Wow, Me and Jack Hunter are on the same wave length.
Video:
Tag: White House
U.S. Military talks with Iraq faltering
I have some very mixed feelings on this story….
Via WSJ:
WASHINGTON—Senior U.S. and Iraqi military officials have been in negotiations about keeping some 10,000 American troops in Iraq beyond the scheduled withdrawal of all U.S. forces at year’s end, according to officials familiar with the talks.
But the discussions face political obstacles in both countries, and have faltered in recent weeks because of Iraqi worries that a continued U.S. military presence could fuel sectarian tension and lead to protests similar to those sweeping other Arab countries, U.S. officials say.
A separate drawdown deadline is looming in Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama wants to see a substantial U.S. troop reduction starting in July. Some U.S. commanders have cautioned against making reductions too quickly.
Underlining Obama administration concerns that U.S. forces have been stretched too thin, the White House has put strict constraints on American military involvement in Libya. On Thursday, the U.S. said it was sending armed drones to support operations in Libya, but the administration has stood firm against sending any ground troops.
In Iraq, top U.S. military officials believe that leaving a sizeable force beyond this year could bolster Iraqi stability and serve as a check on Iran, the major American nemesis in the region, officials said. U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have echoed the concern that if the U.S. pulls out completely, Iran could extend its influence.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad Thursday, urging Iraqi leaders to step up discussions soon if they want U.S. forces to stay beyond the end of 2011.
The timing is critical because the U.S. is scheduled to start drawing down remaining forces in late summer or early fall, and the military would have to assign new units months in advance to take their place.
While American defense officials have made clear they want to leave troops in Iraq, such a decision would require presidential approval. President Obama has yet to indicate publicly whether he would sign off on such a deal.
Mr. Obama could face a political backlash at home if he doesn’t meet his campaign pledge to bring troops home from Iraq. If the U.S. pulls out of Iraq and violence there surges, the president could face tough questions, particularly from Republicans in Congress, about whether the U.S. misjudged Iraq’s capabilities.
As a Conservative, A Paleo-Conservative, as opposed to a Neo-Conservative — but I digress; I have some very mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I would hate to see the United States withdraw from Iraq, it fall into chaos and Iran or some other surrounding Country invade the Country and mount attacks against Israel or even worse, even the United States. On the other hand, I feel that the invasion of Iraq was based on bad intelligence, largely based upon lies told by a man they called curve-ball.
Because of this, I believe we should really get out of there. Because, quite frankly, we have done our jobs. We got rid of Saddam, who was, admittedly hurting his own people and was corrupt as hell. We have trained the Iraqi army to protect themselves from attack or foreign invasion and uprising from within its own Country. Which it appears they are using to hurt dissidents. So, I really do not understand why we are still there. It appears that the Iraqi Government is most likely worried about our interests there — such as oil.
Either way, this is a very sticky situation; no matter what we do, we are going to be the bad guys. If we stay, we will be blamed for any and all uprisings in the Country. If we leave and that Country falls into chaos; we will be blamed for that too and some idiot with a grudge will try to attack us for allowing his Country to invaded. So, either way, it is going to be a mess for us for a long time to come.
This is why, that as a Paleo-Conservative, who rejects the foreign policy stance of the Neo-Conservative right; that we as Conservatives and Republicans should rethink our entire foreign policy status. The very idea of exporting freedom to other Nations is foolish on its face. Even David Horowitz, much to his credit, said this:
The Obama Administration, in my view, is the most dangerous administration in American history, and conservatives need to be very clear about the limits and objectives of American power so that they can lead the battle to restore our government to health. To accomplish this, neo-conservatives need to admit they were wrong, and return to the drawing board. They should give up the “neo” and become conservatives again.
Let me go on the record as saying, I wholeheartedly agree. Not so much about the Obama administration; I have yet to see anything that they have done that is overly dangerous to the Country. I do not agree with Obama’s whole, “Spread the Wealth around” nonsense; but Bush was not exactly my idea of a “perfect” President either. So, that whole argument is basically mute with me. However, I will say that Conservatives do need to get back to their pre-George W. Bush Neo-Conservative lead foreign policy stance. Because quite frankly, our Nation cannot continue on this idiotic path and survive. I mean, tomorrow China could cut us off and we as a Nation would be done. They basically own us and could decide to collect on their debt — Militarily. If you think about it, that would be quite scary; because what would we fight them with? They own our money and if they decided to defund us, where would we get the money to fight them with? Again, something to think about.
As for the “other” war in Afghanistan; we need to define that mission and if we cannot do, what we set out to do there — which was to capture or kill Osama Bin Ladin, then we need to get out of that Country. Period. End of Story. Nation Building does not work. It was tried there by the Russians and it failed horribly and almost bankrupted the Russian Government. Establishing Governments and Nations should not be the responsibility of the United States armed forces; it should be the job of NATO and the U.N. — let them deal with that idiotic backward Nation — not us.
Sadly though, the United States Government will not listen to the voice of people like me or you. Who feel that this road to ruin that we are on, is not sustainable. That my friends, is the true crime of this Country.
Guest Voice Chuck Baldwin Asks Have The Tea Parties Been Neoconned?
(Lifted from Chuck Baldwin’s website)
Back in February of 2010, I appeared on Neil Cavuto’s FOXBusiness TV show to talk about the emergence and effectiveness of America’s Tea Party movement. I warned FOX biz host Charles Payne that I was very concerned about the Tea Parties being infiltrated and taken over by big-government neocons.
See my interview on Neil Cavuto’s show (hosted by Charles Payne):
With more than a year having gone by since that interview, I believe the concerns I expressed on FOX were more than warranted. I am seeing more and more Tea Parties fall into the same trap, as did their predecessors back in the “Conservative Revolution” of 1994 and ‘95.
Right here in my home State of Montana, voters overwhelmingly threw the liberal Democrats out of both State houses and replaced them with Republicans who campaigned on strong conservative rhetoric. But what has happened since? Neocon Republicans in leadership positions squashed the best legislation and bullied compromised, big-government legislation through both chambers. The result: big-government neocons, once again, stymied and squashed the efforts of constitutionalist GOP legislators.
A press release at the half-way point of the Montana legislative session stated, “According to Montana Conservatives’ just-released mid session scorecard, the new wave of Republican legislators elected in November’s landslide are actually voting less conservative than their party’s incumbents.
“This is not good news for Tea Party organizers and other conservative activists, who were hopeful the strong conservative mood of the fall elections would sweep into office a new breed of bolder conservative voices. Instead, the organization’s Taxpayer Advisory Bulletin (TAB) reveals that returning GOP legislators (including those who switched houses) voted 46% conservative through the transmittal break, while newcomers graded a slightly lower 43%. Democratic legislators had an average conservative score of 7%.
“Commenting, MC spokesman Roger Koopman said, ‘This poor performance of Republican freshmen perpetuates what is functionally a three-party system in Helena, consisting of small government Republicans, big government Republicans and big government Democrats. The pattern has existed for years. Consequently, even with large Republican majorities in both houses, conservative ideas remain in the minority and the overall thrust of the legislature is toward bigger, more intrusive government, with greater state control and less individual freedom.’”
See the TAB press release and report at:
What the report does not make a point to say is that the poor performance of many of these freshman GOP legislators is primarily due to the political pressure brought upon them by big-government neocons in leadership positions within the GOP State caucus. This is the same thing that has been going on in State legislatures all over America, and even more so in Washington, D.C. When the courageous freshman class of 1994 was elected to the US House of Representatives, everyone was talking about the great “Conservative Revolution” that had just taken place. Conservative freshman House members such as Helen Chenowith, Bob Barr, Steve Largent, J.C. Watts, J.D. Hayworth, Joe Scarborough, Sonny Bono, etc., marched into the US Capitol with broad support from the American electorate and a sense of commitment to reign in an out-of-control federal leviathan in Washington, D.C. So, what happened? Were any federal departments dismantled? No. Was the size and scope of the federal government reduced? No. Was federal spending reduced? No. Within a year from that historic election in 1994, the “Conservative Revolution” was dead, and it was “business as usual” in Washington, D.C.
