Biden In Israel 'Condemns' Building Homes For Jews in Jerusalem 'Undermines Trust'

Joe Biden was in Israel to meet with the country's leadership on a number of issues, the chief one being Iran.

As you can imagine, Slo-Jo's basic advice to the Israelis was to just sit there and wait for those US sanctions to take effect over the coming months, something I'm sure Netanyahu took with the seriousness it merited, considering the source.

And then, Biden decided to make an announcement about Israel's approval of 1,600 new housing units for young families in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo..a place, by the way that Netanyahu explicitly stated was not included in any temporary settlement freeze. And he was willing to hold up a scheduled dinner with Netanyahu for an hour and a half to do it.

Here's what Biden had to say:

I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem. The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.

We must build an atmosphere to support negotiations, not complicate them. This announcement underscores the need to get negotiations under way that can resolve all the outstanding issues of the conflict. The United States recognizes that Jerusalem is a deeply important issue for Israelis and Palestinians and for Jews, Muslims and Christians. We believe that through good faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree on an outcome that realizes the aspirations of both parties for Jerusalem and safeguards its status for people around the world. Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues.

As George Mitchell said in announcing the proximity talks, "we encourage the parties and all concerned to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks.

I love the bit about how 'unilateral action by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations.' Has the Obama Administration ever asked the Palestinians not to build anywhere?

Just to show how joined at the hip the Obama Administration is with the Palestinians, compare Slo-Jo's remarks with Saeb Erekat's statement:

"With such an announcement, how can you build trust? This is destroying our efforts to work with Mr. Mitchell," Erekat said. "It's a really disastrous situation. I hope that this will be an eye-opener for all in the international community about the need to have the Israeli government stop such futile exercises."

This is exactly why Netanyahu's offer of a temporary construction freeze in Judea and Samaria ( AKA the West Bank) was such a bad idea. What the Obama Administration and the Palestinians want is all of Judea and Samaria, half of Jerusalem and whatever else they can steal,and they want it all judenrein. And that's just for starters.

Ramat Shlomo is a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that already has more than 20,000 residents, and it's always been a Jewish neighborhood. Th ep[lans fo rth e1600 new homes go back three years , and even Abbas agreed
with Ehud Olmert back in 2008 that it would remain part of Israel in any future settlement. But Abbas and the Pals have become emboldened by who's in the White house these days.

It seems the US cares more about denying Jews their religious sites and the right to build homes than it does about the Palestinians building facilities with our money honoring terrorists who've killed Americans.

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Muslims Riot, Kill 500 Christians In Nigeria

In the latest manifestation of the Religion of Peace, 500 Nigerian men women and children were murdered in the city of Jos by Muslim mobs:

Survivors and human rights organizations said that more than 500 people — many of them young children from an ancient ethnic Christian group known as the Berom — were hacked to death with machetes, axes and daggers in the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Ratsat and Zot by killers chanting Allahu akbar (God is greatest).

Witnesses said that gangs waited at main entry points to the villages while others went from house to house, setting the homes on fire. Those who fled were killed at the exit points. Others were slaughtered after being caught in animal traps and nets as they ran in the dark.

Ben Kwashi, the Anglican Archbishop of Jos, said that he had visited one of the villages. “I could see kids from age 0 to teenagers, all butchered from the back, macheted in their necks, their heads. Deep cuts in the mouths of babies. The stench. People wailing and crying,” he said.

What's at issue in Jos and other areas in Nigeria is the extension of Islamist dominance and sharia law, which already takes precedence in part of the country.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)made a pro forma condemnation of the Jos massacre, with the organization’s Secretary General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, urging Nigerian authorities “to take drastic measures that will decisively end the embarrassing circle of violence and achieve reconciliation” between the country’s Christian and Muslim communities.

Ah yes, the 'circle of violence' - the old, familiar song. Sounds like Kashmir, Israel, the Sudan, Lebanon, Thailand, or any of the other many areas of Muslim grievance.

There is a reference in several news sources about how these latest attacks are said to have been 'reprisals' for a January killings when many victims were Hausa-speaking Muslims'.

I suppose that would be the January 18th attacks where Muslims 'youths' torched a Christian Church with people inside and attacked them as they ran from the building, killing 22 and wounding 300. The subsequent clashes killed roughly 27 more people, including several of the attackers...and yes, some of the dead were Muslims.

A little history - forty years ago, the Christians of Nigeria, fed up with anti-Christian jihad by Muslims, tried to create an independent state, called Biafra.

There's no doubt it could have been self-sustaining, because just as in the Sudan, the oil of Nigeria lay in the south, under Christian lands.

For over two years the Christians, who were mainly Ibo fought desperately, with almost no aid from outside. The West only wanted the oil flow to continue, so it did nothing while tens of thousands of Christians were slaughtered and starved out.So neither the Americans nor the British nor the UN lifted a finger to help the Christians of Nigeria. In July 1969 the leader of the Biafrans, Colonel Ojukwu, delivered his “Ahiara Declaration,” summing up the reasons for the war, and he spoke openly about the “Jihad” that the Muslims had waged on the Christians. No one in the Western world paid any attention. The death toll is estimated at perhaps a million Christians during the two year war, and that is conservative.

