Friday, May 31, 2013

Summer Camp


Why is it that we have to get our real news from the British press?  I guess that our national media is too concerned with more important things … like the Christie/Obama photo-op on the Jersey shore.  Anyhow, it seems that the hunger strike at our Guantanamo, Cuba prison camp for recalcitrant terrorists is getting worse … see: The Guardian Story.  And, of course, this has gotten the liberal nut-job protesters’ juices flowing.  There are now five prisoners in the hospital and 36 of them being force-fed.  My heart is bleeding a gush.

Unfortunately this article has a distinctly sympathetic bent … describing in detail the “humiliations” that these prisoners are experiencing … again, my heart is breaking.  My attitude toward Gitmo is that I can’t understand why all these prisoners have not been long ago tried in a military court … and a goodly portion of them made to smoke their last cigarette in front of a fusillade of rifles?  And why we would consider releasing any of these animals is beyond me.  The known recidivism rate among those who have already been freed is north of 30%.  I suspect that the real rate is a lot higher.

Perhaps I might have a solution for our pompous Prexy. Why don’t we just quietly depopulate all the guards from this posh summer camp … and then unleash multiple drone strikes on it?  How would this be any different from what we do in Yemen or Pakistan?

Democrat Butt Boy

Marco Rubio
“Marco Rubio is our Republican,” says Chuck Schumer … see the disturbing story here: Powerline Story  I had had high hopes for Marco Rubio, but he, of late, is behaving like a leashed-lapdog on immigration reform.  He is being turned into the Republican poster boy for the Democrats’ attempt to lock up nine million more liberal voters (rather, those votes that they don’t already have.)

I somewhat recently posted my concerns with the immigration reform bill that the Gang of Eight has proposed … primarily that many immigrants will probably prefer to stay in the shadows ... and its provisions will not be enforced … at least not by the Obama administration.  See: Crossing the Rubio-con . Although I do believe Rubio’s objectives are noble, he seems under the Svengali-spell of that ever-smiling New York Senator, Chuck Schumer.  This suggests to me another juxtaposition possibility:

Chuck Schumer



Cheshire Cat











Or perhaps Schumer is the cat ... and Rubio is the canary?

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Quixotic



Ruminating on what my next blog subject should be, I have mentally revisited many of the dyspeptic subjects I have railed about over these last months: the Obama scandals, the creeping caliphate, the overheated money machines of most of the world’s central banks, the cult of the “climate changers,” our nation’s glitterati worship, the pending immigration debacle, etc. … and have concluded that I am tilting at windmills.  I can see no progress on any of my stomach grinders … nor do I see any developments that might bring about any progress … or even “hope” of any progress.

Our nation, nay our world seems stuck in a backwater.  Tired old shibboleths are recycled as brand-new insights.  International “leaders” are hiding under their desks … hoping that they can survive events long enough to flee to their dachas or their yachts or their golf courses.  There is nothing uplifting about the rhetoric emanating from these poobahs.  Even lesser luminaries’ graduation speeches seem so self-serving and short-sighted.  I sometimes can smell the scent of impending doom … and quickly waft a sweet sachet under my nose. Yes, the stock market keeps going up … which should bring us some comfort.  But many realize that this is probably just another forming bubble.

What to do?  Should I stop fretting about the world’s dislocations?  Should I stop reading the news or listening to talking heads.  Should I retreat to nature … or religion … or alcohol?  Should I seek out a Sancho Panza who will help me into my armor and keep me from falling off my horse?  No, I think one emotional balm might be to watch my grandchildren discover the magic of living … as my wife and children help them blossom. 

I might even still blog a bit ...

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Juxtaposition XLIV

Christie and Obama

Laurel and Hardy

Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me out of ...

Monday, May 27, 2013

Remember ...


the legions of faceless Americans who have sacrificed their lives (almost 1.4 million of them) ... so that we can have a bucolic picnic or tasty cookout today. Their shadows are there ... somewhere behind our waving flags. Please take a few moments to honor them this Memorial Day.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Friday, May 24, 2013

Red Flags



Yesterday, I blogged about how the Obama administration was trying to control the language describing Muslim jihadism (see: Wouldn't It Be Nice).  Now our President, in a graduation speech at Annapolis, has tried to remove the term “war on terror” from our political vernacular (see: Reuters Article).  I am quite certain that many news outlets will now dutifully fall in line with his suggestion.

