For The Intellectually Honest Amongst The Obamabots

I found this nice paragraph to steal (Duane Patterson at Hewitt):

"The questions you have to ask yourself, especially if you are one of the many who voted for Obama, is if the Obama administration tackled the economic recovery by misreading the problem, advocating for a solution that hasn't born fruit, spending trillions of future debt in the process, and then trying to tell you the results are great when you can see with your own eyes they're not, do you really trust the same group of people to get health care reform right by not just reforming or adjusting, but completely seizing the industry and dumping it into a government-run expansion of Medicare? Do you really trust them to create a new casino-like cap and tax scam cleverly disguised as an energy bill?"

Say It With Me: Bush Made Us Safer

Revelations about Bush anti-terror policies - and their pathetic politicization by Congressional Dems (McCarthy):

"In sum, congressional Democrats knew about the program and knew that the dissent of the Justice Department's senior leadership in 2004 was not about warrantless surveillance. They knew that if they postured that the dissent was about warrantless surveillance, Gonzales — not an adept communicator — would not be able to rebut them in a public hearing because the details of the dispute were classified. Congressional Democrats also knew that President Bush agreed to make changes in the program in March 2004 to assuage DOJ's concerns, and they knew that the program activities continued thereafter for a year-and-a-half (i.e., until the Times blew part of the program) without incident and with bipartisan congressional leadership continuing to be briefed."

Inmates In Charge

It seems that John Holdren, the radical new science czar under Messiah, at one time was an hysterical, reflexive advocate of totalitarian world government (in 'response' to what he perceived to be the scientifically certain eco-crisis of the day: overpopulation) [zombie, via Purple Avenger at Ace).

Hey, I know: let's have this ego-blimp formulate our global warming policies!

Because we've got to de-politicize the science, people!

Philosopher King

Power so smart it dazzles (Krauthammer):

"Obama says that his START will be a great boon, setting an example to enable us to better pressure North Korea and Iran to give up their nuclear programs. That a man of Obama's intelligence can believe such nonsense is beyond comprehension. There is not a shred of evidence that cuts by the great powers -- the INF treaty, START I, the Treaty of Moscow (2002) -- induced the curtailment of anyone's programs. Moammar Gaddafi gave up his nukes the week we pulled Saddam Hussein out of his spider hole. No treaty involved. The very notion that Kim Jong Il or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will suddenly abjure nukes because of yet another U.S.-Russian treaty is comical.

"The pursuit of such an offensive weapons treaty could nonetheless be detrimental to us. Why? Because Obama's hunger for a diplomatic success, such as it is, allowed the Russians to exact a price: linkage between offensive and defensive nuclear weapons."

And just to help give it the currency it deserves but won't receive in mainstream sources, here's a funny pic of the Prez:

Ace

Here's the exculpating video (which would never get a Republican off the hook for a good SNL routine).

Simply A Liar

While in typical Obama fashion The One puts out that he's 'getting tough' with Iran, he actually does the opposite (Mere Rhetoric):

"A week ago Berlusconi described new sanctions as likely. This morning the G8 announced that they're not imposing any new restrictions. It'd be interesting to know what changed."

Spirit Of Independence Day

Protests in Iran - still (ht, Gateway Pundit):

Smart Power!

Declaring we're "not meddling" sure did slam the door on claims that we are meddling, didn't it?

Genius, I say!

The Left Wing Bureaucracy: An Immovable Object

Hans A. von Spakovsky posts a critical point of modern American governance, one that is sorely under-appreciated:

"Government service attracts few conservatives in large part due to basic philosophical differences between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives hate big government and do not want to be part of extending its power and control ever further into our lives. On the other hand, liberals love big government and believe the federal government has the power to regulate every facet of American life. Thus, applicants for career positions are overwhelmingly liberal in their political outlook. The makeup of the federal workforce is very similar to the nonprofit sector and academia, where liberals also predominate.

