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FEBRUARY 8,  2015

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

GIGANTIC POLITICAL NEWS – From The Hill:  "Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he has not ruled out launching a presidential bid in 2016, maintaining he's been too busy to give the prospect any thought.   Asked by 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd if he'd consider another run, the 2004 Democratic nominee said he can think of 'no scenario whatsoever' where he would launch another bid.  'I haven't thought about it and I'm, as you can tell, pretty busy,' he said, chuckling, during a trip to Germany this weekend meeting foreign leaders at the Munich Security Conference.  Pressed if he'd rule out the possibility, Kerry replied, 'Well, nobody ever says never.'"  I guess Hillary Clinton couldn't be reached for comment.

THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD? – Well, sometimes mamas take it too far.  From CBS New York:  "A Staten Island mother stood accused Friday of threatening to blow up her daughter’s school after her daughter failed an exam.  Karen Shearon covered her face with her coat as she left the Staten Island courthouse Friday afternoon.  When asked if she made the threats against Susan Wagner High School, at 1200 Manor Rd. on the edge of the Manor Heights section of Staten Island, Sharon said no and called the teachers at the school 'liars.'  Investigators claimed Shearon made the threat after a guidance counselor called to tell her that her daughter failed the Regents Examination."  Maybe a bit o'studyin' could have avoided this.

HYPOCRITES – From Breitbart:  "Despite a supposed White House policy against meeting foreign leaders facing elections, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry both met with Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog in Munich on Saturday. Herzog is the main rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Mar. 17 election, and his supporters played up the meeting as evidence that Herzog is more respected by the Obama administration and world leaders in general than Netanyahu."  This administrations two-faced behavior is disgraceful, no matter what side you may be on in the Israeli election.  A Soviet once said that great nations don't change their foreign policy every five minutes.  That hasn't dawned on Obama and his team.  We look like a bunch of kids playing in a sandbox.  Except the kids would do things better.

February 8, 2015       Permalink

THE FIB – AT 12:18 P.M. ET:   Extraordinary, isn't it, the way President Obama is taking credit for lower gasoline prices, even though he opposed almost all the things that forced prices down.  Is it delusion or dishonesty?  From progressivestoday.com:

Only a few months after banning oil drilling in Bristol Bay in Alaska, and a few days from pushing to ban oil drilling in an Alaskan wild life refuge, President Obama has decided that cheap gas prices are somehow because of him.

On Friday, President Obama told a crowd at the Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis that people were saving a lot of money at that gas pump so “You’re Welcome” (video below):

“A lot of families have been saving a lot of money at the gas pump which is putting smiles on folks faces. And (Crowd laughs) No, You’re Welcome.”

The absolute gall of the President for taking credit for something he honestly doesn’t support, and is not responsible for, is mind numbing.

Ever since 2006, when Obama was still a Senator, he has touted that America can not “drill away it’s energy problem."

And...

As a matter of fact President Obama does not support any form of cheap energy. This became apparent when he admitted that in order to “mobilize” the citizenry in support of his Green energy agenda, his Cap and Trade program would cause the price of electricity, natural gas, or anything else that is refined (such as gasoline) to skyrocket.

President Obama taking credit for something which he did not do, or support is very reminiscent of the tactics used by Communist leaders who would take credit for the rain that fell from the sky and the food on peoples’ tables.

COMMENT:  And, naturally, the mainstream media never challenges Obama on his ridiculous claim.  After all, how much good news do they have about the "achievements" of the exalted president?

February 8, 2015       Permalink

THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Prince Charles, of all people, has written an excellent piece on the war against Christians, especially in the Middle East.  His warning should be taken seriously.  We are looking at the possibility that Christianity will be wiped out in the Middle East.  If this were being done to Muslims, the political left would be aflame.  From London's Daily Mail:   

There is a real worry that there could come a time when there are no Christians left in the Middle East because the numbers have gone so dramatically down.

With what has happened in Mosul in Iraq and other centres, there are very few Christians left because they were intimidated to a degree you can't believe.

Everything has been taken from them. Many of them are so fearful now of ever going back.

It is a most agonising situation, but we must remember that all around the world there is appalling persecution going on, not only of Christians but of Muslims and of other faiths and religions.

The radicalisation of people in Britain is a great worry, and the extent to which this is happening is alarming, particularly in a country like ours where we hold values dear.

You would think that the people who have come here, or are born here, and who go to school here, would abide by those values and outlooks.

But the frightening part is that people can be so radicalised, either through direct contact with somebody, or through the internet. There is an extraordinary amount of crazy stuff on the internet and clearly some people get particularly affected by it and join with others.

I can see some of this radicalisation is a search for adventure and excitement at a particular age.

