Monthly Archives: August 2014

Saturday Movie Matinee: Great Moments In Presidential History

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The Rush Limbaugh Show: The Most Brilliant Man on Earth Doesn’t Have a Strategy Yet — But He Doesn’t Believe We Can Defeat ISIS or Putin

Okay, we don’t have a strategy yet to deal with ISIS.  And not only do we not have a strategy to deal with ISIS, the president of the United States told ’em that.  He told them that in a press conference yesterday. Then he told Putin and the Russians that we’re not gonna do anything about whatever’s going on in Ukraine. And then he said that we’re never gonna be able to vanquish ISIS. We’re never gonna be able to get rid of ’em.  So you Iraqis, if you’re worried about it, you better step up, ’cause we can’t deal with them.  I mean, we can put ’em down, but we can’t get rid of them.

Can you imagine if that had been the attitude about Hitler and the Nazis?  Can you imagine if that had been the attitude about imperial Japan back in World War II?  Can you imagine if that had been the attitude about the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall?  Can you imagine if that had been the attitude? “Hey, you know, we’re never gonna be able to get rid of these people.  We’re gonna have to find a way to compromise with ’em, find a way to live with ’em.  If you’re directly affected by ’em, don’t bother, Rush, you’re on your own.”

Like you Iraqis.  “Come on, you better step up. If you can’t deal with this, it’s your problem. I’m not gonna help you anymore. We can’t do anything about it.”  Imagine if that attitude had been prevalent during World War I.  Can you imagine if Barack Obama had been around during the Revolutionary War?  “Hey, you guys made a big mistake. We can’t get rid of the British here.  What are you talking about?”  Can you imagine Barack Obama as president during any period of time saying about the equivalent threat of that period what he is saying about ISIS?  He says this while his own defense secretary says ISIS is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, while his idiotic secretary of state also sounds the drums about how dangerous this bunch is.

The Daily Rushbo: RUSH: Great Moments In Presidential History:

UK Ups It’s Terror Threat Level As Obama Struggles To Recover To No Plan – Special Report:

PJTV, Trifecta: The Dark State Rises: Who’s to Blame for the Brutal New Caliphate? (Pt. 1)

Andrew Klavan, Truth Revolt: Democrats at War:

In which our host, Andrew Klavan, discusses the lies, double-speak, failures and foibles of Democrats at War!

Bill Whittle, Truth Revolt: The Republic of Bill:

Jimmy Miles – Country Born, American Made (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

We are pleased to bring to you the all-new music video from Jimmy Miles, featuring Mark Muller of Max Motors. Country Born, American Made is representation of the American life in rural Missouri, and we would appreciate your support, for Top Artist of the Year!!

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Book Review: A Flowershop In Baghdad

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A Flowershop in Baghdad is an inspirational story about American exceptionalism as seen through the eyes of an USAF Major stationed in Iraq. Retired veteran Michael Banzet, a self-proclaimed “wise-ass,” started out at the lowest rank, but after earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering and a master’s in aviation science, he rose to the rank of Major to eventually do what he loves – fly jets as a USAF pilot. He volunteered to go to Iraq to help the Iraqis build a solid, dependable, and accountable Air Force – which turned out to be a tall order given the dysfunctional military culture that developed over the years under Saddam’s brutal dictatorship.

The older Iraqis had been conditioned to do as little as possible and be accountable for as little as possible in order to stay out of trouble. Sycophancy, incompetence and corruption were the order of the day and sometimes it was hard to teach the old dogs new tricks.

Banzet had better luck with the young Iraqi men he trained to be the next generation of Iraqi Air Force pilots. He worked hard to instill in the young cadets the values of the USAF; discipline, honor and leadership.

Published in 2012, the book mixes humor with tragedy and is particularly relevant now in light of recent events in Iraq. So much hard work, sacrifice, and good will on the part of so many brave men and women – American, Iraqi, British, and many other nationalities – has been squandered so the current president could keep a campaign promise to his left-wing base.

Banzet likes to remind the reader of the large coalition of forces that fought along side us in Iraq – although Obama and members of the Democrat media complex persist to this day in telling the lie that America acted unilaterally in Iraq.

Just this Tuesday, in fact, during his speech before the American Legion at their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, the president said, (obviously in reference to Iraq), “history teaches us of the dangers of overreaching, and spreading ourselves too thin, and trying to go it alone without international support, or rushing into military adventures without thinking through the consequences.”

