Obama Admin Releases Another Gitmo Detainee Originally Deemed 'Too Dangerous to Release'

Leah Barkoukis / Townhall Tipsheet

 

The Obama administration released one of Guantanamo Bay’s longest-serving prisoners on Wednesday. Fawzi al-Odah, who had previously been classified as too dangerous to release, was sent back to Kuwait on the condition that he would serve one year in a militant-rehabilitation center.

In July, the board determined that al-Odah had most likely undergone terrorist training in Afghanistan and may have fought alongside the al-Qaida or the Taliban. The board, however, decided he had only a low level of training, did not have a leadership position in either group and could be released under certain conditions.

The board has cleared a handful other detainees but they have not yet been released.

His father, Khalid al-Odah, said in several interviews with The Associated Press over the years that his son was only a teacher in Afghanistan who had been wrongly turned over to the U.S. authorities in exchange for a bounty. […]

The Kuwaiti government hired high-profile lawyers and lobbyists to push for the release of a dozen of its citizens at Guantanamo, an effort set back when one carried out a suicide bomb attack in Iraq in April 2008.

Al-Odah’s release is “yet another dangerous example of the Obama administration's misguided motivation to empty and then close Guantanamo rather than protect the national security interests of the United States," Sen. Kelley Ayotte said.

The 37-year-old’s release brings the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay down to 148.

Make D.C. Listen: Voters Reject Illegal Alien Rewards

Michelle Malkin / Townhall Columnist

Enough is enough. An important bloc of voters made their voices heard on Tuesday. Their message: Quit rewarding people who violate our immigration laws. They chose a sovereign nation over an illegal alien sanctuary nation, and they told politicians in both parties loud and clear: Put Americans first.

Will D.C. listen?

These voters are tired of politicians creating magnets for illegal immigrants. They're tired of preferential treatment for defiant border-crossers, visa overstayers and deportation fugitives. They're tired of the heavy costs and consequences of the government's systemic refusal to protect its borders and fully implement interior enforcement.

Pay attention, both parties in the Beltway: These aren't voters in a red-state bastion. They're fed-up voters in bright blue Oregon -- a whopping 941,042 of them, to be exact -- who overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure to provide special driver's licenses "without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States."

When Democratic Gov. John Kitzhaber and radicals in the state legislature tried to push through illegal alien driver's cards against the will of the people, the people struck back and forced a full public vote and electoral accountability.

"Citizens expect our lawmakers to uphold our laws, not work at finding ways to circumvent them," said the group Protect Oregon Driver Licenses. "Oregon is the only state in the country that (gave citizens the) opportunity to vote on giving driver cards to those who cannot prove legal presence in the United States." If only every state had the power of initiative and referendum. Ten states, including California, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont and Washington, plus the District of Columbia, "have had the law forced upon them with little or no recourse available to them."
 
Listen up, D.C.: The Oregon proposal went down in flames by more than a 2-to-1 margin. More voters weighed in on Measure 88 than any other single candidate or question on the ballot, including the campaigns for governor, U.S. senator and marijuana legalization.

Who supported Measure 88? Entitled ethnic lobbyists, immigration lawyers, American worker-betraying labor unions like the SEIU and UFCW, the ACLU, the militant Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, agricultural interests, NARAL, far-left church leaders, soft-on-illegal-immigration newspaper editorial boards, and some business-pandering Republicans.

Pro-amnesty actress and Barack Obama campaign finance bundler Eva Longoria's "Latino Victory Project" forked over $50,000 to the pro-Measure 88 PAC. The open-borders campaign raised a whopping $500,000-plus from its deep-pocketed Big Government/Big Business/Hollywood patrons.

Who opposed the referendum? Grassroots citizens and a majority of common-sense sheriffs in Oregon who were outspent 10-to-1.

The police, sheriffs and border patrol agents who opposed Measure 88 forcefully connected the dots between immigration enforcement and homeland security. As I've reported repeatedly over the years, driver's licenses are tickets into the American mainstream. They allow residents to establish an identity and foothold into their communities. They help you open bank accounts, enter secure facilities and, yes, board planes.