The West may not have understood, but Arabs understood that this was a jihad quite well. They openly aided in the massacre of tens of thousands of helpless Ibo villagers, with Egyptian pilots in Egyptian Migs strafing and bombing the civilians below.Oddly enough, the Israelis understood it was a jihad too..or perhaps what was happening to the Christians in Biafra struck a chord in their own past. They were the only other country aside from Ghana to recognize Biafra and attempt to aid them.

What is going on in Nigeria is what is going on in countless areas around the world, wherever Islam's aptly named 'bloody borders' meet the non-Islamic world, the part of the world Muslims themselves refer to as 'dar-harb' (literally, the house of war, the part of the world not dominated by Islam).

We fail to recognize this for what it is at our own peril.

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Stop Voter Fraud In California

My friend Bookworm has a great post detailing a new ballot initiative designed to try and curb voter fraud in the Golden State:

One of the things the last few elections has revealed is escalating voter fraud in America, fraud of the type that aligns us more closely with a banana republic than with a traditional Western nation. Thus, we know that groups such as ACORN have registered thousands of non-existent people. And because America has traditionally had an honor system at the ballot box (”If you say you’re Minnie Mouse, than I guess you’re Minnie Mouse. Please, go vote.”), little has been done to stem the impact at the ballot of those fraudulently registered voters.

There is now a ballot initiative circulating in California that officially concedes that the honor system no longer works. It will require all California voters to show photo ID at the polling place, and it mandates steps to protect against voter fraud in absentee ballots too. Lastly, as a little extra benefit, it allows an extra 15 days for votes sent in by overseas troops. In other words, the whole ballot is meant to slow down fraud and allow every vote to be counted.

I only heard about this ballot initiative today, but I can assure you that the Democrats will hate it. They’ll waffle on about the fact that poor people just can’t manage to obtain government ID, making this an impossible hurdle between themselves and democratic participation. That this argument is demeaning is obvious. It also makes no sense when one considers that these same people are able to handle the system with some level of skill when it comes to collecting government benefits. (And I speak with solid second hand knowledge about this, since someone close to me lives at that level, as do her friends. Whacked out on perpetual 60s head trips they may be, but they know how to get their welfare checks and food stamps.)

In California of course, ACORN's main fodder for voter fraud are illegal aliens. ACORN's willing allies in this are a number of 'immigrant's rights' groups, several of whom have actually been busted for conspiring to have illegal aliens vote.


If you are a registered California voter who wants this initiative on California’s ballot, go here, print-up the petition you’ll see, sign it, and mail it to:

Vote SAFE
925 University Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825


Time is of the essence, since all petitions have to be received 131 days before the election. Second, each petition is written so that two people from the same county can sign it. Of those two (or even if there is only one signatory), though, one must not only sign it, but also fill out the “circulator” declaration.

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Iraq's Elections - What To Look For And Why It's Important

It's purple fingers time again in Iraq, and the voters are going to the polls in spite of bombing attacks by the usual suspects that killed 38 people, mostly in Baghdad.

More than 6,000 candidates from different parties and coalitions competed in the parliamentary elections. Turnout was estimated at 62 percent, which shows that some of the novelty has worn off but that Iraqis still cherish the idea of voting. Most importantly, Sunni participation was well up from the '05 elections, a sign of stability.

No one party or faction is expected to win an outright majority, and the horse trading and dealing involved in building a coalition to form a new government could take months. The overall results might not be announced until later on this week.

325 seats in the new parliament are up for grabs, and of course, the Prime Minister's chair, currently held by Nouri al-Maliki, who's running for re-election.

The four main players are the State of Law Party (Maliki, his Da’wa faction and their allies); The Iraqia List ( an alliance of secular Shi'ites and Sunni, composed of ex-Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and Sunni politico Tariq Hashimi); The Iraqi National Alliance (al-Sadr and the Iranian backed factions); and the Kurdistan Alliance.

Both Maliki and Allawi are expected to take about 100 seats apiece. Both campaigned on a nationalist platform that involved pushing the Americans to leave Iraq sooner, but the reality is that the security situation is still shaky enough that neither faction is likely to push for a quicker US withdrawal, in spite of President Obama's hopeful remarks on the subject.

The ethnic politics involved are very reminiscent of Lebanon - a large Shi'ite faction, much of it with heavy ties to Iran, a Sunni faction and the Kurds taking the place of the Druse and Maronite Christians.

There are thus three separate factions vying for the Shi'ite vote - Maliki's, Allawi's and the Iranian supported Iraqi National Alliance. If Maliki and Allawi essentially tie, the election will end up going to whomever can make the best deal with the Kurds and the Iraqi National Alliance to get to a majority of at least 163 seats.

If Maliki becomes the front-runner, I wouldn't be surprised to see him bring the pro-Iran Iraqi National Alliance and perhaps the Kurds to unite with his State of Law faction and form a coalition government that shuts out Allawi and some of the other players. That's especially likely if Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani gets involved to make sure that Shiites stay united and that a more secular candidate like Allawi doesn't take the government.

