Monday, December 22, 2014
Sarah Palin On Cuba
Governor Palin reminds us of some history..and as usual, she's got it exactly right.
Troops To Be Sent To Iraq In Spite of Obama's 'No Boots On The Ground' Promise
The Pentagon has announced that that up to 1,300 U.S. soldiers will be heading to Iraq in the New Year, in spite of those promises by President Obama that there would be “no boots on the ground” in Iraq or Syria.
The troops involved found out today.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel took the fall for the president and “authorized” the deployment,. It will initially consist of about 1,000 soldiers the 82nd Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based out of Fort Bragg.
Their mission, according to Pentagon Spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby "will be to train, advise, and assist Iraqi security forces.”
Based on how those Iraqi security forces have been performing so far, I'd say the emphasis is on 'assist.'
This will be the second of President Barack Hussein Obama'a illegal wars. Even Pravda -On-The-Hudson, AKA The New York Times recognized this.
Just imagine what the press would say if George W. Bush had done anything like this.
Forum: What Are Your Thoughts On President Obama's Normalizing Relations With Cuba?
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: What Are Your Thoughts On President Obama's Normalizing Relations With Cuba?
The Razor : I support it. The Castros have been using the embargo to justify the failures of their rule, and normalization would strip that away. You have the same Cuban families on both sides of the Florida straits, and the prosperity on one side is hard to hide. My only issue with it is that it’s happening under the Obama administration, so I’m sure it will be a disaster just as everything else has been in the foreign policy realm.
Simply Jews :This question is probably is a subject for a longer and better argumented post, but to be brief I shall try to digest my roaming thoughts all the same:
Since the demise of the Soviet Union and cessation of Soviet support so vital for Cuban economy, the US policy on Cuba remained unrevised and caused unnecessary 20+ years of hostility. And, of course, unnecessary suffering to Cubans.
The end to embargo (not there yet) and opening the borders to economic and cultural ties would have effectively finished off the oppressive dictatorial regime many years ago without any need to resort to exploding cigars and other outlandish and stupid ideas.
The Cubans today are kept as serfs to a rotting and crumbling regime that relies on the relatively privileged army and secret police as the last bastions that keep it intact and will crumble in the same way the Soviet regime crumbled all these years ago, if only the economic, cultural and, especially, information gateways were opened for all - to see how the life could be.
The right wing political camp in US was (still is) in thrall of the influential Cuban immigrants' lobby that ties its hands in all matters concerning Cuba. And let's not forget that at least some of the more influential and rich Cuban emigres are still pining for the corrupt and dictatorial Batista's regime... 'nuff said.
Of course, what Obama so far achieved is too little, but I hope it's not too late and the continuation will come. The more tourists from US, the more goods and information from the free world come to Cuba, the quicker the demise of the regime there will be.
The sooner the better.
JoshuaPundit : What do I think about President Obama Normalizing Relations With Cuba? I think it means he's quit cigarettes and is now smoking cigars.
About all I can do is joke about this, because it's a disaster in the making.
The regime itself was on the verge of collapse, because the Maduro regime in Venezuela could no longer afford to give the Castros subsidized oil. So instead of allowing it to fall or even encouraging its demise, this president has now thrown this brutal regime a lifeline that will keep it in power.
Cuba is only ninety miles from the U.S. Think about that for a moment. It is a regime aligned with our enemies, and as Raúl Castro informed President Obama in a 30 minute lecture, nothing's changing.
The embargoes kept a lot of bad actors away from Cuba. Not only are they now free to come in, by the entire use of embargoes as a means to counteract bad behavior short of war has been undermined.
But wait,there's more. Let's revisit history.
Once President Kennedy allowed the Monroe Doctrine to be breached by backing out of the Bay of Pigs invasion after it had already started, the Soviets realized that Castro could be their entry into the western hemisphere and just a year later they had their missile bases installed on the island.The confrontation that followed once our intelligence found out about it almost started a nuclear war.
Imagine what would happen if history repeated itself? The Russians are already sniffing around. What if Iran makes a clandestine deal with Castro and we wake up one day with Iranian ballistic missiles aimed at our shores? What if China decides that Havana would be a superb spot for a naval base to extend their reach into American territorial waters? What if the Cuban regime itself receives nuclear weapons from, say, North Korea? Especially at a time when America's missile defense and nuclear weapons, just like our conventional military are already at historic lows?
And remember, the Cubans are going to get an embassy on our shores out of the deal which will be nothing but a den of spies and a security risk.
I'm afraid I have little patience with people that argue that after 50 years, we need to change policy, that trade and tourism will benefit the Cuban people and eventually lead to more freedom. These are the same arguments a number of people made when talking about the Soviet Union between WWII and the 1970's and they helped it keep going for years.
