Brandon

Monday, April 29, 2013

Anatomy of the Benghazi Coverup

With still so many unanswered questions House report shows active effort to cover up the truth!

While most Americans were focused on the Boston Bombings last week, a report on Benghazi terror attack went largely unnoticed. But for those seeking to understand the Obama Administrations curious attitude towards fighting terrorism, the Benghazi attack is a prime case study.

Five Committees of the House of Representatives have completed an interim report on the Benghazi attack that sets the issue in a comprehensive framework for understanding and analysis.

The following is the Executive Summary. The full report is available here.
An ongoing Congressional investigation across five House Committees concerning the events surrounding the September 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya has made several determinations to date, including:

• Reductions of security levels prior to the attacks in Benghazi were approved at the highest levels of the State Department, up to and including Secretary Clinton. This fact contradicts her testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on January 23, 2013.

• In the days following the attacks, White House and senior State Department officials altered accurate talking points drafted by the Intelligence Community in order to protect the State Department.

• Contrary to Administration rhetoric, the talking points were not edited to protect classified information. Concern for classified information is never mentioned in email traffic among senior Administration officials.
The full report goes into detail on each of these points. I'd like to concentrate on point #2 which examines the talking points which falsely claimed a You Tube video was responsible for the attack.
Here are excerpts of the Report on that issue:
The Administration consciously decided not to discuss extremist involvement or previous attacks against Western interests in Benghazi. The U.S. government immediately had information that the attacks were conducted by al-Qa’ida-affiliated terrorists, yet Administration officials downplayed those connections, and focused on the idea that provocation for violence resulted from a YouTube video.
...
Analysis of the Evolving Drafts of the Talking Points To protect the State Department, the Administration deliberately removed references to al-Qa’ida-linked groups and previous attacks in Benghazi in the talking points used by Ambassador Rice, thereby perpetuating the deliberately misleading and incomplete narrative that the attacks evolved from a demonstration caused by a YouTube video.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Why Did Obama Administration Effectively Terminate Interrogations of Boston Bomber?

This goes beyond the blinders of political correctness where Muslims are concerned and describes an organizational mindset that puts American security second to misguided liberal ideas about justice!

Earlier I described how political correctness where Muslim terrorists are concerned is hampering our ability to prevent terrorist attacks. Please see below for that important post. With the latest news on the handling of the Boston Bomber we are learning things are far worse.

Top FBI officials were reportedly "stunned" that the interrogation of was effectively stopped by the Obama Administration when it filed charges and escorted a federal judge to Tsarnaev's bedside to read him his Miranda rights:
Two officials with knowledge of the FBI briefing on Capitol Hill said the FBI was against stopping the investigators’ questioning and was stunned that the judge, Justice Department prosecutors and public defenders showed up, feeling valuable intelligence may have been sacrificed as a result.
In the brief time interrogators had questioned Dzhokhar Tsarnaev he was unable to speak due to his injuries and questioning must have been quite slow. The L.A. Times reports what happened once the judge showed up to read his rights:
Until that point, Tsarnaev had been responding to the interagency High Value Detainee Interrogation Group, including admitting his role in the bombing, authorities said. A senior congressional aide said Tsarnaev had asked several times for a lawyer, but that request was ignored since he was being questioned under the public safety exemption to the Miranda rule. The exemption allows defendants to be questioned about imminent threats, such as whether other plots are in the works or other plotters are on the loose.

After being briefed on the sequence of events, lawmakers from both parties questioned Thursday why the Justice Department didn't seek to delay the judge's appearance on the grounds that the public safety interview was continuing. Legal experts said that once documents charging Tsarnaev with using a weapon of mass destruction were signed Sunday night, criminal rules of procedure require that he be brought before a judge "without unnecessary delay," which usually means the next business day.
...
"For those of us who think the public safety exemption properly applies here, there are legitimate questions about why he was [brought before a judge] when he was," said Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), a former federal prosecutor who serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
Before he stopped talking Tsarnaev disclosed that he and his now deceased brother Tamerlan planned to drive to New York City and set off more bombs in Times Square. Did they have accomplices in New York? That and so much more about how they learned to make the bombs and carry out the attack at the Boston Marathon remains unanswered as the younger Tsarnaev is no longer cooperating.

I'm reminded of the capture of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11. He demanded a lawyer and only provided information leading to the capture of other key al Queda figures and ultimately to the location of Osama bin Laden after waterboarding. Under Obama, this monster would have been given a lawyer and plots killing thousands of Americans might have succeeded.

Why did the Obama Administration do this? Andrew McCarthy, the federal prosecutor who handled the original World Trade Center bomb prosecutions in 1993 describes the "lawyer left," "who volunteered their services in order to file lawsuits against the American people on behalf of our jihadist enemies in wartime," are now running the show in the Dept. of Justice starting with Attorney General Holder on down. It's almost fair to say the jihadis are in charge! McCarthy concludes:
Once you charge someone, the case and the procedural rights of the terrorist take precedence over the public’s interest in quickly obtaining national-defense information to protect American lives.

In an administration being steered by the Gitmo Bar, that has always been the policy choice. Maybe it will finally dawn on people that putting our security in the hands of lawyers who volunteer their services to our terrorist enemies in wartime was not such a great idea.
In my related post on this topic I concluded by saying "if we are attacked again, we'll know exactly where to place the blame and it won't be the Tea Party!"

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Dedication of George W. Bush Library Center Reminds Americans of Better Times

So much has changed since Bush left office and not for the better!

