Displaying posts published in

2014

ALAN CARUBA: LOSING OUR FREEDOMS

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/americans-are-losing-their-freedom?f=puball

February 1st was National Freedom Day. It commemorates Lincoln’s signing of the House and Senate resolution that later became the 13th Amendment. Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865.

Short of another Civil War, Americans have reached a point verging on the loss of their Constitutional freedoms as ever before. The issue then was slavery, but Americans are rapidly moving toward having their Bill of Rights annulled by a President intent on ruling as a despot, making them slaves of a regime that rules as he wishes, ignoring the Constitution and Congress.

His actions have been supported by the Democratic members of Congress and because Republicans only control the House they have seen their legislative efforts to oppose the regime blocked, often by one man, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader. The nation’s media with few exceptions have supported or ignored the President’s actions.

Why is this happening? A brief review of the means put forth in Saul Alinski’s “Rules for Radicals”, written by a “community organizer”, outlines what Obama is doing as he seeks to turn America into a socialist state. It is a process that progressives/liberals have been pursuing since early in the last century.

FRANK SALVATO: WHAT IS McAULIFFE UP TO?

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/just-what-is-mcauliffe-up-to?f=puball

There has been a lot of damage done to the United States Constitution courtesy of the Progressive Movement over the years. The passage of the 17th Amendment alone removed a critical constitutional check-and-balance meant to make sure the rights of the minority were protected, in this case the right of the many States to protect themselves from an over-reaching federal government. So, it is with a wary and suspicious eye that I view the actions of one of the 1990’s most successful Progressive operatives, the now Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe.

To refresh everyone’s memories, Mr. McAuliffe is not only one of the closest confidants of the former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary “I-Forgot-to-Answer-the-Phone-at-3am-when-Benghazi-Called” Clinton, but, according to DiscoverTheNetworks.org, was:

“…chairman of the Democrat National Committee…He began his career as a financier for the Democrat Party when he worked on the unsuccessful re-election campaign of President Jimmy Carter in 1980. More recently, he developed a reputation as an exceptionally effective fundraiser for the Clinton administration. He raised money not only for both of Bill Clinton’s successful presidential bids, but also for Hillary Clinton’s victorious New York State Senate run. During the Clinton presidency, when the Monica Lewinsky scandal threatened to cause a decline in the President’s war chest, McAuliffe initiated and chaired Clinton’s multimillion-dollar legal defense fund.

“McAuliffe is particularly adept at the raising of soft money – funds that, by endorsing an overall cause or party rather than a specific candidate, are legally permitted to exceed the limits normally placed on contributions to a political campaign. Because they are not bound by such restrictions, soft money contributions are often so large – frequently in excess of $100,000 – that donors naturally expect to receive some form of payback in return for their generosity. McAuliffe’s soft money strategy was responsible for President Clinton’s 1996 scandal concerning the Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers and the White House coffees, two tactics employed to solicit huge donations from wealthy friends and patrons of the Clintons…”

Obama Admin Unilaterally Changes Law to Allow Immigrants With ‘Limited’ Terror Contact Into US By Caroline May

http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/05/obama-admin-changes-immigration-law-allows-immigrants-who-supported-terrorists-into-us/?print=1

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/obama-admin-unilaterally-changes-law-to-allow-immigrants-with-limited-terror-contact-into-us?f=puball

he Obama administration has issued new exemptions to a law that bars certain asylum-seekers and refugees who provided “limited material support” to terrorists who are believed to pose no threat from the U.S.

The Department of Homeland Security and the State Department published the new exemptions Wednesday in the Federal Register to narrow a ban in the Immigration and Nationality Act excluding refugees and asylum seekers who had provided limited material support, no matter how minor, to terrorists.

“These exemptions cover five kinds of limited material support that have adversely and unfairly affected refugees and asylum seekers with no tangible connection to terrorism: material support that was insignificant in amount or provided incidentally in the course of everyday social, commercial, family or humanitarian interactions, or under significant pressure,” a DHS official explained to The Daily Caller.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and Secretary of State John Kerry signed the exemptions.

DHS contends that the law change is “commonsense” and that immigration procedures will remain the same in other respects.

Cuban Activist Arrested Ahead of Human Rights Summit….Alana Goodman

http://freebeacon.com/cuban-activist-arrested-ahead-of-human-rights-summit/?print=1 Home of activist ‘Antúnez’ raided before UN Watch human rights event in Geneva A prominent Cuban opposition activist has been arrested ahead of a United Nations-related human rights conference he was expected to attend in Geneva, his supporters said Wednesday. Jorge Luis García Pérez, known as “Antúnez,” was reportedly arrested with several other activists […]

Muslim Brotherhood Leader Meets Obama in White House: Adam Kredo

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/muslim-brotherhood-leader-meets-obama-in-white-house?f=puball

http://freebeacon.com/muslim-brotherhood-leader-meets-obama-in-white-house/

Controversial British MB leader participates in Iraq discussion

A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood was recently hosted at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama, prompting an outcry from critics of the global Islamist organization.

