Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Al Gore's ancestor...


"In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle: There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’" — G.K. Chesterton
We hear a great deal about how America needs to be "changed" by people who don't seem to know America's history, understand our country's uniqueness, or appreciate how good we've had it as a people. Until you understand what made America a great nation to begin with, you have no business suggesting any changes to the policies, tradition, and culture that made us so uniquely successful. It's not an accident that America became a great power. It's because of these seven reasons.

1) Judeo-Christian Ethics: When people call America a "Christian nation," they're referring to the Judeo-Christian morals that shaped our country. Our strong sense of right and wrong kept corruption to a minimum, our Protestant work ethic caused Americans to be productive, and our belief in rights given by God, not government shaped our national philosophy. Respect for Christian values is a part of the fabric of our country that goes right back to our founding. Even if many people wouldn't realize it until it is too late, an America where Christianity isn't an important part of everyday life would no longer be America in any meaningful sense.

2) A Powerful Military: There's a lot to be said for "soft power," but it pales in comparison to raw military might. The United States was not always a great military power, but once the Civil War was over, we started to assert ourselves. Since WWII, we've had the finest military on Planet Earth. That one factor does more to insure our freedom and the safety of our allies than every other factor combined. As Reagan said, "History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap." At least for now, no nation could be so foolish as to believe that a potential fight with the United States would be cheap.

3) Western Culture: If the entire population of Venezuela, Iran, or South Africa were here in the United States and all of us were gone, this country would quickly turn into a pesthole, just like all of those nations because they're culturally inferior to us. On the other hand, Western culture has produced ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Britain, the United States and a host of lesser nations that are still more successful than 90% of the planet. The emphasis in Western culture on individualism, innovation, Christianity, capitalism, science, technology, freedom and individual rights has given us an enormous advantage that we are sadly eroding with our foolish embrace of multi-culturalism.

4) Geography: We can't underestimate the importance of being a large, resource-rich nation that's isolated from powerful foes. Had Britain been considerably closer, it's possible that we may have been unable to break away and take control of our own destiny. If we had powerful adversaries to our North and South, we may have had great difficulties when our nation was young and we were just finding our strength. If we had been closer to Europe, our homeland might have been decimated during WWI and WWII. If God had given us first choice of places to found a nation, this is where we would have ended up.

5) Industrial Capacity: Economically, America managed to take full advantage of the Industrial Revolution and most people still don't realize how important our ability to churn out material was to winning WWII. Just to give you one of many examples,
"By 1944 America built 96,300 planes, more planes than were possessed by the Axis combined and this does not include British and Soviet production. The Germans built 40,000 war planes in 1944, but the arrival of P51 Mustangs in the skies over Germany resulted in the destruction of the Luftwaffe. And American production was 75 percent combat aircraft.....This was the peak of production, an incredible 11 planes an hour were rolling out of American aircraft plants."
We lack this capacity today and make up for our inability to mass produce weaponry by creating high quality war machines. This is a potentially dangerous strategy because if a large chunk of our superior weaponry were ever destroyed somehow, it would take us an inordinately long time to rebuild it.

6) A Merit-Based Society: America's lack of an aristocracy, tribes, and castes helped allow the cream to rise to the top in our society. Although we certainly weren't perfect in this regard as any slave or woman throughout most of our history could tell you, we were well ahead of much of the rest of the world. The fact that we're still regarded by the rest of the world as a "land of opportunity" is one of our greatest strengths, although our antiquated immigration system does little to take advantage of this fact. The more we penalize success as a society, the more stratified, stagnant and sterile we'll become as a country.

7) A Constitution That Limited Centralized Government: Nothing could be more fundamentally American than a deep and abiding distrust of government. That's why the Constitution was specifically designed to keep our own government from oppressing the people. This contributed mightily to our success because the bigger and more powerful the government becomes, the smaller, weaker and poorer the people become. Our Founding Fathers understood this and were fanatical about small, decentralized government. The further we move from that principle, the more economic stagnation, frightening levels of debt, and potentially dangerous tyranny we'll see from our own government.
Many people are lamenting the bad consequences of Barack Obama's foreign policy, and some are questioning his competence.

