No shortage of advice for the GOP. Certainly not here.

What I cannot figure is who is actually running this nation? We see below how Obama is turning the GOP into knots and befuddling them completely, winning most encounters with them. Yet he went into office with nearly zero experience in governing anything and is -I'd say- the least qualified man in Washington to do so. This being so, then just who is the brains behind the Obama golden tongue?

Ann Coulter; Stop letting idiots destroy GOP  "Not two days later, in the Republican primary for Tim Scott’s old congressional seat from South Carolina, among the top two finalists was Mark Sanford, the Todd Akin of South Carolina. You would think Akin would stand in history to teach Republicans to stop giving away winnable seats by running ridiculous candidates. Alas, no."

The Republican ‘Autopsy’  "The RNC’s report bears an eerie resemblance to establishment Republicanism c. 1945."
"....as Brent Bozell put it, establishment Republicans are trying to “out-Democrat” the Democrats."

Photo: Republican Thomas E. Dewey, who lost in 1948 to Democrat Harry Truman. Don't gloat, Democrats; today you would call Truman a right-wing extremist.


Michael Barone; The GOP should at least avoid an alienating tone in the immigration debate.    "My observation in travel over the years is that Hispanics are treated very differently by Anglos in Texas than in California.
"In Texas, white Anglos see people with Hispanic features as fellow Texans. They smile and say howdy. They know, because they have to take Texas history in high school, that Hispanics have been living in Texas for more than 200 years and that some fought for Texas independence against Mexico."  (Emphasis added.)"The Republican National Committee report is not a bad start."

Four Things the RNC Report Got Right   "...it did get a few important things right. I do mean a few — I usually have five in these columns, but I could only think of four."
I particularly liked this section: "Kill Cannibalistic Primaries."
...."As the military saying goes, “amateurs talk about strategy, professionals talk about logistics.” And that’s what the RNC document does, mostly." 

Jerusalem Post Editor, Caroline Glick: 'We Can't Figure Out What He's Doing Here'

Big Journalism "Appearing with Brian Wilson and myself Wednesday morning, Glick said the Israeli people "can't figure out what he's doing here," when asked about the mood in Jerusalem as the President's plane touched down for the first time in his presidency.
" "Essentially his goal is to empower the un-electable, incredibly radical left in Israel to put pressure on the Israeli government for whatever concessions he wants it to make to the PLO," said Glick in evaluating the reasons why Obama will be meeting with university students and members of the Palestinian Government during his visit.
"When asked about how the installment of Chuck Hagel as the Secretary of Defense was received by the Israeli people, Glick said, "It's a hostile act." "
Listen to the entire interview:
I hate it when these videos begin automatically and make you endure a long commercial. If I can learn how to imbed them without this happening, I will. But until then, please excuse the non-professionalism. A fellow blogger advised me to find this on Youtube, but no luck yet. 

Tours to the crisis factory are still closed

http://netrightdaily.com/2013/03/the-obama-wonka-crisis-factory/

You think YOU live in a bad neighborhood? Look at Israel.

Israel National News

Rockets hit Israel as Obama meets Palestinians  "Palestinians argue that only strong U.S. pressure can get Israel to change course and halt its settlement enterprise, but doubt Obama is willing to do so. Obama's wooing of Israeli public opinion during his current trip has further enforced such perceptions."

A rocket fired at Israel from Gaza caused heavy damage to a house in Sderot Thursday morning

Obama Speaks Under Arafat Banner

"Arafat, as the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting has noted, "is known to many as the “father of modern terrorism.” Below is a timeline of some of the key events of his life and terrorist acts with which he was associated." "

 

Khamenei: Iran Will Destroy Israeli Cities If Attacked  " “At times the officials of the Zionist regime (Israel) threaten to launch a military invasion but they themselves know that if they make the slightest mistake the Islamic Republic will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said during an address, broadcast live on state television."

