Obama hails Iran deal as a model for nuclear diplomacy
By JOSH LEDERMAN
Associated Press Article Last Updated: Friday, April 01, 2016 9:33am
President Barack Obama Friday called Western nations’ agreement with Iran to curb that country’s nuclear program a model for future diplomatic efforts to stop nuclear proliferation.
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama hailed the nuclear deal with Iran on Friday as a “substantial success” and a model for future diplomacy, as world leaders took stock of the world’s most worrisome nuclear threats.
Hosting his last nuclear security summit, Obama sought to use the controversial Iran deal as an argument for his carrot-and-stick approach to deterring nuclear proliferation, and he credited Iran with taking steps to meet its commitments. Critics of the deal in the U.S. and abroad are livid about the sanctions relief Iran is receiving in response.
“It will take time for Iran to reintegrate in the global economy, but Iran is already beginning to see the benefits of this deal,” Obama said as he met with the leaders of China, France and other UN Security Council members that negotiated the Iran deal alongside the U.S.
Obama acknowledged that the nuclear deal hasn’t swept away other issues the U.S. and other nations still have with Iran; support for terrorism and Tehran’s ballistic missile program typically top that list. Still, he said all the nations that negotiated the deal could agree that it’s been an effective way to address the narrower issue of nuclear proliferation in Iran.
“This is a success of diplomacy that hopefully we will be able to copy in the future,” Obama said.
The huddle on the sidelines of the nuclear summit started off the final day on an optimistic note, as Obama worked to illustrate that progress has been made on his watch on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. Yet the dozens of world leaders assembled were equally focused on other threats that have only increased in recent years, such as the harrowing prospect of the Islamic State group or other extremists getting their hands on a nuclear bomb.
Frustration over the slow pace of reducing nuclear stockpiles has shadowed this year’s summit, Obama’s last major push on denuclearization. The absence of key players – especially Russia – further underscored the lack of unanimity still confronting global efforts to deter nuclear attacks.
After six years of prodding by Obama and others before him, the global stockpile of fissile material that could be used in nuclear bombs remains in the thousands of metric tons. What’s more, security officials warn that the radioactive ingredients for a “dirty bomb” are alarmingly insecure in many parts of the globe.
Ahead of the summit, fewer than half of the countries participating had agreed to secure their sources of radiological material, readily available in hospital, industrial and academic settings. Concerns about substances like cesium or cobalt getting in the wrong hands have escalated sharply following deadly attacks by IS, raising the disturbing prospect of a nuclear attack on a Western city.
As the summit opened Thursday, leaders trained their focus on North Korea, whose continued provocations have stoked concerns throughout the region. Obama discussed steps to deter further North Korean missile tests during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In another session with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, he called for vigorous implementation of stepped-up UN sanctions.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia, whose massive nuclear weapons stockpile is rivaled only by the U.S., refused to attend this year’s summit. Moscow scoffed at what it deemed U.S. efforts to control the process and take power away from international agencies. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, another nuclear-armed country, canceled his trip following a bombing that killed 72.
Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.
In april 2015, the national security archive of George Washington University published documents that corroborated much of what Mordechai Vanunu began saying thirty years ago
ReplyDeleteIf Israel was 1/1000th of the threat you suggest?
Deleteiran would have been nuked 30 years ago.
The ability of the creature called man to look in the mirror and not see himself is truly amazing. For decades, the Israeli media have complained about the “cruelty” with which the U.S. administration and legal authorities have allegedly treated the man fondly nicknamed here “the Jewish spy” – Jonathan Pollard.
ReplyDeleteThe moaning by Israeli journalists goes something like this: “How come they made him serve his entire sentence to the day, and how come, even now after he was freed, they’re imposing terrible restrictions on him for five more years and banning him from talking to the media and surfing the Internet?
“How come they’re not letting him roam free? And worse, they’re banning him, at least for five years, from leaving the United States, and he won’t be able to, oh no, come to Israel. And they’re using the lame vindictive excuse that 30 years after his trial he still has secrets he could pass on.”
So now, in a land not far far away, in fact right here, in the same Israel Pollard yearns for, lives another Jew (based on Jewish law), an Israeli not an American. He’s named Mordechai Vanunu, also known by the notorious nickname “the atomic spy.” If anything the Americans have done or are doing to Pollard can be called “cruelty,” then what we’ve done and are doing to Vanunu is the mother of all cruelty times 77.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.688589
Yet the dozens of world leaders assembled were equally focused on other threats that have only increased in recent years, such as the harrowing prospect of the Islamic State group or other extremists getting their hands on a nuclear bomb....
ReplyDeleteAfter six years of prodding by Obama and others before him, the global stockpile of fissile material that could be used in nuclear bombs remains in the thousands of metric tons. What’s more, security officials warn that the radioactive ingredients for a “dirty bomb” are alarmingly insecure in many parts of the globe.....
Ahead of the summit, fewer than half of the countries participating had agreed to secure their sources of radiological material, readily available in hospital, industrial and academic settings. Concerns about substances like cesium or cobalt getting in the wrong hands have escalated sharply following deadly attacks by IS, raising the disturbing prospect of a nuclear attack on a Western city....
As the summit opened Thursday, leaders trained their focus on North Korea, whose continued provocations have stoked concerns throughout the region....
Why, those items are exactly what I expressed concern about in the last post....
First, just as the Americans did with Pollard, we didn’t release Vanunu one day before he served his full sentence, which with no justification he “spent” mostly in complete isolation. When he finally did come out of prison, Israel’s security services and legal authorities imposed on him sanctions that have been maintained for 11 years, and they’re much harsher than the ones Pollard is subjected to.
ReplyDeleteNot only is Vanunu’s movement restricted, and not only is he forbidden to talk to the media, he’s forbidden to talk to people who aren’t citizens of holy Israel, even to say “shalom shalom.” And there are all kinds of other strange restrictions.
