Tuesday Night News & Notes

Link dump:

-Here's one about a British POW who asked the Kaiser for permission to see his mother before she passed. The Kaiser said yes but you have to return to the camp afterward...he did.

-Hillary the narcissist. Between her and Obama, I don't know who's more so.

-Pro-gay marriage advocates show they really hate free speech and freedom in general.

-Are the long-term unemployed even employable anymore. Take tech for instance; is someone whose been out of the tech world for 99-weeks come back in and be productive with the pace of advances? It appears not.

-Pakistan has been playing all sides since 9/11. The ISI has been supporting LeT who was responsible for the Mumbai massacre as well as the Haqqani network. They've been taking us for billions and giving us little in return. They knew full well that bin-Laden was within their borders and allowed him refuge for years. The tide may well be turning.

-Jeff Bezos promises some changes at the WaPo. I'm hoping they move from the far-left, Democrat-supporting hacks they currently are to a more centrist brand.

-Have no fear, Dennis Rodman is on the case is NoKo. God help us.

-Alright Eagles fans, we open in less than a week at the comfortable hour of 7:00 PM against the hated Skins. I predict 8-8 with LeShon McCoy having a monster year. Vick will play better since he (hopefully) won't be throwing passes from the horizontal position and Jason Avant may just have a break-out season. Here's to hoping and being a life-long Birds fan means I'm also a hopeless optimist. Here's what we have to look forward to:

Cowboy Diplomacy Vs. Community Organizer Diplomacy

I couldn't go more than one post without reverting back to rebutting the Inquirer.

Today the editorial board tries to explain to us how much better a world we live in with Obama's diplomatic efforts versus Bush's "cowboy diplomacy". They fail miserably:

While the rest of the world is enjoying the refreshing return of diplomacy as the preferred tool for U.S. foreign policy, partisan snipers back at the ranch are pouting for a return to the dangerous cowboyism of the past administration.

If by "rest of the world" they mean Kim Jung-Il, Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad, yes, they would correct in that assertion.

President Obama is naïve, they say, for not pointing a judgmental finger in the face of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin when they met two weeks ago. Those critics must have forgotten that it was the previous president who, like a charmed schoolgirl, said he looked into Putin's eyes and got a sense of his soul.

While that was truly embarrassing for Bush, it pales next to Obama's abasement in front of the Saudi king and his backing of an ousted dictator trying to spread communism throughout South America.

Too bad President George W. Bush didn't see the manipulative nature of the former KGB operative whose Stalinist tendencies are increasingly in evidence. Putin technically plays second fiddle to President Dmitry Medvedev. But he handpicked Medvedev, and Putin is believed to be preparing to reassume the presidency in the next election.

There was no naïveté by Obama in Russia. He neither idolized Putin or treated him with disdain. Obama was pragmatic, forging an agreement where one was possible, on nuclear proliferation, while stating clearly his different views on a U.S. missile shield in Europe and Russia's harsh treatment of Ukraine and Georgia.

Pragmatic? He sold out Poland and it's leaders who expended much political capital to push through the missile shield plan. Is Russia now leaving Ukraine and Georgia alone due to the mere words of The One?

A cowboy might have drawn his six-shooter, at least rhetorically, when two American journalists were jailed in March for entering secretive, repressive North Korea. Obama has instead tried to maintain perspective, working to secure the women's release, while keeping open the possibility of future nuclear talks with the wildly unpredictable Kim regime.

The two women are still languishing in a hellish prison for a crime they didn't commit. The Inquirer cites this as proof that Obama's brand of diplomacy is superior. Think about that for a second. Kim Jung-Il will not listen to diplomacy, he laughs at us when we try. He understand one thing: power and the ability to project it. He's a rogue with nukes and one who is playing Obama like a fiddle much as he did Jimmy Carter and Madeline Albright in the 90's.

But wait, the next example is even more telling:

This practical approach to foreign policy was also seen in Obama's restraint in the aftermath of the disputed Iranian election.

The cowboys were screaming for Obama to encourage a rebellion even though the American people, already eager to quit Iraq, would be loath to support Iranian rebels with more than lip service. Obama instead criticized the way President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected, but left open the possibility of U.S. diplomats one day sitting down with Iran's to discuss its nuclear ambitions.

