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AUGUST 15,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

KNIFE IN THE BACK – Just as he's getting into the 2016 presidential rhythm, Governor Rick Perry of Texas was indicted by a Travis County grand jury on what appears to be a kind of Soviet trumped-up charge of abuse of office.  From Powerline:  "A grand jury in Travis County, Texas, indicted Governor Rick Perry today. Why? For exercising his constitutional prerogative by threatening to veto, and then vetoing, an appropriation to support the public corruption unit in Travis County’s district attorney’s office. This followed the arrest of the county’s district attorney, Democratic Party activist Rosemary Lehmberg, for drunk driving, after she was found 'with an open bottle of vodka in the front passenger seat of her car in a church parking lot in Austin.' Ms. Lehmberg served 45 days in jail.  The Travis County district attorney’s office has long been a cesspool of corruption. It was that office, controlled by the Democratic Party machine, that infamously indicted Tom DeLay for nothing. It took years before DeLay could finally clear his name, and his career was ruined."  And that's the problem here.  The indictment is a joke, but it may be years before Perry gets it off his back, meaning it may destroy his presidential campaign.  That's the way hardball is played.  They got Delay, they're after Perry.  Guilt or innocence is irrelevant.

WHOOPS – From RT.com:  "Germany's foreign intelligence agency intercepted at least one phone call made by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to German media reports. Her phone was tapped 'accidentally' while she was on a US government plane.  Daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR said they learned of the hacking from documents that were passed to the CIA by one of its moles inside the German intelligence network. It is unclear when Clinton’s phone call was intercepted, as no date was given.  The Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym BND, picked up the call 'by accident,' government sources told the media outlets. But the German officials deny systematic spying on the United States, and claim they have never intentionally eavesdropped on their NATO ally. 'The fact that the recording wasn't deleted immediately was called ‘idiocy’ by a member of the government in Berlin,' NDR reported."  They heard nothing.  They heard absolutely nothing.  They only heard the sounds of airplane engines.  It was all an accident.  Tell me:  How do you accidentally tap a secretary of state's phone?

AN INCONVENIENT SUIT – From Hollywood Reporter:  "Current TV co-founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt have launched a fraud and breach-of-contract lawsuit claiming that Al Jazeera is withholding money from its $500 million purchase of the cable news network.  The complaint was filed under seal in the Delaware Court of Chancery, but information provided reveals that the plaintiffs are seeking $65 million held in escrow.  Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is being represented by David Boies, the attorney who memorably represented him in the 2000 battle over a Florida election recount.  'Al Jazeera America wants to give itself a discount on the purchase price that was agreed to nearly two years ago,' said Boies in a statement. 'We are asking the Court to order Al Jazeera America to stop wrongfully withholding the escrow funds that belong to Current's former shareholders.'"  Al Jazeera is owned by Qatar, which finances Hamas.  We urge Gore not to open any package whose return address starts with "Tunnel Three."

BLESSED (?) EVENT NEWS – From Breitbart:  "As exclusively reported by Breitbart London last week, Muhammed has been crowned Britain's most popular boys name in figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) today. The name of the Muslim prophet beat Oliver as the most popular boys name chosen by parents in Britain in 2013.  As a result of the way the statistics are put together, the name does not appear to have won, as the ONS classifies each of the different spellings as a different entry on the list. This means that "Muhammad" came in 15th with 3,499 children but "Mohammed" was 23rd with 2,887 and "Mohammad" was 57th with 1059 given the name.  As a result the top three spellings alone accounted for the names of 7,445 boys, easily beating the second most popular name Oliver which got just 6,949. Also the statistics are only published for the top 100 names, so the even more obscure spellings of Mohammed are likely to push the total even higher."  The most popular boy's name in America last year was Noah, another religious name.  Different book.

August 15, 2014       Permalink

THE TRUTH COMES OUT –AT 9:24 A.M. ET:   As we watched the Israel/Hamas war unfold, some of us began to get an uneasy feeling.  We never saw Hamas fighters, but we saw Israeli soldiers every day.  We never saw a Hamas rocket launched, or even a launch site near a hospital or school.  We never saw stockpiles of Hamas weapons kept among civilians.   We saw child casualties in Gaza, but never male casualties of fighting age.

