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NOVEMBER 21,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

DEM WINS LOUISIANA GOVERNOR RACE – From thenewsstar.com:   NEW ORLEANS — State Rep. John Bel Edwards won Louisiana’s highest elected office Saturday night, defeating two-term U.S. Sen. David Vitter for governor in what would have been an unthinkable upset a few months ago.  Edwards is a Democrat, who's just won in a reliably Republican state.  However, Dems should not celebrate too wildly.  He ran as a conservative Democrat, and I suspect the name "Obama" was rarely if ever invoked.  Vitter was a problematical Republican candidate, with more baggage than American Airlines.  Edwards will succeed the great Bobby Jindal.

SINCERITY ALERT – From theamericanmirror.com:   Hillary Clinton campaigned in Memphis, Tennessee yesterday and Huma Abedin didn’t forget to pack the candidate’s fake southern accent.  It took Clinton only about 50 seconds to unpack it before a crowd at LeMoyne-Owen College.  “I gotta tell you,” Hillary said with a distinct drawl, “I loved coming to Memphis in the past.  “You know, I didn’t live too far away for a long time, just across the river. Do we have anybody from Arkansas here toniiiiight?” she asked.  “Now, after the 2008 election, then president-elect Obama called me and asked me to come see him in Chicagooooo,” Clinton said.  Look, she fakes everything else.  Why not the accent?

THREAT TO ATLANTA? – From wsbtv.com:  ATLANTA — FBI officials have confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that they are taking seriously a report about an ISIS threat at a WWE Survivor Series event in Atlanta on Sunday.  The FBI released the following statement to Channel 2 Action News:  "The FBI is aware of reports of an alleged threat that includes an Atlanta, Georgia venue and event. While we take all threats seriously, we do not have specific or credible information of an attack at this time. We have, however, made the proper notifications as we continue to work closely with our law enforcement and private sector partners to keep our community safe."  The hacker group Anonymous said Saturday that it had uncovered information about Islamic State group attacks in Paris as well as locations in the U.S.  They're taking the Anonymous report very seriously in Europe.  No way for us to assess the accuracy of the warning.  ISIS, though, will want to keep up its terror campaign just to prove itself and show its ability to sustain multiple attacks.

November 21, 2015       Permalink

THE OBAMA WE NOW KNOW – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:  One of the most disgraceful things about Barack Obama is his clear contempt for his own country.  There were plenty of warnings about this, even in 2008, but a reckless news media refused to notice.   Obama was their 1960s dream.  He was Barack, come to save us.

We don't hear much talk these days about Obama saving anything.  Indeed, even among liberals I know, I've seen a change. 

Obama's newest crusade is to bring Syrian refugees to America, despite concerns about the vetting process that may allow jihadists to slip in with them.  (I've heard no serious opposition to bringing women and children.  But an inordinate number of "refugees" seem to be men of fighting age.)  The AP, in a surprisingly blunt story, details Obama's current maneuvers, which fly in the face of public opinion:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Brushing off refugee worries at home, President Barack Obama crouched alongside migrant children on Saturday and declared they are the opposite of terrorists wreaking havoc from Paris to Mali. Working to put a human face on the refugee crisis, he said, "They're just like our kids."

The refugees Obama encountered at a school for poor children in Malaysia were not from Syria, and unlike the flood of Syrians meeting steep resistance in the U.S., these migrants had already been cleared to resettle in America. Still, Obama said their faces could have been those of kids from Syria, Iraq and other war-torn regions whose pursuit of a life free from violence led them far from their native homes.

"They were indistinguishable from any child in America," Obama said. "The notion that somehow we would be fearful of them — that our politics would somehow lead us to turn our sights away from their plight — is not representative of the best of who we are."

How utterly cynical, how profoundly dishonest.  It isn't the children Americans are worried about.  Is there no end to this man's contemptible behavior?