Then he took credit for bringing the troops home “because it was the right thing to do!” And the vets reacted to this with thunderous silence. Maybe they know what Banzet knows.

Some of the Iraqis he worked with, had been members of the Ba’ath party during the Saddam Hussein years and were officers in his Air Force. His new friends had fought against us during the Gulf War, not that they were fans of Saddam Hussein, or sorry to see him go.. Others lived in areas that were sometimes mortared by the Americans. There were near misses, and sometimes houses blown up. Yes, the Americans occasionally made mistakes.

In spite of all that – do you know how the Iraqis referred to the so-called “American imperialist warmongers”?

“The friendly side.”

The not-so-friendly sides included horrific terrorist groups like al Qaeda in Iraq (the pre-curser to ISIS) and militants like the Badr Brigades. Most Iraqis wanted nothing to do with the terrorists. They were glad the Americans were there to protect them.

In one very effecting vignette, Banzet described a day he went to work and found the office in a state of panicked chaos.
“Most of the guys were on their phones, urgently talking,” Banzet remembers. Worry creased their faces as they talked to loved ones at home. He asked what was going on and was told, “there are bad things happening in the neighborhoods.”

Asad had gotten off the phone, but Wahid was still calmly, forcefully directing someone. Asad looked at me, pain in his eyes, anguish on his face, and his English eloquence failed him. “They took someone and now Nassera says that she hears guns coming down the street.

Some men had broken into a home and abducted the cousin of the owner. Banzet left the office to brief an American intel officer about what was happening, and see if he had any ideas. When he got back to the office – the room was noticeably calmer. It turns out, hummers were involved. That ruled out some of the more barbaric terrorists. But one of the Shia militant brigades was known to use hummers, so there was still a great deal of concern, and Banzet went back to talk to the intel guy. When he returned the third time, he said it was like walking into an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The guys were back at work, typing on the computers, drinking tea, and chatting.

The completely bewildered Banzet asked Assad what was going on.

“I’m sorry my friend. It was the Americans,” he grinned, clapping Banzet on the shoulder and returning  to his work.

In another poignant vignette, Banzet gives his Iraqi friends – formerly officers in Saddam’s Air Force – a tour of “Flintstone Village” – the bizarre playground resort outside Baghdad that was built by Saddam Hussein for his sons Uday, Qusay, their children, and other elites. During the Saddam era, most Iraqis were not allowed to look at or even mention the place for fear of getting shot.

flintstone village

His friends were appalled by everything they saw, and their visceral reaction to the resort took Banzet by surprise. Although the workmanship of the buildings was shoddy, the entire place – which includes a never finished “Victory over America” palace – clearly cost millions upon millions of dollars.

Still, Banzet wasn’t sure he understood why they were reacting with such disgust.

“Do you know when these things were built, Mike?” his friend Wahid asked exasperatedly.

It turns out that the Flintstone Village was built during “the seasons” – when things got very bad for most Iraqis. Banzet was perplexed. The “seasons”? After further prodding, he figured out what they were talking about: the UN sanctions.

As you may have guessed, the “Flowershop in Baghdad” is a metaphor for the American mission that was planting the seeds of a new democracy in difficult, but not completely infertile soil.

But it also has a literal meaning as Banzet endeavored to help the gentle and timid Samir – one of his Iraqi friends – who had always wanted to grow flowers.

Banzet found a small plot, and helped Samir weed and till the soil, preparing it for the seeds his wife had sent over. After planting the seeds, Banzet backed off, and let Samir do the rest of the upkeep on his own. But Samir turned out to be a very poor gardener, indeed. He forgot to water so the soil became dry and cracked. Weeds soon crept back in, choking out the flowers. The flower garden failed.

Perhaps Banzet had left him on his own too soon.

Megyn Kelly Slams Obama For Latest Fundraising Junket While “a Few Americans Are Waiting to Have Their Heads Cut Off”

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Megyn Kelly has been on a tear for the past couple of days because of the president’s decision to go on another fundraising junket this weekend, while ISIS continues its assaults in Syria and Iraq, and Russia invades the Ukraine.

Thursday night, she had on frequent guest, Fox News’ digital political editor Chris Stirewalt to talk about Obama’s admission that he has “no strategy” to go after ISIS and its safe haven in Syria.

“Not to worry,” she quipped. “He is spending all day tomorrow in the Situation Room…..oh – wait….”

