baldilocks

Terror Follies

What a day.

While you were sleeping, President Obama decided to take over turned his attention to the disposition of classified documents.

More than 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents could be declassified as the federal government responds to President Barack Obama's order to rethink the way it protects the nation's secrets.

(…)

Obama also reversed a decision by President George W. Bush that had allowed the intelligence community to block the release of a specific document, even if an interagency panel decided the information wouldn't harm national security.

And Former Vice President Cheney thinks that the president is trying to pretend that the United States is not at war.  Gee,  I can’t imagine how the former vice president would come to that conclusion!

Larry Johnson says that the Obama Administration is trying to defame and defang the CIA.  Again.

It is not the job or mission of a CIA field office to comb through intelligence reports and do analysis or piece together puzzles. They are first and foremost information gatherers. The Bush Administration and the Congress removed the CIA from the job of “piecing” together disparate pieces of information. That job was passed to NCTC [the National Counter Terrorism Center], which is under the control of the Director of National Intelligence [DNI], Admiral Dennis Blair.

Even more basic, the Panty Bomber bought a one-way ticket with cash.  It’s not the CIA’s responsibility to monitor that either.  And doesn't the DNI have a direct line to the president?

Boarding at a Mogadishu airport, a Somalian tried to blow up himself and an aircraft airliner last month.  Hey black African men!  Haven’t you figured out yet that Arab Muslims are afraid of you and want you dead?  I guess that the castration of millions of black male slaves in the last 500 years were not enough of a clue. Stop helping them.

Pam Meister:

“[President Obama’s]  agenda does not seem to include a serious take on national security; it’s all about remaking the country in his Marxist image. He’s more concerned about taking over the health care system and bringing the capitalist system to its knees. The jihadists know it. After all, this is a guy who has no problem sending hardened jihadists to a prison in Illinois and sending other “detainees” back to the hotbed of jihad in Yemen.”

The intentional destruction of the capitalist system by the Obama Administration and its ho-hum attitude about the renewed Jihad are two sides of the same coin.

And, no, I'm still not afraid.

UPDATE: Hearing a report that the NCTC never got the information.  It's looking like a bureaucracy layer overload.

Biting the Hand That Protects You

According to the latest reports, the CIA and the State Department have known who Panty Bomber Umar Abdulmutallab was since May of this year--having been in tipped by the UK--and what he was about since August. And the CBS report is just the epitome of even-handedness, isn't it?

U.S. Intel Lapses Helped Abdulmutallab

So now that the blaming of the Sheepdogs has begun, I might as well wade in.

Simple question: how likely is it that the Obama Administration would be inclined to listen and act on anything the CIA or any of the other intelligence agencies found noteworthy regarding threats from potential terrorists? You and I both know that the CIA has been under siege by this very administration for the agency's prior handling of terror suspects since right around the time that all concerned became aware of Abdulmutallab.

I submit (again) that this administration wants America to be attacked so that a pretext will exist and a rationalization can be used to implement more...shall we say...interesting policies. 

Hang on tight!

(Thanks again to Hot Air)

[Re-edited]

Choose Whom to Serve (UPDATED)

Ralph Peters is past livid.  I know for a fact that he’s not alone.

On Christmas Day, an Islamist fanatic tried to blow up an airplane whose passengers were mostly Christians. And we helped.

Our government gets no thanks for preventing a tragedy. Only the bomber's ineptitude preserved the lives of nearly 300 innocents.

(…)

Contrast our political correctness with [failed Panty Bomber Umar] Abdulmutallab's choice of Christmas for his intended massacre. Our troops stand down on Muslim holidays. A captive terrorist merely has to claim that a soldier dog-eared a Koran, and it's courts-martial all around.

We proclaim that the terrorists "don't represent Islam." OK, whom do they represent? The Franciscans? We don't get to decide what's Islam and what isn't. Muslims do. And far too many of them approve of violent jihad.

It gets worse. Instead of focusing on the religious zeal and inspiration of our enemies and how such motivations change the game, our "terrorism experts" agonize over whether such beasts as Abdulmutallab or Maj. Hasan, the Fort Hood assassin for Allah, are really members of al Qaeda or not.