More than mere musings, Obama's comments were intended as a direct rebuke to those demanding a halt to Syrian and Iraqi refugees entering the U.S. in the light of the Islamic State's attacks in Paris. Obama said the U.S. had shown it can welcome refugees while ensuring security. "There's no contradiction," he said.

But the FBI director says we don't have the resources to do proper vetting.  How about that, Barack?

Many Americans seem to disagree. Democrats in large numbers have abandoned their president and his opposition to stiffer screening measures; forty-seven of them voted against Obama on Thursday. Having secured a veto-proof majority in the House, supporters are now hoping for a repeat in the Senate, while Obama works to shift the conversation to milder visa waiver changes that wouldn't affect Syrian refugees.

COMMENT:  I truly worry about Obama's last year in office.  The damage this man can do!  The worst fears about him may prove to be correct.

And what happens if there's a major terrorist attack in the United States?  Who will Obama blame?  Certainly not himself.  I can just see him standing there, trying to minimize the event by comparing it to deaths in auto accidents or gun accidents. 

I wish removing a president were easier.  Obama is a risk to this country and its people.

November 21, 2015       Permalink

BRUSSELS ON EDGE – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:    Belgium has raised its terror alert to the highest level.  This looks very real, and very serious.  From Fox: 

Americans in Belgium were ordered “to shelter in place” Saturday after local authorities warned that the threat of a terrorist attack in the country’s capital is serious and imminent.

The U.S. Embassy in Brussels also ordered American citizens to remain at home as the city was placed on lockdown in response to the terrorist threat. The national crisis center raised its terrorism alert Saturday to its highest level as Belgian police continued to search for a suspect in the Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

In a statement on its website Saturday the embassy informed Americans that “if you must go out, avoid large crowds.”

The warning also urged U.S. citizens to “exercise caution in public transportation systems, sporting events, residential areas, business offices, shopping malls and other tourist destinations.”

Belgian leaders raised the terrorism alert to Level 4, which indicates a “serious and immediate threat.”

Prime Minister Charles Michel said the decision to raise the alert level was taken "based on quite precise information about the risk of an attack like the one that happened in Paris...where several individuals with arms and explosives launch actions, perhaps even in several places at the same time."

Authorities across Europe, the Middle East and Washington are trying to determine how a network of French and Belgian nationalists with links to Islamic extremists in Syria plotted and carried out the deadliest violence in France since World War II – and how many may still be on the loose.

COMMENT:  And you may be sure that the very bad guys are planning something for the United States.  We're the Great Satan.  Guys who want to play in the World Series of terror come here.

One thing to note:  France is one of the most pro-Arab countries in Europe, and yet France has seen heavy terror attacks from Muslims.  That also happened in the 1980s, and is proof that "policies" of countries don't drive terror.  Terror is based on an ideology that transcends "policies."

November 21, 2015       Permalink 

WARNING – THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN – FROM 10:56 A.M. ET:  A new Pew survey shows that millenials are more comfortable with certain forms of speech restriction than are older Americans.

American Millennials are far more likely than older generations to say the government should be able to prevent people from saying offensive statements about minority groups, according to a new analysis of Pew Research Center survey data on free speech and media across the globe.

We asked whether people believe that citizens should be able to make public statements that are offensive to minority groups, or whether the government should be able to prevent people from saying these things. Four-in-ten Millennials say the government should be able to prevent people publicly making statements that are offensive to minority groups, while 58% said such speech is OK.

Even though a larger share of Millennials favor allowing offensive speech against minorities, the 40% who oppose it is striking given that only around a quarter of Gen Xers (27%) and Boomers (24%) and roughly one-in-ten Silents (12%) say the government should be able to prevent such speech.

Compared with people we surveyed in dozens of nations, Americans as a whole are less likely to favor the government being able to prevent speech of any kind. The debate over what kind of speech should be tolerated in public has become a major story around the globe in recent weeks – from racial issues on many U.S. college campuses to questions about speech laws in Europe in the wake of concerns about refugees from the Middle East and the terrorist attacks in Paris.