Anas Altikriti, a top British lobbyist for the Muslim Brotherhood whose father heads Iraq’s Muslim Brotherhood party, recently met with the president and Vice President Joe Biden as part of a delegation discussing problems in Iraq.

Altikriti, whose work has also been tied to Hamas, can be seen smiling in photos published by the White House as he stands next to Iraqi Parliament Speaker Usama al-Nujaifi, who is pictured shaking hands with President Obama in the White House’s Roosevelt Room. The meeting was first highlighted by the blog Harry’s Place.

The Obama administration has been criticized its outreach to the Muslim Brotherhood, the international Islamist organization whose members’ brief reign in Egypt was supported by the White House.

Nujaifi, Altikriti, and other members of the Iraqi delegation were in town late January to discuss al Qaeda’s growing presence in Iraq. Nujaifi himself was reported to have met twice with President Obama, though it remains unclear if Altikriti accompanied him on both occasions.

“President Barack Obama greets Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, Iraqi Council of Representatives, after he drops by Vice President Joe Biden’s meeting with the Speaker in the Roosevelt Room of the White House,” read the White House’s photo caption, which clearly shows Altikriti standing to al-Nujaifi’s right side.

JOHN GALT: THE NECESSARY WAR PART 3

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/the-necessary-war-part-iii Working in the Arab world during the last decade, I have met many Muslims who insisted that they had nothing to do with terrorism. The problem is that they remain silent, in fear of the so-called extremists. They do not publicly condemn terror, and they continue to donate money to the mosques and charities […]

RICH BAEHR: ONLY ONE SIDE WILL BE BLAMED

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=7257

Only one side will be blamed

Secretary of State John Kerry and his on-the-scene negotiator, Martin Indyk, are inching toward revealing the details of their proposed framework agreement for further talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, already leaked through pretty much every media organ sympathetic to the administration’s initiatives — whether foreign or domestic. The leaks suggest there are no surprises in the framework agreement, since the peace camp from which both Kerry and Indyk hail claim to have known for a long time the compromises that were supposedly necessary from each side to reach an agreement. It is, of course, remarkable that if the details of such an agreement were so readily apparent and sensible (and presumably fair to both sides), that an agreement had not already been reached, despite all the peace processing that has taken place since the Oslo process began more than 20 years ago.

Of course, the peace processors have their dirty secret, which they let out from time to time. The reason, wink, wink, why there has been no deal so far is because Israel has not had the courage to face down its settler population in the West Bank and make the territorial concessions needed to bring peace. Presumably, any and all of Israel’s other concerns will be addressed, so it must be the settlement enterprise that is blocking an agreement.

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who has been attacking settlements and Israeli “intransigence” since time immemorial, occasionally feels the need to reassure Israelis that their concerns about security have been noted by higher authorities and wise men such as himself, and that solutions exist. Reasonable columnists can always figure out what is needed to make peace. After a sit-down with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week, Friedman offered a new trial balloon, presumably first tossed up by Abbas. Israel no longer needs its own soldiers in the Jordan Valley. NATO troops can do the job. In fact, the NATO forces can have jackets designed with the words “Shoot Me” in Arabic on the back to facilitate terrorist activity by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Qaida or other radical groups now nesting in the territories, and anxious to drive out any “replacement occupiers.” Much like the Saudi peace plan of a decade earlier, which Friedman uncovered just as he was going to reveal to his Saudi luncheon partner a near identical approach, one wonders whether this new plan originated with Abbas, or Friedman, in his preferred role as great thinker and statesman.

PUTIN’S WINTER WONDERLAND

http://nsroundtable.org/as-we-see-it/putins-winter-wonderland/ Amid continued debate over whether or not Sochi is prepared to host the 2014 Olympics, reporters from around the world are beginning to check into local hotels.   Based on some of the hilarious tweets (see below) about their hotel experiences, it appears that Putin’s Winter Wonderland isn’t so wonderful, at least not yet… […]

SARAH HONIG: OXFAM’S LOPSIDED LOGIC

Oxfam’s lopsided logic On the face of it, Oxfam is as irreproachable as motherhood and apple-pie. Who can be against its declared goals of combating hunger and promoting justice? Oxfam’s confederation and its familiar charity shops are fixed features in some 90 countries worldwide. Founded in the city of Oxford in 1942, it crusaded for […]

Marine Le Pen’s Worldview: Oppose America, Embrace Iran by Peter Martino

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4160/marine-le-pen-chauprade Le Pen’s worldview seems comes from the man sitting next to her, Aymeric Chauprade, who taught geopolitics at the Joint Defense College of the French army, until he was fired after writing a book in which he voiced the possibility that that the 9/11 attacks might have been part of a deliberate plot conceived […]