"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore Roosevelt

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Monday, September 29, 2014

Smart Diplomacy: Obama Invites Indian PM to Dinner During Hindu Religious Fast


The sign of the "true" Democrat religion

Because Dems are really the only people who understand other cultures.

From The Washington Free Beacon:

The Obama administration was grilled on Monday for inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a state dinner while he is fasting as part of a Hindu religious observance, a move that has been criticized by some as insensitive. 
Obama will host Modi Monday evening at the White House “for a private dinner” that will also be attended by Vice President Joe Biden, the White House announced Monday morning. The event is closed to the press. 
However, the administration appears to have forgotten that Modi is in the middle of carrying out a religious fast in observance of the Hindu navratri, in which the faithful abstain from food, according to reports. 
The administration’s seeming insensitivity to Modi’s religious observance caused a tense back-and-forth during the State Department’s daily briefing with reporters. 
State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki was forced to defend the decision to hold the dinner on the holy day.

Yeah, just eat in front of the guy. Give him a big red "overcharge" button while you're at it.

I have found many people on the Left have very little care about religion beyond getting upset about it. Upset at Americans who don't care for Islam, for instance, or upset at American who cling to their religion (and guns) in the face of Marx-inspired progress. As for the religion itself, the Left holds a pretty open disdain-- in this case enough not to even bother to look over a religious calendar for a visiting dignitary.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

American Press Says White House Sometimes Demands Changes in Press-Pool Reports


You mean the media that actually publishes stomach-churning pictures like this would allow themselves to censored by the White House? Say it ain't so!


Of course the White House does. And the media, as always, submits. Because, you know, Obama's just so great and stuff.

From The Washington Post (h/y Instapundit):

White House press-pool reports are supposed to be the news media’s eyes and ears on the president, an independent chronicle of his public activities. They are written by reporters for other reporters, who incorporate them into news articles about President Obama almost every day. 
Sometimes, however, the White House plays an unseen role in shaping the story. 
Journalists who cover the White House say Obama’s press aides have demanded — and received — changes in press-pool reports before the reports have been disseminated to other journalists. They say the White House has used its unusual role as the distributor of the reports as leverage to steer coverage in a more favorable direction.

Of course The Post  claims that Obama only does this for trivial matters. I wonder what qualifies as trivial? Benghazi, the VA scandal, Fast & Furious, and the IRS's attacks against conservative groups were all publicly downplayed as trivial, fake, or Bush's fault by Obama himself. So, I'm a bit dubious as to what the White House and their boys at The Washington Post might claim is trivial.

Chris Mathews Compares Muslim Terrorists with Poor Black Americans


Just a young man without a cellphone trying to connect to the world, according to Chris Mathews.

Brilliant!

I just can no longer force myself to watch MSNBC. I did for a time, but those days are pretty long gone now. Yet, after listening to Chris Mathews' hilarious performance on this clip, I might go back for the laughs.

Where to begin...

Well, first for some stupid reason I can't post the actual clip. I'll try again later. In the meantime, the clip is over at Soopermexican so check it out there.

My favorite lines as Mathews talks about radical Islamic terrorists who are crucifying people in Syria and Iraq:

"I think most young people in the world today really want to get educated. They really want to get on their cellphones, they really want to connect to the world."

I didn't know it really required much of an education to use a cellphone or run a search on the internet. Are they giving out degrees for that now? It wouldn't surprise me.

But aside from that, these people are actually doing a pretty good job of using social media to post videos of their beheadings, upload pictures of stacks of bodies, etc.-- whereas I am having to provide a link since I can get the damn video clip to load on my blog. It doesn't really appear to me that these Islamic terrorists are having a hard time connecting with the world.

Mathews' very next line:

"They want to be part of the world. That's the optimistic view of everybody in the world, to become part of the globe and the future. Kids know that. Young people-- teens know that. Why do they want to be suicide bombers? What a hopeless career move... to be blunt about it."