As a Sunday Post editorial pointed out, al Qaeda's far more than a formal organization; it's an idea, a cause. If a terrorist says he's al Qaeda, he is, even if he doesn't have a union card from Jihadi Local 632.

We're dealing with a global Muslim movement, not a Masons' lodge.

I had to restrain myself from quoting Peters’ entire polemic.

If the jihadis like Abdulmutallab and Hasan and Hakim Mujahid Muhammad do not represent the essence of Islam, if the behavior of these charmers is not exemplary of how a devout Muslim should act, then where are the American Muslims who would repudiate the actions of their co-religionists?  Are they too afraid of how the murderers among them will react?  Or are they merely assenting silently and biding their time?

One thing is for sure: our present government leadership most certainly is too afraid to act/react forcefully and effectively to discourage jihadist attacks. Some say that is due to George W. Bush’s assertion that Islam is a “Religion of Peace.” Poppycock.  The 43^rd President could have asserted that Islam was the religion of ham sandwiches and it would not have mattered.  What mattered is what he did in the aftermath of the Islamic jihadi attacks of September 11, 2001: he (re)acted aggressively and forcefully to a homeland attack from an enemy.  Say what you want about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Big Boys in the Islamic terror circles—like Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri--were not expecting such a reaction.   

Bullies expect cowering from their targets and the terror kings had American citizens and their leaders down for wimps.  And actually, they were partially correct about both groups, though the ratio of balls to no-balls differs between the two groups.  They just “happened” to perpetrate 9/11 at a time when the leadership was strong and not willing back away from a gauntlet thrown down. 

We went to war--perhaps not against Islam, but against Islamists, who, naturally, subscribe to the tenets of Islam.  And in the minds of very many Muslims, no fine lines of distinction existed as to with whom/what American was at war.  To them we were and are at war with their religion.  Even so, you may recall that several leaders of Islamic countries responded to that show of strength by communicating a hearty “no thanks” to being on the receiving end of American wrath. 

That response was instructive: who cares if one's adversaries get angry?  As long as they realize that the drawbacks of attacking the Great Satan outweigh the benefits. 

But now, with the jihadi drawback-benefit analysis having being revised since January 20, 2009 and with the level of cowardice existing in the American leadership moving toward the higher end and with the very top of that leadership concentrating on apologizing for that strength, it appears that the portion of American citizenry in possession of courage and, most especially, in possession of faith, must fill up the breach of action and reaction.  Those who serve in our military are already doing their part.  So what are the rest of us going to do? 

Specifically, what are you Americans who happen to be Muslim going to do?  My religion teaches us not to be afraid of those who can kill the body.  As a matter of fact, the Bible says that the spirit of fear is not from God at all.  I think all most of us would like to see is a Not-in-Our-Name sort of movement from you, Americans who happen to be Muslim.  Are you too afraid of your jihadi brethren? What does your religion say about fear?

We’re waiting.

Sort of Off-Topic: After Fort Hood, my American dad said that if he were in any position of responsibility at the federal level, he’d profile anyone with a "funny" name. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy whose step-daughter’s surname is Kenyan Luo in origin and whose biological daughters have Arabic given names. He said that if he didn’t know us, he’d profile the hell out of us. LOL

We laugh but it’s logical…and serious. 

And I'll say this because I can: too bad the Funny Name Profiling didn't start two years ago.

UPDATE:  And right on cue, Anwar al Awlaki, the American-born Muslim cleric based in Yemen, who is thought to have mentored the incipient jihadism of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, claims to have blessed the Panty Bomber plot.  Personally, I think that Awlaki is merely floor-showing for his boys—these terrorists are such peacocks—but one would think that he would rather keep his mouth shut since this particular plot fizzled.

Then again, Awlawi is carving out a spot in the minds of those prone to fear, so his tactic is understandable.

(Thanks to Allahpundit)

More About the Latest Stooge of the Islamists

So what will al Qaeda's newest explosive fetish mean to the air-traveling public?

The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials into the suspect's underwear before sending him on his mission, federal authorities tell ABC News. Investigators say the suspect, Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian student whose birthday was last Tuesday, has provided detailed information about his recruitment and training for what was supposed to be a Christmas Day suicide attack.