Obama didn't even offer lip service until he saw that the nation wanted him to say something...anything. This is a bit of revisionism by the Inquirer as anyone paying attention when the events were happening saw Obama as weak and wavering. All that was needed was a word of support and perhaps some basic guidance covertly to opposition organizers to open the floodgates of freedom. Obama likes the status quo because he'd rather deal with an entity that is evil but known than a newly freed nation that may require some American assistance. Freedom is far less important than diplomacy in Obamanation.

Obama's pragmatism was again on display when his administration symbolically assumed the mantle of broker for Middle East peace. In his groundbreaking speech in Cairo last month, Obama argued that the Palestinians should eschew terrorism and follow the nonviolent example of the U.S. civil-rights movement. But he also criticized Israel for continuing to expand settlements.

And that speech possibly was read by the Iranian opposition as a clarion call to uprise. They felt empowered by his speech and he left them at the altar of more freedom. As for the Israel-Palestinian situation, I've not seen one report that would make me believe the situation has improved.

Obama must now let pragmatism take the reins with the very complex situation in Honduras. He, along with the United Nations, and the Organization of American States, quickly decried the June 28 ouster of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. But there should be a limit to support for Zelaya, a power-hungry protégé of U.S.-hating Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.

In fact, Honduras illustrates the fallacy in touting democracy as the best gauge of a nation's freedom. Giving people the right to vote must be the goal, but the world has seen too many democratically chosen despots to say that alone is enough. Even Hitler was democratically elected.

"Pragmatism" is another way of voting present. Any tough situation can be solved by taking the easiest rout and calling it pragmatism. You have to be nuanced in diplomatic affairs you see and Obama is the king of nuance.

With regard to Zelaya, the man was attempting to change the constitution of that nation for his benefit ala Chavez. The army may have acted roughly but were well within the constitution to remove him when they did. (Update: Is this the kind of democracy the Inquirer likes?)

As for Hitler being democratically elected, so was Ahmadinejad (according to liberals who feared rebellion) and Chavez. Hell, Saddam got 100% of the vote prior to his untimely removal and subsequent demise.

So in closing it's imperative to note that this is exactly the type of diplomacy liberals love. It's diplomacy in which nothing really ever happens. Nothing except for our enemies growing stronger, more emboldened and feeling no constraints when spreading weapons and ideology.

Showdown With North Korea

With Iran making noise in the Mideast, the other remaining charter member of the Axis of Evil is feeling a little left out in the far east. Kim Jung-Il will not be ignored evidently:

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.

Off China's coast, a U.S. destroyer was tailing a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons to Myanmar in what could be the first test of U.N. sanctions passed to punish the nation for an underground nuclear test last month.

The Kang Nam left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago with the USS John S. McCain close behind. The ship, accused of transporting banned goods in the past, is believed bound for Myanmar, according to South Korean and U.S. officials.

..."If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will ... wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The warning came on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the start of the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in state of war.

The NoKo's are threatening to launch a missile toward Hawaii and can send a million men south across the 38th parallel with little notice. Our 28,500 men and women can resist but for how long is any one's guess. We have been training with ROK troops for years and are most-likely stepping that up.

This is the clearest example yet of the lack of respect the world's leaders have for Obama. Sure, these despots and thugs would get froggy on occasion when Bush was in office but never so overtly and never so provocatively. Kim is risking all-out war and doesn't seem too concerned that we will respond with any type of force other then defensively. How about moving a carrier into the arena at least.

Thank heavens Bush pushed so hard for missile defense during his eight years; a program Obama is trying to kill.

Thoughts on the Obama Press Conference

I didn't watch it live as I, unlike a great many in the brave, new Obamanation, still have to work. I did read the transcripts and have a few thoughts as to what was and wasn't said.

Iran:
Obama upped his concern level to "appalled and outraged" after being asked a question by the HuffPo that was clearly planted. "It was heartbreaking" he said that Neda Agha-Soltan was gunned down in the street.

This is clearly not enough and much too late. The protests have ebbed and any chance to oust the regime was lost because Obama refused to step up to the plate and paint the scenes on the streets of Tehran as what they really were; the seeds of democracy and freedom. His non-condemnation was mealy-mouthed and the world knows it. He had the opportunity to have a "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" moment and instead opted to let things play out.

Obama clearly does not believe in American exceptionalism and thus has sentenced the Iranian people to another decade of oppression. Add to that the fact that we were blamed for it anyway and we have an emboldened regime instead of a weakened one that will laugh at the amateur politician from Chicago when it comes time to negotiate the mullahs mad quest for nukes.

