Just a couple of more thoughts on this outrage. I have to believe that a significant percentage of American voters either wanted to believe in what Obama was selling or genuinely trusted him. His shuck and jive was all about a new beginning, a post- partisan, post-racial, bringing together of the American people, to focus on things that really mattered to the average person.
Those of us who saw Obama as a dangerous ideologue where ridiculed as being part of the same old same old.
Obama came into office with the top priority being the economy. That is how he won Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.
Did he get bored? Does he have some chief executive attention deficit disorder or more sinisterly is he incapable of hiding his hard left wing agenda. In either case, it will not wear well. The rope a dope only goes so far.
On another matter: rough interrogation.
The CIA is charged with gathering information to protect the country. 911 was all about the failure to protect and the consequences of that failure. Much time, money and effort has been put into making the US safer than it was before 911.
Someone will have to explain to me why this exposure was necessary at this time and what and who will it benefit. Wouldn't you want your secret clandestine service to be in a condition to keep your enemy guessing about what they know, and what they will do to get to know?
If your enemy thinks that you may use the so-called torture to extract information, does that not in fact make it unnecessary for you to use it? Was that not how nuclear deterrence was formulated? You have the nuclear weapons and keep your enemy guessing as to whether you will use them. Deterrence comes about by having an ultra-strong military and using it occasionally to let your enemies that you have it and will use it. It has the practical affect of not having to use it at all.
Announce that you will not use it and soon enough you will be forced to do so.
I'm depressed.
ReplyDeleteI think we need a beer.
I think we need to have an investigation into the horse's asses who voted Obama in and they should be held accountable.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have ringside seats.
ReplyDeleteTaliban extend hold, advance near Pakistan capitalISLAMABAD – Taliban militants have extended their grip in northwestern Pakistan, pushing out from a valley where the government has agreed to impose Islamic law and patrolling villages as close as 60 miles from the capital. Police and officials appear to have fled as armed militants also broadcast radio sermons and spread fear in Buner district, just 60 miles from Islamabad, officials and witnesses said Wednesday.
Make that two.
ReplyDeleteEven the saints get depressed Rufus---
Preach to yourself that even the great Apostle Paul was "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing"; that David discovered in the darkness that "God's anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may last for a night, but a shout of joy comes in the moring." Preach to yourself what David learned in his battle with despair--that even when he says despairingly, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night," nevertheless there is a geater truth: "Even the darkness is not dark to Thee, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee."
The final lesson of Gethsemane and Calvary and the book of the Psalms is that the dark caves of despondency are really tunnels leading to the fields of joy--for those who don't sit down in the dark and blow out the candle of faith in future grace.end of sermon
from "Future Grace" by John Piper
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ReplyDeleteHeadline says--
ReplyDelete"Obama's EPA Declares CO2 a Poison"----
I ask, with this crew, can oxygen be far behind?
Well, you keep that "candle of faith" flamin, Bob.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'm gonna have a beer.
Just thought I'd try an 'alternative therapy', Ruf :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not "knocking" it, Bob. If the beer don't get the job done I might be lightin a candle, or two, myself.
ReplyDeleteI'm not knockin' the beer, either:)
ReplyDeleteMaybe both is the right road.
I'll tell you one thing, duece, Mr Bush roped a dope through the mismanagement of the Iraq War for 4 years, and enough folk stayed loyal to him and the country he represented, to them, that they still think he did a good job.
ReplyDeleteThis despite mountains of evidence, contemporaneously and publicly available, that the Course we were on was flawed.
It made not a lick of difference, when even today, the current President has embraced the Bush Plan to evacuate Iraq, on a slow timetable, while leaving tens of thousands of troops there, after we've "withdrawn".
The RCP average still has Obama at 60.9% approval, +30.3%.
Even FOX News has him at 58% approval, I doubt Mr Murdock hired pollsters that had a pro-Obama tilt.
2010 the fight is for the Senate, Obama is a secondary target. Not even that, really.
Will bashing Obama save Specter?
