Secret Serviced

I'm a guy who respects our federal officers--it must be the veteran in me. However, I have no respect for those who are on duty and have to be on their game when it comes to protecting POTUS (and yes, as advance guys two days before the president arrives, they are on duty).

The story is unfolding but it appears that quite a few of Turbo Tax Timmy's guys were getting busy with the seedier elements of of Cartgena (and cheating them out of well-earned pesos according to this.) The drug angle is even more hideous, especially since Colombia just came through a horrible battle with narco-traffickers.

This is a major problem from an international standpoint as well as our neighbors in South America. The men assigned to protect Obama failed in their assigned mission and that just may make some on-the-fence psycho think he can get close and off the CINC.

Read the link at the NY Post above. This is the best comment to that story:

Jay Allen

Solyndra: $535 Mil. GSA convention: $823 Thou. Columbian hooker: $47 bucks. Obama Administartion: Priceles!

Reply · 152 · Like · Follow Post · 10 hours ago

Saturday Morning News & Notes

Happy spring.

Here's what's new:

-Another Obama insider is implicated in some shady business practices. Say it with me: The. Most. Ethical. Administration. Ever.

-Obama and Pelosi have essentially given the finger to Colombian President Uribe who was seeking a trade agreement with us and that Bush was trying to forge. Now they are turning their eyes elsewhere to our detriment.

-The NY Times is outraged, outraged I tell you, that conservative governors would turn down money that will destroy their long-term economies. I can't wait for the Times to fail.

-I was golden after day one of the tourney but got absolutely pummeled yesterday where upsets reigned. Currently 25 of 32 but have my final four still intact with Pitt, UNC, Louisville and Memphis. I have Memphis to win it all.

-Update: Only ten gaffes by Biden and Obama? I can think of about twenty more.

How to Keep Hugo Chavez in Check

One of the best editorial pages around is at Investors Business Daily. Today they have this on Venezuela.

Communist dictator Hugo Chavez has been living large these last few years thanks to US oil dollars. He's managed to persuade a good-sized portion of South and Central America to follow his communist ideology through payoffs and support of opposition groups. It seems our only true ally is Colombia led by Pres. Uribe and who knows how long he'll remain one the way the Dems have treated him.

That said, Chavez lifeblood is oil and oil profits. Take away his massive oil profits and he'll be Paraguay with a coastline. Fortunately, we're seeing that start to happen. Oil prices have been declining steadily as markets work to correct themselves as they always have (I paid $3.07 for regular unleaded this morning) and the steady down pressure has affected Chavez' bottom line.

Here's where we can hit him hard. Chavez exports over 60% of his oil to the US as we are among the few nations that can easily refine their oil because of the high sulfur content. Let's cut him off. Venezuelan oil accounts for only 11% of US imported oil, a minimal number that is probably even lower at present. We boost production within our borders and on the continental shelf and watch his socialist paradise crumble into the Caribbean.

We don't have to fight a war by proxy like we did in the 1980's, all we have to do is hit him in the wallet and the violently oppressed (and murdered) insurgency will spring to life. Chavez' rule is a house of cards supported by high oil prices. He lacks the clout to keep prices high and market forces--capitalist forces--will work to steadily reduce the price per barrel.

It's well passed time to deal with this murderous, communist pig and drilling more domestically will be the easiest way to finish him off once and for all.

FARCing up Hugo Chavez

In what can only be described as a brilliantly executed plan, the Colombian military rescued fifteen hostages held by the leftist terrorist group FARC:

Colombia's military yesterday rescued the most prominent of several hundred hostages held by Marxist rebels, a group of 15 that included the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American Defense Department contractors who had been imprisoned in remote jungle camps since 2003.

...Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters earlier in the day that the rescue mission had been made possible by "a special intelligence" operation that had penetrated the highest reaches of the FARC, including the group's seven-man directorate and one of the rings of specialized rebel units entrusted with guarding hostages. Santos said that ring, commanded by a rebel known by the alias Cesar, was tricked into believing that the FARC's leader had called for the hostages to be brought to him.

