Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 22, 2013

Old Jarhead's Political SitRep for January 22, 2013

Robert A. Hall

Your one-stop-shop for political news and opinion. Please forward to friends who need to be informed. This SitRep (Military for “Situation Report”) is created by many readers who send me items for inclusion, which I would have likely missed or skipped. And I can only spend at most three hours a night pulling stuff, plus the healthcare or economic stuff that crosses my desk at work. As always, I—and you—owe them thanks and appreciation. I post articles because I think they are of interest and will stimulate thought and discussion. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree (or disagree) with every—or any—opinion in the posted article, or that I was able to verify the information presented, which is the responsibility of the author. I try not to post things that are false, or too far a stretch, regardless of the view point, but I don’t always succeed. As always on the Net, or in the legacy media, you must read critically and with skepticism.

Resources

For those who want further information about the topics covered in this blog, I recommend the following sites. I will add to this as I find additional good sources.

http://tartanmarine.blogspot.com/2011/03/resources-for-opinion-leaders-who.html

Worth Reading: Our Old Grand Fantasies About Radical Islam. By Victor Davis Hanson

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/fantasies-about-radical-islam/

Excerpt: Most things that we read in the popular media about radical Islam are fantasies. They are promulgated in the mistaken belief that such dogmas will appease terrorists, or at least direct their ire elsewhere. But given the recent news — murdering in Algeria, war in Mali, the Syrian mess, and Libyan chaos — let us reexamine some of these more common heresies. 

Nevada assemblyman arrested for intimidating public officer. By Krista Hostetler

http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/187662851.html

Excerpt: A Nevada assemblyman has been arrested for allegedly intimidating a public officer. (I’m sure you heard about this on the evening news. No? Well, if it had been a white Republican threatening a black Democrat, you would be sick of hearing about it. ~Bob.)

Could Dr. King Have Given the Inaugural Benediction? By Star Parker 

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/16365

Excerpt: A hint of how to think about this may be gleaned by visiting the new memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring King. Visiting the memorial, what immediately struck this black Christian was the complete absence of any hint that King was a Christian pastor, who founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and who led a movement animated and inspired by biblical conviction and imagery.

On 21 Jan 1968: The Battle of Khe Sanh began

http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2013/01/on-21-jan-1968-the-battle-of-khe-sanh-began.html

I left Khe Sanh on September 10, 1967. Unfortunately, Commie spies found out I was gone and Giap decided to attack… ~Bob

Al-Qaeda branch’s image soars after hostage drama in Algeria

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/al-qaeda-branchs-image-soars-after-hostage-drama-in-algeria/2013/01/20/2cb3fb74-633b-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Excerpt: A week of violence in Algeria and Mali has transformed al-
Qaeda’s North Africa branch into a cause celebre for militant Islamists around the globe, boosting recruitment and fundraising for the jihadists and spurring fears of further terrorist attacks in the region and beyond. (President Barack Obama declared to a crowd in San Francisco that he had put al Qaeda "on its heels." 10/10/12. ~Bob.)

Economic Freedom Declines in America for Fifth Straight Year

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=22755&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD

Excerpt: A new joint publication by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal depicts a world where economic freedom is decreasing. Despite "democratic progress" following the Arab Spring in the Middle East, autocratic practices reminiscent of past dictators have led to significant economic freedom declines in Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. Countries with lower economic freedom have weaker rule of law and create environments conducive to government corruption, political favoritism and oligarchical elitism. More developed countries are also a cause for concern as they engage in redistributionist policies. The income and wealth transfers that advanced democracies initiate reduce the incentives to work and invest. To quell this trend, policies that strengthen the legal protection of property rights and protect individuals from arbitrary regulations promote greater economic freedom.

Mitch Daniels, the one who got away. By Michael Gerson

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-01-17/opinions/36410313_1_mitch-daniels-limited-government-bureaucracies

Excerpt: Daniels was arguably the most ambitious, effective conservative governor in America. He managed to ride a recession that bucked other leaders — balancing a series of budgets without increasing taxes. He left Indiana with a $500 million yearly surplus and $2 billion in reserves while awarding taxpayers a substantial refund on his way out the door. (Daniels was my first choice. Not great on every issue, but gets it about the debt, the economy and government growth. But I think no one would have beaten Obama. They loot-the-future voters outnumber us. ~Bob.)