Why did this happen? Two reasons: big-government neocon GOP Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich and big-government neocon GOP Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. These two big-government establishment phony conservatives used their leadership positions to stymie, steamroll, and squash the conservative agenda of the 1994 conservative freshman Republicans.
And the same way that Gingrich and Lott killed the “Conservative Revolution” of 1994 in Washington, D.C., big-government neocons in the State legislatures (including here in Montana) have killed and are killing the limited-government revolutions of the various Tea Parties in 2010 and ’11. Beyond that, many Tea Party leaders and activists are currently touting the Presidential candidacy of the same man who helped kill the “Conservative Revolution” of 1994: former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.
In my interview on FOX, I said that I was angrier with the Republican Party than I was the Democrat Party. If you listened to the interview referenced above, you heard my reason why: with Democrats there is no pretense. One knows exactly what the Donkeys stand for: Big Government, more taxes, more spending, more welfare, etc. Republicans, however, constantly campaign for less government, less taxes, less spending, less welfare, etc., but after they are elected, they continue the big-spending ways of their colleagues on the other side of the aisle (then throw in their own propensities to expand a burgeoning Police State and Warfare State). Say what you want, at least Democrats are honest about their affinity for Big Government.
If Tea Party activists really believe they are going to change the size and direction of government (at any level) by promoting and electing people such as Newt Gingrich, they are living in fantasyland. (Or, if they live in Montana, they are smoking too much of the weed that they seem hell-bent to deny everyone else!)
Furthermore, this whole Republican vs. Democrat, or “conservative” vs. liberal, paradigm is a joke, anyway! Voters have been replacing Democrats with Republicans, liberals with “conservatives” (and vice versa) for decades; and what has it gotten us? Nothing but bigger and bigger government; more and more government spending; more and more welfare programs; more and more taxes; more and more Police-State legislation; more and more political correctness; more and more environmental wackoism; more and more foreign wars; less and less freedom; and less and less State autonomy.
Koopman’s “three party” description is well taken, except I might refine it a little by maintaining that we still have only two parties: socialist Democrats and neocon Republicans in one party, and limited-government, freedom-oriented constitutionalists in the other party. It’s time that people start identifying big-government neocons in the GOP as being nothing more than a clandestine fifth column unit of the Democrat Party!
If Tea Parties have a death wish, they will promote and support big government neocons such as Newt Gingrich. If they want to truly change the course of their states and country, they will promote and support only those men and women who understand what constitutionalism, limited-government, and liberty really mean–and who have the courage and fortitude to actually defend those principles after being elected. Anything less is just more of the same.
Video: What the Neo-Conservatives created in Iraq
First some very disturbing video from Fox News:
Now the story via Fox News Channel:
On April 8th, the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates was visiting leaders in Baghdad, a 2,500-man Iraqi Army unit raided a compound occupied by Iranian dissidents in Iraq, killing 34 people and injuring 325 others. Eight of those killed were women, according to the United Nations.
The attack occurred just hours after members of the same group in Washington revealed what they said was a previously undisclosed Iranian centrifuge production facility near Tehran — part of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program.
Camp Ashraf has long served as a sanctuary for members of the anti-Iranian government group known as the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (MEK) — a place the U.S. military vowed to protect shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But with only 47,000 U.S. troops still in the country, and a new Shiite-led government in Iraq looking to bolster relations with Iran, the camp is threatened.
A 12-minute video released by the MEK documents the nighttime attack, beginning with images of Iraqi soldiers driving through crowds of civilians and running men over with trucks and armored Humvees. It shows soldiers firing on and killing groups of unarmed men and women. Gaping wounds suffered by survivors are displayed in detail along with images of the dead laid side by side and covered to the neck by white sheets.
The Iraqi general who led the raid claims the shootings came in response to residents pelting his troops with rocks and throwing themselves in front of his military vehicles.
MEK say those same soldiers are still preventing the wounded from getting proper medical treatment.
MEK was designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. after it carried out an assassination campaign targeting American military leaders in Tehran in the 70’s, as well as later attacking Iranian government targets. Since then the group has become better known for revealing secret production facilities related to the Iranian nuclear program, as it did with uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in 2002.
Sen. John Kerry, head of the Foreign Relations Committee, wants the Iraqis to conduct a full investigation and the called the raid “deeply disturbing” and “simply unacceptable.”
Gates commented on the incident while he was in Iraq, saying he was “concerned” with the reports of deaths and injuries.
And State Department spokesman Mark Toner later condemned the attack, but called it a “sovereign” matter for the Iraqis. By law, the U.S. security agreement with Iraq prohibits the U.S. military from intervening.
A number of former U.S. government officials spoke out about the raid during a conference at the Mayflower hotel in Washington Thursday, many of them calling on the State Department to remove the MEK from its list of terrorist groups.
Michael Mukasey, an attorney general under George W. Bush, called the Iraqi’s guarantee in 2003 to protect the group, “worthless.” He said that unless the U.S. removes the MEK from its terror list the killings will continue.
“What has enabled the Iraqi government — acting in the behest of the Iranian regime — and what enables the Iranian regime itself is this continued designation,”
Mukasey said.
Gen. Wesley Clark, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, linked the incident at Camp Ashraf to current Arab uprisings in the region.
“How can we hope to help those inside Iran who are seeking a more open and liberated government if we can’t help those in Camp Ashraf who are simply asking for protection and an opportunity to live their lives in peace,?” he asked.
Critics say Iran is seizing on distractions in Libya by backing a Shia uprising in Bahrain and helping Syrian President Bashar Assad crack down on government protesters.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for the MEK and the National Council of Resistance Iran, says the Iranians encouraged the Iraqis to attack Camp Ashraf.
“This is a pure crime committed intentionally by the Iraqi government against the Iranian dissidents to do the bidding for Tehran,” Jafarzadeh said.
The last portion of the video provided by MEK shows a 29 year-old Iranian woman, named Isiyeh Rakhshani, delivering a video message to Congress in 2010. Flash to April 8th where she’s shooting cell phone video of the attack on Ashraf. In the final frame Rakhshani’s mother is seen mourning over her dead body.
I really hated to quote that all; but friends, I wanted you all to see it for yourselves; just what Bush and the Neo-Conservative warmongers in the G.O.P. created. My friends, if that does not sicken you to your core, you do not have a damned soul. In 2003, after the euphoria and outrage over 9/11, the United States of America went into a sovereign nation and invaded it; based on the lies of a man, who they call “Curveball.”
America then proceeded to take a Nation, who’s army had, at best, soviet-era tanks and equipment; and proceeded to give them our very best equipment; and now, they are using it on their own damned people. Anyone who believes that Iraq is a free nation; is either lying to themselves or worse. The United States of America basically ousted one dictator and installed a new one in Iraq. Even now the most pro-war Conservative admits that.
It was indeed “Mission Accomplished.” But this mission that we accomplished, was not what Bush and his Neo-Conservative friends had in mind. Now, there are people in Iraq this day, who have lost family; all because a group of Jacobin Democrats decided to invade a Country and further their warped foriegn policy fantasies.
For every action, there is a reaction. For every action taken by the United States Government and its military there is “blowback.” It is an CIA term, and it is very real. Welcome to the middle east 2011; brought you by internationalist Democrats and Neo-Conservatives. We have no one to blame, but ourselves.
Democrats have no love for Obama, Part Two
Continuing with this theme…
Coming from The Nation:
President Obama cut a budget deal with congressional Republican leaders that outlined draconian cuts to needed programs while doing little if anything to address a supposed fiscal crisis. As such, it was a classic austerity agreement that served the special interests that dominate the upper ranks of both parties while ill-serving the great mass of Americans.
Congress has approved the deal that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders says “moves America in exactly the wrong direction. It cuts programs for struggling working families, the elderly, children and the poor while preserving tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.” But Sanders and a majority of House Democrats opposed it.
That represents a significant break with Obama and his attempt to get congressional Democrats to buy into the austerity agenda — and the false premise that America has the resources for wars and bank bailouts but not for health care, education and meaningful investments in community renewal and job creation.
The House vote was especially telling.