Once again we see despotic leaders trying to control the body politic by dictating the language that is deemed acceptable to them.  President Obama’s Naval Academy speech is yet another attempt at thought control … and is straight out of George Orwell.  This should be another gigantic red flag to us all.  Orwell warned us when he said:
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

and

The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of IngSoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible. Its vocabulary was so constructed as to give exact and often very subtle expression to every meaning that a Party member could properly wish to express, while excluding all other meaning and also the possibility of arriving at them by indirect methods. This was done partly by the invention of new words, but chiefly by eliminating undesirable words and stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings, and so far as possible of all secondary meaning whatever.

For more and better expressed thoughts on this same subject see: The American Thinker Piece.  

George Orwell was right on the money in his novel “1984,” but his timing was off by about 30 years

 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Wouldn't It Be Nice ...


if our President, Barack Obama, could ever utter the words "Islamic extremists," or "Muslim terrorists," or "Islam jihadists" ... see: The Foundry Story  Thoughout his four and one half years as our supreme leader, he has yet to label any such heinous action (as the grisly slaughter that was just experienced in London) with any of these appropriate terms.  Very curious ... very curious ...

Afterward: I'm not a psychiatrist ... nor do I play one on TV, but I think that this Obama pathology is called OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder) ... and/or is reflective of his madrasa schooling in Indonesia.

After Afterward: My wife doubted my original premise about Obama's language aversions ... so I quickly did the following Google search.  See: Newsmax Story

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Breaking News



Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, Tim "Crash" Murray, is to resign his post today (see: NECN Story).  It is not known who will replace him, but this move is clearly meant to pave the way for Mass. Governor, Deval Patrick, also to leave his post for bigger and better things in Washington, DC ... perhaps as Attorney General or head of Homeland Security.  This presages the resignation of Obama's current crippled AJ, Eric Holder, who will be replaced by Deval Patrick or the current head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

It should be interesting to see who's the next Democrat hack that Deval Patrick anoints to replace him as this will be our new Governor for the next millennium.

Hear No Evil



I guess it’s human nature.  When we are confronted with information that crosses our ideological grain, we cut short the speaker or stop reading the story.  I, myself, must confess that I have done this … and, I suspect, so have you.  More and more frequently these days, when the subject of one of Obama’s scandals comes up (generally not brought up by me), many of my liberal friends respond, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

What does this mean?  To me, this avoidance indicates the seriousness of these moral breaches on the part of our current administration.  This can be measured by the number of unanswered or unanswerable questions that linger like a miasma around Jay Carney and those other unfortunate Obama spokespersons. 

Just this last weekend, Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama senior political adviser, went on five Sunday talk shows (shades of Susan Rice), trying to hold back the tide of negative disclosures about the multiple scandals enveloping his boss … see: National Review Story.  He did not do a very good job … even saying at one point, “the law is irrelevant,” when ask about White House dissembling … see: Townhall Story

I’m actually somewhat surprised that Pfeiffer didn’t put his fingers in his ears … but maybe this asinine statement was the equivalent.

Don't Do as I Do ...


FLOTUS Not Celebrity Worshiping

Do as I say.  This is a classic example of this old canard: Michelle Malkin has it nailed

Monday, May 20, 2013

Untouchables



From time to time the I-word, impeachment, is whispered in the halls of power (see: National`Review Story).  But Rush Limbaugh was right today when he predicted that President Obama will never be impeached in the House … let alone convicted in the Senate.  The reason being is that he is a black man … and the first black President to boot.  A large segment of America would not tolerate such a development … both because it proves their voting logic flawed ... but it would also brand our body politic as racists.  This is a very dangerous situation … because, if Obama understands that he has been thusly inoculated (and I suspect he does), it gives him great license to do almost anything he wants.

Already we have numerous festering administration scandals in various stages of discovery.  Obama’s posture in all these malfeasances is that he either was somewhere else … or that he found out about them in the national media. This, as we all know, is called "plausable deniability" which is, of course, ridiculous ... but our dumbed-down American public seems quite willing to accept his lame excuses.  They are distressed about these scandals, but once Obama avers that “we will hold the guilty parties accountable,” “we will work with Congress to remedy these problems,” and “we will not keep back any pertinent information in these investigations;”  they swoon and hold him harmless.  Even if there turns out to be a smoking gun in one or more of these scandals, Obama is likely still to escape cupability unscathed.