So what I have been trying to do with the Prince's Trust and other groups is to find alternatives for adolescents and people at a young age – constructive paths to channel their enthusiasm, their energy, their sense of wanting to take risks.

COMMENT:  Why can the prince say what the president of the United States cannot say?  Read the whole piece.  It's quite interesting, coming from a member of the royal family.

February 8, 2015       Permalink

JORDAN FOLLOWS THROUGH – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  I'm usually no great fan of Arab countries, but Jordan has certainly stepped up to the plate in the fight against ISIS.  At least King Abdullah walks the walk while our president talks the talk, or mumbles the talk, or whispers, or something.  From Reuters: 

Jordan's air force chief said on Sunday his country's jet fighters had conducted 56 bombing raids in three days against Islamic State militants in northeast Syria, targeting key bases and arms depots.

Jordan stepped up its bombing of the jihadist group on Thursday in response to the brutal killing by Islamic State of a captured Jordanian pilot, and continued until Saturday.

No new strikes were announced for Sunday.

"We achieved what we aimed for. We destroyed logistics centers, arms depots and targeted hideouts of their fighters," General Mansour al-Jbour, head of the Jordanian airforce, told a news conference.

Jordan has carried out nearly a fifth of the sorties of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria to date, Jbour said. US aircraft joined the mission to provide intelligence, surveillance, a U.S. official told Reuters earlier on Sunday.

The raids had "degraded" nearly 20 percent of the militants' capabilities, he said.

COMMENT:  Impossible to verify the claims, but one must be impressed by Jordan's determination.   We hope it continues.

Some people say that ISIS cannot be defeated militarily, it being an ideology.  That's nonsense.  It's the kind of "observation" we always get from the political left.  How many times have you heard leftists say, "There's no military solution"?  We heard it often during the Vietnam War.  Strange, but the enemy in Vietnam certainly found a military solution.  They called it victory.

Ideologies need foot soldiers to spread their ideology.  They need a structure, a mechanism.  Destroy that structure and you may not wipe out the ideology, but you will certainly render it largely helpless.  We did not destroy fascism by defeating Nazi Germany, but Nazism as a force was torn to shreds.

February 8,  2015     Permalink

FEBRUARY 7,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:20 P.M. ET: 

BACK IN – The United Arab Emirates, which had pulled out of the coalition that is conducting air strikes against ISIS out of concern for its pilots, has rejoined the coalition.  You may be sure that the leadership provided by King Abdullah of Jordan had a great deal to do with this.  A strong leader attracts followers.  I doubt if Field Marshal Obama's presence had any effect at all.

CONTEMPLATION – Brian Williams says he's taking a few days off from his job as anchor of NBC's "Nightly News."  Says he's become too much a part of the story.  No doubt about that.  There are now new concerns about other reporting he's done.  He once claimed he'd saved a puppy from a burning house.  What was he doing in a burning house?  It's being reported that NBC executives repeatedly warned Williams about inflating his resumé.  Oh, by the way, the New York Daily News is saying that Katie Couric, who flopped grandly as anchor of the CBS Evening News, would love to have Williams's job.  She'd also like to be queen of England.

ANOTHER JOURNALISM FLAP – From Newsmax:  "Reports of a new federal investigation of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are at odds with the less sensational reality of the probe, and even reporters for liberal MSNBC and 'The Rachel Maddow Show' — no friend to the Republican governor — are knocking down the new-probe hype.  Turns out the story is more nuanced than the headlines might have you believe, 'Maddow' staffers Nazanin Rafsanjani and Julia Nutter write at MSNBC.com.  News outlets this week identified Christie as the target of the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey in a new probe.  This time the allegations are not related to the bridge lane closures in Democratic Fort Lee, N.J., known as Bridgegate, but to a local prosecutor's claims that he was fired and his investigation of a Christie supporter shut down."  A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office denies any investigation at all.  Another case of liberal journalists rushing on the air with a fake story.

February 7, 2015       Permalink

WE GO BEGGING...AGAIN – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:   It isn't only that the Obamans flash weakness, they do it over and over.  And they're darned proud of it.  Earlier this week there were press reports telling us that the administration is practically begging the Iranians for a nuclear deal, even though we are vastly stronger than Iran.

Guess Obama thinks this would be a hot part of his legacy.

Now we follow the grand strategy to Cuba.  What intellects we have running the show.  From Reuters:   

(Reuters) - The United States is pressing Cuba to allow the opening of its embassy in Havana by April, U.S. officials told Reuters, despite the Communist island's demand that it first be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

A refusal by Cuba to allow the United States to quickly establish an official embassy for the first time in half a century could complicate talks between the Cold War foes, reflecting enduring mistrust as they move to end decades of confrontation.

