Democrats Adopt Mob Tactics To Gin Up Turnout

Think I'm exaggerating? This is the letter that was sent from the New York State Democratic Committee to voters...like singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulten, who shared this via Twitter:

 

“Dear _______
  Our records indicate that you are registered to vote in Kings County.

  Who you vote for is your secret. But whether or not you vote is public record.  Many organizations monitor turnout in your neighborhood and are disappointed by the inconsistent voting of many of your neighbors.

Here is some information you may need to vote:
      The polls are open from 6am to 9pm.
      You can confirm your voter registration by visiting [a website]
      If you have any questions about voting, please call [telephone number]

  We will be reviewing Kings County official voting records after the upcoming election to determine whether you joined your neighbors who voted in 2014. If you do not vote this year, we will be interested to hear why not.”

Interested to hear why not? Disappointed in 'inconsistent voting records?'

That's sounds almost like this, from 'The Sopranos', doesn't it?



If you don't do the right thing, are a couple of ACORN thugs going to show up at your front door demanding to know why? And does anyone really think that in a Blue state like New York, whom you voted for a really a secret?

Apparently, this outraged quite a few people, and might just backfire. The NYDC claimed they were just trying to make sure 'everybody votes' and NYDC Peter Kauffmann claimed this was just "part of the nationwide Democratic response to traditional Republican voter-suppression efforts, because Democrats believe our democracy works better when more people vote, not less.”

Horse manure.

The accusation of Republican voter suppression is demonstrably ludicrous, but if getting more voters to show up at the polls is the goal then why not send these letters to everyone? After all, there are plenty of pubic service announcements that do just that. No, they wanted to reach only certain voters, and remind them that they're being watched to make sure they don't wander off the Democrat plantation...that they don't disappoint, or else.

The important thing about this is that it shows the barely hidden Fascist side of 'progressivism', the club and the jackboot behind the faux benign exterior.

People definitely need to get that message, and send one of their own November 4th.

Quote O' The Day

"Texas has been a conservative state since dinosaurs roamed it 6000 years ago...You poor bastards. Dems trying to turn Texas blue are like some straight guy in a bar hitting on a girl even though he knows she's a lesbian. 'Dude, I know I can flip her, I just need time.' " - Jon Stewart, last night on his Comedy Central show from of course, mostly Blue Austin
( known as 'Austin-tacious' to most Texans).

I have to admit that my own experience in that area with lesbians has apparently been a lot different that John Stewarts's, but he has a point.

The Council Has Spoken!! Watcher's Council Results

 


The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

A world that did not lift a finger when Hitler was wiping out six million Jewish men, women, and children is now saying that the Jewish state of Israel will not survive if it does not come to terms with the Arabs. My feeling is that no one in this universe has the right and the competence to tell Israel what it has to do in order to survive. On the contrary, it is Israel that can tell us what to do. It can tell us that we shall not survive if we do not cultivate and celebrate courage, if we coddle traitors and deserters, bargain with terrorists, court enemies, and scorn friends." - Eric Hoffer, Before The Sabbath, 1974.

"The only thing chicken about Israel is their soup."
- Bob Hope

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that an American administration would denounce the state of Israel for rebuilding Jerusalem." - Rep. Mike Pence

As a Jew, it is my historic responsibility to defend the Jewish people. I feel this responsibility for the survival of the Jewish people. We're not going to accept any decision by anybody else about security of the State of Israel. It is our role and only our role.- Ariel Sharon

 

A few days ago, there was an article published by The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that was fairly revealing about the current state of the relationship between the Obama Administration and Israel. In this week's winner, Joshuapundit-Chickensh*t , I had a few things to say about that situation, as well as the real story about how it came about. Here's a slice:

That quaint kid's playground epithet is the money quote from an article entitled "The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here," posted by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic.

It's what Goldberg reports that an anonymous senior Obama administration official called Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in a conversation Goldberg had with him. And in the article, Goldberg also mentions that President Obama "in interviews with me, has alluded to Netanyahu’s lack of political courage."

Now, for all that Jeffrey Goldberg has consistently been a fairly servile apologist for the president and the Obama Administration when it comes to Israel, he's not entirely wrong that Netanyahu has been guilty of a lack of courage in some instances. But that lack of courage is from an entirely different direction than Goldberg supposes.

Contrary to the tile of Jeffrey Goldberg's piece, the crisis in US-Israel relations started from the moment Barack Hussein Obama was elected president. Where Netanyahu and certain other Israeli leaders have exhibited a lack of courage is in trying desperately to deny and fend it off, and make believe it wasn't happening.

Barack Obama started his presidency by stating openly (once he was safely elected) that he wanted to create daylight between the U.S. and Israel, and he has been doing so ever since.

Is Jeffrey Goldberg suffering from amnesia? Do we really need to revisit the climate that's been created between the US and Israel since Barack Obama took over as president?  His repudiation of the agreements made with Israel by President Bush  that convinced Israeli PM Ariel Sharon to go ahead with the Gaza disengagement, claiming they never existed? His call for Israel to re-divide Jerusalem and retreat to indefensible borders? His telling Iran that Israel was on its own in the event of any hostilities? His insisting that Israel has no right to Jewish religious sites? His repeated statements that the Palestinians need not recognize Israel as a Jewish State and his continued funding of the Palestinian Authority in spite of their continued support and incitement for terrorism against Israeli civilians? His instituting what amounted to a de facto arms embargo for six months during the early part of his first term? His approval and funding of the new Hamas/Fatah entity which includes a genocidal terrorist group? The list could go on for quite some time.

Would any other sovereign nation put up with constant temper tantrums from a foreign government over building homes in its own capital? With pressure to release convicted murderers from its jails as a 'gesture for peace?' With mysterious holdups for bureaucratic 'review' of badly needed military supplies in the middle of a war? With deliberately insulting treatment of its elected leader by the president of what was supposed to be a closely allied government?

While Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have sometimes made statements that have revealed a lack of discretion,it's been in reaction to a long climate of outright hostility from the White House that makes even former President Carter's tenure look benign by comparison. Jeffrey Goldberg might wish to forget it, but it was the overt actions and attitude from this president and his administration towards Israel and Netanyahu that came first and poisoned the well.

The Israelis never figured on a president getting elected in America who had an animus towards Israel, and their futile attempts to muddle through and somehow make the relationship work only made President Obama more insistent, unreasonable and demanding.

