The Bergdahl swap

Flashback: President Poor Choices Says ‘Absolutely No Apologies’ for Bergdahl Swap   . . . "We see that Obama went with his standard “it’s all made up” dismissal. One really couldn’t blame him –the press has been letting him get away with it for the entire time he’s been in office.

"Thankfully, the military is too busy protecting us to watch much cable news, so they proceeded with the investigation into Bergdahl despite the president’s assurance that it was all a Beltway fabrication.
"If you ever have time to kill and want a brain teaser, try to remember any time President Obama staged a media op to address criminal activity and didn’t come down on the side of the criminal."  Hmmmm.

Everything the White House told us about Bergdahl was wrong    "Interesting article in the Daily Beast about how the White House Bowe Bergdahl narrative completely collapsed now that he has been identified as a deserter and the war in Afghanistan has not ended.

"Nancy Youssef writes that Bergdahl's "capture, release and now charge became a parable of how narratives about the war in Afghanistan did not pan out." Bergdahl's release was supposed to put a triumphant explanation point on the war in Afghanistan.  Instead, it has highlighted the administration's incompetence." . . .

At least 3 members of Taliban 5 swapped for Bergdahl tried to make contact with terror networks  But then you knew this.

Blackfive: Bergdahl's Just Desserts   "Good news that Bergdahl will face a jury of his peers for his actions. Two questions, should we have brought him back? Absolutely yes. Did we pay too high a price for his return? Absolutely yes."

Bergdahl charged with desertion, “misbehavior before the enemy”   . . . "On the other hand, neither media nor activists have forgotten that we gave up 5 high-profile al-Qaeda members in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom. If any one of those 5 prisoners reconnects with extremists in the Middle East and rejoins the fight, things will get complicated for the White House, and they’ll have to be careful to not dig themselves into a hole.
"I should say, dig themselves deeper into the hole they started when they chose to make deals with extremists.
"You can read Legal Insurrection’s body of work covering Bergdahl here.

Article 99—Misbehavior before the enemy

Text. “Any member of the armed forces who before or in the presence of the enemy—

(1) runs away;
(2) shamefully abandons, surrenders, or delivers up any command, unit, place, or military property which it is his duty to defend;
(3) through disobedience, neglect, or intentional misconduct endangers the safety of any such command, unit, place, or military property;
(4) casts away his arms or ammunition;
(5) is guilty of cowardly conduct;
(6) quits his place of duty to plunder or pillage;
(7) causes false alarms in any command, unit, or place under control of the armed forces;
(8) willfully fails to do his utmost to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy any enemy troops, combatants, vessels, aircraft, or any other thing, which it is his duty so to encounter, engage, capture, or destroy; or
(9) does not afford all practicable relief and assistance to any troops, combatants, vessels, or aircraft of the armed forces belonging to the United States or their allies when engaged in battle; shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.”

Legal Insurrection's body of work on Bergdahl. . . "Nothing about the Bergdahl/Taliban affair should have been surprising to people who have studied Obama over the years. "Not Obama’s audacity, nor his disregard of prior bipartisan warnings in Congress or from the intelligence community, nor his aides’ attempts to discredit those from Bergdahl’s unit who are calling Bergdahl a deserter or..."

Julie Pace, NRO:  Bergdahl charges revive questions over prisoner swap   . . . "The likely contenders for the 2016 presidential race were largely silent on the charges. One of the few that did weigh in was Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who blamed the swap on Obama's lack of experience."  . . .

The Insane Defense of the Bergdahl Swap

. . . "Now that Bowe Bergdahl has been charged with desertion, as his platoon mates have suggested he should be since before the ill-fated swap was executed, the administration’s attempts to defend one of their worst decisions to date have predictably grown more absurd. Via RCP, hashtag diplomat Jen Psaki’s stammering efforts to deal with basic questions from Megyn Kelly are a pretty representative sample." . . .