Investigators say the suspect had more than 80 grams of PETN, a compound related to nitro-glycerin used by the military. (…)

Yesterday's bomb failed because the detonator may have been too small or was not in "proper contact" with the explosive material, investigators told ABC News.

(...)

Abdulmutallab suffered second-degree burns in his genital area, investigators told ABC News.

Oh, so many punch lines available, only…this is serious business.

Authorities say the suspected bomber was traveling on a visa issued by the State Department on June 16, 2008 and valid until June 12, 2010. Officials tell ABC News he was on a U.S. "terror watch list" but not on the "no fly" list, which would have prevented him from boarding the flight.

Okay I'm trying to wrap my mind around the "logic" of being on the "Terror Watch List" while not being on the No Fly" list.  And get this: the guy’s father warned US authorities about him six months ago!

One report said the father could not understand why his son was allowed to board a flight to the U.S. given his warning.

::::facepalm:::

It appears that the only thing which saved this plane was God’s Providence in the form of some intrepid passengers and, as mentioned before, the idiocy of the particular jihadi. And, again, Yemen was in the picture. Is that the new hot-bed of terrorists?

Notably, this was the 28th terror plot known to be foiled since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

(Thanks to Ed Morrissey, who has a really....frightening video up.)

Another Attempted Take-Down

Flight 63 (shoe-bomber) all over again:

A Nigerian man, claiming to be linked to al-Qaeda, allegedly tried to set off an incendiary device aboard a transatlantic airplane Friday as it descended toward Detroit's airport in what the White House called an attempted act of terrorism.

The man was quickly subdued after another passenger leapt on top of him, others on the plane said, and Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam landed safely around 1 p.m. Friday. The suspect was being treated at a hospital for burns he suffered while igniting the device, the Transportation Security Administration said.

(...)

The suspect is Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab, a federal official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. ABC News and NBC News reported that Abdulmutallab, 23, attends University College London, where he studies engineering.

Although not on the TSA's "no-fly" list, Abdulmutallab's name appears to be included in the government's records of terrorism suspects, according to a preliminary review, authorities said.

Abdulmutallab has told federal investigators that he had ties to al-Qaeda and traveled to Yemen to collect the incendiary device and instructions on how to use it, according to a federal counterterrorism official briefed on the case. Authorities have yet to verify the claim, and they expect to conduct several more interviews before they determine whether he is credible, the official said.

You know? These foiled, inept jihadis seem to be almost commonplace.  It's as if one has to be a raging idiot to want to blow self up while taking a bunch of other people along to the next world. (Nah, that couldn't be!)

Seriously, it only takes one non-inept idiot to carry through what this person wanted (see Fort Hood).  And in my increasingly conspiracy-laced imagination, I wonder whether our terrorist foes are sending out the pinheads in their number to make mischief and possibly get lucky while the bigger fish wait and plot and plan bigger things.  That's the way big-time terrorists roll...and doctrinaire Leftists, now that I think about it.

(Some would say that putting such thoughts out there amounts to fear-mongering.  Well no one can monger fear in other people, not really.  Being afraid is an individual choice.)

Now, excuse me while I get some caffeine in my consciousness.

Merry Christmas

I know that a lot of people are feeling uncertain and afraid right now.  But if you believe in the Salvation offered by the 100% human and 100% God whose entry into this world is traditionally celebrated today, you consequently believe in the following:

1. Miracles.
2. That all things work together for the good to those who love the Lord and are called according to his purposes.
3. That everything will turn out alright in the end.
4. Miracles (yes, again).

So get up and keep moving--minus the spirit of fear.  And, yes, I'm typing this for myself as much as for you.

Love,

J.

INTERPOL May Operate Freely in the US (UPDATED)

So how many "Christ"mas gifts that keep on giving do our Executive and Legislative branches of government have laid up for us?

By removing language from President Reagan's 1983 Executive Order 12425, [INTERPOL] now operates - now operates - on American soil beyond the reach of our own top law enforcement arm, the FBI, and is immune from Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) requests. 