Obama and four living former Presidents on hand for dedication of Bush Library and Center in Dallas Thursday.
More at the Daily Mail.
It's been four years since Mike's America stood in an empty field alongside the freeway just north of downtown Dallas. Today on that site the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Library and Museum were dedicated.

It's a state of the art facility with a full size replica of the Oval Office and even a variation of the White House rose garden set on grounds that show off the best of natural Texas landscapes.

Fostering nature awareness and conservation 15 acres of natural Texas landscape
surrounds Bush Center and Library. More on the landscape and building design here. More images here.
The Library and Museum is a reminder that after the last four years it's difficult to remember just how good we did have it during the Bush years. Following the September 11th attacks President Bush woke the country to the danger of Muslim terrorism and no further attacks took place on U.S. soil during his time in office. Despite the attacks an already weak economy recovered and thrived for many years. However, the housing market and financial system did eventually face crisis. What a shame Democrats blocked repeated Bush Administration efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Efforts which might have averted the crisis.

Here at Mike's America we hosted a Bush Thankathon in the final week of the Bush presidency. Readers and fellow bloggers took the opportunity to remember what they liked best about George and Laura Bush and President Bush's leadership.

There's so much to look back on it's hard to pick out one moment, but I'd say the best of Bush was on display at Ground Zero days following the attacks as rescue workers sought to recover the dead. Bush began speaking to the crowd, hesitant and rather muted at first. But the crowd wanted more and Bush delivered the message that was in his heart and in the heart of every American:


BUSH: "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear from ALL of us soon!"
 
Can you imagine what Obama would say in a similar situation?
 
President Bush gave us a style of leadership that was able to guide America and much of the world through some of the most difficult years since the end of the Cold War. Unfortunately, his replacement prefers a different leadership style and the results are not as optimal. Our friends respect us less, our enemies no longer fear us and according to international surveys Muslims despise Obama more than they did Bush at the height of the Iraq war.
 
President Bush was a good man and a good president. History will show quite a contrast with the one who followed him!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

More Evidence Sequester Pain is Manufactured by Obama Administration

Cuts are selected for maximum political impact!

Bad enough the White House party express rolled on at the same time while supposedly "automatic" sequester cuts terminated White House tours. Obama's parties, vacations, campaign travel and the rest was immune to cuts.

This week we had reports of delays at airports due to furloughs of FAA personnel. Now we learn that airports in the Washington, DC area may see few if any delays. I guess we can't hold up the busy folks on their way to the White House for another party.

Should delays continue travelers should know where to place the blame. On the floor of the U.S. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell points out that the GOP offered to pass legislation granting Obama the authority to prioritize cuts and avoid degrading essential services like air travel. Obama refused to consider the measure.

In a hearing with the FAA Administrator other GOP senators went even further. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) called this "a manufactured crisis." Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex. said:“I would add phony and contrived to that description.” 

No Cutbacks for ObamaCare Work

Want another example that the Administration is politicizing the cuts? How about the report that the office charged with ramming ObamaCare down our throats has announced they will not be cutting back employee hours in response to the Sequester.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill, Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS) asked Gary Cohen, director of an ObamaCare subsidiary:
"Are you telling me, then, that this administration is furloughing air traffic controllers vital to public safety in this country, and yet you're not furloughing anybody in your agency?"
No White House tours for school kids but the parties go on. Threats of delays in air travel but no cutback in the implementation of ObamaCare. If the politicization of these cuts wasn't obvious before it should be now!

Did Political Correctness Prevent Obama Administration from Connecting the Dots Which May Have Prevented Boston Bombings?

There were multiple warnings from Russia about Boston Bombers in advance of attacks. Why was nothing done?

Readers may recall that in the aftermath of the original September 11th attacks there was a steady drumbeat in the media demanding to know why the Bush Administration did not "connect the dots" by sharing and acting on available intelligence information that would have led to the arrest of 19 terrorists who hijacked airplanes on that day. The 9/11 Commission report as well as later government reviews all concluded that lack of information sharing between agencies was a key reason the attacks were not prevented. The primary reason for this was the "Gorelick Wall" named for Clinton Administration Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick.

That Clinton era policy was to treat terrorism as a law enforcement problem with emphasis on protecting the ability to prosecute crimes rather than prevent attacks. The Bush Administration overturned much of that and were successful in preventing any further attacks on American soil following the original September 11th attacks during the remainder of Bush's term.

Then along comes Obama. He can't bring himself to say the words "Muslim" or "Islamic" along with "terrorist" in the same sentence (1,2). In fact, the Boston bombings were the first time he has used the world "terrorist" in connection with what is now the third successful Muslim terrorist attack during his time in office. But he refuses to say that radical Islam has anything to do with it. "No rush to judgment" is what Obama said in the wake of the Boston attack. Yet as columnist Michael Goodwin points out Obama "rushes to judgment only when it suits his worldview."

It's that same mindset that led Obama and other members of his Administration to deny initially that Muslim terrorism was behind the attack on our consulate in Benghazi last fall. It was that You Tube video don't you know! That attack occurred at the same time Obama was running around the country campaigning by saying that "al Queda is on the run." Indeed they are. They're running straight for us.

Obama Administration: Top to Bottom Denial

It's bad enough Obama and his top officials refuse to acknowledge the connection between radical Islam and the increased number of successful attacks. The problem the Obama Administration has in recognizing the true nature of these attacks is far worse. As Andrew McCarthy, the prosecutor who tried the first World Trade Center bombers in 1993, describes we've gone from "willful blindness to coerced silence."

