Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What Intervention Looks Like

Robert E. Hunter of the Council on Foreign Relations  "With the Libyan rebels now facing a last stand against forces loyal to Muammar al-Qaddafi, now is the time for the West to intervene. What can Washington and its allies accomplish before it's too late?"
ROBERT E. HUNTER is a Senior Adviser at the RAND Corporation. He was U.S. Ambassador to NATO and a Director of Middle East and North African Affairs on the National Security Council. So there.

Obama Dithers While American Credibility Burns  "The purpose of American diplomacy never changes: It is to secure the national interests of the United States. … Irresponsible diplomacy comes in many forms. Diplomacy without strength does not even merit the name of diplomacy. Treaties that fail to respect President Ronald Reagan’s dictum of ‘trust, but verify’ are reckless. Treaties that are negotiated merely to encourage foreigners to think better of the United States are unwise."
Will America ever recover from the damage done by this unqualified amateur and his Democrat enablers?

Obama Urged to Seize Reins as Crises Pile Up/ Everybody's Asking 'Is Obama Mentally Present?'

Fox News, not NBC   "... gender inequality?
"The topic of President Obama's weekend radio address has raised some eyebrows, as Obama has met mounting crises with the same restraint and cool that characterized his slow-and-steady campaign for president. To some critics, the tone set by the White House in light of recent upheaval may hurt the president's public image."
Don't worry, Mr. President; none of this will affect my opinion of you in the least.
Gary Varvel, Townhall

Everybody's Asking 'Is Obama Mentally Present?' "By now, those paying attention know the Chicago trained community organizer did not come to lead but to act as a mouthpiece for those who desire to change the founding fathers' vision of America."

Naturally, the Delaware Liberal would differ: "That describes exactly what I voted for. We knew, even back in the early primaries, that Obama had a different style than most politicians. He was cool-headed, even-tempered and played the long game. He never seemed to get caught up in the day-to-day horserace."  I did enjoy reading some of the comments to this post. Some.

Obama accepts prospect of nuclear-armed Iran "During the four days between Thursday March 4 and Monday March 7, the Obama administration switched its Iran policy. As rocketing oil prices triggered by the Arab Revolt wiped out the damage caused the Iranian economy by sanctions, Washington confirmed the worst Saudi and Israeli suspicions that America had no intention of acting to stop the Islamic Republic attaining nuclear weapons, although it held Israel back from doing so when it was more feasible."  DEBKAfile

Obama the invisible   "The moment demands that he rise to the challenge of showing America and the world that he is taking the reins. How leaders act in times of unanticipated crisis, in which they do not have a formulated game plan and must instead navigate in treacherous waters, defines them.
"Obama is defining himself in a way that will destroy him."

Obama sits on the sidelines while Saudis move into Bahrain  This episode exemplifies the danger of American timidity. As May put it, “Strong horses survive; weak ones go to the glue factory.” Middle East regimes that want to survive likely will rely on and follow U.S. advice less and less. Wars and territorial incursions may multiply. Meanwhile, Iran’s influence grows and those centrifuges keep spinning."

Obama White House: Sitting on the Fence [and] Dithering While Libyan Rebels Are Slaughtered Is Good Leadership  "Q But wouldn’t it be fair to say — accurate to say the United States is still sitting on the fence on this? Isn’t it time to make a decision, yes or no?
"MR. CARNEY: Well, Chip, you tell me if as an American citizen would you want your President not to consider all the implications and ramifications of taking military action.
"Q Doesn’t there come a point to make a — where you have to make a decision?"


Wanda Sykes Asks Leno 'Has Obama Had One Relaxing Day Since He's Been In Office?'  "As ABC's Tahman Bradley reported Saturday:
For the second week in a row, the most powerful man in the world stepped away from the White House to hit the golf course.
Even as his administration and the U.S. military help Japan recover from a devastating earthquake, and as the world worries about Fukushima's nuclear reactor, the president could not resist taking advantage of the 48-degree weather in the Washington, D.C., area. [...]
Last fall, Obama went golfing darn near every weekend.
You hear that, Wanda?

Japanese 'Radiation' text message is fake

BBC  "A fake text message warning people that radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant has leaked beyond Japan has been panicking people across Asia."

G8 Refuses To Back No-Fly Zone As Libyan Forces Advance Against Rebels

GlobalSecurity.org  ""We are seeing and witnessing a Qaddafi that is the Lockerbie Qaddafi," Cannon added, referring to the bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people in 1988.
""This is the same individual who the world had condemned, and quite clearly one of the things I will be pushing for tomorrow is to be able to make sure that the sanctions that were there at the time, we should all invest again in putting those sanctions in place," he said.
"Arab League chief Amr Musa has asked the UN to impose the flight ban, saying its only purpose would be to protect Libyan civilians from air strikes by Qaddafi's military. But the Arab League says there should not be foreign troops deployed to Libya."

Lack of Leadership: France Takes Lead in Libya While Obama Fiddles  from Canada Free Press
"You know that an American administration has proven useless and ineffective for supporting liberty and freedom in oppressed countries when even France… France… takes the lead in recognizing a struggling, independent liberty movement. Such is the case in Libya where French President Nicolas Sarkozy has recognized and supported the Libyan rebels struggling to over throw Libyan dictator Gaddhafi."  How do you say "surrender monkeys" in French? 