Of course, Vanunu is banned from leaving Israel – not for five years but for the past 11 years, and there’s no sign they’ll let him leave Israel until the day he dies. And all this with the lame vindictive excuse that 30 years after his trial he still has secrets he could pass on.
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.688589
Mordechai Vanunu is married to a Norwegian woman who is a professor of Christian theology.
ReplyDeleteTHE HUFFINGTON POST IS WORRIED:
ReplyDeleteFears of the so-called Islamic State’s nuclear ambitions have grown since a suspect linked to the November terrorist attacks in Paris was found with a surveillance video of a Belgian nuclear power plant official. Harvard’s Matthew Bunn said the Belgian case highlights further steps that must be taken to thwart nuclear terrorism. “Major nuclear facilities must be protected from sabotage,” he said. “And radiological sources must be protected, tracked throughout their life and, where possible, replaced with less dangerous technologies.”
The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a private advocacy group in Washington that tracks nuclear security, warned in a new report that the ingredients for a radiological “dirty bomb” are located at thousands of sites across the globe — including medical, research and industrial centers — and that “many of them [are] poorly secured and vulnerable to theft.” Cybersabotage is a further danger. Later this year, the UK and the US plan to simulate a cyberattack on a nuclear power plant to test private and public preparedness.
Obama launched the first Nuclear Security Summit in 2010 with the goal of achieving a nuclear weapon-free world. Since then, nuclear security has advanced through numerous efforts — not the least of which is the Iran deal. But while numerous countries have given up or stalled their nuclear weapons programs, Pakistan, India, China and North Korea are growing their nuclear weapons stockpiles.
AND NOT A WORD ABOUT ISRAEL AND HER PERSISTENT EFFORTS AND DEEDS TO DESTABAILIZE THE ME
Israel attended the latest Nuclear Security Summit.
ReplyDeleteRussia opted out.
Iran either opted out or was not invited.
North Korea did not attend.
Russia is said to be dramatically increasing its nuclear warhead supply.
DeleteChampions Just Want to have Fun.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHMh0H546lY
Warriors Steph Curry is a Nuclear Threat.
By Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent, Washington DC
ReplyDeleteApril 2016 • 10:30pm
Isil terrorists are planning to use drones to spray nuclear material over Western cities in a horrific “dirty bomb” attack, David Cameron has warned.
World leaders are concerned that jihadists want to buy basic drones that are widely available online to transport radioactive material into the heart of major cities in a strike that could kill thousands.
The Prime Minister warned that the dangers of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) getting hold of nuclear material was “only too real”.
Mr Cameron on Friday met world leaders, including the presidents of America, France and China, to plan how they would react to such an attack.
Footage has reportedly emerged showing Isil using drones and the threat was deemed so serious that – in a highly unusual move – world leaders were asked to take part in war games to plan how they would respond.
One scenario, mapped out by US officials and presented at the special Nuclear Security Summit session in Washington DC, spelt out the danger in remarkable detail.
It imagined radioactive material had been taken from a medical facility by “insiders” and sold to extremists through the internet’s secretive “dark web”......
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/01/isil-plotting-to-use-drones-for-nuclear-attack-on-west/
DeleteBy the way, it's been Obama and Clinton that have destabilized the mid-east, and not Israel.
ReplyDeleteIt was quiet in Iraq when Bush left office.
You are one crazy motherfucker.
DeleteWe lost 322 Fatalities in Iraq in 2008, and 150 Fatalities in 2009.
DeleteIraq Casualties by Month
Idaho "mensa" Bob regales us with wisdom while cowering under his bed hiding from drone delivered nuclear material and pronounces "I'm seriously considering the glass parking lot solution"
DeleteBrilliant, simply brilliant!
"mensa" Ash, I haven't actually advocated anything. All I've really done is offer Quirk a refuge, which doesn't include you as I have limited facilities, in case something like this occurs:
Delete(CNN) — Nuclear policy experts can seem like Cassandra, constantly prophesizing apocalyptic futures. In case you haven't noticed, we don't live in a Mad Max world devastated by nuclear war. Terrorists have not blown up New York with a makeshift nuclear bomb. We haven't bankrupted ourselves, despite the trillions of dollars spent on Cold War weapons.
Cassandra's curse, however, was not that she was wrong, but that no one believed her. I don't know a single nuclear expert who thinks that the threat of nuclear terrorism is shrinking. I don't know a single one who thinks that the actions taken by world leaders at this week's Nuclear Security Summit are enough. We are fearful. And you should be, too.
Chills went down a lot of experts' spines last month when we saw the news that the Brussels bombers, the ISIS terrorists who blew up the airport and attacked the metro, were secretly videotaping a Belgian nuclear official. This official worked at a facility that had radiological material that terrorists could use for a "dirty bomb." We do not know if they were filming him or his family, if there was a kidnap plot in motion, or what their exact plans were. But this is not some Hollywood fantasy. This is real. A nuclear terrorist event may be closer than you think.
What are the risks? First, that terrorists could steal a complete nuclear weapon, like SPECTRE in the James Bond thriller, "Thunderball." This is hard, but not impossible. The key risk is that the outside terrorists get insider help: For example, a radical jihadist working at a Pakistan weapon storage site. Or the Belgian base just outside Brussels where we still stash a half-dozen nuclear weapons left over from Cold War deployments. Or the Incirlik air base in Turkey where we keep an estimated 50 weapons just 200 miles from the Syrian border.
Second, terrorists could steal the "stuff" of a bomb, highly enriched uranium or plutonium. They cannot make this themselves -- that requires huge, high-tech facilities that only nations can construct. But if they could get 50 or 100 pounds of uranium -- about the size of a bag of sugar -- they could construct a crude Hiroshima-style bomb. ISIS, with its money, territory and global networks, poses the greatest threat to do this that we have ever seen. Such a bomb brought by truck or ship or FedEx to an urban target could kill hundreds of thousands, destroy a city and put the world's economy and politics into shock.