Jihadis Launch Twitter Fundraising Drives to Arm and Supply Muslim Soldiers

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

When I launched fundraising campaigns online to raise money to run ads opposing jihad terror, scores of “moderate” Muslims and their leftist stooges worked furiously to get the crowdfunder taken down. They created hashtags, twitter campaigns, etc. They wrote and tweeted at CEO and encouraged their followers to do the same.

Hamas-CAIR, Reza Aslan’s lapdog Nathan Lean, Faithiest author (fake) atheist Chris Stedman and Islamic propaganda websites all viciously went after Indiegogo to cancel our fundraising efforts. To Indiegogo’s credit, they did not.

The question is why aren’t these “moderates” responding with equal or more fervor to Muslims raising money online to slaughter the infidel? We are...

Read the whole entry »

     

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Moderate Abbas’ Fatah encourages Muslims to wage vehicular jihad and run over Jews

Robert Spencer / Jihad Watch

 

“Of course, Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with anyone who is dedicated to its destruction.

But while I know you have had differences with the Palestinian Authority, I believe that you do have a true partner in President Abbas…” — Barack Obama, March 21, 2013

“Abbas’ Fatah encourages terror attacks by car,” by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch, November 6, 2014:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement continues to heat up the atmosphere in Jerusalem and actively encourages Palestinians to carry out attacks on Israelis by running them over with cars.

Today, the above cartoon appeared on one of Fatah’s official Facebook pages. “Fatah-The Main Page” labeled the cartoon “the run over organization” (a play on words on the Arabic word for “run over” – da’es – and the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State terror organization – Da’esh). The cartoon  urges people to “Hit the gas at 199 [km/h] for Al-Aqsa.” The crossed-over traffic sign says “Al-Aqsa,” hinting that Jews are not allowed to enter the Temple Mount. [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," Nov. 6, 2014]

Another post instructs: “Run over, friend, run over the foreign settler!”  [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," Nov. 6, 2014]

“The Jews are defiling Al-Aqsa – will you not rage??” was the text of another post yesterday, showing a picture of a shouting Yasser Arafat, thus trying to heat up the atmosphere further. [Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," Nov. 5, 2014]

A picture of a man shooting with a rifle was posted with the words: “Restore your glory.” [Facebook, Fatah - The Main Page," Nov. 6, 2014]

Another Fatah Facebook page, “The National Liberation Movement – Fatah,” posted a cartoon showing a car trying to ram into three fleeing Jews.

Text under the cartoon: “#Da’es (i.e., ‘run over’) – a new hashtag”

[Facebook, "The Palestinian National Liberation Movement - Fatah,"
Nov. 6, 2014]…

Condoleezza Rice hits Democratic race baiters hard in post-midterm comments

by Ben Bullard / Personal Liberty Digest

 

Now that her most visible public role involves selecting worthy contenders for a college football playoff, you might think Condoleezza Rice would stifle her impulse to speak plainly about partisan political squabbles.

Hardly. Rice unloaded on Democrats for one of their pet midterm campaign strategies Thursday, telling Fox News that racial fearmongering is an insulting, ineffective and reality-blind tactic that has no place in modern America — a country she described as “the best place on Earth to be a minority.”

“The idea that you would play such a ‘card,’ and try fearmongering among minorities just because you disagree with Republicans — that they are somehow all racists — I find it appalling. I find it insulting,” she said.

“Of course we still have racial tensions in this country. But the United States of America has made enormous progress in race relations, and it is still the best place on Earth to be a minority.”

The former secretary of state under President Georges W. Bush drove her point home in overt fashion.

“As a Republican black woman from the South, I would say to them, ‘really?’ Is that really the argument you’re going to make in 2014? … I’ve been black all my life — I don’t need anyone to tell me how to be black,” she scolded.

Rice’s comments come two days after voters handed the U.S. Senate majority to Republican candidates and further cemented the GOP’s firm majority in the House of Representatives. One GOP victory that upended the Democrats’ race-baiting narrative was that of South Carolina Republican Tim Scott, who won an overwhelming victory in his Senate race.