If Allawi gets more seats, the Kurds will again be on board as well as some of the smaller players. That would likely be a setback for Iran, who is seeking to Lebanize Iraq and make it a colony.

Stay tuned...

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Youtuber "Jihad Jane" Indicted On Federal Terrorism Charges

Believe it or not, this jihadi is only the second American woman to be charged with these crimes other than Lynn Stewart, Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman's treasonous lawyer who passed secret messages for the Blind Sheik to his terrorist pals.

For "conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft":

David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Michael L. Levy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, together with Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Colleen R. LaRose, aka “Fatima LaRose,” aka “JihadJane,” with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, making false statements to a government official and attempted identity theft.

The indictment charges that LaRose (an American citizen born in 1963 who resides in Montgomery County, Pa.) and five unindicted co-conspirators (located in South Asia, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the United States) recruited men on the Internet to wage violent jihad in South Asia and Europe, and recruited women on the Internet who had passports and the ability to travel to and around Europe in support of violent jihad.

The indictment further charges that LaRose and her unindicted co-conspirators used the Internet to establish relationships with one another and to communicate regarding their plans, which included martyring themselves, soliciting funds for terrorists, soliciting passports and avoiding travel restrictions (through the collection of passports and through marriage) in order to wage violent jihad. The indictment further charges that LaRose stole another individual’s U.S. passport and transferred or attempted to transfer it in an effort to facilitate an act of international terrorism.

In addition, according to the indictment, LaRose received a direct order to kill a citizen and resident of Sweden, and to do so in a way that would frighten "the whole Kufar [non-believer] world." The indictment further charges that LaRose agreed to carry out her murder assignment, and that she and her co-conspirators discussed that her appearance and American citizenship would help her blend in while carrying out her plans. According to the indictment, LaRose traveled to Europe and tracked the intended target online in an effort to complete her task.

"Today’s indictment, which alleges that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division. "I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who worked on this important investigation."

"This case shows the use terrorists can and do make of the Internet," said U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy. "Colleen LaRose and five other individuals scattered across the globe are alleged to have used the Internet to form a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism, culminating in a direct order to LaRose to commit murder overseas. LaRose – an American citizen whose appearance was considered to be an asset because it allowed her to blend in – is charged with using the Internet to recruit violent jihadist fighters and supporters, and to solicit passports and funding. It demonstrates yet another very real danger lurking on the Internet. This case also demonstrates that terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause, and it shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance."

"This case demonstrates that the FBI and our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities must continue to remain vigilant in the face of the threats that America faces, in whatever form those threats may present themselves or no matter how creative those who threaten us try to be," said Special Agent-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. "We must use all available technologies and techniques to root out potential threats and stop those who intend to harm us."

If convicted of the charges against her, LaRose faces a potential sentence of life in prison and a $1 million fine.

I'd loe to know whom the 'unindicted co-conspirators ' were. More at My Pet Jawa

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Latest Dem Project - Taking Lessons On How To Sound Tough On National Security

It's no secret that the polling shows Americans trust Republicans on national security issues far more than Democrats.Rasmussen, for instance, shows a 47% to 37% margin

Your average human might just ponder that maybe it's the policies and some of the candidates espoused by the Democrats that need changing to improve their numbers in this area.

But not according to the Donkeys. They say what it takes is seminars to teach them 'nuancing' and how to talk tougher:

...House Democrats have asked Third Way, the centrist Democratic think tank, and California Rep. Jane Harman, a leader on intelligence issues in the House, to help lead training sessions on the issue.{...}

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) attended one of Harman’s sessions when he was running for office in 2008. Now the president of the Democratic freshman class, he helped lead a session for other Democrats late last month. He said his party has to “avoid the trap of looking soft and weak” and that “there are strong adverbs, adjectives and verbs as opposed to weak.”

One example he offered: “I’m going to fight for American interests abroad” as opposed to “I’m going to defend American values.”

“Not that one is better than the other, but in language, one is more assertive and one’s stronger, and that’s where we need to be. Words matter,” he said. “The other side has paid a lot of attention to which words do you want to use. Democrats don’t always take this seriously.”

The Politico would never mention it, but the fact that the Democrats are turning to Jane Harmon is deliciously ironic. Harmon, a fairly sane individual used to be the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and was slated to take over the Chair when the Donkeys got control of the House, a post for which she was eminently qualified.

Instead, Speaker Nancy Pelosi pushed her out ( they have a long-standing personal feud) and put Silvestre Reyes (d-TX) in the Chair, who knew so little about intel or foreign affairs that he failed a basic intel quiz with questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah on it.

That's just one example of why most people who know something about the subject trust the average Dem far, far less that the GOP on this issue...not because of some juvenile chest pounding lessons!

And I won't even mention what's sitting in the White House these days:

.

“The fact that Democrats have to train their own candidates on how to talk about defending America is an indictment not just of their candidates but of their policies, as well,” said Ken Spain, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “Our candidates’ message is simple: Stop treating terrorists like common criminals, don’t import terrorists into our communities and listen to our military and intelligence officials instead of attacking them.”