DeleteThird, there is the possibility of a dirty bomb. Frankly, many of us are surprised this has not happened already. I spoke to Jon Stewart on his show 15 years ago about the danger. This is not a nuclear explosion unleashed by splitting atoms, but simply a conventional explosive, like dynamite, laced with radioactive material, like cesium or strontium. A 10-pound satchel of dynamite mixed with less than 2 ounces of cesium (about the size of a pencil eraser) could spew a radioactive cloud over tens of square blocks. No one would die, unless they were right next to the explosion. But the material would stick to the buildings. Inhaling just a speck would greatly increase your risk of getting cancer. You could go into the buildings, but no one would. There would be mass panic and evacuations, and the bomb would render a port, financial district, or government complex unusable and uninhabitable for years until scrubbed clean. Economic losses could be in the trillions.
North Korea doesn't have an H-bomb
Related Article: North Korea doesn't have an H-bomb (Opinion)
Fourth, terrorists could just attack a nuclear power reactor, fuel storage or other site to trigger a massive radioactive release that could contaminate hundreds or thousands of square miles, like Chernobyl or Fukushima. While nuclear reactors are hardened against outside attack, including by the intentional crash of a medium-sized jet plane, larger planes could destroy them. Or a series of suicide truck bombers. But it might not even take a physical explosion. This week, it was reported the United States and the United Kingdom are to simulate a cyberattack on a nuclear power plant.
Can we prevent these attacks? Yes, by eliminating, reducing and securing all supplies of nuclear materials so that terrorists would find it too difficult to get them. And by reducing and better protecting nuclear reactors and spent nuclear fuel.
Are we doing enough? No. "The capabilities of some terrorist groups, particularly the Islamic State, have grown dramatically,"..........
NUCLEAR TERRORISM THREAT IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK
Deletehttp://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/01/opinions/nuclear-terrorism-threat-cirincione/index.html?eref=edition
You are one dumb crazy motherfucker, Rufus.
DeleteBy your own figures Iraq was calmer than Chicago.
You can't face the fact that your dear O'bozo and your wonderfully brilliant and crimanal Hillary fucked it up.
Hell, even Deuce has said Hillary "owns" Libya.
You are one world class dumb fucker, galopin2.
April 2, 2016
DeleteObama says Iran is violating the 'spirit' of nuclear deal
By Rick Moran
So you have this ultra-radical, ultra-fanatical, ultra-extreme country run by people who salivate at the notion of committing genocide, and you make a deal with them that supposedly prevents the construction of nuclear weapons. And as president, you sit back and wait for the choruses of Kumbayas to be heard from the terrorist regime's capital as they magically transform into an actual, peaceful, grown up country.
Unless that country is Iran........
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/04/obama_says_iran_is_violating_the_spirit_of_nuclear_deal.html#ixzz44hogNa5X
A Most Violent Year: Chicago is on track to having 500 homicides for 2016
Deleteposted at 6:01 pm on April 1, 2016 by Matt Vespa
It’s a common occurrence in the Windy City: a bloody weekend where there are multiple gunshot victims and fatalities. Last year was rife with bloody weekends, ranging from Fourth of July to Thanksgiving; not even Labor Day went unscathed. As 2015 came to a close, the city witnessed 100 people getting shot ten days into the New Year. Now, a quarter into 2016, the city is witnessing its bloodiest start in two decades. Right now the city is on track to see 500 homicides this year, with over 700 shooting victims (via Chicago Tribune.
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/01/a-most-violent-year-chicago-is-on-track-to-having-500-homicides/
DeleteIran hangs gays, stones gays and supports the barrel bombing of Syrian civilians..
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you say Israel is the threat...
You are one sick puppy..
Israel is his Melvillean 'White Whale of Evil'.
DeleteThe cause of all the troubles in the world.
Even possessed of preternatural powers, controlling the US Congress, he banks, the media.....
YOU NEVER HAVE AN INDEPENDENT THOUGHT
DeleteFrontPage Magazine - Buchanan’s White Whale
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, March 19, 2004
In these intensely polarized and paranoid times, more than a few people are like the obsessed Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, of whom Melville wrote, in one of the supreme passages of American literature: "The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung.... All that most maddens and torments; ... all the subtle demonisms of life and thought; all evil, to crazy Ahab, were visibly personified, and made practically assailable in Moby Dick. He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it."
Today, of course, we don't have whale hunters from Nantucket circumnavigating the globe, but we do have politics—an increasingly ugly, ideological politics in a country that seems to be splitting apart before our eyes. Unsurprisingly, we also have among us, on the both the left and the right, Ahab-style monomaniacs who throw away their reason and blame everything that has gone wrong in the world on a single, all-controlling, evil cause. Such fanatics tend to wrap every issue around the object of their particular rage, coming back again and again to the same complaint, the same burning grievance, the same satisfying theory that explains all of society's problems as stemming from the group they oppose.
For Patrick Buchanan, that White Whale is, of course, Israel, along with Israel’s purported agents in America, the neoconservatives. As a sign of his obsession, at the very moment when America and its Coalition partners were launching the war against Iraq last year, and most Americans were focused on how to win this tremendous battle, Buchanan published a long diatribe in The American Conservative called “Whose War?”, in which he charged that President Bush was in thrall to “the neoconservatives’ agenda of endless wars on the Islamic world that serve only [emphasis added] the interests of a country other than the one he was elected to preserve and protect.”
_____________________
FrontPage Magazine (also known as FrontPageMag.com) is an online conservative political website, edited by David Horowitz
Horowitz is a hack for Israel.