All in all a lost opportunity to make an historic statement at an historic time. But don't fret libs, the media will have his back.

Afghanistan and Iraq:
Obama continuously said on the stump that we dropped the ball by invading Iraq and turning our back on Afghanistan. It was wrong then but politically worked. But what about now where we have Iraq in check and a clear path in Afghanistan? He said nothing. This on a day where we took out 60 at a Taliban "wedding". (As an aside, it would have been question #1 as the media would have bought the wedding line and hammered Bush with it)

In fact, he did not mention Afghanistan, Iraq, any branch of the military or the War on Terror. All domestic policy, all the time with the exception of noting that he's essentially in "AA" for smoking. You either smoke or you don't dude. You can't be kind of pregnant or kind of a smoker.

North Korea:
The One didn't broach the subject of NoKo at a crucial time where a NoKo ship is being tailed by a US warship and believed to be carrying nuclear weapons hardware or materials. Add to that the fact that Kim Jung-Il has threatened to launch a missile towards Obama's former home Hawaii next week and one would consider it a topic of importance.

I guess he doesn't want to "meddle" in their affairs either.

All in all it was typical Obama trying to connect with the American people and using his alleged eloquence to make us all feel better while ramming through cap and trade and health care. The thing is, he's on the air somewhere every day so yesterday it was just another news day when it could have been a day where he instilled confidence and garnered some goodwill. people are tiring of his narcissistic act and he didn't help that in the least yesterday.

By the way, for a guy who is full of hope and change, he sure seems pissed off quite a bit, doesn't he? Video below:

Kim Jung-il Sentences US reporters to 12-Years Hard Labor

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton said that Barack Obama has answered that 3:00 AM call and has been successful. Too bad that call was his wife phoning from Paris saying she'd remain in Europe for another day to shop. It looks like the real troubling call was made later and Obama is tanking on the response:

For two families praying for the release of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the news that they were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp comes as a bombshell as the U.S. government works feverishly for their freedom.

The two women, who were arrested in March while reporting for Al Gore's Current TV along the Chinese-North Korean border, were found guilty today of "hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry."

"She's really scared," "Nightline" contributor Lisa Ling said of her sister in a recent ABC News interview. "I mean, she's terrified. My sister is a wife, with a medical condition. And Euna Lee is the mother of a 4-year-old girl, who has been without her mother for almost three months."

Perhaps if President Obama had had the guts to shoot down the first North Korean missile launched a few months ago or if he had come out more forcefully two weeks ago when Kim detonated a nuke then shot missiles off out of spite we'd be in a better bargaining position. Instead, he wrung his hands and effectively said nothing of consequence.

Instead, he has been traipsing around Europe seeking adulation while the thugs and bad guys of the world chuckle and continue on with their vile plans. We've no leg to stand on and no way to apply pressure short of parking the USS Reagan and USS Carl Vinson off the coast and readying of troops at the 38th parallel for battle.

Funny Kim never tried this while Bush was in office and waited for The One to show his disdain for America.

Monday Night News and Notes

Here's what's new in this crazy world:

-The ultra liberal Guardian is doing everything possible to hamper our efforts in Pakistan and Afghanistan. During WWII they'd have been brought up on treason charges.

-Sarah Palin has been paying attention to North Korea and their nuclear development. She has good reason to call for the continued work on SDI.

-Even Obama's great uncle thinks he does things simply for political expediency. The dude is fooling no one but the fawning media and his idiotic sycophants. More here.

-A cruise that I'm tempted to take. I'll take a .50 cal, deck-mounted navy spec and a RPG please. Well that and the all inclusive bar food package.

-It takes an Aussie to remind us what a friggin buffoon Henry Waxman (D-CA) is. He's in charge of congressional environmental policy. God help us. as an aside; is Waxman the single most goofy looking politician in the entire country?

-Playboy sinks to a new low then wimps out. About what I expected.

The Worlds Bad Guys Give Obama the Finger

Yeah, the whole "we'll talk with them without preconditions" thing is working out awesome, isn't it?

Kim Jung-il told Obama in no uncertain terms what he thinks about him and his foreign policy initiatives by detonating a nuclear weapon on Memorial Day and then to make sure the point was taken launched some missiles. That is the diplomatic equivalent of punching him in the face, feeling up his his wife and flattening his tires.