Profits from trade and tourism aren't going to trickle down to ordinary Cubans.They will go to the regime's elites, with a select few being allowed access to the goodies as the carrot for loyalty and good behavior, with the stick very much in evidence for anyone who displeases the regime in any fashion. And rest assured, the Cubans not are going to be allowed free access to the internet, to publications, to radio, to films or to anything that displeases the regime, contradicts its propaganda or undermines its iron grip on their throats.
As sickening as it is that we would betray the many Cubans whom seek freedom, it's even worse that would would betray our own interests and our national security. That's exactly what this amounts to...a major foreign policy debacle.
The Independent Sentinel : All I have to do is repost the first paragraph from the NY Times article December 20th: "President Raúl Castro declared victory for the Cuban Revolution on Saturday in a wide-ranging speech, thanking President Obama for “a new chapter” while also reaffirming that restored relations with the United States did not mean the end of Communist rule in Cuba."
Obama just propped up another Communist dictatorship.
Laura Rambeau Lee, Right Reason : President Obama makes another sweeping statement, this time decreeing he intends to normalize relations with Cuba. We have not seen any announcement or agreement on the part of the Castro regime to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Cuba in return for re-establishing diplomatic and trade ties with America. Several members of Congress have said they had no idea these negotiations were even occurring although apparently they have been going on for over a year. This appears to be another ill-conceived unilateral executive action. So why is President Obama doing this?
Whether you believe we should lift the decades old embargo or not, we do need to consider the parties who will benefit the most from this action. Very likely billions of our tax dollars will be given in aid to the Cuban government in an ongoing effort of the president to redistribute our wealth, most of which will end up in the pockets of those in positions of power in the Castro regime.
Of course, American corporations will benefit by opening factories in Cuba and hiring cheap labor. The lives of Cubans might improve a little, but they will remain isolated from the rest of the world as they have been since Castro came to power. Cuba has had diplomatic and trade relations with many countries around the world, and the Cuban people continue to live in poverty and fear. Why would anyone believe if America opens diplomatic and trade relations with Cuba the lives of the people of Cuba will improve?
This is all about wealth re-distribution and cheap labor for American corporations.
The Right Planet:I shouldn' t say I was shocked by Obama's unilateral action to normalize relations with Cuba. But it is shocking to watch a U.S. president simply ignore the past and make nice with a despotic regime. My South American friends see this as throwing a lifeline to the Castro regime, since Cuba's close ally, Venezuela, is quickly going belly up, due to plummeting oil prices. But along comes Obama to pluck them from disaster.
What did the U.S. get in return? The release of a USAID worker and an intel agent, Rolando Sarraff Trujillo, held in Cuba for the past two decades. But Cuba got everything they wanted. I suspect, too, that this unilateral decision by Obama has something to do with closing Guantanamo Bay. And why didn't the U.S. demand the return of cop killer Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973 during a gunbattle after being stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike?
Obama stated in his address to the nation that his decision to normalize relations with Cuba "will end an outdated approach that has failed to advance America's interests." What does that mean? Obama never explained what he meant by "America's interests." I suspect it's code for "failed to advance Obama's interests." It just looks to me like Obama is propping up a failed socialist regime, since Obama has never met a communist despot he didn't like, to my knowledge.
The Glittering Eye : The embargo on Cuba was imposed specifically for the purpose of producing regime change. A half century later it still hasn't done that and at this point I think it's reasonable to think it never will. Both sides in the argument about the president's recent announcement have good points. Those who oppose them object to subsidizing the Castro regime and think that we haven't struck much of a deal in the negotiations. Those who support the president's move point out that we haven't gotten anywhere with the embargo, abandoning it would be of economic benefit to the U. S., and it's time for a change. I think the economic argument is much exaggerated. LIberalization will be much better for Cuba than it will for us.
IMO liberalization of travel will be a stronger weapon against the Castro regime than the embargo. It will be interesting to see how Cubans react to visits from their relatives in the States and to the consumer goods and information they bring with them.
The whole matter strikes me as another example of something that has become a very bad habit for the president, not enlisting the support of Congress, even Democrats in Congress, before announcing a change in policy. There isn't a lot the president can do in the absence of cooperation from the Congress and an announcement out of the blue does little to foster that cooperation.
In the final analysis whether the policy change is just a photo op or whether there is actually material change will depend on what the president and Congress agree on. We'll just need to wait and see.
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?
Friday, December 19, 2014
Joe Biden To Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “Let me tell you one or two things about Islam.”
Author and speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an outspoken advocate for freedom, a champion of women's rights in Islam, and a perceptive critic of Islamism and Salafist Islam.
