Friday, June 17, 2011

Political Digest for June 17, 2011

Please join me in dispelling ignorance by forwarding the Digest to your friends, or to directing them to my blog. (No, I don’t know the White House e-mail address.)

A bit of a crunch next few days, may not be able to post a Digest every day. I hope the advertisers don’t mind.

The Coming Collapse of the American Republic
Info about my book. All royalties go to a charity to help wounded veterans. Please forward and post where possible.

Collapse book interview on the Rob Schilling Show
I'm scheduled to be interviewed about my book on Tuesday, 28th June from 1:15 pm EDT until 2:00 pm EDT (That's 12:15 pm CDT to 1:00 pm CDT). Also on the show will be Chet Nagle, author of The Iran Covenant and a former Naval Aviator (not “Navel” as my clumsy fingers recently typed. I do know the difference … vaguely) and former CIA Agent. The show originates from Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia and streams live on the internet. You can get it on the "Listen Live" link at https://mail.google.com/mail/html/compose/static_files/www.SchillingShow.com%20 They welcome callers at (434) 977-1070 (new number!) on their 'comment line.' Mark your calendars.

Greek default fears hit global markets as Papandreou pushes austerity measures
During WWII, the Nazis (doubtless to the admiration of their Muslim allies) chained Jews together in Budapest on a bridge over the river. The one on the end would be shot and his fall would, one by one, drag the others to their deaths by drowning. Supposedly to save ammo, I’d bet it was just refined cruelty, since chains are expensive too. (http://www.jewishjournal.com/yom_hashoah/article/jews_saving_jews_20110426/) Because the world’s economy is so integrated, and our debt is as bad thanks to decades of borrowing to buy votes, we are now on the end of a line of chained western economies, with Greece on the other end, ready to go into the abyss. ~Bob. Excerpt: Escalating political turmoil in near-bankrupt Greece intensified concerns Wednesday that the Mediterranean nation may be spiraling toward a calamitous default with investors, potentially igniting a new phase in Europe’s debt crisis. Global markets shuddered as embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou launched a risky gambit to push his Parliament to pass another round of austerity measures. Failure to pass the cuts could lead the European Union and International Monetary Fund to withhold bailout money, leaving Greece short of cash to pay its creditors as early as next month — an event that some economists warn could destabilize the global financial system.

The Obama Job Lies Pile Up
Excerpt: This is all you need to know about Obama’s economic program to understand why joblessness remains so persistent: The number one recommendation that the White House economic team and his jobs council – a council made up of the two top executives at GE and American Express- can come up with to jump start our economy is spending $2 billion on remedial training for our high school graduates. It’s true. This is even worse than the energy plan that Obama proposed that had no new ideas. The training is necessary, they say, so those graduates can fill the millions of jobs available today in manufacturing. Manufacturing what? Burgers and fries?

'Friendly Persuasion' Subverted the Enemy Assessment Process and Robbed Our Warriors of a Chance to Win and Survive in Afghanistan; Three- years-Ago! Part II
Excerpt: The Cast of Characters. The Mole: Hesham Islam was born in Cairo in 1959. He was raised in Alexandria where he remained until his parents moved the family to Basra during his teenage years. It was in Saddam Hussein's Basra that he completed his High School education and attended the Arabian Gulf Academy, where he purportedly graduated with a BS in Maritime Studies. His native language is Arabic and he is a devout Muslim. In 1980 he immigrated to the U.S. Considering the era in which this happened, it would be nice to know the particulars of that move but very little is publicly known about the family migration or even under what circumstances they left Iraq.

Rep. Anthony Weiner resigns
Cheating on your taxes like Rangel or Geithner? OK. Tweeting semi-lewd pictures? Not so much. I’m going to miss him and the jokes. ~Bob. Excerpt: Rep. Anthony Weiner announced his resignation Thursday, following revelations that he sent sexually explicit messages and photographs of himself to women he met online. In a packed news conference at a senior citizens’ center in Brooklyn, Weiner (D-N.Y.) said that “the distraction that I have created” has made it impossible for him to continue representing his district.

Worth reading: In Ted Cruz, a candidate as good as it gets
Excerpt: For a conservative Texan seeking national office, it could hardly get better than this: In a recent 48-hour span, Ted Cruz, a candidate for next year’s Republican Senate nomination for the seat being vacated by Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison, was endorsed by the Club for Growth PAC, FreedomWorks PAC, talk-radio host Mark Levin and Erick Erickson of RedState.com. And Cruz’s most conservative potential rival for the nomination decided to seek a House seat instead. (The Cruz campaign asked for a copy of The Coming Collapse of the American Republic, which I sent. ~Bob.)

Obama Campaign Sends Around Misleading DNC Video on GOP Debate
Excerpt: At last night’s Republican debate, the seven candidates talked about unemployment, taxes, regulations, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s talk of a goal of 5% GDP growth, the individual mandate in the health care bill, the Independent Medicare Advisory Board, welfare reform, the Tea Party, currency policy, the National Labor Relations Board, Boeing, TARP, the auto bailout, Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare proposal, former Gov. Mitt Romney’s health care program in Massachusetts, raising the debt ceiling, raising the retirement age for Social Security, the role of religion in public life, the 10th amendment, Libya, Afghanistan, and so on. But President Obama’s 2012 campaign is sending out a DNC video suggesting the candidates spoke only about sharia law, an anti-gay-marriage amendment, repealing health care, Sarah Palin, and the space program. Read the rest and see the video right here.