And speaking of political courage, let's take a good look at what gave Barack Obama the license to act out this way towards Israel. It was America's Jews on the Left - like Jeffrey Goldberg.
Remember this,from back in 2008? (courtesy of Omri Ceren):

So, all you rumor-mongering, fever-headed Jewish conspiracists: Support McCain, if you want, and there are credible reasons for doing so, but stop smearing Obama in the face of overwhelming evidence that the man is a great friend of Jews and of Israel. After a point, it becomes obvious that what you fear is not Israel's destruction, but the presence of an African-American in the White House. And that's disgusting.

Obama's background and his feelings about Israel were obvious to anyone whom bothered to look at him honestly. President Barack Obama has had close associations with Israel haters and in some cases open anti-semites his entire life. Frank Marshall Davis, Edward Said, Rashid al-Khalidi, Khalid al-Mansour, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Al Sharpton and others like them all figure or have figured prominently in his background.

So how did this all slip by?

What happened is that many on the Left and those in media simply didn't want to know, especially Jews. They made a clear decision that voting Democrat and embracing their Leftist politics meant more to them than supporting their brothers and sisters in Israel. It was this hideous betrayal that enabled President Obama to act out and make support for Israel as an ally a partisan issue once he was elected. A significant number of American Jews voted Democrat in 2008 and found solace in candidate Obama telling them what they wanted to hear, in political groups the George Soros financed J-Street,and the NJDC, and in the bogus mantra of 'the two state solution'. It enabled President Obama to neuter AIPAC, as well as other Jewish groups. With a few honorable exceptions, they all fell in line with the New Order. And even after they had ample evidence of President Obama's attitude towards Israel during his first term, most of them voted for him again.

And this backing of Obama and his agenda led,in case no one's noticed, not only to the increased intransigence of Abbas and Fatah but to the increased hostility towards Jews and Israel in places like the EU and and a rising climate of Jew hatred in places like university campuses, again with some rare exceptions. The backing of the majority of America's Jews for Obama and their tolerance for his policies was and is the protective cover and the impetus for all of it.

More at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Sultan Knish –The Left's Worst Crime in the Middle East submitted by The Noisy Room. The crime he's talking about? Ah, you'll have to read it to find out, and read it you should, because the Sultan is definitely on target with this one.

Here are this week’s full results.

Council Winners

• *First place with 3 2/3 votes!–Joshuapundit-Chickensh*t


• Second place with 2 1/3 votes –The Right Planet – No Gaslighting for Ottawa


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -Simply Jews – Why we must talk to ISIS: please do tell...


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -The Noisy Room – The Ties That Bind Michael Bloomberg, Qatar and Radical Islam


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes -The Independent Sentinel – Drudge Beware: FEC Joins Attacks on Free Speech of Conservatives



• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote – Nice Deb – Why Does CNN host Carol Costello Still Have A Job?


• Fifth place with 2/3 vote – VA Right! - 2014 Senate Polls are All Skewed Up


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote –Bookworm Room – The American college application process reveals a bias against paid work


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Rhymes With Right – More Proof That Wendy Davis Has No Shame

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! – Sultan Knish –The Left's Worst Crime in the Middle East submitted by The Noisy Room


• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Rebelpundit -Chicago Activists Unchained, Destroy Black Leadership submitted by Nice Deb


• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Seraphic Secret – The Redefinition of Marriage is Not About Marriage submitted by The Watcher


• Third place with 1 2/3 votes -The Other McCain – Never Forget Joe McCarthy Was Right submitted by The Right Planet


• Fourth place with 1 vote -The Contentious Centrist – The strange case of Obama's problem with words submitted by Simply Jews


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes -David Adesnik/Weekly Standard – Rand Paul's Contradictory Foreign Policy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 votes -Clark Bianco/Popehat – The Three Stages of Gamer Gate submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Andrew Michta/The American Interest – Europe's Moment of Blinding Strategic Clarity submitted by The Razor


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Ian Tuttle/NRO – South Texas Democrats Leave Wendy Davis Off Voter Guidesubmitted by Rhymes with Right


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Clarice Feldman/American Thinker-Serfin' USA submitted by Bookworm Room


• Sixth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Victor Davis Hanson – Crimes of Exactly What? submitted by Joshuapundit

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Weasel Of The Week!!

Fanfare, everyone!It’s time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were all slime-worthy,but in the end the winner by a nose was....



CNN 'News Anchor' Carol Costello!!

 Nice Deb :Although CNN News Anchor Carol Costello shouldn't have a job after her disturbing antics, last week, she does deserve to be considered for the esteemed title of Weasel of the Week in my humble opinion.

In the shocking segment, Costello could barely contain her glee over hearing new audio of Bristol Palin describing her assault at a party in Alaska a few weeks ago. In fact, Costello called it "quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across.”

Costello then proceeded to describe the “massive brawl” and before playing the audio she told her viewers “so sit back and enjoy.”

What you were asked to “sit back and enjoy” was the sound of a tearful and near hysterical Bristol Palin describing to the police the physical assault she had just experienced.

Despite overwhelming approbation from fellow journalists and conservatives appalled by her hypocrisy, Costello has thus far resisted offering an apology on the air for gloating over Bristol Palin's distress, instead opting to offer a weak and weaselly apology to Politico.

Virginia Right! :I am going to go with Carol Costello of CNN who was absolutely bubbly about Bristol Palin  being assaulted.

People that hate Sarah Palin so much ought to be in jail. There is no place in America for such hate by proxy.

Yes, this weeks' honors went to Carol Costello, who yet again proved that the real war on women is being carried on by the Left, and that women who have left the Left's Plantation and think for themselves are fair game for pretty much anything, no matter how vile.We all know that if it was Wendy Davis, Debby BlabberMouth Schultz or Rachel Maddow getting assaulted, you know Carol Costello's jowls would have been quivering in outrage and she'd be yowling like an outraged alley cat.

Actually, considering CNN's ratings, I'm kinda surprised so many people noticed anything this 53-year-old partisan hack was doing, even in morning prime time. But they did. As a matter of fact, there's even a #firecarolcostello hash tag on Twitter, and a CNN Should Fire Carol Costello Facebook page.Apparently a lot of people found Carol Costello's disgusting schadenfreude over the assault on Bristol Palin nauseating, although her network doesn't seem to since they haven't forced her to make an on air apology - yet.

Not only that,but other instances of Ms. Costello's particular brand of hypocrisy have come to light..like her on-air attack on ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith, who she shrieked should be fired or be suspended for  comments he made about the Ray Rice controversy after he apologized for them on the air.

It's the Carol Costellos of the world who make awarding the statuette of shame such a gratifying experience.

Well, we have the Golden Weasel all ready to add to the other souvenirs Carol Costello has undoubtedly collected over her career. However, at the express request of Sarah Palin, we sent the Weasel to the Governor so that she could have the pleasure of personally awarding it to Ms. Costello. From what Mama Grizzly said, if I understood her correctly, she wants to make a point of 'giving it to her good' in person and is willing to come down to New York to spend some private time with Ms. Costello to 'let her have it'.