Something wasn't right.  Many attributed the odd absences to the usual left-wing, anti-American, anti-Israeli biases of the press, and there was certainly plenty of that.

But once the fighting ended, journalists coming out of Gaza told a different story – a story of intimidation and fear.  Most of these courageous journalists worked for small, foreign news organizations.  We owe them a debt.  They exposed the corruption and fear that produced distorted reporting.  From London's Telegraph:

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) issued an astonishing protest yesterday about "blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox" intimidation of journalists in the Gaza Strip by Hamas. "In several cases," they complained, "foreign reporters working in Gaza have been harassed, threatened or questioned over stories." The FPA said this amounted to "denying readers and viewers an objective picture from the ground," adding "we are also aware that Hamas is trying to put in place a 'vetting' procedure that would, in effect, allow for the blacklisting of specific journalists. Such a procedure is vehemently opposed by the FPA." The statement raises a lot of questions. Here is one: why have British broadcasters not mentioned any of this to their viewers?

Let's review what we know.

Indian television station NDTV broadcast and posted on its internet site on 5 August a report by Sreenivasan Jain showing rockets fired from a tent next to his hotel. In the accompanying text on NDTV’s website, Jain wrote that it was published "after our team left the Gaza Strip – Hamas has not taken very kindly to any reporting of its rockets being fired. But just as we reported the devastating consequences of Israel’s offensive on Gaza’s civilians, it is equally important to report on how Hamas places those very civilians at risk by firing rockets deep from the heart of civilian zones." In an article published subsequently, Jain wrote of "the fear which hobbles the reporting such material: fear of reprisals from Hamas against us", asking "how long do we self-censor because of the fear of personal safety in return for not telling a story that exposes how those launching rockets are putting so many more lives at risk, while the rocket-makers themselves are at a safe distance?"

More and more examples of intimidation of journalists by Hamas are seeping out of Gaza:

Israeli filmmaker Michael Grynszpan described on Facebook an exchange he had had with a Spanish journalist who had just left Gaza. "We talked about the situation there. He was very friendly. I asked him how come we never see on television channels reporting from Gaza any Hamas people, no gunmen, no rocket launcher, no policemen. We only see civilians on these reports, mostly women and children. He answered me frankly: 'It's very simple, we did see Hamas people there launching rockets, they were close to our hotel, but if ever we dare pointing our camera on them they would simply shoot at us and kill us.'"

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's well worth it.  And then maybe wonder when CNN will come clean about its reporting, and admit that it never gave us the whole story.  CNN is trying to rebuild its ratings, but will never succeed if the lingering doubts about its credibility continue to fester.  It is still seen by many as a left-wing network founded by left-leaning Ted Turner, who went on to marry Jane Fonda, about whom nothing need be said.  When CNN goes on the air, it has already lost half its audience.  It owes viewers an explanation of its slanted Gaza reporting, and a description of what it's doing to improve its credibility.

And just today, Hamas admitted that it expels reporters who don't please it.  That story, in the Jerusalem Post, is here.  The mask is off.

August 15, 2014       Permalink

WEIRDNESS AT STATE – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:    One of the truly depressing spectacles these days is John Kerry, a man who believes in himself working for a man who believes only in himself.  Kerry seems totally out of touch, the kind of a guy who'd slide right past the "wet paint" sign and walk on a newly painted floor. 

His priorities are out of whack, as noted by IBD: 

Great leadership isn't necessarily about intelligence, expertise or background. It's more about wisdom and judgment. Based on this, Americans should be very concerned about Secretary of State John Kerry.

As the world melts into chaos and threats to the U.S. homeland multiply, America's top foreign policy official seems bizarrely, even dangerously, fixated on ... global warming.

In remarks at the East-West Center in Honolulu on Wednesday, Kerry repeated his claim that climate change is "the biggest challenge ... we face right now."

To which we respond: Can he be serious?