You might recall that she was supposed to receive an honorary degree from Brandeis University earlier this year but was 'disinvited' when Muslim Brotherhood fronts like CAIR and the Muslim Student's Association pressured the university to caving in, a fairly hypocritical decision in view of some of the other people they've awarded these degrees to.
In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, she explained that many westerners have no clue what goes on in many Islamic countries, and why she thought the Left was so protective of Islamist extremists:
“They feel all religions are the same, and they’re not,” she observed. “I think if I adopt the position in good faith to multiculturalists and leftists, I would say [they take the position they do] because they see them [Muslims] as victims. They see them as victims of the white man and so they think: ‘Let’s protect them from the white man. Let’s protect them from capitalism.’… That is misguided at best and malicious at worst.”
“Wherever [Islamists] gain power, you see exactly what they do: The first thing they do is they chase women out of the public space, force them to cover up, beat them up, rape them, sell them into slavery,” Hirsi Ali said.
She also revealed an amusing encounter with the man who's just a heartbeat away from the White House, our current vice president Joe Biden: Hirsi Ali recalled meeting Vice President Joe Biden at a Washington event. He informed her that “ISIS had nothing to do with Islam.” When she disagreed with him, Biden actually responded: “Let me tell you one or two things about Islam.”
“I politely left the conversation at that,” Hirsi Ali said. “I wasn’t used to arguing with vice presidents.”
Our vice president has attempting to school someone on Islam who was raised a devout Muslim,lived in 3 Islamic countries,endured female genital mutilation when she was only 5, was a member of the female auxiliary of the Muslim Brotherhood and fled to the West to avoid a forced arranged marriage.
Anyone think she might know just a tiny bit more about Islam and radical Islam than Joe Biden?
This one's even funnier than his remark during the '08 vice presidential debates insisting that the U.S. had kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon.
This would be even funnier except for the fact that Joe Biden,who spent his life on the Senate foreign affairs committee actually thinks he's an authority on these matters...
Jews Celebrate Hanukkah Around The World
In America's heartland, St. Louis Missouri
Myanmar's tiny Jewish community kindles the Hanukkah lights in the 118-year-old Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue. Yangon, (formerly known as Rangoon) Myanmar's largest city. The ceremony was led by the patriarch of the community, Moses Samuels.
Jews in Uganda kindle the Hanukkah lights
Lighting the Menorah at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Menorah lighting in Moscow.
Kindling the lights in Kingston,Jamaica
Some IDF soldiers chow down on sufganiyot, traditional Hanukkah jelly doughnuts!
Jews In Buenos Aires gather for the Menorah lighting...Feliz Janukkah!
Jews gather in London's Trafalgar Square for the Menorah Lighting
Berlin's Brandenburg Gate; Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal lights the Menorah
A familiar face lights a Menorah in Jerusalem
At Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate...
Celebrating in Mumbai, India
In Crown Heights, New York City
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
And of course, at the White House, Washington DC
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.
"I don’t believe it is possible to transcend race in this country. Race is a factor in this society. The legacy of Jim Crow and slavery has not gone away. It is not an accident that African-Americans experience high crime rates, are poor, and have less wealth. It is a direct result of our racial history." - Barack Obama,
""Barack Obama is like the old joke about boats. The two best days of owning a boat are the day you buy it and the day you sell it."- Howie Carr
"None of what Barack Obama is doing or wants to do to this country is anything the rest of the world hasn't seen before and already failed at."
- Rush Limbaugh
This week's winning essay,Nice Deb's -Sheriff Clark: After Obama, We’re Going To Need A “Period Of Reconstruction To Put The Country Back Together” Is her astute take on an interview with Sheriff David Clark of Milwaukee concerning race relations under President Obama. Here's a slice:
Milwaukee Sheriff David Clark joined Megyn Kelly, Thursday night to discuss a new Fox poll that shows that 62% of voters believe race relations have gotten worse since Barack Obama became president.
Kelly asked the the clear-eyed, straight talking sheriff, “are they right?”
“Of course they’re right,” Clark answered without hesitation. “He built that…..remember that statement, ‘you didn’t build that’? Well, he built this racial divide, it was a wound that had been healing for a number of years – number of decades – and he reopened it with his divisive politics.”
He continued, “Obama has benefited from the divide and conquer strategy – it secured two successive electoral victories for the White House but it’s been very destructive for America.” He went on to ask a devastating question, “Who would have thought that after the election of first black president in the history of United States, that we would need a period of reconstruction to try to put this country back together?”
Clark claimed that instead of taking a neutral tone, Obama has habitually fanned the flames.
Megyn gave Clark an opportunity to give Obama a pass and put most of the blame on people with whom he surrounds himself, but Clark was having none of it.