Seemed like the right thing to do to me..

And BTW, when I happened to catch a clip of  Governor Palin on FOX this week with Stuart Varney she sounded great,  hasn't lost any of the old fire and hinted at running for office again...



Well, there it is! 

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and  remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Israel To Give Desperately Needed Developmental Aid To...California!

This is not a joke at all. California's Governor Jerry Brown has just signed a strategic cooperation Agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to receive aid from Israel.

California has been going through a catastrophic drought for three years now, which has cost the state's economy at least $2.2 billion and left 500,000 acres of what was once rich,productive farmland fallow.

So where did California turn to for help? Not the Obama White House, but to Israel, the world's acknowledged expert on irrigation and water use.

Prof. Eilon Adar, a world expert in groundwater flow systems, will work to help the state work out solutions to the issue. Prof. Adar visited San Fransisco and Silicon Valley, touring desalination plants in northern California, and participating in a state-wide conference in which a slew of possibly technological solutions were presented.

"If we managed to overcome the water issues in the Middle East, we can do it anywhere in the world," Prof. Adar said. "Nonetheless, (to address the issue) they will need to improve the management and efficiency of the water market and increase and optimize the coordination between the water companies."

He's got that right. Israel is the only country in the entire Middle East that is self sufficient in water. And they did it themselves, in a hostile environment.

"We are pushing ahead with the water issue and branding Israel as part of the solution, an ally with the know how whom can come to help in a time of need," said Andy David, Israel's consul to California.

I hope California's Democrats remember whom their friends are when it comes to voting on President Obama's anti-Israel, pro 'Palestine' agenda. An Israel pushed back to indefensible borders and under attack isn't going to be much help to the world in situations like these.

Watcher's Council Nominations - Job Creation Edition

Just goes to show you that Hillary Clinton wasn't entirely mistaken. Not all jobs come from corporations and small business!With the midterms a week away, I think it's only fair to look at the jobs President Obama's policies have created, don't you?

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

Council News:

This week, Big Jolly Politics, The Elder Of Ziyon, The Political Commentator and Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion earned honorable mention status with some great articles.

You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.

To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (mandatory, but of course it won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out on Wednesday morning

Simple, no?

It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

• The Independent Sentinel – Drudge Beware: FEC Joins Attacks on Free Speech of Conservatives


• Simply Jews – Why we must talk to ISIS: please do tell...


• The Noisy Room – The Ties That Bind Michael Bloomberg, Qatar and Radical Islam


• The Razor – Ebola in America: How to Fund Research


• GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Ashura Attack


• The Right Planet – No Gaslighting for Ottawa


• The Glittering Eye -The Big Picture


• Rhymes With Right – More Proof That Wendy Davis Has No Shame


• Nice Deb – Why Does CNN host Carol Costello Still Have A Job?


• Joshuapundit-Chickensh*t


• Bookworm Room – The American college application process reveals a bias against paid work


• VA Right! - 2014 Senate Polls are All Skewed Up

Honorable Mentions

• Big Jolly Politics - How about those Democrats? Voter fraud much? (h/t Rhymes With Right)


• The Elder Of Ziyon - UNRWA teaches first graders to call for Israel's destruction


• The Political Commentator - Lucy And Linus Discuss Politics


• David Gerstman/Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Report: Obama Administration Looks to Sweeten Nuclear Deal for Iran. Again.

Non-Council Submissions

• Ludvig Von Mises Institute –Obamacare Is Not a Revolution, It Is Mere Evolution submitted by The Independent Sentinel


• The Contentious Centrist – The strange case of Obama's problem with words submitted by Simply Jews


• Sultan Knish –The Left's Worst Crime in the Middle East submitted by The Noisy Room


• Andrew Michta/The American Interest – Europe's Moment of Blinding Strategic Clarity submitted by The Razor


• David Adesnik/Weekly Standard – Rand Paul's Contradictory Foreign Policy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD


• The Other McCain – Never Forget Joe McCarthy Was Right submitted by The Right Planet


• Clark Bianco/Popehat – The Three Stages of Gamer Gate submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Ian Tuttle/NRO – South Texas Democrats Leave Wendy Davis Off Voter Guidesubmitted by Rhymes with Right


• Rebelpundit -Chicago Activists Unchained, Destroy Black Leadership submitted by Nice Deb


• Victor Davis Hanson – Crimes of Exactly What? submitted by Joshuapundit


• Clarice Feldman/American Thinker-Serfin' USA submitted by Bookworm Room


• Byron York/The Examiner – In Gardner, a Look at the GOP's Happy Future submitted by VA Right!


• Seraphic Secret – The Redefinition of Marriage is Not About Marriage submitted by The Watcher


• Kevin D. Williamson – City Slackers submitted by The Watcher

Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Chickensh*t

 

That quaint kid's playground epithet is the money quote from an article entitled "The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here," posted by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic.

It's what Goldberg reports that an anonymous senior Obama administration official called Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in a conversation Goldberg had with him. And in the article, Goldberg also mentions that President Obama "in interviews with me, has alluded to Netanyahu’s lack of political courage."

Now, for all that Jeffrey Goldberg has consistently been a fairly servile apologist for the president and the Obama Administration when it comes to Israel, he's not entirely wrong that Netanyahu has been guilty of a lack of courage in some instances. But that lack of courage is from an entirely different direction than Goldberg supposes.

Contrary to the tile of Jeffrey Goldberg's piece, the crisis in US-Israel relations started from the moment Barack Hussein Obama was elected president. Where Netanyahu and certain other Israeli leaders have exhibited a lack of courage is in trying desperately to deny and fend it off, and make believe it wasn't happening.

Barack Obama started his presidency by stating openly (once he was safely elected) that he wanted to create daylight between the U.S. and Israel, and he has been doing so ever since.

Is Jeffrey Goldberg suffering from amnesia? Do we really need to revisit the climate that's been created between the US and Israel since Barack Obama took over as president?  His repudiation of the agreements made with Israel by President Bush  that convinced Israeli PM Ariel Sharon to go ahead with the Gaza disengagement, claiming they never existed? His call for Israel to re-divide Jerusalem and retreat to indefensible borders? His telling Iran that Israel was on its own in the event of any hostilities? His insisting that Israel has no right to Jewish religious sites? His repeated statements that the Palestinians need not recognize Israel as a Jewish State and his continued funding of the Palestinian Authority in spite of their continued support and incitement for terrorism against Israeli civilians? His instituting what amounted to a de facto arms embargo for six months during the early part of his first term? His approval and funding of the new Hamas/Fatah entity which includes a genocidal terrorist group? The list could go on for quite some time.