Well said.

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*GASP*! Sarah Palin's Parents Took Her Brother To Canada For Healthcare!!!

I love stories like this one from PuffHo, because they illustrate how out of touch the Leftist media is and the depths of Palin Derangement Syndrome (PDS).

Sarah Palin took a speech making trip to Calgary, Canada, a city I myself have had occasion to visit a few times. ( Check out the Stampede sometime, one of the world's great street parties).

She was primarily there to talk about energy and the natural gas pipeline she was able to get through as governor of Alaska after 30 years of failure by prior administrations. But in the middle, she rattled off this anecdote:

“My first five years of life we spent in Skagway, Alaska, right there by Whitehorse. Believe it or not – this was in the ‘60s – we used to hustle on over the border for health care that we would receive in Whitehorse. I remember my brother, he burned his ankle in some little kid accident thing and my parents had to put him on a train and rush him over to Whitehorse and I think, isn’t that kind of ironic now. Zooming over the border, getting health care from Canada."

AUUGGHH! Sarah Palin took advantage of NATIONALIZED HEALTHCARE!! To hear the Angry Left, you'd think she at admitted to copulating with Satan.

The truth of the matter? Palin and her parents, the Heaths, moved to Skagway when Sarah was an infant in 1964.Whitehorse was the nearest city to Skagway at about 112 miles away, and a natural place to go from that then small town if you needed emergency care for one of your kids

Oh, and one more little thing - Canada's National Health Act didn't become fully implemented until 1972, well after the incident Governor Palin describes occurred. And the Heaths as non-Canadians would not have been covered by insurance, but simply utilizing the nearest available care and paying for it. I did exactly the same thing during my sojurn in the Great White North.

What Governor Palin likely found ironic was that after thirty years of national healthcare, a number of Canadians are making the trip the other way to get the care they need. But that kind of irony would be lost on a leftist tool with foam on his or her lips...

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American Traitor Adam Gadhan Arrested In Pakistan

Some excellent news to start the week. American-born al-Qaeda spokesmouth Adam Gadahn AKA Abu Yahaya Azam AKA 'Azam the American' was nabbed in Pakistan

Adam Gadhan, the treasonous Californian Al Qaeda leader who has long been on Washington's Most Wanted list, was nabbed in Pakistan Sunday - a huge victory in the battle against the terror network.

After some confusion in the intial reports, the Associated Press quoted Pakistani officials confirming the arrest of Osama bin Laden's mouthpiece.

The Dawn, Karachi's English-language newspaper, broke the news with a photo of a man being taken away with a bag on his head.

Gadahn was picked up shortly after his latest al-Qaeda video was released via the internet:

Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.

In a 25-minute video posted on militant Web sites, Adam Gadahn described Maj. Nidal Hasan as a pioneer who should serve as a role model for other Muslims, especially those serving Western militaries.

"Brother Nidal is the ideal role-model for every repentant Muslim in the armies of the unbelievers and apostate regimes," he said.

Gadahn, also known as Azzam al-Amriki, was dressed in white robes and wearing a white turban as he called for attacks on what he described as "high-value targets."

"You shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage," he said, an assault rifle leaning up against a wall next to him.

I found it interesting that he was nabbed in a suburb outside of the Pakistani port of Karachi.The fact that this is a part of Pakistan controlled by the government leads me to believe that there were at least elements of the Pakistani government who knew where he was for some time.

Gadahn story is very typical of American jihadis. He grew up in a family of hippies in Riverside County, California (reportedly on a goat farm) and later converted to Islam at 17...in a Saudi-funded wahabi mosque with a radical imam involved, of course.

Later, he went to Pakistan and then made his way to al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, eventually rising to become an important al-Qaeda commander just below second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri.

Gadahn was officially charged with treason. It remains to be seen if he's indicted under those charges, given the current political climate. It also remains to be seen what sort of backroom deals will be involved with the Pakistanis if they release him to US jurisdiction.

If Gadahn is charged with treason and convicted, he faces the death penalty.

UPDATE: CBS is reporting that Gadhn was not in fact arrested, but another " Taliban militant leader who is known as Abu Yahya," according to what CBS describes as 'a Pakistan security official who spoke with CBS News on condition of anonymity.'

I suppose we'll find out, if the ISI ever turns him over to US jurisdiction..

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The Council has spoken! Here's a complete rundown of the voting tallies on our weekly competition :

Winning Council Submissions

• First place with 2 2/3 points! – Wolf Howling - Public Sector Unions: A Toxin, A Crisis & An Opportunity
• Second place with 2 points – Soccer Dad - The sophistication of antisemitism
• Third place with 1 2/3 points – American Digest - Frequently Answered Questions
• Fourth place with 1 1/3 points – Joshuapundit - Hey, It’s Purim!
• Fifth place with 1 points – Bookworm Room - The common bonds between Iranian Mullahs and the Democrats
• Sixth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Right Truth - Maj. Nidal Hasan moves to county jail.
• Sixth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – The Razor - The 2010 Healthcare Games
• Sixth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – The Colossus of Rhodey - Lessons from Vietnam? Or just about any Third World country?
• Seventh place with 1/3 points – Rhymes With Right - Dodd Introduces Amendment To Strip Americans Of Right To Donate To/Spend On Behalf Of Political Candidates