The order:

For Immediate Release December 17, 2009
Executive Order -- Amending Executive Order 12425

EXECUTIVE ORDER
- - - - - - -
AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL
AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO
ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words "except those provided by Section 2©, Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act" and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

BARACK OBAMATHE WHITE HOUSE,

December 16, 2009.

What it means: INTERPOL assets are above the US Constitution while operating in the United States.  So if the agency arrests an American citizen while operating on US soil, it can hand such person over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

A foundation is been laid for sure.  For this...

[T]he next move from President Obama is likely an attempt to dissolve the agreements made between President Bush and other states preventing them from turning over American military forces to the ICC (via INTERPOL) for war crimes or any other prosecutions.

...and more.

By the way, did you know that INTERPOL's central operations office in the US is located in and among the Department of Justice offices?

There is only one force stronger than those who would curtail our liberty--and it isn't an earthly force.

(Thanks to The Quarreyman)

UPDATE:  Ed Morrissey points out that

Americans who get arrested on the basis of Interpol work cannot get the type of documentation one normally would get in the discovery process, which is a remarkable reversal from Obama’s declared efforts to gain “due process” for terrorists detained at Gitmo.  Does the White House intend to treat Americans worse than the terrorists we’ve captured during wartime?

Yes, that is exactly what this administration intends.

Strange Fruit

Here are the ornaments on this year's White House "Christ"mas tree:

First there's a picture of Mao Claus,

then one of Tranny Claus (Hedda Lettuce),

and of course the White House "Christ"mas tree wouldn't be complete without a photo of Obama Claus on Mount Rushmore.

So how far do you think they are going to go with this sort of crap?

(Thanks to Big Government)

UPDATE: Mo betta title courtesy of guest of Ace's.

Criminals Also Losing Their Jobs Because of Obama

And while I'm Bitterly Clinging to my Religion, I might as well complete the stereotype--well, as much as is possible, at any rate.

Preliminary statistics released by the FBI for the first half of 2009 show that violent crime continues a downward trend that began in 2006. The figures show crime falling in all categories--robbery, aggravated assault, motor vehicle thefts, etc.--with murders down a remarkable 10 percent from the previous year.

This occured "oddly enough," at the same while people have been stocking up on guns and ammunition for fear that the Obama Administration might crack down on gun ownership nationally. 

More guns, less crime.  Hmmmm.

So does this mean that violent felons are smarter than gun-ban activists?

(Thanks to Cassy Fiano)

Clearing Up a Misconception

Christianity is not about changing yourself to make God happy. It’s about allowing God to change you. It’s 90% him and 10% you.

--Steve Graham, A New Creation...

He who has an eye, let him read.

Impossible?

Do the members of the US House and Senate know something that their constituents don't?

Of course.

One of the prime motivations of politicians is self-preservation in office.

They do not normally go out of their way to take a stand on anything for fear of angering blocs of voters. They will straddle any issue, talk out of four sides of their mouths [double talk on both sides], and watch polling religiously twisting in the breeze of public opinion. (...)

Fear of repercussions at the polls over-rides all. While they may have contempt for us (...), they do their best to conceal it behind a smile and fake concern.

Politicians acting out of character indicates a change in the rules, whether we know it or not.

The Legislative Branch of the United States government seems Hell-bent on imposing Socialized Medicine on the American public whether the majority of the latter want it or not and, more importantly, whether Socialized Medicine and all of its attendant details are constitutional and/or moral or not. 'Why' isn't such an important question.  This is: what makes them think that they can get away with it without paying a steep political price?

Politicians in a group when they act consistently and anomalously against what would seem to be their own interests, are usually operating on information not available to anyone else. One also has to add to the mix the question why the Republicans as a party are only offering token opposition to the Democrats, when standing up would rally support to them? What do they know?

When you rule out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, has to be considered. The only thing that remains, that I can see, is that no matter what they do, they no longer have any fear of facing the voters in an honest election.

Read this whole thing.  The short of it, however, is this: our republic may be taking its last gasps.

It isn't as if we weren't warned.