Horowitz supported the interventionist foreign policy associated with the Bush Doctrine.
Horowitz damages professors’ lives by his accusations and that he needs to be viewed as more than a political opponent.
Horowitz stated that a Pennsylvania State University biology professor showed his students the film Fahrenheit 9/11 just before the 2004 election in an attempt to influence their votes.[59][60] Pressed by Inside Higher Ed, Horowitz retracted the story
Israeli Firsters and those with conflicted loyalties to Israel and militant Judaism do not and can not accept criticism.
DeleteIdaho Bob, entertaining as he is, is a vintage Sony tape recorder of Republican right wing neocon talking points, has to my knowledge never once in ten years put up a coherent independent thought of his own.
DeleteWio is just some crazy Jew.
"French women see Islamic headscarves and veils as an affront to their dignity. Headscarves are banned in French state schools and offices, and it is illegal to wear the full-face Muslim veil in public.
ReplyDeleteFlore Arrighi, head of the UNAC flight crews’ union, said: “It is not our role to pass judgement on the wearing of headscarves or veils in Iran. What we are denouncing is that it is being made compulsory. Stewardesses must be given the right to refuse these flights.”
She added that female staff were entitled to exercise “individual freedoms”.
===
No doubt a school district here would be sued for a no-scarf rule.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/02/air-france-stewardesses-mutiny-over-order-to-wear-headscarves/
("Air France stewardesses, furious at being ordered to wear headscarves in Tehran, say they will refuse to fly to the Iranian capital when the airline resumes the service later this month.")
Deletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/02/air-france-stewardesses-mutiny-over-order-to-wear-headscarves/
Good for them.
DeleteDemocrats get campaign checks after minimum wage votes
ReplyDeleteThe same day they voted to raise the minimum wage, five Democratic lawmakers ... All of the contributions were made Thursday, the same day the Assembly and Senate...
The SEIU Local 1000 Candidate PAC made election contributions of $8,500 each to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount), former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) and Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose).
The local also gave a $4,200 campaign contribution to Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento).
All of those Democrats voted for the measure.
http://www.trbimg.com/img-56fdf9c1/turbine/la-pol-mark-leno-ben-hueso-20160331/650/650x366
Minimum wages votes demand at least a minimum political bribe/payoff.
DeleteA Democrat Party Congressional vote has its price.
HUMA ABEDIN IS TERRIFIED AS FBI TAKES OVER STATE DEPARTMENT'S TOP SECRET E-MAILS INVESTIGATION
ReplyDeleteIf Abedin is “terrified” I can’t imagine what demons are chasing Hillary Clinton through her dreams. Thus far Huma has been a loyal foot soldier, defending the boss at every turn. But it sounds like she at least has something of an idea of what might be included in those 22 Top Secret emails and her fingerprints are likely on them too. The final shoe to drop in this investigation would be if the FBI announced that Abedin had agreed to testify in exchange for immunity. If you see that happen, sports fans (and I’m not saying it will), you can finish your beers and head for the stadium exits because the game will be just about be over.
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/04/02/huma-abedin-terrified-as-fbi-takes-over-state-dept-investigation-of-top-secret-emails/
DeleteThe final shoe to drop in this investigation would be if the FBI announced that Abedin had agreed to testify in exchange for immunity.
heh heh heh
It's just about sex, like Bill and Monica.
DeleteThey were sending selfies of their private parts back and forth.
Inspired by Mr. Weiner.
Huma Mahmood Abedin Weiner
:)
DeleteO Goodness Gracious, look at this Doug -
Hillary Clinton wears leather, talks trash and blows a stop light
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS /
Friday, April 1, 2016, 6:00 PM
Inside Edition
Hillary Clinton showed her wild side at an LGBT event at SoHo's Capitale, where the presidential wannabe sported a leather jacket, boasted about her Democratic-leading campaign and ran a red light on her way out.
Stars including Rosie O'Donnell, Billie Jean King and former Rep. Barney Frank — celebrating his 76th birthday — were all in the house as Hill went on a roll.
"She told everyone, 'I have a million more votes than Donald, and oh, by the way, I have 2 1/2 million more than Bernie Sanders!" says an event insider. We're also told that the boo birds came out when guest speakers mentioned Sanders. In recent days, it's Clinton’s campaign that’s complained about the senator from Vermont staying quiet when she’s booed at his rallies. Clinton also boasted about her fashion sense.
"Don't you love my jacket?" she asked "I thought really hard about what I'd wear tonight being a fashion icon. This is my one and only piece of leather clothing."....
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/confidential/hillary-clinton-wears-leather-talks-trash-blows-stop-article-1.2585665
DeleteI think it's the thought of Hillary in LGBT leather talking trash that drives galopin2 crazy over her.
Vill is kicking O's ass bigtime.
ReplyDeleteKicked
ReplyDeleteAAhhhh....The Donald reading the poem 'The Snake' in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.....it doesn't ever get any better than that !:):)!
ReplyDelete:):)
ReplyDeleteHillary wants to debate Sanders during the basketball finals night when the whole country is drinking and watching the game --
On Saturday, the Sanders campaign wrote: "The idea that they want a debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals — with Syracuse in the tournament no less — is ludicrous. We have proposed other dates which they have rejected. We hope we can reach agreement in the near future. The people of New York and America deserve to see and hear a debate on the important issues facing the state and country.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-new-york-debate-221492#ixzz44irIPk7v
Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook
O Hillary !
If Only: WSJ Says Obama Is Six Months Away From Destroying The Republican Party
ReplyDeleteBy News Corpse
The article by Dan Henninger, the paper's Deputy Editorial Page Director and a Fox News contributor, is fretfully titled "Obama’s Greatest Triumph: He is six months away from destroying both the Republican Party and Reagan’s legacy." While the claim is one that stirs the promise of hope in every liberal, Henninger may be giving Obama more credit than he deserves. The truth is that the Republican Party may indeed be six months from destruction, but Obama has had little to do with it.