Not only does the Obama regime refuse to call Islamic terrorism by it's name, they are systematically purging any link between radical Islam and terrorism from the entire government including law enforcement and national security agencies charged with preventing attacks.

Two years ago Robert Spencer reported:
The Obama Administration has now placed off-limits any investigation of the beliefs, motives and goals of jihad terrorists.

Dwight C. Holton, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon, emphasized that training materials for the FBI would be purged of everything politically incorrect: “I want to be perfectly clear about this: training materials that portray Islam as a religion of violence or with a tendency towards violence are wrong, they are offensive, and they are contrary to everything that this president, this attorney general and Department of Justice stands for. They will not be tolerated.
Got that? Any link between Islam and terrorism "will not be tolerated" and that comes from the top down.

So when the U.S. government was repeatedly warned by Russia that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was becoming a threat due to radicalized Islamic beliefs the FBI investigated. Did they miss his trips to Dagestan, a hotbed of radical Islam and the connection with radical videos from that region found on Tamerlan's You Tube account? Were agents even allowed to consider the importance of the information they were seeing?

Were blinders put on FBI and other agencies that prevented them from flagging Tamerlan as a potentially dangerous radical? This question, and many more, are being asked. Sadly, what we learned following the Obama Administration two step after the Benghazi attack is that the Administration will simply dodge and weave and wait for the questions to die down. Yet, if we are attacked again, we'll know exactly where to place the blame and it won't be on the Tea Party!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Placing Blame for Boston Bombs Where It Belongs

Hard to hide from the facts!

Following the successful capture of the 2nd suspect in the Boston Bombing attack President Obama rushed to the microphones to declare:
Obviously, tonight there are still many unanswered questions. Among them, why did young men who grew up and studied here, as part of our communities and our country, resort to such violence? How did they plan and carry out these attacks, and did they receive any help?
Later he added "We will investigate any associations that these terrorists may have had." That is significant since it is one of the rare times he has used the word "terrorist" to describe one of the multiple attacks that have taken place on U.S. soil since he has become President. There have been two prior attacks which are rightfully labeled terrorist attacks, the Fort Hood shooting by Major Nidal and the Little Rock killing of an Army Private in Little Rock by Mujahid Muhammad. To this day the Obama Administration refuses to label either as a terrorist attack and will not even admit that radical Islam was the motivation.

Shameless attempts to blame the Right
without the slightest evidence. Larger image.
In closing Obama said we must "take care not to rush to judgment -- not about the motivations of these individuals; certainly not about entire groups of people." What a shame he didn't make those remarks earlier when his political associates and media acolytes were trying to point the finger and hope even, that conservatives were somehow to blame.

Sorry to disappoint those on the left who see every issue through a political prism. The Boston Bombers were NOT white, right wingers.  Ironic, is it not, that the left who feared the crime of a right wing bomber might be portrayed, and excused, as a "lone wolf" may now be in the uncomfortable position of suggesting just that about the two Muslim men who perpetrated this vile terrorist attack?

First Step in Understanding and Preventing Attacks: Be Honest About Cause

In the past, the Obama Administration and many on the left put on blinders that prevented them from seeing the truth about these attacks. And while Obama continues to intone that we must not "rush to judgment" neither should be blind ourselves to the facts.

News stories are pouring in examining the ties that the older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had to radical Islam. An Uncle of the two men described how he thought that someone in the United States had "radicalized" and "brainwashed" his nephews. Is there a radical Islamic cleric(s) loose in the U.S. who is spreading the kind of hate that would motivate two otherwise normal young men to commit such violent acts? Shouldn't we, as Obama said, find out why this happened and put a stop to it?

No one is suggesting we infringe the rights of law abiding Muslims in the U.S. to practice their religion. That would violate the U.S. Constitution in the same way infringing on law abiding gun owners would and no such infringement would prevent a future attack. But we must be honest about what is at the real root of the problem here. Just as identifying and treating mental illness is the best way to prevent mass gun crime, identifying and removing the source of Islamic radicalism is the best way to prevent future attacks!

This is why we must not fail:

Eight year old Martin Richard, circled blue, in the last moment of his young life watches the Boston Marathon. His mother and sister are on either side. His sister Jane lost a leg and the mother suffered grievous injuries in the bombing which killed Martin. Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, the younger suspect taken into custody is circled in red along with what is believed to be the backpack containing the bomb.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Left's Shamless Attempt to Use Boston Bombing for Political Attack on Conservatives

Never let a crisis go to waste even if you have to make up the villain!


In the wake of the Boston bombing a responsible person, journalist or average citizen, would do better to refrain from pointing fingers until the facts are in. Even with the release of photos of suspects by the FBI (official link) we may be quite a ways away from a specific identification let alone capture of the perpetrators.

But that didn't stop some on the left who immediately following the bombing set about trying to politicize the attack (2) and to place blame on the right. We should be used to it by now but the tactics are so very low and ugly that they are impossible to overlook.