Always on the Late Freight (UPDATED)

I have this annoying habit--well, at least I'm annoyed by it--of starting what I think is some great commentary, and then getting side-tracked.  So by the time I get back around to the commentary, it's out-dated and I don't post it.  And sometimes, as we know, it only takes a few hours for some commentary to become outdated.  Readers have noted that when I comment on a topic, I often attack it sideways. Well of course I do to say because I'm certainly not going to be the first to comment.  That's too much like work. (And then there's that issue of naturally being a little bit different.)

So I figured what the heck?  I'm going to post some of it anyway with a nice little preamble and a blurb related to how the situation turned out.

******

The following is what I wrote on December 5 after Michaele at Tareq Salahi managed to bogart their way into the White HouseState Dinner which took place the day before Thanksgiving Day.

This administration likes all the trappings of wealth and power: the SUV limos, the ability to clear a city for blocks, the private jet, the  ability to travel  at will and at where, the designers hankering to be employed , the magazine covers.

I’ve known people like this all my life.  Such persons will bash those richer than they but if these bashers get blessed (or become crooked) they will not be shy about throwing the evidence of their wealth in your face.  It’s a mini-drama played out in traffic all the time here in Southern California and, undoubtedly, all over.  My great-aunt calls it ‘floor-showing.’   Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary,  is just the latest to display a failing that is rife in the administration: she wants to enjoy the trappings related to one of the most exalted positions  in the world and, therefore, be seen as existing in that exalted status without properly bearing the responsibilities of the job she was hired to do. 

Money is a tool and nothing more.  It can indicate compartmentalized intelligence, but it is no general indicator of IQ.  Know any drug dealers or US Senators?  I rest my case.  Amounts of money do not point God’s blessing; however, properly allocated money does and God blesses whom he sees fit.

Earthly status, however, is much harder to attain.  The Obamas and their cronies seem to think that high status is conferred by position and the trappings of that position only; by being lucky; by being seen at the right place at the right party wearing the right thing.  By being able to buzz the Statue of Liberty in your "personal" jet. By being able to jet off to Europe at will.  They seem to think that no one has ever gained status by gaining knowledge and applying that knowledge or by being humble enough to realize that sometimes becoming fully competent at a job behind the scenes is its own reward and inherently has its own status.

So instead of the White House Social Secretary personally working with the Secret Service to  make sure that any glitches in the security of the State Dinner for the Indian premier, she is at the party rubbing elbows with the guests.  She there to be seen.

And while she’s being seen, guests without invitations get in and shake hands with the president.  But the actions of Ms. Rogers are merely symptomatic of the mindset of this president and this presidency.  A person who didn't get to the place he is by actual merit--who probably doesn't even believe in the value of merit--is not going to care about competency.  And so the incompetence in areas large and small will keep on revealing themselves.

100 years--assuming we're still here.  Feel free to ask me what I'm talking about.

AFTERMATH: Rogers appears to have learned her lesson.

As guests proceeded inside the southeast gate to the White House, they were asked to show photo identification at two separate checkpoints. Along the way, several employees from the social secretary’s office and other areas of the administration were on hand, in case any stray guests turned up.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes greeted visitors when they approached the East Colonnade, where Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, stood and welcomed guests. An identification badge hung around her neck, like the rest of the White House staff, as she extended her hand to guests.

“Welcome to the White House – on behalf of the Obamas,” Ms. Rogers said with a smile.

UPDATE:  Forgot about this.

Two weeks before the Salahis' infamous appearance at the state dinner, a Georgia couple accidentally showed up a day early for a White House tour -- and instead were escorted into an invitation-only breakfast with President Obama and the first lady, the Associated Press reports.

Georgia retirees Harvey and Paula Darden had already been background checked by the appropriate agencies. Dangerous? The persons, no. The mindset which produces glitches in security and various other areas in this administration? Most certainly dangerous.

One thing and I've said this elsewhere: I wonder if these glitches in presidential security are intentional and the Secret Service is being discredited.

I didn't used to be a Conspiracy Theorist.

(Thanks to Ed B.)

BlogTalkRadio Share Show Widget

Note (UPDATED)

Today is a busy day but I'll be posting more later on the fear of being labeled RWW (racist while white).  Meanwhile, go read Robert Stacy McCain's take on Gone with the Wind (haha, that guy is fearless). Stacy and I talked on the phone yesterday about the fear and its origin.