Winning Non-Council Submissions

• First place with 3 2/3 points! – Chicago Boyz - Why Alternative Power Is and Will Remain Useless
• Second place with 1 2/3 points – Victor Davis Hanson - Obama Fatigue
• Third place with 1 points – (T*) – Seraphic Secret - Welcome to College Where You Can Major in Jew-Hatred
• Third place with 1 points – (T*) – Slate - Searching for SaddamA five-part series on how the U.S. military used social networking to capture the Iraqi dictator.
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Against Monopoly - Dancing on the Head of the Fair Use Pin
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Solomonia - Guess Who’s Dining at CJP’s Trough? [Hillel]
• Fourth place with 2/3 points – (T*) – Doug Ross @ Journal - Illegal Immigration by the Numbers
• Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – The Economist - Spirit level
• Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Hot Air’s Greenroom - “Outting Myself” or “We Now Interrupt This Broadcast”
• Fifth place with 1/3 points – (T*) – Althouse - Al Gore would like you to lie back and accept what the government decides is good for you.

As always, congratulations not only to the winners but to the participants.

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John McCain Gets Punked Again By 'Bi-Partisanship'

Ahhh, dear old Senator Mccain. How charming that someone of his age still believes in fairy tales:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is seeking bipartisan support to block Senate Democrats from using special parliamentary tactics to pass healthcare reform.{...}

He implored centrist Democrats to think about the consequences. He even invoked President Barack Obama’s own words to make his case.

And McCain reminded Democrats that he was a member of the bipartisan Gang of 14, which stopped Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) from using the so-called nuclear option in 2005.

It's time for a similar gang, he said. So far, he’s had no takers.

“Back a few years ago when the Republican side was in the majority and there was a movement toward the ‘nuclear option’ … I stood up as a member of the majority and said we should not erode the 60-vote majority rule that has prevailed here in the Senate for many years,” McCain said Thursday evening.

Now, back when Senator McCain and his sidekick Lindsay Graham were creating this compromise, a number of us said that the Democrats would never honor it if the shoe were on the other foot, and that they were just taking advantage of McCain's gullibility to block a number of highly qualified judges and presidential appointees .

Guess what? We were right.

I would have thought that McCain's life experiences would have taught him that you can never deal honestly or honorably with dishonest and dishonorable people.

Pity.

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House Panel Defies Obama, Calls Turkey's Murder of Armenians 'Genocide'

There is some good news coming out of Washington tonight:

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted narrowly on Thursday to condemn as genocide the mass killings of Armenians early in the last century, defying a last-minute plea from the Obama administration to forgo a vote that seemed sure to offend Turkey {...}

The vote on the nonbinding resolution, a perennial point of friction addressing a dark, century-old chapter of Turkish history, was 23 to 22. A similar resolution passed by a slightly wider margin in 2007, but the Bush administration, fearful of losing Turkish cooperation over Iraq, lobbied forcefully to keep it from reaching the House floor. Whether this resolution will reach a floor vote remains unclear.

In Ankara, the capital, the office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately issued a sharp rebuke. “We condemn this bill that denounces the Turkish nation of a crime that it has not committed,” the statement said. Ambassador Namik Tan, who had only weeks ago taken up his post in Washington, has been recalled to Ankara for consultations, according to the statement.

Ah well...it wouldn't be Pravda-on-the-Hudson if they couldn't say 'Bush did it too!' somewhere. And in this case, they're right. It was simple poetic justice that after going to all that trouble to massage the Islamist AKP government in Turkey,they ended up dialing out and not cooperating in the least when it came to Iraq.

Believe it or not, the French had more courage on this issue than we did, taking a stand and calling this genocide four years ago.

What this is all about (and it embarrasses me, as an American that the vote was that close) is a recognition of the brutal murder of something on the order of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turkish government in 1915.

This was the first modern attempt at genocide, and estimates of the death toll range from 900,000 to 1.5 million people. It was planned and ordered at the highest levels of the Turkish government and was carried out by direct executions, by forced relocation into the desert gulags in the Syrian Desert, the Der Zor, where thousands more died of disease, starvation and thirst and by the enslavement of thousands of Armenian women and children who were never heard from again.

The Turks committed this act of barbarism as a means of enforcing dhimmi, second class status on the largest, most progressive and most cohesive non-Muslim group in the Ottoman Empire and removing them from being obstacles in Turkey's imperialist ambitions.



No less than Nobel prize winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish author was tried by his own government in 2006 for "insulting Turkishness" because he told a Swiss newspaper, "thirty-thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it." and wrote that Turkey should acknowledge its part in the Armenian genocide.

Hitler himself recognized what happened to the Armenians as a precedent. At the Wannasee Conference where the mechanics of the Final Solution were hammered out, one of his aides questioned whether the West would allow the Holocaust he had planned against Europe's Jews. Hitler's response? "Who remembers the Armenians nowadays?"