I can't write this without laughing out loud. Oh, those crazy, mixed-up jihadist kids. Why can't they just surf the web, make trans-global pen-pals, and not blow themselves up? I just don't get it.

Mathews' laughable ignorance isn't actually the worst example of American Leftist thought. I mean, they are so shallow that they have absolutely no understanding of other peoples' religions, cultures, prejudices, histories... nothing. Just listen to him, Muslim suicide bombers are just people without cell phones.

I'm not going to analyze all this crap, but it does occur to me that this willful ignorance, which is really prevalent on the American Left-- from Obama right down to the local barrista, seems to come from the illusions that the Left have to hold for the Truth (yes, capital T) of their political views to have any hope of working. Socialism just doesn't work fellas. So the American Left must put their blinders on, believe that anyone who doesn't think like them has some mental defect, and know in their heart-of-hearts that people across the globe are, deep down in their very essence, just Lefty Americans. Just another day in reality-based politics, I guess.

Mathews' climatic conclusion:

"Unfortunately there's a parallel with the African-American kid in the North Philly situation where you grow up... where there's no more factories around. There's no more jobs around. There's no more blue collar options and the only deal they offered you is from the drug dealer. We have this problem at home."

Bwah ha ha ha! Yup. Mathews has compared jihadists with poor Black people. I guess we should really be worried about the poor and jobless Americans (which seem to be exclusively Black according to lily-White Mathews) suddenly rising up, crucifying political rivals, sending out pics of the stacks of bodies, and then blowing themselves up in public places. The parallel's right there folks. Mathews' proven it.

Yup, I gotta go back to checking out MSNBC again. The laughs come more frantically then Monty Python's confuse-a-cat sketch on that station.


Tuesday, September 23, 2014

China and Iran to Engage in Joint Naval Exercises


I doubt this news will even garner a hashtag from our State Department


Great...

Well, I'm sure John Kerry will tell us that both China and Iran can fight ISIS. Won't that be great?

From The Washington Free Beacon:

Chinese warships have pulled up to docks at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf as the countries prepare to conduct joint naval exercises. 
“The voyage of the Chinese Army’s fleet of warships for the first time in Persian Gulf waters is aimed at joint preparation of Iran and China for establishing peace, stability, tranquility, and multilateral and mutual cooperation,” Admiral Amir Hossein Azad, commander of Iran’s First Naval Zone, said Saturday.  
[...]  
The visit is just one example of growing ties between China and Iran. A Chinese fleet commander, Rear Adm. Huang Xinjian, said the visit was intended to “deepen mutual understanding, and to enhance exchanges between our two countries’ navies.” 
“I’m sure that this visit will encourage the constant advancement of friendly cooperation between our two countries’ navies,” Huang said.

Well, both countries have terrible records on human rights and have expressed a rather "enthusiastic" desire to expand their territories. I'm sure they'll have all sorts of things to talk about.

As distressing as this news is, it's hardly unexpected. China has been an ally of Iran for many years, and has helped Iran enormously with its nuclear program-- there are Chinese nuclear teams in Iran for many years.

Watching our enemies train while the US dithers and reduces its military capabilities is very difficult. It turns out that "smart" diplomacy doesn't replace military might.

Friday, September 19, 2014

ObamaCare "Glitch" Hits About 2 Million Americans Making Health Insurance "Practically Unaffordable"



Heroic paintings working hard to provide Americans with sub-standard care and bureaucratic flaws.

What?! A glitch in a massive government law that required super-massive amounts of bureaucratic interpretation? Shocking. It's almost as if the federal government isn't really the best provider of health care. Granted that a cursory look at Medicaid, Medicare and the VA would have suggested, but who can take the time to do all that while "making history"?