It would also mark the first major setback since President Barack Obama's historic shift in Cuba policy in December, suggesting one of the biggest foreign policy moves of his administration is struggling to achieve even its first goal.

Striking Cuba from the terrorism list could take until June or longer, although the White House is pushing officials to move quickly, said two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the State Department's review to take Cuba off the list.

Washington is eager to re-establish diplomatic ties before a regional summit in Panama in April, when Obama will meet Cuban leader Raul Castro for the first time since 2013, the officials said.

COMMENT:  Oh, how exciting.  Raul will be there.  Maybe he'll bring some cigars.  Does it bother Obama that he's dealing with a complete dictatorship?  I don't think so.  Human rights are not big on his to-do list.  In fact, the left has essentially lost interest in fundamental concepts of freedom.

And shouldn't we remove Cuba from the state-sponsor-of-terrorism list after we determine, by facts, that it should be removed.  I get the feeling it will be removed despite the facts, for the greater glory of Barack.

February 7, 2015       Permalink

LEADERSHIP – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  We are seeing a great example of true leadership in Jordan, a small country, not a real democracy, but run by a monarch who truly understands how to lead.  From IBD: 

Leadership: Jordan is taking the war to the terrorists — not only on land but on the propaganda front, where Islamic State has had the high ground for a while. Jordan's will to win is injecting new energy into the war on terror.

In less than a week, Jordan has transformed itself from a bit player in the war on terror to a moral beacon of why we fight — because it's ultimately a struggle of good versus evil, and good must win.
It began with King Abdullah's fiery vow to make the "earth shake" against terrorists who'd just murdered a 26-year-old Jordanian pilot from a prominent tribal family, as the king's red and white Bedouin tribal attire reminded Jordan's mourning citizens.

The king also morally delegitimized the terrorists, saying they had zero claim to the name Muslim — powerful, given that the king is a direct descendant of Muhammad. He was buttressed by Jordanian officials, who called the terrorists "daesh" — a derogatory word in Arabic that's as nasty as it sounds, and one that IS hates.

COMMENT:  Compare please with our fearful leader, Barack Hussein Obama Jr, come to save us.  Among other lectures he gave us this week was one in which he warned us about "overreaching."  Oh yes, Barack, we are hopelessly stretched.

Let's see.  The United States ended World War II with 135 million citizens.  It had 15 million under arms.

Today the U.S. has 320 million citizens, and only 1.4 million under arms.  We are spending less on defense, as a percentage of gross national product, than we were before Pearl Harbor.

Yessirree.  Overstretched.  Can't do more.

In fact, we haven't scratched the surface.  This nation is capable of restoring its greatness.  But it won't happen under the followship of a president who really doesn't like us very much.  We are not overstretched, and our civilian population, since 9-11, has been largely uninvolved in the struggle.  There was a famous sign put up in Iraq during our actions there, which roughly read:  "America isn't at war, the Marine Corps is at war."  So true, Barack.

February 7, 2015       Permalink

RICE CAKES – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  The American Spectator nails Susan Rice, who just unveiled Field Marshal Obama's new old national security policy: 

Susan Rice, best known for claiming the Benghazi attacks were a spontaneous reaction to an Internet film and that Bowe Bergdahl served with honor and distinction, today outlined the Obama Administration's national security strategy:

"But, too often, what’s missing here in Washington is a sense of perspective. Yes, there’s a lot going on. Still, while the dangers we face may be more numerous and varied, they are not of the existential nature we confronted during World War II or the Cold War. We can’t afford to be buffeted by alarmism and an instantaneous news cycle. We must continue to do the hard work of leading a complex and rapidly evolving world, of seizing opportunities, and of winning the future for our children."

I find it interesting that Rice that acknowledges that WWII was an existential threat. Yet consider what Winston Churchill said in the British House of Commons in November 1936:

"Our Amendment in November 1934 was the culmination of a long series of efforts by private Members and by the Conservative party in the country to warn His Majesty's Government of the dangers to Europe and to this country which were coming upon us through the vast process of German rearmament then already in full swing. The speech which I made on that occasion was much censured as being alarmist by leading Conservative newspapers (italics mine), and I remember that Mr Lloyd George congratulated the Prime Minister, who was then Lord President, on having so satisfactorily demolished my extravagant fears."

Churchill would continue to be called an alarmist as this this speech wass made nearly two years before Neville Chamberlain proclaimed "peace for our time" following the Munich Agreement with Hitler. Well, we know how that turned out.

COMMENT:  Well said.  What struck me about Rice's comments was how condescending they are.   She was saying, in effect, "We are just so bright.  Trust us.  Don't trust those flagwavers.  Where did they go to school?"

Rice would have more cred if we were winning all over the world.  But we are losing.  Has she noticed?

February 7,  2015     Permalink