"When it comes to hiring, these liberal career civil servants replicate themselves. They make sure conservatives do not get hired. In my case, I only found out later what a miracle it was that I was hired. Career employees will toss out the resumes of qualified applicants if they see anything that shows conservative leanings, such as being a member of the Federalist Society, which in their eyes is the equivalent of being a member of the KKK. The only way this can be stopped is when political appointees actually supervise or participate in the hiring process for career employees to prevent this kind of discrimination.

"Unfortunately, this almost never happens. Most appointees do not understand the fundamental rule that “personnel is policy” or do not get involved in the hiring process for fear of being criticized for 'politicizing' hiring. It is the rare Republican political appointee who pays any attention to the hiring of career staff within his agency. Thus, this kind of discriminatory hiring by liberal career managers continues even in Republican administrations."

Dershowitz Tries To Square A Circle

Alan Dershowitz trots himself out in the pages of The Wall Street Journal to run interference for His Man Obama's policy toward Israel:

"There may be coming changes in the Obama administration's policies that do weaken the security of the Jewish state. Successful presidential candidates often soften their support for Israel once they are elected. So with Iran's burgeoning nuclear threat, it's important to be vigilant for any signs of weakening support for Israel's security -- and to criticize forcefully any such change. But getting tough on settlement expansion should not be confused with undercutting Israel's security."

Now I regard Dershowitz as a pretty righteous dude, even if he is an unreconstructed lefty on all matters non-Israel.

I loved The Case For Israel. And Dershowitz hasn't been afraid to call out Jimmy Carter on his anti-Israel distortions (while extending way more courtesy to Carter than he deserves).

But this WSJ article is a rank flack-job.

Fortunately, Omri Ceren of Mere Rhetoric has sliced-and-diced Dershowitz so you and I don't have to.

Annihilation:

"So this morning Dershowitz - who already had more than enough to personally answer for - trotted out to double down on behalf of Obama's water carriers. It's almost like liberal groups felt Jewish voters peeling away and produced boilerplate for in-the-tank Jewish Democrats to forward to their wavering friends:

" 'Now, some of them apparently have voters' remorse. According to Malcolm Hoenlein... "President Obama's strongest supporters among Jewish leaders are deeply troubled by his recent Middle East initiatives, and some are questioning what he really believes." I hear the same thing from rank-and-file supporters of Israel who voted for Mr. Obama. Are these fears justified?'

"Here's the thing about the arguments in this article: they're awful. I don't mean just tangled or opaque. They suck. Borderline incoherent. You get the sense that even Dershowitz can't quite believe he's making some of them. It's almost kind of sad, even if he should have known better."

Read Dersh, and then Ceren. Dare ya, Obamazoids.

Addendum - Phillips (hat tip, "Jack Kemp" commenting on Lauri Regan's piece at the American Thinker):

"For most American Jews, the horror of even entertaining the hypothetical possibility that they might ever in a million years have to vote for a Republican is so great they simply cannot see what is staring them in the face -- that this Democratic President is lethal for both Israel and the free world. And in this article Dershowitz shows that he too is just as blind."

And...

"Many if not most American Jews have a highly sentimentalised view of Israel. They never go there, are deeply ignorant of its history and current realities, and are infinitely more concerned with their own view of themselves as social liberals, a view reflected back at themselves through voting for a Democrat President (emphasis mine, ek).

"Whatever else he is, however, Dershowitz is certainly not ignorant. Which makes this lamentable article all the more revealing, and depressing."

Minnesota Court Grants Outsized Power to Clown-Moron-Crook

www.southern-importers.com

Franken's Senate seat theft achieves fruition, and the Senate gains official three ring status.

Honduras

Hmmm (Allah):

"Is this some kind of half-assed attempt to make nice with Chavez now that relations have been restored by supporting one of his cronies? What am I missing here?"

Efficiency

A nationalized healthcare story to warm the cockles of your heart (Steyn).