There is much to lament, and much to fear. Multiple setbacks to American interests have been brought on by Obama's policies in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Crimea and -- above all -- in what seems almost certain to become a nuclear Iran in the very near future.

The president's public warning to Syria of dire consequences if the Assad regime there crossed a "red line" he had drawn seemed to epitomize an amateurish bluff that was exposed as a bluff when Syria crossed that red line without suffering any consequences. Drawing red lines in disappearing ink makes an international mockery of not only this president's credibility, but also the credibility of future American presidents' commitments.

When some future President of the United States issues a solemn warning internationally, and means it, there may be less likelihood that the warning will be taken seriously. That invites the kind of miscalculation that has led to wars.

Many who are disappointed with what seem to be multiple fiascoes in President Obama's foreign policy question his competence and blame his inexperience.Such critics may be right, but it is by no means certain that they are.

Like those who are disappointed with Barack Obama's domestic policies, critics of his foreign policy may be ignoring the fact that you cannot know whether someone is failing or succeeding without knowing what he is trying to do.

Whether ObamaCare, for example, is a success or a failure, depends on whether you think the president's goal is to improve the medical treatment of Americans or to leave as his permanent legacy a system of income redistribution, through ObamaCare, and tight government control of the medical profession.

Much, if not most, of the disappointment with Barack Obama comes from expectations based on his words, rather than on an examination of what he has done over his lifetime before reaching the White House.

His words were glowing. He is a master of rhetoric, image and postures. He was so convincing that many failed to connect the dots of his past life that pointed in the opposite direction from his words. "Community organizers," for example, are not uniters but dividers -- and former community organizer Obama has polarized this country, despite his rhetoric about uniting us.

Many were so mesmerized by both the man himself and the euphoria surrounding the idea of "the first black president" that they failed to notice that there were any dots, much less any need to connect them.

One dot alone -- the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whose church the Obamas attended for 20 years -- would have been enough to sink any other presidential bid by anyone who was not in line to become "the first black president."

The painful irony is that Jeremiah Wright was just one in a series of Obama's mentors hostile to America, resentful of successful Americans, and convinced that America had too much power internationally, and needed to be brought down a peg.

Anti-Americanism was the rule, not the exception, among Obama's mentors over the years, beginning in his childhood. When the young Obama and his mother lived in Indonesia, her Indonesian husband wanted her to accompany him to social gatherings with American businessmen -- and was puzzled when she refused.

He reminded her that these were her own people. According to Barack Obama's own eyewitness account, her voice rose "almost to a shout" when she replied:

"They are not my people."

Most of Barack Obama's foreign policy decisions since becoming president are consistent with this mindset. He has acted repeatedly as a citizen of the world, even though he was elected to be President of the United States.

Virtually every major move of the Obama administration has reduced the power, security and influence of America and its allies. Cutbacks in military spending, while our adversaries have increased their military buildups, ensure that these changes to our detriment will continue, even after Barack Obama has left the White House.

Is that failure or success?

FBI, US Military In Hunt For Muslim Recruit Planning Fort Hood-Style Jihad Massacre


Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs 

He was recruited in February and discharged last week, after authorities found out about his jihad plan. Of course, there are no safeguards in the recruitment process to screen out potential jihadis. Hamas-CAIR would never allow that — and they have far too much influence in Washington.

How many more jihad plots like this have to be uncovered before we return to common-sense policies? If Muslims must be in the U.S. military, they should at least be closely questioned about their views of jihad and allegiance to the U.S. Yes, they may lie, but a seasoned investigator will be able to spot signs of that. At least it would be something, rather than the present Obama-era abject politically correct surrender.