“It’s a cabal of people,” he acknowledged. “But he’s at the top. When the president speaks, people listen and he has to choose his words carefully.”
Megyn, playing devils advocate, noted that Obama often acknowledges the sacrifices made by police.
Clark countered by saying that Obama likes to “throw a few bones out there” for law enforcement with “a wink and a nod” to the racial agitators. “People know what he’s doing,” the Sheriff declared.
More at the link.
In our non-Council category, the winner was Kurt Schlichter Townhall with Nothing Succeeds Like Liberal Secession submitted by The Razor . It's a fascinating look at what things would be like in Blue America and Red America decided on a mutual peaceful parting of the ways, with a nice side order of Schlichter's wry sense of humor.
Here are this week’s full results:
Council Winners
- *First place with 2 2/3 votes!Nice Deb – Sheriff Clark: After Obama, We’re Going To Need A “Period Of Reconstruction To Put The Country Back Together”
- Second place with 2 1/3 votes – Joshuapundit-Hanukkah, The Festival Of Lights And Freedom
- Third place with 1 2/3 vote –The Right Planet – Let’s Talk LEGAL Immigration, Shall We?
- Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –The Noisy Room – Boehner Betrays His Conservative Base by Passing the CRomnibus and ‘It Stinks to High Heaven’
- Fourth place *t* with 1 1/3 votes –VA Right! - Why Would the PEC Fight to Keep Easement Enforcement on Martha Boneta’s Farm?
- Fifth place with 1 vote –The Independent Sentinel – Did The Republicans Lose The Election?
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote –Simply Jews – Wayne Madsen does it again or How to be had gracefully
- Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote –Rhymes With Right – Harris County GOP Endorses Scott Turner For Texas Speaker Of The House
- Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote –The Razor – Limousine Liberals and Faux Populists
- Seventh place *t* with 2/3 vote –Bookworm Room – Some of America’s ugliest antisemitism comes from young Hollywood Jews (language warning)
Non-Council Winners
- First place with 2 1/3 votes! –Kurt Schlichter –Nothing Succeeds Like Liberal Secession submitted by The Razor
- Second place with 2 votes –Mark Steyn–Emasculated and Enkindled submitted by The Noisy Room
- Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Shoebat.Com – Christian Man Asks Thirteen Gay Bakeries To Bake Him Pro-Traditional Marriage Cake, And Is Denied Service By All Of Them (WATCH THE SHOCKING VIDEO) submitted by Rhymes with Right
- Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Sultan Knish –The Savage Lands of Islam submitted by The Independent Sentinel
- Third place *t* with 1 2/3 votes –Lee Smith/The Weekly Standard – America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming World Disorder submitted by Joshuapundit
- Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes –Sultan Knish-Life In Post truth America submitted by Bookworm Room
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – David Gerstman/Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – Will the New Center-Left Coalition Unseat Netanyahu? submitted by Simply Jews
- Fifth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Sic Semper Tyrannus – The US must purge itself submitted by The Glittering Eye
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?
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Our Weasel Of The Week!!
Once again, 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 disgusting,but the votes are in and we have our winner...the envelope please...
Squeaker of the House, Obama Doormat and RINO extraordinaire John Boehner!!
The Noisy Room : John Boehner for betraying his conservative base and aligning himself with Obama and the Progressives on the Left. In the CRominbus bill, he gave everything and more to Obama on every Progressive issue addressed. It was a breathtaking act of treason against conservatives and the Tea Party.
I agree wholeheartedly with Sean Hannity:
"John 'Gruber' Boehner, two days after the midterm elections, talking tough on the issue of amnesty, but unfortunately, that's all it was. Because today it's conservatives who feel like they've been burned as the Speaker aligned himself with the president, with Harry Reid, Steny Hoyer and Joe Biden to pass a spending bill a short time ago," Hannity said.
"John Boehner 'Grubered' conservatives tonight and by that, I mean, the conservative base in particular, and Michele Bachmann hit the nail on the head," he continued. "He never would have done this before the election. He has no inspiring vision and to me, he is everything that is wrong with Washington. He is a Democratic Party-lite. He doesn't have those bold colored differences that Reagan talked about. And he should, in my view, he should not be the Speaker and should be replaced."
Boehner would not even speak, much less negotiate with conservatives on this and he implemented a provision that would effectively raise the amount that high net-worth donors can contribute to political party committees from $97,250 to $777,600, was an egregious slap in the face to the Tea Party and conservatives. It basically ensures that fat cats are the only ones who can afford to run and it is a blatant attempt to shut out Tea Party candidates.
Time to go RINO hunting as Sarah Palin put it. Lock and load.
