemen will require all U.S. military capabilities — nuclear deterrence, anti-ballistic missiles, traditional sea power, heavy traditional infantry and armor, special and counter-insurgency forces, and tactical and strategic air power. Cutting any of them at this juncture is madness.

"Second, all the threats are distinct but also opportunistic and interrelated. A phony red line, an empty step-over line, a serially repeated deadline against any one threat only encourages the other three to become bolder. In contrast, firmness against one aggression lessens the likelihood that there will be further aggrandizement elsewhere. Right now we are caught in a perfect storm of defense cuts, huge new borrowing, phony red lines, appeasement in the P5+1 negotiations in Vienna, the Libyan mess, the stupid Iraq pullout, the quagmire in Afghanistan, and comical resets and pivots. ISIS watches how we deal with Putin, who studies our past red line with Syria, which is watching the nonproliferation talks with Iran.

"Finally, all four have mortal enemies that are as worried about them as we are. Most Central and Eastern Europeans fear Putin more than we do. Our Pacific allies, terrified by China’s crude aggression, aren’t worried about an overbearing United States; rather, they desperately want U.S. leadership. A once-unthinkable alliance has emerged between Israel and moderate Sunni states in their complex opposition to both Iran and ISIS. Forming coalitions in any of these regions would be far easier than it was in the past to find friends who would go into Afghanistan or Iraq.

"If this administration is not careful, by next year it may find ISIS at the gates of Baghdad, Russian forces massing on the border of Estonia, Japan and China shooting at each other over disputed air and sea space, and Iran stockpiling its growing enriched-uranium supplies for a not too distant multi-bomb nuclear rollout.

"We think the world is growing tense; in fact, it is only the calm before the storm."

Obama's Foreign Policy: giving away what took decades to build

Krauthammer’s Take: Robert Gates Delivered ‘Absolutely Devastating’ Takedown of Obama’s Foreign Policy    (Video at the link)  . . . KRAUTHAMMER: “—And in a way that’s utterly mocking. The sentence you read about Putin’s move is old-fashioned, great power politics — is followed by a parenthetical that says, “which still exists in the 21st century.” That is to mock a president who believes that when the calendar turned on January 2000, that was the abolition of 5,000 years of power politics. And as he said at the U.N., the control of territory no longer is a measure of power in this century. This is a man truly living in a make-believe world and they wanted to emphasize that. And the fact that one of those who wrote this, as you say, had served Obama himself as defense secretary for more than one term, is absolutely devastating. When they talk about the vacuum created, Obama doesn’t recognize the entire idea of a vacuum, that bad guys or geopolitical adversaries like the Russians and the Iranians will come in, and have come in as a result of the evacuation by Obama of Iraq, and essentially as you said, giving up on Syria entirely. There’s been no Syria policy. At most when Obama began the bombing campaign, the objective, even though he pretended it was to destroy ISIS, was to hold the line in Iraq so Baghdad wouldn’t fall. And it’s Iran that’s going to ensure that, not the United States. And to do nothing in Syria. Which is what is going on now. Here’s the tragedy. I think that Condi and Bob Gates are correct that we should and could be doing a no fly zone and protect a zone as we did the Kurds in Iraq for a decade when Saddam was in power. The problem is, because Obama has delayed on everything, it could be too late. The Russians now control Syrian air space. American pilots are instructed to retire if they encounter the Russians, the Russians don’t have the same orders. So we cannot establish that kind of zone, because we will have to engage the Russians and Obama will never do that.” . . .

Will Obama respond to Russia in Syria?

"Once upon a time, or more precisely September 10, 2014, President Barack Obama spoke of the core principle of his presidency, to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Today, the core has become somewhat miniscule as the U.S., conscious of its failures in Syria as in other Middle East countries, intends to reduce its role and to carry out a more modest policy." . . .