Hiding

Morrissey gets Obama's adoption of Bush's detention policy just right:

"Did he even have the grace to admit that? No. Instead, the White House took the cowardly method of a late-Friday leak to let people know that Obama had adopted the Bush policy all over again. Barack Obama just appeared at a press conference this last Tuesday to discuss Iran, energy policy, and ObamaCare, where he could have told the national press that he had changed his mind on indefinite detention. Instead, he kept his mouth shut, and had his media staff whisper it into phones to a couple of White House favorites in the press.


"It’s a shameful performance, and the measure of the man in charge.

"Addendum: I guess Obama has finally conceded to Dick Cheney on national security, hasn’t he?"

Influence

Hmmm. Stephen Holden of The New York Times-Democrat dislikes The Stoning Of Soraya M.

For the usual reasons.

Naturally, this makes me want to see it. Wasn't gonna (I think I know about this stuff already). Now I'll be sure to.

Lies And Consequences

Heh.

Of course, just because both sides complain that the other guys get a pass, doesn't mean each grievance is equally true.

And that the impressive dalliance tally is a bipartisan affair is no demonstration of even-handed press treatment, either.

In fact, the Dems do get a pass; for the most part, because to the left-wing mind (which dominates the media) it's all about the hypocrisy, which they define in such a way as to apply only to Republicans.

Now, I won't make a big deal of the actual numbers in these lists - either in total or the proportion which I'd count as 'office-holding consequential' - in which the Dems come out on top. It is only one particular catalogue, after all.

But keep in mind it was scandals like this that contributed in a major way to the Repubs' downfall in '06. The NM list certainly demonstrates ample participation by both parties. If the press fairly portrays these sex scandals, why is it that only Republicans get hurt at the polls by this stuff?

When you come up with an intellectually honest answer, one that doesn't postulate that it is 'worse when a Republican does it,' let me know.

Dem Answer To Global Warming: Destroy The Economy

Dems think to themselves: we're in power. Decisions, decisions. What to tax? What to tax?

Waxman and Markey come up with the hyper-intelligent answer: everything.

It's so simple, it's...brilliant!

And so, the United States House of Representatives, dominated by Democrats, passes a massive tax on all economic activity smack in the middle of the worst recession in nearly 30, if not 68, years.

Those Dems are so bright, I gotta wear shades.

www.betterbuystore.com

Democracy, Schmedocracy

Muravchik pens a devastating expose of the dereliction of moral duty of this wall-to-wall catastrophe of an Administration:

"The most surprising thing about the first half-year of Barack Obama’s presidency, at least in the realm of foreign policy, has been its indifference to the issues of human rights and democracy. No administration has ever made these its primary, much less its exclusive, goals overseas. But ever since Jimmy Carter spoke about human rights in his 1977 inaugural address and created a new infrastructure to give bureaucratic meaning to his words, the advancement of human rights has been one of the consistent objectives of America’s diplomats and an occasional one of its soldiers.

"This tradition has been ruptured by the Obama administration. The new president signaled his intent on the eve of his inauguration, when he told editors of the Washington Post that democracy was less important than 'freedom from want and freedom from fear. If people aren’t secure, if people are starving, then elections may or may not address those issues, but they are not a perfect overlay.' "

Yet the left-wingers applaud.

More proof that left-wingers are all about statism. All their blather about human rights is a facade and a lie.

When A Free Press Becomes A Stooge Press

Parody from The Weekly Standard.

NED Awards Ignored By Obama In Deference To Cuban Dicatorship

Jorge Luis García Perez Antúnez

www.directorio.org

The disgraces just keep coming (Nordlinger):

" 'Carl Gershman, president of the endowment, said the organization asked two weeks ago whether President Obama could meet with Bertha Antúnez, the sister of one of the dissidents, who was picking up the award on their behalf. Gershman said he never got a response. It was the first time in five years that the president had not met with the winner of the Democracy Award, according to the endowment, which is funded by Congress.'

"A great many Americans are 'proud of their country again' because Obama is president. A strange phenomenon, as I see it."

