http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2509/Afghanistans-Benghazi-Grieving-Families-Want-Answers.aspx Grief and politics don’t mix. When raw, aching grief and the dirtiest kind of politics meet, a hot volcano of pain and outrage erupts that is unstoppable. But it is necessary. It is the only way things might ever be clean again. I am thinking of recent casket transfer ceremonies that have taken place […]
http://pjmedia.com/richardfernandez/2013/05/16/the-lying-king/
At a dinner not long ago someone described the wonders of a new product which uploaded your vital signs to the Cloud, a process that was so much more accurate than having to take it yourself and write it down on a piece of paper. It’s a great idea and there are an increasing number of such services which plan to offer that feature such as this, which proclaims “doctors can now establish online CarePods™ to assemble extended care teams, share medical records, collect and analyze real-time clinical information, and coordinate treatment plans with patients, their families and health providers.”
One thing that may give a customer pause, however, are headlines like this: “IRS Official in Charge During Tea Party Targeting Now Runs Health Care Office”.
The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.
Sarah Hall Ingram served as commissioner of the office responsible for tax-exempt organizations between 2009 and 2012. But Ingram has since left that part of the IRS and is now the director of the IRS’ Affordable Care Act office, the IRS confirmed to ABC News today.
The American economy increasingly runs on information. That also means that it increasingly runs on trust. Peggy Noonan, writing about the Obama’s IRS scandal says “as always it comes down to trust”. She is right but doesn’t go far enough. The level of trust that Noonan talks about is simply whether the President can be trusted in the ordinary political sense.
Do you trust the president’s answers when he’s pressed on an uncomfortable story? … The president, as usual, acts as if all of this is totally unconnected to him. He’s shocked, it’s unacceptable, he’ll get to the bottom of it. He read about it in the papers, just like you. But he is not unconnected, he is not a bystander. This is his administration. Those are his executive agencies. He runs the IRS and the Justice.
The assertion that Obama knew nothing of his underling’s actions seems almost an obvious lie. But do lies still matter? Kimberly Strassel, writing in the Wall Street Journal asks the same question as Noonan, but with a different slant. The way Strassel puts it is ‘what did the President say’? Can we determine the content of the administration’s policy from what the President says. Or do we have to decrypt it by breaking into a “second channel” where the real signal is sent?
Was the White House involved in the IRS’s targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.
President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an “independent” agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.
But that’s not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn’t need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he’d like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.
Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. “He put a target on our backs, and he’s now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?” asks Idaho businessman and longtime Republican donor Frank VanderSloot.
Listen to the “dog whistle”, Strassel seems to say, don’t listen to the fancy, eloquent speeches. That’s just for show. The real goodies are inside the wrapper.
Lee Smith raises the exact same question not in regards to the IRS, but in respect to the President’s nuclear containment policy. If you were a foreign president, what should you believe when the President talks? Smith raises the possibility that the Iran policy was doubletalk all along. Smith cites the case of a thinktank which after years of tirelessly assuring the public that Obama would never let Iran get the bomb now argues that we should start thinking about what to do when it does.
On Monday, the Center for New American Security published an 84-page report, called “If All Else Fails: The Challenges of Containing a Nuclear-Armed Iran.” The subject matter is particularly noteworthy given the report’s provenance. CNAS is a think tank close to the Obama administration that, among other things, advised the White House early in its first term on Afghanistan policy. Several of its scholars joined the administration, including CNAS founder Michelle Flournoy who served as undersecretary of defense for policy from 2009-2012; and Colin Kahl, formerly the Obama administration’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, who is lead author of this latest CNAS report….
Kahl’s CNAS report asserts that prevention is still the policy. Obama, the paper argues, has “made clear that, on matters of war and peace, ‘I don’t bluff.’ There are good reasons to believe Obama means what he says.”
Sure, Obama believes it, but what if he can’t make his belief a reality? What happens, asks the CNAS paper, if the administration has to move to containment? “This is not because the United States wants to find itself in a situation in which containment becomes necessary,” the report says. “But rather because prevention – up to and including the use of force – could fail, leaving Washington with little choice but to manage and mitigate the consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran.”
http://pjmedia.com/blog/a-tie-of-two-scandals-benghazi-and-the-ap-phone-records/?print=1
A Tie of Two Scandals: Benghazi and the AP Phone Records
Taken together, the multiple scandals simultaneously weighing on the White House show at the very least an administration with little control over its departments as it claims ignorance of each wrongdoing, mismanagement and blunder.