I'm not taking this subject lightly; as a matter of fact I am galled by it. It is insidious.

UPDATE:  I should have known that my political father, Shelby Steele, had gotten down to the root of the matter of what created this environment.

Just a cursory glance over the reviews reveals a gold mine.

Question for My Caucasian White Readers (Pedants!)

Why are some of you so afraid of being called (called=labeled in this sense) 'racist' when you know that you aren't?

And careful, Dan Collins.  You laugh but some Leftist is going to write a "real" proposal, submit some bogus studies and voilà!  Your kid is graduating with a B.S.--and I do mean B.S.--degree in Cablinasian Studies--and you paid for it. 

Oh, the humanity.

(via RSM)

UPDATE: I knew that there was fear out there, but I didn't comprehend the breadth of it. 

Fear breeds resentment and resentment breeds no good things. 

I have to think about this topic some more.

UPDATE (December 18, 2009, 8:44 PM PST): I just now discovered that this post got linked by Glenn Reynolds.  I'll have to feature parts of the comments in a later post.

Message for Peter Barban

Grow up.

Wise up.

If you can't take the rough and tumble heat of disagreeing and commenting on blogs, find something else to do.  Get in that Word since you're a pastor.

You seem to think that everyone is supposed to treat you with kid gloves.  Sorry, Reverend, it doesn't work that way out here.  If you think my less-than-cotton candy treatment of your ignorance was "insulting" perhaps you should join a monastery.

This real world is not forgiving of ignorance--and in the subject at hand, a person's reputation is on the line, that of Robert Stacy McCain.  Such things are more important than the imaginary insults I've offered you.

Now you can you can keep whining about how I've hurt your poor little feelings (<-----insults) or you can...

Man up. Your choice.

God bless you.  Really.

Since People Seem to Care About Interracial Relationships So Much (UPDATED)

UPDATE:  Come on, now.  Courtesy of the bountiful Glenn Reynolds, I've received 11,000 hits (so far) from the previous post.  But only a few have come over to this post and none have bought Tale of the Tigers.  Of course I understand: you're taking a chance since the marketing of the novel is only in its infancy.  But you're only taking a chance with $19.99! Nice, affordable entertainment.

Okay, here's a link to the site excerpt.  Tell me what you think and...take a chance! I predict that you won't be disappointed.

ORIGINAL POST: You know, I actually wrote a novel which features interracial relationships between blacks and whites as its main theme.  And guess what? No side goes away untarnished!  So I'm taking advantage of your obsession (even though I started writing the book last century).  Sue me.

(Click the Image)

I get my sample copy today.  The first hundred sold will be autographed. I've pre-sold only thirty but I have a couple of reviews due in the next week or so, so I'm positive that the numbers will rise. 

Hang on, those of you who already bought my opus! Your patience will soon be rewarded.

Why Black Americans Think That the Federal Government is Our Friend

While hanging out yesterday at Ace's yesterday as he was flogging racists, I happened to mention that many if not most black Americans view the federal government as beneficial and friendly.  Some other commenters were surprised and I was surprised at their surprise, because it isn't difficult to figure out why this is.  Whether it's the Emancipation or the desegregation of the Armed Forces or Brown v. Board or the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, the federal government for the most part had seemed to be on the side of the black American as his constitutional rights were being oppressed by state or local governments.

What needs to be spelled, however is what the federal government did in the above-mentioned areas: it legally removed obstacles to the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of Americans who are black.  And that is what it was supposed to do.

The present problem in my unlearned opinion is this: the federal government began overstepping its bounds during the Great Depression and did so most infamously in the late sixties via the Great Society programs.  Doing more that getting local racists out of the way, the federal government sought to and succeeded in making itself the suppliers of life, liberty and, putatively, the happiness of many black Americans.  (Try telling a senior of any race that Social Security is sending the country to financial ruin. You'll get an earful about her "rights".) 

And even many black Americans who do not rely on the federal government still view the fed as our friend because of that history.

What's needed in order to change this perception is obvious: education--not a new education but the old one, one which contains an objective explanation of the role of government.

