RUTHFULLY YOURS

As Eric Holder prepares to leave as attorney general, there is a fierce debate over his six-year tenure. Many conservative senators who voted to confirm him in 2009 now regret it. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, now zings Holder’s “lack of respect for Congress, the American taxpayer, and the laws on the books.” Even some of his supporters agree he’s been confrontational and polarizing. Juan Williams of Fox News rails against anti-Holder “scandalmongers” but then admits “the Justice Department has devolved into the heart of Washington darkness, the absolute pit of modern political polarization in my lifetime.”

One reason for that polarization is that, thanks to direct support from Holder and President Obama himself, the Reverend Al Sharpton has now become the nation’s leading African-American civil-rights leader. Last month, Politico proclaimed Sharpton “the national black leader Obama leans on most.”

“There’s a trust factor with The Rev from the Oval Office on down,” a White House official told Politico. The White House had early on concluded it didn’t have much use for Jesse Jackson, a former top Obama adviser told Politico’s Glenn Thrush: “We needed to have someone to deal with in the African-American community, and Sharpton was the next best thing, so, yeah, we sort of helped build him up.” Egad, the equivalent of unleashing Typhoid Mary in a kitchen.

Today, Sharpton is at the center of presidential announcements and frequently texts or e-mails with Holder and top Justice officials. He vacationed this year at the Martha’s Vineyard condo of uber-presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett, just up the road from where Obama himself was staying. Last month, he attended the funeral of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., with the White House’s blessing. “Michael Brown’s blood is crying for justice,” Sharpton told attendees. “Those police that are wrong need to be dealt with.”

In his speech addressed to the UN general assembly, Barak Hussein Obama said, “ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones killing innocents.” He also stated, “ISIS is hiding behind a false Islam.” We know about Mr. Obama’s admiration for Islam. The following are a few of his statements:

· “The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer.”

· “We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world — including in my own country” (i.e., USA, not Kenya).

· “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

· “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

· “Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality.”

· “I look forward to hosting an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan here at the White House.”

In addition to the above, he has also made many unfounded statements such as, “Islam has always been a part of America’s story.” And “In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.”

Does Obama really know Islam better than Muslims?

If Islam is as wonderful as Obama says, why did he leave it? He did leave Islam, didn’t he? He was raised Muslim and, therefore, it seems strange that one could have such a high admiration of a religion that one no longer believes in.

It is also quite strange that Obama does not seem to have the same admiration for the faith that he now claims to be a part of. He has said with sarcasm,

“Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith?”

Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.

A Muslim convert who recently became very religious beheads a woman while reportedly shouting Islamic phrases. The authorities rush to convince everyone in sight that it has nothing to do with Islam.

I’m not talking about Alton Nolen in Oklahoma at the end of September, but Nicholas Salvador in the UK at the beginning of September. Salvador, a Nigerian Muslim convert, beheaded an 82-year-old European woman with a foot-long blade. Nolen killed a 54-year-old American woman with a 10-inch blade.

The bios of both men are fairly similar to the beheaders of British soldier Lee Rigby. The perpetrators were Nigerian converts to Islam. Alton Nolen was a black convert to Islam. They had a history of criminal behavior followed by a conversion to Islam and the inevitable bloody ending.

On his Facebook page, Nolen posted, “Sharia law is coming!!!” The killers of Lee Rigby had chanted for Sharia law in the streets of London. That is the same Sharia law of stonings and beheadings.

It is the law of the Koran which states, “When you meet the unbelievers in Jihad smite at their necks until you have slaughtered many of them.” (Koran 47:4)

Or as Nolen quoted after posting a gory beheading photo on his Facebook page, “Thus do we find the clear precedent that explains the peculiar penchant of Islamic terrorists to behead their victims: it is merely another precedent bestowed by their Prophet.”

The quote underneath the beheading photo backed that up, “I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off of them.”(Quran 8:9-13)

An unbeliever is anyone who isn’t a Muslim.

This latest “Nothing to do with Islam” atrocity follows the Islamic State’s beheading of two Americans. These acts were admired by an Oklahoma City nursing home worker who was arrested for threatening a female co-worker with an ISIS style beheading on account of her being a Christian.

President Obama sucked up most of the media oxygen at the United Nations last week with his call for collective action against the Islamic State and other jihadists. But if anyone made real news from the General Assembly’s green-marble podium, it was Iranian President Hasan Rouhani. The fabled Iranian moderate’s unsubtle message: You’ll play by our rules now.

“The people of Iran,” he said, “cannot place trust in any security cooperation between their government and those who have imposed sanctions.” That was a kick in the shins to U.S. diplomats who have made little secret of their desire to make common cause with Tehran against the Islamic State—albeit a kick dressed up as an inducement to lift the sanctions. It follows Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s claim last week that Secretary of State John Kerry is “lying” about the nature of U.S. overtures toward Iran. How’s that for improving the diplomatic mood music?

Mr. Rouhani also gave no ground on nuclear negotiations, whose latest deadline is late November, in time for the lame duck Congress in case Republicans retake the chamber. Iran would continue to enrich uranium, said Mr. Rouhani, never mind Security Council resolutions demanding a suspension of enrichment.

He also claimed that Iran had honored its obligations under the interim nuclear agreement. That’s despite a report this month from the International Atomic Energy Agency noting that Tehran continued to stymie its efforts to investigate the “possible military dimensions” of Iran’s nuclear program. “These activities,” the IAEA reported, “are likely to have further undermined the Agency’s ability to conduct effective verification.

A week ago I guessed that the next beheading wouldn’t even make the headlines. I was nearly correct.

We are getting accustomed to the charms of Radical Islam, so last week’s beheading of Colleen Hufford, 54, at the hands of suspect Alton Nolen, 30, a convert to Islam, was simply the beheading of the week. Give the people a regular diet of the same bad medicine and soon it doesn’t taste so bad. Becomes habit forming.