In recent days, we've seen the establishment of a terrorist mini-state across northern Iraq and Syria, our ally Israel under siege by terrorists, a deadly Ebola outbreak in Africa that threatens to arrive on our shores, a collapse of U.S. border controls accompanied by a tidal wave of illegal immigration, Russia rampaging against Ukraine and threatening its smaller neighbors, and China engaging in a massive military buildup to directly challenge the U.S. defense hegemony.

But Kerry thinks "climate change" is our biggest problem? Maybe he should talk to Ali Khedery about that.

Khedery, the Powerline blog informs us, served as "special assistant to five U.S. ambassadors and a senior adviser to three commanders of U.S. Central Command." As such, he's deeply knowledgeable about the Mideast, its culture, rivalries and many conflicts.

So we were inclined to listen when he warned Americans this week: "Another 9/11 is imminent."
Excuse us, Mr. Secretary, but don't these mundane concerns about potential terrorist and other proliferating threats trump your weird climate-change fixation?

Apparently not. In other remarks recently, Kerry advised African leaders to stop creating new farms and focus instead on what they already have. Why? "Certain agricultural processes can actually release carbon pollution," farming expert Kerry explained to the stunned Africans.

COMMENT:  Wrong man for the job.  Right man for Obama.  The first responsibility of a public figure is to be taken seriously.  Both Obama and Kerry have failed the test.  Kerry is barely listened to, but part of the blame must lie with his CEO.

Kerry would like to have a Nobel Peace Prize.  I'm sure he's also harbored thoughts about running for president again.  A major foreign-policy accomplishment would set him up for both, but anything substantial seems out of reach right now, in part because Obama has weakened this country so much.

August 15, 2014       Permalink

NOT SO FAST, MR. HOPE AND CHANGE – AT 7:49 A.M. ET:   President Obama, who told us in 2008 that he would roll back the oceans, has made his latest claim.   Like the "roll back" one, we'd better ask questions.  From PJ Media: 

WASHINGTON — President Obama took credit today for liberating Yazidis cornered by the Islamic State on Mount Sinjar while the Pentagon acknowledged that they’re not doing a “happy dance” over the members of the persecuted minority still suffering in the inhospitable environment.

From his vacation spot in Massachusetts, Obama declared a mission accomplished of sorts for the military and humanitarian action he approved a week ago.

“We also knew that ISIL terrorists were killing and enslaving Yazidi civilians in their custody and laying siege to the mountain,” Obama said. “Without food or water, they faced a terrible choice: starve on the mountain or be slaughtered on the ground. That’s when America came to help.”

“Because of the skill and professionalism of our military and the generosity of our people, we broke the ISIL siege of Mount Sinjar, we helped vulnerable people reach safety, and we helped save many innocent lives,” he continued. “Because of these efforts, we do not expect there to be an additional operation to evacuate people off the mountain. And it’s unlikely that we’re going to need to continue humanitarian air drops on the mountain. The majority of the military personnel who conducted the assessment will be leaving Iraq in the coming days.”

Obama acknowledged “the situation remains dire for Iraqis subject to ISIL’s terror throughout the country.”

“And this includes minorities like Yazidis and Iraqi Christians. It also includes many Sunnis, Shia, and Kurds,” he said. “…We obviously feel a great urge to provide some humanitarian relief to the situation, and I’ve been very encouraged by the interest of our international partners in helping on these kinds of efforts as well. We will continue air strikes to protect our people and facilities in Iraq.”

Kurdish news agency Rudaw reported today that the danger on the mountain is far from over, even though the Peshmerga opened a route for Yazidis to flee. One mother told the news agency how ISIS terrorists raped her three daughters, then sent them up to join their family — where the anguished girls committed suicide by leaping from Mount Sinjar.

“Another Halabja is happening to us,” a woman praying for death told a reporter, referencing the gassing of the Kurds by Saddam Hussein. “We are disabled, we can’t walk anymore. No food, no water, our children have all died.”

At the Pentagon today, press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was “very proud that we’ve been able to effect this kind of change around Mount Sinjar.”

COMMENT:  Obama lives in his own world.  To cite an old diplomatic cliché, he's the kind of guy who'd throw a 15-foot rope to a man drowning 20 feet out, and claim he's met him more than halfway.