But the real point of this blog posting is that, being “untouchable” and being of questionable character, President Obama and his posse are likely to escalate the ruthlessness of their future Constitutional tramplings until the very foundation of our republic is threatened. 

Three and one half years is a very long time for them to concoct such mischief.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Weiner-Schnitzel



The Clintons' live in a parallel universe … one devoid of rules and consequences. If something is verboten, they feign not understanding German.  No misdeed on their part cannot be circumvented without some clever turn of a phrase (meaning of "is") … or a phone call to a “back-scratcher.”  America has seen these shameless shenanigans so many times from these well-greased weasels that we have learned to sigh and change the subject. After all, “What difference, at this point, does it make?”

Now we have another bending of the system… Hillary Clinton’s amanuensis, Huma Abedin, the wife of disgraced Congressman, “Weiner” Weiner, had apparently been given a special dispensation by our former Secretary of State to hold two jobs at once … one on the taxpayers' dime and one as a well-paid “consultant” (lobbyist? … I think this is illegal, but who’s counting?)  See: NY Times Story.  But then, this cute couple needs to pay for their new $3.3 million apartment ... see NY Post Story.

If “Weiner” Weiner moves next year into Gracie Mansion (as NYC Mayor), I suppose Huma will assume at least one more well-paid city sinecure … perhaps as dogcatcher?

Friday, May 17, 2013

Juxtaposition XLII

Obama Cabinet

Keystone Cops
A Coven

You decide which comparison is more apt ...

Art Bubble

Jackson Pollock's "Number 19, 1948"

Art is a vanity business.  “Oh, is that a Jackson Pollock?” … hung on a wall of a Palm Beach ocean-front mansion that was bought for less than the price of the painting. “Why, yes it is … I just had to have what is considered the best example of his ‘drip and splash’ period.”   Notice I didn’t say “fine art” because most of that has disappeared into museums and the basement vaults of art thieves.  I said “art” as exemplified by the likes of Andy Warhol … whom I consider that single person who managed to remove the adjective “fine” from the art world’s vernacular.

And to present a glaring example of such daub-struck schlock … which is now considered exemplary, please take a gander at what some doofus paid $1.9 million for recently:  Bea Arthur Naked.  It doesn't even look like her ... and should be painted on black velvet.

Christie’s just set the art-auction record in New York at $495 million of mostly contemporary paintings … see: Financial Times Article.  And why does such a mania exist?  You can thank our Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, who is causing the printing presses at the nation’s mint to melt from overuse … flooding the world’s plutocrats with more money than brains.  First the affluent bought gold.  Then when that bubble bust, they started buying stocks. Now that this market looks frothy, many have switched to paintings.

And Lawrence Welk never had as many bubbles as are now emanating out of New York City’s art galleries and auction houses.

Afterward:  It's been revealed that Jimmy Kimmel was the $1.9 million purchaser of the Bea Arthur painting ... see: Breitbart Story

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Gaps



One of the things that brought down the Nixon presidency was the critical 18.5 minute gap in the Oval-office tapes that was supposedly “accidently erased” by Nixon’s secretary, Rose Mary Woods.  Now we are experiencing a similar mysterious gap in the e-mail records surrounding the growing Benghazi scandal.  Yesterday the White House did a dump of 100 pages of e-mails that mostly dealt with the Susan Rice talking-points-fiction-creation process surrounding this terrorist attack in Libya (with critical names redacted).  However, this e-mail sequence also involves a critical gap … the 67 hours of such exchanges immediately following the Benghazi slaughter.  (See: Daily Caller Story).

There is a difference however … however much the FBI tried, it could not recover these 18.5 taped minutes of Nixon's Watergate comments … but it should be quite straightforward to discover these two days of the meaningful back-and-forth e-mails on Benghazi. 

My breath is baited.

Bottled Water



Two chemical engineering graduates and five others (five men and two women), some from UMass Amherst, were caught after midnight yesterday near the Quabbin Reservoir in Western Massachusetts.  (The temperature then was a chilly 38 degrees.)  This reservoir supplies Boston with its drinking water and is thus considered a critical strategic asset.  Now, this revelation in and of itself was suspicious, but the fact that these students were Muslims from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Singapore is distressing … see: Boston Herald Story and WWLP Story.