Don’t believe Obama’s faux outrage at Netanyahu

 

The Volokh Conspiracy   . . . "As I pointed out, the statement was effectively meaningless, because Netanyahu could finesse it away at any time, and it’s not like there was any significant possibility that the opposition would reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians any time soon, for exactly the reasons Netanyahu articulated.  But–and here’s the key but–the Obama Administration, from the get-go, has been looking for any excuse to distance itself from Israel in general (recall that in early 2009 he told Jewish leaders that the Bush Administration had been too friendly to Israel and that it was important to create “daylight” between Israel and the U.S.) and Netanyahu in particular, going back to when Obama, still a presidential candidate, made it clear that he would have no fondness for an Israeli government led by Netanyahu’s Likud party.  Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Iran only exacerbated that dynamic, and it was his responsibility not to give Obama any further excuses to downgrade U.S.-Israel relations."

Co-pilot Who ‘Intentionally’ Crashed Plane Was ‘Very Happy’ With Germanwings Job

Yeshiva World News

...
 "Andreas Lubitz never showed any sign he was anything but thrilled to have landed a job with Germanwings, according to those who taught him the trade as a teenager in this town in the woody hills of Western Germany.

"On Thursday, French prosecutors said Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, “intentionally” crashed the jet into the side of a mountain." . . .

HEY, PRETTY BOY: DO YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT'S IN THE NEWS?

 

Ann Coulter   . . . " [David] Muir led off his broadcast with a recap of the event that led to the retraining: "Ferguson, Missouri: An unarmed black man, Michael Brown, is shot to death. The officer is not indicted."

"And that was it: "The officer is not indicted." Nothing about how the "hands up, don't shoot" hysteria was a bald-faced lie invented by Brown's ex-con co-conspirator Dorian Johnson. No mention of the police officer being fully exonerated in two separate investigations. No recognition of the fact that Officer Darren Wilson was an exemplar of good police work.

"That summary -- "Ferguson, Missouri: An unarmed black man, Michael Brown, is shot to death. The officer is not indicted" -- is nothing short of Goebbels-like propaganda.

"Muir's statement of the facts would be wrong-headed and lefty if done before the Department of Justice issued its report on the Ferguson shooting. But Muir gave his summary well after the DOJ's months-long, ridiculously expensive investigation had found that Officer Wilson had shot Brown in justifiable self-defense. There are more beefcake photos of David Muir on Google than there are unjustifiable shootings of unarmed black men in Ferguson." . . .

More at the link...

Obama administration releases top-secret doc revealing Israel's nuclear program

 Good heavens, what has this petulant juvenile president done now?


Examiner.com

"On Wednesday, Israel National News reported that the Obama administration "quietly" declassified a top-secret 1987 Defense Department report outlining Israel's nuclear program. While the administration revealed Israel's program, it kept secret information on other countries like Italy, France, West Germany and other NATO countries.

"Worse yet, Ari Yashar and Matt Wanderman said, the U.S. "reportedly" breached a silent agreement to keep Israel's program under wraps. The timing of the report was also questionable, they added, citing tensions between Netanyahu and Obama."   Full article here.

Eleanor Holmes Norton Parking a Car Like… Eleanor Holmes Norton

 

iOTWreport  "... She repeatedly runs into the car next to her, either disregarding, or not being able to figure out, the angle that all the other cars are parked. Then she simply walks away."

A little Cruz control

Yahoo News sends ignoramus to cover Ted Cruz’s Liberty University speech 
Cruz: . . . "And yet, for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant. What is the promise of America? The idea that — the revolutionary idea that this country was founded upon, which is that our rights don’t come from man. They come from God Almighty. " . . .

 "If you knew this then you are over-qualified to cover politics for Yahoo News. Their political reporter, someone named “Meredith Shiner” (that would be @meredithshiner) tweeted this:

 

Media freakout over Ted Cruz buying ObamaCare insurance reaches day two  "Alternate headline: “Man who wants to abolish IRS continues to pay taxes.' ”

"Cruz currently gets his insurance through his wife’s plan. That insurance is suspended once she takes a leave of absence to campaign with him, leaving him with three options. He can decline to purchase insurance, which no husband and father with the means to get coverage would ever do. His wife could use COBRA to keep her Goldman Sachs insurance intact for another 18 months, which would cost the family a bunch and would leave them uninsured circa October 2016 when the coverage lapses (assuming Mrs. Cruz hasn’t returned to work by then). Or he can follow the Grassley rule and buy an unsubsidized ObamaCare exchange plan, as federal law requires of members of Congress. Why, oh why, might Cruz prefer what’s behind door number three notwithstanding his ferocious opposition to ObamaCare? Anyone want to guess why a guy running for president as a loud-and-proud populist might choose to subject himself to the same unpopular program that millions of Americans are coping with right now?"