From The Washington Free Beacon:

Vague language within Obamacare will result in nearly 2 million Americans being unable to afford health insurance, according to a new report by the American Action Forum (AAF). 
The so-called “family glitch” occurs when an individual is offered health insurance through their employer but the plan is not extended to the rest of their family. Due to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) interpretation of the law, other immediate family members are not eligible to receive subsidies for insurance, even if their income is below the federal poverty level. 
The AAF has estimated that 1.93 million Americans will be affected by the glitch, making it “practically impossible” for them to obtain affordable health care coverage.  
[...]  
The provision could have unintended consequences for employees in the middle class, forcing them to not accept higher paying jobs out of fear of losing subsidy eligibility to pay for their family’s health insurance. 
The AAF also said the glitch could result in families choosing to separate or divorce, in order to keep subsidies.

Practically impossible? But wasn't ObamaCare about providing affordable health coverage for everyone? I guess not some working families. Oh, well. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs and other such infuriating cliches. Speaking of which does anyone even remember the "If you like your doctor/health insurance you can keep your doctor/health insurance?" Just one more lie that's too old to hold any relevance now, I suppose.

The article itself briefly sums up the AAF's take on the glitch, and it's the kind of loophole that's pretty much what you can expect from a federal program. Boy, it almost seems like ObamaCare is a bad idea. If only people had mentioned something about this 5 1/2 years ago or something...


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Poll: 46% of Doctors Give ObamaCare a D or F


"Those evil doctors shall know the wrath of the Light-bringer!"


Which just goes to show how racist our doctors are...

From The Washington Times:

Forty-six percent of doctors give President Obama's healthcare law a "D" or an "F," according to a new survey from the Physicians Foundation. In contrast, just 25 percent of those surveyed gave the law an "A" or a "B." 
The findings come from a survey that was emailed to "virtually every physician in the United States with an email address on record with the American Medical Association" this March through June as the law's major provisions were taking effect, and received more than 20,000 responses from doctors. 
In their comments that were included (but kept anonymous) in the report, a number of doctors complained about the vast amount of bureaucracy that has been added to the medical profession.

Well, it looks like about 46% of America's doctors are going to be audited by the IRS this year.

I would imagine the other 54% of the doctors either have no understanding of the law, or are Leftists who believe that they will be exempt from its provisions.

I wonder how many billions of dollars ObamaCare has already wasted? Ah, well. What's a few billion dollars wasted on nobles causes such as shortening the lives of Americans and making people unhealthy?


Friday, September 12, 2014

Tracing Obama's Missteps in Foreign Affairs


"Punish them, for they do not know how great I am."


There's an excellent article in Foreign Policy Magazine (h/t Ace of Spades) that I highly recommend. Yes, I have a few disagreements with the article by David Rothkopf-- especially regarding the American people's "mandate" that Obama was empowered with in 2008, a view that completely disregards both the role of race and the concerted efforts of the media in the election, as well as Rothkopf's insistence that Obama inherited many of problems he faces (guess what, all presidents inherit crises and problems so why is it worth specifically mentioning with Obama?)-- but it's still a good read. Check it out at the link below. In one paragraph Rothkopf covered quite a few of Obama's foreign policy failures, which are so numerous and come so quickly that it's frankly hard to keep up with, so it's a good refresher.

From the Foreign Policy article by David Rothkopf:

