Tag: Barack Hussein Obama

I Agree with T. Friedman – A Geopolitical Earthquake Just Hit the Mideast

I Agree with T. Friedman – A Geopolitical Earthquake Just Hit the Mideast

I rarely say good things about Thomas Friedman as he is typically too far left, in my opinion. However, I regularly read his columns (when the NYT doesn’t block me) and I think I have read all of his books because it is good to understand all sides of an argument.

This analysis of the recent deal in the Mideast is very well done. Probably the best that I have read. If you are not blocked by the NYT paywall, you should read it.

This deal is amazing. In a normal news cycle, this would be the top headline in every newspaper and every news site (but this isn’t a normal news cycle). This is a deal that no former POTUS has been able to pull off. Is it a Nobel worthy as what James E. Carter or William J. Clinton did? No. But it is a lot better than what George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, or Barack H. Obama did in the Mideast (and Obama received the Nobel prize just for giving good speeches not for actually doing anything). Trump won’t get a Nobel for this because the committee hates Trump. But even if you are a Trump-hater, you have got to give credit for getting this deal done.

Thankfully, Mr. Friedman does that and kudos to him to look past politics and focus on a great result that will make the world a better place. Friedman writes a lot about the Mideast and he knows a massive move forward when he sees it.

To allay the fears of some of you that have read this far, I am still not voting for Trump for re-election even though he accomplished one of the biggest international wins of the 21st century so far. I am still supporting Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party candidate as I feel that her platform is the closest to mine and I think this nation needs a change in the political discussion of something other than Left or Right but instead a focus on personal liberty and personal responsibility. If you believe in personal liberty and personal responsibility, please give an honest look at her platform and then join me in changing the US to be a better place.

Since NYT may block you from reading the article, here are the first couple of paragraphs but will keep it under 300 words to protect NYT copyright. The following are not my words but Mr. Friedman’s:

The agreement brokered by the Trump administration for the United Arab Emirates to establish full normalization of relations with Israel, in return for the Jewish state forgoing, for now, any annexation of the West Bank, was exactly what Trump said it was in his tweet: a “HUGE breakthrough.”

It is not Anwar el-Sadat going to Jerusalem — nothing could match that first big opening between Arabs and Israelis. It is not Yasir Arafat shaking Yitzhak Rabin’s hand on the White House lawn — nothing could match that first moment of public reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

But it is close. Just go down the scorecard, and you see how this deal affects every major party in the region — with those in the pro-American, pro-moderate Islam, pro-ending-the-conflict-with-Israel-once-and-for-all camp benefiting the most and those in the radical pro-Iran, anti-American, pro-Islamist permanent-struggle-with-Israel camp all becoming more isolated and left behind.

It’s a geopolitical earthquake.

To fully appreciate why, you need to start with the internal dynamics of the deal. It was Trump’s peace plan drawn up by Jared Kushner, and their willingness to stick with it, that actually created the raw material for this breakthrough.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/opinion/israel-uae.html

To prepare for this pandemic, our liberal and conservative leaders failed us

To prepare for this pandemic, our liberal and conservative leaders failed us

A lot of liberals won’t like this post. Please don’t read it if you are a liberal because you will get mad. It hurts when facts smack you in the face, so you should avoid doing that. This article points out that liberals completely failed to help the US prepare for a pandemic.

To be fair, conservatives shouldn’t read this post either because that same brick wall of facts is going to hit you in the face as well. Don’t read it as conservatives haven’t prioritized preparing for a pandemic either.

This is an article from 2009. It is from NPR, so no one is going to say it right-wing bias. Conservatives will say that it is MSM, but the facts on the ground have proven this article to be very accurate. 

Here is another article by Sheri Fink that covers the various studies in 2006-2009 about how woefully prepared the US is in handling a pandemic.

In 2007 and 2006, the country did studies that showed that during a pandemic, NYC would be short 15,000 ventilators, and 150K people could die. Sound familiar? There were probably studies since the publication of these articles. So did Bush or Obama do anything? Not much, and I will suggest they did zero. Trump didn’t come into office with any insight and initiative to fix this known problem, so he is just as guilty as Bush and Obama.

There has been a total lack of leadership by Bush, Obama, and Trump on this issue.

And Governor Cuomo? Nope. He didn’t fight for it either—more lack of leadership.

And neither did Pelosi, Reid, McConnell, Ryan, Boehner, Schumer, or any other leader of our Congress. A complete lack of leadership for a situation that everyone knew would eventually happen.