Henninger is employing the venerable rightist tactic of blaming Obama for anything that they deem undesirable. For instance, wingnuts on the right have blamed Obama for the bombing in Brussels, California's drought, Ebola, and even Hurricane Katrina. He is blamed for high gas prices that hurt consumers, as well as for low gas prices that hurt oil companies. In the warped minds of conservatives there is no way that Obama can win.
And now the disintegration of the Republican Party is just another disaster caused by a president that the right believes is both an evil genius and a lazy incompetent. He's working determinedly to destroy America while doing nothing but playing golf. The editorial begins with the premise that...
"Barack Obama will retire a happy man. He is now close to destroying his political enemies—the Republican Party, the American conservative movement and the public-policy legacy of Ronald Reagan."
And how does Henninger arrive at this conclusion? By observing that the GOP has withered into a hollow shell of a party and that...
"With no party spokesman for conservatism, an ideological vacuum existed. Freelance operators filled it."
The freelancers identified by Henninger are otherwise known as some of the leading figures of their party, including presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Henninger doesn't explain the dastardly scheme that Obama used to get Republicans to elevate these fruitcakes to their current status, but rest assured, it must have been as diabolical as it was brilliant. But that was only the beginning. Obama's plots conspired to turn the Republican Party against itself, even utilizing reliably right-wing think tanks and media to do the dirty work.
"They also included a movement to purge and cleanse conservatism, led by groups such as Heritage Action and by talk radio hosts. Together they conjured an internal enemy—the Republican Establishment."
DeleteOnce again there is no explanation for how Obama managed to get the ultra-rightist Heritage Foundation, Rush Limbaugh, et al, to turn their fire at the so-called "Republican Establishment," which in reality is no different than what is regarded as the Republican outsiders like the Tea Party. They are all of the same hive mind politically, and advocate for exactly the same agenda.
Nevertheless, Henninger's proposition that the turmoil in the GOP was brought about by some wizardry on the part of Obama was made even more devious by the President's ability to keep his fingerprints off of the plan. As Henninger describes it...
"With his Cheshire Cat grin, Barack Obama faded into the background and let the conservatives’ civil war rip. [...] The anti-establishment offensive created a frenzy faction inside the Republican base. And of course, it produced Donald Trump."
Now that is the ultimate praise from the conservative columnist. Taking credit for saddling Republicans with Donald Trump would be a feather in the cap of any Democrat. It would be like threading the Deathstar needle in an X-Wing Starfighter to blow it to smithereens. Obama must truly be a Jedi Master.
All kidding aside, the desperation in this editorial to indict Obama for crimes against the GOP is hilariously obtuse. Responsibility for the Republican Party's destruction lies solely with GOP politicians, pundits, and voters, who encouraged the foolishness of the Tea Party malcontents to screech their unfocused and incoherent anger at anyone who sought to behave reasonably or to conduct the work of government. It wasn't Obama who unseated the GOP House Majority Leader. And it wasn't Democrats who primaried veteran Republican members of Congress. And any clear-eyed observer knows that Donald Trump was the inevitable consequence of their festering rage.
Henninger whines that the GOP's "bizarre" response to the Obama administration produced a result wherein "the Republicans decided to destroy each other." That's true, but it wasn't Obama who got them to become so bizarre. That's an honor that they can only award to themselves. And now that most of them are horrified by the prospect of Donald Trump becoming their standard bearer, they are struggling to avoid accountability and to lay the blame at the feet of the President who has been the most consistent victim of their madness. But that is only more proof that they are still suffering from an acute case of denial. And there is no sign that a cure is on the horizon.
DeleteThe Republican Party may very well be six months away from being destroyed. And if it is, the credit belongs to the party and the conservative media that has been deceiving their constituents for the past eight years (or more). At least RNC Chairman Reince Priebus was honest about it when he said that “Republicans don’t exist as a national political party if we do not win in 2016.” To which America is saying "You promise?"
Meteor Blades at Daily Kos
Don't get your hopes up. If the Democrat Party loses the White House they got nothing left.
DeleteNot the Senate, not the House, not a majority of Governors, not a majority of State Legislatures.
Dream on....
And don't BET on it.
DeleteYou'd just be betting your desires again.
The Line is 71 - 29 Democrats
ReplyDeletePredictwise
A little early to be making predictions, when the final candidates aren't known yet, and the FBI and Grand Jury (?) hasn't checked in on Hillary yet.
DeleteBaloney.
ReplyDeleteIf Republicans get 140 percent of the white male vote, they'll win easily.
Who could turn down eliminating a 19 Trillion Dollar Debt in 8 years?
ReplyDeleteWhata Deal!
Huge!
YUUUUGE !!
ReplyDeleteStrikes in Syria
ReplyDeleteAttack and remotely piloted aircraft conducted six strikes in Syria:
-- Near Hawl, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Raqqah, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Mara, four strikes struck four separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed 10 ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL bunkers, an ISIL mortar position and an ISIL vehicle bomb.
Strikes in Iraq
Rocket artillery and fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 20 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Qaim, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Habbaniyah, two strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed an ISIL weapons cache.
-- Near Haditha, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle bomb, two ISIL fuel tankers, an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL-used bridge, an ISIL barge and eight ISIL boats and denying ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Kirkuk, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle, an ISIL command and control node, four ISIL assembly areas and an ISIL supply cache.
-- Near Qayyarah, seven strikes struck three separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL weapons cache and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL command and control node, two ISIL vehicles and an ISIL unmanned aerial vehicle.
-- Near Ramadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL anti-air artillery piece.
-- Near Sinjar, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit, destroying an ISIL vehicle and suppressing an ISIL mortar firing position.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed six ISIL rocket rails and an ISIL supply cache.