The Independent Sentinel :John Boehner is unquestionably my choice for weasel of the week, perhaps for the month, no the year. He said he would stand up to Barack Obama before the election, but the only ones he has stood up to are conservative Republicans. When it looked as if the budget wouldn't pass, he pressured conservatives and when that didn't work, he went to the far-left Steny Hoyer and Barack Obama to get the bill passed.
Boehner tweeted this on December 11th: "By the House’s action, we are setting up a direct challenge to the president’s unilateral actions on immigration next month... 3/4"
Horsefeathers!!!
Boehner pushed through a budget that funds amnesty. The Republicans have nothing to fight with next year. We can't defund the DHS.
They won't fight anyway.
Any fight is always pushed off into the future with this phony.
He betrayed the people who put Republicans in control of the House and the Senate. My second runner up for weasel is Karl Rove who is pleased that we are on our way towards having a budget as if that were the end all and be all. We passed an exorbitant spending bill that funds all of Obama's lawless actions and neither Karl Rove or John Boehner appear to care about the Constitution in all of this.
VA Right: I'm going to go with John Boehner and his lead from behind deal with Barack Obama on the Omnibus bill.
The voters made this a wave election, not to get the Republicans to work with the Democrats, but to get them to push back. Boehner gave up an entire year of leverage and opportunity. He managed to prove that Republicans are not the answer either.
Yes, John Boehner came out ahead in a crowded and despicable field to walk off with the honors.Like some of other winners, this is something of a life time achievement award for excellence in Weaseldom rather than simply a recognition of his extraordinary performance during the current lame duck session. Remember when he first took over as Speaker back in 2011 and had us all convinced he was a fine, conservative choice?
Woo yeah, Mr. Speaker, boy did we fall for that one! And I bet you and your friends had a big laugh over it too!
Well, at any rate, I at least want to commend you for being a good sport and showing up in person to get your well-earned Weasel..please come to the stage Speaker Boehner!
Speaker Boehner...umm Speaker Boehner, I realize...I know it's an emotional moment for you sir, but could you please stop...no I don't want a hug sir...yecch, you're getting it all over me! Please, someone get me a towel...!
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?
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Watcher's Council Nominations - Cuba Betrayed Edition
With today's announcement by President Obama that the U.S. will be normalizing relations with Cuba, American foreign policy took a very dark turn. Just at the point when this hideous regime was on the verge of collapse, our president took action that will not promote freedom for the Cuban people, but will throw an economic lifeline to a brutal dictatorship to enable it to stay in power. Disgraceful and shameful beyond words.
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:
The Council In Action!!
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 Noisy Room – Boehner Betrays His Conservative Base by Passing the CRomnibus and ‘It Stinks to High Heaven’
- The Independent Sentinel – Did The Republicans Lose The Election?
- Simply Jews – Wayne Madsen does it again or How to be had gracefully
- VA Right! - Why Would the PEC Fight to Keep Easement Enforcement on Martha Boneta’s Farm?
- Rhymes With Right – Harris County GOP Endorses Scott Turner For Texas Speaker Of The House
- The Glittering Eye -How Do You Know What You’re Doing is Right?
- The Razor – Limousine Liberals and Faux Populists
- Bookworm Room – Some of America’s ugliest antisemitism comes from young Hollywood Jews (language warning)
- Joshuapundit-Hanukkah, The Festival Of Lights And Freedom
- Nice Deb – Sheriff Clark: After Obama, We’re Going To Need A “Period Of Reconstruction To Put The Country Back Together”
- The Right Planet – Let’s Talk LEGAL Immigration, Shall We?
- GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD – Battle Of The Bulge
Honorable Mentions
- IOwnTheWorldReport.Com - Detroilet Prosecutor’s Office Doesn’t Sign Warrants In Time and Dozens of Murders, Child Abusers and Rapists Get Freed
- The Political Commentator - Obama's Legacy? Pakistani schoolchildren slaughtered by members of the Religion of Peace!
- Blazing Cat Fur - From moderate Democrats to white Evangelicals, nearly every demographic group believes torture can be justified
Non-Council Submissions
- Mark Steyn–Emasculated and Enkindled submitted by The Noisy Room
- Sultan Knish –The Savage Lands of Islam submitted by The Independent Sentinel
- David Gerstman/Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion – Will the New Center-Left Coalition Unseat Netanyahu? submitted by Simply Jews
- Washington Times – Federal judge finds Obama amnesty is unconstitutional submitted by VA Right!