BTW, the current candidates for POTUS in 2020: Biden, Sanders, and Trump – nope. None of them did anything when they were in positions that could have influenced this.

All of our government leaders failed us on both sides of the aisle. They taxed the hell out of us. They whined and complained about other stupid shit. They gave incentives for solar energy, oil production, buying stuff on the internet, buying health insurance, fighting bad guys in Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Syria. But prepare the country for a pandemic? Nope. 

They all said, “Hopefully, that pandemic will happen when I am not in office, and the next person can worry about that.” Guess what, we are the next person. We are now worrying about it, and our bickering Federal government messed up big time.

The Federal government is really only good at two things

  1. the infrastructure that hundreds of thousands or millions of people rely on
  2. the defense of our country and people.

To be honest, the government isn’t all that good at those two things, but it is the only entity that can do them. The government shouldn’t be doing other things. It should focus on doing those two things and do them as well as possible, giving the inefficiencies of an organization that has no competition.

It is woefully incapable of doing anything else well. In just about every case other than the two cited, private industry that competes with others will do a better job. Will the private sector screw something up? Absolutely! But then that private enterprise will be displaced by a competitor that will perform better. 

Pandemic relief falls into both categories. It is the defense of our people, and it is the infrastructure to support that defense. We did both poorly for pandemic relief, and it is now costing us dearly.

What is the solution? Throw the bums out. Every damn one of them. They failed us. They screwed up. They should be rewarded with losing their jobs.

We need politicians that are focused on just doing the two things that only the federal government can do. We need politicians to look at a bill and say, “Is this something that ONLY the federal government can do and therefore is in the above two categories?” If the answer to that question is NO, then the politicians need to vote it down. If the answer to that question is YES, then the politicians need to approve it and give it the appropriate funding and oversight that it is done as well as possible.

Header Photo by Parentingupstream (Pixabay)
The Real Obama Doctrine

The Real Obama Doctrine

It is clear that the president’s strategy is failing disastrously.

Since 2010, total fatalities from armed conflict in the world have increased by a factor of close to four, according to data from the International Institute of Strategic Studies. Total fatalities due to terrorism have risen nearly sixfold, based on the University of Maryland’s Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism database. Nearly all this violence is concentrated in a swath of territory stretching from North Africa through the Middle East to Afghanistan and Pakistan. And there is every reason to expect the violence to escalate as the Sunni powers of the region seek to prevent Iran from establishing itself as the post-American hegemon.

Source: The Real Obama Doctrine

State Department Says Hillary Clinton’s Email Disclosure Was Incomplete

State Department Says Hillary Clinton’s Email Disclosure Was Incomplete

This is incredibly bad for the country and very embarrassing for Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama. Basically, the State department has just said that Ms. Clinton is:

  • lying about turning over all relevant emails,
  • is withholding information from the American people,
  • throws into question each and every statement she has made regarding Benghazi.

The issue is not just that she had a private email server. The issue is that an employee of hers at the time went on TV to repeatedly give an incorrect narrative in the attacks on US personnel in Libya. If Ms. Clinton knew a different version at the time of those statements, then the Obama administration would also be guilty of lying to the people. The natural conclusion is that the administration lied for pure political gains. Mr. Obama was up for re-election just a few weeks later.

The State Department said Thursday that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn’t turn over at least 15 emails that appear to be work-related from her personal server, contradicting her claims that all relevant emails were in the hands of the federal government.

The emails in question were uncovered as part of a subpoena from a congressional committee to Sidney Blumenthal, a longtime Clinton confidant and former White House aide in Bill Clinton’s administration.

At least 15 emails given by Mr. Blumenthal to the committee—which is investigating the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attack—don’t match any in the archive of more than 30,000 emails turned over by Mrs. Clinton to the State Department late last year, the department said.

Source: State Department Says Hillary Clinton’s Email Disclosure Was Incomplete – WSJ

Parents of killed SEAL write to Obama: Resign because ‘you sir, are the JV team’

Parents of killed SEAL write to Obama: Resign because ‘you sir, are the JV team’

This is tough. I feel immensely sorry for this couple for losing their son. I am sure all of us hope we never have to bear this level of burden. I pray for peace for this family.

I cannot support their request though as there are a few people that I feel would be worse as POTUS than Mr. Obama. One of those individuals happens to be Joe Biden. The resignation of Mr. Obama would only give us President Biden and that is a terrible thought.

I saw this story several places but am specifically referencing Washington Times.