DOD
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2016 — Coalition efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s leadership have severely limited the terror group’s operations, the Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman said today.
DeleteArmy Col. Steve Warren told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad that the coalition has remained active in targeting ISIL leadership.
Coalition efforts have dismantled ISIL headquarters and disrupted the terrorists' efforts to plan attacks in Iraq, Syria or abroad, Warren said.
"ISIL's leadership is having an increasingly difficult time governing their so-called caliphate and they're hunkered down with a degraded ability to shoot, move or communicate," he said.
Coalition Hunting ISIL Leader Baghdadi
The coalition is actively searching for ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is believed to travel between Iraq and Syria, Warren said.
"I hope that al-Baghdadi watches these press conferences because I want him to know that we are hunting him," Warren said.
"We will find him just like we found his mentor [Abu Musab al-] Zarqawi and killed him, just like we found the grandmaster of terrorism, Osama bin Laden, [and] we killed him," Warren told reporters.
"He will taste justice,” he added. “I don’t know if that justice will look like a Hellfire missile or if it will look like a dark prison cell somewhere but he will find justice one day."
Baghdadi is a brutal terrorist, Warren said, who should "not sleep well -- ever. ... Someone's either going to come in the window and snatch him up, or the entire house that he's in will get reduced to rubble."
Developments in Iraq, Syria
Warren said Iraqi security forces, supported by the coalition, kicked off a new offensive last week in the Tigris River Valley called Operation Valley Wolf.
"This shaping operation, which is taking place about 45 miles south of Mosul, will help set the conditions for the liberation of Mosul," he said.
Units from Iraq’s 15th Division have already pushed west out of Makhmour, liberating the villages of Kudilah, Kharbardan and Karmadi, Warren said.
To the west, in the Euphrates River Valley, Operation Desert Lynx continues, the colonel said.
The Iraqi 7th Division seized the Kubaysah Cement Factory and cleared Kubaysah. Iraqi forces and tribal fighters are now clearing that town of IEDs, Warren said.
"Tribal forces are key to maintaining long-term stability after the army moves out of the area," he said, adding that ISF is now nearing the outskirts of Heet.
Meanwhile, in Shaddadi, Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces are improving their defenses and preparing for future operations. In the last six weeks, they have gained more than 3,200 square kilometers, Warren reported.
He described operations along the Mar’a line as a "shoving match," in which the SDF and ISIL have both gained and lost several villages and towns in the sector.
"The shoving match continues," Warren said.
(Follow Lisa Ferdinando on Twitter: @FerdinandoDoDNews)
DOD
Baghdadi's in Libya, recuperating.
ReplyDeleteThe US has allowed one nation, Israel, and its supporters to have totally disproportionate power.
ReplyDeleteAny pushback is met with intimidation and even legislative attempts to crush free speech.
Israel has compromised the Pentagon and even American police forces.We are purchasing computer security software and hardware from Israel, a clear national security threat.
Congress is in the pocket of Zionist groups.
MSM is 90% controlled by Israeli Firsters and does not cover Israel except as approved by pro-Israel groups. US media is a propaganda outlet for Israel
Israel owns The US Conga line and has seized the advantage by recognizing and manipulating the corrupt US political system.
The only thing that will change any of it is public financing of political elections.
The default response from Israeli Firsters when anyone has the temerity to question Israel is to hit the well worn anti-semite switch and it is mostly an irritating but meaningless toothless bite. More gum than tooth.
Deletehardly
Deletebut your usage of the term "israeli firster" does speak volumes about your bias...
own it Mr Iran
You forgot Israeli control of the banking system.
ReplyDeleteHollywood
Deleteinternational bagel supply
DeleteBlind Item: The Journalist Who Cried Wolf*
ReplyDeleteThere was once a young journalist girl who worked in a country that was in the midst of a dark political climate. Ideologically, there were few like her. It was rather lonely for her all day, so she thought upon a plan by which she could get a little attention and some excitement.
First, while working at the Pupils for Freedom Organization, the young journalist girl rushed down towards the village calling out "Wolf, Wolf."
"What is the matter?" the villagers asked. The young journalist girl claimed she was assaulted by a wolf at her Organization. "Tell us which wolf it was" said the villagers, "and we will all gather around to help you." But she never said who it was, and went on her way.
This pleased the girl so much that a little while later she tried the same trick, crying that Senator Allen Wolf groped her, even though there was no proof. Again, the villagers came to her help, and the girl slipped away.
The young journalist girl realized that by calling out "Wolf, Wolf," she could make her news reports much more exciting, and get attention for herself, resulting in more opportunities and book sales. She continued to use this trick of calling out "Wolf, Wolf."
Next, the young journalist girl went into the midst of a turbulent Occupy Wall Street protest, where police had been stationed to keep the peace. But the girl wasn't there to report a story, only to build excitement around her career. Her report was full of claims of "Wolf Brutality." The villagers were incensed, and again came to her defense.
This was not enough for the girl's insatiable appetite for notoriety. The girl approached a renowned actor, who was a promoter of environmentalism. During a crowded protest, the girl claimed that the actor "mauled her like a wolf," and everyone got angry at the actor. The girl's job there was done.
The young journalist girl continued on her way, leaving cries of "Wolf, Wolf!" in her wake, next accusing a TV show creator of "howling at me at a gas station."
Recently, the young journalist girl was pestering a presidential candidate as he wove through a large crowd. The candidate's guards repeatedly told the girl to go away. The girl felt indignant that anyone would tell her what to do, so she continued following him.
DeleteFinally, as seen on many different video angles, the girl was getting too close to the presidential candidate, separating him from his protectors. The girl was appalled as one of the group brushed past her, saying "excuse me" and touching her on the arm.