081512_levine_phoner_640“FBI, US military in hunt for one-time recruit planning ‘Fort Hood-style jihad,’” FoxNews.com, March 31, 2014:
EXCLUSIVE: The FBI is searching for a recent Army recruit believed to be planning a “Fort Hood-inspired jihad against U.S. soldiers,” FoxNews.com has learned.
The alert, whose legitimacy was confirmed by military and law enforcement officials, stated that a man identified as Booker had told friends of his “intention to commit jihad.” Booker, who is also known as Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for basic training on April 7. But he was discharged last week, apparently after law enforcement authorities learned of his alleged plan.
Both the FBI and the 902d Military Intelligence Group at Fort Leavenworth are involved in the hunt.
The alert, a copy of which was obtained by FoxNews.com, was sent out by the FBI’s Kansas City Division on Friday and distributed through the U.S. Marine Corps. The portion obtained by FoxNews.com did not include Hassan’s photo or age. It was also sent to the Kansas City Police Department, which could indicate authorities believe he may have remained in the area where he was recruited.
The alert is titled, “Planned Fort Hood-inspired Jihad against US Soldiers by Army Recruit” and was issued “to inform and protect officers who may encounter this individual or others exhibiting the same aspirations.” The source of the information contained in the alert was listed as “An FBI agent.”
According to the alert:
“On 20 March 2014, the Kansas City Division FBI became aware of an individual named BOOKER aka Muhammad Abdullah Hassan who had publicly stated his intention to commit jihad, bidding farewell to his friends and making comments indicating his jihad was imminent. BOOKER had been recruited by the US Army in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for Basic Training on 7 April 2014. Kansas City Division Agents interviewed BOOKER on 20 March 2014.”
Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ty Balzer confirmed the alert’s legitimacy, but referred questions to the FBI. A spokeswoman with the Kansas City Division of the FBI — the same division responsible for sending out the alert and who, according to the alert, spoke with Booker on March 20 — said she did “not have any information to provide in regards to your inquiry.”
Law enforcement sources familiar with the alert said it appeared to suggest that there may be others in addition to Booker who also might have expressed similar intentions to commit jihad against U.S. military installations.
A military source said it appeared the bulletin was provided by the FBI, then distributed by the Marine Corps under the normal protocol of sharing any information relating to a potential threat to U.S. military installations or personnel.
A spokesman for the Kansas City recruiting station where Booker enlisted referred FoxNews.com’s questions to 902d Military Intelligence Group, which did not immediately return requests for comment.
The Fort Hood shooting, referenced in the alert, took place on Nov. 5, 2009. U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist who had become a radical Muslim while serving in the military, killed 13 people and injured dozens more inside the Texas Army base. Hasan, who represented himself at a military trial after clashing with his appointed attorneys, was sentenced to death in August.

Dershowitz: Pollard-for-Peace Deal a 'No-brainer'
Image: Dershowitz: Pollard-for-Peace Deal a 'No-brainer' 

By David A. Patten

 / Newsmax

In a possible breakthrough, high-level sources are saying the United States may release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in return for Israeli concessions in the peace talks with the Palestinians.

Reuters, The Associated Press, and The New York Times all ran stories Monday evening citing sources close to the negotiations stating that a deal involving Pollard could be in the offing. Israeli publication Haaretz says the deal is 'nearly sealed.' Everyone emphasizes substantial, ongoing diplomacy would be required to work out an arrangement suitable to all sides.

Leading civil libertarian and staunch Israel defender Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard Law professor, author, and Newsmax contributor, hailed the prospect of Pollard’s release as long overdue.

"I actually urged the White House to do that about a year ago when the White House was pressuring Israel to release more prisoners," Dershowitz told Newsmax on Monday afternoon.

"I suggested that the deal be more triangular: that if Israel is being pressured to release murderers with blood on their hands, who might commit more murders, then certainly the United States could throw something into the pot by releasing an old man who poses absolutely no danger to the United States. So, I hope it happens."

Secretary of State John Kerry rushed to Israel on Monday in a bid to save the faltering talks. Israel has asked for assurances that Palestinian officials are negotiating in good faith. The Palestinians insist that Israel is threatening to renege on its prior commitments.

Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, and is also scheduled to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

Pollard’s release would be of great cultural and political significance to many Israelis. A civilian analyst in the U.S. intelligence community, Pollard was arrested in 1985 and charged with handing thousands of sensitive documents over to Israeli operatives. If the Netanyahu government could win Pollard’s release, which many Israeli leaders have failed to do over the years, it could insulate him from political blow back if the prisoners are released and the Palestinian talks fall through.

Reuters reports that Pollard could be released in mid-April as part of a three-way deal that would also see 27 Palestinians go free. In return, peace talks would be extended past the current drop-dead date of April 29.

The Times of Israel reported contacts in Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the reports involving Pollard, but did not deny the discussions underway.

The Palestinians have given Kerry 24 hours to resolve Israel’s issue with the prisoner transfer. They are threatening pursuit of international recognition, and the filing of criminal charges against Israel in international courts if the matter is not resolved.

"Remember how difficult it is for Israel to free prisoners," Dershowitz says. "These are people who have killed in cold blood. Some of them, when they’ve been released, have gone back to terrorist activities. So it’s very, very difficult.

"Just imagine Americans today releasing somebody like [Boston Marathon bombing suspect] Tsarnaev as part of a deal. Americans wouldn’t accept that, it would be utterly unacceptable.

"Or releasing someone who had done 9/11. For Israel, that’s what they’re being asked to do essentially, and it’s very difficult. This would help enormously."

Israeli leaders consider the approximately 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails to be criminals and terrorists. Palestinian leaders, conversely, see them as heroic freedom fighters.

Caroline B. Glick, a syndicated columnist, senior contributing editor to The Jerusalem Post, and author of  "The Israeli Solution: A One-State Plan for Peace in the Middle East," told Newsmax on Monday that the Obama administration is putting "inordinate pressure" on the Jewish state to play what she termed "a sucker’s game."


“Palestinians” give Kerry 24 hours to force Israelis to free jihad murderers

/ Jihad Watch
 
 
PalestiniansOr else that will be the end of this round of the “Peace Process” charade, and the “Palestinians” will go to the United Nations to seek unilateral recognition of statehood. That will lead to disputes over various territories, which will lead to more jihad war, which is what they want in the first place.

“Palestinians give Kerry 24 hours to solve prisoner crisis,” from AFP, March 31:
RAMALLAH – The Palestinians on Monday gave US Secretary of State John Kerry 24 hours to resolve a dispute with Israel over prisoners after which they will resume moves to seek international recognition.
“If we don’t get an answer from John Kerry on the prisoners tonight, we’ll begin to ask for membership in all UN agencies tomorrow,” Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghouti told AFP following a top-level leadership meeting in Ramallah which took place as Kerry arrived in Israel.
US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners under an agreement which brought the sides back to the negotiating table in July 2013.
Furious Palestinian officials have warned that unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could signal the end of the talks.
Another Palestinian official who attended the meeting in Ramallah told AFP “the Israeli government violated the agreements and must bear the consequences of its decisions.”
The two Palestinian officials also said that the leadership had confirmed there was “no link between the release of Palestinian prisoners and the extension of negotiations.”
Top officials also agreed there would be no extension of talks without a “comprehensive” freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, they said.
The peace talks, which have so far yielded no obvious results, are due to draw to a close on April 29 and US efforts are currently focused on getting the parties to agree to an extension….

'War on Common Core' Demonstration


Says it all...


Op-ed:
Settlements instead of peace...or so say the Palestinians
By: Diane Sori

"We are continuing to work with the Americans." 
Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks stalled

With the 'so-called' Palestinians refusing to budge on the all-important issue of formally recognizing Israel as a Jewish state along with forgoing the 'right of return' (they have NO right to return to anything)...and with the Palestinians claiming that Israel continues to reject their peace efforts by refusing to comply with the rules of international law for resolving said conflict (translation: for refusing to accept peace based on the now indefensible pre-'67 borders)...the diplomatic solution to the Israeli/Palestinian issue is for all intents and purposes coming to a grounding halt.

And recently, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni voiced concerns about having Israel going forward with these talks if the Palestinians do NOT commit themselves to continuing the negotiations past the April 29th deadline.