Would any other sovereign nation put up with constant temper tantrums from a foreign government over building homes in its own capital? With pressure to release convicted murderers from its jails as a 'gesture for peace?' With mysterious holdups for bureaucratic 'review' of badly needed military supplies in the middle of a war? With deliberately insulting treatment of its elected leader by the president of what was supposed to be a closely allied government?

While Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have sometimes made statements that have revealed a lack of discretion,it's been in reaction to a long climate of outright hostility from the White House that makes even former President Carter's tenure look benign by comparison. Jeffrey Goldberg might wish to forget it, but it was the overt actions and attitude from this president and his administration towards Israel and Netanyahu that came first and poisoned the well.

The Israelis never figured on a president getting elected in America who had an animus towards Israel, and their futile attempts to muddle through and somehow make the relationship work only made President Obama more insistent, unreasonable and demanding.

And speaking of political courage, let's take a good look at what gave Barack Obama the license to act out this way towards Israel. It was America's Jews on the Left - like Jeffrey Goldberg.
Remember this,from back in 2008? (courtesy of Omri Ceren):

So, all you rumor-mongering, fever-headed Jewish conspiracists: Support McCain, if you want, and there are credible reasons for doing so, but stop smearing Obama in the face of overwhelming evidence that the man is a great friend of Jews and of Israel. After a point, it becomes obvious that what you fear is not Israel's destruction, but the presence of an African-American in the White House. And that's disgusting.

Obama's background and his feelings about Israel were obvious to anyone whom bothered to look at him honestly. President Barack Obama has had close associations with Israel haters and in some cases open anti-semites his entire life. Frank Marshall Davis, Edward Said, Rashid al-Khalidi, Khalid al-Mansour, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Al Sharpton and others like them all figure or have figured prominently in his background.

So how did this all slip by?

What happened is that many on the Left and those in media simply didn't want to know, especially Jews. They made a clear decision that voting Democrat and embracing their Leftist politics meant more to them than supporting their brothers and sisters in Israel. It was this hideous betrayal that enabled President Obama to act out and make support for Israel as an ally a partisan issue once he was elected. A significant number of American Jews voted Democrat in 2008 and found solace in candidate Obama telling them what they wanted to hear, in political groups the George Soros financed J-Street,and the NJDC, and in the bogus mantra of 'the two state solution'. It enabled President Obama to neuter AIPAC, as well as other Jewish groups. With a few honorable exceptions, they all fell in line with the New Order. And even after they had ample evidence of President Obama's attitude towards Israel during his first term, most of them voted for him again.

And this backing of Obama and his agenda led,in case no one's noticed, not only to the increased intransigence of Abbas and Fatah but to the increased hostility towards Jews and Israel in places like the EU and and a rising climate of Jew hatred in places like university campuses, again with some rare exceptions. The backing of the majority of America's Jews for Obama and their tolerance for his policies was and is the protective cover and the impetus for all of it.

And it's ironic that Goldberg himself, whom I'm sure knows this as well as I do is still drinking the same Kool-Ade. Read this from his article today:


Unlike the U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, I don’t have any hope for the immediate creation of a Palestinian state (it could be dangerous, at this chaotic moment in Middle East history, when the Arab-state system is in partial collapse, to create an Arab state on the West Bank that could easily succumb to extremism), but I would also like to see Israel foster conditions on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem that would allow for the eventual birth of such a state. This is what the Obama administration wants (and also what Europe wants, and also, by the way, what many Israelis and American Jews want), and this issue sits at the core of the disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem.

I'm sure that in the rarefied bubble Jeffrey Goldberg lives in, there are plenty of Jews who have no problem with creating Jewish refugees, redividing Jerusalem again and making it Jew-free 'for peace'. But hardly any Israelis do, now that they've seen up close what that means. Fully 76% of them,more than three out of four would oppose any kind of Palestinian state that would redivide Jerusalem and put half of it under the control of Hamas/Fatah.

What 'conditions' does Jeffrey Goldberg expect Israel to foster? Stop building in Jerusalem while the Arabs continue to build illegally and make East Jerusalem into their de facto capital? Stop Jews from living there because they're Jews? Ignore the current terrorist attacks and the intifada in Jerusalem incited and ordered by Abbas and Hamas, something that was planned by them a year ago and was just awaiting the proper excuse to be launched? Ignore Abbas's alliance with a genocidal terrorist group?

Actually, what the Jeffrey Goldbergs want is a lot simpler. They want Israel to bend over, do whatever President Obama and John Kerry tell Israel to do and stop embarrassing them.

And they think Bibi Netanyahu 'lacks political courage?'

It is highly possible President Obama will have the U.S. abstain from Mahmoud Abbas's attempt to push through a UN Security Council resolution gifting Hamas/Fatah all of Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem to create 'Palestine' on the pre '67 lines. If that happens and it passes, or if the president seeks to impose his own, similar diktat on Israel, Israel will simply refuse to comply, since they can't without committing national suicide. The response from the usual suspects is easy to predict. How dare Israel defy the UN diktat to create half a million Jewish refugees, redivide Jerusalem and to give Abbas and Hamas the ability to turn Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem into attack platforms like Gaza! How dare they defy President Obama! What an ungrateful ally!

At that point, unless congress intervenes in some fashion, U.S. military sales to Israel could very likely be cut off or 'suspended' by executive order and favorable trade treaties revoked.

If that's how it goes down, President Obama will then have achieved his goal of distancing America from Israel. And those of America's Jews who have been so eager to support Barack Obama's hostile agenda on Israel or simply keep quiet about it may just find out what a really bad idea that was, both for America and for them personally.

That story has already been played out before elsewhere. Just ask the Jews of England, France and elsewhere in Western Europe whether it was Israeli institutions being targeted or Jewish ones when Israel was recently defending its citizens from Hamas and see what they tell you.

The Book of Esther, a bit of scripture some Jews may be familiar with is another example.

As Mordecai reminded her when Esther was tempted to go with the flow and look the other way where her fellow Jews were concerned..If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s  family will perish.

There's a reason the Book of Esther is read every Purim for all Jews to hear and remember. The Goldbergs of the world ought to do some serious thinking about that.

Sarah Palin Fires Back, Hints She May Run!!

Sarah Palin at her best, with FOX's Stuart Varney. Wow!!

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!!

Hello and welcome to the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we award the famed golden plastic Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations and check back Thursday to see which Weasel gets the votes and walks off with the statuette of shame!

 

Here are this weeks' nominees...