These suspects were questioned and released, but will be required to appear later to answer trespassing charges.  Their names were not released.  If they then fail to appear in court, I strongly suggest that Boston residents start drinking bottled water.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Glee



There is quite of bit of giddy glee surrounding the fact that the federal deficit seems to be shrinking.  The original projection for the 2013 deficit was approximately $900 billion.  Now analysts are forecasting $775 billion (or even lower) … a drop of $125 billion … see: NY Times Story.  How can this be?  We already knew that our government had overspent its continuing resolution “budget” by $30.5 billion for the first five months of this year … see: CNS News Story.  So for the next seven months from March 1st until October 1st, the deficit projection will have shrunk by $156 billion ($125 billion + $31 billion).  Yes, we have had tax increases (payroll tax stets, higher tax rates on high-income earners, and numerous other money grabs hidden under Obamacare) and $43 billion of spending cuts under the sequestration agreement, but a 17% deficit reduction (or almost 30% on an annualized basis) is quite a bit beyond most economists’ forecasts and my own expectations (see: The Uninformed Voter).
.
Is this deficit reduction real?  Nancy Pelosi credits Obamacare for this reduction … see: Breitbart Story.  And the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) points to Obama’s tax increases on the wealthy … see: The Hill Story.  But, longer-term, everyone seems to agree that a short-term reduction in federal deficits will disappear by 2015 because of U.S. entitlement programs … see: Money Magazine Story.  That is, this will occur unless and until we come to a “grand bargain” on entitlement reform.  I don’t know about you, but I am not holding my breath.  One last thought, if the Democrats can convince American voters that increasing taxes results in lower deficits (a distinct possibility), then we are likely in for another economic slowdown and some rough fiscal sledding ahead.

One thing also not to be overlooked is that this year’s new budget deficit projection is still $317 billion above what President George W. Bush posted in his last full year in office (2008) … which was $458 billion.

Afterward: Actually, new government forecasts place this year's deficit at $643 billion ... see: AP Story.  Yet the Treasury Dept. is having to stand on its head to avoid cracking the debt limit.  Something is fishy here ... the projected deficit is another $132 billion down from what Goldman Sachs recently forecast above (and Treasury Secretary Lew is an old Goldman alum) ... and a $288 billion decrease in the deficit in the last 7 months of this fiscal year.  How can this be?  Is the government cooking its finances just like it cooked the unemployment data last September?

Empty Cabinet



There is a very distressing undertone that has emerged from revelations surrounding the three scandals that are currently percolating in the Obama administration … the Benghazi scandal, the IRS profiling scandal, and the Associated Press wiretapping scandal.  It seems that, in all three instances, President Obama is a bystander to these events.  He either is seen handing things off to subordinates and then disappearing into the shadows … or he first reads about these scandals in the national media.  Distressing … Does he not have a process in place where these things are brought forward for his management attention?  And then attended to before they hit the national media?
I recently heard a Pontius Pilate analogy used for our President … in that he always has that basin of water handy with which he can wash his hands of any responsibility.  President Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.”  President Obama seems to say, “The buck stops I know not where.”  The upcoming implementation of Obamacare has been described as a train wreck.  Does this not concern our President?  Is he holding cabinet meetings to try to avert this disaster?  Or is he shooting hoops … or playing golf … or holding a fund raiser … or planning his next vacation?  Is he just another empty suit?
I recognize that Obama has been often criticized for his lack of leadership skills (much more so of late).  And it is not that he doesn’t have a plethora of advisers and Czars.  But his handling (or lack thereof) of these recent scandals leads me to concur that he is sorely lacking in critical management skills.  When was the last time he held a cabinet meeting?  Or held a meeting of any type that was not a photo op … or which resulted in anything substantive or beneficial for our country’s governance?  President Andrew Jackson had his Kitchen Cabinet.  President Obama has his Empty Cabinet.

Afterward:  And that Chicago thug and Obama consigliere, David Axelrod, has an explanation for President Obama's management incompetence ... see: National Review Story.