Perhaps the best example of the warped thinking on the left and how every tragedy is used to promote an extreme political agenda came from David Sirota who wrote in Salon.com a piece titled "Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American." It's an article rife with the racist rhetoric of the left:
Because of these undeniable and pervasive double standards, the specific identity of the Boston Marathon bomber (or bombers) is not some minor detail — it will almost certainly dictate what kind of governmental, political and societal response we see in the coming weeks. That means regardless of your particular party affiliation, if you care about everything from stopping war to reducing the defense budget to protecting civil liberties to passing immigration reform, you should hope the bomber was a white domestic terrorist. Why? Because only in that case will privilege work to prevent the Boston attack from potentially undermining progress on those other issues.
Cuckoo for CocoaPuffs right? But that kind of twisted thought process is commonplace at places of higher learning or wherever left wing radicals can be found. The roots of this philosophy bred the violence of the 1960's by left wing radicals, including Obama's friend Bill Ayers. Let's also not forget that left wing environmental groups have also used similarly disturbed thinking to justify acts of violence. Finally, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber felt that "true believers" on the left were justified in attacking what he saw as a corrupt and evil society.

Unlike Obama's bomber friend Bill Ayers on the left, who is lauded by the left (2)wherever he goes, you won't find any mainstream example of right wingers praising those who use violence to achieve their goals. If any right wing individual were implicated in the Boston bombing they would rightfully be denounced immediately. Not sure you can say that if the bombers turned out to be from the left or even Islamists!

UPDATE: Killers Identified: ISLAMIC Connection! The left will just have to wait 'til the next bombing or shooting to tar and feather conservatives. And they will!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Britain and the World Pay Everlasting Respects to the Iron Lady

Protests fizzled as the great and the good stand silent and later cheered in appreciation for Thatcher's gift to the world!

Mourner carries the sign "But we loved her" as cortege passes on the way to St. Paul's.
With the funeral cortege on it's way to St. Paul's Cathedral for the service attended by the Queen (the first funeral service of a commoner she has attended since Winston Churchill) one observer noted:
It’s the silence that strikes you.

So many people, 10 deep opposite the Navy church of St Clement Dane in the Strand, as they transferred the hearse to the gun carriage, and all so quiet. No one talked.
...
The bell started tolling at 10:25. The band struck up; some shouted military orders; then silence again, but for the bell. At 10:35, the first chords of the funeral march, and the cortege set off, slowly, deliberately, precisely. At some time, without my noticing, the men doffed their headwear. All of them, the hats, the flat caps and the baseball caps, despite the light drizzle.
Then as the procession got underway the silence was broken. Not by protests. Thankfully most protesters were probably still in bed. No, the sound of applause and even cheers followed the Iron Lady every step along the way to the Cathedral. Then, silence once again as her body entered the church. White Flowers on top of the coffin held a card from the family saying simply: "Beloved Mother- Always in our Hearts."

As Lady Thatcher's coffin entered St. Paul's it was proceeded by Thatcher's grandchildren, Michael and Amanda, who walked ahead of the coffin  carrying cushions bearing the insignia of the Order of the Garter and Order of Merit, which were laid on the altar.

Iron Granddaughter: Flawless Reading by 19 Year Old Amanda Margaret Thatcher

Thatcher's grandchildren were the "greatest delight" in her life in later years. So, it was fitting that her 19 year old Amanda delivered the first reading from Ephesians 6, verses 10-18. followed by the Prime Minster David Cameron. Quite a feat for young student at the University of Richmond, USA. Both she and her brother live in the United States after her mother divorced their father Mark.


Reading from Ephesians 6: ‘And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.'

Afterwards, the Queen and Prince Philip greeted the family on the steps of St. Paul's. After cremation Lady Thatcher's ashes will be interred next to her husband Denis at  the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

The Daily Mail has a full photo wrap up of the event.

The World is a far better place because of Margaret Thatcher. We can only hope that in the not too distant future another leader rises to take her place. Her legacy is that a clear vision, solid principles and the determined leadership to achieve goals can change the world and bring peace.

I think back to the day she entered Number 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister for the first time. She repeated the words of St. Francis of Assisi:



"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope."

Thatcher may not have achieved the total harmony of those who hate her. But she does have the love and respect of freedom lovers the world over for countering error with truth and bringing hope for all. She renewed our faith that there IS a better way but the path requires visionary leadership such as her example.

Rest in Peace!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Thatcher: Champion of the Middle Class;Broke Establishment of Right and Left

Elites of left and right never forgave Thatcher for finally giving the Middle Class their due!

[NOTE: Funeral update follows]

In the postwar era Britain was ruled by shifting elites from the right and left. Both conservatives and socialists took their turn in power while presiding over the demise of a once great power. Just as in the U.S. where it seems there was little difference in the great scheme of things between Republicans or Democrats as either take their turn managing decline.

Margaret Thatcher broke the rules that said "it's your turn but don't rock the boat." She broke the mold of what a "go along to get along" politician was suppose to be and do in office. She stood up and said "enough." She cast aside old school ties on the right and big labor paralysis on the left.

Thatcher understood that it was about time the Middle Class, the folks who obey the rules but don't get rich by gaming the system, got a little respect.

Thatcher vs. the establishment, both left and right has been the theme of a number of worthy commentaries this past week. David Ignatius writing for the Washington Post grasped the theme as well as any:
[I]t was Thatcher who opened the door for modern Britain. She wielded the wrecking ball that demolished old ideas and barriers, on the right and left. When people speak of Barack Obama or anyone else as a potentially transforming political leader, I ask myself: Does this person have the raw toughness and hunger for change of a Maggie Thatcher? Almost always, the answer is no.
Even The Economist, hardly a right wing propaganda organ could not help but be effusive in their praise:
As prime minister from 1979 to 1990, Margaret Thatcher transformed Britain and left an ideological legacy to rival that of Marx, Mao, Gandhi or Reagan.