Scott became the first elected black Senator from the Palmetto State (or anywhere else in the South) since 1881.

Predictably, the progressive side of the political landscape had no congratulations to offer. Perhaps they were taking their cues from the NAACP, which gave Scott one of the lowest ratings of any member of Congress — using qualifiers that align closely with the agenda of the Obama administration — in its civil rights “report card.”

Politico: 'Great Unrest' Among Democrats Over Pelosi After Midterms

James Morrison / NEWSMAX

No Democrat dares publicly challenge powerful House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, even after losing the House in 2010 and losing more members on Tuesday. But privately, "there is great unrest," one Democrat said Thursday.

“As a party, we need to change,” the unnamed Democrat told Politico.

His comments reflected a growing unease among rank-and-file Democrats, who still believe their policies are popular among the American public but complain that Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic congressional leadership are failing to broaden the party’s appeal.

Pelosi and Democrat Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland sent letters to their colleagues on Wednesday, announcing they will run again for their posts in the Nov. 18 closed-door party leadership election.

"To succeed, we must inspire, educate and remove obstacles to participation. Only by changing our political environment and broadening the universe of the electorate can we build a strong sense of community and an economy that works for everyone," Pelosi wrote.

"This basic and even nonpartisan challenge, which many of you told me you share, have convinced me to place my name in nomination for Leader when our Caucus meets," she wrote. "I respectfully request your support, your comments and your participation."

A senior Democratic staffer told Politico that Pelosi needs to broaden her core of supporters and advisers.

“If I had to make a bet, I think she would be the leader this coming cycle, but folks hope that Nancy Pelosi will reach out and include some folks that aren’t often included,” the staffer said.

The squabbling has gotten so bad that even the liberal newspaper Newsday, is urging Pelosi to go.

"It’s time for new leadership," wrote Alvin Bessent, who also called for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to step down.

"But the real problem with the status quo is that Reid and Pelosi have been piñatas for the GOP for a long time, and are now the faces of failure. That can't be good for Democrats desperately seeking a comeback," Bessent said.

Only one Democrat, newly elected House member Gwen Graham of Florida, has announced she will not support Pelosi.

"I am not Nancy Pelosi. Neither am I Barack Obama or Harry Reid. I am Gwen Graham," Graham said in a debate last month.

"And I am going to go to Washington and represent this district so incredibly well, and represent all of the counties of this district."

The names most frequently mentioned as potential replacements for Pelosi are:
Xavier Becerra of California, the Democratic Caucus chairman; Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the Budget Committee; and Steve Israel of New York, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Op-ed: 
Stopping Obama's Executive Orders    
By: Diane Sori

“But what I’m not going to do is just wait for the GOP to pass an immigration bill."                          - Barack HUSSEIN Obama at Wednesday's press conference after being steamrolling by the Republicans  
                                                                     
Whew...we did it and we did it BIG! The Republicans are back in control of the Senate and have the largest majority in the House since the Hoover era. In other words, Barack HUSSEIN Obama and his failed politics and policies have, for the most part, been rendered politically impotent.

But true to form, at Wednesday's press conference, Obama tried to blame everybody but himself for the Republican steamrolling his politics and policies got. Saying, "The election results are clear. I still have a mandate for my polices from the two-thirds of Americans who didn't vote," Obama just does NOT get that it's quite the opposite...those NOT voting were his very own sheeple, kool-aders, and party loyalists.

And with the Republican victory...a victory BIGGER than even the talking heads had predicted...America loudly told Obama that they totally reject him and his politics and policies. And with the Republicans now giving new meaning to the words 'lame duck,' this most miserable excuse of a president still, unfortunately, has the power of the veto along with his infamous 'pen and phone'...which gives him the ability to issue Executive Orders ad-nauseum. And we know Obama will issue a plethora of Executive Orders as 'payback'...as revenge... to hurt 'We the People' for daring to cross him by voting against him. And while Executive Orders are technically policy or procedure issued by the president that apply only to Executive Branch employees...they are now being used to direct certain 'tasks or actions' to Cabinet members along with some Executive Orders having the 'force of law' after being approved by the Senate and/or the House...and it's this approval that must be stopped.