Simply put, the role of the American government is to remove obstacles to liberty of the People--even when that obstacle is American government itself.  Supplying all of one's needs is not government's role.  That's God's purview.

We all remember President Obama's statement containing the assertion that one of the flaws of the US Constitution was that is only contained a  list of "negative rights," meaning negative government "rights."  The idea that a Harvard-trained lawyer thinks that the government has rights or that there was no list of positive responsibilities assigned to government was mockable.  (Hey, you voted for him.)

But what the statement betrayed was a widespread misconception present in those of us who aren't lawyers of any variety of a friendly fed whose role is to insert itself between God and man's liberty and to redistribute wealth (aka stealing).  The notion that the founders "forgot" to address this is hilarious.

So when the Democrats came to full power this year, they began to build on the foundation that Democrat Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson laid.  The good news?  Between Socialized Medicine, Cap and Trade, TARP, etc., the federal government's active role in overstepping its bounds--in crippling America--is opening the eyes of Americans of all races.  The bad news: there may not be an America left when the federal locusts finish.

UPDATE: Hi, Glenn's readers!

Say Goodbye

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

Racist!!!

And…

Racist!!!

What the flock is up with the Right side of the Blogosphere?

LGF is gone.  Charles Johnson is gone.  Face it.

He was never ours.  How about we let him take his delusions and slanders and paranoias and obsessions and falsehoods with him?  How about we stop looking for racists under every bed or behind every computer screen the way he seems to? How about you all stop flogging yourselves and each other for his loss and for being fooled by him?

I'm over it.

No, It's Not a Black Thing

Okay, I lied.  But this crap is getting on my nerves. And this.

Tiger Woods  violates his marriage vows repeatedly and all people like Eugene Robinson care about is the race of of the near-dozen women not-his-wife with whom Tiger has allegedly had relations.   Eugene's problem? None of these women are black.

Listen closely, black people: Tiger Woods' job here on Earth is the same as that of each individual person--to do what God wants him to do.  What that probably does not entail: validating the attractiveness of black women via serial adultery, humiliation of Mrs. Woods and, possibly, tainting the relationship between him and his children.

Just a guess.

Listen closely again, black people: get over yourselves.  Everything is not about you.  Heck, my novel is about interracial relationships, but there are subjects that transcend this.  As a matter of fact vows to God transcend everything.

But consider this: Tiger is a very blessed man, even in this situation.  Don't think so?  Consider the case of the late Steve McNair. 

Sometimes God gets tired of your BS and removes his protection.  God thinks Eldrick Woods is still teachable.

That question remains for the rest of us.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

UPDATE: Cogent and tangential points:

[W]e are interested because Tiger Woods, who may legitimately be the best golfer ever, had been turned into an all-purpose icon: a man of personal rectitude, a lovely smile, apparent openness; a family man, with a lovely wife and two adorable babies. And of course, he was our first living embodiment of the collective hope for racial reconciliation. Who knew that the early reports of his betrayed wife Elin swinging at him with a golf club constituted literal icon-smashing?

We are staring because we've been had. Betrayed. We see now that the image was all a fraud. The talent was real. But the things that made the public like Tiger personally -- the low-key demeanor, manners, and sweet smile of countless sports-page photos, magazine covers, political analogies, and most important, product endorsements, was an act. That would be betrayal enough. But it wasn't just Woods' act. The larger lesson here is about how much artifice -- sustained, deliberate deception -- goes into the construction of a public persona when there is profit to be made or power to be had.

Read the whole thing and note the parallels (however imperfect--hey, that's a joke!) to another demigod walking on clay feet.

More About Flight 297

So happy to have put a disclaimer up before retelling this story--at least the first part of it! From the Spooky One:

The scenario sounds frightening; it doesn't take a lot of imagination to conjure up images of a hi-jacking, were it not for the quick actions of Mr. Petruna and that other passenger. You'd think that AirTran would offer him some sort of reward.

But there's only one problem with the story of Todd Petruna and the events that transpired on Flight 297 back on 18 November. After a little checking, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution discovered that Petruna wasn't on the flight on the date in question. While he was scheduled to be on that aircraft, Petruna didn't make the first leg of his flight, out of the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. As a result, he missed his scheduled connection on Flight 297.