And ironies of ironies, the military outfitted their people in Che shirts to fit in. As Allahpundit noted: "awesome."

The big loser in this is Hugo Chavez who has been using his oil money to prop up the terror group since he took office. By funneling money to the FARC, he had allowed them to keep holding Betancourt and the Americans for as long as they have. His recent spats with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Chavez' concerted effort to spread socialism throughout South America have had the effect of destabilizing the region. This action will seriously curtail those aims.

The US military had much more to do with this operation than they are letting on but Bush took the smart road of allowing Uribe the credit and thus allowing him to increase his standing not only with his own populace but the region as a whole. Maybe American Democrats will now understand just how important Uribe is to our interests in the region. That was a joke of course as Democrat leadership tends to snub Uribe as often as possible thus giving support to Chavez.

A New Front in the War on Terror

Terrorists are terrorists. Whether they kill in the name of Allah or in the name of a godless religion named communism.

Colombia has been fighting a war for nearly half a century with the FARC--a particularly vile and violent organization that believes in Marxist-Leninism and will kill, kidnap (Americans included) and generally anything thing else if it helps them attain their goals.

FARC has been shored up in recent years by Hugo Chavez's oil wealth (some say to the tune of $300-million), Daniel Ortega and other communist regimes in the region. Colombia now faces Venezuelan troops on one border, Ecuadoran troops on the other and now Nicaragua smells blood:

MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced Thursday that he is breaking off relations with Colombia because of his country's opposition to the Colombian raid on a guerrilla base in Ecuador.

Ortega announced his decision publicly after meeting with Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, who is on a multination tour in the region to rally opposition to Colombia's action, which killed the No. 2 commander of the Colombian FARC guerrilla group and 23 other Colombian guerrillas.

"We are breaking off relations because of the political terrorism being carried out by the government of Alvaro Uribe, not because of the Colombian people," Ortega said.

Taste the sweet irony of the moment, folks. Daniel Ortega--a man who used covert means to take out rivals--is accusing another government of terrorism and protecting those who are actually perpetrating terrorism. Ortega led a rebellion that killed thousands.

The US is backing Colombia and rightly so; when a neighboring nation harbors those who've killed thousands in your own country, the Colombian version of the Bush Doctrine applies. Ecuador was harboring a terror leader and the Colombians warned them not to, when they continued, they took the scumbag out.

Terrorism is terrorism, regardless of the ideology behind it.

Chavez Inciting War Throughout South America

He's a supporter of Ahmadinejad, is constantly kissing up to former Cuban dictator Fidel and now is threatening war against Colombia. Yeah, I'd say the arogant little bastard has worked his way up to the level of real threat from irritating menace:

The reaction of presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador to the killing of FARC commander Raul Reyes is now threatening to plunge South America into a disastrous conflict.

"This could be the start of a war in South America," Chavez said. He warned Colombian president Alvaro Uribe: "If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, I'll send some Sukhois" _ Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.

This is no small threat. In the past several years Chavez has spent , according to the Defense Intelligence Agency, $4.3 billion in weapons in 2005-2006, more even than China. This includes a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47) factory licensed from Russia. For a nation not at war, this is hardly an auspicious sign.

This is the alliance many of us have warned of for some time. Chavez, Correa, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Evo Morales in Bolivia have been trying for some time now to form an anti-American bloc in Latin America but have no coherent ideology to counter the changes in the world.

Chavez was openly supporting the terrorist group FARC and his words cannot be brushed aside. That said, the Russian planes are not of the quality of American planes and I would suspect that Venezuelan pilots are not of the highest caliber either.

A few questions: how much backing does the US give to Colombia? Will it be covert or overt? Will this foment a complete conflagration on a continent in our hemisphere?

This bears watching.