Billy and Karen Vaughn — who lost their SEAL son Aaron Carson Vaugh in 2011 — said they’re sick and tired of hearing the president’s monotone press conferences, absent any emotion, and frustrated with his inability to confront the Islamic State

“As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security — but the security of the entire globe,” the couple wrote, the Daily Mail reported. “Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job. You know it. We know it. The world knows it.”

“And now, we have this recent, heinous event: the beheading of an American citizen by a barbaric organization you foolishly referred to as the ‘JV team’ in your statements to the New Yorker magazine in January,” they wrote. “You, sir, are the JV team. It’s time for you to step down and allow a true leader to restore our honor and protect our sons and daughters. America has always been exceptional. And she will be again. You, Mr. President, are a bump in our road.”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/2/parents-killed-seal-pen-obama-resign-you-sir-are-j/#ixzz3CBEad9yZ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Attorney General Holder – please call a special prosecutor

Attorney General Holder – please call a special prosecutor

This is getting bad. We really need a special investigator to be named on the issue of the IRS targeting certain groups. It now “appears” that there was coordination between the IRS and FEC (Federal Election Commission). It seems like every week there is another “Oh by the way, we found another potential abuse of power” story. If you like to read the NY Times, Washington Post, or CNN you may not be seeing these stories but they make the largest paper in the US, The Wall Street Journal.

So it now “appears” that the FEC did an illegal investigation of a couple of groups at the request of the Obama administration. The FEC went outside of its charter and coordinated this investigation with the IRS and the IRS fed them information that “appears” to be illegally shared.

Why is this so important? Simple. Is there anything that is more precious in the US than our right to select our leaders? Some may argue our freedom of religion or freedom of speech (both very important) but each of those only exists because we select our leaders. When people in leadership can “tip the scales in their favor” all of our rights start to diminish. When our leaders can say “That group doesn’t have the right to speak and influence others” then we are in trouble.

I put appears in quotes above because I really don’t know. Neither due the reporters that are trying to dig in. Neither do the Congressmen that are investigating the issue. Neither do you. However, IMO there is enough smoke here to say there is a fire. Without a special investigator, we really won’t know what is going on. I am not throwing stones at the Obama Administration. All I am saying is that there are enough concerns that a special investigator is required and leaving it up to Congressional committees is probably a mistake.

There is an old story that you have likely heard. I will shorten it here:

They came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I didn’t speak out – now there are no Jews. They came for the Muslims, but I was not a Muslim so I didn’t speak out – now there are no Muslims. They came for the gun owners, but I didn’t own a gun so I didn’t speak out – now there are no guns. They are coming for me now and there is no one else to speak out – what am I to do?

RANT:  WHY WON’T ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER NAME A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR TO LOOK INTO THESE ISSUES? I guess that is a rhetorical question.

If you are so compelled, I suggest that you check out two articles on WSJ.com. If you don’t have a subscription, you can probably Google the topics and someone has probably reposted the entire article somewhere. I don’t like to repost entire content that is secured behind a subscription wall and so will only include a snippet that is allowed under Fair Use.

Another Agency Goes IRS: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323681904578642190875395974.html?mod=trending_now_3

One big question raised by IRS political targeting is whether Obama officials or their bureaucratic allies unleashed the power of the administrative state for partisan ends. Now evidence is emerging that officials at another agency, the Federal Election Commission, used their enforcement power as an anti-conservative sword.

The House Ways and Means Committee this week released emails showing that, in 2008 and 2009, the FEC’s general counsel staff sought tax information about conservative political groups from Lois Lerner of the IRS. Ms. Lerner is the IRS official who took the Fifth before Congress rather than tell her side of the story. She had previously worked at . . . the FEC’s general counsel office.

New Links Emerge in the IRS Scandal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323681904578642180886421040.html

Congressional investigators this week released emails suggesting that staff at the Federal Election Commission have been engaged in their own conservative targeting, with help from the IRS’s infamous Lois Lerner. This means more than just an expansion of the probe to the FEC. It’s a new link to the Obama team.

In May this column noted that the targeting of conservatives started in 2008, when liberals began a coordinated campaign of siccing the federal government on political opponents. The Obama campaign helped pioneer this tactic.

In late summer of 2008, Obama lawyer Bob Bauer took issue with ads run against his boss by a 501(c)(4) conservative outfit called American Issues Project. Mr. Bauer filed a complaint with the FEC, called on the criminal division of the Justice Department to prosecute AIP, and demanded to see documents the group had filed with the IRS.