Overall, our global survey found that a majority of Americans say that people should be able to say offensive things about minority groups publicly. Two-thirds of Americans say this, compared with a median of 35% among the 38 nations we polled.

COMMENT:  The first thing one learns about free speech is that it is inherently offensive.  We don't need a First Amendment to protect popular speech, and no one in human history has gone to prison for agreeing with his government. 

The numbers among Millenials is disturbing, but we hope that with maturity, and experience in the world outside universities, they'll change.  But they're clearly being taught some bad ideas about free speech by some very inadequate educators.

November 21,  2015     Permalink

NOVEMBER 20,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

WISDOM FROM JEB BUSH – He hasn't done very well in this campaign, but Jeb Bush was a fine governor, and has some true words of wisdom for our current national leaders.  From CNN:   A less divisive President, who understood that the security of the American people must come first, would not engage in name calling. He or she would explain what he was doing to keep them safe and address their concerns, rather than dismissing them. And he or she would review and revise counterterrorism and immigration strategies to make sure they were effective, and ensure that we are not putting our nation at risk.  Americans don't need lectures on compassion from those who failed to act to address the conflict that caused ISIS's growth and the refugee crisis in the first place. If President Obama and Secretary Clinton want to identify the individuals who have shown little empathy or willingness to stand up for displaced Syrians, they should look in the mirror.   Very well said.  Words of an adult to two children.

AMERICANS GET IT RIGHT – As usual, the people are way ahead of the pseudo-intellectual Obamans, and their elementary-school classmates.  From the Washington Times:   What’s in a phrase? President Obama and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton are reluctant to say that America is at war with “radical Islamic terrorism” for fear of insulting all Muslims, notes a new Rasmussen Reports poll.  Voters are not so skittish.  When asked “Is the United States at war with radical Islamic terrorism?,” 60 percent of likely U.S. voters agreed; 24 percent said the nation is not at war with the faction while 16 percent are undecided.  “Even 56 percent of Democrats believe America is at war with radical Islamic terrorism, a view shared by 70 percent of Republicans and 54 percent of voters not affiliated with either major party,” the poll states.  Clinton carried out Obama's absurd foreign policy, which may be one of her biggest liabilities as the campaign continues.  Obama himself won't get better, he'll probably get worse.  He'll use his last year in office to wreak as much havoc as possible.

MEDICAL ALERT – From Daily Caller:   A student at Columbia University is urging the school to inject more diversity into its required courses, claiming she suffered severe emotional trauma from reading too many books by and about white people.  Columbia students and faculty gathered Wednesday night for a panel discussion on “Race, Ethnicity, and University Life.” According to the Columbia Daily Spectator, much of the commentary revolved around the idea that minorities on campus simply spend too much time being traumatized by the white-centric content of their classes.  What these kids don't realize is that, eventually, many people – and that may include blacks – will get tired of their whining.  Columbia only takes about 8% of applicants.  There are many great students waiting in line to take the places of those who faint at a book by a white author.

November 20, 2015       Permalink

PREACH IT, NEWT – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  Newt Gingrich lays it on the line about our commander-in-chief, and his possible successor.  From mrctv.com: 

On “Hannity” Monday night, former House speaker Newt Gingrich blasted President Obama and his plan to bring in thousands of Syrian refugees to the United States in the wake of the horrific attacks on Paris this past week.

“The President of the United States may be the most dangerous president in national security terms in American history,” said Gingrich. "He lives in a fantasy world.”

"It’s a fantasy world about Russia. It’s a fantasy world about the Middle East. It’s a fantasy world about Libya. It’s a fantasy world about bringing unchecked, unverified, unvalidated Syrians in significant numbers to the United States."

"Hillary Clinton is part of the same fantasy world,” he added. “She was secretary of state for four years.”

“It is a disaster,” Gingrich went on.

"And I think it’s a great test to the American people whether or not you can watch this horrible show in Paris and learn nothing from what just happened.”