No, the president will be off to another series of fund raisers, while, “there’s just a few Americans waiting to have their heads cut off in the custody of this terror group,” Kelly said, apologizing for being flippant but calling the situation “disturbing.”

Stirewalt snarked, “so the president’s the president wherever he goes and  he’ll be able to destroy the whole world and everything in it from a remote location – while he is sucking up to the swells in Westchester County and lovelies in Rhode Island, when he goes to the “It Couple’s” wedding of the year taking place in New York, this weekend.”

“He looks tired, he looks disengaged, and then when he leaves to go do things that look selfish, it is very hard for him to make the case to the American people that he’s the man with the plan,” he said.

 

Kelly also had Gen. Keane on to talk about what he called Obama’s ‘extraordinary and stunning Admission’ that he has no strategy.

Gen. Jack Keane was on “The Kelly File” tonight to weigh in on the revelation that the Obama administration has “no strategy” on dealing with ISIS.
Keane called it “an extraordinary and stunning admission coming from the leader of the world’s most powerful nation.” He also noted that the remark was “embarrassing.”

The four-star general said that we need a comprehensive strategy, but said that he fears we may not get one.

Gutfeld to Colmes: Why Do Liberals Have a Hard Time Identifying Actual Evil?

​Krauthammer: ‘I Thought the Pres. Could No Longer Surprise Me – I Was Wrong’

Keane said he believes Obama made that statement today because he has not yet made a decision.

“That was an honest answer – he didn’t have a strategy.”

 

SEE ALSO:

Whoa….

The Daily Mail: ‘Barney Fife is in charge’: Obama under fire for ‘we don’t have a strategy’ gaffe on ISIS as he’s accused of having ‘head buried in hole on first green’

  • Texas congressman compares Obama to bumbling deputy Barney Fife from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
  • Pentagon insider says Joint Chiefs of Staff are ‘seeing red’ and ‘spitting nails’ following Obama’s candid admission 
  • Generals are ‘losing confidence in their mission,’ said a former senior aide to a retired defense secretary 
  • House Intel Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Obama’s performance was ‘really shocking given the severity of the threat’
  • White House press secretary said the administration isn’t concerned about the comment, but about the ‘way it was being reported’

 

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match up.

“If I have learned one thing from life, it is that race is the engine that drives the political Left. When all else fails, that segment of America goes to the default position of using race to achieve its objectives. In the courtrooms, on college campuses, and, most especially, in our politics, race is a central theme. Where it does not naturally rise to the surface, there are those who will manufacture and amplify it.” – Ward Connerly

“..Liberals see racism where it doesn’t exist, fabricate it when they can’t find it and ignore it within their own ranks.” – Michelle Malkin

“Since neither black animosity nor the Left’s falsehood of “racial tensions” is based on the actual behavior of the vast majority of white Americans, nothing white America can do will affect the perceptions of many black Americans or of the leftist libel.” – Dennis Prager

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This week’s winner,Joshuapundit’s Blackgammon: Eric Holder Plays the Game in Ferguson is my contention that the Obama Administration’s obsession with the Michael Brown shooting has little to do with  justice, civil rights, or ultimately even with Michael Brown himself. Here’s a slice:

Backgammon, on the surface, is a pretty straight forward game. You roll the dice and move your pieces. But beneath that seeming openness are hidden strategies that may only reveal themselves later.

Today, Eric Holder traveled in person to Ferguson, Missouri, where the Aug. 9 shooting of black teen& Michael Brown by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during an altercation has sparked massive violence, looting, protests and media coverage.

Holder’s version of the game was revealed as he made his moves today in Ferguson.Ostensibly he was there to oversee the massive Federal investigation of the Brown shooting with the goal of trying to arraign Officer Darren Williams on civil rights charges should the St. Louis County Grand jury fail to charge him with murder ala’ George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. But this was essentially a campaign stop at government expense.

Read his remarks here and note the parts I’ve emphasized:

“I am the Attorney General of the United States, but I am also a black man,” Holder told Ferguson residents at a community meeting. “I can remember being stopped on the New Jersey turnpike on two occasions and accused of speeding. Pulled over. … ‘Let me search your car’ … Go through the trunk of my car, look under the seats and all this kind of stuff. I remember how humiliating that was and how angry I was and the impact it had on me.”

“The eyes of the nation and the world are watching Ferguson right now,” Holder told a group of community leaders assembled at a local community college. “The world is watching because the issues raised by the shooting of Michael Brown predate this incident. This is something that has a history to it, and the history simmers beneath the surface in more communities than just Ferguson.”