Spiraling into silliness; this president is leading America further into silliness, but it took an already silly electorate to put him into power twice.
(Video) As Putin Gains Power in Middle East, Obama Touts "Leadership" on Climate Change    "Over the weekend President Obama sat down for an interview with 60 Minutes, where he addressed a variety of issues about his foreign and domestic policies. When asked about the increasing chaos in the Middle East, with Russian President [Vladimir] Putin invading Syria and bombing rebel forces the U.S. has been supporting, Obama downplayed the need for leadership in the region and instead pivoted to his "leadership" on climate change. Obama also argued Putin's decision to send troops into Syria wasn't based on strength or a power grab, but instead is a result of a broader failed strategy."
WH National Security
@NSCPress

“My definition of leadership would be leading on #climatechange an int’l accord that potentially we'll get in Paris.” -@POTUS #60minutes

6:49 PM - 11 Oct 2015

How to Confront Vladimir Putin   ""From Sweden in the Baltic to Tartus in the Mediterranean, Russian forces are on the offensive. The consensus among U.S. officials not beholden to the White House is that Mitt Romney was right. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is the most dangerous threat to America.

""And not only to America: Russia’s attempts to reclaim its empire spread conflict and misery, prolong war, destabilize the postwar alliance system that has brought security and prosperity to the world, and erode Western values such as freedom, equality, and individualism. Though Russia may no longer espouse global Communist revolution, the consequences of its militarism and aggression are not limited to a small geographic area. The Comintern is gone. But the goals of dominating the Eurasian heartland, Finlandizing Europe, and isolating and challenging the United States have returned. The stronger Putin becomes, the more despotic, poorer, and more corrupt is the world." . . .

Democrats moving left faster than Republicans moving right

Legal Insurrection

"American Interest provides a helpful summary of the authors’ argument:

The study’s overall argument is that income inequality has increased political polarization at the state level since the 1990s. But the authors find that that this happens more by moving state Democratic parties to the left than by moving state Republican parties to the right. As the Democratic Party lost power at the state level over the past 15 years, it also effectively shed its moderate wing. Centrist Democrats have increasingly lost seats to Republicans, “resulting in a more liberal Democratic party” overall. The authors find that the ideological median of Republican legislators has shifted much less.

"As the more liberal Democrat party loses its moderate-held state seats to Republicans, the political polarization that the authors claim both causes and is the cause of income equality results in more Republican state legislatures that will not pursue the redistribution that the authors seem to assume is the only way to address income inequality." . . .

Hillary 5.0...so far.

Hillary Re-Re-Re-Re-Rebooted
‘This is a new, contrite Hillary Clinton,” said Cecilia Vega of ABC News. She was reporting on Clinton’s decision, in early September, finally to apologize for using a private email server while secretary of state. The disclosure of the unusual arrangement, uncovered during a congressional inquiry into the Benghazi terrorist attack, has dogged Clinton for months, as she has dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, played down the FBI investigation into whether the server compromised national security, and struggled against the perception that she is dishonest, secretive, and untrustworthy.

"It’s a losing battle. By the end of summer vacation, Clinton’s poll numbers had become so worrisome, and the threat of Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden so real, that her top aides ran to the New York Times to reassure donors and Democratic elites that a change in strategy was coming. “Clinton Aides Set New Focus for Campaign,” read the September 8 headline. The subhead promised “A More Personal Tone of Humor and Heart.” Clinton delivered her apology to ABC News the same day—24 hours after refusing to apologize to the Associated Press.

"For Hillary to suggest that only now, in the midst of her second campaign for the White House, will she reveal her “humor” and “heart” is worse than absurd. It’s offensive. What else is she hiding? Feelings of modesty? An unpublished novel? A proficiency with the bassoon?"

. . .

. . . Hence the new, new, contrite Hillary Clinton that stalks the land as I write these words—though knowing Hillary, she may well have re-launched her political identity yet again by the time you finish this column.

Back in June the NY Times saw this entire narrative of Hillary

Here Hillary gets close to her people

Sane People Would Build More Reservoirs

The term "sane people" is racist and sexist. TD

RedState
"Planet Earth is usually self-correcting and adjusting. Often cities, as heat islands, get really warm and then cause thunderstorms that cool them down. California has been in a drought situation and the Northeast got slammed with a blizzard last year — a blizzard with so much snow that in June one collected snow pile still existed.

"Now it appears California is in for a massive, continual rain storm and the Northeast is going to be pretty dry.

"Digging into that Los Angeles Times story, there is this bit:

The last record El Niño that ended in 1998 was quickly followed by the arrival of El Niño’s dry sister, La Niña.
“Thinking ahead one year, could we be whiplashed from deluge back to drought again?” Patzert said. “Because remember, La Niña is the diva of drought.”
Patzert said that in the last 140 years in California, seven out of every 10 years are dry, so it would be foolish to declare an end to water conservation during this winter’s rains.