Former Secretary of State, Senator And First Lady Hillary "Benghazi Babe' Clinton!!

The Independent Sentinel: Hillary Clinton, for being a political hack.

This week she said:


“Don’t let anybody tell you it’s corporations and businesses create jobs,” Clinton said.

“You know that old theory, ‘trickle-down economics,’” she continued. “That has been tried, that has failed. It has failed rather spectacularly.”

“You know, one of the things my husband says when people say ‘Well, what did you bring to Washington,’ he said, ‘Well, I brought arithmetic,’” Clinton said, which elicited loud laughs from the crowd.

Of course business creates jobs. She's playing to the hate the rich crowd. This is a woman who makes $2,777 per minute per speech.



 

Obama Labor Secretary Thomas 'Puto' Perez!!

 The Noisy Room: Labor Secretary Thomas Perez who proclaimed that President Barack Obama will take "aggressive executive action" on immigration, which Perez said will bring about more "shared prosperity."

Addressing the National Press Club this week, Perez, who is reportedly on the short list to be Obama's next attorney general, said the country needed to "fix our broken immigration system" with comprehensive amnesty legislation that is "big and bold" to ensure that there is "shared prosperity," which he said is a goal of his Labor Department. Though the Congressional Budget Office determined that comprehensive amnesty legislation would lower the wages of American workers, Labor Secretary Perez championed it.

"Shared prosperity" is Progressive collectivist speak for "shared poverty." Marxist weasel-worthy.



 

Turkish President and all around Islamist weasel Recep Tayyip Erdoğan!!

 GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD:For watching from the sidelines as Kurds and ISIL are in a bitter battle for the Syrian town of Kobani on the Turkish border.

For whatever reasons, the Turks do not dig Kurds and their fear of a brand new nation state called Kurdistan shows up Erdogan as cold and calculated as the ancient Bolsheviks that ran Russia in the last millennium. On paper anywrought, Turkey is big and strong and could certainly handle any minorities wanting to secede, yet their behavior towards the Kurds in Kobani is beyond the pale.




CNN 'News Anchor' Carol Costello!!

Nice Deb :Although CNN News Anchor Carol Costello shouldn't have a job after her disturbing antics, last week, she does deserve to be considered for the esteemed title of Weasel of the Week in my humble opinion.

In the shocking segment, Costello could barely contain her glee over hearing new audio of Bristol Palin describing her assault at a party in Alaska a few weeks ago. In fact, Costello called it "quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we’ve ever come across.”

Costello then proceeded to describe the “massive brawl” and before playing the audio she told her viewers “so sit back and enjoy.”

What you were asked to “sit back and enjoy” was the sound of a tearful and near hysterical Bristol Palin describing to the police the physical assault she had just experienced.

Despite overwhelming approbation from fellow journalists and conservatives appalled by her hypocrisy, Costello has thus far resisted offering an apology on the air for gloating over Bristol Palin's distress, instead opting to offer a weak and weaselly apology to Politico.

Virginia Right! :I am going to go with Carol Costello of CNN who was absolutely bubbly about Bristol Palin  being assaulted.

People that hate Sarah Palin so much ought to be in jail. There is no place in America for such hate by proxy.

Well, there it is! Are these worthy weasels or what? Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Forum: Will The Republicans Take The Senate And What Will That Mean?

Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question:
Will The Republicans Take The Senate And What Will That Mean?



The Independent Sentinel: I think they will take the Senate - barely.

It means getting rid of Harry Reid though he promises to still be around. Republicans can stop the judicial appointments.

If Barack Obama gives amnesty of any kind to millions of people, I'd like to see the Senate move for impeachment.

I don't have a lot of faith that they'll do anything. They'll say they can't do anything until they win the presidency which they won't win at this rate.

GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : Republicans need six seats to regain control of the Senate chamber.

And they're going to get them. GOP will end up with a 53 over 47 majority. Even if the Nov election yields two runoffs in GA and or LA - the GOP will win them.

Three Democratic-held states already appear to be Republican pick ups column: Montana, South Dakota, and West Virginia. If the GOP can hang on to Georgia and Kentucky, they would need to pick up just three more to win the majority. And there are a few different pathways that get them there.

Republicans avoided the selection of flawed, stumble-prone candidates. This has boosted Republicans’ prospects in several races -- for now.

One of the most recent examples came in Alaska last week, when Republicans nominated Dan Sullivan to take on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich. Sullivan is leading by 4.6 percentage points in the RCP average in a very Red state.

In Colorado, Republican Rep. Cory Gardner is consistently leading Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Udall despite months of negative ads targeting him. And in Iowa, Another example of the same dynamic comes in Iowa, where Joni Ernst continues to hold a small 2 point lead over Democrat Bruce Braley.

Republicans’ best hopes rest in states Mitt Romney won in 2012: Arkansas, North Carolina, Alaska and Louisiana.

Races in the first two are virtually tied. In Louisiana, Mary Landrieu leads the Republican field by several points, but she falls behind Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy by one point in December runoff matchups (the likely scenario if no one clears the 50 percent mark on Nov. 4). Both Landrieu and Mark Pryor in Arkansas have long-standing, well-respected legacies in their states (both have featured their popular fathers in ads)but in Arkansas Tom Cotton is leading Pryor by an RCP average of 5 points and Landrieu is likely to fall a victim to the probably GOP nominee, Bill Cassidy.

The same is true in Georgia, where there's also a three way race going on between Michelle Nunn, Republican David Perdue and Libertarian Amanda Swafford, whose currently averaging about 3% of the vote. While the race is tied now,Nunn's unlikelky to get the 51% she needs to win and since most of the Libertarian vote is coming from people who would likely vote Republican otherwise, a run off where Swafford would be eliminated favors Perdue.

Current events could also shape the landscape. Some Democrats in tough re-elections have voiced significant concern about the prospect of 44 using executive action to curb deportations, thus bypassing Congress. Foreign policy, with the situations in Iraq, Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, could also play a role in some races where a pro-defense candidate is on the ticket or in states with a strong military presence.

The Glittering Eye :Although I have been predicting that Democrats will hold the Senate for the better part of the last year, I now doubt that will be the outcome. As things look today after the elections a week from Tuesday Republicans are likely to hold 49 seats outright. Two seats are toss-ups (Colorado and Kansas) and are likely to go into run-offs (Georgia and Louisiana). When the dust has settled the Republicans will take an additional two seats, Colorado and Louisiana which will give them control of the Senate.

The more interesting question is what they'll do with control of the Congress and on that subject I have no idea. I can say what I think they should do. I think the new Congressional leadership should immediately request a meeting with the president. If the president rejects the overture, they'll have their answer. If he accepts, they should extend an olive branch and present a list of bills, supported by the new caucus and substantial public opinion, that he should be able to agree to as well. If he rebuffs them, again, they'll have their answer. If he's agreeable there's a chance for some progress. I do not expect the president to be a gracious loser.