Hitler's tactics were strikingly similar, if more efficient and on a larger scale than the Turks...forced `relocations' to what in fact were death camps. The Jews too were told that that these were `temporary relocations' and to bring only what they could carry.

The Turks, however, went the Germans one better when it came to acknowledging genocide. The Germans had the courage to face what had happened and to take responsibility. To this day, the Turkish government denies that any of this happened, and there has been no real punishment reparations or even recognition for the genocide against the Armenian people.

Full disclosure...I have no particular, inbred hatred for Turks or their nation. But it is time to come clean.

One hopes the Obama Administration would at least have that much decency.

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Senator Suggests Obama May Avoid Reconciliation Fix, Simply Sign Senate Bill

NH Republican Judd Gregg may be on to something here:

Gregg, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, suggested that President Barack Obama may back off making changes to the Senate bill through the reconciliation process, which the White House and the Senate have said they would use to make changes to the Senate bill in order to placate House members.

"They're using reconciliation to pass the great big bill," Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. "Once they pass the great big bill, I wouldn't be surprised if the White House didn't care if reconciliation passed. I mean, why would they?" {...}

"If you're in the House and you're saying, 'Well, I'm going to vote for this because I'm going to get a reconcilation bill,' I would think twice about that," Gregg said. "First because, procedurally, it's going to be hard to put a reconciliation bill through the Senate. Second because I'm not sure there's going to be a lot of energy to do it, from the president or his people."

"In my opinion, reconciliation is an exercise for buying votes, which, once they have the votes they really don't need it," he said.

Gregg has a pretty good idea of whom he speaks. If you remember, Gregg, who has a decent reputation for probity on both sides of the aisle was originally tapped by Obama to be his commerce secretary...until he quickly resigned after he found out that Obama had been, ummm, misspeaking a bit and was planning on hijacking the 2010 census and running it as a political operation out of the White House.

But that was then, and President Obama would never lie to the Democrat House members about fixing the Senate bill later just to ObamaCare through. Pinkie promise.

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Mega-Kool Rap Video On Obama 'OTP' (One Term President)

By the Wolverines...

And with a little luck and GOP majorities in the House and Senate, Prez Zero might even get his wagu steak loving behind impeached.

Hat tip to Bob Parks over at Big Government

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Obama To America: 'You'll Take ObamaCare And Like It'

As I predicted, Prez Zero decided to pull the trigger today on using the nuclear option to push through ObamaCare.

He essentially told his fellow Americans to take it and like it, using one the more flagrantly dishonest speeches in his career, complete with the white coat props.



He lied about ObamaCare paying for itself...there's at least a $2.5 billion shortfall that's going to be made up by heavy taxes on the middle class.And his cost estimates of $950 billion are sheer fantasy, especially since illegal aliens will be covered,

He also lied about the use of the reconciliation precedent. Not one of the bills he mentioned passed without significant bi-partisan support, whether it was welfare reform in 1996 ( passed by 78 votes, including Joe Biden and half the democrat caucus,S-Chip, the children's health program in 1997 ( almost a dozen Republican votes), the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (85-15, including 43 Republicans) or George W. Bush's tax cuts, which were endorsed by 12 Senate Democrats.

Not only that, but these were budgetary measures,not federal control of one sixth of the US economy. And none of these bills had anything like the opposition ObamaCare has.


He also blatantly lied about his ObamaCare proposal including 'most of the proposals from the other side of the aisle.'

This particular fairy tale comes in two parts - first, because in order to pass Obamacare and get it on the reconciliation table, the House will have to pass the deeply flawed Baucus Senate bill first. And second, because Obama's supposed 'bipartisan' proposal - funding $50 million of 'research' on medical malpractice reform instead of actual tort reform - were never advanced by Republicans, and other common sense proposals like allowing Americans to shop across state lines for insurance or import cheaper generic drugs from Canada were never even considered. President Obama apparently intends on keeping that part of his deal with Big Pharma.

Oh, and then there's this one : "My proposal also gets rid of many of the provisions that had no place in health care reform -- provisions that were more about winning individual votes in Congress than improving health care for all Americans."

Yet Mary Landrieu's $300 mil 'Louisiana Purchase' is still there.And even as I write this, Obama is busily involved in shelling out the bribes to get the votes he's going to need.

Like I said, you can always tell when Obama's lying. Just look and see..are his lips moving?

The goal here for Obama and his allies is to raise taxes while controlling the nation's healthcare, one sixth of the economy. It's the camel's nose in the tent for government-run healthcare, since it will ultimately either drive America's private insurer's out of business or bring them under the government's thumb ala' GM.

What Obama and his minions are counting on is shoving this through now even though the American people overwhelmingly oppose it. They want to get this monstrosity so deeply embedded that it will be as difficult as possible to repeal later.


Obama wants this not as a political victory, but as a way to fundamentally remake America in his image and he is even willing to destroy his own party to do it. I didn't think much of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConell's response, but he had this right. While the Democrats may think that by voting for this, they are putting the issue behind them, the reality is that they are putting the issue in front of them, to be resurrected by every Republican candidate nationwide.

We are dealing with ideologues here, not rational actors.