After Afterward: Even Chris Mathews agrees with me ... see: Politico Story

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Cornucopia



The Benghazi scandal … see: Weekly Standard Story

The IRS scandal … see: Washington Post Story

The Associated Press wiretap scandal … see: AP Story

The Gosnell conviction … see: Philadelphia Inquirer Story

And, Beyonce is pregnant again … see: Breitbart Story.  Perhaps, if a boy, they will name him Fidel?

Afterthought: These three major scandals are now tainting the Obama Cabinet: Benghazi involves the State Department, IRS-targeting involves the Treasury Department, and the AP-wiretaps involves the Justice Department.  Only one of these Administration members did not scurry down the ship's hawser onto the dock and steal away in January.  Hillary Clinton left State ... Little Timmy Geithner left Treasury ... but Eric Holder decided to stay on at Justice ... a decision that, I suspect, he will live to regret..

Monday, May 13, 2013

eUNuch

Eunuch


I think we all know what being an eunuch is … and the UN (United Nations) is exhibiting all the symptoms of having gone through this medical procedure.  As a perfect example of its loss of this key male hormone, the UN recently appointed Iran to head its Arms Control Forum … see: Free Beacon Story.  I wonder if the UN will now appoint North Korea to be in charge of arms-control enforcement?

Need I say a whole lot more?

If the United States had a smidgen of testosterone left, it would have abandoned this band of effete, ineffectual, lazy plutocrats years ago.

I.R.S.


Interrogate Republicans Strenuously

See: Washington Post Story

Sunday, May 12, 2013

The Players



Here are the major participants (so far) surrounding the September 11th, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya:

Christopher Stevens, Ambassador to Libya, was killed in the September 11th attack in Benghazi.  Was in Benghazi at the behest of Hillary Clinton although this fact was curiously omitted from the Accountability Revue Board’s findings … even though it was testified to there by Greg Hicks.

Tyrone Woods, Sean Smith, and Glen Doherty, three other American defenders who were killed in Benghazi  by Islamic terrorists.

President Obama, was informed of the Benghazi attack-in-progress at about 5 PM on 9/11/12.  Supposedly told Leon Panetta, to “do whatever can be done to assist and protect Americans in harm’s way.”  After this, he was not heard from again for over 12 hours.  That next day he flew to Las Vegas to attend a campaign fund raiser.

Leon Panetta, Defense Secretary, testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that no military assets were deployed to assist those under attack in Benghazi and that he had had no further communication with President Obama about this matter that night.

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, when asked by Senator John McCain why there was no military response to the Benghazi attack said, “We did what our posture and capabilities allowed.” McCain said that this was “one of the most bizarre statements I’ve ever seen in my years here at the [Armed Services] committee.”

Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State, testified in late January in front of the Senate and House (but not under oath) that she wasn’t aware of the security problems in Benghazi and that she believed for many days thereafter that the attack in Benghazi was as a result of the YOUTUBE video.  Was famous for saying at these hearings “What difference at this point does it make!?!”

David Petraeus, honored General in Iraq and Afghanistan and former CIA Director, expressed frustration at the scrubbing of the original CIA talking points … particularly since he had traveled to Libya shortly after the Benghazi attack to get first-hand information.  He eventually went along with the White House narrative … but this didn’t save him from being outed for having an extra-marital affair which then led him to lose his military commission and his post at the CIA.

General Carter Ham, head of the African Command, there is a strange story that Leon Panetta relieved General Ham of this command when he refused to order a “stand down” of troops being sent to Benghazi.  This story has been refuted and, effectively, buried.

Thomas Pickering, former Ambassador to the U.N., together with the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullin, lead a State-Department-sponsored panel investigating the Benghazi attack (Accountability Review Board). Although Secretary Clinton never testified to this panel, it did find that the State Department was at fault for not providing additional security to the Benghazi mission.  Hillary Clinton accepted responsibility for this failing.  This review supposedly led to the “resignation of four State Department employees” (a now-disputed point … as they might have just been reassigned.)

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian Coptic Christian  wrote and produced of the controversial anti-Islam YOUTUBE video, "Innocence of Muslims" which was blamed by President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Susan Rice as the reason for the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi.  Shortly after the attack he was arrested on a parole violation and is still in prison.