JoshuaPundit: There's no question that in terms of how it looks right now, the map favors Republicans. I think we can pretty much concede them taking West Virginia, Montana, South Dakota and Arkansas, all states where President Barack Hussein Obama is tremendously unpopular I also expect them to take Alaska and Iowa, As far as the actual end results go there are two factors that can't be underestimated; rampant voter fraud and 'Libertarian' or 'Independent' third party candidates funded by Democrats and designed to siphon off just enough votes to allow the Democrat to squeeze through.

There are currently third party candidates of this type in Louisiana, Georgia, South Dakota, and North Carolina, and with the exception of Larry Pressler in South Dakota, they all are sopping up between 3 and 5% of the vote. We all saw this tactic used in the Virginia governor's race and enough people who would ordinarily vote Republican were bamboozled by it to hand a win to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.One would hope many of them would have learned there lesson by now, but apparently not, and it could very well cost the GOP Kay Hagen's seat in North Carolina,although I think if Georgia and Louisiana go to run off elections, this tactic by itself will probably not be enough to put Mary Landrieu back in the Senate and give Michelle Nunn a win in Georgia.

The other consideration is voter fraud. Expect that to occur in any close election where there are large amounts of illegal aliens or blacks in an urban setting, especially where voter ID laws have been stalled with suits  by the Obama Administration's Justice Department.Colorado, for instance, is essentially voter fraud heaven with mailed ballots to everyone, major obstacles to getting anyone off the rolls, no ID checks and door to door ACORN style 'ballot harvesters', Cory Gardner is ahead in the polls and this should be a GOP pickup, but unless he  wins by a large enough majority don't be surprised if Mark Udall triumphs in a very smelly travesty of an election.

North Carolina is another state where I expect blatant voter fraud to be an issue. I don't expect it in Alaska, South Dakota  or Iowa, simply because there aren't that many black or Latino residents and these states are lacking the sort of urban enclaves you find in many Blue states where voter fraud is so endemic.

I expect Kansas and Kentucky to be GOP holds simply because Mitch McConnell has the clout to bring in enough  resources to ensure his own survival and will likely do the same for Pat Roberts, an old friend and political soul mate of of long standing.

Assuming I'm right about all this, the numbers work out to 51-48 if the GOP loses Kansas but holds Kentucky and Georgia and the Dems hold North Carolina, New Hampshire and Colorado.If the GOP manages to take Colorado and hold Kansas, 53-47.

As to what it means? Look for the president and the lame duck congress to use the time between Election day and January 22nd to totally poison the waters before the new senate takes over. I expect the president to outrage the incoming congress and the nation with (a) a mass amnesty for illegal aliens by executive order and (b) a new, radical Attorney General, (most likely Thomas Perez) to be shoved through by Reid and the lame duck senate using the nuclear option, along with any other appointments and nonsense they feel can push through. I would not even be surprised to see one or two Supreme Court Justices suddenly 'resign' under blackmail by the White House to allow this president to pack the court with radical leftists.

If we put up with it, the shame is ours.

2008 Democrat Presidential Candidate and political guru and handicapper Weekend Monkey: First off, I wanna protest I wasn't paid extra for this wisdom..talk about blackmail, geez!

I made some assessments in my last column based on what was up at that time, along with a hoo-miliating revelation or two about my tenure with Elizabeth Warren,yadda yadda. Here are some updates.

I still see Kansas as tighter than a baboon's butt and too close to call, and ditto on New Hampshire. No calls in either race, although my gut tells me Shaheen will manage to win in New Hampshire. Kansas could end up being a spoiler but I'm waiting to see what happens a little close to the election before I post odds. I still call North Carolina for Kay Hagen as a Democrat hold, 3 to 1 with 6 to 3 on Tillis to win. I see Colorado as a big surprise, 2-1 for Mark Udall once the votes are counted our way, y'know. I'll take your money on Gardner at 3-1 since he's the fave,  and remember, three points for the vig,no exceptions.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see my Democrats hold Louisiana . Weird stuff happens in NOLA, La' Charles and even Baton Rouge, and Landrieu knows how to make that kind of stuff happen.Again, no call, but Landrieu knows that she has to avoid a runoff against Cassidy to win.

I figure the repugs take Arkansas, West Virginia, Montana, Alaska and Iowa.They'll hold Kentucky too, and Georgia if it goes to run off, but I have a feeling it might not based on what my Democrats can do with turnout in Atlanta. The losertarian will take away rethug votes and if a lotta votes come in from Atlanta, wink wink, Nunn might squeeze through.2 gets you 3 on Nunn.

If my Democrats take Colorado, Georgia, Kansas and Louisiana they hold the senate. Even if they lose one of them, it's a split senate which means they win anyways with lotsa laughs from Vice Prez Giggles.If the Repugs take both Georgia and Louisiana, it's still a 51-49 senate, and we all know the Repugs don't vote in a bloc.

So it all means  nada, zero, zilch for two years with a whole bunch of infighting between the Bamster, the Repugs and my Democrats to see who can sling poop the fastest and climb a little higher up the tree. Ain't politics fun?!?.

Later, Primates.


Well, there you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Pat Condell Video - "Boo Hoo Palestine"

Pat Condell with another no holds barred video.

New Study Proves That Voter Fraud Is No Myth - And Not A Marginal Factor

There's an interesting study out that shows that far from being a myth, voter fraud by non-citizens is a real factor, especially when it comes to close elections.

In a forthcoming article in the journal Electoral Studies, we bring real data from big social science survey datasets to bear on the question of whether, to what extent, and for whom non-citizens vote in U.S. elections. Most non-citizens do not register, let alone vote. But enough do that their participation can change the outcome of close races.

Our data comes from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES). Its large number of observations (32,800 in 2008 and 55,400 in 2010) provide sufficient samples of the non-immigrant sub-population, with 339 non-citizen respondents in 2008 and 489 in 2010. For the 2008 CCES, we also attempted to match respondents to voter files so that we could verify whether they actually voted.

How many non-citizens participate in U.S. elections? More than 14 percent of non-citizens in both the 2008 and 2010 samples indicated that they were registered to vote. Furthermore, some of these non-citizens voted. Our best guess, based upon extrapolations from the portion of the sample with a verified vote, is that 6.4 percent of non-citizens voted in 2008 and 2.2 percent of non-citizens voted in 2010.

Lessee..the study doesn't mention ( and I think deliberately) if we're talking about people with green cards or actual illegal aliens.