But the AP phone records scandal, while having its own power boost as it infuriates free press advocates on both sides of the aisle, has an irrefutable tie to what many believe is the underlying reason for a Benghazi cover-up.
On April 30, 2012, President Obama’s counterterrorism adviser John Brennan gave a touted address titled “The Ethics and Efficacy of the President’s Counterterrorism Strategy” at the Woodrow Wilson Center in D.C.
The lengthy address, with remarks released early to the press by the White House, hailed the commander in chief as a fearless leader of a crushing effort resulting in the steady decimation of al-Qaeda.
“Al-Qaeda leaders continue to struggle to communicate with subordinates and affiliates. Under intense pressure in the tribal regions of Pakistan, they have fewer places to train and groom the next generation of operatives. They’re struggling to attract new recruits. Morale is low, with intelligence indicating that some members are giving up and returning home, no doubt aware that this is a fight they will never win,” Brennan said.
“In short, al-Qaeda is losing, badly. And bin Laden knew it. In documents we seized, he confessed to ‘disaster after disaster.’ He even urged his leaders to flee the tribal regions, and go to places ‘away from aircraft photography and bombardment.’”
http://pjmedia.com/blog/at-the-brink-dr-john-lott-defines-americas-calamity/?print=1
At The Brink [1], the new book by economist Dr. John Lott (author of More Guns, Less Crime [2] and other books; also, he is a friend of mine), provides a detailed examination of five areas where the Obama administration is about to take us over the edge into, perhaps, the irrevocable collapse of our republic. Unfortunately, Dr. Lott makes it clear that these problems are not just Obama’s doing, but the result of bad policy decisions that have been coming from D.C. for a long time.
The five areas that Dr. Lott examines, in his thorough but readable manner: Obamacare; the stimulus bills that actually destroyed more jobs than they created; how Obama’s gun control policy was politically driven when not actually criminal; the regulatory destruction of business (at least businesses that were not contributing money to the Obama campaign); and the effects of tax policy.
The theme of each chapter was not new to me and I suspect may not be new to many readers of this review, but the depth of information that Dr. Lott marshals is gratifying. For example: I knew that 90% of Americans were happy with their medical care before Obamacare. What was a bit surprising was hearing that even the uninsured were satisfied with their health care. Only 3.9% of uninsured Americans in a 2006 Kaiser Family Foundation survey described themselves as “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied” with their medical care. A 2003 ABC News/Washington Post survey taken in 2003 was only a bit worse: 4.9% of the uninsured were “somewhat dissatisfied or very dissatisfied” with their medical care.
Dr. Lott uses statistics for the U.S. and Europe to demonstrate that the U.S. performs better — often much better — than Europe at the factors that should be among the demanding tests of the quality of a medical care system. For example: the percentage of cancer patients who survive for five years. The U.S. — ranked only 37th in medical care by the World Health Organization — performs better or far better on this measure than a number of countries that WHO ranks as having better medical care systems.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578485040214322234.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop Those AP Subpoenas The press corps finally discovers a case of government overreach. The same press corps that has blessed every Obama Administration enforcement action and regulatory intrusion has suddenly concluded that the feds are dangerously overreaching. The reason? The government is now investigating the press. Welcome to the club, but we’d also add […]
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-jason-miller/delta-airlines-saudi-arabia_b_883202.html
Delta Adopts Saudi Arabian Airlines’ No Jew Policy
For a long time in Michigan, Northwest Airlines had its hub at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. That meant an essential monopoly on domestic flights in and out of Detroit. A few years ago Delta Airlines took over Northwest Airlines and now the vast majority of domestic flights at Detroit Metro are operated by Delta. That fact makes it especially troubling to learn that Delta will add Saudi Arabian Airlines to its SkyTeam Alliance of partnering companies and would require Delta to ban Jews and holders of Israeli passports from boarding flights to Saudi Arabia. The partnership was originally announced by Delta Airlines in a press release on January 10, 2011.
World Net Daily reported that this issue “first was presented to Congress, the public and others by talk radio host and former U.S. Rep. Fred Grandy, whose own battle against discrimination was documented when his former radio station demanded he tone down criticism of Islam on his program. He then left the station.”
The article included correspondence from Kathy M. Johnston, Delta’s coordinator of Customer Care, explaining that Delta does not discriminate nor condone discrimination against any protected class of passenger in regards to age, race, nationality, religion, or gender. However, she stated , Delta must comply with all applicable laws in every country it serves. That means that if the Saudi government denies Jews from entering its country and Delta brings them there on its flight they can be fined.