SEVERAL prime ministers have occupied 10 Downing Street for as long as, or even longer than, Margaret Thatcher. Some have won as many elections—Tony Blair, for one. But Mrs Thatcher (later Lady Thatcher), Britain’s sole woman prime minister, remains the only occupant of Number 10 to have become an “-ism” in her lifetime. She left behind a brand of politics and a set of convictions which still resonate, from Warsaw to Santiago to Washington, DC.
In the next paragraphs the author's cite an historic reference every American should know by heart but sadly most do not:
What were those convictions? In Mrs Thatcher’s case, the quickest way to her political make-up was usually through her handbag. As she prepared to make her first leader’s speech to the Conservative Party conference in 1975, a speechwriter tried to gee her up by quoting Abraham Lincoln:

“You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot help the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer.”

When he had finished, Mrs Thatcher fished into her handbag to extract a piece of ageing newsprint with the same lines on it. “It goes wherever I go,” she told him.
The Economist goes on to tell the story of betrayal by her own party, "the pygmies" as they are known, who caused her to resign. They thought that by tearing Thatcher from power they would rise. Instead they condemned their party to years of decline.

Americans are used to thinking of Thatcher and Reagan as a team. But the story of Margaret Thatcher also has a prequel in the success and penultimate fall from power of Winston Churchill. Remember that Churchill was turned out of power in the election immediately following Victory in Europe in World War II. Thatcher never faced electoral defeat but was finally brought down by the establishment she loathed.

Consider how ironic that twist of fate is with the words of Walter Russel Mead who, in comparing Thatcher and Churchill, writes:
That is what Churchill and Thatcher had in common: They were outsiders who stepped into a crisis the establishment couldn’t solve on its own.
And once both Churchill and Thatcher solved the problem, they were disposed of by the left-right establishment axis which carried on dividing up the spoils.

The lesson for today is that great leaders of vision, purpose and ability are few and far between. Value their abilities over their faults and cherish the benefits that flow for all and not just a few. Stand up for politicians who defend the rights of the people over the privileges of the elites!

Margaret Thatcher Funeral Update

Great Britain and the world prepare to honor the Iron Lady!

I've been soaking in the steady stream of Thatcher tributes and commentary written on the occasion of Margaret Thatcher's passing and will offer a cross section later. But first an update on the funeral, which is to take place on Wednesday morning the 17th of April.

The service, order of which was released Monday, along with the military parade through London will be viewable in the U.S. on C-Span 2 starting at 4:15 AM EST.


Thatcher's children and two grandchildren, Michael and Amanda, who live in the United States with their mother after divorce from their father Mark are in London and pictured above outside Thatcher's home in Belgrave Square. Thousands of invited guests from all over the world will be in London for the service. Sadly, former First Lady Nancy Reagan, with the deepest regrets due to ill health is not able to attend along with former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

In the United States, the House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution honoring Thatcher. Sadly, in the U.S. Senate scandal beleaguered Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is blocking a similar resolution.

More details of the service and the parade here. As a special honor, Big Ben, the bell that rings the hours from the Elizabeth clock tower in Parliament will be silent.

Please join me in honoring this great woman and the cause of freedom which she so valiantly fought on behalf of ALL peoples!

Teacher's Crossword Puzzle Defines Conservative as Against Personal Freedoms

More brainwashing from Nanny State leaches!

We should be used to this kind of thing by now. First there was the video where school children were forced to sing praise to Obama "you are our number one." Then, the College Professor who required students to sign a statement: “I pledge to vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.” Next, there was the 8th grade teacher who assigned students the task of researching the negative aspects of Mitt Romney's candidacy.

So, I guess we shouldn't be surprised when an 8th grade class was asked to fill in a crossword (right, larger image here) that defined conservatism as:
“the political belief of preserving traditional moral values by restricting personal freedoms and encouraging prosperity through economic freedom.

And liberalism:
“the political belief of equality and personal freedom for everyone, often changing the current system to increase government protection of civil liberties.”
Really? Tell that to the people who are now forced to pay the ObamaCare tax and had their right to choose the health plan of their choice taken away. And what about grabbing the gun rights away from lawful Americans?

But the damage from this affront to the truth goes deeper. On the back of this prepared form is a questionnaire requiring students to declare where they stand on particular issues and give themselves a liberal vs. conservative score. Are teachers looking at those results and keeping track? It's all too common for students with strong conservative beliefs to be punished by teachers and this further encroachment may intimidate students.

All this is being done with your tax dollars in the name of "educating" the children. More like brainwashing kids into blind obedience to Big State socialism. Remember how that ended the last time it was tried?

Friday, April 12, 2013

Silence in the Media as Trial of Baby Mass Murdering Abortion Doctor Goes Unreported

Stories that don't fit the liberal narrative are ignored. No matter how horrific!

Imagine for a moment that there was a right wing conservative caught butchering hundreds of newborn babies in the most horrific of circumstances. Front page news right? Well, the trial of an abortion doctor accused of killing hundreds of mostly black babies in Philadelphia is being almost entirely ignored. Why? The story doesn't fit the liberal narrative as it shines a negative light on abortion.
Kirsten Powers writes in USA Today:
Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations?

It's not your fault. Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell's former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart.

NBC-10 Philadelphia reported that, Stephen Massof, a former Gosnell worker, "described how he snipped the spinal cords of babies, calling it, 'literally a beheading. It is separating the brain from the body." One former worker, Adrienne Moton, testified that Gosnell taught her his "snipping" technique to use on infants born alive.

