Tuesday, April 28, 2009

We're in good hands

Michael Graham:

And what a great metaphor for the attitude of the Obama administration. Of course they sent a jet low over the skies of Manhattan--why not? They would have done it without thinking on 9/10/01. Just a publicity stunt, a promo shot. No biggie.

The same with a president telling the CIA he's "making your job harder," and who is willing to prosecute the American officials who successfully got intelligence about a potential "second wave" attack on Los Angeles. Before 9/11, the idea of waterboarding an Islamist radical in the name of national security would have shocked quite a few people. For some, that all changed on September 11th. For others, like our president, it didn't.

Meanwhile, the genius responsible for approving the plan to have Air Force One buzz Ground Zero is no stranger to stupidity. Before taking over at the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera was making headlines in the banking crisis:

The Hits Keep on Coming

Powerline on government favoritism and strong-arming of the auto industry and banks.

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One hallmark of organized crime loan-sharking is that, once you are in debt to the mob, you are never allowed to pay off the principal.

Time for you medicine, again.

Mark Steyn puts the global scene in perspective. What's scarier, global warming or third-world nuclear arms race? Losing some polar bears or that the USA has given up on American-exceptionalism and we just like everyone else? Hold your nose. It ain't pretty.

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What’s the greater likelihood? That, in ten years’ time, things in Pakistan will be better? Or much worse? That nuclearization by basket-case dictatorships from Pyongyang to Tehran will have advanced, or been contained? That the bleak demographic arithmetic at the heart of Europe and Japan’s economic woes will have accelerated, or been reversed? That a resurgent Islam’s assaults on free speech and other rights (symbolized by the recent U.N. support for a global Islamic blasphemy law) will have taken hold in the western world, or been forced to retreat?

A betting man would check the “worse” box. Because resisting the present careless drift would require global leadership. And 100 days into a new presidency, Barack Obama is giving strong signals to the world that we have entered what Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post calls “the post-American era.” At the time of Gordon Brown’s visit to Washington, London took umbrage at an Obama official’s off-the-record sneer to a Fleet Street reporter that “there’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.” Andy McCarthy of National Review made the sharp observation that, never mind the British, this was how the administration felt about their own country, too: America is just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. In Europe, the president was asked if he believed in “American exceptionalism,” and replied: “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.”

Monday, April 27, 2009

If this happened under Bush...

Horror. Watch the third video of people running a screaming in fear. Obamateur. But since it was Obama, it will be someoneleses fault and this awful judgement call will be forgotten by your faithful "free press". It's bliiiiiiiissssssssss..... Hot Air

Friday, April 24, 2009

"Horror" in Pakistan

Long War Journal:

Islamabad officials have moved paramilitary forces to block a potential Taliban advance into the nation's capital as US officials question Pakistan’s ability to stop the creeping insurgency. ...

US military and intelligence officials have expressed horror at the speed of the Taliban advance and the lack of a strong response from the Pakistani government and military. ...

Some US officials have expressed frustration at Pakistan's shifting of the blame for the Taliban insurgency. Pakistani officials have pointed fingers at Afghanistan and India for fueling the Taliban and have claimed the US is withholding funding and advanced weapons. ...

"The Pakistani Army doesn't need airplanes and night vision goggles to fight the Taliban," the official said. "First and foremost, they need to grow backbones, pick up their weapons, and fight it out. And if they don't do it soon, they might not have a country left to fight for."

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vacation From History II

I've heard of the Clinton presidency being called the "vacation from history" because we were not kept apprised of threats growing overseas. And measures were not taken to curb these threat, possibly because it would be unpopular at home. Has president Obama taken us on vacation, again?

Pakistan is battling the Taliban and possibly losing. "Peace" agreements have ceded areas of the country along the Afghan boarder to the Taliban and now they are taking more land, coming closer to the capitol and presumed military installation - installations that house nuclear weapons. (Long War Journal)

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The Taliban takeover of Haripur would put the Taliban on the doorstep of Islamabad and would also put two major nuclear facilities at risk.

Haripur borders the Margala Hills, a region in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Haripur also borders the Punjab districts of Attock and Rawalpindi.

Attock hosts two major nuclear facilities in Pakistan: the Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex and the Kamra (Minhas) Airbase. The Wah Cantonment Ordnance Complex host three sites where nuclear weapons and components are stored and assembled and aircraft and missiles are modified for use in nuclear attacks. The nearby Kamra Airbase is thought to host attack aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Rawalpindi is the "garrison" city for Pakistan's military. The city hosts the headquarters of the Army and Air Force, and several nuclear weapons research facilities are also located there.
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What do we do? Let them fight it out? Let the Taliban get nukes? What then? Nuke them? Wait for them to Nuke? Wait for India to Nuke them? Send in troops to where we think the Nukes are and fly them out, Jack Bauer style (ready to trusht our intelligence yet?) I don't have the answers, but I'm a little nervous that our current military leadership has not communicated a strong, confident voice to the world that we will not let threats arise again. And the media turning the other way on this story will not help.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

"Is there a chance the track will bend? Not a chance, my Hindu friend."