Well, 2.2% of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens in America translated into about 250,000 votes..more than enough to make a difference in close senate races in places like Colorado or Minnesota. In Colorado, for instance, one study proved that in 2010 there were over 5,000 illegal aliens registered to vote. That senate seat went Democrat by only 28,000 votes.and we haven't even discussed 'votes' coming from the deceased or the suppression of the active duty military vote by the Obama Justice Department. In Minnesota, Al Franken won his senate seat by 340 votes.

In the 2008 election, a presidential year when turnout was higher, we're talking about over 700,000 illegal votes based on this study.

There's ample evidence that voter fraud is a fact, that it is mostly although not always practiced by Democrats and that they are fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way.

While the study opines that requiring voter IDs is 'ineffective', they neglect to mention that in states like California  where the majority of illegal aliens live no voter ID at all is required, and illegal aliens can get a driver's license in a number of Blue states with a Mexican Matricular Consular card that can easily forged or obtained for about $50 in the right pocket at any consulate in any name you want.

Voter fraud is a cancer on our democracy and ought to be combated no matter which party does it. But unfortunately, the party that mostly profits by it values partisan political power over the country's good.

That needs to change. Now.

Law Passed To Criminalize Any Criticism Of Immigration

No, I'm not kidding.

A new law has been passed that will allow people to be criminally prosecuted for criticizing immigration policies or politicians that support them. It will come into effect in December, 2014.

it is designed to be a deterrent to anyone who criticizes the governments' policies towards immigration or amnesty and shut down all debate over the issue.This gross violation of freedom of speech has already been passed. But there is one small detail that mitigates this a bit.



This new law was passed in Sweden, not the United States. At least, not yet.

Sweden's new Left wing coalition government was elected by a narrow margin and lost no time in pushing through something designed to keep them in power permanently with votes from Muslim immigrants, no matter what it does to the country.And now, they have the power to use the police power of the state to silence anyone who dissents.

Andreas Norlen, a member of Sweden's parliament was a prime mover behind getting this new law passed.

"I do not think it takes many prosecutions before a signal is transmitted in the community that the Internet is not a lawless country and the sheriff is back in town."

Spoken like a true progfascist.Anyone who doesn't keep his mouth shut while Sweden becomes a very different country is headed for jail.

Here's why this matters.

We will almost certainly be faced with a similar attempt by President Obama to implement amnesty by executive order after the midterms. There will be absolutely no chance of reversing this unless the Republicans take the Senate.

There are a great many people who basically could care less whether this happens and aren't planning to vote in the midterms. believe me, I understand that attitude completely, seeing how the party elites have essentially made war on the GOP's base. But this is too important.

The Democrats view amnesty as their chance to change the electorate and the country forever, an if that happens we could very well see a law like Sweden's passed as the Democrats take over congress with the help of their new 'voters'.

I hear what you're saying - the GOP establishment has largely been compliant and bent over for Big Business and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in backing 'immigration reform.' But at least with a Republican House and Senate, there's a chance of stopping this or at least mitigating it to the point where it's semi-manageable. With Democrats in control of either house, there isn't.

It really is that simple. Vote, dammit!

The Council Has Spoken!! This Weeks' Watcher's Council Results

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.


Babası oğluna bir bağ bağışlamış, oğul babaya bir salkım üzüm vermemiş ("The Father gave his son a vineyard, the son didn't give a single bunch of grapes to the father." - Turkish Proverb

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go." - Hermann Hesse

"Alliances are broken from considerations of interest" - Niccoló Machiavelli, The Discourses, 1517



 

This week's winner,The Razor's -The Razor – Kick Turkey Out Of NATO is a persuasively written essay that embodies the thoughts expressed above..it makes little sense to hold on to an alliance that really isn't one. Here's a slice:

Lord Palmerstone once noted that nations do not have permanent allies, only permanent interests. This statement assumes that a nation always acts in its own best interest, and this assumption is the basis for the realist school of international relations. Realists always expect national actors to do what is best for themselves. If an action does not benefit the nation in any particular way, or worse threatens it, then one cannot reasonably expect it to act even though one might think and others might agree that it is the right course of action. In international relations at least according to the realist school, there are no completely altruistic acts by nations or their actors.

I’ve been rooted in the realist school of international relations well before I got my degree in political science, having grown up while Henry Kissinger acted as Nixon’s national security advisor and later secretary of state under him and his successor Gerald Ford.Realists not only expect nations to act in their best interests, but regimes and the organizations constituting them to do the same. In statecraft realists aren’t surprised when regimes do what’s best for them even when it might compromise or damage others, but are willing to act in their own best interest when the opposite party acts in theirs.

Case in point: Turkey. Under the regime of Recep Erdogan for the past 12 years Turkey has been acting in the best interest of Erdogan and his ruling party the AKP. Erdogan is an Islamist in a nation where political Islam had been banned for decades after its re-founding under Kamal Ataturk. While Ataturk and the secularists saw Europe as a useful ally that would strengthen Turkey and their regime in the Middle East, Erdogan has instead positioned Turkey as the next Islamic Caliphate more in line with the Ottoman Empire of the 17th century rather than secular and Democratic Western Europe.

Perhaps the biggest interest Erdogan has besides the desire to remain in power is to avoid empowering the Kurdish minority within Turkey. Unlike the Palestinians, the Kurds have a much longer claim to their land stretching from northern Syria across southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq to Iran. One commonality between Erdogan and his secular predecessors has been the oppression of the Kurds in Turkey and their nationalist aims. The no-fly zone established in northern Iraq after the first Gulf War led to autonomy under Saddam and later the post-Saddam Iraqi government. Iraqi Kurds are as close to independent as Kurds have ever been, and their Syrian, Iranian and Turkish cousins recognize this.

From Erdogan’s perspective the decimation of the Syrian Kurds by the Islamic State (IS) is welcome. It weakens the Kurdish cause by reducing the number of Kurds in the region. Plus the Syrian Kurds were also strong supporters of the PKK, Turkey’s al-Qaida. From the realist perspective Erdogan will not act against IS on behalf of the Kurds unless there is an even greater, more pressing interest to do so.

And that’s the problem. Current American and European leadership is run by idealists not by realists. American and Europeans leaders simply do not understand why Erdogan and to more worrying degree Vladimir Putin act the way they do. To them bombing Kurds in Turkey instead of IS in Syria makes absolutely no sense just as annexing Crimea and dismembering Ukraine. They do not see the world the way Erdogan and Putin do, but realists do. Realists recognize that Putin and Erdogan will only act when the pressure applied to them is real and painful.