Poor man can’t do nothing right. Continuing:
Sanders captured the sentiment of progressives in Congress and across the country when he said, “There is no question that we must reduce soaring deficits, but it must be done in a way that is fair, which protects the most vulnerable people in our country, and which requires shared sacrifice.”
Roughly translated: “But it must be done in a way that is fair, that protects my special interests; like those old fools who voted me into office.” It must be kept in mind, that Sanders is a socialist. I mean, this guy left the Democratic Party, because it was not liberal enough.
However, I will say this; like I told Karl Rove on twitter, all of this talk about cuts; without making any Military Cuts and ending the wars, especially Iraq and also end the war and more importantly, end the nation building in Afghanistan — is nothing more than a well-planned ruse on the American people. Heck, even Lew Rockwell agrees that making cuts on the back of the poor is just damned immoral. I have to agree, my parents are in their sixties; why should they have to suffer, because a bunch of idiots want to defend an empire?
Further more, why should my parents suffer, because a group of beltway thugs, of both parties, got drunk on spending? It makes no sense to me at all. End these wars, The Afghanistan War has outlived it’s mission, we’re simply nation building there, to make Bush happy. Iraq is done, let’s get the heck out of there! Libya is another mess. We should have never gotten involved with that, at all.
So, as I said, when Democrats and Republicans both want to get real on spending, then I will commend them and vote for a Republican President; until then, it is just all Hot Air.
Nancy Pelosi is getting testy in her old age
Man, you know the people on the hill are getting too old, when this happens:
In a tense moment that may well have encapsulated the frustrations of three-plus months in the minority, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi snapped at a top presidential economic adviser, Gene Sperling, during a closed-door meeting between White House aides and House Democratic leaders Wednesday.“Maybe you could consult with us just once,” Pelosi said, according to one source’s account. Others confirmed the basic content of the stand-out barb from the former speaker in the midst of an active but largely cordial meeting.
Meow… Someone is in need of a nap! 😉 There is a more serious political angle here; Democrats are simply angered over losing their majority in congress. They are also not happy with the White House either. So, expect more of this.
Democrats on the Hill have zero love for President Obama
First there is this from The Hill:
President Obama needs to start acting like a Democrat by not caving for a second time and allowing the George W. Bush-era tax rates on the wealthy to expire, according to a founding member of the House Progressive Caucus.
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said on MSNBC Monday night that he and other liberal Democrats are hoping to apply enough pressure on Obama to make him “act like a Democrat.”
He also said the last Democratic-controlled Congress made a mistake in not pushing Obama more.
“Well, in my opinion that’s what the House did wrong in the last Congress, and in part why we lost is we never pushed back no matter how wrong he was or how off-base he was; we never pushed back,” DeFazio said.
Obama caved in December by breaking a campaign promise to let the Bush-era tax rates on the wealthy expire, DeFazio said.
“Remember, the president did run on that, and he did cave on it in December,” DeFazio said.
As a result, if Obama calls for an end to the Bush tax rates on the wealthy in a Wednesday speech on the deficit, DeFazio said it would be a small step.
To really bring down the deficit, “it’s got to be more — honestly — than just the top-bracket tax cuts,” DeFazio said.
The 13-term Democrat said all of the Bush tax rates should be allowed to expire, including those on the middle class. He said this would mean a significant tax hike for wealthier people and a more moderate tax increase for the middle class that would return the nation to Clinton-era tax rates, when he said the government balanced the budget.
Obama supports ending Bush tax rates on families with income above $250,000, but would extend the lower tax rates on people under that threshold. The White House has said Obama will lay out new plans for tackling the deficit in a Wednesday speech.
Funny how Democrats acts like spoiled rotten children, when they are not holding the ball anymore.
Then there is this via New York Daily News:
New York’s congressional delegation trashed President Obama’s budget compromise Monday, calling it “irresponsible,” “dangerous” and “immoral.”
“What [Obama has] done politically does not fit what I think should be done morally,” said Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), who signaled plans to vote against the budget this week. “My community got a lousy deal in view of the resources that this great nation has.”
Obama reached an 11th-hour compromise late Friday that narrowly averted a government shutdown by slashing $38.5 billion in federal spending over the next six months.
It’s not clear how much of that cut will affect New York – but local pols say the city will suffer more than most.
“The budget…will hurt New York City terribly,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan). “Many of the things hurt like mass transit and public housing funds are particularly New York oriented.”
The MTA is likely to get slammed, which could mean even more fare hikes or service cuts, Nadler warned.
Money also getting slashed: Economic development, help feeding the poor, elderly in nursing homes, child care and Pell grants for college students.
The cuts “would be an outright disaster for our communities,” Nadler said.
The whacks come as the city struggles to absorb the impact of state budget cuts – and as congressional Dems brace for even deeper cuts as talks start this week on the 2012 federal budget.
Hey Charlie, I got one thing to say bud…..:
Cue the Music!
Cry me a freakin’ river dude. 🙄
It is so funny how when Democrats hold the majority; they are civilized people. But the minute they lose the majority, due to overreach; they turn into spoiled rotten children. The hard truth is this; the President’s policies have failed this asinine idea of “tax and spend” utterly failed and the economy is still stalled and now President Obama has lost the “great majority” that he once had and now he has to play by the Republicans rules and also has to do something “Grown Up” to salvage our economy and get the United States out of debt. Now that this is happening, cookie jar robbers like Rangel are acting like the President is a crook or something. It is all quite humorous to watch.
On the budget deal and the liberal left’s reaction
So about this so-called budget deal, which many a blogger on the right has reminded us, is not a real deal at all. Conservatives are not too keen on it; but the liberals —- my God! — they are in sackcloth and ashes!
Consider some of the reactions…..
Melissa McEwan over at shakesville is not a happy camper:
We’ve sure come a long way (no we haven’t) from Barack the Feminist (LULZ). I guess he’s just one of those “pragmatic feminists” who understands that sometimes women’s reproductive rights need to get thrown under the bus in order to make way for Important Democratic Politics, like empowering the most rightwing elements in the Republican Party.
To understand how thoroughly the Dems caved to the GOP on this deal, it was struck with “historic” cuts about which that nincompoop Reid is actually bragging, as if misogyny, Social Darwinism, and allowing infrastructure to fester until people die on collapsing bridges are radically brave progressive ideas.
Obama’s a fucking disaster. We needed FDR; instead we got FML.
Richard (RJ) Eskow at HuffPo says a whole bunch, a snippet:
Say what you will about Rep. Ryan’s budget proposal, it’s a vision. By proposing to dismantle Medicare for people retiring in 2021 and afterwards, he’s laid out a radical alternative to today’s policies. By slashing taxes for the wealthy and proposing deregulation for all industries, the Ryan plan envisions a future America: one where the environment is despoiled, the poor go unfed, and the middle class faces a lifetime of financial insecurity following by an old age of sickness and penury.
It may not be a good vision, but it’s a vision.
Where’s the progressive vision for 2021? Where’s the dream people can seize upon and make their own? Where’s the ideal that can energize activists? Where’s the extreme position from which the Democrats can be “bargained down” so that they, too, can only get 20% more than they asked for when the negotiations began? If they’re not going to do it, we have to do it for them.
Here’s a start: First increase Social Security retirement benefits by 15%, across the board, by lifting the payroll tax cap and imposing a financial transactions tax. Second, increase income taxes on a sliding scale that goes up to 60% for the highest earners in the country. (It’s been as high as 90% during periods of our greatest prosperity.) Third, add $500 billion to our stimulus spending over the next two years, and keep adding it until unemployment is down to 4%. Fourth, immediately add a public option, “Medicare For All” plan that’s voluntarily available to Americans of all age brackets.
Have fun. Add your own visions. Dream. Then demand your dream. It’s working for the Tea Party, and it can work for you.
One thing’s for sure: The old definition of insanity, “doing the same thing and expecting different results,” still holds. Whatever the progressive movement’s doing right now, it’s not working as well as it should. It’s frustrating, but it’s no reason to give up. Like a guy with a guitar said a century ago: Don’t mourn, organize.