And if you thought the partisan wars in DC were bad before, just wait and see what happens if Obama gets his way and pushes this through.

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Dubai Police Chief: "We'll Identify 'Israelis' By Their Features

In his latest change of story, Dubai police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said today that he's 'almost positive' that the Mossad was responsible for killing Hamas apparatchnik Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and that the UAE will "deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship."

Actually, they already deny entry to anyone even flying in from Israel, let alone Israeli citizens. As a matter of fact, Jews in general aren't allowed entry unless their are special circumstances.

What was more interesting, as Elder Of Ziyon recounts was the police chiefs' anti-Semitic rant in Arabic, as reported in the Khaleej Times:

Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, said Israel is a rogue state, and that goes beyond international legitimacy and laws. Its leaders have sick mentalities, and they need psychologists, saying that its use of passports shows great arrogance and contempt for the world.

(Tamim said that) the leaders of "Israel" have blood on their hands the blood of others throughout history, pointing out that the "Israeli" people are human beings like any other people who want to be loved and open to others but that the successive governments, the Governments of bloodshed and assassinations, and wars and the Governments of the occupation and aggression, are not interested in peace in the world at all.

He added that the vanity which haunts the "Israeli" mentality stems from the time of Pharaoh, and their hate comes up to this day and age.

He said that the entire world should study the mentality of the "Israeli" leaders throughout history. Their sick psyches needs to be analyzed by psychology professors, who need to examine why they launch crises, and why they brought on themselves hate from others, since the time of Moses, peace be upon him.

He said we will train our personnel in the passport of the forms and features of the Jewish people and their names, noting that no one can hide their features of Jewishness. He asked the appropriate departments to prepare nationality and residency sessions to familiarize the staff with [Jewish] forms and names, especially since most Jews hold dual passports [with Israel.]

He pointed out that the number of Jews, compared with the Europeans, is nothing, and even within Palestine itself.

Yep, you can definitely tell the Jews apart...they're the sneaky looking ones with the horns on the heads. Keep in mind that Tamim has uncovered no evidence linking the Mossad to the killing whatsoever.

Needless to say, the English language media is ignoring Tamim's blatant racism.

But it gives rise to another set of interesting questions:

According to US and EU law, Hamas is an officially designated terrorist organization. So why was a Hamas cockroach like al-Mabhouh allowed to enter Dubai freely under a false passport? Why has Dubai become an arms transit point between Iran and Hamas?

In view of this, shouldn't the Obama Administration be considering direct flights between Dubai and the US a significant security risk? Shouldn't banking transactions that involve the Iranian regime be subjected to more scrutiny?

Not that the Obama Administration would ever ask those kind of questions...

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Rangel Takes Leave Of Absence From Chairmanship

In deciding whether to carry Charlie Rangel into the midterms or risk an all out fight with the Congressional Black Caucus and their allies, both sides took the easy way out.

Rangel will 'temporarily step aside':

“In order to avoid my colleagues having to defend me during their elections, I have this morning sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi asking her to grant me a leave of absence until such time as the ethics committee completes its work” on a number of accusations against him, the congressman said in a hurriedly scheduled meeting with reporters.

Given that the committee is dominated by Democrats, expect that work to take a very long time to get completed..say, until after the midterms. Pelosi probably made a deal with Rangel to have the Committee to come up with a minor wristslap, delivered ideally between election day and when the new Congress sits.

Chew on that for a minute. Serving justice when it comes to this sleazy little tax cheat doesn't matter a bit. Political advantage for the Democrats is everything.

'Most ethical Congress evah.' Ri-ight.

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Watcher's Council Nominations, 3/3/10

The Watcher's Council is a group of some of the most incisive blogs in the`sphere. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one of their own and one from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.

Then we vote, with the results appearing here Friday.

So, let's see what we have this week....enjoy!

Council Submissions

• Wolf Howling - Public Sector Unions: A Toxin, A Crisis & An Opportunity
• The Provocateur - Glenn Beck: Are You Serious
• Mere Rhetoric - Syria Responds To Obama’s Engagement, Publicly Mocks Clinton And Embraces Iran
• The Colossus of Rhodey - Lessons from Vietnam? Or just about any Third World country?
• Rhymes With Right - Dodd Introduces Amendment To Strip Americans Of Right To Donate To/Spend On Behalf Of Political Candidates
• Right Truth - Maj. Nidal Hasan moves to county jail.
• The Razor - The 2010 Healthcare Games
• Soccer Dad - The sophistication of antisemitism
• The Glittering Eye - A Reason to Believe
• Joshuapundit - Hey, It’s Purim!
• Bookworm Room - The common bonds between Iranian Mullahs and the Democrats
• American Digest - Frequently Answered Questions