The President's Burden
Excerpt: What a burden our president bears. Just ask him. He must bravely fight the depredations of hordes of American doctors who lop off limbs and take out tonsils for absolutely no reason, except to stuff their wallets. And we're talking doctors in all 57 states! He must revive an economy mired in record-shattering depths, pulling against the strain of job-destroying ATM bank machines. True, ATMs debuted in 1968; but only now, during his administration, did their cunningly concealed job-killing effects suddenly explode.

Good Grief. Radical Obama Pal, Who Was Awarded $457,000 in Taxpayer Funds & Has Visited White House, Is Being Investigated For Ties to Terrorism
Excerpt: It’s not just Bill Ayers…In October 2010 FBI agents raided the homes of far left activists in Chicago and Minneapolis who were linked to the Marxist FARC terrorists and Islamic radicals as part of a terrorism investigation. The home of radical Hatem Abudayyeh, a friend of Barack Obama, was raided in the terror sweep.

A Curious Insularity
Excerpt: In the world of Barack Obama, inflating tires and “tuning up” modern car engines precludes off-shore drilling. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas prices can be ameliorated by having the average consumer trade in his 8-mpg clunker. Medical bills soar because doctors unnecessarily rip out tonsils and lop off limbs. “Skyrocketing” power bills and bankrupt coal companies are abstractions, and do not involve personal tragedies. One third of the border fenced means that the fence is “basically” completed. Nine percent unemployment is due in part to automation like ATMs, which apparently first came on the scene during the Obama administration to eliminate jobs. Shovel-ready jobs were not so shovel-ready. Criticism is dismissed as “enemies” deserving “punishment” or opponents relegated to the “back seat” or adversaries caricatured with “moats and alligators.” And so on. Two themes predominate: a cluelessness about how things work outside the Ivy League–Chicago–D.C. political nexus, and a sense that nothing is ever Barack Obama’s fault. In that regard, he has two legitimate mea culpas: One, Obama has never run a business, spent any considerable time off the public payroll or outside of politics, or spent any time with those who were once characterized as “clingers,” and thus cannot be expected to know much about how cars work, doctors are paid, illegal immigrants cross the border, or the basics of economics. Intelligence and achievement are instead measured solely in terms of what universities or the elite media decide.

House Panel Slams 'Fast and Furious' Gun Operation Tied to Border Agent's Death
Someone is sweating—and deserves too. And worse. ~Bob. Excerpt: Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed on Dec. 14 near Rio Rico, Ariz., according to a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. (FNC)A U.S. law enforcement operation intended to crack down on major weapons traffickers on the Southwest border spiraled out of control as federal agents were told by superiors to "stand down" and ignore weapons bought in Arizona headed for Mexico, a House panel heard Wednesday. Three federal firearms investigators told the House Oversight and Government Reform committee that they wanted to "intervene and interdict" loads of guns, but were repeatedly ordered to step aside. "Allowing loads of weapons that we knew to be destined for criminals -- this was the plan," John Dodson, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who testified to the panel. "It was so mandated." He added: "My supervisors directed me and my colleagues not to make any stop or arrest, but rather, to keep the straw purchaser under surveillance while allowing the guns to walk."

Justice Dept. untruthful about Fast & Furious, ATF agents tell Congress
Excerpt: The Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) yesterday released a report, “The Department of Justice’s Operation Fast and Furious: Accounts of ATF Agents,” that is sure to infuriate law enforcement officers and American citizens across the country. The at time shocking report includes testimony from four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agents offering firsthand accounts about the controversial Operation Fast and Furious that allowed suspects to walk away with illegally purchased guns. … While President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder denied knowledge of the operation, according to law enforcement sources, the rationale for the operation that went awry was that Attorney General Holder and his staff at the Justice Department wanted to show proof of his, and other Obama administration officials', statements that the majority of firearms used by Mexican drug cartels originated in the United States and are smuggled into that drug war-torn country.

The Real Budget Problem: Tax increases won’t solve our budget woes.
Excerpt: If you listen to the discussion of the deficit in the mainstream media or the talking points from leading Democrats on the Hill (but I repeat myself), the refrain is that tax increases must be part of any deficit fix. There is a superficial moderation to that appeal, a sort of splitting the difference between Republicans who want to cut spending and Democrats who want to pay for popular programs. And, frankly, some tax breaks and loopholes should be eliminated — ethanol subsidies, for example — not as revenue raisers, but because they are such bad economic policies. 

Victory in Wisconsin, but the Fight Goes On
Excerpt: Consider it a victory for taxpayers and for the rule of law. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4–3 in favor of upholding the state's new collective bargaining law, reversing a lower court decision that sought to stamp out the will of the people, the authority of the legislature, and a major movement toward fiscal reform. And at three this morning, following a nearly 13-hour floor debate, the Wisconsin Assembly approved a budget aimed at wiping out the state's $3 billion structural deficit. Like many states, Wisconsin this year found itself drowning in an ocean of overspending and suffering the fourth highest tax burden in the country. In this fiscal nightmare, public-sector unions fashioned for themselves a cushy, taxpayer-funded existence, disconnected from the realities of the state's economic woes. Heritage's James Sherk explains just how sweet that deal was: Until now, government employees in Wisconsin paid just 6 percent of their health care premiums and next to nothing for generous pensions, and the average teacher in Milwaukee makes $101,000 a year. Government union contracts also require layoffs to occur on the basis of seniority. Long-time government employees can rest assured that they will never get laid off.