Realpolitik Redux

Even as Chavez ('evil clown,' per Allahpundit) ramps up his campaign against Venezuela's Jews (Mak, via Goldberg), Obama reaches out to him in his Obamish way (Allah):

"Well, why not. There’s an opening for a repressive Jew-hating dictatorship on our July 4th barbecue guest list and it’d be a shame to see all those extra hot dogs to go to waste."

Actually, even Allah admits the clever rationale behind the move:

"With all that’s going down in Tehran, this may seem like a curious moment to hold “hug an evil douchebag” week, but there is a method to Obama’s madness. Syria and Venezuela are, of course, chief allies of Iran; peeling them away with a charm offensive is designed to further isolate the regime..."

Why, this isn't just smart power - this is massive super-genius power! And here we were, thinking Messiah was some kind of inexperienced, poorly read, dogmatic patsy.

Far from it!

He's...Metternich!

users.dickinson.edu

Chicago In Washington

clarkbunch.files.wordpress.com

Obama puts out prying eyes.

"First lady Michelle Obama's role in Walpin's dismissal has come under GOP scrutiny after press reports indicated she was taking a strong interest in AmeriCorps activities and when her former chief of staff, Jackie Norris, became a 'senior adviser' to the CNCS.

"In the bipartisan letter sent to the Senate, the former officials state that they have known Walpin for many years.

" 'We have never seen Mr. Walpin to be "confused, disoriented [or] unable to answer the questions," ' they wrote, adding that such an allegation 'is totally inconsistent with our personal knowledge of Mr. Walpin who has always, through the present day, exhibited a quick mind and a command of the facts (whether we agree with him or not) and eloquence.' "

Face Of Evil

Courtesy of Ed Morrissey:



Quoth Ed: "Horrible. But on the bright side, now Obama’s got a conversation icebreaker for that July 4th barbecue."

Addendum: no more hotdogs.

Better Late Than Never

www.washingtonpost.com

Finally. I will part from various conservative cohorts and grant the President his due. He did, after all, use the word "condemn."

His words are not born of 'leadership,' but they manifest 'leadership' as soon as they are spoken - by this man, at this podium.

Now, it is for Obama to take the next step, and the next; so that the opportunity to change to a more hopeful posture in foreign policy isn't lost.

I know. But still.

Father's Day In Iran And The White House

tundratabloid.blogspot.com

Amid mass arrests in Iran, Obama focuses on "long-term negotiations" (Morrissey).





That Obama - he's so smart.





Horowitz said it plainly on Friday:





"Has there ever been a more disgraceful episode in the history of liberalism?
The answer is probably. But nonetheless the spectacle of liberals urging the United States not to stand up for freedom when a historic revolution for freedom is struggling to be born in Iran is surely one of the most pathetic spectacles in the modern liberal record. Watching Keith Olbermann and Jonathan Alter this evening reach for every argument imaginable to justify their betrayal of the Iranian people, while mangling history in the process was unappetizing but instructive."

While Obama Twiddles His Thumbs

via MM:




How's that policy of "engagement" and all that "smart power" workin' out for you, Messiah?

You're our PRESIDENT. Stand up!

Addendum: and all while Obama deletes spending for pro-democracy efforts in Iran! Incredibly, yes he can!

With Revolution In the Air...

fancyflours.files.wordpress.com

...Where are you, Mr. President (Patterico)?





VDH:





"Our President has always been a trimmer-voting present serially in Illinois; proclaiming broad new positions on the campaign trail only to disown them while President; rhetorically always splitting the difference with ‘on the one hand, on the other’, ’some, they, others say’, ‘I don’t accept false choices…’ etc. So now he waits to see who wins. And then will provide the soaring rhetoric postfacto to suggest that he was either the careful realist all along who foresaw the dissidents’ failure-or the enthusiastic moralist who always really did cheer on the mullahs’ demise. Robert Gibbs has both scripts already fed into the bookend A and B teleprompters."