- Shoebat.Com – Christian Man Asks Thirteen Gay Bakeries To Bake Him Pro-Traditional Marriage Cake, And Is Denied Service By All Of Them (WATCH THE SHOCKING VIDEO) submitted by Rhymes with Right
- Sic Semper Tyrannus – The US must purge itself submitted by The Glittering Eye
- Kurt Schlichter –Nothing Succeeds Like Liberal Secession submitted by The Razor
- Sultan Knish-Life In Post truth America submitted by Bookworm Room
- Lee Smith/The Weekly Standard – America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming World Disorder submitted by Joshuapundit
- Andrew McCarthy/NRO -The Feinstein Report Is Going to Cost Us submitted by Nice Deb
- Patterico's Pontifications – The Hidden Bad Assumptions in Socialist Thought submitted by The Right Planet
- The Federalist – Dads, Give Your Daughters The Gift Of Football submitted by The Watcher
- Byron York/Washington Examiner – Yes, Congress can stop Obama's immigration action submitted by The Watcher
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Hamas Is Working Very Hard To Rebuild Gaza
PHOTO: #Hamas working hard and investing enormous resources to rebuild Gaza Strip.
Yes, they certainly are.
Weasel Of The Week Nominees!!
It's time again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for Award the famed Golden 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:
Squeaker of the House, Obama Doormat and RINO extraordinaire John Boehner!!
The Noisy Room : John Boehner for betraying his conservative base and aligning himself with Obama and the Progressives on the Left. In the CRominbus bill, he gave everything and more to Obama on every Progressive issue addressed. It was a breathtaking act of treason against conservatives and the Tea Party.
I agree wholeheartedly with Sean Hannity:
"John 'Gruber' Boehner, two days after the midterm elections, talking tough on the issue of amnesty, but unfortunately, that's all it was. Because today it's conservatives who feel like they've been burned as the Speaker aligned himself with the president, with Harry Reid, Steny Hoyer and Joe Biden to pass a spending bill a short time ago," Hannity said.
"John Boehner 'Grubered' conservatives tonight and by that, I mean, the conservative base in particular, and Michele Bachmann hit the nail on the head," he continued. "He never would have done this before the election. He has no inspiring vision and to me, he is everything that is wrong with Washington. He is a Democratic Party-lite. He doesn't have those bold colored differences that Reagan talked about. And he should, in my view, he should not be the Speaker and should be replaced."
Boehner would not even speak, much less negotiate with conservatives on this and he implemented a provision that would effectively raise the amount that high net-worth donors can contribute to political party committees from $97,250 to $777,600, was an egregious slap in the face to the Tea Party and conservatives. It basically ensures that fat cats are the only ones who can afford to run and it is a blatant attempt to shut out Tea Party candidates.
Time to go RINO hunting as Sarah Palin put it. Lock and load.
The Independent Sentinel :John Boehner is unquestionably my choice for weasel of the week, perhaps for the month, no the year. He said he would stand up to Barack Obama before the election, but the only ones he has stood up to are conservative Republicans. When it looked as if the budget wouldn't pass, he pressured conservatives and when that didn't work, he went to the far-left Steny Hoyer and Barack Obama to get the bill passed.
Boehner tweeted this on December 11th: "By the House’s action, we are setting up a direct challenge to the president’s unilateral actions on immigration next month... 3/4"
Horsefeathers!!!
Boehner pushed through a budget that funds amnesty. The Republicans have nothing to fight with next year. We can't defund the DHS.
They won't fight anyway.
Any fight is always pushed off into the future with this phony.
He betrayed the people who put Republicans in control of the House and the Senate. My second runner up for weasel is Karl Rove who is pleased that we are on our way towards having a budget as if that were the end all and be all. We passed an exorbitant spending bill that funds all of Obama's lawless actions and neither Karl Rove or John Boehner appear to care about the Constitution in all of this.
VA Right: I'm going to go with John Boehner and his lead from behind deal with Barack Obama on the Omnibus bill.
The voters made this a wave election, not to get the Republicans to work with the Democrats, but to get them to push back. Boehner gave up an entire year of leverage and opportunity. He managed to prove that Republicans are not the answer either.
Senator Dianne Feinstein!
GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD : For unleashing a partisan report that only spoke to terrorist pro bono attorneys with serious Nat'l Security repercussions. Allies and fence sitters will be less likely to work with America since anything they help with could be blown by a spiteful old lady. Enemies may use it a rallying point to continue their mad jihad to kill innocents and innocent Americans.
Hamas Shill And British Labour Party Nutjob Sir Gerald Kaufman!!
Bookworm Room : Gerald Kaufman, a Jewish-born, British member of Parliament (Labour, of course), for coming up with one of the most foully antisemitic statements ever:
"You cannot appeal to the Israelis’ better nature, because they do not have one."
The video and transcript can be found here.
Sen. Elizabeth “Stands With Fistfuls of Corporate Cash” Warren!