 

Obama Heckled During Speech to Israeli People  Not what you might think or hope; it appears to have been about Pollard. 

Sean Moore Says NJ Child Welfare Agency Overreacted To Facebook Photo Of Son Josh Holding Rifle

HuffPo

"The ruddy-cheeked, camouflage-clad boy in the photo smiles out from behind a pair of glasses, proudly holding a gun his father gave him as a present for his upcoming 11th birthday.
"The weapon in the photo, posted by his dad on Facebook, resembles a military-style assault rifle but, his father says, is actually just a .22-caliber copy. And that, the family believes, is why child welfare case workers and police officers visited the home in Carneys Point last Friday and asked to see his guns."
....
" "I don't like what happened," he said. "You're not even safe in your own house. If they can just show up at any time and make you open safes and go through your house, that's not freedom; it's like tyranny." "
Hat tip to Rich Cutter Avallone

Obama in Israel reading list; Remember, Israel, you have no better friend than President Obama and he doesn't bluff

Do you fans of the old "Closer" TV series remember the sleazy real estate dealer whose motto was "Gary doesn't lie"?
I don't know why that came to mind just now, but it did. 

Be sure to read the excellent article by Caroline Glick further down in this post

White House Map ‘Erases’ Jerusalem, Biblical Territories. Sources say Obama already has pledged to discuss land for peace
"The White House has released what it says is a map of Israel. The only problem is that Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights are missing.
An Obama administration video highlighting the president’s plans for his Mideast trip depicts Jerusalem, the Golan and the West Bank – also known as Judea and Samaria – as non-Israeli territory.
"The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported the discrepancies, noted the video shows the Golan Heights as part of Syria; Jerusalem is depicted as part of the West Bank; and northern Israel is shown as part of Lebanon."

The map appears at the 25 second mark and you may need to pause the video to see how truncated Israel is:

Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs also discusses the above video in this article: Hussein in Jerusalem  "Obama isn’t going to say or do anything in Israel that will cause any concern to Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan and the rest of his cabal. ....
"Obama hates the “settlements.” Obama hates the Jewish homeland. I have two words for Israel: Keep building!
"Why are agitating violent Muslims allowed to live in the tiny Jewish state while over a million Jews were ethnically cleansed from Muslim lands? The Muslim world is by and large Jew-free. How can that stand?"

Jonathan S. Tobin;  Obama Visit Signals Nadir of Israeli Left  "This means that although the president will underwhelm many Israelis, his visit will be a symbolic acceptance of the concept that the U.S. can’t dictate policy to its Israeli ally. That’s a boost for Israeli democracy, but very bad news for Israelis and their American cheerleaders who want Obama to override the verdict of the electorate.

Seth Mandel; Palestinians Welcome Obama with Demands and Ultimatums  "Israeli leftists may not be excited about President Obama’s trip to Israel, as Jonathan wrote yesterday, but they are taking it a lot better than the Palestinians."

Jennifer Rubin; Obama in Israel: Pretty speeches won’t do it  "The message all this sends to Syria’s patron, Iran, is simple: The United States won’t act. What the Israelis see is that if the United States is so unwilling to take on Syria and would allow such regional instability and humanitarian suffering, what chance is there that Obama would act to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapons capability? You see why Israelis don’t really feel like Obama has their back."

On the Bank of Cyprus

The EU Crosses the Rubicon; How Far Behind Is the US?

"If you ever wanted to destroy America from within, Dr. Ben Carson has assembled a handy four-point plan to accomplish just that, which he discussed at CPAC this past weekend:"....

 

Below from Cagletoons

 
http://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/9477

Notice a deleted post?

We removed an earlier post entitled "Cartoon Potpourri on Popery" after thinking some may think it a chop on the Catholic Church, which it was never meant to be.

The theme of all the cartoons was all about Congress and the Obama Administration's sense of importance; Obama's personal self-image as I see it and the smokestack on the capital indicating zero results.