Turning to a fellow journalist looking to write a hit piece on the candidate, the girl said, "Did you see that?" "Yeah," he said. "He almost knocked you to the ground!" "Yeah," the girl replied, "he did! He almost threw me on the ground!"
With this idea expanding in her mind, the young journalist girl went home and fired off a story on her blog: "Member of candidate's Wolf Pack abuses women."
The media, who despise this presidential candidate, immediately came to the girl's aid. A narrative circulated, based off her blog, that the girl was "thrown to the ground forcefully." They encouraged the girl to go to the police and file a report. So she did, three days later, with bruises on her lower arm.
Suddenly, a new video surfaced, that shows the girl was not thrown on the ground after all, nor treated forcefully, but was touched on the upper arm. The villagers started to get annoyed, and questioned the girl's credibility.
Shortly after this, a Wolf actually did come out from the forest, and began to circle the girl, and she of course cried out "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time the villagers, who had been fooled many times before, thought the girl was again deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to her help.
The young journalist girl cried, "Can't you see? I'm a victim! Help me!" But no one cared anymore.
So the Wolf made a good meal off the girl's career, and when the girl complained about being jobless, the wise business developer of the village said:
"A liar will not be believed, even when she speaks the truth."
------
*Based off of Joseph Jacob's translation of The Shepherd's Boy (1894)
I used to like Ben Shapiro.
DeleteShedding tears over the fake "battery" of the poor damsel has changed that to unlike.
The People's Cube
Deletehttp://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/topic17764.html#!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet here is some censorship you'd never comment on...
ReplyDeleteThree out of 13 displays put together for the exhibition were disqualified by the UN including one about Jerusalem, another about Israeli Arabs and a third about Zionism.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/UN-censors-Israeli-exhibition-featuring-Zionism-and-Jerusalem-450119
The Jerusalem poster presents the city as the spiritual and physical capital of the Jewish People. It shows pictures of holy sites and states that “The Jewish people are indigenous to Israel and have maintained a continuous presence in the land since 1000 BC. Jerusalem has been the center and focus of Jewish life and religion for more than three millennia and is holy to Christians and Muslims as well.”
The display on Israeli Arabs explains that they are “the largest minority in Israel, making up 20 percent of Israel’s population” and describes them as “equal citizens under the law in Israel.”
Finally, the third display defines Zionism as “the liberation movement of the Jewish people, who sought to overcome 1,900 years of oppression and regain self-determination in their indigenous homeland.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon demanded on Sunday that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reverse the decision to disqualify these posters and said that “by disqualifying an exhibition about Zionism the UN is undermining the very existence of the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people.”
The Israeli mission pointed out that UN General Assembly reversed in 1991 a resolution equating Zionism with racism, which had passed 16 years earlier and that with the decision to censor the displays “the UN is de-facto enacting this old resolution, defining Zionism and Jerusalem as ‘unacceptable,’ and disqualifying key elements of the heritage of the Jewish people.”
So the UN in fact has passed (in the past and it took 16 years for the UN to remind them) laws that make slandering Zionism and Israel legal.
Sounds like Deuce is PROJECTING what the world does to the Jews...
The good news, or ironic news about Iran?
ReplyDeleteIt's nuclear intentions and it's ballistic missile program, coupled with it's cooperation with North Korea?
Make Russia, parts of Europe and the Arab world the number one target.
Israel's acquiring nuclear weapons (if that has happened) has not frightened any of it's next door neighbors into any nuclear arms race...
Now the Sunni Arab world is scared shitless about a Shiite Nuclear bomb in the hands of Iran...
Funny the people most effected by Iran's rise as a regional hegemonic power don't share this blog or Deuce's concerns about Israel.
:)
peace out...
Democrats Increasing Their Edge in U.S. Party Affiliation
ReplyDeleteDemocrats Increasing Their Edge in U.S. Party Affiliation
by Jeffrey M. Jones
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Democrats hold six-percentage-point edge in party affiliation
One of largest advantages in Obama's second term
Parties were even last fall
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Forty-six percent of Americans now identify politically as Democrats or say they lean Democratic, while 40% identify as Republican or lean Republican. As recently as October, the parties had equal levels of support.
The six-percentage-point Democratic advantage in party loyalties in Gallup Daily tracking throughout March is one of the larger leads for the party during Barack Obama's second presidential term. Democrats have held a seven-point lead over Republicans on three occasions during this time, including January 2013, the month of Obama's second inauguration; October 2013, during the partial federal government shutdown; and April 2015, as the 2016 presidential field was beginning to take shape and Hillary Clinton was the best-known, and best-liked, candidate.
These results are based on monthly averages of Gallup Daily tracking data, including more than 13,000 interviews each month. Each night, Gallup asks Americans whether they identify politically as Democrats, Republicans or independents. Independents are subsequently asked if they lean more toward the Republican or Democratic Party. Party "leaners" usually share similar attitudes and behaviors to those who identify outright with the party. Consequently, the combined percentage of party identifiers and leaners gives a sense of the relative strength of each party within the U.S.
The recent shifts toward, and away from, the GOP may reflect the twists and turns in the presidential campaign. As Clinton became embroiled in a controversy over storing classified government communications on a private server last spring, her image suffered. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's presence in the campaign, a GOP contest with a large field of 17 candidates, and widely viewed television debates offered a great deal of publicity for the party. But the large field also created greater uncertainty about the likely outcome than the Democratic contest in which Clinton was regarded as the clear front-runner, notwithstanding Bernie Sanders' spirited challenge.
In August, September and October, the parties were tied in party affiliation, at 42%.
Since then, particularly in the past two months as Trump and his GOP challengers have frequently resorted to personal attacks in debates, at campaign rallies and on social media, Americans' party loyalties have shifted, giving the Democratic Party a clear advantage. Republicans are also facing the real possibility that no candidate will emerge from the contentious nomination campaign with the majority of delegates needed to ensure his nomination, thus leaving the ultimate choice of the nominee to convention delegates.