Criticizing Obama, Kucinich credits Bush for asking Congress to go to war
When even Kucinich misses Bush, you know things are bad. ~Bob. Excerpt: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Thursday ripped President Obama while giving credit to former President George W. Bush for asking Congress to authorize the war in Iraq. The anti-war Democrat, criticizing Obama's handling of the conflict in Libya, noted that Bush formally consulted Congress on the Iraq war in 2002. President Bush came to Congress ... President Obama doesn't feel like he needs to come to Congress," Kucinich said on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" program. Kucinich pointed out he was strongly opposed to the Iraq war.

How To Make Revolution Work
Excerpt: We’ve got golden opportunities to support democratic revolutionaries in the lands of the fallen pharaohs, as well as in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. Those would-be revolutionaries are endangered because the Western world has utterly failed to support them, not because of a lack of a suitable tradition of political thought Iranians have considerable experience in self-government, and the rules of democracy, while certainly antithetical to the principles of Ba’athism or the Islamic Republic, aren’t all that complicated. The Iraqis are doing pretty well, for example, despite the looming darkness on their eastern border with Iran. It’s not only a question of “understanding” this world–a world roiled by a global insurrection–the point, my dear comrades, is to change it. Which means committing revolutionary America to the support of men and women laying down their lives for a vision of freedom that comes from us.

The Influence Industry: Ethanol lobby running low on fuel in Washington
Rearranging the deck chairs as the fiscal iceberg gets ever closer. ~Bob. Excerpt: For years, Washington’s influential ethanol lobby seemed untouchable, successfully defending subsidies that this year alone are worth an estimated $6 billion. But now ethanol producers find themselves under siege as GOP presidential candidates and lawmakers from both parties look for new ways to save money.

“All three of these lines of research to point to the familiar sunspot cycle shutting down for a while.”
Excerpt: I’ve managed to get a copy of the official press release provided by the Southwest Research Institute Planetary Science Directorate to MSM journalists, for today’s stunning AAS announcement and it is reprinted in full here: WHAT’S DOWN WITH THE SUN? MAJOR DROP IN SOLAR ACTIVITY PREDICTED A missing jet stream, fading spots, and slower activity near the poles say that our Sun is heading for a rest period even as it is acting up for the first time in years, according to scientists at the National Solar Observatory (NSO) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). (This is a possibility some of the guest authors and commentators at WUWT have been discussing since before I started read the blog two years ago. If you click the WUWT link and scroll down, on the right-hand side of the page, you’ll find a current (within hours) image of the Sun showing any spots then visible. This feature was added some months ago. The reader comments following the article are interesting, too. Ron P.)

When Is a War Not a War? When President Obama Says So
Excerpt: The expected showdown between the president and Congress over the War Powers Act took a strange and exotic turn on Wednesday when the administration claimed that it was not engaged in a war in Libya, and had not been involved in hostilities since April 7. The State Department’s legal advisor, Harold Koh, claimed in an interview with the New York Times that “the limited nature of this particular mission is not the kind of ‘hostilities’ envisioned by the War Powers Resolution.” (Thank you, Party of Lawyers, for explaining this so clearly. I wonder if I can use a version of this to get out of parking tickets? “I wasn’t parking, Your Honor, merely proceeding along the road imperceptibly slowly.” Yeah, that’d work. Ron P. Well, I'd much rather be bombed, maimed and ripped apart in a non-war, Ron. Wars, as we know, as so messy. Any military action by presidents of either party in the future will be declared "not the kind of hostilities envisioned..." ~Bob.)

Pakistan-U.S. security relationship at lowest point since 2001, officials say
Gee, can’t think why. Unless the fact that we told them about the next two raids after bin Laden, and found the bad guys gone. Ya think? ~Bob. Excerpt: The security relationship between the United States and Pakistan has sunk to its lowest level since the two countries agreed to cooperate after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, endangering counterterrorism programs that depend on the partnership, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. Both sides say further deterioration is likely as Pakistan’s military leadership comes under unprecedented pressure from within its ranks to reduce ties with the United States. The army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, was jeered last month by fellow officers who demanded in a town-hall-style meeting that he explain why Pakistan supports U.S. policy.

Zawahiri named new al-Qaeda leader
Let’s see, where is he from? Oh, yes, Egypt, where we are supporting the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power. What could go wrong? ~Bob. Excerpt: Al-Qaeda announced its new leader on Thursday, elevating Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian who had been operational commander of the global terror network and served as its public face in recent years. Zawahiri, a surgeon who spent years in underground Islamic groups in Egypt before joining al-Qaeda, previously was the militant group’s second-in-command. Since the death of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. raid last month, he had been considered the most likely candidate to take the helm of the organization.