 . . . "Cruz is finding a political advantage in his unhappy journey into Obamacare. In an interview with CNN, Cruz contrasted his sacrifice with the law-dodging ruthlessness of the Obama administration." . . .

 Mark Levin Blasts Fox News for Attacking Ted Cruz: Do They Want Jeb Bush for President?

Mr. Pinko’s 2 memes on how to deal with Ted Cruz haters

* When I see a disparaging remark towards Ted Cruz, I immediately call RACISM.
 * “For those who disparage Senator Cruz – You gave us Obama for 8 years, you think we should listen to your opinion again?

Tony Branco, Pickin' and a Grinnin'

"Starbucks Racism campaign is continuing to pick at an old scab that many on the left never want to completely heal."

 

 Politically Incorrect

WW2 Events occurring on Sunday, March 25, 1945

WW2 Events occurring on Sunday, March 25, 1945

	Combat in Western Europe After D-Day
	The U.S. 1st Army began to break out of their bridgehead at Remagen, Germany.
	The U.S. 3rd Army crossed the Rhine River in Germany at Boppard and Nierstein.
	Except for several small enemy footholds, throughout the day the British 51st Infantry Division under the British Second Army’s British XXX Corps mopped up all of Rees, Germany.
	Operation Detachment - The Battle for Iwo Jima
	A 300 man Japanese force launched the Japanese action of the Iwo Jima campaign in the vicinity of Airfield No. 2. Army pilots, Seabees and Marines of the 5th Pioneer Battalion and 28th Marines fought the Japanese force for 90 minutes and suffered heavy casualties (53 were killed, and another 120 were wounded.)  Iwo Jima today -- it's still a gut-clutcher
	Operation Iceberg - The Battle for Okinawa
	U.S. Navy Task Force 54 (Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo), the "Fire Support Force consisting of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, bombarded Kerama Retto and the southeast coast of Okinawa, Ryukyus. The fire was executed only at long range, however, for mine-sweeping operations which had commenced the previous day were still proceeding well offshore.
	The USS Nevada was hit by a kamikaze aircraft. The plane crashed onto the main deck of Nevada, next to turret No. 3 killing 11 and wounding 49, and knocked out both 14 inch guns in that turret and three 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons. The USS Nevada stayed on station.
	Also off Okinawa: Kamikazes damaged the destroyer USS Kimberley, light minelayer USS Robert H. Smith, and the high speed transport USS Gilmer. The high speed transport USS Knudsen was damaged by a horizontal bomber.
	U.S. Navy Task Force 58 planes sank 2 Japanese merchant cargo ships near Naha, Okinawa and damaged the auxiliary submarine chaser Sobun Maru.
	The Western Pacific Theater
	USAAF B-24 Liberators from the 5th Air Force sank the Japanese Kori Go Maru in the Yangtze estuary near Shanghai, China.
	Allied Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
	The submarine USS Tirante, commanded by Lt. Commander George L. Street, III, torpedoed and sank the Japanese auxiliary net layer Fuji Maru off Tori Jima, Japan.
	The submarine USS Blenny, commanded by Lt. Commander William H. Hazzard, sank the Japanese guard boat Kairyu Maru off the north coast of Java.

March 25th, 1865: Civil War: A Breakthrough at Fort Stedman in the Petersburg, VA seige

 After four years of war, Virginia was one vast burial ground where thousands of American boys of all races were now under the sod.


RVANews 
 In March of 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee needed a miracle. And a bloody, tide-turning miracle he got…for about four hours. Then that tide turned right back around. It’s happening, y’all. The Civil War is about to end.