Let’s translate this, shall we?

“See Y’all, I’m black just like you are and that comes first before anything. So I understand your totally justified rage and anger against the white power structure. It’s them that are on trial, not just a police officer although he’ll do as a symbol of everything you feel whitey and the police have done to you over the years.That white power structure, you know, those white Republican Tea Partyers have always oppressed you,and this is just the latest outrage. I understand that, and that police officer looks just like them so they’re going to try to protect him. But since we’re in charge, we’re going to do our very best to see that you get what you want. Because remember, I’m black and I look like you and so does the president, so you all need to vote Democrat in November to make sure we stay in charge.”

Much more at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was former AP Middle East correspondent Matti Friedmanwriting in Tablet magazine with An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth submitted byJoshuapundit submitted by Joshuapundit. The ‘most important story on earth’ is Friedman’s satirical way of referring to media coverage of Israel, and he gives you an insider’s view of exactly how this story is twisted, propagandized and misrepresented by the media..and more importantly, why. Some of the reasons will astound you.

ANNOUNCEMENT:Starting next week, the Watcher’s Council is adding an exciting new feature!

Every Tuesday, the members of the Council will nominate a Weasel of the Week..some public figure who merits special singling out for ignominy, stupidity, cowardice, corruption or just a particularly evil deed. The Council members will provide a short explanation for their choices, and the nominations and explanations on why each choice is worthy of being singled out for special attention will appear Tuesday morning.

We’ll vote, (we’re working on making this public so you can weigh in) and every Thursday the winner of our own special Mark of Shame, The Weasel of the Week will be highlighted in all his or her putrid, despicable glory. Who will it be?

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Don’t miss it!

OK, here are this week’s full results. Both GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD and The Razor were unable to vote this week, but neither were subject to the usual 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in…don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that!

President Says He Has No Strategy – Press Sec. Begs To Differ (Video)

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Yesterday  Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer said on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that he is “not confident” that Obama will do anything to counter the threat from the savage Islamic State militant group in Syria.

The Obama administration is currently considering expanding its air strike campaign from northern Iraq into Syria to fight the militants. Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and a Fox News contributor, said he thinks it is possible that the administration may choose to do nothing.

“I’m not confident that he’ll do anything,” he said. “I’m not confident that he can come up with a strategy.”

In his press conference, Thursday. which some are calling his weakest presser to date – Obama  did nothing to disabuse his critics of the notion that he’s not interested in taking any decisive action to stop ISIS. He confused one and all by talking about his strategy of pushing for a political resolution of the Sunnis’ complaints about the Shiite government, and recruiting the help of surrounding nations (instead of doing things “unilaterally” like you know who.) Then he

The President also made clear that dealing with ISIS in Syria was probably on the agenda though the strategy for accomplishing all of that…well, we don’t have one yet:

in order for us to degrade ISIL over the long term, we’re going to have to build a regional strategy…

I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet.I think what I’ve seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we’re at than we currently are. And I think that’s not just my assessment, but the assessment of our military, as well. We need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans, that we’re developing them. At that point, I will consult with Congress and make sure that their voices are heard.But there’s no point in me asking for action on the part of Congress before I know exactly what it is that is going to be required for us to get the job done.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest – who has a better grasp of the talking points, has been saying that Obama has a “comprehensive strategy” to deal with ISIS.

He was on clean-up duty on Twitter within an hour of Obama’s presser — to insist that the president certainly does have a “comprehensive strategy.”

 

Obama has a comprehensive strategy to push a media narrative that he has a comprehensive strategy – which in reality only talks about comprehensive strategies.

Via NRO, Charles Krauthammer reacted to Obama’s  fail-whale of a presser on Special Report, Thursday evening.

“Look I thought that the president could no longer surprise me,” Krauthammer said. “I was wrong. He shocked me today. The President of the United States, in the middle of a real crisis, a few days after the beheading of an American, deliberately sort of spitting in the face of the country and demonstrating his cruelty, the president gets in front of the world and says, “I don’t have a strategy.” If that is true, don’t say anything. Why do you announce that you don’t have a strategy?”

But even worse than the president’s statement that he had no strategy to defeat the Islamic State, Krauthammer said, was his comment about Ukraine. Krauthammer summarized Obama’s comment on his strategy in Ukraine by saying Obama acknowledged that he had a strategy in Ukraine, which was “to do absolutely nothing.”