The perfect squirm--Afghanistan is now all about reputations. By Ralph Peters

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_perfect_squirm_bc5fLnQ91PWrdOisTneIuI

 Excerpt: Going to Afghanistan after 9/11 was a necessity; staying there in force was a mistake — and dragging out our failure is a travesty. We invaded to smash al Qaeda and punish the Taliban for hosting them. Mission accomplished. Within six months.

Worth Reading: Algeria: Obama’s Chickens Come Home to Roost. By Robert Spencer 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/robert-spencer/algeria-obamas-chickens-come-home-to-roost/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6d3fea9cbe-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: Obama has made it abundantly clear that he has no objection, on human rights grounds or any others, to Sharia regimes. Consequently, Islamic supremacists worldwide are considerably emboldened, as they see that the United States will offer no significant counterweight to their advance. One of the hostages taken captive at the Algerian gas plant recounted that the kidnappers had said, “We’ve come in the name of Islam, to teach the Americans what Islam is.” 

Worth Reading: It’s Not the Message, It’s Not the Messenger, It’s the Voter. By Bruce Thornton 

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/bruce-thornton/its-not-the-message-its-not-the-messenger-its-the-voter/?utm_source=FrontPage+Magazine&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6d3fea9cbe-Mailchimp_FrontPageMag

Excerpt: The fact is, many voters know full well this dismal catalogue of failure, and they either don’t care, or they believe the fatuous rationalizations, lies, excuses, and economic magical thinking offered by the Democrats. How else explain Obama’s 55% approval rating in the latest Time/CNN poll? 

Fake dead girlfriends and fake debt limits. By Mark Steyn

http://jewishworldreview.com/0113/steyn012013.php3#.UP1g8R3WI0E

Excerpt: Meanwhile, hot from the fiscal-cliff fiasco, the media are already eagerly anticipating the next in the series of monthly capitulations by Republicans, this time on the debt ceiling. While I was abroad, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, a Harvard professor of constitutional law, a prominent congressman and various other American eminencies apparently had a sober and serious discussion on whether the United States Treasury could circumvent the debt constraints by minting a trillion-dollar platinum coin. 

San Francisco coffee shop targeted by frivolous ADA lawsuit

http://www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org/2011/09/san-francisco-coffee-shop-targeted-by-frivolous-ada-lawsuit/

I've heard for a couple of years about the abuse of ADA laws to extract money from businesses in California, and here is a current example. This is the kind of thing that is legalized blackmail, which makes a few lawyers and their particular clients (who are in on the game) rich. The ADA regulations that make this possible should have been revised long ago, but of course getting anything done with existing federal systems is so difficult and takes so long that there's been no help for this stupid and counterproductive mess so far. But this is why we have Representatives and Senators, and someone in Congress should be making this a project to revise those ADA regulations. In a time when we want to make jobs and protect small businesses, allowing such terrible abuse makes no sense at all. –Del

The Language Of Weasels. By Bert Prelutsky

http://www.burtprelutsky.com/2013/01/the-language-of-weasels.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+burtprelutsky%2FSQlQ+%28BurtPrelutsky.com%29

Excerpt: I would do away with “distinguished” when referring to a politician. And I mean any politician. So far as I’m concerned, the word is employed far too often and applied far too generously to people who do nothing more than vote for a living. In a sane world, it would only be applied to military heroes, firemen and conservative columnists, especially those residing in such left-wing bastions as California.

Quote from Morning Jolt with Jim Geraghty

Leslie Hooper: "Obama inherits 7.8% unemployment from himself just as he did from Bush, except with $6T more in debt."

Waldo Wilbur: "Really, DC, you deserve tons of parties with all the legislative achievement & substantive analysis you've given the rest of America."

Wake Up, Socially Liberal Fiscal Conservatives: The GOP isn’t the political party in debt denial. By Jonah Goldberg

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/338011/wake-socially-liberal-fiscal-conservatives-jonah-goldberg#

Excerpt: When George W. Bush added nearly $5 trillion in national debt in two terms you were scandalized. When Obama added more than that in one term, you yawned. When, in 2006, then-senator Obama condemned Bush’s failure of leadership and vowed to vote against raising the debt ceiling, you thought him a statesman. Obama, who wants to borrow trillions more, now admits that was purely a “political vote.”

Top aide: Obama seeks to split Republican Party into warring factions before 2014 midterm election
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/21/top-aide-obama-seeks-to-split-republican-party-into-warring-factions-before-2014-midterm-election/#ixzz2IcuMjFKX

Working brilliantly so far. ~Bob. Excerpt: President Barack Obama’s top political aide used an Inauguration Day interview to sketch out a provocative political strategy intended to split the Republican Party in time to impact the 2014 midterm elections.