Massof, who, like other witnesses, has himself pleaded guilty to serious crimes, testified "It would rain fetuses. Fetuses and blood all over the place." Here is the headline the Associated Press put on a story about his testimony that he saw 100 babies born and then snipped: "Staffer describes chaos at PA abortion clinic."
Not news if it's not covered. Empty seats
for news media at trial.
Powers goes on to describe how barely a word of this trial and the horror behind it have become news in the so-called "mainstream" media. Seats specially reserved for the news media at the trial are vacant. Nothing written or spoken about the case in much of the national media.

Powers concludes "The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace." You got that right honey! It's been that way for YEARS!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

What the REAL Cuba is Like for Citizens Seeking Freedom

If the Hollywood trash who think Cuba is such a paradise faced this kind of oppression in the U.S. they'd REALLY have something to complain about!

So, JayZ (whoever the hell he is) and Beyoncé (ditto) are in Cuba basking in the sun and giving the world the impression that it's all sweetness and light. The same bunch that complain about every defect in America and constantly demand their right to be heard are nothing but mere propaganda puppets in Castro's regime.

Listen to what a citizen of Cuba has to say. She's a blogger denied the basic freedoms we all take for granted:
 
Watch the full interview with Yoani Sanchez here.
RAFAEL PI ROMAN, WLIW: You have written that when you decided to return to Cuba, you promised yourself that you would live in Cuba as a free person, regardless of the consequences. What have been the consequences?
YOANI SANCHEZ, Cuban Blogger: Well, yes.I told myself that I wouldn't return to the mask. I wouldn't return to the pretense. I wouldn't return to the silence. From that moment, a new chapter began in my life, a chapter that has brought with it many reprisals and consequences, for example, being watched, being stopped by state security, knowing that anywhere I go, there could be someone informing, filming and photographing what I do, and losing many friends, friends who are afraid to come close to my house or to me, also the arbitrary detentions, the arrests, the insults, the threats, the not being able to leave my country for five years.
RAFAEL PI ROMAN: How much have things changed in Cuba since Fidel handed over power to his brother Raul almost seven years ago?
YOANI SANCHEZ: I can categorically say that nothing has advanced in terms of citizen rights or civil rights.In fact, I do notice a change in the repression. But it's been a change in style, rather than a change for the better. But Raul's style is one of repressing, without leaving any legal fingerprints.Fidel Castro repressed his opponents in grand, theatrical style and would condemn them to long prison sentences, while Raul has used more occult methods that leave the victims without even the possibility of proving they have been repressed.
Jailed, detained, questioned, spied on and friends intimidated into breaking off relations. That's the REALITY of Cuba for anyone who seeks freedom. What a shame the Hollywood types aren't treated the way actual Cubans are. They might actually discover how great it is to live in America. The same country that made them rich beyond their wildest dreams!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

White House Turned into Party Central AGAIN for Obama's Rich Friends, but School Children STILL Barred from White House Tours

One night, one party could pay for weeks of White House tours!

Obama repeatedly warned that the budget sequester would have a dire impact on government services. So serious were these MINOR cuts that the White House canceled all White House tours disappointing legions of school children who had planned a White House visit on spring break.

But apparently the budget sequester is NOT so serious that it prevents Obama's vacations, golf outings, campaign stops or parties.

President and friends partying it up on the taxpayer dime on Tuesday.
Tuesday was another party night at the White House as "President Obama showed off his grooviest 'dad dancing' on Tuesday night as he got down to the best of Memphis Soul at a White House show." Queen Latifah, Justin Timberlake, Cyndi Lauper and Booker T. Jones all performed for the Obamas and their invited guests.

The Daily Mail has more.

Imagine the media outrage if ANY Republican president behaved this way! As it is, no one seems to care about this, American deaths in Benghazi, millions out of work, green jobs scams, Fast and Furious gun running or anything else this bunch does.

Obama parties while America burns!

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Why the Left Hates Margaret Thatcher

She was brilliantly effective at exposing the utter failure of socialism!

Even at her death the Thatcher Haters are out in force. You know, the classless vile comrades of the left who spit poison at everyone who dares to disagree with them. The ironic thing is that Margaret Thatcher's success made the lives of these willfully ignorant haters so much better. Before Thatcher, Britain was a basket case. Called the "Sick Man of Europe" with massive unemployment, inflation, strikes, abysmal public services and little hope for the future. Thatcher turned it all around. Not by being nice to people who preferred to continue down the road of failed socialist policy. No, she didn't suffer fools gladly.

Here's a fine example. In her last speech before Parliament a Labour member chided her on the growing disparity between rich and poor. Her answer is stunning for it's directness:
 
The Prime Minister:

People on all levels of income are better off than they were in 1979. The hon. Gentleman is saying that he would rather that the poor were poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That way one will never create the wealth for better social services, as we have. What a policy. Yes, he would rather have the poor poorer, provided that the rich were less rich. That is the Liberal policy.
In this country over the last few years we've seen the gap between rich and poor widen as well. Under Obama, the rich have done very well. His willingness to pump billions into big banks and protect his Wall Street cronies has paid off for them. But unlike Thatcher's Britain the poor and the Middle Class have seen their incomes decline at the same time costs for everyday items like clothing, food and fuel have gone up.