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Bullying waivers

Protesters Destroy Recall Petitions Against Wisconsin Democrat

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion  "Thanks to a reader in Wisconsin for sending me this link to a press release from the Recall Jim Holperin Committee and video posted at the website of conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes, regarding intimidation efforts directed against Republicans seeking signatures on recall petitions against one of Wisconsin Democratic State Senators who fled to Illinois:"

THUGS DESTROY RECALL PETITIONS  "Upon arrival, members of the recall committee were encircled by union protesters carrying signs and a leader with a mega phone who began chanting and ranting loudly. They packed in tightly around the petition collection table so as to prevent those attempting to sign from doing so. At one point, a pro union protester, pretending to be interested in signing the petition, wrote profanity across a partially collected petition form, than began ripping up the completed petitions that were in close proximity."
http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/




Oh, Thank God: Obama Set to Reveal NCAA Picks

Big Government  "Japan is suffering from a natural disaster that threatens to turn into an existential crisis. Colonel Q-ball has unleashed a blistering assault on pro-democracy rebel forces. Large swaths of the Middle East are in turmoil. The federal government is bleeding red ink, with absolutely no end in site. The economy sucks and is getting battered by skyrocketing commodity prices and a volatile oil market. Near-record numbers of Americans are leaving the work force. If the world isn’t quite on fire…it is at least approaching a slow burn."
"Mike Allen’s Playbook reveals that today, Barack Obama will take some time to fill out his bracket for the upcoming NCAA College Basketball tournament."

Obama’s Presidency Hangs by a Thread  "It’s hard to overstate how poorly Barack Obama is doing in the face of these crises — and I don’t even mean how he’s doing substantively, which is a scandal in itself. I mean how he’s doing politically. Recall how much hay Michael Moore made of the fact that George W. Bush read My Pet Goat for nine minutes in that Florida classroom on 9/11 after being informed that the first plane had struck.
"We’re going on four weeks now, or more, that Barack Obama has been reading My Pet Goat."   John Podhoretz

The 30,000-foot presidency?  "In foreign affairs, Americans expect their President not just to lead the debate here in the US but around the world. Congress can advise on foreign affairs, but the executive has all of the authority to negotiate American interests abroad. Maintaining a “low profile” and ceding influence to France is not exactly what Americans consider leadership on the world stage, a role we expect our Presidents to assume.
"The “above-the-fray strategy” argument is weak cover for an “over-his-head” President."

The Whiniest President Ever

National Review  "President Obama gives off a sense of world-weariness and exhaustion with America’s leadership — and has earned a Nobel Peace Prize as a result. He reflects the deep vein of declinism running through the country’s elite, the same class of people who pronounced the presidency uninhabitable just as Ronald Reagan arrived to prove them wrong.
"Today, as in the late 1970s, the job isn’t too big, nor is the country too powerful: The man is too small."  Rich Lowry



The King Hearings on Islam

From the Media Research Center:  CBS Uses American Muslim Family to Frame Hearings on Radical Islam as Discriminatory "Anchor Katie Couric introduced Doane's report this way: "...most of the more than two and a half million Muslims living in this country want it known they are patriotic Americans." As if the hearings somehow accused all American Muslims of being unpatriotic."

CBS Accuses Peter King of 'Poisoning the Atmosphere' of Radical Islam Hearings "During her Evening News report, Cordes hit King for only inviting witnesses to testify who "share his view that some Muslim-American leaders aren't cooperating with law enforcement." She added that "From the start, Democrats called the hearing an abuse of power." However, later in the segment, she touted emotional testimony from Democratic Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, one of two Muslims in Congress, who disagreed with King's premise."

CNN's Velshi: Rep. Peter King Has 'Strange Obsession with Islam' "Perhaps he doesn't understand that Islamist is a synonym for a radical Muslim, and that the term, in its current usage, has been around for decades, and has its origin in French academia."

Unravelling the Social Fabric of Our Lives  "...Muslim gangs growing more dangerous in Minnesota -- a trend we are seeing in Maine as well, where Muslim gangs are wilding, leaving terror in their wake. Women are intimidated and slapped on the street. Police report that swarms of Somali Muslim boys, some as young as 8, others in their late teens, overwhelm solitary victims through sheer numbers. These gang members carry sticks and rocks with which to intimidate their victims. There are often four or five of them, sometimes as many as a dozen."  Atlas Shrugs.

Wisconsin and Governor Walker

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/3/15/83899


















Wisconsin Aftershocks  "The law was supposed to be published on Monday, and it would go into effect immediately. But guess what? Didn't happen. The new law wasn't published yesterday. In fact, the law will not be published until March 25th. Why not? Well, because the Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who is a Democrat (as if you didn't already know that) is delaying publication. He thinks this will give unions and local governments as much time as they need to reach new agreements."


http://terrellaftermath.com/























Who Won In Wisconsin? "Labor thinks it gained momentum. But even Democratic governors have accepted fiscal reality."  Mona Charen

'They Can't Win': Mika Mocks '12 GOP Field

Newsbusters  "The Morning Joe co-host today disdainfully dismissed the GOP White House hopefuls, categorically stating "they can't win." Mika made her triumphal declaration during a panel discussion of Republican primary prospects. Pat Buchanan countered with the '92 historical analogy."





ABC Exploits Japanese Tragedy to Undermine Minor GOP-Proposed Domestic U.S. Budget Reduction

ABC, CBS and NBC
Media Research Center  "Then on Saturday’s World News, reporter Clayton Sandell found it newsworthy to highlight how “Democrats accuse Republicans of being irresponsible for proposing budget cuts to NOAA, the federal agency that provides forecasts and early warnings of natural disasters.”
"Sandell cued up a California Democrat with a loaded question: “NOAA's budget gets cut, are people's lives more at risk?” The Congressman, who represents the state’s northern coast, naturally, agreed: “Absolutely.” "