"Take a moment and imagine what must have been going through Lee’s head in March of 1865. Waiting just a few hundred yards away was a Union army more than twice the size of his own–and now that winter was finally over, they were itching for a fight. Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had spent the first nine months of the siege trying to encircle Petersburg and cut off supply and escape routes from the city. But as Lee’s situation grew less favorable and Grant further strengthened and supplied his army, it wasn’t a question of if Grant was going to launch a full assault to break Lee’s weakened defensive lines, but when. An attack was coming, and it was bound to happen in March. Lee, knowing he was working with a very small window of time, only had a handful of options. None of them looked good.

"First, he could choose to surrender to Grant, something he wasn’t ready to do yet. The second option was to abandon Petersburg (and thus Richmond) and meet up with forces in North Carolina to reinforce his weakened army. While it would mean saving his men, losing the Confederate capital would be a huge blow. The third choice was the riskiest and yet, the most natural for Lee. What if he could take the fight to Grant? . . ."

Fort Stedman photo gallery

 NPS; The battle  . . . "Lee had Gen. Gordon (CSA) formulate a plan that, at the very least, would enable the Army of Northern Virginia to pull out of Petersburg unmolested and perhaps give it a chance to link up with the Confederate army in North Carolina. The idea was a surprise attack that would force Grant to shorten his lines or even set his lines back, allowing for a clean pullout for Lee.

"Gordon developed a pre-dawn surprise attack on a Union fort, Fort Stedman. It was one of the closest spots on the line, there were fewer wooden obstructions, and a supply depot on the U.S. Military Railroad was less than a mile behind it. Lee approved the plan." . . .


 

 Blue & Gray Magazine

The capture of Union Brig. Gen. Napoleon B. McLaughlen  . . . "Assuming that he had sealed the only breach in the line, McLaughlen rode into Fort Stedman. He recalled, "I crossed the parapet and meeting some men coming over the curtains, whom in the darkness I supposed to be part of the picket, I established them inside the work, giving directions with regard to position and firing, all of which were instantly obeyed." He suddenly realized that the men he was ordering were Confederates and they realized he was a Union general, capturing him. He was taken back across no man's land and surrendered his sword personally to Gordon."

^{25 March 1865: “This is my first and I hope will be my very last fight, as it is anything but agreeable to see men fall all around you killed or wounded.”} 

My Dear Pa:
Fearing you would see an account of our fight this morning in the papers and would naturally be anxious to hear of me, I will drop you a line or two only to inform you that under the merciful protection of a good God I have escaped unscathed the many dangers by which I was surrounded and still live owing to His wonderful guidance. At 1 oclock we arose and marched out to the trenches to the left of our Division and in front of the cemetary, and the Sharpshooters pushing on rapidly we captured the works in our front without scarcely firing a gun so completely were they taken by surprise.
- See more at: http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/civilwar/index.php/2015/03/25/25-march-1865/#sthash.YYtORiQD.dpuf

Letter written by Henry Armand London to his father.  He describes the events of the Battle of Fort Stedman, a failed attempt by the Confederate Army to break the siege on Petersburg.  He mentions wounded and captured members of his regiment.  He served as a courier in Company I of the 32nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment and participated in one of the last actions of the Civil War in carrying the message to General William R. Cox to cease firing because Robert E. Lee had just surrendered. - See more at: http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/civilwar/index.php/2015/03/25/25-march-1865/#sthash.YYtORiQD.dpuf

 

Letter written by Henry Armand London to his father.  He describes the events of the Battle of Fort Stedman, a failed attempt by the Confederate Army to break the siege on Petersburg.  He mentions wounded and captured members of his regiment.  He served as a courier in Company I of the 32nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment and participated in one of the last actions of the Civil War in carrying the message to General William R. Cox to cease firing because Robert E. Lee had just surrendered. - See more at: http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/civilwar/index.php/2015/03/25/25-march-1865/#sthash.YYtORiQD.dpuf

What about Ted Cruz enrolling in Obamacare?