Margaret Thatcher believed that the redistribution of wealth by government was the wrong answer in the effort to create wealth and opportunity FOR ALL. She showed that economic freedom works. What a pity we don't have a Thatcher in this country willing and able to speak those hard truths to the millions suffering the cruel deprivation of failed socialist policies today!

Monday, April 08, 2013

Testing New Comment System

Cross your fingers!

The Intense Debate comment system has repeatedly failed and comments were being divided between I.D. and the default Google comment system.

I have uninstalled Intense Debate and installed Disqus instead. The install process was not optimal so I'll be interested to hear from readers if they have any problems.

My apologies for all the kind (even some not so kind) comments that were posted in the old system. There may be a way to import them into Disqus but I wouldn't count on it.

One would that over time comment systems would be improving and more reliable than the other way around but sadly, this does not appear to be the case.

An Iron Lady for the Ages

Missing and remembering Margaret Thatcher!

Flags in Britain fly at half staff as the world learns of the passing of former Primer Minister Margaret Thatcher on Monday. In ill health for a number of years she passed away at 87 years old after suffering yet another stroke. There will be much written and said about her in the days to come and I'll be following the news with a personal interest. And it's that personal standpoint that I would like to begin my own reflections.

I first saw Margaret Thatcher in person at the White House on her final State Visit to the United States during the closing days of the Reagan Administration in 1988. The chemistry between the two leaders was palpable as captured in this photograph I took during the Welcome Ceremony for her State Visit on the White House Lawn. Full story of that event is here.

Welcoming Ceremony for the State Visit of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
on the South Lawn of the White House, November 16, 1988.
Photo by Mike's America. Full story here.

Thatcher and Reagan in office simultaneously was one of those happy accidents of history. Years before they were in office they met and began a correspondence that showed how much in sync they were (see full size image of the letter at right).

 Both were so in tune with each other that their partnership helped change the world and usher in an era of peace and prosperity that few thought possible. A world gripped by fear of a Cold War turning hot with a nuclear apocalypse was freed of that fear by these towering, visionary leaders. The train of economic growth they put on the tracks lasted into the 21st Century until liberals finally managed to derail it.

Seeing the Iron Lady in London

Twelve years later I would see Margaret Thatcher again in London. This time I was walking through her neighborhood in Belgrave Square (map). All of a sudden a motorcadepulled up and out she popped bouncing up the steps of her townhouse with husband Dennis following. Before her strokes and the loss of Dennis she still had every ounce of the energy we had seen throughout her years of public life.

In 2004 her presence at the funeral of President Reagan was a reminder of her devotion to her friend, and ideological soulmate. Her eulogy to Reagan at his funeral was much appreciated by a grieving nation.

Margaret Thatcher touches the flag covering the coffin containing
the remains of President Ronald Reagan as he lay in state
in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC June 2004
I'll continue updating this story as it unfolds. But for Thatcher fans or students of history I will leave you with two links:
  • Daughter Carol Thatcher's remembrances of her mother as Prime Minister at Chequers, the weekend country retreat for Prime Ministers.
  • The Guardian newspaper has a photo biography.
America and lovers of freedom around the world have lost a great friend today. Thatcher put the great back in Britain and showed the rest of us how much a leader with a spine and a vision could accomplish. Her lesson to history will stand the test of time. If only we have leaders who will learn from it!

READER CHALLENGE: Share Your Favorite Thatcher Moments

Got a favorite Thatcher moment? Share it. Here's the You Tube link for Thatcher videos or just write about your memory of this great woman.

Friday, April 05, 2013

663,000 Stop Looking for Work in March Causing Unemployment Rate to Drop to 7.6%

Obama is solving the unemployment crisis by forcing people to give up trying!

Here's what the White House had to say about the jobs announcement Friday:
Today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression. It is critical that we continue the policies that are helping to build an economy that creates jobs and works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007.
This is proving to be too much to swallow even for the Obama cheerleaders in the mainstream media. CNN's money report had this headline: "Unemployment rate falls for all the wrong reasons." In that report Chris Isidore points out that the reason the unemployment rate dropped to 7.6% is that so many workers in March gave up looking for work.

Only 88,000 found jobs in March. 663,000 gave up looking for work altogether. Since Obama became President over 9 million people have given up looking for work. Less than half were of retirement age. The overall percentage of Americans participating in the labor force is at the lowest in 34 years. From the American Enterprise Institute:
Recession started and unemployment spiked shortly after Democrats took control of Congress in 2007.
Obama's War on Jobs

The White House flack above talked about this news as a sign of recovery and digging "our way out of a deep hole." How? By digging the hole deeper? It seems Obama's answer to devastating unemployment is to force and more Americans to simply give up. And the policies he has put in place are doing just that. ObamaCare is forcing employers to lay off employees and avoid hiring new ones. Obama's reluctance to approve the Keystone XL pipeline and his war on oil is holding back hundreds of thousands of jobs. The regulatory burden Obama's government is putting on business is choking economic recovery.

And let's not forget that Republicans warned Obama's tax increases could kill hundreds of thousands of jobs. We've seen that prophesy come true in one month alone! Yet Obama continues to campaign for even higher job killing taxes.