COMMENT:  While the terror has been going on, Hillary Clinton has been tweeting the line that Islam has nothing to do with terror.  She is tougher on terror than Obama, although that standard is very low.  But she must watch the left wing of the Democratic Party, which has no interest in national defense, and regards terror as an "understandable" reaction to American actions.  If the terror campaign continues, it may well destroy Clinton, as she was such an important part of Obama's first-term foreign policy.  How does she avoid blame?

November 20, 2015       Permalink

BULLETIN:  ANOTHER ATTACK – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  There has been another terror attack, this one in Mali, in Africa.  From Fox:

DEVELOPING – A Malian military official says at least three people are confirmed dead in an attack on a hotel in the capital where more than 100 hostages are believed to be held.

Lt. Col. Diarran Kone told The Associated Press that the deaths were confirmed after gunmen stormed the Radisson Blu hotel Friday morning.

At least 170 hostages were believed to have been taken, though some 20 were freed later in the morning and others managed to escape with the help of security forces.

The Malian military said 10 gunmen stormed the hotel shouting "Allahu Akbar," or "God is great," in Arabic before firing on the guards.

Ambulances were rushing to the hotel as a military helicopter flew overhead. The U.N. mission said it was sending security reinforcements.

COMMENT:  We are waiting for President Obama to lecture Americans about not resorting to "bigotry" in response to this new attack. 

November 20, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA THE INTELLECTUAL – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  The great scholar apparently has little patience for intelligence information that may upset his world view.  This is truly frightening.  From PJ Media:

President Barack Obama is not interested in hearing intelligence information about Islamist groups he does not consider to be terrorists -- even if they're on the U.S. list of designated terrorists, investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson revealed on the Steve Malzberg Show Thursday.

The host of Full Measure told Malzberg that according to sources close to the White House, Obama stubbornly refuses to hear about intelligence surrounding radical Islamic terror groups.

"I have talked to people who have worked in the Obama administration who firmly believe he has made up his mind, I would say closed his mind, they say, to the intelligence they try to bring him about various groups he does not consider terrorists even if they're on the U.S. list of designated terrorists," Attkisson said. "I don't know the reasoning for it -- I’ve only been told by those who have allegedly attempted to present him, or been in the circle that has attempted to present him, with certain intelligence that they said he doesn’t want it, he said he doesn't want it or he won't read it in some instances."

Worse yet, the president apparently wants Homeland Security officials to be as uninterested as he is in the potentially terroristic qualities of individuals entering the United States.

As Kerry Picket reported at the Daily Caller, Obama is having domestic law enforcement officers "trained to focus on the behavior" of refugees coming from terrorism hot spots rather than "their political, ideological or religious background."

COMMENT:  I'm convinced that no serious nation with a parliamentary system would allow a man like this to stay in power.  He is dangerous.  He is reckless.  He's a hopeless ideologist.  He is putting us in danger.  Is there no impeachable offense here?  What about violation of his oath of office?

November 20, 2015       Permalink

MORE EXCITEMENT FROM THE JUNIOR VARSITY – AT 8:05 A.M.  ET:  ISIS is ambitious.  it does not rest nor wait.  Now they may be going for WMD.  Why not?  Obama won't mind.  From AP:

BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Islamic State group is aggressively pursuing development of chemical weapons, setting up a branch dedicated to research and experiments with the help of scientists from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere in the region, according to Iraqi and U.S. intelligence officials.

Their quest raises an alarming scenario for the West, given the determination to strike major cities that the group showed with its bloody attack last week in Paris. U.S. intelligence officials don't believe IS has the capability to develop sophisticated weapons like nerve gas that are most suited for a terrorist attack on a civilian target. So far the group has used mustard gas on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria.

Still, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday warned that Islamic extremists might at some point use chemical or biological weapons.

COMMENT:  I'm not surprised.  Remember that it is the goal of ISIS to set up a caliphate, in effect a state.  The group thinks in state terms, and many states today have WMD.

ISIS must to thrilled at the indifferent attitude of the current president.  Our lack of resolve is ISIS's greatest advantage.

November 20,  2015     Permalink