Postnote: Unfair, you say? Tough. The ice cream accurately 'symbolizes,' so to speak, The One's approach to this crisis - it ''fits the narrative' (as so many anti-Bush journos liked to declare to justify published fantasy), and does so without being made up. Live with it.

Finally!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

(ht, Allah)

From Iran

(ht, Nolte at Big Hollywood)

Still Weak

www.antiwar.com

He whom Obama assents in calling "The Supreme Leader" of Iran has ordered a "halt" to all protests.





The One says: "We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust (emphases all mine, ek) actions against its own people."





Better than 'Anything you do is okey-dokey with me, oh Supremo,' but not by much.





How about a little condemnation action, Messiah? Yes, you can! I feel a tingle going up my leg contemplating the mere possibility.

Addendum: MM mistakenly, I think, credits Obama with finally issuing a "condemnation" while Hinderaker sees Obama's persistent glaring moral lacunae more clearly.

Why Are Newspapers Going South? Hmmm...

Roger Simon continues his series on the failings of The New York Times-Democrat, with a nice summary of the Duranty debacle.

Obama's Submission

Another devastating piece from Krauthammer - this time on Obama's obeisance to tyranny in Iran:

"Moreover, this incipient revolution is no longer about the election. Obama totally misses the point. The election allowed the political space and provided the spark for the eruption of anti-regime fervor that has been simmering for years and awaiting its moment. But people aren't dying in the street because they want a recount of hanging chads in suburban Isfahan. They want to bring down the tyrannical, misogynist, corrupt theocracy that has imposed itself with the very baton-wielding goons that today attack the demonstrators."

Revolution

Ledeen on Iran.

Hacks

Holder's DOJ can't seem to wave away the Black Panther voter intimidation case (Rubin):

"What is even more remarkable in this already eye-popping story is that an independent commission has been forced to take this matter up because the relevant oversight committees in Congress have failed to hold a single hearing concerning the matter. One would think those in Congress who squawked so loudly about alleged failure in the Bush administration to enforce civil rights laws and who objected so strenuously to 'politicization' of justice by appointees meddling with the work of career attorneys would have shown more interest in the matter."

Credit Where Credit Is Due Department

Obama's DOE is moving ahead with loan guarantees for building new nuclear power plants.

It's way less than is needed, but I wouldn't have been surprised if this doofus Administration choked it off altogether.

So...better than nothing. Good for Obama.

"The $18.5 billion in loan guarantees is a small fraction of the $122 billion that nuclear companies had applied for. Rod Adams is miffed that the loan guarantee program wasn’t expanded, given the obvious appetite for new nuclear construction:

" 'It is too bad that the government has put itself into a position of picking winners and losers and in slowing the only real competition that the coal, oil and gas industry has. Could that be the real reason that the nuclear loan guarantees were removed from the stimulus package?' "

Why All You Dems Are INSANE

It isn't just House Democrats who are unserious about national defense(Rubin). It's everyone who voted for them.

"Let’s be honest: $1.2B is a drop in the bucket for this administration — 0.15 percent of the waste-ridden and ill-conceived $787B stimulus bill. If we have $787B to throw down the proverbial rat hole, we certainly can find $1.2B to help protect ourselves and our allies against a North Korean or Iranian missile attack. If not, then it is fair to conclude there is something seriously wrong — or rather something terribly unserious — with the priorities of the Congress and the administration."

Fighting

www.examiner.com

Allah is keeping up with the revolution in Iran. Where's Messiah?

"So powerful is the Guard that an Iranian expert writing at TNR speculates that if Khamenei is forced to call them out to suppress the protests, they might just remove him themselves and rule the country by Islamic military dictatorship a la Pakistan. How do the protesters deal with that? Their only hope is that the Iranian military (which is separate from, and parallel to, the IRGC) would side with them — which would mean an all-out civil war between the country’s two military pillars, with the nuclear program in Revolutionary Guard control speeding ahead. What could go wrong?"

Thanks! Posts

Because this is the Internet, I need to post a reminder:

When I write: 'Thanks, Dems!'...