Benintn over at DailyKos, is surprisingly reasonable:
There’s understandable frustration about President Obama’s deal with the devil Speaker Boehner and House Republicans to pass the 2011 budget and fund government for the rest of this fiscal year. After all, with a Democrat in the White House and a Democratic majority in the Senate, why couldn’t Democrats protect the budget from these job-killing, growth-slowing, economy-damaging budget cuts?
But as President Obama said to the Republicans in 2009: “I won.” And now, in 2011, the tables are turned. Republicans eager to show off their newly discovered fiscal sobriety are trying to roll back not only the stimulative impact of the Recovery Act, but also the legislative and political progress of the last two years.
In 2008, we won. In 2010, we lost. (Badly.) This is what happens when you lose elections.
[…]
But if Progressives are really interested in redrawing the map in 2012, the way to do it is outside of electoral politics. Let’s face it: redistricting in 2012 will reduce the number of safe progressive districts in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Arizona. And with 23 seats to defend in the US Senate, we’ll have to play defense more than offense in 2012. And if elected officials are forced by Citizens United to run to the middle, then the real solution is something that will happen outside of the push-pull of Republican v. Democrat. The real issue comes down to a massive voter education campaign that will take place in coffee shops, libraries, churches, schools, and neighborhoods all over the country.
So, you can blame Obama, blame me, shake your fist, write a blog, or…
What if we started doing what we do best on Daily Kos? What if we got back to the kind of high-quality opposition research, candidate profiles, policy papers, and community-building diaries that make this community the most interesting online political forum out there? What if we let go of the need to change Obama and got refocused on effective netroots organizing strategies? What if we acknowledged the harsh reality that we got our asses handed to us in 2010, and took that lesson as an opportunity to stop doing things that don’t work?
Or we could just have more pie fights.
It’s up to you.
These budget negotiations were a giant win for the Republican Party. President Obama initially cut $40 billion from his own budget proposal — and he got absolutely no credit for that. It was a very typical preemptive concession by the president. It was so typical, you wonder if he recognizes what an indisputably terrible strategy it is or if he has a different agenda.
So, after getting no credit for his original $40 billion concession, then the negotiations began at square one. The Republicans claimed in February that they wanted $32 billion in cuts from that point on. About a week ago, the president came out an announced that they had given the Republicans another $33 billion in cuts — a billion more than they originally asked for. And still the Republicans wanted more.
Why not? They’re dealing with the world’s worst negotiator, why not ask for more? After February they came up with a brilliant good cop-bad cop strategy with the Tea Party, where they had the Tea Party force them to go to $61 billion in demands. Which pushed the spectrum out further to the right. They know President Obama will go to the middle of any spectrum, no matter how radical. And then once they had baited Obama out to the $33 billion number, which was past their original goal, they baited him out even further. Finally, they got him to $38.5 billion in cuts an hour before the deadline.
[…]
I didn’t write this to rub it in the face of the feckless Democrats who always wind up playing the role of the Washington Generals to the Republican Globetrotters (remember the Democrats have the White House and the Senate — but they let the GOP run the place like they are totally in charge). I wrote it to tell you how incredibly important it is that you put real pressure on the president from the left. He will move to the middle of any spectrum!
If you don’t help push the spectrum to the left, the Republicans will move it massively to the right — and the president will fall for it.
The whole point of the insane, draconian, ridiculous Paul Ryan budget proposal for next year was to move the spectrum all the way to the radical right, so that they can lure Democrats to a false middle, that is in reality the far right.
It’s time to stop playing nice with Democrats. Good cop-good cop doesn’t work. We need a bad cop. We need a strong progressive wing to keep shouting “no deal!” every time the White House wants to concede (which will be every time).
You can ignore this, blame me and go hug the president one more time, but you won’t be doing your side any favors. If you actually care about policy and progressive priorities, you must get tough with the president right now. There is no next time.
Which did not go over too well with joelgp over at DailyKos at all:
Cenk, I’m just about sick of you bashing the president with your unrealistic, bombastic crap. You my friend, have become Sean Hannity by day and Bill O’reilly by night. You don’t want or need a president, you need a servant who will do exactly what’s in your head.
After all, Obama is the president of 300 million, not just you.
I rejected your stuff way before today after I watched the most despicable segment you ever produce on Obama in some time. You know what, the Republicans loved you for it.
[..]
Do you simply ignore the fact that conservatives and independents make up nearly 60% of the electorate and Obama should completely reject them?
Of course I’m not happy with everything Obama does but I feel the same way about my wife and kids.
I support him because there has never been another man in U.S. history who inherited a great depression, two wars, a jacked-up banking system, earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, a totally transforming Middle East and a bunch of freakin’ tea party nuts who believe he’s from Mars.
What Obama need’s most is our help–our voices, our support. The last thing he needs is another cable-news loud-mouth whose eating ice cream and candy on his fat Comcast salary while the president is battling for middle America.
Cenk, today you need to decide, either join us in helping the president or apply for the chalkboard vacancy on Fox at five.
I thought you should know.
Finally, there is this here, by DailyKos Diarist teacherken:
Here I am doing my civic duty, working on my taxes. I am paying my fair share.
My wife and I gave you money when you ran for President. We supported you.
But now? Blow, after blow, after blow.
The ‘deal’ about which you bragged is perhaps the final straw for this camel, whose back is breaking at the same time as his heart is shattered.
Dear readers, I apologize for what I am now writing. It will not be coherent, because I am responding to the policy and actions of an administration that are not coherent.
It is an expression of … what? Disappointment to be sure, anger, almost despair.
Mr. President, with what you have just done, on top of all else your administration has done – and failed to do – you have destroyed the hopes of millions, and shifted power and wealth in the direction of those who are fueled by hatred and anger.
And you expect us to continue to support you?
Perhaps you had better ignore this. Because you will not be happy with what I have to offer.
[…]
This is a screed, I admit. I am sitting here just letting it hang out.
I claim no wisdom. I claim no original insight. None of my arguments are original.
That is something that should concern you. I am borrowing from what I hear and 4ead from others. That includes members of your own party who hold federal elective office. It includes party officials in states and local organizations. It includes key voices in the progressive wing of the Democratic party. You know, those nasty types who remember that it was unions and progressives who have helped create the social safety net that built the American middle class, the social safety net the that Republicans are now dismantling a piece at a time, as they simultaneously impose a vision of this nation that should horrify you.
So go ahead Mr. President. Ignore me. Ignore all the voices that have been trying to explain to you, trying to help you help this country.
You might as well.
It seems as if you have been ignoring us all along.
But just one question, Mr. President. One that perhaps you need to consider.
What happens if we decide we have had enough? What if we return the favor?
What if we decide we will ignore you?
Sorry, that was a good deal of quoting; but I wanted to give you a feel for what is happening within liberal progressive Democrat circles. The truth is folks, that progressives put way too much stock in Barack Obama. They projected themselves on him; their dreams, their hopes and yes, even their wishes for progressive policy change in Washington D.C. and ultimately, President Barack Obama gave them some good old-fashioned lip service and laughed all the way to the White House. Now, this is not anything new to politics; President Ronald Reagan did the same very thing to the Religious Christian Conservative right back in the 1981 election. He had them believing that he was going to outlaw Abortion and put prayer back in schools; none of which he did at all. Instead he ran up deficits, shipped arms to Iran, and basically played much of the Republican Party and the far right for a fool.
So, while all of this sadness and naval grazing might be humorous to watch; it is a little silly. Did the liberals actually expect Obama to cater to their every whim?
Now, as for the Republicans, I think all of this belly aching is a bit silly; we all wanted cuts. We should be glad we got anything at all. Sure, we all want more. But anything is better than nothing.
This here is why I cannot stand Barack Obama
People think it is because I am a racist. Which, of course, is bullshit. But, no, it has zero to do with race. It is because of crap like this right here.
Via InstaPundit:
Want to know the real cute part? The fucking story went down the memory hole, once people started noticing it and blogging about it. 
There is not anything that I cannot stand more, and that is a fucking coward.