Also, a few weeks ago Israeli Radio reported that US officials are working to revive the negotiations by perhaps putting on the table the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for Israel abiding by their previous agreement to free the rest of the convicted terrorists and murderers...something that has been demanded by PA President Mahmoud Abbas if peace talks are to continue.

But now the Palestinians are angry that Israel has delayed this release and most likely will outright cancel the release of those remaining prisoners, but who cares that they're angry for Israel does NOT do well with threats and a threat is what Fatah official Hazem Abu Shanab issued when he said, "Israel will regret its decision not to go through with the release of the fourth batch." 

 
Yet even with this newest threat and after PA crybabies went running to the international media whining that Israel had refused to release the final batch of terrorists and murders, Benjamin Netanyahu...who is facing condemnation from hard-line members in his coalition over the release and facing a possible collapse of his government because of it...told his Likud Party ministers that Israel will NOT free the last of the prisoners unless it gets something in return and that freeing the prisoners, if it is to go through at all, will take several days to finalize. He also added that any further agreements will be subject to a government vote. "Either it will be finalized or it will implode; in any event, no deal will be made in the absence of a clear exchange benefiting both parties,” said Netanyahu.

Besides, with there being very little progress in the peace process to date, and with recent statements made by PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat that Mahmoud Abbas was staying in the talks only to secure the prisoner releases, Israeli officials are rightfully reconsidering the deal. I say screw the Palestinians...let the whole damn anything but a peace process implode as the Palestinians are owed NOTHING...therefore they deserve NOTHING.

Remember, last July in what was supposed to be a goodwill gesture on Israel's part and a precondition to the peace talks, Israel agreed to release a total of 104 prisoners in four batches...batches of terrorists and murderers tried and convicted for killing Israelis, including children. In return, the Palestinians promised (a muslim's promise is worth NOTHING...can you say taqiyya) NOT to abandon the peace talks and to stop their efforts to push for recognized statehood with the UN...or the U(seless) N(ations) as I call them. 


Israel has already released 78 of these bast*rds, but several of those released have taken part in the ongoing terrorist attacks against Israel and yet the Palestinians could care less and have demanded even more. Demands that include Israel agreeing to freeze all settlement construction...a demand Netanyahu has completely rejected. And standing up to the Palestinians, Israel has rightfully made demands of their own...demands that include the prisoner release be contingent upon a commitment from the Palestinians to extend peace negotiations beyond April, but the Palestinians want the prisoners freed first and only then will they agree to extend talks.

Under NO conditions should Israel agree to this even though Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, rejected Israel's demand outright saying that the peace talks and the prisoner release are two distinct issues, and then threatened Israel that they either release the prisoners or the Palestinians will pursue both statehood and sanctions against them for its occupation of land the Palestinians claim for a state.

So when all the tit-for-tat is stripped away what the Palestinians have done is drawn their own red line in the sand, and Barack HUSSEIN Obama has helped them draw it. And lest we forget that our miserable excuse of a Secretary of State, John 'Swiftboat' Kerry, has been pushing both sides...but more so Israel...to accept the U.S. 'framework' of principles for a final status agreement ..."or else."

And just yesterday Kerry suggested that to move the peace talks forward Israel should now be known as the “national homeland for Jews.” What an insult to Israel and Jews everywhere as this way Jews are corralled into a 'detention camp' style homeland instead of being citizens of the Jewish State of Israel.
 
And as to Kerry's "or else"...it's obvious that neither he nor Obama have learned that Benjamin Netanyahu does NOT do well with threats...does NOT do well with blackmail...and especially does NOT do well with either one of these two men who side with Israel's enemies. And to add insult to injury, being that he just wrapped up his failed talks with his Russian counterpart to end the Ukrainian crisis, yesterday Kerry went directly to Israel in order to save...translation: to screw up...the failing Israel/Palestinian anything but peace talks.

So it continues on as Barack HUSSEIN Obama gets his knife ready to once again stab Israel in the back.