The issue here is one of principle. Delta isn’t being forced to include Saudi Arabian Airlines into its Sky Team Alliance. In fact, Delta could stand on principle and refuse to include Saudi Arabian Airlines based on its discriminatory policy. No, it’s not Delta’s fault that the Saudi government is anti-Semitic, but it doesn’t have to go along with it. It’s as if the Saudis are telling Delta that when it comes to Jewish passengers its name should become an acronym: “Don’t Even Let Them Aboard.”
I know I’m not the only one who finds it troubling that Delta would go along with Saudi Arabia’s policy of not allowing Jews on their flights. While I’m not planning a vacation to Riyadh any time soon, I would have a hard time flying with Delta knowing they are collaborating with the discriminatory government of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis wield tremendous power in Washington. Prince Bandar, nicknamed “Bandar Bush” by George W., had unprecedented influence for an ambassador for over two decades: developing close relationships with 5 presidents, 10 Secretaries of State, 11 national security advisors and countless member of Congress.
In exchange for oil (between conventional and non-conventional sources, the U.S. has far greater resources), we sell them millions of dollars of sophisticated weapons and look the other way on human rights abuses. In the first decade of the 21st century, the Saudi oil lobby spent $100 million to sway U.S. businesses.
The Saudis have been major donors to American universities for decades – in the billions of dollars. This has bought them scholars and Islamic Studies departments, the ability to promote Islam, censorship of information/individuals unfavorable to Islam, etc.
Saudi money funds terrorism against America and U.S. interests, finances the teaching of Islamic hate ideology in American mosques, blocks the investigation of terrorist networks and subverts our society and values.
View the short video:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=JBMdDmIP5Y4&feature=player_embedded&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3DJBMdDmIP5Y4
Janet Levy,
Los Angeles
http://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm/frm/139521/sec_id/139521
Bostonians may be relieved that the week of terrorism perpetrated by the Tsarnaev brothers which began at 2:49PM April 15, 2013 at the Boston Marathon Finish Line ended dramatically on April 20, 2013 with the capture of surviving younger brother Dzhokhar. However, the nation is perplexed about why this heinous and cowardly act occurred and what can be done to prevent possible re-occurrences in America. 26 year old Tamerlan, a 6’ 3” tall aspiring boxer was mortally wounded in a hail of bullets in a shoot out in Watertown, Massachusetts early Friday morning, April 19, 2013. This followed the murder of an MIT police officer and carjacking of a Mercedes SUV. 19 year old younger brother Dzhokhar, a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, survives. He was transferred to a prison medical facility after being initially treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. 11 victims were also being treated there after two blasts tore through crowds of spectators at the finish line of the iconic Marathon.
His late brother Tamerlan’s remains were interred at the Al-Barzakh Cemetery in Doswell, Virginia located 15 miles from the state capital in Richmond on May 10, 2013. A controversy has been raised by local Caroline County officials with the Commonwealth Attorney General about whether the burial of the Boston Marathon Bomber was legal.
Those Boston Marathon blasts occurred less than 13 seconds apart at approximately 2:49 PM on Monday, April 15, 2013. They left a trail of deaths and destruction in what is now called the Boston Marathon Massacre involving three dead and more that 282 treated for injuries. Fourteen were severely maimed for life with missing limbs. The deaths caused by the Tsarnaev brothers include 8 year old Martin Richard, 29 year old Krystle Campbell and 23 year old Lu Lingzi, a Chinese national and Boston University graduate student. 26 year old MIT police officer Sean Collier was killed by the Tsarnaevs while in his patrol car in Cambridge. Richard Donahue, a 33 year old Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority police officer was also shot and critically wounded.
http://www.newmediajournal.us/ The recent “scandals” plaguing the Obama Administration serve to illustrate that nothing lasts forever. The honeymoon with the mainstream media has ended after a record run and their steamroller approach to Washington politics has hit a “bump in the road,” and one they cannot circumvent. This moment in time presents some golden opportunities for […]
http://www.humanrightsvoices.org/
Obama and Kerry’s fingerprints all over Syria crisis
This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News.
In Syria, the motto for stopping the bloodshed might be summed up this way: when the going gets tough, the tough hold a conference. That’s the latest word from Secretary John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov who are planning the event for some time in June. Neither Assad, nor the opposition, has committed to attend.
Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly President Vuc Jeremić raised the number of dead on May 15 to “at least 80,000 people, most civilians.” Syrian NGOs this week put the figure at more than 94,000. With the Assad regime busy adding to the death toll, and rebels recently releasing a video of one of their own cutting out and then eating the heart of a Syrian soldier, the unfortunate reality is that good guys are few and far between.