OBAMA LOVES ISRAEL TO DEATH
ReplyDeleteDEBKAfile quotes senior Israeli military circles as staggered by the discovery that US president Barack Obama had approved a large Turkish arms sale to the Lebanese army, including the services of Turkish military instructors. This was taken as further proof that the US president is deaf to Israel's immediate security concerns. Lebanese president Gen. Michel Suleiman has more than once threatened neighboring Israel. When he signed the arms deal in Ankara Tuesday, April 21, he once again pledged publicly to place the Lebanese army at the disposal of the Shiite terrorist Hizballah in any confrontation with Israel.
If that happened, said one Israeli source, Israel could find itself under attack not just by Hizballah as in the past, but by a Lebanese army, well trained and armed by Turkey. He noted that more than 50 percent of Lebanon's fighting manpower are Shiites loyal to Hizballah.
The conviction is growing in Jerusalem that the US president endorsed the transaction as a means of breaking up the long-standing military pact between Israel and Turkey, because it interferes with his Middle East objectives. Our sources note that neither Washington nor Ankara bothered to inform Israel of the transaction or its scope.
After meeting Turkish president Abdullah Gul, Suleiman at the head of a large Lebanese military delegation signed the contracts for the sale and declared with deep satisfaction: "We reviewed the new [US] policies towards the region in the light of President Obama's recent visit to Turkey."
So what does that mean?
It means, that America, under the current admin, is throwing Israel to the wolves...
Something that I guess Israel understood long ago...
Bush changed US policy in historic ways when he called for an independent, sovereign, contiguous Palestinian state...
Yes the cutting up of Israel at the altar of Islamic appeasement is not new...
BHO is staying true to the course, much to my dismay but not surprise...
The lesson is brutal and true...
Israel cannot trust it's security to anyone but it'sself...
We as Americans that support the crazy right for Israelis and Jews NOT to be beheaded as a legal right of moslems understand the level of betrayal...
Warning, to those that throw under the bus Israel?
ask the romans, assyrians and others how that seems to work out for them...
when you join the savages of the world over Israel and the Jews survival? you lose your soul...
Can Dems vote in the GOP primary, in PA?
ReplyDeleteIf they can, then Specter is toast, the Limbaugh effect will be utilized by the Dems, if they can.
They'd love to run against Tommey, just as Goddard would be encouraged if Simcox was the nominee of the GOP, here.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
ReplyDeleteDo you really think that Lebanon is about to invade Israel, wi"o"?
ReplyDeleteOr are they going to defend Lebanon from foreign invasion?
Even debka says they are only acting in concert if there is a confrontation. Most likely, in Lebanon, but debka would withhold that aspect of any Lebanonese position statement.
Israel's Army options, outside of Israel, seem to be more and more limited. Their preponderance of power scenarios only operable in Gaza or the West Bank.
As the US takes a more balance approach in the Middle East, cooperating ever more with our Nato allies that are in that Region.
A far cry from the experiences of Team43 and their approach to Turkey. We almost lost Turkey to the Islamoids, but our Turkish military friends stepped into the breach, convincing US that the PKK has to be dealt with, in Iraq.
We still may lose Turkey and Lebanon, but at least we're trying.
Hoping that the change is for the betterment of our Nato alliance and Treaty ally.
There certainly being a historical precendent for the Turkish involvement in the Levant.
ReplyDeleteA neighbor tells WTOP a security guard was posted - apparently as a precaution - outside the Kellermann home for "a few days" earlier this month, after Fannie Mae disclosed the names of executives in line for bonuses. Freddie Mac has not disclosed which executives would get bonuses.Who Killed Freddie Mac?New home, wonderful wife, kids, bonuses a coming, volunteered for the homeless--
ReplyDelete????
Worked there for sixteen years, knew the books.
At the same time, many analysts believe the case will not reach the point where the names of Hezbollah top leaders will be included in an indictment.
ReplyDeleteEgypt "will not embarrass the Lebanese state, which has good relations with Cairo," said Lebanese analyst Wadah Sharaeh.
Furthermore, the issue is unlikely to sour the Egyptian-Lebanese relations because the central government in Beirut is not a strong supporter of Hezbollah, which maintains its own army.Egypt Worried
A case of assisted suicide, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteIf, as rufus noted, the Mexicans can no longer produce the 1.2 million barrels per day that they have historically supplied to US.