I'm being sarcastic.

In reality, gratefulness is not what I'm feeling.

Predictable

Is Obama eroding American support for Israel (Mere Rhetoric)?

"The Middle East as a whole is one of those low-information domains where voters react based on perception and exposure. The Obama administration has ensured that highly charged, negatively valenced stories about Israel stay in the news cycle. The result has been a predictable drip drip drip erosion in the willingness of Americans to support the Jewish State. These people know what they're doing."

Thanks for the Change, Dems!

Obama's Destroy American Healthcare Plan Marches Forward

tsfiles.wordpress.com

Obama has the gall to try to sell his Obamacare boondoggle to the AMA, trying to bribe doctors with vague hints about malpractice reform:





"Mr. Obama's approach to the doctors was sympathetic, a striking contrast with his rhetoric toward less-popular insurance companies. He described as 'legitimate' doctors' concerns about being paid low Medicare rates.



" 'You didn't enter this profession to be bean-counters and paper-pushers. You entered this profession to be healers,' he said to applause. 'And that's what our health-care system should let you be.' "





Oh, well then. I guess his plan will let us "be healers." 'Cause that's what he says the "system should let [us] be."


Here's a pearl: doctors fall into two worldview camps (whether they're in private practice or in teaching and research positions). Here's a prediction: Those doctors who define themselves by their practices (i.e. are truly most concerned with patient care) will see through Messiah like a pane of glass. Those who define themselves by their academic and political status (overwhelmingly the leaders, natch) will fall into lockstep behind their fearless ideological God-King. The latter will write the articles and be seized upon by Obama as speaking for the profession.

Weak

A moment of clarity arrives, and Obama and his State Department prove themselves feckless wimps:

"White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton paraphrased Vice President Joe Biden, telling FOX News that the United States will deal with the government that emerges in Tehran, not the one the Obama administration would want.

" 'The United States deals with the facts. And the fact is we're going to take whatever leadership there is in that country and try to pursue our goals and objectives and that means dealing with the Iran that we've got, and not the Iran that we wish we had,' he said."

The weakest foreign policy President since Carter.

Thanks, Dems!

Addendum: Morrissey sums it up with an apt contrast to Reagan (when Reagan dealt with the crushing of dissent in Poland):

"Reagan took a stand on freedom, where Obama sounds desperate for engagement with the forces of oppression. Germany’s Angela Merkel took a much tougher stand than Obama did, calling the oppression 'totally unacceptable,' while all Obama can say is that it’s 'deeply troubling'.

"It’s the difference between leadership and management. Reagan led, and he inspired the Poles to continue the struggle that eventually helped free half of Europe from iron-fisted domination by the Soviet Union. Obama wants to manage the crisis to keep from having to lead. Big, big difference."

And Rubin:

"Get the sense he doesn’t give a fig about which way it turns out? Get the sense all he cares about is preserving the hope of dealing with the regime (a fascistic regime prepared to kill its own people to maintain a fraudulent election)?

"No hope. No change. It never dawns that this might be a game changer — either a regime change and/or a complete discrediting of the notion that these are people with whom one can do business. No sense that the American people and the world at large might, because of this, mount a credible series of sanctions and/or reject the notion of extended negotiations.

"It is clear what’s up. All he wants to do is talk, so he can’t give offense. Fine — he’ll deal with Ahmadinejad if the regime can crush the protesters. He is an enabler now, a cheerleader against regime change. Shameful."

Ling And Lee "Sentenced"

Fox News

Ready to burn a few ATPs for freedom and justice, Messiah? How about you, Hillary?

Mendacity

http://sun,menloschool.org

An item in the Cairo speech I noticed but passed over amidst the wealth of atrocious misrepresentation, suppliation, and back-stabbing (Scott Johnson):





"As for historical revisionism, for example, Obama professed to 'know that Islam has always been a part of America's story,' referring -- though one would never know it -- to America's war against the Barbary pirates. (Andrew McCarthy has more here.) If Islam has always been a part of America's story, it is because Islam's war on American has always been a part of America's story. Does Obama know what he is talking about, or does he feel free to take great liberties with the truth?"