Nobody has complained, but I realize the post could have been taken amiss due to the really neat-I think- title it was given.

The Tunnel Dweller

Trouble in the Nanny State

Ann Coulter   ...."Posters are popping up in subway stations and bus stops giving statistics about teen pregnancy that show cute little kids saying things like, "Honestly, Mom ... chances are he won't stay with you. What happens to me?" and "I'm twice as likely not to graduate high school because you had me as a teen."
"(Based on a recent CBS report, the kid could add, "Then again, I'm in the New York City public school system, so even if I graduate I won't be able to read.")
"It's one thing to stigmatize "Big Gulp" drinkers, but liberals are hopping mad at this attempt to stigmatize teen pregnancy, 90 percent of which is unwed. To put it another way, if you're a New York teen with a distended belly these days, it had better be because you're pregnant."
....
I find Coulter emminently quotable, but this next one ranks way up there:

"Coincidentally, Planned Parenthood happens to provide reproductive health care! Liberals act as if gun owners, soda-guzzlers and smokers are innocent victims of the gun, food and cigarette industries, but the $542 million-a-year birth control industry is a quarry of angels."

Three steps to spark hiring in the US

The Hill via Heritage   Step one: Delay the enactment of the ObamaCare employer mandate and the ObamaCare exchange subsidies for two years. More....
....
Step two: Let the energy sector take flight. More....
....
Step three is a big one: reaching the holy grail of tax reform — both corporate and individual. More....
It is only a shame that the private citizen in this video couldn't bring these things up when he had the following encounter with President Obama:  

Some more details on the 60 mm mortars used by Marines

Typical 60mm mortar and round via afghanistansquid

Pentagon bans 60 mm mortar round after deaths
"The Marine Corps said early Tuesday that seven Marines were killed. But John Stroud, national junior vice commander in chief for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, began a memorial event in Hawthorne on Tuesday night by saying "one of the critical has passed," bringing the death toll to eight.
Members of the women's Auxiliary of VFW 231 then laid a wreath and eight individual floral arrangements at a park where a flag flew at half-staff within sight of the Hawthorne depot's boundary." Slide show at this link.

Video of Marines firing a 60mm mortar :

COMBAT FOOTAGE Marines in firefight beat Taliban ambush with 60mm Mortar Fire About four minutes in the mortar crew sets up. If you don't care for the salty language, turn the sound down. It was a bit slow playing back with several pauses.

Barry of Arabia

Alan Caruba; Barry O Goes to Jerusalem  "No doubt President Obama will repeat his assertion that the U.S. will never accept a nuclear Iran, but he will. Sanctions and “containment” are not going to work.

"“The reality is, however,” says [Barry] Rubin, “that Obama will continue to deny that his strategy is one of containing Iran but rather of preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons. That will go on until Iran gets nuclear weapons and Obama switches to a containment strategy.” "  More by Rubin on this.

More by Rubin; The Meaning of the Obama Visit to Israel and U.S.-Israel Relations in Obama’s Second Term  "In other words, the whole thing isn’t going to work. Obama might come away with just enough to claim some success, a claim that will be echoed in the mass media. But it would be meaningless."
Pretty much every story on national security contains disrespect or outright contempt for the press.

From the Jerusalem Post; GOP representatives also protest US president’s decision not to address Knesset  and also "to protest the exclusion of Ariel University students from the speech he is scheduled to deliver on Thursday.
"Out of Israel’s eight accredited universities, Ariel is the only one that is located in the West Bank. Students from the other seven universities were invited to the speech to be delivered at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center."

 JINSA Reports;  President Obama's Visit to Israel: U.S. Policy Priorities

 "Given the high levels of instability and uncertainty in the region at this time, we urge President Obama to make it clear to both our allies and adversaries that:"....I'm sure sometime this week we will hear Obama say the words, "let me be clear".