But even with all this leeway of sorts, Obama is forgetting two important things... Congress knows that his Executive Orders come from a desire to bypass them and that just like Executive Orders can be made into law they also can be overturned... that is if this new Congress is serious about undoing the damage this man has done to our country. First thing they must understand is that any Executive Order that has any effect on individuals that are NOT government employees is a violation of Article I Section I of the Constitution, meaning Congress has a responsibility to both 'We the People' and the Constitution to veto any Executive Order that has any effect on any non-governmental employees.

And while Executive Orders, most of the time, are quite innocuous in their intent even though they might be used to create major policy changes, we must fear Obama's Executive Orders for they are maliciously and deliberately being used against the American people for nefarious purposes. Case in point...Obama plans before this year's end to grant amnesty to at least 11 million ILLEGALS currently residing in this country and doing so through Exec­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­utive Order even though two out of three Americans are opposed to this.

And while there is NO specific provision in the Constitution that permits amnesty per se, there is a "grant of executive power" given in Article II of the Constitution which allows Obama some degree of 'discretionary power' in issuing this order if he deems it to be both 'necessary and proper.'  In fact, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution gives Obama broad pardon powers even to those breaking federal laws, however, this is negated by the fact that Obama has NOT enforced the immigration laws currently on the books. And with Article II Section 3 listing the duties of the president, the next from last clause clearly states that “the president must take care that laws are faithfully executed." So if Obama modifies in any way the current immigration laws on the books through Executive Order, or if he chooses to selectively enforce only certain provisions of said laws through Executive Order, he is then in direct violation of this clause thus making his Executive Order null and void.

And adding to Obama's possible chagrin is the fact that Executive Orders...even those orders issued by the man who thinks himself America's king...are subject to judicial review. And this means Obama's Executive Orders can be struck down and rendered null and void if the Supreme Court deems said orders to be unsupported by statute. And this is one critical reason why Obama wants to stack the highest court in our land with left-leaning liberal judges.

And with any Executive Order issued by Obama needing to find support either in the Constitution through a clause granting him a specific power, or by the delegation of said power by Congress to him...if said support cannot be found and Obama issues the order anyway, Congress itself can overturn the Executive Order by simply overturning parts of the order instead of going after the finalized order itself. For example, if the Executive Order is based on a statute, Congress can change that statute, thus nullifying the order. Or Congress can refuse to fund any activities that derive from all or part of said order. And the only way this would NOT apply is if Obama acts according to an exclusive power granted to him by the Constitution.

Simply, this means that any of Obama's Executive Orders can be overturned by either the Supreme Court through a specific case brought in front of them, or by Congress passing legislation that would conflict with the order by their refusing to approve or appropriate funding to enforce the order.

And while Obama could and would veto any such ruling from Congress, Congress can still override his veto with a two-thirds majority that would nullify any Executive Order he issued. And even with the huge Republican win this past Tuesday, such an action would still require a super majority vote...meaning some Democrats would have to crossover and vote with the Republicans. But please remember, this is NOT an impossibility as the Democrats coming up for re-election in 2016 might fear the mandate 'We the People' just sent to Obama and the left enough to realize that they would be next if they went against the wishes of the American people and sided with the now politically toxic Barack HUSSEIN Obama.

But there is another way Obama could grant amnesty to the 11 million ILLEGALS if he chose NOT to go the Executive Order route...he could issue a 'policy directive' but that too would give Congress the same authority to get rid of all or part of said directive the same way they could override an Executive Order...that is if they have the backbone to ignore the race card that would be thrown at them and do so.

So while Obama keeps bloviating that he thinks it's safe to say that he's shown a lot of patience in regards to the Republicans stonewalling immigration reform and to the criticism he's received over his issuing of numerous Executive Orders, I think I've shown a lot of patience by NOT saying until now that Barack HUSSEIN Obama is totally and completely full of_______well you guys fill in the blank with your own choice of the many descriptive words that I'm sure come to mind.