The McCarthy link in Johnson's post quotes an older piece by Htchins:





" 'Medieval as it is, this has a modern ring to it. Abdrahaman did not fail to add that a commission paid directly to Tripoli—and another paid to himself—would secure some temporary lenience. I believe on the evidence that it was at this moment that Jefferson decided to make war on the Muslim states of North Africa as soon as the opportunity presented itself. And, even if I am wrong, we can be sure that the dispatch of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to the Barbary shore was the first and most important act of his presidency. It took several years of bombardment before the practice of kidnap and piracy and slavery was put down, but put down it was, Quranic justification or not.' "

Paper Like Glass

The New York Times-Democrat makes sure to put a positive, pro-Obama spin on the unemployment numbers:

"Hints of Hope Even as Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.4%."

The headline with the same data set if McCain were President:

'White House In Disarray As Recession Deepens.'

You don't dispute it, do you?

My Atheist Commentary

Aside: newsflash to Obama, but the "Holy Bible" originated with the Jews. The Tanakh is Jewish. The Tanakh (or Setuagint) is primary to the Talmud.

When you conclude with appeals to the three major monotheistic faiths, and start with "The Holy Koran," continue with "The Talmud," and conclude with "The Holy Bible," you assert that "The Holy Bible" (i.e. both "Old" and New Testaments) is a solely Christian document.

It ain't.

Paper Tool

Boy, The New York Times-Democrat never does cease to delight and amaze. Imagine: choosing the word "blunt" to describe Obama's Cairo speech, rather than "vapid."

You know, "blunt." As in telling your audience uncomfortable truths. That's something ol' Bushitler never did with Arab audiences! And Obama sure did it yesterday - I especially liked the part where he chastised the Arabs for Israeli settlements...wait a second.

Well anyway, this Obama is one hell of a leader!

Crush

Obamazoids: our fearless leader, whom you have foisted upon us and continue to worship, is selling Israel down the river (predictably, by the way).

Do you care?

Krauthammer, with a typically annihilating analysis:

"In the 16 years since the Oslo accords turned the West Bank and Gaza over to the Palestinians, their leaders built no roads, no courthouses, no hospitals, none of the fundamental state institutions that would relieve their people's suffering. Instead they poured everything into an infrastructure of war and terror, all the while depositing billions (from gullible Western donors) into their Swiss bank accounts.

"Obama says he came to Cairo to tell the truth. But he uttered not a word of that. Instead, among all the bromides and lofty sentiments, he issued but one concrete declaration of new American policy: 'The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,' thus reinforcing the myth that Palestinian misery and statelessness are the fault of Israel and the settlements.

"Blaming Israel and picking a fight over 'natural growth' may curry favor with the Muslim 'street.' But it will only induce the Arab states to do like Abbas: sit and wait for America to deliver Israel on a platter. Which makes the Obama strategy not just dishonorable but self-defeating."

Krauthammer Takes Apart Obama Speech In Cairo

(ht, Allah)

Get To Work, Hillary

Daily News

With Saberi out, what will Obama do about Ling and Lee?

Listen Up, Obamazoids

Caroline Glick on PJTV.

The Ramifications Of Identity Politics

Is Sotomayor just another equal protection radical (Rubin)?:*

"Eric, Goldstein’s analysis, as Ed Whelan points out, omits en banc decisions — including two whoppers. In Hayden v. Pataki, Sotomayor took the unusual position that the equal protection clause barred states from disenfranchising felons. Yes, really. In Brown v. City of Oneonta, she took the position that it was an equal protection violation for police to focus on African America male suspects after a woman was attacked by an African American male and provided a description to the police. Really."

* Equal Protection Radical (n): any person (whether he admits it or not) who through his advocacy proves he thinks the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment disallows any and all distinctions between people, behaviors, and groups in law and society (or wields the EPC framed this way as a cudgel to force adoption of any proposal on the left-wing wish list).