Next we have Ahmadinejad making his intentions known by telling Obama thanks but no thanks on that whole nuclear weapon talk:

"The nuclear issue is a finished issue for us," Mr. Ahmadinejad told reporters Monday in Tehran. But he made an offer that Mr. Obama will find difficult to refuse, proposing to debate the president and his teleprompter at the U.N. "regarding the roots of world problems." But no talks about the Iranian bomb. "Our talks [with the major powers] will be only in the framework of cooperation for managing global issues, and nothing else.

All in all a pretty successful holiday weekend for The One. If we have many more of these we'll be about as respected a world power as Mali or Sri Lanka.

But hey, Obama is "gravely concerned" so that should get old Kim back in line.

Hope and change [TM] indeed.

Update: Maybe Obama should install John Bolton at the UN again. He's the only one who seems to foresee the error of his policies.

Saturday Morning News & Notes

Off to Rehoboth Beach to watch my son play ball. It's going to be a beautiful weekend to say the least.

Here's what's news:

-Obama arrogance and vanity to cost networks millions.

-Hmmm...53% say next president will be a Republican. That says a lot about Obama, eh?

-Detroit wins dubious distinction again. This is what happens when you work hard, eat your veggies and get your sleep, you can come out victorious.

-Good news: NoKo to extract plutonium from spent fuel rods and ramp up its nuke program. Hope and Change, baby.

-Great moments in socialized medicine. It's coming and we can't do a damn thing.

Continuing to Vote "Present"

You may recall that during the period between the election and the inauguration in January that Joe Biden said:

"It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Turns out that for the first time in his career, Biden was right. We are being tested and it's from Iran, North Korea and Somalia.

So how's Obama reacting? Not so well. He has not said a peep about any of those being held and the media has effectively buried the stories. The American people are ready to stand with him but Obama has chosen to sit on his hands.

Here we have Americans being held--two by nations that President Bush named as part of the Axis of Evil--and he has opted to do nothing. In other words, he's doing what he always has done when a difficult issue faces him, he is voting "present".

We are seeing our enemies try to get a measure of the man and he's not measuring up at all. First it was arresting reporters under dubious charges and now it's escalated to attempted high jacking and kidnapping--a tactic that never would have been used when Bush was in office as those who perpetrated the act knew we would respond forcefully.

Now we respond by not responding, by ignoring what is happening and hoping things will get better. So I say to Biden that we are ready to stand with Obama if he would actually say something--anything--about the fate of our fellow citizens.

Obama: Housing More of a Crisis Than Kidnapped Captain

Let's set the stage here: a captain of a US-flagged merchant vessel allows himself to be kidnapped to save his crew. The Somali pirates take him and are currently holding him. The crew fought off the pirates and maintained control of the ship. The US Navy, FBI and military are on the scene and awaiting orders to take action one would presume.

With all that, Obama can't take a second to even address the issue:

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama declined to answer reporters' questions on Thursday on a hostage crisis off the coast of Somalia, where a U.S. ship captain is being held captive by pirates.

Obama was asked to comment on the situation several times by reporters at a White House event on refinancing for homeowners. Obama, however, stuck closely to the script and replied that he wanted to remain focused on housing.

Emphasis mine.

I know he wants to "remain focused on housing" but when you're President, you need to multi-task sometimes. Pirates have attacked one of our ships for the first time, they've taken a US citizen hostage and a conflict seems to be imminent. Our new president can't take time to at least say some comforting words to the captain's family? He can't say something to the effect that American will not stand for this provocation and will act accordingly to protect our right to maintain commerce in international waters? What a disgrace.

The President is a mess right about now and the world is watching and snickering. If he's allowing a group of bandits to thumb their noses at America, what must Kim Jung Il and Ahmadinejad be thinking?

I guess he's just following the Bill Clinton playbook whereby Clinton ignored the victims of the first World Trade Center attack (and never visited the site or families of the dead) presumably because the attack sucked the oxygen from his agenda.

Update: I guess we know exactly what Ahmadinejad is thinking.

Update: Ed Morrissey is saying that Obama is being silent because FBI negotiations are ongoing. To be clear, I didn't expect Obama to talk about strategy or tactics, I wanted him to at least acknowledge that he feels for the family of the kidnapped captain.

The World Disrepects Obama

The liberals told that Obama would change the way the world thinks of us. It appears they were more right than even they could have envisioned, the world now not only hates us but has no respect for us either.