"Now, reading that and knowing just how dry California has been, I would think sane people would start building some new reservoirs to collect all the rain they are going to get. For perspective, from the article about the last El Niño:" . . .

Goodbye Columbus; Hello Leftist Indigenous People's Day

Independent Sentinel
"Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day all you comrades out there! CBS NEWS announced that more cities are “recognizing Native Americans on Columbus Day” to celebrate the contributions of indigenous cultures.

"This is part of the leftist populist movement to recognize Native Americans, fake indigenous peoples’ and to change our culture. The movement is to take us out of traditional America and into the hand-wringing world of the dreary left.

"The Italians are forgotten in all this.

"Nine cities – nine leftist cities – recognize Indigenous Peoples Day and hope to “nudge” us into the moaning, groaning world of the dreary left.

"Albuquerque, Portland, Oregon, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Olympia, Washington, Minneapolis, Seattle and others now recognize the day.

"CBS tried to say it was driven by Native Americans but it’s driven by leftists, some of whom are Native Americans.

"The celebrants say it is the start of something “greater” and that it is.

"If it were only to honor Native Americans, who could object? We do honor them and the sacrifices they’ve made and the tribulations they were made to suffer.

"Columbus Day honors the Europeans who came here and struggled quietly to build a new and great country. Indigenous Peoples’ Day rejects what is good about our past and our history." . . .

Racist Demagogues and The Million Man March. I see THIS as the legacy of Obama/Sharpton

Not racist to serve bacon for breakfast, for Jesus to come first to the Jews, to use the term black hole in space or to refer to a devil's food cake as such. No, my friend, this is racism in it's purest form:

Million Man March Speaker Leads Chant of ‘Down, Down USA’

. . . “ 'They have a whole race of indigenous people on reservations, concentration camps. They’re out there killing the indigenous people spiritually,” she said.

"The woman followed a speech from Chief Ernie Longwalker of the Red Wind Nation who seemingly was unhappy about his time on stage being cut short.

“ 'They’re telling me to stop,” he said. “We’ve given you 500 years. You only give us about five minutes.”

"Thousands of black people and other minorities descended on the nation’s capital with banners and flags for the “Justice or Else!” rally — the 20th anniversary of the first Million Man March.

"Watch the Native American woman’s speech and rally cry here."

Apparently those burning and looting will be doing the will of God   Farrakhan declares: . . . "When I leave you today, the calamities are going to get stronger, because God wants America to let us go, not integrate us, let us go, and give us a good sendoff. Those of you who are scripturally sound, Moses was not an integrationist, and neither are we. Let me be clear, America has no future for you, or for me. She can’t make a future for herself, much less a future for us. The Scripture says, come out of her, my people, and we’re going to have to come out, but don’t worry. God says " . . .(Video at the link)

Better listen to Mr. Farrakhan or else because Nation of Islam Leader: I am the 'Messiah That Has Come to End This Civilization'

No comment as yet from Obama, but his pastor for 20 years had this to say: 
AUDIO: Jeremiah Wright endorses anti-Israel boycott: “Jesus was a Palestinian”
"Pro-Israel groups should cheer that this discredited fringe character has thrown in with BDS.". . .
"While anti-Israel groups will cheer, so should pro-Israel groups.
"Wright is toxic for most people in the country. Even Obama had to run from him during the 2008 election (though it’s questionable whether Obama did it genuinely). The anti-Israel groups can have Reverend Wright."

From Weasel Zippers:  "Did this ‘Reverend’ ever read the Bible? Imagine all the things this gas bag pumped into the head of our lovely President in the twenty years he attended Wright’s church…

Meanwhile their kids were home doing this:

Exercise Tiger: Deadly D-Day Rehearsal

Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was the code name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place on Slapton Sands or Slapton Beach in Devon. Coordination and communication problems resulted in friendly fire deaths during the exercise, and an Allied convoy positioning itself for the landing was attacked by E-boats of Germany's Kriegsmarine, resulting in the deaths of 946 American servicemen. Because of the impending invasion, the incident was under the strictest secrecy at the time and was only nominally reported afterward. As a result, Exercise Tiger has been called "forgotten."