Pakistan's Terror Addiction: How Your Tax Dollars Kill Our Troops
Excerpt: Forget creepy Congressman Anthony Weiner’s supposed “sex addiction.” Our real problem is Pakistan’s deadly addiction to terrorism as a tool of statecraft and policy. And we’re subsidizing it. Too many Washington political hacks think that money can buy everything (after all, it bought them their elections). So there’s no stick, just carrot. No matter how badly the Pakistanis behave, the answer remains the same: More aid dollars. We give Pakistan $2-billion a year to support us in the war on terror. And Pakistan passes on the largesse to the terrorists. It’s not an open secret. It’s isn’t a secret at all. Your tax dollars are being used to help kill and maim our Soldiers, Marines and Navy corpsmen fighting in Afghanistan. This is beyond obscenity.

Iranian Official: ‘We Will Use Our Missiles To Protect Other Muslim States’
Like, say, if Hamas fires rockets into Israel to kill Israeli children, Israel better just take it and not respond. ~Bob. Excerpt: Last Thursday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani — while at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Indonesia — stated that Iran will use its missiles to defend other Muslim nations if threatened. This is the first time that a high-ranking Iranian official has issued such a warning. In effect, Iran is expanding its defense strategy from protecting their own sovereignty to a “defensive umbrella” over other Islamic nations.

The Law and Civil Liberties
Excerpt: On June 7, at 6 a.m., Wright was awakened by a knock on his door. According to his account, he came downstairs in his boxer shorts, but before he could reach the door, federal police officers stormed in. They were looking for his estranged wife, who was not in the house. Wright has no criminal record. Wright told local TV station "News 10" he was grabbed by the neck and taken outside to his front lawn. He says officers then awakened his children, ages 3, 7 and 11, and put them in a Stockton patrol car while his house was searched. "They put me in handcuffs in that hot patrol car for six hours, traumatizing my kids," he said. DOE spokesman Justin Hamilton told the TV station that federal agents with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) served the search warrant. Hamilton would not say why the raid took place, but he said it was not because someone had defaulted on student loans, as some local media initially reported. (In this case, “DOE” is the US Department of Education. Did they forget to sign and return a Report Card? Fail to return library books on time? Ron P. Maybe “DOE” stands for the Democrat Obama Empire. If someone bursts in and you think it’s a home invasion by thugs and shoot them, who is responsible? ~Bob.)

Hearing Addresses Inmate Conversions to "Prislam"
Excerpt: Los Angeles police have several active investigations involving radicalized prison converts, a commanding officer with the LAPD told a House committee hearing Wednesday. "We have ongoing cases that involve convert prison radicals that are out in the community now," LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing told the House Homeland Security Committee. The hearing, "The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons," was the second called by Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., to address radicalization within the Muslim American community. The first, held in March, included testimony of two family members of radicalized Muslims. Wednesday's hearing focused on the threat from "Prislam," which Downing described as an extremist "cut and paste" version of Islam practiced by inmates. The resulting ideology is what former Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Smith said he saw in some New Folsom prison inmates whom he prosecuted for plotting to attack Jewish targets in Los Angeles and the LAX airport.

Oklahoma's high court upholds state's anti-illegal immigration bill
Alert the Holder Brown Shirts! ~Bob. Excerpt: The state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision that determined virtually all of the state's anti-illegal immigration law is constitutional. “It is not the place of the Supreme Court or any court to concern itself with a statute's propriety, desirability, wisdom or its practicality as a working proposition,” the 25-page ruling states. “Such questions are plainly and definitely established by fundamental laws as functions of the legislative branch of government.”

Top Brass Cited in Gun Sting: Emails Show ATF Director Involved in Troubled Operation Tied to Agent's Death
Excerpt: Lawmakers released documents showing that senior federal officials were closely involved in a troubled gun-enforcement operation that came to light after the death of a U.S. border agent in a shootout in December. The disclosures came at an emotional House hearing at which family members of the agent testified. Republican lawmakers are pressing to determine how high up knowledge and approval of the program went in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and its parent agency, the Justice Department. Two assault rifles purchased at a gun store that was part of an ATF probe called Fast and Furious were found at the scene of the Arizona shooting in which the 40-year-old agent, Brian Terry, lost his life. The program was created to monitor weapons purchases by suspected gun traffickers. Agency officials hoped eventually to build a case against major arms smugglers serving Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico, other nations allowed to sue states with new immigration laws
Let’s see. The states are trying to enforce the federal law the federal government is not enforcing. The federal government is trying to stop them, saying only the federal government is allowed to enforce—or in this case—not enforce the law. Now other countries have been allowed by the federal courts to sue states that are trying to stop their citizens from coming here illegally, so their citizens will be allowed to break the law without interference. I didn’t notice falling down the rabbit hole, but clearly the Red Queen, Cheshire Cat and White Rabbit are now running things. ~Bob. Excerpt: Last week, several Latin American countries filed an amicus brief in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in opposition to a new Utah law which allows local law enforcement to arrest illegal aliens and bans them from using state-funded services. The brief was filed by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. While the Utah legislation was actually enacted on March 15, a stay was issued by the federal court on May 10—blocking the law from going into effect until the constitutionality of such laws is decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Though it would seem that foreign governments lack any legal standing in attempting to block state legislatures from enacting laws, the precedent was set for such meddling last year in the wake of Arizona’s SB1070 legislation. In October 2010, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the nations of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru could file briefs against the state of Arizona.

Senate panel passes sanctuary city bill
Excerpt: The only one of Gov. Rick Perry's emergency items to fail in the regular session has found new life in the special session. A bill to ban so-called sanctuary cities passed a Senate committee Monday 5-4, re-opening a controversial immigration debate. As immigration groups readied themselves outside to speak out against the bill, Senators heard testimony from law enforcement groups. Senate Bill 9 would allow police and local governments to legally question the immigration status of people they detain. Perry resurrected the item in the special session. He has long shown his support to use such methods to battle illegal immigration in Texas, even labeling the city of Houston a sanctuary cities and saying others exist in the state.

Our Reactionary President
Excerpt: Barack Obama is the most reactionary president in the recent history of the United States. Obama seems intent on turning back the clock to the good old days of the 1960s and 1970s, when rigid political orthodoxy, not an open mind, once guided government. Take the economy. The 1980s implosion of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union proved that state control of the means of production guaranteed poverty and worse. The current insolvent and fragmenting European Union, and the stagnant economics of the exploding Middle East, remind us that state socialism does not work. Why, then, would Obama, in horse-and-buggy fashion, go back to such fossilized concepts as absorbing the nation's health care system, increasing the federal government's role in the economy by taking over automobile corporations, borrowing $5 trillion to spend on new entitlements, or proposing an array of much higher taxes -- all in a vain effort to ensure an equality of result? Almost every key indicator of the current economy -- unemployment, deficits, housing, energy -- argues that Obama's reactionary all-powerful statist approach has only made things far worse.

Cop Fired For Responding to Officer Down Call
Cops own fault. If he wanted a job where he couldn’t be fired, he should have become a professor. There lying, sex with students, attacking your country, all are acceptable. Being a hero and trying to save a life—not so much. ~Bob. Law enforcement leaders are stepping up criticism of Rice University’s firing of a police officer who responded to an armed standoff off-campus last month with a man who shot two HPD officers before turning the gun on himself. Rice University terminated the officer, David Sedmak, for dereliction of duty for leaving his post to get to the call near the downtown Greyhound station. Sedmak responded to the scene when he heard the call on his police scanner. “You don’t fire a guy for this unless he’s a chronic disciplinary problem,” said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, at a news conference Monday. “You call him in, you counsel him and you put him back out there (to work). If he’s a good cop, he’s a good employee. You use this as a training opportunity.”

I’d just rather you said “Thank You"
Excerpt: One reason I have the One Marine’s View Blog is to help the typical American understand “what” their Marines are doing in Afghanistan. It would surprise the hell out of you that so few Americans really understand what Marines are about or accomplish in places like Afghanistan, especially your younger warriors. As a society now days we are clueless about sacrifices that the military makes. Older generations get it but our younger generation....not so much. Many of the younger ones that do get it join the military. Here is an example “Potential Republican presidential contender Jon Huntsman suggested in a TV interview Sunday that he favors a faster timetable for withdrawing American soldiers from Afghanistan than the one laid out by President Barack Obama. “Mr. Huntsman said the high price of the war and declining public support lead him to question whether the U.S. military can “hang out” in Afghanistan until 2014.” Dear Mr Huntsman, obviously you have never been to Afghanistan. Obviously you have no freaking idea what your warriors are doing there and furthermore, we are not “hanging out”. There are several other places I would “hang out” at and Afghanistan isn’t one of them. See America, this is a typical example of how people in general will run their sock on shit they have no idea about. I’ve said it before, if you haven’t been there, seen the great work your warriors are doing then you really don’t have any ground to say jackshit about Afghanistan especially make jackassery comments about “hanging out there”. Tell that military spouse that is holding the household together her husband is hanging out in Afghanistan, for the third or fourth time/deployment.

Hunkered-Down America
Excerpt: It's a cliche -- but true -- that a huge obstacle to a stronger economic recovery is the lack of confidence in a strong recovery. If consumers and businesses were more confident, they would be spending, hiring and lending more freely. Even a slight relaxation might do wonders for the subpar nature of the expansion, highlighted by May's meager 54,000 increase in payroll jobs. Instead, we're deluged with reports suggesting that, because the recession was so deep, it will take many years to regain anything like the pre-crisis prosperity. Just last week, for example, the McKinsey Global Institute, the research arm of the consulting firm, released a study estimating that the country needs 21 million additional jobs by 2020 to reduce the unemployment rate to 5 percent. The study was skeptical that this would happen. Ugh. Pessimism and slow growth become a vicious cycle. (When the government keeps changing the rules on things like taxes, regulations and healthcare, hunkering down is the natural reaction. We saw this during the depression when the Roosevelt administration kept trying new things. Not knowing what “new thing” would be tried on them next, people were reluctant to take risks. ~Bob.)

TUSD's Mexican American Raza Studies found in violation of multiple laws
Excerpt: Superintendent of Public Instruction Huppenthal has found the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American/Raza Studies classes to be in violation of multiple Arizona laws. … The Superintendent focused in part on the failure of the TUSD Governing Board to appropriately review and approve the Mexican American/Raza Studies curriculum, text, and materials before allowing them in the classroom. There is no evidence that the Governing Board ever reviewed or approved the curriculum and texts.

Eric Holder tacks left at DOJ
Trying to get to the left of Trotsky I guess. ~Bob. Excerpt: Attorney General Eric Holder is finding his voice again, staking out traditionally liberal positions in public and behind closed doors despite a series of highly publicized setbacks, most notably the White House’s rejection of his plan to try September 11 suspects in civilian courts. Since the beginning of the year, Holder has convinced President Barack Obama to abandon legal defense of the law barring federal recognition of same-sex marriages, embraced the politically sensitive notion of giving retroactive sentence reductions to some convicted crack cocaine dealers and encouraged the White House to issue its first terror-related veto threat against Republican legislation aimed at forcing terrorism prosecutions out of civilian court and into military commissions.

New Mexican President, Same Cartel War?
Excerpt: We talk to a lot of people in our effort to track Mexico’s criminal cartels and help our readers understand the dynamics that shape the violence in Mexico. Our contacts include a wide range of people, from Mexican and U.S. government officials, journalists and business owners to taxi drivers and street vendors. Lately, as we’ve been talking with people we’ve been hearing chatter about the 2012 presidential election in Mexico and how the cartel war will impact that election. In any democratic election, opposition parties always criticize the policies of the incumbent. This is especially true when the country in involved in a long and costly war. Recall, for example, the 2008 U.S. elections and then-candidate Barack Obama’s criticism of the Bush administration’s policies regarding Iraq and Afghanistan. This is what we are seeing now in Mexico with the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) criticizing the way the administration of Felipe Calderon, who belongs to the National Action Party (PAN), has prosecuted its war against the Mexican cartels.

Was Iran Behind 9/11?
Excerpt: A lawsuit has been filed accusing Iran and Hezbollah of “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.” Drawing on the knowledge of two Iranian intelligence defectors, three 9/11 Commission staffers and various experts, eight law firms are placing blame for the September 11 attacks on the Iranian regime. If successful, the lawsuit will put to rest the notion that a nuclear Iran can be lived with. The first indications of possible Iranian involvement in the September 11 attacks were in the 9/11 Commission Report released in 2004. The report revealed that 8 to 10 of the hijackers had gone to Iran between October 2000 and February 2001. The border guards were apparently ordered not to stamp their passports. In October 2000, a senior Hezbollah official went to Saudi Arabia to prepare for the arrival of guests in Iran. The lawsuit says this was Imad Mughniyah, a top agent of Iran and operations chief of Hezbollah. That same month, two future hijackers (Mohand al-Shehri and Hamza al-Ghamdi) flew from Iran to Kuwait.

Islam and Nationalism
Excerpt: One of the cornerstones of the two-state solution is the belief that the Palestinians, as well as the larger Arab world, will be satisfied with the creation of an Arab state either within the territory of Judea and Samaria alone or when combined with the smaller Gaza Strip. Either way such a country, as many of the two-state supporters claim, is all that the Arabs really want and therefore the fears that one day the Arabs will try to liberate all of “Palestine” are nothing but hot air. In addition to whitewashing the PLO’s 1974 Phased Plan for Israel’s destruction, a plan which many argue is still in existence, as well as just being downright naĂŻve following years of Arab belligerence, the faithful advocates of the two-state narrative are also ignoring another salient point.

Why Race Matters
In Britain, when young Muslim men attack non-Muslims, the papers always refer to them as “Asian youths.” Not PC to say they are Muslims. Shouting “Allah Akbar” or quoting from the Qur’an must not be inferred to have anything to do with Islam. ~Bob. Excerpt: On Memorial Day weekend, there were riots in Charlotte, Rochester, Nashville, Miami, Myrtle Beach and Boston. Last Friday, fighting broke out at Brighton Beach in New York City, where five people were shot and a young girl was killed. Flash mobs have been attacking people in Chicago on the streets and on public buses. The common thread? All of the mobs were black youths — and there’s been a concerted effort by the media to ignore that reality. Toward what end? Sparing America from a having a real conversation about race? Here’s what the see-no-evil crowd doesn’t want to talk about: there’s a thug element in the black American community which has been glorified for years. The seed was planted during the Johnson administration, which spawned the Great Society and the massive expansion of the welfare state. Despite all protestations to the contrary, that expansion destroyed the basic underpinning of any civilized society, namely the nuclear family. Nowhere has that destruction been more prevalent than in the black American community, which now boasts an out-of-wedlock birthrate of 72 percent. It’s not as if no one saw it coming. Daniel Patrick Moynihan predicted that America would pay profound consequences for “defining deviancy down,” specifically citing the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program as the prime culprit.

If You’re Worried About Crime, You’re a Racist
Excerpt: Michelle Alexander and Ruth Wilson Gilmore spent more than 800 words in the June 5th Sacramento Bee to make the point I just made in my headline with eight. But whether laid out pithily in eight words or belabored for 800 — or 8,000 for that matter — twaddle is still twaddle. The authors begin their piece as follows: “The fearmongering responses to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring California’s prison system ‘cruel and unusual’ in violation of the Eighth Amendment were predictable.” My most recent piece concerned this very topic, and indeed I struck a note of concern — “fearmongering,” in the authors’ view — over the ramifications to California that might follow in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Plata. And if my reaction was predictable, no less so was that of Alexander and Gilmore, both of whom have written books (here and here) in which they condemn the American criminal justice system as racist.

In Memory of U.S. Navy Diver Robert Dean Stethem
Excerpt: Twenty-six years ago today, on June 15, 1985, the world watched one of the most horrific atrocities taken against innocent civilians—this event was aired live on televisions around the world. TWA Flight 847 was hijacked, held its captives for seventeen day, and brutally murdered 23-year old Robert Stethem, a proud American and a U.S. Navy diver. This terrorist attack was conducted by the Iranian supported terrorist group Hezbollah. Hezbollah remains one of the world’s most threatening Islamist terrorist organizations. It often goes unmentioned in traditional media due to the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Al Qaeda has appeared to supersede it like a global pandemic as we continue to fight this war against terror but make no mistake: Hezbollah has been and remains a deadly threat to Israel, the United States and all free peoples.

King hearings on jihadist indoctrination in prisons go forward to predictable denial, accusations of "racism"
Excerpt: An update on this story. Those objecting to the hearings have resorted to two primary arguments. One is that Muslims are being singled out for reasons of sheer bigotry. Playing that card is emotional blackmail (see also: this attempt to compare the King hearings with Japanese internment camps), and an attempt to stop the discussion in its tracks. Some will fear being branded as bigots, while others will seize on the opportunity to score political points by branding others as such. The other angle is to claim that the problem is so infinitesimally small -- the work of that Tiny Minority of Extremists -- that it is a non-issue. But compare the track record on violent radicalization of prisoners by, say, the Salvation Army. And there is also the word of experienced law enforcement officials who testified that yes, Virginia, there is a problem. Lastly, the visible, violent "radicalization" is the tip of the iceberg. Any attempt to indoctrinate prisoners to accept any totalitarian, supremacist system should automatically be exposed.

That academia has it’s price is hardly shocking. But that it’s so low…~Bob. Excerpt: Georgetown University has some explaining to do based on documents obtained exclusively by PJM from a confidential law enforcement source. The documents reveal a scheme to pass $325,000 through the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has been identified by the FBI as a front for the Hamas terrorist organization. The money was paid to Georgetown by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to promote its “Islamophobia” agenda, which includes its stated international objective of criminalizing any criticism of Islam. Even more troubling: evidence that Georgetown is not the only American university to cooperate with CAIR and the OIC in their joint plan to subvert the First Amendment right to free speech.

Jihad Culture Should Be Developed Among Muslim Nations - Leader
Excerpt: Iranian Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi stressed that the culture of jihad should be developed among Muslim nations to provide more support for the people as well as safeguarding the values.  "According to the Supreme Leader, the Islamic Revolution has given us the culture of jihad as a gift and now jihadists should grant it to other nations," Firouzabadi, chairman of Iran's Joint Chiefs of Staff to Mehr News Agency.

Social Security Overpaid $6.9B in 2009
Rounding error in our deficit trouble. ~Bob. Excerpt: The Social Security Administration made $6.5 billion in overpayments to people not entitled to receive them in 2009, including $4 billion under a supplemental income program for the very poor, a government investigator said Tuesday. In all, about 10 percent of the payments made under the agency's Supplemental Security Income program were improper, said Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr., the Social Security inspector general.

New Website: Islam Speaks by Hassan Malik
Site by a former Muslim. Since leaving Islam is punishable by death, this takes courage. ~Bob. Excerpt: This site is about Islam and NOT Muslims. Well, on occasion we may point out the religious hypocrisy of the most staunch radicals, but we intend to stay focused here on Islam itself. If there is anyone thinking of converting to Islam or you know someone thinking about it, please show them this site so that they may be aware of some of the superstitious and frankly stupid teachings that are both in the Quran and the Hadith. Most people that convert are unaware of these texts. (So are those born into it for that matter) On the other hand, many Muslim “du’aat” (callers to Islam) love to tout the “perfection” of Islam in making their case to those they are trying to convert. And many end up converting with only a small picture of what Islam really is. Some even teach how to get an unsuspecting person to “take shahada” (i.e., convert to Islam) in just TEN MINUTES!!

Excerpt: The translation of the Qur’an calls them “right hand possessions”. However, this is really nothing other than a sex slave. For those that think no Muslim believes this, then read this fatwa and this one. It is a myth that Islam ended slavery once and for all and many believe that it will come back to these days. Remember that unlike other societies who had sex slaves, this is considered to be “perfect divine guidance” in Islam. So it can not ever be questioned. (To be fair, I think they allow single women to be captured, raped and enslaved as well. ~Bob.)

Libya rape victims 'face honour killings'
Now, take a deep breath and remember the Liberal catechism: All cultures are equally valid. Tough for these women, but a small price to pay to support PC. We should bomb Libya to prevent attacks on civilians—that’ll work. ~Bob. Excerpt: Libyan women and girls who become pregnant through rape risk being murdered by their own families in so-called "honour killings", according to Libyan aid workers. Rape is a sensitive topic worldwide, but in this country it is even more of a taboo. "In Libya when rape occurs, it seems to be a whole village or town which is seen to be dishonoured," says Arafat Jamal of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Libyan charities say they are getting reports that in the west of the country, which is particularly conservative, Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces have tended to rape women and girls in front of their fathers and brothers.

Blood On Their Hands: Giving Guns to Criminals Was the Plan All Along
Excerpt: Damning new evidence from Capitol Hill shows that ATF Directors and Justice Department Officials knew about and encouraged the purposeful trafficking of thousands of weapons across the southern border, despite strong objections from ATF agents. Thousands of innocent lives were taken as the result, including those of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE Agent Jamie Zapata. New emails released by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa show that ATF Director Kenneth Melson was briefed weekly about Operation Fast and Furious and watched a live feed of straw purchasers (who serve as middle men, purchasing guns and giving them to cartel members) in Arizona gun shops from his cozy Washington D.C. office. Emails also show that Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations William McMahon was enthusiastic about the operation.