For Erdogan that pressure should include Turkey’s rejection from NATO and any possible future admittance to the EU under his regime. If Turkey acts in its own interests, so should the EU and the United States. The truth is that instead of being a beacon of secular Islam as Turkey once was, Turkey under Erdogan has become just another corrupt, Islamic Middle Eastern dictatorship with caliphate dreams. Turkey has condoned the rise of IS as well as backed other terrorist groups such as Hamas. It has kept a tight leash on the American base in Incirlik, preventing it from participating in the second Gulf War and in attacks on IS.

More at the link..


In our non-Council category, the winner was Volokh Conspiracy's – Can ministers who make a living by conducting weddings be required to conduct same-sex weddings? submitted by Rhymes with Right. The piece examines the latest bit of bullying by same sex marriage advocates.


Here are this week’s full results. The Right Planet, The Independent Sentinel and Ask Marion were not able to vote this time out. None were affected by the usual 2/3 vote penalty for not voting.

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 2/3 votes!-The Razor – Kick Turkey Out Of NATO


• Second place with 2 votes – The Right Planet – The Strange Silence of Karl Rove


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Bookworm Room – In Idaho, gay marriage is in direct conflict with religious rights under the First Amendment


• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –Joshuapundit-Cheerleaders, G-d And Civil Disobedience


• Fourth place with 1 vote –The Independent Sentinel – CDC's Mission: Ban Guns, Promote Bike Lanes, Tell Us What To Eat, Put Helmets On Our Heads


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Noisy Room – #Ebola – Blood, vomit and diarrhea-soaked hazardous materials piled to the ceiling…;


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Simply Jews – Dean Obeidallah on Bill Maher or how to stuff foot in mouth deeper

li>Sixth place with 1/3 vote –Nice Deb – Amnesty Begins: Regime Prepares For Millions of New Immigrant IDs

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 2/3 votes! –Volokh Conspiracy – Can ministers who make a living by conducting weddings be required to conduct same-sex weddings? submitted by Rhymes with Right


• Second place with 2 1/3 votes –Mark Steyn – The Strong Horse submitted by Joshuapundit


• Third place with 1 2/3 votes -Sultan Knish –The Savage Lands Of Islam submitted by The Noisy Room


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote-Raconteur Report – Ebola: This Is What Science Sounds Like submitted by The Glittering Eye


• Fourth place *t* with 1 vote-Melanie Phillips/The Jerusalem Post – The false equation of Jew-hatred and Islamophobia submitted by The Watcher


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Harry's Place – Opening night of Klinghoffer faces protests and disruption submitted by Simply Jews


• Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Peggy Noonan/WSJ -Who Do They Think We Are? submitted by Nice Deb


• Sixth place with 1/3 vote -The Federalist – How Colorado’s Cory Gardner Turned The ‘War On Women’ Against Democrats submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Oh, Canada...

There is a nobility to the task of being an honor guard at a memorial to the fallen.It is a way to remember the sacrifice of those whom came before, of those who were willing to die so that future generations could live.

 

One of those men was Cpl. Nathan Cirillo. He was one of three soldiers guarding Canada's War memorial in Ottawa when he was shot down by a craven jihadi, a Canadian named Michael Zehaf-Bibeau who converted to Islam.

 

After murdering Cpl. Cirillo, he ran into the Canadian Parliament where he was eventually gunned down.

And for those who favor gun confiscation, members of Parliament said they owed their lives to Kevin Vickers, who fatally shot Zehaf-Bibeau just outside the caucus rooms where lawmakers were barricading themselves.

This is the second recent attack on Canada's soldiers by local Muslims. Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. a 28-year veteran was struck and killed and a second soldier injured by a Canadian jihadi, Martin “Ahmad” Rouleau in Quebec who ran into them with his car just two days ago.

 

The Islamic State has called on Muslims to launch attacks in Western countries that have joined the U.S.-led coalition to combat them.

The stories of both Zehaf-Bibeau and Rouleau bear striking similarities. Both were converts to Islam and known to Canada's counter terrorism forces. Both were a product of radical Imams in Saudi-funded mosques and both had their passports revoked after it became known they had been in contact with ISIS, yet they were still allowed to roam free.

Canada, the U.S., and other countries are going to have to take a serious look at what they've been allowing to occur in their countries. These will not be the last attacks.

 

Canada's PM Stephen Harper, as usual, rose to the occasion. Speaking to the nation on television, he said simply that the attacks were an attempt to intimidate Canada. "Let there be no mistake", he said. "We will not be intimidated. Canada will never be intimidated."

Unfortunately, own President Barack Obama lacked that insight, referring to the attacks as 'senseless violence.'

There was nothing senseless about it. Terrorism doesn't come out of nowhere, nor is it mindless. It is a tactic designed to achieve certain goals, no more no less. Only someone willfully blind or deliberately dissembling would think otherwise.

I doubt PM Harper is in either of those two categories, and I think Canada's eyes have been opened.

There is one other small silver lining here. As Cpl. Cirillo lay dying, not only did his two comrades stand by him, but Margaret Lerhe, a nurse on her way to work at the Elizabeth Bruyere Hospital and Barbara Winters, a lawyer and a former member of the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve heard the gunshots and ran towards them instead of away from them and joined the two soldiers to work as a team in desperately trying to keep Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, who was still conscious alive.

Aside from trying to staunch the bleeding with compresses, they comforted him, telling him how proud they were of him, how brave he was and how loved.

In the end he died in their arms, but not before taking that final bit of comfort with him as he left this earth.

If a warrior has to die, could there be a better way to make the passage?

 

Brown Family Members Viciously Brawl Over Sale Of Mike Brown Merchandise

Well, this puts things in perspective.

Over the weekend, members of the Brown family engaged in a violent street brawl over the selling of Mike Brown tee shirts and other merchandise.

Saturday night, October 18th in the parking lot of Red’s BBQ just blocks from where Michael Brown was shot and killed, Brown`s Grandmother, Pearlie Gordon, along with Brown`s Cousin Tony Petty were selling t-shirts and other Michael Brown merchandise.

 

Apparently that didn't sit well with other members of the Brown family. According to police, a car pulled up with several people in it, allegedly including Brown's mother Lesley McSpadden. A witness described McSpadden yelling ‘You can`t sell this s%$&”, where upon of the relatives who was selling, reportedly demanded McSpadden show a document proving she had a patent.

At that point, someone in McSpadden's party hit Petty in the face with what is described as a metal pole or pipe, a cash box and merchandise worth $1,400 was stolen and the McSpadden party drove off as police were called.

If you'll recall, there were some pretty vicious fights among the members of Trayvon Martin's family over the rights to sell t-shirts and merchandise , but I  don't think it ever got physical.