Media Not Carrying Obama's Water This Time

It's not just the CNN Money guy who had a problem with this dismal job's report:
  • Economist Mark Zandi Attributed The Weak Job Growth To Obamacare, Saying “I Think Healthcare Reform Might Be Having An Impact.”
  •  CNN’s ALI VELSHI:  “That’s bad. 88,000 new jobs created in March, very bad. We were expecting 192,000. We needed 250,000 to 300,000. We weren’t going to get that to keep the growth going. 88,000 is very poor.”
  • Former Obama Adviser Austan Goolsbee Called The March Jobs Report “A Punch To The Gut.... This is not a good number.”
  • Former Obama Adviser Jared Bernstein Called The Jobs Report “Definitely A Disappointing Report.”
  • The Washington Post’s Zachary Goldfarb: “Big fail: March jobs 88,000.” (Zachary A. Goldfarb.
  • Politico Headline: “Bad Jobs Report A Warning Sign.”
  • Reuters: " a sign that tax hikes that kicked in early this year as part of Washington's austerity drive could be stealing momentum from the economy."
Is there any hope that Obama will drop his perpetual campaign and actually start working with Republicans to craft true compromise policies which spur growth and increase jobs without more job killing taxes and regulation? Not a chance. We're stuck with this loser until enough Americans wake up and demand a change. Sadly, the best opportunity for that was lost last November and we're about 18 months away from the next one. Will there be anything left of the American economy by then or will Obama and his Alinskyite disciples succeed in killing the goose that lays the golden eggs?

Monday, April 01, 2013

Green Energy Kills Old and Poor. Plus, New Admissions from Global Warmers That Models for Change were WRONG!

So why are we still on this crazy train? MONEY. Trillions for those who play the game!

As a bitterly cold winter in Britain comes to a close Fraser Nelson in the Daily Telegraph raises an important issue when he points out that in the last ten years:
Some 250,000 Brits have died from the cold, and 10,000 from the heat. It is horribly clear that we have been focusing on the wrong enemy. Instead of making sure energy was affordable, ministers have been trying to make it more expensive, with carbon price floors and emissions trading schemes. Fuel prices have doubled over seven years, forcing millions to choose between heat and food – and government has found itself a major part of the problem.

This is slowly beginning to dawn on Ed Davey, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. He has tried to point the finger at energy companies, but his own department let the truth slip out in the small print of a report released on Wednesday. The average annual fuel bill is expected to have risen by £76 by 2020, it says. But take out Davey’s hidden taxes (carbon price floor, emissions trading scheme, etc) and we’d be paying an average £123 less.
The higher cost of energy due to global warming taxes on energy is killing people! Folks in the U.S. will recall that Obama famously said that cap and trade plans he favors means "electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket." And rates did. We've already seen how high gas prices have gone. Policies designed to drive up the cost of traditional energy sources to make green energy seem more attractive have the biggest negative impact on the poor and those on fixed incomes. The very people that liberals like Obama claim to want to help.

Instead of helping those least able to help themselves Obama and his friends are creating massively expensive green energy programs that don't supply affordable energy but do, thanks to subsidies from Obama, enrich the brokers and traders who create the green market. Even when as dozens of these firms go bankrupt, Obama's green buddies get their cut.

Climate Change Zealots Admit Warming Stopped

Even as the green juggernaut, fueled by taxpayer dollars, continues the science on which it is based is becoming increasingly unsettled.  An article in the respected British journal The Economist (a formerly pro-warmer publican) now begins to chip away at the notion that the science is settled and the only question is how fast we can raise taxes in a vain effort to limit carbon emission. The Australian summarizes the article below:
The fact that global surface temperatures have not followed the expected global warming pattern is now widely accepted.

Research by Ed Hawkins of University of Reading shows surface temperatures since 2005 are already at the low end of the range projections derived from 20 climate models and if they remain flat, they will fall outside the models' range within a few years.

"The global temperature standstill shows that climate models are diverging from observations," says David Whitehouse of the Global Warming Policy Foundation.

"If we have not passed it already, we are on the threshold of global observations becoming incompatible with the consensus theory of climate change," he says.

Whitehouse argues that whatever has happened to make temperatures remain constant requires an explanation because the pause in temperature rise has occurred despite a sharp increase in global carbon emissions.

The Economist says the world has added roughly 100 billion tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere between 2000 and 2010, about one-quarter of all the carbon dioxide put there by humans since 1750. This mismatch between rising greenhouse gas emissions and not-rising temperatures is among the biggest puzzles in climate science just now, The Economist article says.
...
An increasing body of research that suggests it may be that climate is responding to higher concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide in ways that had not been properly understood before.

"This possibility, if true, could have profound significance both for climate science and for environmental and social policy.
"
Two weeks ago I shared a chart cited in the Economist article along with a chart showing the continued increase in CO2 matched with a flattening temperature curve. Anyone with an ounce of scientific integrity can see that the models which predicted significant temperature increase based on CO2 were wrong.

But despite this news, another article in the March 30 Daily Beast is full speed ahead on the global catastrophe scare train. And the suggested remedy is more taxes on carbon which increases the cost of energy for everyone, but particularly the poor. Why the disconnect? Easy. Follow the money. The rich one percenters are eager to siphon off more of hard earned money. Forget that not one of these carbon taxes or green schemes will have the slightest impact on climate.


The left's green energy scam is forcing the poor to choose between food and fuel with disastrous consequences. These latest realizations that carbon is not a primary driver of climate change won't stop the scammers. There's too much green at stake for them and their friends!

Just think about the trillions worldwide that are being wasted and misdirected into unnecessary green projects and carbon taxes. Think of all the REAL human suffering that could be alleviated with those resources. Instead, we are enriching greenies with nothing to show for it but their increasing wealth at our expense!
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