In April 1944, Exercise Tiger proved to be a grisly rehearsal for the D-Day Invasion less than two months later.
One of the Largest, Most Ambitious Training Exercises Ever Conducted
This was not D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allied landings on the Northern coast of France, the opening shots of the long-awaited second front in Europe, that great clash of arms in the titanic struggle against Hitler and his Nazi tyranny for the liberation of an enslaved Europe. This was not the invasion of Normandy; for that matter, it was not even Normandy. It was the east coast of England in late April 1944, a little more than a month before the real landings across the English Channel in German-occupied France.

This is the OFFICIAL website of Exercise Tiger Memorial Ltd
The roll of those who died
Memorial for the dead

Sonar images of the sunken D Day rehearsal ships

Anti-Israel student group shows the myth behind the Boycott movement

Legal Insurrection
"NYC Students for Justice in Palestine argues BDS movement controlled by big-money Western NGOs who serve their own needs."

. . . ""Among the futile gestures are the attempts to tie the Palestinian struggle to the struggle of other groups — much like the BDS movement in the U.S. and SJP National focus on trying to hijack the Black Lives Matter movement under banners such as “Ferguson to Palestine,” and so on.

On campus, repeating the same events and handing out the same flyer on its own will not advance the movement or our analysis of the Palestinian struggle. When participating in united fronts and coalitions with other progressive student organizations, BDS can provide an anti-Zionist, anti-imperialist lens with which to view a collective goal of the student movement. For years, the topic of connecting struggles has been on the tongues of Palestine solidarity organizers around the world. This usually materializes in a panel discussion, a workshop, or joint cultural nights.

"Last, but certainly not least, NYC SJP questions whether the movement is turning into one big NGO which exists for itself:

If we do not continuously question and revise our overall strategy with guiding principles that go beyond the BDS demands, we risk becoming an NGO masquerading as an anti-imperialist solidarity organization.

"NYC SJP ends with quote from Leila Khaled, the first female Palestinian hijacker and now hero:

Where were Obama and his media on this atrocity?

11 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES WERE JUST CRUCIFIED & BEHEADED: Crickets From ‘The Media’ And Obama

"Can you imagine Obama’s response if Christians had done this to Muslims?

At several steps on their path to death by beheading and crucifixion last month, 11 indigenous Christian workers near Aleppo, Syria, had the option to leave the area and live. The 12-year-old son of a ministry team leader also could have spared his life by denying Christ.

The indigenous missionaries were not required to stay at their ministry base in a village near Aleppo, Syria; rather, the ministry director who trained them had entreated them to leave. As the Islamic State (ISIS), other rebel groups and Syrian government forces turned Aleppo into a war zone of carnage and destruction, ISIS took over several outlying villages. The Syrian ministry workers in those villages chose to stay in order to provide aid in the name of Christ to survivors.

. . .  

Democrats moving left faster than Republicans move right

Yet Nancy Pelosi still speaks of Republicans as "extremists"

The American Interest
"At least since the 2010 midterms, it’s been a liberal talking point that Republican extremism is to blame for political polarization and gridlock. In the old days, the argument goes, Republicans were a moderate party, but over the past generation the GOP has been gradually taken over by its far-right wing. Before the last GOP debate, for example, the Center for American Progress launched a “Right of Reagan” campaign to supposedly show “how the extremism of today’s Republican presidential candidates sets them apart from their conservative idol.”

"But as the debates over issues like the $15 minimum wage, healthcare, and universal preschool have already shown, the Democrats have moved to the left at least as quickly as the Republicans have moved to the right. After all, Hillary Clinton has to renounce a good chunk of her husband’s positions to be competitive in the 2016 primary.


"Now, a paper on polarization and inequality released in August by political scientists from Princeton, Georgetown, and the University of Oregon (and highlighted this week in a Washington Post article) provides some empirical evidence that Democratic Party’s leftward drift is more pronounced than the GOP’s rightward drift, at least at the state level. " . . .

When liberal politics affect the scientific method

"This is how they have been proving Global Warming. It is kind of like the Nazis tests on Jews. Fake Science to prove a political agenda. Pseudo politics."

Kyle  Volkmann at TheComicalConservative