"You're still a superpower," a top diplomat from one of America's most dependable Middle Eastern allies said to me in July of this year, "but you no longer know how to act like one." 
He was reflecting on America's position in the world almost halfway into President Barack Obama's second term. Fresh in his mind was the extraordinary string of errors (schizophrenic Egypt policy, bipolar Syria policy), missteps (zero Libya post-intervention strategy, alienation of allies in the Middle East and elsewhere), scandals (spying on Americans, spying on friends), halfway measures (pinprick sanctions against Russia, lecture series to Central Americans on the border crisis), unfulfilled promises (Cairo speech, pivot to Asia), and outright policy failures (the double-down then get-out approach in Afghanistan, the shortsighted Iraq exit strategy).  
[...]   
The problem is that in seeking to sidestep the pitfalls that plagued Bush, Obama has inadvertently created his own. Yet unlike Bush, whose flaw-riddled first-term foreign policy was followed by important and not fully appreciated second-term course corrections, Obama seems steadfast in his resistance both to learning from his past errors and to managing his team so that future errors are prevented. It is hard to think of a recent president who has grown so little in office. 
As a result, for all its native confidence and fundamental optimism, the United States remains shaken and unsteady more than a decade after the 9/11 attacks. Many of its problems have only grown dangerously worse: Its relative influence has declined; the terrorism threat has evolved and spread; and U.S. alliances are superannuated, ineffective shadows of their former selves. Compounding this is such gross dysfunction in Washington that, on most issues, the president is presumed to be blocked by Congress even before he has had the opportunity to make a move.

And whose fault is this "gross dysfunction in Washington?" Let's not forget that Obama had two years of Democrat-controlled Congress and chose to bypass the Senate (still Dem controlled but with out the super-majority to avoid a bill-killing filibuster), and ram through the hugely unpopular and now unsuccessful ObamaCare. Just to top it off, Obama and the the Dems spent the entire time during, and often since the passage, characterizing political adversaries and any of the American people who voiced voicing their opposition, as being Nazis, racists, and enemies of the state. Obama ran a divisive campaign, continues to run a divisive and petulant presidency, and now he reaps the benefits of his own prior, self-serving actions.

It's clear that Obama has never held a role of leader, or even a managerial job, prior to his election. No one with a modicum of experience and intelligence would ever believe that they could continually treat/attack people this way and then get what want they want down the road. At least not without resorting to coercion-- which is partly explains the IRS's and EPA's attacks on Obama's political adversaries.

And then there's the brain trust, the best of what the Left has to offer:

The tensions around the Syria crisis had other knock-on costs that were themselves symptomatic of a misfiring process and team. For example, on the edges of the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, which took place Sept. 5 and 6, 2013, Washington continued to push for international support of military action as it had been doing ineffectively since late August. In one meeting, Rice pressed the German delegation relentlessly for leadership within the European Union. The Germans sought more time and consultation with other EU member states, frustrating Rice to the point that she lost her cool and reportedly launched into a profanity-filled lecture that featured a rare diplomatic appearance of the word "motherfucker." Germany's national security advisor, Christoph Heusgen, was so angered that he told an American confidante it was the worst meeting of his professional life.

Yeah, that story just rings true. I mean doesn't Rice just perfectly reflect the attitude of the American Left? Close-minded, arrogant, baselessly self-assured of the rightness of their (transitory) beliefs, profane, short-tempered, and all set with a spoiled child's response when they do not immediately get what they desire.

Remember when Bush II was accused of cowboy diplomacy. Well I guess now we have Samuel L. Jackson diplomacy-- "I'm tired of these motherfuckin' snakes in this motherfuckin' meeting room." Classy.

Rothkopf is far too generous to the disaster that has been Obama's presidency. He barely mentions Russia's rise in the wake of Obama's laziness and ineptitude (which is far more accurate in my my eyes than characterizing Obama as deliberative and aloof), and indeed he doesn't even mention the abrupt and alarming rise of tensions in the far-East that has come with the weakening of our relationship with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

Furthermore, while Rothkopf spends a good deal of time discussing Obama's bubble world within the White House, he doesn't spend nearly enough time on the consequences of this. Obama lives in a pretend world populated by people doing what he wills (with such little promptings as hashtags in the Boko Haram kidnapping incident-- one of many such kidnapping by the way), and acting as he perceives to be correct (Russia not behaving according to the 21st Century standards-- as though Obama sets or even understands such standards, ISIS isn't really Islamic, etc.). The danger of this sheltered, childish belief is quite obvious because it's been on full display for six years now.