We applaud the saving of lives.  But, as Obama himself concedes, the horror continues.  And, once our rescue effort ends, the horror will grow.  Iraq is far from secure.  We may wind up with that country in the hands of ISIL, a group that clearly wants to target the United States.  What is our long-term strategy?  There isn't any.  Well, maybe it's to make a public statement and then go back on vacation.

August 15, 2014        Permalink

MORE FROM THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY – AT 7:36 A.M. ET:  The latest economic report is not good.  From Bloomberg: 

Applications (INJCJC) for unemployment benefits in the U.S. rose more than forecast last week, interrupting a steady decline to pre-recession lows.

Jobless claims climbed by 21,000 to 311,000 in the period ended Aug. 9, the highest in six weeks, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 48 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 295,000. There was nothing unusual in the data and no states were estimated, a spokesman said as the figures were released.

The jump represents a departure from a run of low readings that showed employers had been holding firm on staffing levels in order to keep up with demand. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is among policy makers who remain concerned that pockets of slack in the job market, including stagnant wages and elevated numbers of long-term unemployed workers, continue to hold back the world’s largest economy.

COMMENT:  Look around you.  How much recovery do you see?  Sure, there are some people making out like bandits, especially in New York's financial sector.  But much of the housing market is starting to struggle again, and good jobs are being replaced by inferior ones.

What is especially sad is that the current situation is being seen by too many people as the new normal.  Mediocre performance is being accepted, as it's been accepted in some European countries. 

Young college graduates are being especially hit, with a large number moving back home after graduation, rather than going off to good employment.

It's time for a change...in Washington first.

August 15,  2014     Permalink

AUGUST 14,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:36 P.M. ET: 

GREGORY OUT AT "MEET THE PRESS" – NBC has dropped David Gregory as host of "Meet the Press," the longest-running program in American broadcasting.  Chuck Todd will replace Gregory, who will leave the network.  I never thought Gregory had the depth to anchor the venerable show, but that's hardly unusual in today's TV journalism.  I have DVD's of "Meet the Press" from the early 60s, and the difference between then and now is stark.  There was a seriousness back then, a formality, and a courtesy.  The questions were sharp, and guests were expected to deliver real answers, even if they had to take more than five seconds to do so.  Lawrence Spivak ran the show, and ran it well.  It ain't the same today.

RUNNING MATE – Hillary, clearly eyeing a presidential run, is looking around for campaign company.  From WaPo:  "As she expands her political network in advance of an expected presidential run, Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband have been cultivating an important ally who some believe could become her vice presidential running mate.  Former president Bill Clinton invited Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and incoming Obama Cabinet secretary, to the Clintons’ home in Washington last week for a private dinner that friends described as a chance for Democratic leaders from different generations to become better acquainted.  Castro, 39, who is scheduled to be sworn in Monday as secretary of housing and urban development, traveled to New York in July to join Hillary Clinton, as well as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, at a children’s song and dance performance for the Bronx Children’s Museum’s youth arts program."  Interesting possibility, but I think the GOP is on to the identity politics game.  I'd imagine the V.P. choice on the Republican ticket will also be a minority. 

ABSURDITY – There's all kinds of reporting going around about a new "crisis" in American-Israeli elections, apparently as a result of the intense dislike between Obama and Netanyahu.  The State Department confirmed that the U.S. is reviewing some military aid to Israel, following the Gaza war.  Real smart on our part.  This comes a few days after Russia agreed to provide military aid to Egypt, which used to get its arms from the U.S.  Obama froze those arms because the Muslim Brotherhood government in Egypt was overthrown.  Odd.  The Muslim Brotherhood is anti-American, but Obama never cut off arms to them.  So, we have Egypt moving toward Russia and master strategist Obama reviewing aid to another American ally, Israel, our only stable ally in the region.  Israel is involved in a delicate negotiation to bring peace to Gaza, and this just undercuts the Israelis and strengthens Hamas, a terrorist group.  This is what passes for foreign policy in the profoundly left-wing Obama administration.

DANCING WITH THE STARS – Frankly, it was embarrassing – seeing pictures of Barack Obama, successor to Fred Astaire, dancing it up at a posh birthday party in Martha's Vineyard last night while there was rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, and American forces were carrying out a dangerous rescue mission in Iraq.  You'd think he'd have the style to return to the White House.  You just get the feeling he has a contempt for the traditions of his office, and for his country generally.  He parties on.