 

 Liberal Slate Magazine says this is hilarious, but Cruz isn't a hypocrite   . . . "After Heidi Nelson Cruz, his wife, took leave from her job at Goldman Sachs, the Cruz family lost its health insurance. And under an amendment sponsored by Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, Cruz has to use the federal exchange to obtain his health insurance, even though the government will pay the majority of his premiums.

"The other options are to pay for health services à la carte, or cover the full cost of COBRA coverage, which—if you’ve ever been in this situation—are expensive options, even for families as wealthy as the Cruzes. Among all the choices, Obamacare is the best one. And then there’s the general principle: “I believe we should follow the text of every law, even laws I disagree with,” Cruz told CNN, following up with a pro forma dig at the president. “It’s one of the real differences—if you look at President Obama and the lawlessness, if he disagrees with a law he simply refuses to follow it or claims the authority to unilaterally change.”

Legal Insurrection  "Who knew abiding by the the law was such a novel accomplishment?

"The man who garnered national attention by making himself Obamacare’s arch nemesis is enrolling in the dastardly program one day into his presidential campaign.

"Previously covered by his wife’s cadillac Goldman Sach’s healthcare plan, Heidi Cruz’s departure from the investment behemoth means the Cruz’s will be looking to the exchange for their health insurance needs.

"Evidently, this is a story.
 . . .
 "But there’s another thing to consider here, too.

"Congress gets their health insurance from the exchanges. All Republican Senators are enrolled in a healthcare plan either on the federal or D.C. exchange. Why would Senator Cruz not follow suit? "Furthermore, Cruz’s Hill staff, like the staff of every other Republican Senator, are covered by a D.C. exchange plan. It would be rather tacky for the junior Senator to find health insurance anywhere else while his staff is stuck with the exchange.

"There are many things you could rightly criticize Senator Cruz for, but his enrolling in Obamacare isn’t one."

 

Cruz to buy Obamacare through his employer “with my own funds for my family like millions of Americans.”

 Liberals bitterly opposed the Bush tax cuts; did they willingly accept the benefits of them?


On Politics   "Ted Cruz, one of the loudest critics of Obamacare, will soon be using it for health insurance coverage.*

“ 'We will presumably go on the exchange and sign up for health care, and we’re in the process of transitioning over to do that,” Cruz, a Republican candidate for president, told The Des Moines Register Tuesday.

"Cruz’s wife, Heidi, is going on an unpaid leave of up absence from her job at Goldman Sachs to join Cruz full time on the campaign trail, Cruz told the Register.

"Bloomberg was first to report that Heidi Cruz has taken the leave, which means Cruz, who has boasted about not needing to receive government health care benefits, will no longer be covered under his wife’s health insurance plan." . . .

*Cruz, as an employee of the government, will use the exchange to choose his employer-provided insurance. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley pushed through an amendment on the Affordable Care Act that requires members of Congress to obtain their coverage via the exchanges. Congress pays most of the premium. But Cruz won’t be getting any extra benefit under the Affordable Care Act that a member of Congress wouldn’t have gotten before the ACA became law.

PJ Media  . .  . “Deeply ironic?” Please explain how, dear liberal hacks at CNN. He explains that he believes in obeying the law even when he disagrees with it. That’s not “ironic,” that’s a man living by his beliefs.
"Besides, unlike some in Congress — who exempted themselves from Obama’s horrendous health plan despite having voted for it — he shows that he’s actually willing to live a life similar to that of most Americans. He fights to ease their burden of a horrendous health plan — but as long as they have to live with it, so will he.
"It’s not that difficult to comprehend, but CNN’s leftist propagandists are having none of it. It’s way too much fun to “freeze” Cruz, “isolate” him, and “polarize” him. Just like Saul Alinsky taught."

 

 We All Live Under Obamacare   "Significantly, the law requires businesses that employ 50 or more people to provide coverage for their workers. Lawmakers and staff had already been receiving health coverage through their employer (the U.S. government), and were not going to ever be “exempt” from Obamacare, since everyone is subject to the Affordable Care Act. It’s just not that impactful on someone already getting employer-subsidized insurance."