Mike over at Cold Fury puts it a bit more bluntly:
Once more, with feeling: they don’t give a shit about you. In fact, they despise you. They intend to bring you to heel, and to make you suffer for all the damage you’ve done to Mother Gaia and little brown people all over the world with your greed and selfishness. Yes, that really is how they see you. They will use you only as long as it suits their purposes, and doesn’t conflict with their left-wing agenda. Unless you’re one of their blind-sheep followers, they intend to stomp you flat, any and every way they can. And if you continue voting for them, you deserve it.
Go read the rest of that, it gets much better. 
Here is the video in question, I mean, even if he was joking; saying something like that is about as tone deaf as it gets, especially in this sort of an economic downturn.
Video:
Such arrogance. Good luck getting elected in 2012, ya idiot!
Others: Pajamas Media
Quotes of the Day
Bastard. Graham is the sort of scum you get when you blindly vote for Republicans just because there is an R after their name.
Reid, who hates America and her liberties, him I expect to act this way. But Graham likes to call himself a “conservative,” and then, out of that same mouth, say that America might need to “limit” the First Amendment to appease Muslim barbarian savages.
He’s even worse than Reid, because ignoramuses think that Graham actually loves his country and our freedoms, even though his words and actions demonstrate exactly the opposite.
Yet there is a certain segment of “conservatives” who would expect me to vote for Graham no matter what, because he isn’t a Democrat.
I spit on that notion. I will never, ever vote for a candidate who espouses this sort of America-hating, anti-liberty, constitution-loathing crap, no matter what nominal party tag is dangling around his neck.
Charles Johnson is right and here is why
First, go read — I will wait.
Are you finished? Good.
What is my point? This:
This right here above, is why I have my comments section on lock down. Not only do I require people to register, but I also moderate all comments — meaning, I personally read every comment; because of stuff like this right here. Uncontrolled discussion on blogs leads to things being said, like what Charles Johnson quoted.
However, I do wholeheartedly reject the accusation or at least the inferring that all Conservative blogs have become a swamp of hate against Muslims and or Arabs. Furthermore, I reject the inferring that all Conservatives/Classic Liberals/Republicans and Christians hate all Muslims and Arabs. That is collectivism, and it is crap; and I think Johnson is smart enough to know this, I think he is backhanding the blogs mentioned due to his dispute with the persons mentioned.
Having said of that, I do truly believe that there is a minority of persons in the Republican/Conservative/Classic Liberal crowd — who are frankly, bigoted towards Muslims and ultimately Arabs. Unlike some of the empty-headed idiots on the left, I am not going to make the asinine inferring that they are this way by design. What I will do is tell you the truth; what has caused this small but very vocal minority to become this way, is because of the attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001.
President George W. Bush, much to his credit did make the much vital distinction between the war on Terrorism and the war on Islam or Muslims or even Arabs. Not everyone within the conservative circles agreed with him and still does not agree with that mindset to this day; and now that President George W. Bush is out of the picture that vocal minority is becoming louder and much more accepted. I do not like myself; because it just makes the rest of us look bad.
This of course, is what the C.I.A. calls “Blowback.” It is the unintended consequences of actions taken by the United States Government. Most people think of “Blowback” as the angering of the Arab people to cause them to take up arms and commit terrorism against the United States of America – and in fact, it is just that. However, that is just the one side of “Blowback.” The other, more tragic and sinister side of “blowback” is the incitement of racial hatred towards Arabs and the religious hatred towards Muslims in General — including those here in the United States of America.
This reason, along with the laundry list of reasons; is why people like myself, Jack Hunter, Ron Paul, Rand Paul and an ever-growing list of Conservatives and Republicans are beginning to question the role of the United States Government involvement on foreign entanglements in foreign lands.
Of course, anyone with a good knowledge of the history of the United States of America and of American politics can tell you, that this is nothing new at all. In the 1940’s President Franklin Roosevelt, badly wanting to enter into the conflict against the Empire of Japan and against Germany, ordered a blockade of oil from South America that was headed to Japan. This act by the President plunged Japan into desperation caused Japan to fly across the Atlantic and attack America’s interests in the Republic of Hawaii. At the time however, Americans were not made aware of the fact that President Roosevelt had done this, as it was kept quiet by the Government. However, there were people who did know about it. Winston Churchill was one of those people, and in fact, Churchill warned FDR that doing such things would cause some sort of backlash from the Japanese and, as history shows, he was correct. The sick and sad part is; to this very day, there are people who still believe that the Empire of Japan attacked the United States for no reason at all.
How this ties into the modern-day events is this; back in 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Government set up internment camps throughout the United States for the Japanese people. It is very widely believed that the decision to do this, by the United States Government was brought on by or at the very least fueled Anti-Japanese sentiment in this Country for years, even after the war. Sadly, there are Conservatives, of whom I will not name; that actually advocated the interment of Muslims and Arab Americans — after the attacks on 9/11. Thankfully, the Bush Administration did not listen to the foolish ranting of the people who wrote those books.
My point is the following: Conservatives who believe that foreign policy interventionism is wrong, need to take a stand against the internationalist Democrats and the Neo-Conservative foreign policy interventionists and take control of the Republican Party and possibly the Democratic Party away from these warmongers. Because as long as the United States continues to wage war against Nations that have never really attacked it, this sort of hatred and bigotry will continue. It is simply the doctrine of “Cause and Effect.” Nothing ever happens for any reason at all. It is tragically sad, that the United States and its political parties and their legions of sheep followers, have not figured that simple kernel of truth out.
You say, “What about protecting the Republic?” I do not have a problem with that. However, there is a Grand Canyon difference in protecting the Republic and protecting the empire of America; and wise is the person who knows the difference between the two. Declaring unconstitutional wars and military actions against Nations who have not attacked us; is not defending or protecting the Republic; but rather defending the empire of America and playing useful idiot to foreign lands. I hope that someday, the grassroots of both of these parties will wrestle control away from these people. However, if one is to base his hopes on the Republican Party — their recent actions — make that hope, nothing more than a pipe-dream.
Video:Guest Voice Jack Hunter on Stereotyping the Old South, Plus Tea-O-Cons
More Great Commentary from Jack Hunter:
And as a Bonus:
When I am wrong, I am wrong and I was
Here I go, eating crow again! I wrote this on back on November 15, 2008:
Okay, here’s what is wrong with that up there. To infer that George W. Bush’s Administration and the Administration of President-Elect Barack Obama will be exactly the same, as much as I hate to say this about Mr. Rockwell; is just beyond crazy. Because we are talking about two totally different people; politically, ideologically and personally. I regret to say this, but for all of George W. Bush’s faults; the war, the scandals, everything — I have a real hard time sitting here and believing that he was an Imperialist, yes, he did have a very flawed vision of what he wished to accomplish in the middle east. Yes, he did take some advice from the likes of John and Neil Podhoretz. Yes, it was advice that ended up doing the President more harm that it did good in the end, politically. But to infer that he was a blind imperialist, is borderline Alex Jones sounding.
Believe me when I say this, I am about as a non-Bush fan as it comes, but I just cannot buy into the whole idea that Bush is some sort of Imperialist, being driven by some evil machine. Nor can I, with my normal functioning brain, sit here and believe that Barack Obama will do the exact same things as Bush. I just cannot do that. Because Barack Obama and the Democrats follow a totally different Political ideology than the Republicans. Now before anyone screams about the bailouts, I am fully aware of how Bush basically tossed fiscal Conservatism under the bus. I was not very happy about that. I also noticed that the bailout plan that he signed unto, has failed. But the truth is, he was forced into that, because he was told by the “so-called” experts, that it would work. Now it seems that the “experts” were wrong.
What I am basically trying to get at here is this. If the old school Conservatives or Paleo-Conservatives, and the Libertarians want to be taken serious by the rest of the Conservative movement and the Republican Party as a whole, they need to seriously look into stopping with the Alex Jones material and stick with policy and reality. Because not everyone buys into some of the sillier nonsense that I have seen within them circles. Not only this, but they need to really get away from the abject racism that I have, in fact, seen posted on some of their Blogs.
via Political Byline » Blog Archive » Lew Rockwell jumps the shark.
I do not believe that I was totally wrong about President Bush. But it is very clear now that I and a good number of other people; were wrong about President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. It made sense to me at the time. I really did not think President Obama to be a “warmonger” President. However, it does sadden me; that President Obama has basically done what Bush did, listening to the Neo-Conservatives and followed their advice.