UW-Madison law grad wearing ‘Bucky Badger’ hat robs credit union to pay off student loans
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/21/uw-madison-law-grad-wearing-bucky-badger-hat-robs-credit-union-to-pay-off-student-loans/#ixzz2IcutqWlS

Excerpt: A man who allegedly robbed a credit union while wearing a three-dimensional winter hat in the shape of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s mascot told police he needed money because he can’t afford the $250,000 in student debt he has accrued.

Inside Deals Mar John Kerry for State. By Marita Noon 

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/maritanoon/2013/01/21/inside-deals-mar-john-kerry-for-state-n1493544?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Excerpt: Senator Kerry’s Secretary of State hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will take place on Thursday, January 24. Kerry should receive some tough questions regarding his green energy investments and his ability to profit, as Secretary of State, from his support of a climate change agenda.

"The people of France will live under the Islamic movement, even if you don’t like it. We will collect the jizya poll tax."

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2013/01/the-people-of-france-will-live-under-the-islamic-movement-even-if-you-dont-like-it-we-will-collect-t.html

Except from those who convert to Islam or are killed, of course. ~Bob.

Algeria hostage crisis: al Qaeda had help from inside claim security sources

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/algeria/9814392/Algeria-hostage-crisis-al-Qaeda-had-help-from-inside-claim-security-sources.html

Excerpt: One of those involved in the "inside job" was of French nationality, the sources told the Daily Telegraph, in what appears to be a blow to those in charge of safety at the highly strategic In Amenas plant, which accounts for 12 per cent of Algeria's gas production.

Gas plant worker and 2 Canadians helped terrorists in siege, Algerian PM says, that reportedly left 3 Americans among dead
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/21/death-toll-in-algeria-hostage-crisis-continues-to-rise-as-more-countries/?test=latestnews#ixzz2Ideq36uH

Excerpt: An Al Qaeda-linked militant group who took control of a Algerian gas plant during a four-day-long siege that left 38 hostages dead, including three Americans, did it with help from the inside, Algeria's prime minister said Monday.

Top BP Exec Killed In Algeria Hostage Crisis Was On Rare Visit To The Site

http://www.businessinsider.com/top-bp-exec-killed-in-algeria-hostage-crisis-was-on-rare-visit-to-the-site-2013-1#ixzz2Idg1zp77

Excerpt: A senior executive at BP, who lived in London, was among those who died in the attack on the Algerian gas plant, adding to suggestions that the terrorists may have had inside information. Carlos Estrada, who had worked for the company for 18 years and risen to be vice–president, lived with his wife and family in an exclusive flat in Chelsea, West London.

Rapper Lupe Fiasco thrown offstage during pre-inauguration event after anti-Obama rant [VIDEO]
http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/21/report-rapper-lupe-fiasco-thrown-offstage-at-inauguration-event-after-anti-obama-rant/#ixzz2IdBZyHep

Excerpt: Rapper Lupe Fiasco was thrown offstage and escorted off the premises of a Washington, D.C. concert hall during a pre-inauguration concert Sunday night, after going on an anti-war, anti-Obama rant, according to concertgoers.

Bill Ayers to keynote national teacher conference in Februaryhttp://dailycaller.com/2013/01/21/bill-ayers-to-keynote-national-teacher-conference-in-february/#ixzz2IdAUuelS

Excerpt: Left-wing ’60s radical and onetime domestic terrorist Bill Ayers will be a keynote speaker at the Association of Teacher Educators annual conference in Atlanta next month….He subsequently became a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a “family friend” to Barack Obama before the president became a national political figure. Ayers and Dohrn currently live in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, where Obama formerly resided.

Peace in our time?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2013/01/21/full-text-president-obamas-inaugural-address/

Excerpt from BO’s speech: …but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes… (Welcome to 1939. ~Bob.)

Tweet from John Hayward ‏@Doc_0

Note to Obama: the phrase "peace in our time" doesn't really have a good pedigree in political speeches.

Tweet from rikki ‏@RikkiWilliamsXO

I REALLY want to wear my "don't blame me I voted for Romney" shirt tomorrow. But my campus is very urban. I'm genuinely scared.

Tweet from Kristin Rawls ‏@kristinrawls

Last time, he used this moment to promise he would pursue closing Guantanamo.