Susan Rice, Ambassador to the U.N., went on five TV talk shows the Sunday after the attack to say that the YOUTUBE video was the reason for the attack and terrorists were not involved.

Darrell Issa, Republican Chairman of the House Government Oversight Committee has been pushing the Benghazi investigation ... and is often accused by the left of playing partisan politics.  Is currently seeking sworn depositions from Pickering and Mullin about their panel's investigation.

Elijah Cummings, ranking Democrat of the House Oversight Committee.  Made a very controversial comment in these Benghazi hearings, "death is part of life."

Greg Hicks, former deputy diplomatic chief of mission in Libya.  Testified at the House Oversight Committee that he called Hillary at 2:00 AM the night of the Benghazi attack and told her that it was terrorists.  Had a scathing phone call from Cheryl Mills after he questioned Susan Rice’s account of the Benghazi attacks as being the result of the YOUTUBE video.

Mark Thompson, acting deputy assistant secretary for counter-terrorism, testified in the Oversight Committee that special forces in Tripoli were told to “stand down” and not go to Benghazi to help quell the attack there.  These special forces were furious and their commander, Lt. Col. Gibson, said that it was “the first time in my career that a diplomat has more balls than somebody in the military.”

Eric Nordstrom, the former regional security officer in Libya, blamed, in testimony before the Oversight Committee, the Obama Administration for ignoring calls for more security in Benghazi.

Victoria Nuland, State Department spokesperson who directed the12 revisions to the talking points that Susan Rice then used to go on 5 talk shows the Sunday after the attack.

Beth Jones, Assistant Secretary to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called Greg Hicks to warn him to stop questioning the Administration's stance on the Benghazi attack.  Later at a meeting in Washington, she questioned Hick's management style in Libya and said his people were complaining.

Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton’s long-time chief of staff (and known hatchet person), called Greg Hicks to excoriate him for meeting with a congressman from Utah without a State Dept. lawyer present (due to lack of security clearance for the lawyer).  Hicks believes that this confrontation led to his demotion to a desk job at the State Department.

Philippe Reines, State Department spokesman, said that nobody tried to keep the Utah congressperson from speaking to anyone in Libya.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Peeling the Onion



Last fall, White House spokesman and common streetwalker, Jay Carney, repeatedly avowed that neither the State Department nor the White House had anything to do with editing the Benghazi talking points that Susan Rice then used to lie to the American public … other than changing the term “consulate” to “diplomatic facility.”  It now appears that Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokesperson and Hillary Clinton rump-swab was involved in revising these talking points twelve separate times … resulting in the removal of all references to terrorists involvement in the attack and any before-the-fact CIA warnings about the growing peril to our diplomatic operations in Benghazi.  Please read the details here: ABC News Story.

Here are a few significant quotes from this story:
White House emails reviewed by ABC News suggest the edits were made with extensive input from the State Department.  The edits included requests from the State Department that references to the Al Qaeda-affiliated group Ansar al-Sharia be deleted as well references to CIA warnings about terrorist threats in Benghazi in the months preceding the attack.
In an email to officials at the White House and the intelligence agencies, State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland took issue with including that information because it “could be abused by members [of Congress] to beat up the State Department for not paying attention to warnings, so why would we want to feed that either?  Concerned …”
The significant edits – deleting references to al Qaeda and the CIA’s warnings – came after a White House meeting on the Saturday before Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on five Sunday shows.  

Like with the Nixon Watergate investigation, this Benghazi onion is being daily peeled  … each new layer confirming a State Department and White House conspiracy to cover-up what was their shameful derelictions of duty in the murder of four Americans.  And like the Nixon scandal, this all seemed to revolve around political considerations running up to a Presidential election. But this time there is one difference …the Internet and social media could well cause the denuding of this Benghazi onion to proceed at a more rapid pace.

Afterward: To see an additional, albeit parallel slant on this subject, please read Powerline Blog.


Libya

Qadaffi
For a very interesting and well-written analysis by an ex-diplomat regarding Benghazi and Libya… and the Obama/Clinton clumsy involvement therein, I highly recommend that you read the following blog post: The Diplomad.