Unlike the Jacobin Democrats who have invaded the Republican Party and that flatly refuse to be held responsible for their actions in the Arab World. I do accept mine and I apologize for even doubting for a minute that a Neo-Liberal would be any different from the previous Neo-Conservative President. So, yeah, I screw the pooch here; in a very big way.
Again, I do not claim to be an absolute authority on anything at all; least of all politics. In fact, I never really claimed to be an authority. Just an opinion guy.
Video: Obama’s Libyan War
Seeing that things are changing with Libya; I thought this to be a be very appropriate video: (Via Reason Hit and Run, and Reason TV)
Video: Guest Voice: Jack Hunter on Mark Levin’s Constitution
Once again, Jack Hunter outs a slime ball Neo-Conservative for what he really is; a warmongering pig. Notice in this video, that Jack Hunter points out the differences between Neo-Conservatives —– and Paleo-Conservatives or American Conservatives who are against interventionist foriegn policy. Something that the Republican Party was for prior to the mass exodus from the Democratic Party in 1964. Then these Jacobin Democrats brought their foreign policy with them. That, my friends, is the problem and what brought us George W. Bush.
Video:
Rep. Anthony Weiner said What?!?!?!
Hoo Boy! 😯
Oh no he did not.
Oh yes he did.
This from Amanda Terkel, who, in this writers opinion is a very pretty lady — for a liberal. 😛
Headline:Anthony Weiner: Obama Is ‘Not A Values Guy’
Needless to say; my eyes did bug out over that one! 😯
The Story:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and a handful of other House Democrats expressed deep frustration with President Barack Obama’s leadership on Wednesday, saying he needs to do more to set the direction for the progressive movement.
Across the aisle, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has struggled to wrangle the various wings of his conference and pass budget measures through the lower chamber. Weiner told a group of journalists and bloggers on Capitol Hill that the Republican leader has a tough job of trying to hold “a coalition of crazies and completely crazies together.”
But Republicans, Weiner said, have nonetheless long done a better job of making their case — “smaller government, smaller deficits, lower taxes” — to the public and each other. The Democratic Party remains unclear as to its core policy principles, Weiner said, and part of the problem is Obama.
“On our side is this weird squishy affirmative sense of what government should do and how we’re opposed to this cut and that cut, rather than saying, ‘Here are the things: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, environment and education. We’re not cutting those. Those are off the table. That’s non-negotiable,'” said Weiner, adding, “We haven’t really done that very well. That’s because the president fundamentally — he’s not a values guy. He wants to try to get the best deal for the American people and that’s virtuous in its own right, but it becomes very difficult to make a strategy. There’s been much greater global strategy thinking on [progressive media] outlets, frankly, than at 1600 Pennsylvania.”
(****)
Continued Weiner: “It is now pretty clear to me — I’m not saying this is pejorative — the president, he doesn’t animate his day by saying, ‘All right, what is the thing that has me fired up today? I’m going to out and try to move the ball on it.’ He kind of sees his job as to take this calamitous noise that’s going on on the left with people like us and on the right on Fox News, and his path to being a successful president, in his view, is taking that cacophony and trying to make good, level-headed, smart policy out of it and moving it incrementally down the road. That’s nice. That’s a good thing. We need that, obviously. The problem is there’s no substitute for someone really leaning into these values questions. “
I have to hand it to Rep. Anthony Weiner, he is not afraid to speak his mind. After all, this is the same guy, who went ape over a vote for 9/11 recovery workers. That little performance was a piece of work. 😛
I will refrain from the whole “rats jumping from ship” analogy. But, I do find the whole thing quite ironic. What happened to unity, and the whole “Hope and Change” idea?
I guess even “The One” is not even immune to the old “Party Backlash” syndrome. I have one thing to say about that:
It’s about friggin’ time!
I just wonder when someone of the “Black Left” will holler “RAAAACIST!” and complain that the joooos are picking on Obama?
It all goes back to the Federal Reserve
I thought I would share this one with you all.
It seems that food prices are going up. I spotted this blog posting over at HotAir.com; which is, a Neo-Conservative Blog. Anyhow, Ed Morrissey points out that food prices are going up. Ed points to this story by the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.
The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January’s 0.5 percent rise.
Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.
Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.
Separately, the Commerce Department said home construction plunged to a seasonally adjusted 479,000 homes last month, down 22.5 percent from the previous month. It was lowest level since April 2009, and the second-lowest on records dating back more than a half-century.
The building pace is far below the 1.2 million units a year that economists consider healthy.
There was little sign of inflationary pressures outside of food and energy. Core prices have increased 1.8 percent in the past 12 months.
Still consumers are paying more for the basic necessities.
Why is it that prices are going up? Well, I can tell you why…. It’s called inflation. Something this guy here has been talking about for years:
Of course, Ed Morrissey, tries to credit the shrieking harpy and two bit phony Sarah Palin for this; but we thinking Americans know better. Sarah Palin most likely cannot even program her own VCR, much less understand the workings of the Federal Reserve. Ron Paul was saying this sort of stuff, when Sarah Palin was still playing with dolls and dreaming of being someone in politics as a child.
Scott Johnson over at Powerline, smartly and very accurately points to the federal reserve bank for this rise in food costs, he also points to a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed that warned of this sort of a thing happening. Yes, I know, Powerline Blog is decidedly Neo-Conservative; but when it comes to this sort of stuff, those guys are in the right frame of mind. I just wish I could convince them that imperialism is a sad mistake —- As are unconstitutionally declared wars.
It also turns out, that the Federal Reserve Bank is not the only part of the Federal Government that is a danger to it’s citizens. There is also other things that we should be, as citizens, worried about; like the ill-conceived and improperly named “Patriot Act.” As this video shows, that act is being used against citizens in a very bad way: (H/T RTR.Org)
The part about the raid on Walter Reddy, the founder of the modern Committees of Safety is in this video. I do encourage you all to watch it. If this man’s story is true. If someone does not like you; they can go to your local police department and makes up actual lies about you and cause the police to conduct a raid on your home. That my friends, is insanity.
As you might expect, I post this video with a disclaimer; Just because I post this, does not mean that endorse the products being sold or the overall conspiratorial tone of the video. I simply post this for informational purposes only.
Update: Mark this on your calendars; this one of the rare times, when I actually agree with Lew Rockwell.
Stupid: Federal Court rules that Colorado Man Can Sue Secret Service
My God, how stupid can the leftist fools be?
DENVER — A Colorado man can sue two Secret Service agents who arrested him after he touched former Vice President Dick Cheney on the arm in 2006 and told him his Iraq War policies were “disgusting,” a federal appeals court ruled Monday.The ruling means Steven Howards can try to subpoena Cheney to testify about the incident, said David Lane, Howards’ attorney.”I fully intend on deposing the former vice president,” Lane told The Associated Press.Lane has been trying for years to subpoena Cheney, but his motion has been delayed as judges weighed the question of whether the Secret Service agents were immune in the case. He has said he wants to subpoena the former vice president because he’s “the best eyewitness to the case.”
via Federal Court: Colorado Man Can Sue Secret Service – FoxNews.com.
This is why this strikes me as incredibly stupid; for one, this man made a choice to break the law and try to grab the former Vice President — to make a political statement. For two; now he is trying to capitalize on this incident and sue the Secret Service and the Government by proxy. In short; the man is nothing more than some leech, who wants to make a quick buck on the backs of the American people. Not to mention make a stupid political point.
Either way, I hope like hell that the courts toss this idiot’s case out. Because he does not deserve anything at all. Except maybe a swift kick in the butt. 😡
So, the next time some idiot liberal Democrat tries to tell you how horrible we Capitalist Conservative Christians are; show ’em this, please. I mean, I would rather be some money grubbing capitalist, than to be trying to make a quick buck on the back of the American people; and for what? To make a rather idiotic political point? How stupid. 🙄
….and I say this, as someone who was not too keen on Bush and Co’s polices either…..
The Itamar Murders: Living proof that there can never be peace between Jews and Arabs
What I am talking about? This: (Warning! This video is graphic! If you have a weak stomach, don’t watch!)