August 14, 2014       Permalink

THIS IS NUTS – AT 10:47 A.M. ET:  As readers know, there is racial tension and violence in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting death of an unarmed black teen by a local police officer.

The shooting does raise very legitimate questions, and a thorough, impartial investigation is called for.  I'm very pro-police, but I'm not blind to police misconduct.  That's why police departments have internal affairs divisions. 

But, as expected, the incident has drawn not only legitimate protestors but the usual suspects – the looters, the TV-addicted "leaders," the bomb throwers.  They will only diminish the cause of justice, not enhance it.  The NAACP, once relevant, has stepped in, and gone crazy.  From Breitbart: 

U.S. civil rights advocates aired their concerns about the recent Michael Brown shooting to the United Nations in Geneva, according to a press call from the organizations on Wednesday.

“This issue was front and center,” Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau, explained during the call.

If you want support from the American people, you don't go to an international, anti-American organization in Switzerland.  This is real amateurism.

According to Shelton, Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton and Jordan Davis’s father Ron Davis told their stories about losing their teenage children in shootings in each of the pre-briefings of the process.

“I think that everyone was outraged and horrified to hear that, yet again, it had happened in St. Louis, Missouri,” he said.

The group of activists presented to a U.N. panel in Geneva, Switzerland, documenting their concerns of U.S. compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) treaty.

Shelton also pointed out that U.N. delegates at the hearing made a point of asking the U.S. delegation about African-Americans being “disportionately targeted” by law enforcement.

COMMENT:  We have a black president, we have a black attorney-general, we have a news media that is sensitive to racial issues.  We don't need the UN.  The NAACP, which did some fine work years ago, should be ashamed to let this shooting incident descend into international stunts.

August 14, 2014       Permalink

RAND NOT GRAND – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  We haven't even gotten through the 2014 midterms, but the race is already on for 2016.  Rand Paul of Kentucky is making all the moves of a presidential candidate.  Frankly, I don't think he'll have much of a chance at the GOP nomination, once his foreign-policy views are better known.  I mean, he'd be running to the left of Hillary!  And Paul has the burden of his father, Ron Paul, who can't keep his mouth shut and keeps embarrassing his son. 

Indeed, some pundits have asked why Ron Paul keeps hurting his son's prospects with whacky comments.  The son, at least, has tried to distance himself from his father's eccentricities.

But Rand has his own set of problems.  Among them is a tin ear.  There are things you just don't do.  From The Politico: 

Sen. Rand Paul irked some Iowans this week after bowing out of a GOP cattle call there and jetting to New York instead to spend time in the Hamptons, including with potential donors.

The Kentucky Republican, a possible 2016 presidential contender, was photographed at a Saturday evening fundraiser for an East Hampton library, an event thrown by liberal actor Alec Baldwin.

The New York Post ran an item about the gathering, prompting a story in The Des Moines Register that raised questions about how Paul was spending his time, especially after he told organizers of the Family Leadership Summit he couldn’t attend because of a family commitment.

The summit is a cattle call for potential GOP presidential hopefuls, and Paul was a co-sponsor. The Register quoted social conservative Bob Vander Plaats questioning Paul’s choice of locations, as other potential 2016 Republican candidates put in face time at the conservative confab.

COMMENT:  I'd imagine this was calculated on Paul's part.  He's been trying to show that he has broad appeal.  That's fine, but he was to sharpen his instincts.  The Hamptons say "rich liberals," and that ain't the message Paul should be sending.

He should have stayed in Iowa. 

Personally, I think the big presidential news of the last weeks has been the rise of Mitt Romney.  It started when a poll showed that Romney would defeat Obama if the election were held today.  Trouble is, it isn't being held today – it was already held – and Obama isn't running in 2016.  I think Romney should run, just to test the waters, and to give the party a potential candidate who already has presidential stature.  But polls show he would lose to Hillary, and that will temper the new enthusiasm for him, if there's anything to it at all. 