It started over the weekend when Obama was talking about disarmament and Kim Jung Il launched a nuke-capable missile. It may or may not have been successful but our lack of response (read: shooting it down) speaks volumes. It continues today with two incidents. First, the Iranians have charged Iranian-American Roxana Saberi with espionage:

The lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, says Roxana Saberi has been informed of the charges against her.

"Her case has been sent to the revolutionary court. She, without press credentials, was carrying out spying activities under the guise of being a reporter," AFP quoted deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad.

The real "crime" is that Saberi wrote about th repressive regime in Tehran. Don't expect Obama to act to quickly as--judging by the way he treats free speech in America (attacking Rush, etc), it doesn't seem to be a priority.

Even more telling is the fact that Somali pirates tried to take over an American ship, the Maersk-Alabama. Fortunately for us (and Obama), the crew is also American and managed to fight the pirates off and retake the vessel. I guess they figured it was a better risk to fight the pirates than surrender and await a feckless Obama response while they languish for months while he dithered, negotiated and generally embarrassed himself and us. Note that a Saudi ship was also high jacked and the crew of that vessel succumbed without a fight and it took a ransom to get them freed. God Bless America and God bless the crew of that ship.

So what have we learned about Obama? He's a great when he's touring the world or the country and speaking to adoring lefties, but is utterly clueless when he actually has to make hard decisions in the Oval Office. He has not only perpetuated the hatred our enemies feel for us but has also shown them that trifling with us will bring no return action or consequences. Kind of how Clinton was with al-Qaeda.

Saturday Morning News & Notes

It's a rainy Saturday in South Jersey.

Here's what's news:

-The digital brownshirts score a win as they get UPS to stop advertising on Bill O'Reilly's show. I guess I'll stop using UPS now and use Fedex solely.

-Even the NY Times is forced to write about Obama's use of a tele-prompter for everything.

-Tonight is Earth Hour where global warmenist's are encouraging everyone to turn off their lights for one hour. Me, I'll be turning on so many extra lights you'll see my house from the space shuttle.

-In preparation of Obama curtailing gun rights, ammo is flying off the shelves.

-Japan is ready to shoot down any missile NoKo launches. Tensions will surely rise with long ago hatreds coming back fast.

Friday Afternoon News and Notes

Happy Friday.

Here's what's going on in this great big world:

Kathleen Parker almost sounds like a Republican again. I guess that whole infatuation with Obama wore off or something.

The non-stimulus bill just holds all kinds of ugly surprises, doen't it? We may be in for a tough four years but after Obama's gone, I would imagine the Republicans will be welcomed back with open arms.

Another frivolous suit gets thrown out.

Another case of Obama saying "do as I say, not as I do".

I will bet that Governor Palin has the state ready for an imminent volcano eruption. Alaskans seem to take it in stride.

More hope and change--North Korea tosses away non-aggression pact.

Update: Another game of Name That Party!

Cuba, Korea and Iran Warm up to Obama

Two thirds of the Axis of Evil seem to like the new man we have in the White House:

In his inaugural address, President Obama signaled conciliation to America's foes by promising an outstretched hand if they unclench their fists.
Already, there are signs that some of those foes were listening, sensing an opening for improved relations after eight combative years with George W. Bush as president. Fidel Castro is said to like the new U.S. leader, and North Korea and Iran sounded open to new ideas to defuse nuclear tensions.

Unclear is what they will demand in return from Obama, and whether they will agree to the compromises that the United States is likely to require in exchange for warmer relations.

Are the Castro brothers really willing to move toward democracy? Can Russia and the West heal their widening estrangement? Will Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stop being a thorn in America's side?

Oh, I bet every nation in the world that wishes us harm is very willing to talk with us, some without preconditions or so Obama said. Ahmadinejad, Castro and Kim Jung Il are probably busy putting out the red carpet for Hillary as we speak.

Kudos to the Inqy for following suit and buying into the Obama hype, they've chose to run the latest AP piece that's so over the top in support of Obama as to be nauseating to anyone that has a shred of pride left in the newspaper industry.

North Korea continued building nukes even though they "befriended" Clinton, Carter and Madeline Aldull. Hugo Chavez abhors the US and has been sowing discord throughout South America countering our aims and Iran has been building centrifuges and looks to become friends so they can continue to do so without having to worrying about us prying.

Friends? I leave you with one picture of their ideas of friendship: