First Edition of Thursday Links!

As some may have noticed, I've been posting more often this week than in the past several. I hit a snag in my novel (not an unusual occurrence), and decided to take the week off to reorganize and reread. This 4th of July weekend, my wife and I are heading to the Oregon coast and I thought I should post my link list a little early.

Kind of heavy on Honduras this time around, but this is an important issue and seems to speak volumes on what Obama really believes is the nature of political power and the actual values and motives his foreign policy is to serve.

William A Jacobson at Legal Insurrection has this post on Obama and Honduras.

As Jacobson says: "With each passing day, the vapidness of the Obama administration's foreign policy becomes more clear. Lofty words spoken in the capitals of Europe and the Middle East were just words. From the warm embrace of the bully Hugo Chavez, to the cynical mixed-messages on the Iran protests, Obama has shown a willingness to 'work with' repressive regimes hostile to the United States while ignoring friends.

"Now it is Honduras, where Obama sides with Manuel Zelaya, a Chavez-prototype who tried to put himself in a perpetual presidency, in violation of Honduran court orders to the contrary. The evidence is overwhelming that had the Honduran military not acted, Honduras would have gone the way of Venezuela.

"When is Obama going to learn that you cannot work with the Hugo Chavez's and Mahmood Ahmadinejad's of the world. That doesn't mean military action, but it does mean standing up to them on the world stage, and supporting our friends."

Go to his site and read the rest-- and check out the links contained in his post. Don't let this situation get swept under the rug-- don't let Obama change his tune in the future and declare that he always had "unswerving support" for the people of Honduras in a month or two.

American Thinker has this post by Pamela Gellar about Obama and Honduras comparing Obama's reaction to Iran and Honduras. Nothing terribly new in the article, but still well worth your time. I would also like to add that I think that part of what colors Obama's reactions is that, despite his idiotic "small nation" declaration, Obama is afraid of Iran. And he has no fear of Honduras.

The always succinct Caroline Glick has this excellent, must-read op/ed on the Obama administration's idea of selling appeasement as realism in their foreign policy.

Per Glick: "IN STAKING out a seemingly hard-nosed, unsentimental position on Iran, Obama and his advisers would have us believe that unlike their predecessors, they are foreign policy 'realists.' Unlike Jimmy Carter, who supported the America-hating mullahs against the America-supporting shah 30 years ago in the name of his moralistic post-Vietnam War aversion to American exceptionalism, Obama supports the America-hating mullahs against the America-supporting freedom protesters because all he cares about are 'real' American interests.

"So too, unlike George W. Bush, who openly supported Iran's pro-American democratic dissidents against the mullahs due to his belief that the advance of freedom in Iran and throughout the world promoted US national interests, Obama supports the anti-American mullahs who butcher these dissidents in the streets and abduct and imprison them by the thousands due to his 'hard-nosed' belief that doing so will pave the way for a meeting of the minds with their oppressors.

"Yet Obama's policy is anything but realistic. By refusing to support the dissidents, he is not demonstrating that he is a realist. He is showing that he is immune to reality. He is so committed to appeasing the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Khamenei that he is incapable of responding to actual events, or even of taking them into account for anything other than fleeting media appearances meant to neutralize his critics."

Read it all. Her argument sheds a great deal of light on Obama's reactions to Honduras and Iran. She manages to say so much of I wished to, in a manner that I cannot emulate. Excellent work.

Forbes.com has an interesting article on the woes of teenagers seeking employment. Per the article: "For teenagers, the summer job market has not been so bleak in generations. During what should be the start of the bustling summer job season, the unemployment rate for 16- to 19-year-olds who want work is 24%--the worst since 1965."

Personally, I know my niece in Southern California just graduated from high school (Congratulations Kate!) and though she's currently working part-time at a job she's been in for a couple of years, she works an average of less than 10 hours a week in retail. And that is not by choice. Ouch...

Quite Rightly at Bread upon the Waters has been busy on his blog this week. He has a several interesting posts about Cap and Trade but my favorite is here about how Cap and Trade could "clobber" the poor. This would be a terrible, terrible law. While there, see his other related posts on Cap and Trade. All very interesting. See also his take on Jefferson's moving words regarding independence.

Pat Austin at So it Goes in Shereveport has this post regarding Obama's firing of inspector general Walpin while investigating misuse of funds by an Obama ally and the ensuing executive privilege claims. Chicago hardball at its finest. "Hope and Change" my @$$. Hmm. Can you tell my patience is wearing a tad thin with Obama?

Monique Stuart over at HotMES points out the inevitable cost overruns for Obamacare. Check out comment #4 while you're there. *heh* I like that idea.

Chris M at snaggletoothie of the Loyal Opposition has his usual and collection of vid-clips, one entry focusing on Meryl Streep singing. I like it.

And last but not least, a brief shout out to Jordan and all at Generation Patriot. Here's hoping for a quick return to punditry! We feel the lack.

Have a happy and safe 4th everyone!

UPDATE: Hmm... Of course today is Friday and not Thursday as I had said in this post's title. I did say I lose track of time when I begin writing, didn't I? Oh well...