Indeed, this means that Rothkopf's concluding hopes that Obama will abruptly change direction and correct himself is really just a bad joke. After spending so much time carefully constructing his cocoon, the chances that Obama and his fragile ego will leave it is pretty much zero. Pining for Obama to change is pointless. It won't happen. Instead we need to hold Obama and the rest of administration responsible for his failures, and not just write them off as happenstances beyond his control, or due to racism, or due to the clutter in Washington (again let's note that this a clutter of Obama's own making) or due to the sun, the moon, and the stars lining up against him.

Obama will not learn from his mistakes-- he has demonstrated a steadfast refusal to do so. Instead we need to learn from our mistakes. We need to not elect presidents based upon the mainstream media's backing, on vague musings of "hope," divine imagery (see above), nor on the basis of white guilt, racial atonement, nor the unrealistic idea of instant racial reconciliation, and certainly not in a giddy attempt to "make history."

We've been burned once, and the result has been foolish mistakes, betrayed allies across the globe, a rise in Islamic fundamentalism and blood-chilling violence, a rise in thuggish behavior among rival nations such as China and Russia, a questionable 2012 election due to interference by Obama's IRS, EPA, and a hacked GOP "get out the vote" system, a barren economy and the joblessness and hopelessness that comes attached.

Obama will not learn from his mistakes. He has never demonstrated the capacity to even admit to a mistake, much less learn from them. No. We need to ride out his administration, resist his encroachments into our lives, health care, Constitutional freedoms when we can. But most importantly, we need to learn from our mistake. And never to make the same one again.


China Jails Anti-Corruption Activists




That's because China's whole government runs on corruption. The more the government controls the more it's open to bribes to dole out the rationed benefits. This has been proven to be the case in the Soviet Union, all its vassal states, China, North Korea, etc.

From The Washington Free Beacon article by Daniel Wiser:

Jinping pledged to target graft among both high- and low-level officials—whom he called “tigers” and “flies”—after he assumed power in 2013. However, Chinese authorities and courts have now imprisoned 14 activists who peacefully advocated for similar anti-corruption measures, such as disclosing the wealth of government officials. 
Zhang Lin, an activist from the eastern Anhui province, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison last week on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place,” according to Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD). Zhang was initially detained in July 2013 after protesting the treatment of his daughter, who was barred from enrolling in an elementary school because of his activism. 
Zhang suffers from joint degeneration in his vertebrae, a dental disease, and an eye infection after years of previous detention, and he has been denied medical release multiple times. 
More activists could soon join Zhang in jail. Yang Maodong, more commonly known by his pen name Guo Feixiong, faces trial on Friday along with demonstrator Sun Desheng. Both could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison on the same charge leveled at Zhang.

China is busily doing what China does best, talk a (relatively) good game to the public, and then imprison political rivals and dissidents...

Is it any wonder why people get nervous when Democrats start pining for a Chinese style of government so that "they can get things done." The idea of "getting things done" seems to be pretty much the reason behind every modern totalitarian government. So, what's not to admire?


Thursday, September 11, 2014

Obama's ISIS Speech-- A Waste of Air


Hey, don't worry about those ISIS fellows. The self-canonized St. Obama will save us all. It's just like how he was going to make us all rich.


Obama took a brief respite from his grueling golf schedule today to gift us with a speech on the guys who are butchering people across Syria and Iraq. Arab Spring anyone?

 Obama had nothing to say except things are getting better domestically (uh-huh, that's why we have the greatest number of long-term unemployed in American history, just basking in the economic glory), and everything else isn't my fault but it'll be fine. What leadership...

Tom Rogan at the NRO succinctly sums up the weaknesses in Obama's speech.