It is very difficult for me not to be happy that Qadaffi has assumed room temperature … in that he, by proxy, killed 270 people (mostly Americans) in the Lockerbie, Scotland Pan Am bombing (see: Wikipedia Entry).  But then, I guess, international relations are a lot more complicated than my tiny mind can comprehend.  Apparently, that goes double for Hillary and Barack.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Connecting the Dots



Retiring Senator, Joe Lieberman, said today that it should have been easy to prevent the recent Boston Marathon bombings and that it was a failure to “connect the dots" between federal intelligence sources and local law enforcement agencies … see:. CBS News Story.

Now as it turns out our federal government spent $50 million dollars from 2005 to 2008 with The Analysis Corporation to develop a system that was meant to do just this.  (And I wager we have spent considerably more with this company since.)  Now for the critical question, Joe ... who was CEO of the Analysis Corporation during this period?

Please scroll down …














None other than our current director of the CIA … John Brennan



What else has this $50 million "connect the dots system" missed?  See: Heads Should Roll for another (of many) instances.

Déjà vu



Sitting through much of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Benghazi whistle-blower hearings yesterday, I had a creeping case of déjà vu.  It seemed to be playing out a lot like those Watergate TV hearings that I slavishly followed all those many years ago.  It is a soap opera and a passion play wrapped in a fact-finding mission.

Already Twitter and the blogosphere is alive with speculation, interesting insights, and dire predictions.  And, unless the White House can get its media ducks in a row, I think that we may have an entertaining summer of more such melodrama, particularly if Jon Boehner appoints a special select investigative committee. If you want to get your feet wet on what transpired, read more from these two perspectives: Time Magazine and NY Post.  And, for those so inclined, here is a long on-the-scene narrative of what happened last Sept.11th: Greg Hicks' Transcript.

I will not jump to any hasty conclusions now (not that I don’t already have some) but I do intend to follow these Benghazi-gate developments closely and will do my best to cut through the political gristle to find those morsels of viand veracity. 

Stay tuned.

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Myth Busted

Mark Sanford -- South Carolina

"There are no second acts in American lives." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Mark Sanford crushed Elizabeth Colbert-Busch in a special House of Representative election in South Carolina yesterday ... see: AP Story  This despite lots of outside money and a Comedy Channel endorsement for Colbert-Busch.  Perhaps it was her married name?

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Sunday, May 05, 2013

The Iranian Al Gore

Kazem Sedighi

A powerful and influential Iranian cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, has blamed the frequent earthquakes in his country on the lose morals of women … and, if you are skeptical of this connection, please see The Conversation. The Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, apparently agrees.  This logic seems to revolve around a gigantic “earthquake machine” (apparently not built by Halliburton) which is stimulated by immodest female dress and adultery.

This all seems quite sensible to me … in that, if there is a deleterious effect of nature (real or imagined) and there is a societal dislocation that is constantly plaguing one’s psyche … then they must be causally connected.  And, to prove such a connection, one need only construct a seductive rant that a naive public will swallow (a PowerPoint presentation and a slick documentary movie using polar bears and penguins also helps).  This is a proven recipe for powerful political influence and substantial monetary gain.

I fully expect Kazem Sedighi to win next year’s Nobel Peace Prize (or at least the Physics Prize).

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Full Steam Ahead












The Democrats have not lost any media momentum in their relentless pursuit of political victory in 2014 (and beyond).  Despite some recent unforced errors, it is still full steam ahead for this party in power.  Here is a representative sample of some recent headlines … mostly from Breitbart News:


Jason Collins to Fundraise for DNC with FLOTUS

OBAMA CIVIL LIBERTIES NOMINEE: ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TO PROFILE FOREIGNERS FROM HIGH-RISK COUNTRIES

 

PELOSI: I PRAY HILLARY CLINTON RUNS FOR PRESIDENT


Obama Blames America For Gun Smuggling In Mexico, No Mention Of Fast and Furious

States: 'Blindsided' by plan to shift costs of 'uninsurables' to them under ObamaCare


Hagel's Pentagon Defends Unconstitutional Policy Against Soldiers Sharing Faith

O Thanks Hispanic Voters in Mexico

 

Obama Administration Intentionally Hid the Pattern of Attacks in Benghazi

 

Bill allows for $150M in grants to sign up illegal immigrants to become citizens

 

Sharpton: Benghazi Hearings 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy'

 

DEM PARTY LEADER: SEND GOV HALEY 'BACK TO WHEREVER THE HELL SHE CAME FROM'