ReplyDeleteThen the only possible folks that could make up that spread, short term, are the Sauds.
While in the US, Team43 supported the least productive ethanol production cycle availabe, utilizing corn.
And there being no electic cars in mass production.
50 ethanol distilleries with 10million acres in switchgrass could replace Mexican supplies.
It'd take at least 2 or 3 years to tool up to that level.
Sauds still have US by the short hairs.
I was reading the other day, Sam, that an earthlike watery world has been spotted about 20 light years old, right in the proper life supporting zone too, with a sun much like our own.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can all move there, if the Bar gets shut down by the Obamapolice.
The Egypti and Turks, the historical leaders of the Region.
ReplyDeleteThat's where the US is heading, going to be working hand in glove, with the "Big Boys".
Sounds nice, Bob. Wonder what the females look like there.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the issue is unlikely to sour the Egyptian-Lebanese relations because the central government in Beirut is not a strong supporter of Hezbollah,
ReplyDeleteSame Lebanese Army we provided UAVs to. We now get them supplied with weapons and training, to the Turkish and Nato Standards.
Good Deal, really.
Or the HB boys win Lebanon, uncontested.
Certainly could not have the Israeli training our Lebanoni.
ReplyDeleteThat'd NEVER fly.
So it has to be the Turks.
Lower half like fish, lovely arms, bouncy breasts, wavy hair.
ReplyDeleteHeh, we might have to fight our way in.
GO NATO!!!
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteTeam 44, fuck yeah!!
ReplyDelete...the central government in Beirut is not a strong supporter of Hezbollah...
ReplyDeleteThe Turkish Army also not being a strong supporter of Hezbollah, either.
This is a great move by Team Obama, involving our NATO partner in the mix. Spreading the pain, as it were. The US no longer going it alone, without our Treaty Partners being in concert with our battle plans.
Big improvement over the 4th ID debacle.
Worked there for sixteen years, knew the books....
ReplyDeleteShades of Vince Foster.
Turkey, the only other NATO country with an Army that can project power and is trained to US operational Standards.
ReplyDeleteThe Brits are pretty depleated, as far as being an Army of Expeditions goes, limited to a few thousand troops, at max. The Turks can field whole Divisions, if need be.
They being the real key to the Muslim Arc. Being as that they sit in the middle of it. And at the Gateway to Europe, too.
Keeping our friends close, but our enemies, even closer.
Who you gonna call?
ReplyDeleteSuicide Busters?
ReplyDelete"Be careful, sinless, comparing Federal Socialists to National Socialists,
ReplyDeleteThe Bush/Hitler storyline is now to be adapted to fit Obama/Hitler?"Fascism and Hitler, let alone economic corporatism and Hitler, are not and have never been synonymous.
Contrary to decades of propaganda and bad history.
ReplyDelete"A far cry from the experiences of Team43 and their approach to Turkey. We almost lost Turkey to the Islamoids, but our Turkish military friends stepped into the breach, convincing US that the PKK has to be dealt with, in Iraq.""almost"
ReplyDeleteDon't count your chickens. 20 years from now we'll be lucky if Turkey hasn't become the usual, shitty Middle Eastern country. Partially helped along by our role in neutering the military for EU membership. Though I wouldn't beat up ourselves too much, consider the bulk is being done by the Turks themselves.
Another entry for the "perfect, enemy of good enough", file, however.
While there is some truth to that, sinless, in dealing with the Public remember that perception is reality, even if it's only a mirage.
ReplyDelete...decades of propaganda and bad history... is part of that reality.
Nationalism became the Enemy of Peace. It needed to be suppressed.
Once again a demonstration that the designs of 1948 are still structuring our realities.
Ataturk (and his protege in Iran, Reza Khan) were brutal, fascist assholes - but nevertheless great men in their own way.
ReplyDeleteBesides, nice to think about Islamists like the young Khomeini feeling the whips themselves. Like the Nazis and Communists on the Eastern front, the assholes deserved each other.
Headin' put for my weekly socialization, at the Mix & Mingle bowling league.
ReplyDeleteThey're sure not cowboys, those bowlers.
Transcript from Australian radio program this morning:
ReplyDeleteTONY EASTLEY: The Israeli military is claiming vindication over its war in Gaza after five internal investigations cleared its forces of any misconduct.
The findings suggest that Israeli soldiers operated in accordance with international law.
...
ANNE BARKER: The Israeli military's PR machine has gone to great lengths to justify its three-week war in Gaza.
VIDEO VOICEOVER: The number of civilians within the range of rocket terror has grown to approximately one-million people living under a constant threat of over 10,000 rockets and mortars.
ANNE BARKER: Last night the military posted a five-and-a-half minute animated video on YouTube.
VIDEO VOICEOVER: In the year 2008 alone, 2,735 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel, leading the Israel Government to order the IDF to carry out Operation Cast Lead.
ANNE BARKER: The three-dimensional video model explains matter-of-factly why Israel had no choice but to bomb Gaza's buildings and infrastructure including schools, mosques, homes and medical facilities.Conduct in Gaza
"While there is some truth to that, sinless, in dealing with the Public remember that perception is reality, even if it's only a mirage."True, misperceptions can be politically harmful. Nonetheless, there is something to be said for not placating ignorance, regardless of political implications. May even be beneficial over the long-term. Particularly when the truth is on your side, if not the legions of popularizers and academic historians.
ReplyDeletePersonally I like labeling the policies exactly as they are because it causes conniption fits and larges amounts of cognitive dissonance amongst those who deserve it.
And due to the possibility that maybe someone will be educated along the way.
But mostly enjoyment.
In short, the black flag is up and it's time to start slitting throats.
ReplyDeleteDon't get yer thumb stuck in the ball.
ReplyDelete"In short, the black flag is up and it's time to start slitting throats."Goodness.
ReplyDeleteHolder on interrogations in 2002
ReplyDeleteClarice Feldman
Eric Holder spoke out on the interrogation of unlawful combatants in 2002.
"One of the things we clearly want to do with these prisoners is to have an ability to interrogate them and find out what their future plans might be, where other cells are located; under the Geneva Convention that you are really limited in the amount of information that you can elicit from people.
"It seems to me that given the way in which they have conducted themselves, however, that they are not, in fact, people entitled to the protection of the Geneva Convention. They are not prisoners of war. If, for instance, Mohamed Atta had survived the attack on the World Trade Center, would we now be calling him a prisoner of war? I think not. Should Zacarias Moussaoui be called a prisoner of war? Again, I think not."--Eric Holder, CNN interview, January 2002
Am. Thinker
Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, the sixth man ever to walk on the moon, has a message for all citizens of Earth: We are not alone.
ReplyDelete...
"We've got to get to the bottom of this. It's our place in the universe we're talking about.
We are really universal beings." And as to whether his foray into UFOlogy is detracting from his reputation, he said, "Maybe I'm damaging it, but it doesn't matter, because I know we're right about this."Not Alone
On April 8, British authorities mounted a series of raids in Merseyside, Manchester and Lancashire that resulted in the arrest of 12 men suspected of being involved in a plot to conduct attacks over the Easter holiday weekend. In a press conference the following day, Prime Minister Gordon Brown noted that the men arrested were allegedly involved in “a very big terrorist plot.”
ReplyDelete...
Among of the most significant things that have come to light so far regarding the thwarted plot are the alleged targets. According to press reports, the British MI5 surveillance teams assigned to monitor the activities of the purported plotters observed some of them videotaping themselves outside of the Arndale and Trafford shopping centers in Manchester, as well as at St. Ann’s Square, which lies in the center of Manchester’s main shopping district.
...
As noted above, the alleged plotters had been under surveillance by MI5. This indicates that their operational security had been compromised, either via human or technical means.Manchester Plot
...Am. Thinker
ReplyDeleteWed Apr 22, 10:26:00 PM EDT
Right out of Situational Ethics 101.
Any home Nadya Suleman ever occupies should be required to be circled with yellow crime-scene tape. Pedophiles have to register when they move into a neighborhood, why not the OctoMom?
ReplyDeleteShe intentionally committed her crime, unlike, perhaps, Casey Anthony. She is as much "a" criminal as little Caylee's murdering mother.
If "true" costs to society are of any one measure.Crime Scenes
I'm listening to this Mark Levin, radio personality, lawyer. He's offering his services to whoever might get in a fight with the gov. over the torture issue.
ReplyDeleteSays he's had lots of other lawyers calling him offering their services as well, among them John Wayne's daughter :)
"I ain't gonna serve you no subpenna, like hell I'm not" whappp
What Edgar Mitchell hasn't figured out yet is the aliens are right here among us, in the current Democratic Party.
ReplyDeleteEmail from a usually reliable source:
ReplyDelete>
> Subject:: The real story of Obama's Decision Making with the hostages.
>
>
>
> Having spoken to some SEAL pals here in Virginia Beach yesterday and asking why this thing dragged out for 4 days, I got the following:
>
> 1. BHO wouldn't authorize the DEVGRU/NSWC SEAL teams to the scene for 36 hours going against OSC (on scene commander) recommendation.
> 2. Once they arrived, BHO imposed restrictions on their ROE that they couldn't do anything unless the hostage's life was in "imminent" danger
> 3. The first time the hostage jumped, the SEALS had the raggies all sighted in, but could not fire due to ROE restriction
> 4. When the navy RIB came under fire as it approached with supplies, no fire was returned due to ROE restrictions. As the raggies were shooting at the RIB, they were exposed and the SEALS had them all dialed in.
> 5. BHO specifically denied two rescue plans developed by the Bainbridge CPN and SEAL teams
> 6. Bainbridge CPN and SEAL team CDR finally decide they have the OpArea and OSC authority to solely determine risk to hostage. 4 hours later, 3 dead raggies
> 7. BHO immediately claims credit for his "daring and decisive" behaviour. I'm downgrading Obama's performace to D-. Only reason it's not an F is that the hostage survived.
>
> Read the following accurate account.
>
> Philips’ first leap into the warm, dark water of the Indian Ocean hadn’t worked out as well. With the Bainbridge in range and a rescue by his country’s Navy possible, Philips threw himself off of his lifeboat prison, enabling Navy shooters onboard the destroyer a clear shot at his captors — and none was taken.
>
> The guidance from National Command Authority — the president of the United States ,
> Barack Obama — had been clear: a peaceful solution was the only acceptable outcome to this standoff unless the hostage’s life was in clear, extreme danger.
>
> The next day, a small Navy boat approaching the floating raft was fired on by the Somali pirates — and again no fire was returned and no pirates killed. This was again due to the cautious stance assumed by Navy personnel thanks to the combination of a lack of clear guidance from Washington and a mandate from the commander in chief’s staff not to act until Obama, a man with no background of dealing with such issues and no track record of decisiveness, decided that any outcome other than a “peaceful solution” would be acceptable.
>
> After taking fire from the Somali kidnappers again Saturday night, the onscene commander decided he’d had enough.
>
> Keeping his authority to act in the case of a clear and present danger to the hostage’s
> life and having heard nothing from Washington since yet another request to mount a rescue operation had been denied the day before, the Navy officer — unnamed in all media reports to date — decided the AK47 one captor had leveled at Philips’ back was a threat to the hostage’s life and ordered the NSWC team to take their shots.
>
> Three rounds downrange later, all three brigands became enemy KIA and Philips was safe.
>
> There is upside, downside, and spinside to the series of events over the last week that culminated in yesterday’s dramatic rescue of an American hostage.
>
> Almost immediately following word of the rescue, the Obama administration and its supporters claimed victory against pirates in the Indian Ocean and declared that the dramatic end to the standoff put down questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.
>
> Despite the Obama administration’s (and its sycophants’) attempt to spin yesterday’s success as a result of bold, decisive leadership by the inexperienced president, the reality is nothing of the sort.
>
> What should have been a standoff lasting only hours — as long as it took the USS Bainbridge and its team of NSWC operators to steam to the location — became an embarrassing four day and counting standoff between a ragtag handful of criminals with rifles and a U.S. Navy warship.
>
>
it put down questions of the inexperienced president’s toughness and decisiveness.---
ReplyDeleteIt did, we now know he has neither.
x
ReplyDelete