Basically, what happened here; was this, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade — an arm of Fatah, of which Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is a member — came into a house, around 10:00 or 10:30 P.M. and killed this family, while they slept.
The real kicker is this; according to this report, Arabs took to the streets and celebrated. They also handed out Candy:
Gaza residents from the southern city of Rafah hit the streets Saturday to celebrate the terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Itamar where five family members were murdered in their sleep, including three children.Residents handed out candy and sweets, one resident saying the joy “is a natural response to the harm settlers inflict on the Palestinian residents in the West Bank.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said he “clearly and firmly denounces the terror attack, just as I have denounced crimes against Palestinians.
“We are against all types of violence,” Fayyad said during a tour in Bethlehem. “Our position has not changed. As we have said many times before, we categorically oppose violence and terror, regardless of the identity of the victims or the perpetrators.”
Disgusting. 😡
Here is another real kicker, writers in the Palestinian region, blame Israel, yes, Israel for the killings!:
In Palestinian Authority newspapers and on the social network pages of private citizens, denunciations of the murder could be found alongside condemnations of Israel’s approval of the construction of 400 new homes in the settlement blocs. Many writers compared the murders to the actions of the settlers themselves.
“I don’t believe that the incident in Itamar is an act of resistance, but rather an act by individuals whom we condemn, in the event it was carried out by Palestinians. Stabbing children in their sleep is not a heroic act but rather that of the heartless, like some of the occupation soldiers and settlers, who murder children,” Hafez Barghouti, editor-in-chief of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote on Sunday.
He added that the “real murderers in Itamar are the zealous settlers and anyone who burned a tree, vandalized the cemetery in Awarta, forced out the residents of Khirbet Yanun, took control of a plot of land or robbed an olive harvest …. The act at Itamar was a message to the occupation and to the world … whose meaning is clear – the occupation must go.”
In his regular column in the same newspaper, Adli Sadek wrote: “Without considering the fact that war criminals wearing the uniform of an army that belongs to a UN member state have killed and continue to kill Palestinians … such an action must be condemned unequivocally and in the harshest language. This is not only because this is a crime that harms us politically and public-relations-wise and helps the extremist government cast aspersions on all of us, but also because the humanitarian character of a nation that receives aid and support from all freedom-lovers of all religions, races and nationalities does not accept such a heinous murder.”
According to Sadek, “It bears repeating that the murder of children, if carried out by Palestinian hands, must not be part of the national struggle, which has generally sought … to engage with the soldiers of the occupation and not hurt Israeli children.”
Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, however, was one of a number of senior PA officials who continued to imply that the Fogels were not murdered for nationalist reasons. “People and an infant were butchered in a way no Palestinian has ever done … raising questions about Israel’s rush to accuse the Palestinians,” he says.
Meanwhile, a Ramallah man said on his Facebook page: “I condemn the attack in the illegal settlement of Itamar. We need to find the criminal who killed a 3-month-old baby and bring him to trial in Palestine …. I also wish the Israeli electorate would hold their government accountable for bringing their citizens to occupied territories instead of justifying collective punishments against Nablus and the surrounding villages.”
Ed Morrissey, of whom I have had disagreements with in the past; writes:
Both Philip and Jeff include this video (via Big Peace), set aptly to music from Schindler’s List, that gives graphic accounts of the slaughter of the Fogels, including the infant Hadas. When I say “graphic,” I mean it, so don’t play this if you’re at all squeamish. It will likely enrage you — or at least it will make you question what kind of people would celebrate this by eating candy in the streets. Answer: The same kind of people who celebrated the massacre of 3,000 people in the US on 9/11, and the very same people that the US insists should have their own independent state. See if this video convinces you of that wisdom.
Ed is spot on. As much as I know that this entire situation is an extension of an Religious War that dates back to the time of the Bible and that the belligerents both are enamored in their own Religious and Political and even philosophical views; it has become very apparent to me that the Arab Palestinians do not want peace. But simply want to rid the region of the Jews and the Jewish State.
This is not to state that I believe Israel’s hands are clean; because they are not and yes, they have committed acts of aggression against the Palestinians themselves. However, this sort of barbaric action is inexcusable and should be condemned by our main stream media here in America; not to mention the White House. However, when you have a President in America, who obviously has a soft spot for the Arab people and those whom we refer to as Terrorists, one can expect so much.
In a sane world; the President of Israel, would consider this an act of aggression and declare war on Palestine and begin carpet bombing operations. However, I sometimes have to wonder about Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres priorities; are they for the people of Israel or are they for their own political careers? That is the question I want answered.
Of course, as a Christian and a believer in the Holy Bible, I do know when this conflict will be solved:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Revelation 19:11-21 KJV)
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:27-31 KJV)
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isa. 2:2-4 KJV)
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Rev 11:15 KJV)
That, and only that is when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be solved.
So much for Democracy in Iraq
Next time some stupid moron Neo-Conservative tells you that Bush brought Democracy to Iraq, by invading it — show ’em this:
BAGHDAD – Among the revolts sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, Iraq’s has been an exception: Here, protesters are seeking to reform a democratically elected government, not to topple an autocrat.But protesters, human rights workers and security officials say the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has responded to Iraq’s demonstrations in much the same way as many of its more authoritarian neighbors: with force.Witnesses in Baghdad and as far north as Kirkuk described watching last week as security forces in black uniforms, tracksuits and T-shirts roared up in trucks and Humvees, attacked protesters, rounded up others from cafes and homes and hauled them off, blindfolded, to army detention centers.Entire neighborhoods – primarily Sunni areas where residents are generally opposed to Maliki – were blockaded to prevent residents from joining the demonstrations. Journalists were beaten.In most cases, regular soldiers and police officers simply stood aside, with one saying the matter was “beyond us.” In all, 29 people were killed.”Maliki is starting to act like Saddam Hussein, to use the same fear, to plant it inside Iraqis who criticize him,” said Salam Mohammed al-Segar, a human rights activist who was among those beaten during a sit-in. “The U.S. must feel embarrassed right now – it is they who promised a modern state, a democratic state. But in reality?”He shook his head.Last Friday, the U.S. Embassy here issued a statement saying that security forces appeared to have followed Maliki’s directive to allow peaceful protests. As reports emerged Saturday of the beaten journalists, the White House issued a statement saying that U.S. officials were “deeply troubled.” The U.S. Embassy has declined to comment further.
via Protesters say Maliki is using special security forces to shut down demonstrations in Iraq.
So much for that little pipe dream, eh? Iraq is no more a damned Democracy than North Korea. The elections over there were nothing more than a smoke screen to fool the American people into believing that the invasion in Iraq in 2003 was justified. Which thinking Conservatives, like me, knew was a pack of damned lies. As was the whole WMD story.
Nice work Dubya! 🙄
Conservatives of all stripes should really be following this coming 2012 election. If whomever the Republican Party chooses to be our next President; starts talking about “exporting Democracy” to foriegn lands, that Conservative should not vote or vote for a third party. Forget the Democrats, they do the same stuff as Neo-Conservatives. Vote different, because America cannot afford no more General’s wars. Just that simple. Exporting Democracy does not work people and this story here is living proof of that.
Fixed rather funny typo. I meant WMD’s, not WND’s… More coffee!
Good Advice: Michael Reagan Urges Believers to Pray for President Obama
Possibly one of the better bits advice I have seen regarding the President as of late.
The story comes via The Christian Post:
Michael Reagan, a political consultant and commentator, urged Americans to pray for their president regardless of political differences.
“It’s easy to pray for your friends. It’s hard to pray for your political opponents,” wrote the son of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in a commentary for Fox News. “But that’s just what Jesus tells us to do: Love your enemies and pray for them. We disobey our own Scriptures if we don’t pray for our political opponents.”
Reagan reminded Christians to put public interest before personal favoritism, especially when presenting their opinions.
“We need to keep our dialogue focused on issues, not personalities,” he urged. “Yes, we still oppose and expose the harm our opponents are doing to our country. I want to critique my opponents without hating them.”
Referring to 1 Timothy 2:2 – where apostle Paul asked believers to pray “for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives” – Reagan urged Christians to pray for President Obama even though they may not share his political view.