The Razor : My pick of the litter this week is Sen. Elizabeth “Stands With Fistfuls of Corporate Cash” Warren. As Kevin Williamson writes in this week’s National Review, Sen. Warren has become a darling of the progressive community for her attacks on Wall Street yet at the same time has taken its cash. The New York Times has supported the narrative of Warren’s opposition to the federal bailouts, writing ““The liberal base of the Democratic Party, led by Ms. Warren, also found itself in an unlikely alliance with the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Both opposed the Wall Street bailout of 2008 and feared that the spending measure would not only provide a bounty for big banks but would also help cause another economic crisis.” Williamson writes, “Senator Warren is an energetic proponent of corporate welfare for Boeing, General Electric Bechtel, Caterpillar, and other such poor, defenseless little mom-and-pop operations.” Williamson also references the funniest movie ever, Blazing Saddles, referring to Warren’s claim of Cherokee ancestry (she’s 3.1%) “Senator Warren is as much an authentic champion of ordinary working people as she is an authentic Cherokee princess — and Mel Brooks and those Yiddish-speaking Indians from Blazing Saddles were more convincing in that role.”
Sen. Warren is the new face of progressives in the Democratic party, meaning she’s extremely wealthy, white and old – having turned 65 last June. She’s being considered as the youthful alternative to Hillary Clinton (who turned 67 in October). But being eligible for full Social Security benefits doesn’t deter her nomination for weasel of the week, especially for one as weaselly as Warren. Weasel Warren: it has a certain ring to it..
Yeccch! Can you smell the stench these weasel creatures emit or what? Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!
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Monday, December 15, 2014
Germany To Build Israeli Warships
Israel and the German government have finalized a deal for the German firm Thyssen Krupp to build four new corvettes for the Israeli Navy at the Kiel shipyards.
The exact details of what model the Israelis settled on is classified, but based on previous talks the ships will probably be either MEKO A100 class (pictured above) or the MEKO CSL's, something more along the lines of a littoral combat ship. The new frigates will be configured with Israeli electronics like IAI’s Elta’s EL/M-2248 MF-STAR radar systems and Israeli weaponry like the new Barak-8 medium range air defense missile. There's also a rear pad for an attack or recon helicopter. The cost of the deal is a billion euros, of which Germany will subsidize 115 million euros. This is a similar type of deal to the one Israel did with Germany to get its six Dolphin-class nuclear capable subs, also built at Kiel.
Israel's strategic mission for the corvettes is the protection of Israel's off shore drilling installations, so they needed a fast ship that can provide decent defense against any attacking enemies as well as surface attack punch. Israel's SOTA Heron UAVs are already operating in maritime patrols and the new ships will augment that.
The work is expected to start in a matter of weeks, as soon as the German parliament’s budget committee gives final approval, which is expected to be forthcoming.
The Siege Ends In Sydney - Updated
There was a dramatic end to the hostage situation in Sydney, Australia early this morning at around 2 AM local time as police stormed the Lindt Cafe with stun guns and automatic weapons fire.
There are reportedly two dead, and at least one of whom was the gunman who was holding the staff and the early morning customers of the popular cafe hostage.
The terrorist was identified as Haron Monis, AKA 'Sheik Haron' and he definitely was someone with an interesting history, which we'll get to shortly.
Early this morning, the hostages started emerging from the cafe. Initially one man was seen coming out with his hands up who laid down on the ground in front of the police. Seconds later, a group of of five hostages appeared suddenly after they appeared to have escaped from the cafe.
The police likely decided that there was a possibility that Sheik Haron had started brutalizing or killing a hostage, so they moved in within seconds, and it says a lot about their training and preparedness that they were fully prepared to move at a moment's notice. They blasted open the cafe door opened fire with automatic weapons and hurled stun grenades as they stormed the cafe.
More hostages came out of the cafe afterwards, 11 of whom have been accounted for. I have heard reports that a policeman was also shot, but I haven't been able to confirm that yet.
UPDATE: I have been able to confirm that 3 people died, including the hostage taker. Two hostages, a 34-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman were also killed. The police confirm hearing shots before they stormed the building, and it's likely that the Sheik had decided to start killing some or all of the hostages off. A policeman was shot in the face, but is said to be in good condition.
A bomb disposal robot was sent into the cafe, so the police aren't taking any chances.
Sheik Haron had previously said he had a bomb in the cafe, as well as two others in other parts of Sydney.
So, who was 'Sheik' Haron Monis? He was an Iranian who came to Australia in 1996 as a refugee. He was a self proclaimed expert in astrology, magic and meditation who ran a 'spiritual healing' clinic in West Sydney.