From his NRO article:

It [Obama's speech] had four key substantive failures. 
First, adopting U.S. strategy in Somalia and Yemen as a guide for action against ISIS doesn’t make sense. The situations in Yemen and Somalia are hardly inspiring. From Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula constitutes a major threat to the West. Similarly, in Somalia, while al-Shabaab has suffered some notable losses, the group retains a significant regional capability (as illustrated by the Westgate Mall attack). Because of its military assets, internationally destabilizing influence, and expansionist ideology, ISIS must be confronted with a strategy that is more encompassing than that in Somalia and Yemen. 
Second, the president’s speech provides further evidence of his administration’s confusion over the connected power and potential of U.S. leadership. Referencing Arab support, Mr. Obama erred when he noted the limits of U.S. power to effect regional political stability. While this statement is true, to the Sunni Arab monarchies who regard Obama’s foreign policy with thinly veiled disdain, it will suggest another marker of hesitation. That’s a major issue — because unless the United States can persuade these states to coalesce around American strategy, they will continue to support Sunni extremists in Syria. After all, these leaders regard their primary threat as Iran, not ISIS. 
Third, the president failed to provide specifics on what contributions his coalition partners will provide to the counter-ISIS effort. As I noted on Monday, coalitions are complicated. By exaggerating tangible international support — the president’s hopeful mention of U.N. engagement was especially absurd — Mr. Obama has invited expectations he cannot meet. He’s weakened his credibility with the American people. 
But the most problematic element of Mr. Obama’s speech was, fourth, his statement that “American forces will not have a combat mission — we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq.” While there is little public or congressional support for a major ground operation against ISIS, the president, by explicitly ruling out any ground troops, has eliminated his critical Special Operations portfolio. This is cause for deep concern. Without limited Special Forces deployments on the ground — especially in eastern Syria’s Deir ez-Zor and Raqqah governorates, and north/central Iraq — it will be extremely difficult to restrict ISIS supply routes along the Euphrates corridor. Denying ISIS its maneuver-support structure will hasten ISIS’s defeat. The president’s only alternative is to order a massive deployment of CIA personnel instead. This is a damaging limitation of strategy at the altar of presumed public opinion. It plainly isn’t leadership.

This speech shouldn't surprise anyone. I mean, what on earth did we expect? Obama has no plan. He's proven repeatedly that he never does. I doubt that Obama is even fully aware of what is going on in the world. I think he avoids it because it hurts his frail ego.

Obama's pattern is clear. He simply makes a placating speech, then hopes that things don't get worse on his watch. If things do get worse-- as they have with ObamaCare, Syria, Egypt, Ukraine, etc.-- he goes into damage control mode and spins blame on the handiest target. which could be Bush, Cheney, the GOP, the Tea Party, ATMs, greed, etc.

Hey America, you voted for a guy who's whole accomplishments are based only in race and PR. Did you expect anything more but PR from him?


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Former WH Press Sect. Jay Carney Now Political Analyst for CNN


Jay Carney preparing for his stint on CNN

The  revolving door between press and the Democratic operatives continues. I suppose CNN was thinking that they weren't demonstrating their loyalty to Obama quite enough.

Man, how do so many people still consider the American media as impartial?

From Hot Air:

Surprising a grand total of no one, former White House Press Sec. Jay Carney will return to the spotlight on Wednesday night in a new role as a political analyst. His first task will be to assess the incredible proficiency with which President Barack Obama delivered his speech on America’s strategy to deal with the ISIS threat. Great speech or greatest speech? The anticipation is pure torture.  
“Jay’s unique experience as both a journalist and a White House press secretary make him an invaluable voice for the network as we cover the final two years of the Obama Administration and look ahead to the coming campaigns,” said CNN’s Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist. “We’re fortunate to have Jay on our air tonight to provide analysis and insight surrounding the President’s address to the nation.”   
White House press secretaries serve in a role which necessitates having some media savvy, and they are often swept up by cable and network news outlets to serve as commentators when they leave their post in the public sector. Carney’s move is not surprising, and he may end up being a strong analyst. But being a strong analyst means surprising the viewer on occasion with a counterintuitive take or two, that that often means running afoul of a press secretary’s political allies.