Michael Graham points us to the imaginary, magic rail system that President Obama is promising. Is this wasted spending or a foot in the door? (don't miss the classic Simpson's clip at the link)

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Notice the difference in these figures. President Obama proposes $13 billion for more than a thousand miles of high-speed rail. Everyone else is spending far more for far less [~$100b].

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

I Protest!

Like many working slobs, I couldn't squeeze in a vacation day to congregate with my fellow tax payers and protest the absurd government spending levels. But I wish I could have been and will make every effort for the next one, as hope there will be many until something changes.

If I was there, I might have a sign reading "Socialism or Bust" or something. The level of spending is grotesque. Obama got voted in on the heals of "Bush over spending". Now Obama is spending 3X. It is unsustainable. Something will give, and it will be inflation and taxes. The bubble has to be corrected, and spending to fill the pot-hole will not last. It will correct in one way or another. Maybe there has to be a way to let us down easy, but we have to go down to get back to normal growth.

The scariest part of all of this spending is that much of it will never go away. How will you take away the entitlements that are being created? Imagine trying to take away "free health care" if it is enacted. You think it's hard to fix social security? Image telling people, "As of July 4th, 2013, you will need to have your own health care because we have eliminated government health care." Who will run on this platform? Ron Paul? Yeah, that didn't work out too well. Future candidates will look just as crazy when they propose eliminating government health care.

So the spending is here to stay. And inflation will come. And taxes will rise. And there is little to be done until it all comes crashing down. I hope that day never comes. Or maybe I do so that after the crash, maybe we can return to the foundation on which our nation was based. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. No free rides.

Follow Tea Party protests at Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Pajamas Media, and Fox News.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Two Americas

Where is John Edwards on this? (Ace)

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How much does Obama love his pizza? So much that he is willing to fly a chef 860 miles to Washington D.C. to make him a personal pizza.

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Hey, you guys know what says you are really sincere about this whole Global Warming thing that you want to use to justify an economy crushing cap and trade program? Jetting a dude across the country to make you a freaking pie.

And you know what says you have a real solid handle on the economic concerns of citizens who are struggling through the recession? Jetting a dude across the country to "hand toss your dough".

Saturday, April 04, 2009

That Will Teach Them

Ooooo... scary. Yeah, NoKo is really scared, now. And let this be a lesson to the rest of you Axis-of-Evil states. Oh, wait. That title has got to be long gone with the War on Terror and Unlawful Combatant.

FOX News
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The launch "will prompt the United States to take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it cannot threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity," Lash said.

Friday, April 03, 2009

You Can't Just Blame Clinton or Frank or Bush

Of coarse politics is defined as blaming and lying for personal advantage. But I believe the reality of the financial mess lies, not only with the government who opened up the leverage of capitol, but also with those who knew this was bad and that it couldn't sustain itself, but kept going. I guess it is like looting. If everyone is stealing from Wal-Mart, and it is clear that no one is stopping them (seemingly encouraging them), then why shouldn't I steal, too? Peter Wehner @ The Corner

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It recognizes other factors that contributed to the present financial crisis — from easy money to government encouraging lending to people who were unlikely to repay their loans — but it does not let the private sector off the hook.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Bottom Line

Just thrown into the bottom line of this AP article about the G-20 pledging $1t non-bailout bailout to the IMF is this gem. "Oh, by the way, not that you should care cuz it's obvious, you know, but..."

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The leaders also agreed to new rules on linking executive pay to performance, Brown said.

Keeping Score

Good analysis by Karl Rove in the WSJ. Change you can believe in...

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Members of Congress should also worry about how Mr. Obama is "keeping score." He is steeped in the ways of Chicago politics and has not forgotten his training in the methods once used by Saul Alinsky, the radical Chicago community organizer.

Alinsky's 1971 book, "Rules for Radicals," is a favorite of the Obamas. Michele Obama quoted it at the Democratic Convention. ...

... Alinsky's first rule of "power tactics" is "power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have." Team Obama wants to remind its adversaries it has plenty of power, and it does. The question is whether the White House will wield it responsibly. The jury is still out, but certain clues are beginning to emerge. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother," even if said with a wink and a smile, isn't quite the "new politics" we were told to expect.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Triple Funding for Volunteers

That's right, more of your tax dollars going to pay people for volunteering. Yeah... paid volunteers. Your tax dollars. On the downside, this law can be used to force kids to volunteer (ie. indoctrinate). These are the consequences of electing a radical, left-wing candidate. Simon Jester

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Please note that some of the strictures in this bill: volunteers cannot protest against proposed new laws, require that they limit their participation in the church of their choice.

...This shall not be borne. Not by me, not by my kids. This isn’t volunteerism, it is serfdom.

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Here is where the name Simon Jester comes from.