BLS: Americans “not in labor force” increased by 8 million+ during Obama’s first term

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/01/21/bls-americans-not-in-labor-force-increased-by-8-million-during-obamas-first-term/

Excerpt: As we officially embark into President Obama’s second term today, let’s take a moment to examine the new economic normal with which the voting public is apparently quite comfortable. 

National Academies and the (non) Greenhouse Gas Effect: Part 5

http://johnosullivan.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/national-academies-and-the-non-greenhouse-gas-effect-part-5/

Excerpt: This article contrasts and compares two of the most important peer-reviewed climate studies of their day – one generation apart – to expose bogus greenhouse gas claims.

Two lines that sum up Obama’s presidency. By Philip Klein

http://washingtonexaminer.com/two-lines-that-sum-up-obamas-presidency/article/2519264#.UP2VIx3WI0F

Excerpt: Throughout his presidency, Obama has rhetorically wanted to establish himself as a transformational leader who was willing to tackle the nation’s tough problems, but when push came to shove, he has dodged them. This has been especially true than when it comes to dealing with the nation’s debt burden.

Tweet from Soquel by the Creek ‏@SoquelCreek

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Often, the federal government is the prime paving contractor.

Tweet from Michelle Malkin ‏@michellemalkin

Call the food police. Oh, wait. They ARE the food police==> Obamas & guests sit down to 3,000-calorie inaugural lunch (The corporations that kicked in to buy influence can afford it. ~Bob)

Tweet from Josh Barro ‏@jbarro

Obama: Gay marriage so important for living up to the Founding that I didn't even support it until less than a year ago.

Tweet from Sons of Reagan ‏@SonsofReagan

Just thought you'd like to know: January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day! Fitting, coincidental?

Tweet from Todd Kincannon ‏@ToddKincannon

Obama's people took "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Inauguration. Seriously. (If true, I guess he didn’t want to offend the base…~Bob.)

Masked Mexican vigilantes take to the streets to protect their villages from the drug cartels

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2265697/Masked-Mexican-vigilantes-streets-protect-villages-drug-cartels.html

Mexico has much stronger gun laws than the US—they should feel perfectly safe. ~Bob. Excerpt: Tired of the scourge of organized crime, civilians in two rural towns in southwestern Mexico have taken matters into their own hands over the last two weeks. Since the second week of January, around 800 masked and armed residents have set up vigilante groups who are manning checkpoints, imposing curfews and arresting alleged criminals.

Iran hangs two for 'waging war against God'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9815872/Iran-hangs-two-for-waging-war-against-God.html

Excerpt: Alireza Mafiha and Mohammad Ali Sorouri were hanged early on Sunday in the Iranian capital, Tehran, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

Inaugural Ball Ticket Prices 'Slashed' by 50%

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/inaugural-ball-ticket-prices-slashed-50_696579.html

As soon as I find my Trillion Dollar coin, I’ll buy everybody one. ~Bob

Dems and Their Gun Money: They’re slinging mud about the NRA while investing in Smith and Wesson and Sturm, Ruger. By Betsy Woodruff

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/338186/dems-and-their-gun-money-betsy-woodruff

Excerpt: It’s noteworthy, though, that many members of Congress who favor gun control are also benefactors of said industry. As data from the Center for Responsive Politics show, many leading Democrats get financial gain from gun companies.

First Term: Obama Increased Debt $50,521 Per Household; More Than First 42 Presidents in 53 Terms Combined. By Terence P. Jeffrey

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/first-term-obama-increased-debt-50521-household-more-first-42-presidents-53-terms

He can do more in the next four. ~Bob.

Tweet from Anonymous ‏@YourAnonNews

In the 1st two weeks of 2013 Chicago-with 27 murders+93 others shot has surpassed the Sandy Hook shooting but not a peep from Obama's media.

China Poised to Play Debt Card- For U.S. Land

http://politichicks.tv/2013/01/china-poised-to-play-debt-card-for-u-s-land/

Excerpt: Could real estate on American soil owned by China be set up as “development zones” in which the communist nation could establish Chinese-owned businesses and bring in its citizens to the U.S. to work?

Tweet from Ali A. Akbar ‏@ali

Inauguration dinner: overwhelmingly white. Waiters: black. Change.

Gunman shoots 5 teens on MLK and LaSalle

http://www.wwltv.com/news/crime/NOPD-4-shot-on-MLK-and-LaSalle-in-Central-City-187769051.html

Tweet from JDM ‏@sleepdoctorjoe

Were I among the >14% black unemployment, I'd spend the day buffing the résumé instead of reveling in Obama's inauguration. That's just me. (Black doctor. ~Bob.)