I guess after repeatedly lying to the press Carney has decided to move back to his old job of repeatedly lying directly to the American people.

Well, at least he has the right artwork in his kitchen to inspire him.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

The Hill: Support for ObamaCare Continues to Fall


He has come to give us crappy health care. Who could possibly dare to stand in the Light-bringer's way?


You know, a lot of bad news for Obama gets little attention simply because of how much there is. I mean the economy is still tanking, the IRS is still losing e-mails that ties Obama to the IRS targeting of conservative groups during an election year, Ukraine is battling Russia-- even after the reset, I mean "over charge," button nonsense, Islamic extremists (which the White House wanted to support against Assad) are crucifying and beheading people in Iraq and Syria including two American journalists, and so on.

So just to revisit some old items of interest, people still hate ObamaCare and support is eroding even further.

From The Hill:

Public approval of ObamaCare continued to sink this summer, issuing the latest warning for vulnerable Democrats who will face voters this fall after backing the law.   
Just 35 percent of voters now support the Affordable Care Act, down 3 percentage points from May, according to a monthly poll by the Kaiser Health Foundation released on Tuesday. Support for the healthcare overhaul law once stood at 50 percent, just weeks after it was signed in 2010.

So some more good news for those of us who don't want government administered health care, and the cost-saving measures that will inevitably come. Does anyone want to say "lobby Congress for your disease of choice to be covered"?


Monday, September 8, 2014

CNN Poll: Majority of Americans Fear ISIS


"Beheadings and crucifixtions?! Hee hee! That's not 21st Century behavior, so I'll just ignore it."


But it's actually just Republicans scaring voters-- I know because Wesley told me so.

From The Washington Free Beacon:

A majority of Americans are worried about the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and support military action against the terror group, according to a new CNN poll
Seven in 10 Americans say they believe ISIL has the resources to launch an attack against the U.S. Of those polled, 76 percent favor additional airstrikes against ISIL, and 62 percent favor providing military aid to forces fighting ISIL. 
More still–83 percent– say the U.S. should provide humanitarian relief to people fleeing ISIL. But despite widespread support for taking action against the terror group, 61 percent of Americans oppose using U.S. soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIL.

But it was still a good idea to pull American out of Iraq, because betraying and selling out our allies and friends is what Obama's America is all about. Gotta sacrifice to keep Obama looking all shiny and new, ain't that right?

Friday, September 5, 2014

Obamanomics in Action: Record 92,269,000 Not in Labor Force


"But on the upside record numbers of people are on disability. Don't all you folks thank me at once."

Yeah well, I'm sure it's part of some racist plot to make Obama look bad or something...

From CNS News (via Drudge):

A record 92,269,000 Americans 16 and older did not participate in the labor force in August, as the labor force participation rate matched a 36-year low of 62.8 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
The labor force participation rate has been as low as 62.8 percent in six of the last twelve months, but prior to last October had not fallen that low since 1978.  
[...]  
The 92,269,000 who did not participate in the labor force are those in the civilian noninstitutional population who did not have a job and did not actively seek one in the last four weeks. Because they did not seek a job, they did not count as “unemployed.” 
Of the 155,959,000 who did participate in the labor force, 146,368,000 had a job and 9,591,000 did not have a job but actively sought one. The 9,591,000 are the unemployed. They equaled 6.1 percent of the labor force—or an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent (which was down slightly from the 6.2 percent unemployment rate in July).

And how many of these 92+ million are people who have just given up looking for a job? I suspect a pretty fair amount. Obama's economic policies, political bullying of employers, and ObamaCare have made the job market a real joy for the past several years.


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Muslim Extremists Behead 2nd American Hostage; Senior U.S. Source: "“What we’ve found is that ISIS isn’t responsive” to outreach



Inspiring confidence...