Non-Council Submissions

• Submitted By: The Provocateur – Op Ed News - ACORN Whistleblower / Anita Mailroom MonCrief
• Submitted By: Wolf Howling – A. J. Strata - Liberal Ideology Is Creating Economic Madness
• Submitted By: Mere Rhetoric – Seraphic Secret - Welcome to College Where You Can Major in Jew-Hatred
• Submitted By: The Watcher – Heritage Blog - Morning Bell: The Edifice Falls
• Submitted By: The Colossus of Rhodey – The Economist - Spirit level
• Submitted By: Rhymes With Right – Hot Air’s Greenroom - “Outting Myself” or “We Now Interrupt This Broadcast”
• Submitted By: Right Truth – Slate - Searching for SaddamA five-part series on how the U.S. military used social networking to capture the Iraqi dictator.
• Submitted By: The Razor – Against Monopoly - Dancing on the Head of the Fair Use Pin
• Submitted By: Soccer Dad – Solomonia - Guess Who’s Dining at CJP’s Trough? [Hillel]
• Submitted By: The Glittering Eye – Althouse - Al Gore would like you to lie back and accept what the government decides is good for you.
• Submitted By: Joshuapundit – Victor Davis Hanson - Obama Fatigue
• Submitted By: Bookworm Room – Doug Ross @ Journal - Illegal Immigration by the Numbers
• Submitted By: American Digest – Chicago Boyz - Why Alternative Power Is and Will Remain Useless

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'Manhattan Madam' Dives Head First Into NY Governor's Race

That would be Kristin Davis, the so-called 'Manhattan Madam whose business supplied hookers to ex-governor Elliot Spitzer, among others:

"I am the only candidate who is not part of the corrupt and dysfunctional system of New York State politics," the buxom blond declared in announcing her independent bid.

And she has the fix for the state's gaping budget hole: legalizing and taxing - you guessed it - prostitution, as well as marijuana.

"My ideas may seem radical, but with a [huge] deficit we need radical solutions," said Davis,

Some of you may not remember, but legalizing these items was exactly what ex-Democrat presidential candidate Weekend Monkey suggested to destroy our deficit and create full employment.

As for Ms. Davis, I applaud her efforts to move from the oldest profession to the second oldest one. New York could use an experienced businesswoman with social skills and a knowledge of how the economy works, for a change.

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What Senator Jim Bunning Is Really Doing

The big story in American politics the last few days has to do with Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who has been characterized by the Democrats and their allies as an Evil Rethuglican mounting a filibuster solely designed to hurt the unemployed.

Reality? There's not a single word in the above characterization with any truth to it.

First of all, this is not a 'filibuster', and anyone who calls it one is a few chickpeas shy of a felafel. I'm looking at you, Kevin Drum and Carl Hulse.

Senator Jim Bunning - just because he wants any additional spending of this kind to be paid for - is instead objecting to what's called a unanimous consent request by Senate Democrats to pass a $10 billion bill without any debate or amendment that would temporarily extend unemployment benefits, transportation funding, medicare reimbursement, COBRA subsidies and other expenditures. Essentially, the Democrats want each U.S. Senator to automatically vote “yes” to this spending bill out of hand without examining it in the least!

A filibuster, my friends is something very different. It can be an actual classic filibuster where a Senator gets control of the Senate floor and will yield only for questions while continuing to speak or these days, simply calling a filibuster, thereby delaying passage of a bill. Or, a “filibuster” under Rule 22 of the Standing Rules of the Senate where debate is continuous unless “cloture” is filed to shut off debate on pending bill.

However, the Senate Democrats did not call this bill up to give it floor time. Instead, they simply asked for 'unanimous consent' to pass it. Senator Bunning simply does not wish to give his consent unless he sees how it's going to be paid for.

All the Dems have to do if they want this passed is to submit the bill and let it be voted on. The fact that they haven't may mean that there are more than a few Donkeys having second thoughts about this, because on a straight party line vote they would have no problem passing this.

I realize that this sort of fiscal responsibility is unpopular in the Age of Obama, but there it is.

Full disclosure - Senator Bunning is taking this stand because he has nothing to lose, since he's not running for re-election. I would have had a lot more respect for him had he done this sooner. But the fact the this is too little too late doesn't make it wrong on the face of it.

And speaking of full disclosure, who is hurting the unemployed more - Senator Bunning insisting that we simply show how we're going to pay for $10 billion increased spending before we commit to it of President Obama's job destroying, wastefully spend-a-holic economic policies?

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Obama Tries To Sabotage Tea Party With 'Coffee Party'

The latest wrinkle by Obama's constant campaign is to try and sabotage the Tea Party movement by pushing a group called the "Coffee Party", organized by filmmaker Annabel Park.

As always, outlets like The New York Times and Washington Post make it sound perfectly reasonable:

“We’re not the opposite of the Tea Party,” Ms. Park, 41, said. “We’re a different model of civic participation, but in the end we may want some of the same things.” ....

Park is also hoping to get some Tea Partiers in her group, because “We need to roll up our sleeves, put our heads together and work it out,” she said. “That’s, to me, an American way of doing this.”

Horse manure.

Park was one of organizers and operators of the United for Obama video channel at YouTube. check out this revolting bit of O worship:



Not only that, but check out this creep's twitter history:

Does anyone doubt that the idea and the funding for this garbage came straight out of the White House?

Take your 'coffee' and pour it in your ear, ObamaBot.The American people will not be fooled.

(Hat Tip, William at Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

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