Among his other hobbies, one of them was sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers who were killed in action between 2007 and 2009. Instead of being booted out of Australia, he received 300 community service hours and a two year suspended sentence on probation, called a 'good behaviour bond' in Australia.
In November 2013 he was charged as an accessory to the murder of his ex-wife, who was stabbed and set on fire on a flight of stairs in her Sydney apartment building.The man's current girlfriend,Amirah Droudis was charged with murder but they both received bail. His wife's name, by the way, was Noleen Hayson Pal. Since that is not a Persian or Islamic name, I think the chances are good that Sheik married a native Australian as a way or working his ticket to get asylum. That also might be something the Australian government might want to keep a closer watch on in the future.
He was also arrested in April this year for the sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman in 2002 at a 'clinic' he ran. Since those charges were filed, a number of other victims have come forth.
You have to wonder what someone like this was doing running around loose in Australia. Even worse, the Sydney police have admitted that Sheik Haron was well known to them.
Another thing to consider is that Sheik Haron had no problem obtaining a weapon at all. That's always how it is..people intent on criminal activity can always get a gun when they need one, no matter how strict the laws are..because laws are not their concern in the least. Australia's strict gun laws have pretty much disarmed most law abiding Ozzies. Had some of the innocent people inside the Lindt Cafe been able to own firearms to protect themselves, this whole situation would likely have turned out much differently.
Most interesting to me was that Sheik, being from Iran was likely (but not conclusively) a Shi'ite. There are Iranian Sunnis, but they are only 9% of the population, mostly Arabs whom live in mountainous Larestan, Kurds in the northwest, and Arabs and Balochs in the southwest and southeast. Assuming Sheik Haron Monis was a Shi'ite, why he would want an Islamic State flag? Did he convert to Sunni Islam? I suppose we'll find out.
UPDATE: According to his Facebook page, Sheik Haron had indeed converted to Sunni Islam.
The one thing we can all be glad of is that Sheik Haron is no longer Australia's problem, the siege is over and that the injury and loss of life were less than they could have been.
Sydney's Turn...
The Lindt Cafe in Sydney's Martin Place downtown is normally by all reports a pleasant, friendly place to grab a snack to go with your morning coffee.
Today it's a chamber of horrors.
At 9:45 AM today an armed Muslim terrorist man wearing a headband covered in Arabic walked into the cafe took out a shotgun from a blue bag and took the entire staff and the customers hostage. He also reportedly has an explosive device which he set up later.
Unfortunately, Australians have essentially been disarmed legally, so no one was able to stop him.
There's no telling how many hostages there are, but the estimates range between 13 and as many as 30. Most of them appear to have been ordered to press up against the windows so the impede police snipers. Some of the terrified female hostages have been ordered to hold up an Islamic banner.
Contrary to earlier reports, this is not an Islamic State flag, but a common Muslim jihad banner engraved with the shehada, the Islamic principles of faith.It's frequently used by Jahbat al-Nusrah and other Islamist and salafi groups,.
The gunman and some of the hostages have been in touch with local media. They haven't released too many details for obvious reasons, but the gunman has reportedly requested an Islamic State flag and a conversation with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be broadcast live over the radio..in other words, maximum publicity. That doesn't bode well.
The gunman also claimed he had 'two bombs inside the cafe' and that there are two elsewhere in the city.
Worth noting, by the way... Sydney's Muslims went public quickly condemning this barbarity utterly in a joint statement signed by over 50 groups. And a number of interfaith prayer vigils are being held in mosques, synagogues and churches throughout Australia.
It's possible this atrocity was a jihadi operation related to the one foiled in September that was to be part of a fairly intensive terrorist strike throughout Sydney. Among other things, it involved setting off several car bombs, including one near the Israeli embassy according to one of my sources.Also reportedly targeted was Sydney's world famous Opera House.
Omarjan Azari, a 22-year-old Sydney man arrested in a large anti-terrorism raid in September, was allegedly planning the attacks, which included the kidnapping of a random Australian, and a filmed beheading to be aired on social media as propaganda for the Islamic State cause.
According to the charges filed, the attacks were mentioned in a conversation between an Australian terrorism recruiter in Syria, Mohammad Ali Barylei and Azari.
About six hours into the siege, some of the hostages, 3 men and two women managed to escape.
The Australian police now have the cafe surrounded and the entire area, a very busy part of downtown Sydney has been evacuated.
It's evening right now in Sydney, and reportedly there are no lights on in the cafe.So far, as far as we know none of the hostages have been hurt. We can only pray at this point that it stays that way, and that this evil is defeated. Needless to say, Australia has already received an offer of any help they require from a very good friend with a great deal of experience and expertise in these matters.
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