So ISIS isn't responsive to Obama arrogantly lecturing these guys about the "true" nature of Islam? Really?! Can someone please tell me exactly when nanny lecturing began to be considered a foreign policy? My bet is it happened some time right around 2008.

From The Daily Mail:

ISIS has released a video that shows the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff and says the murder is retaliation for the Obama administration’s continued airstrikes in Iraq. 
Sotloff is the second American journalist to be killed by ISIS, and his death comes two weeks after James Foley was executed in a similar video. 
In the video entitled 'A Second Message to America,' Sotloff appears in a orange jumpsuit before he is beheaded by an Islamic State fighter. 
The executioner appears to be the same man who killed Foley – known as ‘Jihadi John’ - and tells the camera: 'I’m back, Obama, and I’m back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State.' 
He also threatens to kill a Briton held hostage by the group next. The identity of the hostage is widely available online, but MailOnline is not identifying him at the request of the British government. 
This afternoon British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the video, calling it ‘an absolutely disgusting and despicable act’.

I'm not sure that this killing inspired Obama to stop golfing or not.

Meanwhile our super-duper-absolutely-the-most-intelligent State Department ever is slowly coming to the realization that murderous thugs aren't readily accepting of arrogant and officious outreach from a president with a Muslim-sounding name. Huh. Who woulda thunk that?

From The Chicago Tribune via Jammie Wearing Fools:

Washington has contacted about two dozen countries for help in freeing the three, but no foreign government appears to have influence over or even significant contact with IS, which has declared an Islamic caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. 
What we’ve found is that ISIS isn’t responsive” to outreach, said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity and using an alternate acronym for the group.

Brilliant. I bet our State Department is preparing another hashtag assault on these killers. I bet it'll work this time. Sickeningly, that would still be more of a response than when these ISIS butchers were killing helpless people by the hundreds-- at times crucifying them.


"I totally don't get it. I mean why can't all the mean people just go and fight on an island somewhere. It would be so much cooler for the rest of us... Anyway, I'm busy because it's happy hour now!"


Monday, September 1, 2014

China Denies Democracy in Hong Kong


Let's all remember when the Empire State Building was lit up with the Chinese national colors to honor the country, shall we?


China denying democratic elections in Hong Kong is not a surprise.

From The Washington Free Beacon article by Dan Wiser:

China’s legislature on Sunday denied fully democratic elections to Hong Kong in a move that could spark mass protests in the city’s streets. 
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee ruled that nominees for Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017 would still have to obtain approval from 50 percent of a mostly pro-Beijing committee. The financial center’s pro-democracy movement had pushed for minimal involvement from China in both the nomination and election process. 
One pro-democracy legislator in Hong Kong told the New York Times that the city’s residents feel “betrayed.” 
“After having lied to Hong Kong people for so many years, it finally revealed itself today,” said Alan Leong. “Hong Kong people are right to feel betrayed. It’s certain now that the central government will be effectively appointing Hong Kong’s chief executive.” 
China regained administrative control of the former British colony in 1997. Hong Kong has since operated under a “one country, two systems” agreement that grants it more civil liberties and local freedoms than the mainland, making it a potential flashpoint in the clashes between Beijing and pro-democracy groups. 
The group Occupy Central now says it will stage nonviolent demonstrations in Hong Kong to protest the new electoral rules. 
Democratic members of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council could still attempt to block implementation of the electoral changes, which require approval by a two-thirds majority. However, the city’s current chief executive—loyal to Beijing—warned that not passing the rules could bar residents from voting at all.

Nice-- follow Beijing's instructions, or you won't be able to vote at all. Nothing like a little threat to force people to follow your edicts.

Stop if I'm wrong, but haven't a number of Democrats expressed admiration of China for its abilities to get things done? Well here's a sample of that.

And again the American Left reveals their desire for control and coercion-- all for the good of the people, of course.