Obama’s Beach Blanket Recovery
Great presentation of contrasts. Not sure this isn’t old, but still very timely. ~Bob.

Us Muslim Soldier, Who Refused To Fight, Faces Child Porn Charges
Excerpt: A Muslim soldier from Fort Campbell has been approved as a conscientious objector to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he has now been charged with possession of child pornography. And really, according to the sharia, this Muslim soldier did nothing wrong. He would not fight against jihad. According to the quran, he is absolutely correct. And our military sanctioned the sharia in approving his request as a conscientious objector. The child porn is also protected under the sharia. Muhammad's favorite wife was six-year-old Aisha, and lest we forget, Muhammad is "the perfect model" for every Muslim to follow. Child marriage is sanctioned under the sharia. In other words, kids are fair game under the sharia. I was about to joke that the soldier would use islamophobia as his defense until I saw that the soldier, Naser Abdo, will indeed be using islamophobia to fight the charge.

‘Nothing More Impeachable' Than War Without Authorization, Says Constitutional Scholar
Excerpt: Louis Fisher, a scholar in residence at the Constitution Project who served for 40 years as a constitutional law expert at the Library of Congress, says Americans and members of Congress should understand that President Barack Obama committed a “very grave offense” against the Constitution in taking military action in Libya without congressional authorization. “I am not going to recommend that the House Judiciary Committee hold impeachment hearings, but I would like members of Congress and the public to say that nothing would be more impeachable than a President who takes the country to war without coming to Congress, who does it unilaterally,” Fisher told CNSNews.com’s Online With Terry Jeffrey. (This won’t happen. As little as I like Obama, even I wouldn’t encourage impeachment over this issue at this time (though my future answer could be different). Even if the House impeached, there’s no chance at all the Senate would concur, leaving an inconclusive non-result. The only possible outcome would be open violence in our streets. And, we have the chance to vote Obama out in 17 months; an impeachment would take almost as long. Ron P. Impeaching Obama would lead to massive riots in the cities, just as would happen if the courts over turned his election on the “birther” or, God forbid, he was shot. If that happened, my wife and I, our cats and our guns would immediately be in the car, headed out of the Chicago area, because who shot him wouldn’t matter at all.. ~Bob.)

Obama's Misdirection Strategy
Excerpt: Desperate to shift Americans' attention from the looming double-dip recession of his own making, President Obama is now attempting to refocus Americans on overseas conflicts. And he's doing so in perfect Clintonian fashion. When President Clinton fell under scrutiny for engaging in illicit acts in the Oval Office, he immediately shifted his focus to militarism across the globe. Clinton fired off missiles into Afghanistan and Sudan, missing Osama bin Laden but nailing a drug factory. He targeted Israel at Wye River, forcing our ally into concessions from which Israel gained precisely nothing. A few months later, he launched a useless war in Yugoslavia using NATO -- a war in which there was no discernable American interest. This is the Democratic playbook, and Obama is running it to perfection. When you're stuck on domestic politics, start a war somewhere. When you're stuck on foreign politics, bring forth a major domestic initiative. When you're stuck on both, attack the opposition as racist. (You can shift Americans’ attention from your perjury in a sexual harassment case by claiming it was about sex, foreign adventures and daily proclaiming expensive new programs for favored groups—another Clinton tactic—but shifting attention from a double dip recession is another thing. ~Bob.)

Terry Jeffrey: The Conspiracy Against the Car
Excerpt: Someone stuck in traffic at Tysons today would see -- as he would have seen last year and will see for years to come -- slow-moving masses of government-subsidized construction workers erecting, at glacial speed, the latest segment of what is supposed to be a 23-mile extension of the Washington Metro commuter railroad. Nor will it sound like hyperbole, I suspect, to people living in non-urban precincts far from the Beltway, who learn that $900 million in federal money has already been spent on this public transit project that they may never see and do not want to ride. The full estimated cost of this one Metro line -- which reportedly will take until the end of 2016 to complete -- is $6.6 billion. None of these billions is supposed to come from tolls paid directly by the people who will actually ride the trains.

More regulations: EPA's fantasy solution to unemployment
Excerpt: American Electric Power Chairman Michael Morris announced last week that his company would be forced to close five coal-fired power plants, spend an additional $8 billion refitting other plants, and lose 6,000 megawatts of its coal-generated capacity if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency follows through with its latest proposed regulation of coal power plants. That's just fine with President Obama and Lisa Jackson, whom he appointed as EPA administrator. Their goal is to put people like Morris and utilities like AEP out of the coal-fired generation business. Since the White House's signature environmental policy, cap and trade, died in the Democrat-dominated 111th Congress in 2010, Obama has sought to use the Clean Air Act to do by bureaucratic decree what he could not achieve through the legislative process: force Americans to stop using fossil fuels to generate the energy that our society must have to function on a daily basis. The EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule for power plants will take giant steps toward doing exactly that.

Crowd Attacks Man During Vancouver Riot
Excerpt: A man attempting to halt the looting and destruction of a storefront is attacked and severely beaten by the riotous crowd (relevant portion of video begins at 3:15 - Warning: Graphic Video. (The center cannot hold. ~Bob.)

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