He CAN Be Taught!

Obama again backs into a right decision (McCarthy):

"This is entirely correct, but it will enrage the Left — understandably, given that Attorney General Holder raised expectations that the Uighurs would soon be released in the U.S., prompting an outraged response from Congress (including congressional Democrats in Virginia, the likely site of any Uighur settlement in the U.S.). Watch tomorrow as our usual conservative commentator suspects insist that we must give President Obama great credit for doing the right thing for national security — and conveniently ignore that the President tends to do the right thing only after knuckle-dragging right-wingers push back against his (and his Justice Department's) reliable inclination to do the wrong thing."

Writing On The Wall, If Your Eyes Are Open

I don't see many outlets picking up on this (ht, Hashmonean, via Ace):

"Government sources said the administration has held up Israel's request for the AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter. The sources said the request was undergoing an interagency review to determine whether additional Longbow helicopters would threaten Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip."

Paying attention, Israel-friendly Obamazoids?

Dems Are Full Of Crap Watch

Continued politicization at DoJ (Rubin):

" 'Court records reviewed by The Times show that career Justice lawyers were seeking a default judgment and penalties against the three men as recently as May 5, before abruptly ending their pursuit 10 days later.

"People directly familiar with the case, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of fear of retribution, said career lawyers in two separate Justice offices had recommended proceeding to default judgment before political superiors overruled them.' "

The Wages Of Obamism

The silver lining to the Sotomayor nomination: illumination (Krauthammer, of course) -

"When the hearings begin, Republicans should call Frank Ricci as their first witness. Democrats want justice rooted in empathy? Let Ricci tell his story, and let the American people judge whether his promotion should have been denied because of his skin color in a procedure Sotomayor joined in calling 'facially race-neutral.'

"Make the case for individual vs. group rights, for justice vs. empathy. Then vote to confirm Sotomayor solely on the grounds -- consistently violated by the Democrats, including Sen. Obama -- that a president is entitled to deference on his Supreme Court nominees, particularly one who so thoroughly reflects the mainstream views of the winning party. Elections have consequences.
Vote Democratic and you get mainstream liberalism: a judicially mandated racial spoils system and a jurisprudence of empathy that hinges on which litigant is less 'advantaged. (emphasis mine, ek)'

"A teaching moment, as liberals like to say. Clarifying and politically potent. Seize it."

Countdown

Grim assessment from Caroline Glick (ht, Dick Morris):

"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit with US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday was a baptism of fire for the new premier. What emerged from the meeting is that Obama's priorities regarding Iran, Israel and the Arab world are diametrically opposed to Israel's priorities.

"During his ad hoc press conference with Netanyahu, Obama made clear that he will not lift a finger to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. And acting as Obama's surrogate, for the past two weeks CIA Director Leon Panetta has made clear that Obama expects Israel to also sit on its thumbs as Iran develops the means to destroy it."

Morris' conclusion:

"Those sunshine Jewish patriots who voted for Obama must realize that we, as Jews, are witnessing the possible end of Israel. We are in the same moral position as our ancestors were as they watched Hitler rise but did nothing to pressure their favorite liberal Democratic president, FDR, to take any real action to save them or even to let Jewish refugees into the country. If we remain complacent, we will have the same anguish at watching the destruction of Israel that our forebears had in witnessing the Holocaust.

"Because one thing is increasingly clear: Barack Obama is not about to lift a finger to stop Iran from developing the bomb. And neither is Hillary Clinton.

"Obama may have held the first White House seder, but he’s not planning to spend next year in Jerusalem."

Hope!

Group Identity Ascendant

Surprisingly, The New York Times-Democrat describes Sotomayer as "A Trailblazer And A Dreamer," rather than as 'A Left-Wing Judicial Activist And A Personally Disliked Mediocrity."

I'm sure she'll exhibit enormous 'empathy' on the bench.