DeleteAmid the presidential campaign, a time when latent party loyalties are activated given the intense focus on political matters, Obama's job approval rating has improved. Last week, an average of 53% of Americans approved of the job Obama was doing, his highest weekly average since late January/early February 2013. Obama's rising popularity could also be a factor in Americans' greater likelihood of aligning with the Democratic Party.
Implications
Democrats' current six-point edge in party affiliation gives them strong positioning heading toward this fall's election. Given that Republicans tend to vote at higher rates than Democrats, a bigger advantage in basic party loyalties gives Democrats more of a cushion if their turnout fails to match or approach that of Republicans.
The Democratic lead in party affiliation was smaller than it is now in the months preceding the 2012 election, ranging from two to four percentage points. But it pales in comparison to the double-digit advantages it held in 2008, which grew even larger after Obama won the election.
If the GOP nomination is settled in a way that doesn't ignite further controversy, Republicans may gain back some of the support the party has lost, particularly considering the numerous shifts in party affiliation over the past 12 months. But at this point, with neither party nomination settled and Election Day still seven months away, Democrats hold the upper hand.
These data are available in Gallup Analytics.
Survey Methods
Gallup
Now even Obama admits Iran aint the lover he thought she was....
ReplyDeleteObama: Iran not following 'spirit' of deal
President Obama on Friday criticized Iranian leaders for undermining the “spirit” of last year’s historic nuclear agreement, even as they stick to the “letter” of the pact.
In comments following the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Obama denied speculation that the United States would ease rules preventing dollars from being used in financial transactions with Iran, in order to boost the country’s engagement with the rest of the world.
Instead, Obama claimed, that Iran’s troubles even after the lifting of sanctions under the nuclear deal were due to its continued support of Hezbollah, ballistic missile tests and other aggressive behavior.
“Iran so far has followed the letter of the agreement, but the spirit of the agreement involves Iran also sending signals to the world community and businesses that it is not going to be engaging in a range of provocative actions that are going to scare businesses off,” Obama said at a press conference.
“When they launch ballistic missiles with slogans calling for the destruction of Israel, that makes businesses nervous.”
“Iran has to understand what every country in the world understands, which is businesses want to go where they feel safe, where they don’t see massive controversy, where they can be confident that transactions are going to operate normally,” he added. “And that’s an adjustment that Iran’s going to have to make as well.”
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/274954-obama-iran-has-followed-letter-but-not-spirit-of-nuke-deal
Ya think?
LOL
Even Obama thinks Deuce is incorrect...
Nonsense.
DeleteYou have every Neocon and every Republican saying they will end the deal and reintroduce sanctions. Israel is still threatening Iran.
What do you expect them to do?
If Islamic terrorists get a nuclear weapon, they will probably take it from Israel. Last time I checked, Iran was fighting ISIS, the terror group made in Iraq under US occupation, and supported by Israel.
DeleteDeuce's title to remind the readers...
ReplyDelete"Iran is No Nuclear Threat - Israel Is - An International Conspiracy of Deception, Aggression and The Brave Action of Mordecai Vanunu"
Shameful Deuce.
Selling out America for Iran...
OBAMA: Iran not following 'spirit' of deal...
DeleteSurprise!
Never met an enemy of the USA that he didn't encourage.
...this racist shithole country deserves it.
In his "mind."
Iraqi F16 fighter jets bombard ISIS militants in Heet
ReplyDelete(IraqiNews.com) Anbar – On Sunday, official journalists with the Ministry of Defense announced, that a large number of ISIS members were killed by an air strike carried out by the Iraqi F16 fighter jets in Heet District in western Anbar.
The journalists said in a statement received by IraqiNews.com, “Iraqi F16 fighter jets carried out an air strike on ISIS in Heet District,” pointing out that, “The air strike was carried out based on accurate intelligence information.”
The statement added, “The bombardment destructed tunnels, weapons and booby-trapped hideouts in Heet, and killed a large number of ISIS militants.”
Bringing it to Heet
Strikes in Syria
DeleteAttack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted four strikes in Syria:
-- Near Manbij, two strikes destroyed an ISIL rocket rail system and two ISIL fighting positions.
-- Near Mara, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb.
Strikes in Iraq
Rocket artillery and attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 22 strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:
-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit.
-- Near Haditha, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun.
-- Near Hit, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit, destroying a bridge ISIL had used, an ISIL vehicle bomb factory, 22 ISIL boats and an ISIL beddown location and denying ISIL access to terrain.
-- Near Kirkuk, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL mortar system, an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Mosul, six strikes struck six separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL machine gun and two ISIL vehicles.
-- Near Qayyarah, six strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL weapons storage facility and destroyed four ISIL mortar firing positions, an ISIL supply cache, an ISIL vehicle bomb production facility and 13 ISIL staging areas.
-- Near Rawah, a strike destroyed an ISIL tactical vehicle.
-- Near Sultan Abdallah, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed four ISIL assembly areas and an ISIL vehicle.
-- Near Tal Afar, a strike struck an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL mortar system.
More Heat
Boder Patrol: Obama Forcing Agents to Release Illegals...
Delete85% disappear in USA...
===
Best President ever, right Rufus?
...I forgot:
Bush made him do it.
Farmer Bob may be a dumb fuck, but what the Fuck are you ?
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/bp-council-says-catch-and-release-policy-continues-fueling-illegal/article_b48caa0c-f92c-11e5-914a-671ec164babb.html
The American People seem to like Obama, okay.
ReplyDeleteApprove 52%
Disapprove 45%
Gallup Poll
Well, that certainly proves that insuring the destruction of a once great nation by erasing it's borders is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia now leads the nation in poverty.
Democrat Control plus illegals insures ever more poverty.