August 14, 2014       Permalink

THUMBS DOWN ON OBAMA – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  The American people seem to know that the world is exploding all over (see post below), but they don't like the way the vacationer-in-chief is handling the situation.  From Fox:   

Voters are generally dissatisfied with how President Obama is handling the world’s hot spots -- most give him a thumbs-down for the job he is doing on Iraq, Israel and Ukraine. At the same time, they approve of U.S. airstrikes he’s ordered against ISIS militants in Iraq.

That’s according to a new Fox News national poll released Wednesday.

Amid new cold war anxieties, most voters say Obama hasn’t been tough enough on Russia, and that Vladimir Putin doesn’t take Obama seriously.

A 74-percent majority thinks Obama hasn’t been tough enough on Russia, up from 66 percent in March. Six percent say Obama has been too tough, 10 percent volunteer “about right” and 11 percent have no opinion. Sizable majorities of Democrats (65 percent), independents (69 percent) and Republicans (88 percent) agree Obama should be tougher on Russia.

The Democratic number is particularly fascinating.  It may show that the troopers of the hard left don't have quite the clout in the Democratic Party that they claim.

Just 16 percent of voters think Putin takes Obama seriously, while 77 percent think he doesn’t. That jumps to 87 percent among those who think Obama hasn’t been tough enough on Russia.

Some 64 percent of Democrats say the Russian president doesn’t take Obama seriously.

Overall, 64 percent think it is likely there will be a new cold war with Russia. That’s up from 54 percent who felt that way in August 2008, during the conflict between Russia and the Republic of Georgia. Democrats (+6 points), independents (+12) and Republicans (+15) are all more inclined to expect another cold war now than they were six years ago.

Thirty-one percent of voters approve of how Obama is handling the situation in Ukraine, while 50 percent disapprove. Approval among Democrats (52 percent) is far outweighed by disapproval among Republicans (70 percent).

The president’s ratings are similar on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: 30 percent approve, while 54 percent disapprove.

And...

All in all, more voters continue to disapprove (53 percent) than approve (35 percent) of Obama’s handling of foreign policy.

COMMENT:  This is speculation, but maybe Hillary Clinton had some inkling of these numbers from earlier polls when she gave her interview last week chiding her former boss for his foreign policy.  Just wonderin'.

August 14, 2014       Permalink

PHILOSOPHICAL WISDOM NEWS – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  The secretary of defense, an obscure gent named Chuck Hagel, has given us a profound strategic assessment of the state of civilization.  I, frankly, feel privileged to have a man of such learning in such an important position.  Thank you, Field Marshal Obama, for having the courage to appoint such an intellect.  From The Weekly Standard: 

Fresh off a trip to India and Australia, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel addressed a group of Marines in San Diego, California Tuesday, and may have delivered a line that will show up in Republican campaign ads this election cycle. After updating the troops on some issues in the Pacific region and the Middle East, Hagel took questions from some of the Marines and gave a stark assessment of the global security situation: "The world is exploding all over." The remark came in response to a question about the Obama administration's realignment of the military towards the Asia-Pacific theater:

Q: Good afternoon, sir. My question is that, given that the administration's primary focus is on the Pacific theater, how has all of the issues popping up in the world today, Russia, Iraq, Africa, the rest of the theaters pretty much affected that current mission? And how do you foresee that affecting the mission in the future?

SEC. HAGEL: Thank you. That's a -- go ahead, sit down -- that's a question I got often when I was in India and Australia. And the trip I just came from was my sixth trip to the Asia Pacific area in the last year-and-a-half. I've got four planned this calendar year. And so I get that question all the time. It's a legitimate question for the very reasons you asked.

The world is exploding all over. And so is the United States going to continue to have the resources, the capabilities, the leadership, the bandwidth to continue with the rebalance toward the Asia Pacific? And the answer is yes.

COMMENT:  Yup, the world is exploding all over, and our secretary of defense is there to take care of things.  In his wisdom, he is gutting our military, firing commissioned officers, cutting procurement, and doing all the things necessary to contain the explosions, which are occurring, as he profoundly states, all over. 

This just in:  The Pentagon has just announced that June is busting out all over.

August 14,  2014     Permalink