He did what comes naturally in the world of Jihad.
Most of us who expected something like this, we thought only of New York – never Oklahoma.

Yes, Oklahoma, as in “You’re doing fine Oklahoma” from the musical of the same name.

The suspect had a grievance. He got fired from Vaughan Foods so he did what comes naturally in the world of Jihad.

This happened in a small town named Moore, but this is not a local story any more than Pearl Harbor was a local story. The Japanese attacked us on a date that will live in infamy and likewise Radical Islam attacked us (once again) on a day we should never forget — but on the whole, the news media shrugged.

Some locals, we’re told, were unhappy with even the small amount of coverage because it mentioned the Islamic connection. Gotcha.

Now go back to bed and sleep tight.

Was Muslim convert Alton Nolen, who allegedly beheaded co-worker Colleen Hufford and stabbed another woman in Oklahoma on Sept. 25, inspired by ISIS, the Islamist group that rules large parts of Syria and Iraq? (ISIS is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIL, Islamic State, and Da`esh.)

Law enforcement and the media have, as usual, distanced the attack from Islam and terrorism, implying the alleged crime is an example of “workplace violence” due to Nolen’s recent firing from Vaughan Foods.
But co-workers report Nolen had a history of attempting to convert them to the Muslim faith. Law enforcement officials have not yet revealed if this was a contributing factor in Nolen’s termination. In addition, Robin Marsh of KWTV-9 reports that Nolen was “shouting Islamic phrases” while attacking his victims.
It is Nolen himself, however, who provides the best initial evidence that radical Islam in general and ISIS in particular motivated his alleged murder a fellow worker, evidence worth documenting in some detail. Though limited information is currently available, we are able to learn about Nolen in his own words and posted photographs on social media and use these as a basis to understand his beliefs and speculate about his motives.
After his conversion to Islam, Nolen posted on Facebook (under the name Jah’Keem Yisrael) his support for Islamist causes, including images celebrating Osama bin Laden and the attack on the World Trade Center. He also specifically promoted ISIS.

With the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder, unquestionably the most activist – and most divisive – attorney general in the history of the country, everyone seems fixated on who will replace him, and rightly so. The position of nation’s “top cop” is one of extreme importance. As was witnessed with Mr. Holder’s tenure, a biased, activist and agenda-driven attorney general can tear at the fabric of our society. But while everyone seems pre-occupied with who his successor will be, the possibilities of Mr. Holder’s future is what has some forward-thinking people concerned.

If Pres. Obama is swift of feet – and with Valerie Jarrett as his task-master it is hard to believe that he won’t be, he will see his next nominee for US Attorney General fly through the Senate confirmation process. This will happen courtesy of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s manipulation of the confirmation vote process. Susan Ferrechio writes in The Washington Examiner:

“Democrat changes to the filibuster last year should give President Obama’s attorney general pick a gliding path through the Senate in the lame-duck session.

“Last November, Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid changed Senate rules so that nominations for Cabinet positions and most judicial posts needed only 51 votes, instead of the 60 that had been required. That means the person President Obama nominates to succeed Attorney General Eric Holder will not face a potential Republican filibuster.

“Lawmakers plan to return Nov. 12, and no matter who prevails in the Nov. 4 elections, Democrats will remain in the Senate majority until the end of the year. Democrats control 55 votes, while Republicans make up 45 of the chamber’s lawmakers.”

No doubt, We the People will have to suffer through two more years of an activist Department of Justice, one too pre-occupied with “social justice” to give a second thought to “justice for all” or “blind justice.” Of course, it is hard to imagine a more divisive social justice activist than Eric Holder. Nevertheless, I am sure the man – or woman – who takes the helm at the DoJ will provide adequate protection for the Obama Administration, just as Mr. Holder did.

The Obama narrative collapses
Several sophisticated polling analysts, including Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com and Sam Wang of the Princeton Election Consortium are hinting that Republican prospects for the fall ‎midterm U.S. congressional elections are improving. This is occurring despite significant advantages ‎in money raised and spent by Democratic candidates and the various campaign ‎organizations that support their candidates as compared to Republican ‎candidates and their support organizations. ‎

One key issue that seems to have bolstered Republican prospects is the collapse of ‎support for the president’s immigration reform proposal or proposed executive ‎action on immigration. President Barack Obama promised various lobbying groups for ‎immigration reform that he would take action independent of Congress, as he has ‎in so many other areas, including allowing 5 million to 6 million illegal immigrants (about ‎half the total number in the country) to remain in the United States, without fear of ‎prosecution or deportation, and with the ability to work legally. While presidents ‎have some discretion in implementation of laws passed by Congress, the proposed ‎changes made even Democrats nervous, enough so that the president decided he ‎would delay his action until after the November elections. Why get voters even ‎angrier at him, so that even more Democratic candidates for House and Senate ‎seats go down to defeat? ‎

The president has always been far more concerned with electoral politics than ‎immigration reform itself (never introducing the subject in his first term in office) ‎and when Congress did not act, the president showed his disdain for the ‎constitution’s separation of powers with his promised executive action. It is ‎supposed to be Congress that legislates, the president who executes the law ‎‎(and gets to approve or veto acts of Congress), and the Supreme Court that ‎interprets the consistency of law or executive actions with the constitution.

The second key policy issue on which the bottom has fallen out from under the ‎president is his management of foreign affairs. The two subjects are in fact related ‎for many Americans.

Obama’s current approval scores are at the lowest levels of his presidency. But rather than reflect on why he has lost the support of the majority ‎of the American population, the president seems committed to doubling down in ‎his last years in office — convinced that his way, as always, is the only