In the light of the unrest in Egypt amongst other nations in the Muslim world, Obama is now facing enormous challenges around the globe, Reagan pointed out.
“I pray for President Obama, while I oppose his agenda,” he wrote. “In fact, our prayers have never been more urgently needed than right now.”
I happen to agree with this; I admit, it is kind of hard to keep a Christian perspective about all of this. There are times, when I lose my perspective about all of this. Anyhow, yes, we as Christians ought to keep the President in our daily prayers.
However, it is a little hard to do that, when you have stuff like this going on. From WorldNetDaily a story on a city official trying to take a Church’s tax exempt status away, for a lack of cleanness?:
A New Hampshire city official has taken the old saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” one step too far in a battle now raging over the tax status of a church building, determining that cleanliness is godliness, according to a legal team in the midst of the fight.
The dispute concerns Liberty Assembly of God, now called Destiny Christian Church, over its decision to use its building to feed the hungry and help the needy, and the resulting impact on its building.
It appears a city official didn’t like clutter, and concluded the church couldn’t be religious with it there.
It was several years ago that the foundations of the problem were set in place, when Concord, N.H., officials decided that if the church used its building to house the homeless and meet missionaries’ needs, it would no longer be a church because those weren’t “religious” purposes.
A subsequent room-by-room inspection of the facility was conducted by city officials, and their determination was that such activities were not religious, so the legal experts with the Alliance Defense Fund jumped into action. They now have pending a tax appeal for the church’s 2008 taxes as well as a lawsuit over the 2009 taxes.
A ruling in the 2008 case could be coming any day, but it’s uncertain whether that will resolve the complications that arose following comments from Kathryn Temchack, the city’s director of real estate assessments, who said the church must be stripped of its full tax exemption because its rooms were not clean.
Stuff like the above, can really mess with a person’s perspective. Although, I do believe it is a good thing to continue to prayer for our Government and our Country as a whole. When we give up on the power of prayer, we have lost the battle. So, pray for your leaders, daily.
Uh-Oh: Days of Rage protests reach Iraq
Not to ripoff AllahPundit over at HotAir.com or anything…. But… gulp. 😮
Via Fox News:
BAGHDAD – Thousands marched on government buildings and clashed with security forces in cities across Iraq on Friday, in the largest and most violent anti-government protests here since political unrest began spreading in the Arab world several weeks ago.
In two northern Iraqi cities, security forces trying to push back crowds opened fire, killing six demonstrators. In the capital of Baghdad, demonstrators knocked down blast walls, threw rocks and scuffled with club-wielding troops.
The protests, billed as a “Day of Rage, were fueled by anger over corruption, chronic unemployment and shoddy public services.
“We want a good life like human beings, not like animals,” said Khalil Ibrahim, 44, one of about 3,000 protesters in the capital Baghdad.
Like many Iraqis, he railed against a government that locks itself in the highly fortified Green Zone, home to the parliament and the U.S. Embassy, and is viewed by most of its citizens as more interested in personal gain than public service.
Oh, it gets worse too:
Demonstrators trying to get across a bridge going from the square to the Green Zone clashed with security forces. The demonstrators knocked down some of the concrete blast walls that were put up Thursday night and threw rocks at troops who beat them back with batons. Six riot police and 12 demonstrators were wounded in the melee, said police and hospital officials.
The protests stretched from the northern city of Mosul to the southern city of Basra, reflecting the widespread anger many Iraqis feel at the government’s seeming inability to improve their lives.
A crowd of angry marchers in the northern city of Hawija, 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad, tried to break into the city’s municipal building, said the head of the local city council, Ali Hussein Salih.
Security forces trying to block the crow opened fire, killing three demonstrators and wounding 15, local officials said. The Iraqi Army was eventually called in to restore order.
In Mosul, also in northern Iraq, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the provincial council building, demanding jobs and better services, when guards opened fire, according to a police official. A police and hospital official said three protesters were killed and 15 people wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.
Black smoke could later be seen billowing from the building.
In the south, about 4,000 people demonstrated in front of the office of Gov. Sheltagh Aboud al-Mayahi in the port city of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. They knocked over one of the concrete barriers and demanded his resignation, saying he’d done nothing to improve city services.
They appeared to get their wish when the commander of Basra military operations, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jawad Hawaidi, told the crowd that the governor had resigned in response to the demonstrations. Iraqi state TV announced that the prime minister had asked the governor to step down but did not mention the protests.
Around 1,000 demonstrators also clashed with police in the western city of Fallujah 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad clashed with authorities, witnesses said. And in the southern city of Karbala, about 1,000 protesters rallied for better services.
The reason I say gulp is because, what happens if this goes totally out of control and we end up with another civil war in Iraq? Somehow, I do not see President Obama doing anything about it. if anything, he will just end up pulling our forces out of there; and by rights, he most likely should. We did our jobs, we did defeat Al-Qaeda and stopped the insurgency. So, why should we put more people into Iraq and risk more lives? It just would not make any sense.
Either way, it just does not look good for our guys on the ground there.
Why are Assassination threats only a huge ordeal for Obama, and not Conservative White Presidents?
It must be because it is Friday and there is not much else to report.
Anyhow, some idiot did the following:
At Rep. Paul Broun’s town hall meeting on Tuesday, the Athens congressman asked who had driven the farthest to be there and let the winner ask the first question.
We couldn’t hear the question in the back of the packed Oglethorpe County Commission chamber, but whatever it was, it got a big laugh. According to an outraged commenter on the article, the question was, when is someone going to shoot Obama?
I’ve asked Team Broun whether that was indeed the question and haven’t gotten an answer. The commenter accurately described the questioner and the circumstances, and no one has disputed his account.Update: Broun’s press secretary, Jessica Morris, confirmed that the question was indeed, who is going to shoot Obama? “Obviously, the question was inappropriate, so Congressman Broun moved on,” she said.
Here was Broun’s response:
The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president. We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
He then segued into Republicans’ budget proposal.
Dumb? Yes. Illegal? Possibly.
The left, predictably, is going, um, “Ape Shit” over it. Perfect example, Oliver Willis: (H/T The Right Sphere)
All Americans should condemn assassination speech, but especially if you’re a member of congress. What an epic shame. What a blight these people are on our government.
Um, Mr. Willis, Where were you, when these people were walking around with signs like this? (H/T NewsBusters)
Where were you Oliver, when these things was being paraded in the streets?
Oh, I know where you were Mr. Willis; you were out there helping CARRYING these signs and things around, weren’t you?
How is it, when a White Conservative Republican is in the White House and liberals threaten to kill him —- it is perfectly fine. But you let a socialist Negro in the damned White House and just because someone dares to verbalize what many in the silent majority are thinking; that is some sort of a fucking federal crime? Tell me that! By the way, I call him a socialist Negro, because that is what the hell he is, I do not believe in Political Correctness on this blog. I call it like I see it.
By the way, Mr. Willis and rest of idiot liberals; you can breath a little easier:
UPDATE, 11:50 a.m.: In a new statement Rep Paul Broun appears to admit he should have condemned his constituent:
Tuesday night at a town hall meeting in Oglethorpe County, Georgia an elderly man asked the abhorrent question, “Who’s going to shoot Obama?” I was stunned by the question and chose not to dignify it with a response; therefore, at that moment I moved on to the next person with a question. After the event, my office took action with the appropriate authorities.
I deeply regret that this incident happened at all. Furthermore, I condemn all statements — made in sincerity or jest — that threaten or suggest the use of violence against the President of the United States or any other public official. Such rhetoric cannot and will not be tolerated.
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(****)
“In this case this was poor taste,” the source says. “The person realized that.”
Now there’s the small matter of whether Broun regrets not condemning the comment. My understanding is more will be forthcoming from his office on this soon, so stay tuned.
Happy now crybabies? 🙄
Anyhow, yeah, it was stupid; I will admit that, but where was all of that outrage, when the liberals were wanting Bush dead? Fucking hypocrites, the damned whole lot of them. 😡
Note: I just noticed the silly typo in the headline. Hug ordeal? Good Lord. 🙄 I fixed it.