Here's the retraction.

Be that as it may, there's still this:

While the AJC story paints a much different picture of Flight 297, it doesn't answer all of the questions raised by the incident. For example, the paper (and other media outlets) confirm that a replacement crew was brought onboard to fly the plane to Houston, after the first crew declined the assignment.

That decision was made by the Captain originally assigned to the flight. It's rather unusual for a pilot-in-command to decline an assignment, and take his crew off the aircraft. Chaplain Keith Robinson of Houston, who was allowed to board the aircraft after it returned to the gate area. Based on his conversations with passengers and crews, Robinson believes that some sort of "intentional intimidation" occurred during the first departure attempt. And apparently, that intimidation attempt was so disconcerting that the original crew refused to complete their flight to Houston.

Something happened on that plane and it's too bad that one person's fantasy life may interfere with the whole truth getting out.  But there will be more like these.  Count on it.

(Thanks the Ace of Spades HQ)

Don't Go Back to Sleep, Part 2

The Mumbai terror attacks from a year ago may have been planned by Americans—or rather, persons with American passports. The Department of Justice has charged a Chicago man (re-) named David Headley with conspiring to commit those attacks.

Originally David Headley was only charged with plotting to blow up the newspaper in Denmark that published the Mohammad cartoons. That plot seemed rather amateurish and was thought of as aspirational. But it soon became obvious to any one paying attention that Headley also had a hand in India's worst act of terror this decade.

The importance of this being that radical Islamists are now using their American passports to bypass suspicion that would normally be put on them if traveling under, say, a Pakistani passport. They are using their American citizenship to plot and execute terrorist plots abroad.

And this is not too fine a point to make either for Headley was originally born Daood Gilani and only changed his name to make it sound less Muslim and more flyover country American. He also admits he did this to make international traveling easier.

(...)

Headley,49, was charged in a 12-count criminal information with six counts of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim persons in India and Denmark, to provide material support to foreign terrorist plots, and to provide material support to [Lashkar e Tayyiba—an Islamist organization in Pakistan], and six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India.

So if Chicagoans are plotting and carrying out terror in an Indian city, what do you think they have planned for American ones?

Remember what happened in Mumbai:

Starting Nov. 26, 2008, and continuing through Nov. 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Nariman House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, each of which Headley allegedly had scouted in advance, killing approximately 170 victims. The six Americans killed during the three-day siege are identified in the charges as Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum.

All of these Americans were of the Jewish faith and purposely targeted because of that.

We’ll see what this Department of Justice does with this case.

Keep watching.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

Don't Go Back to Sleep

 USS West Virginia, December 7 1941

Not Pretty

People are missing the big bombshell embedded in this incident!

The testy exchange [between White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and April Ryan of American Urban Radio] was sparked by Ryan's insistent questioning of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers' role at the recent state dinner, which has been in the headlines because of the fallout from Tareq and Michaele Salahi's "party crashing."

Watch.

Did you hear that? It was disgusting!

Someone actually reproduced with Robert Gibbs!

That is a straight-up news flash because I would think that such a combination of stupidity, arrogance, condescension and fugliness would make a powerful unattractiveness cocktail--one repellent nearly universally. But I guess that the aphorism that "there's someone for everyone" applies here.

Yuckies.

My Lone Tiger Woods Commentary

Like I said to the Instapundit, I'm not sure who should be embarrassed to be photographed with whom.

Tight Woods may have permanently marred his relationship with his wife, but he isn't destroying the country.

I'm Not Infuriated By This

There's another emotion I'm feeling about this, but I don't quite have name for it yet.

It's been brought to my attention by several reliable sources that the Defense Department has brought Louay Safi to Fort Hood as an instructor, and that he has been lecturing on Islam to our troops in Fort Hood who are about to deploy to Afghanistan. Safi is a top official of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and served as research director at the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).

Worse, last evening, Safi was apparently permitted to present a check (evidently on behalf of ISNA) to the families of the victims of last month's Fort Hood massacre. A military source told the blogger Barbarossa at the Jawa Report: "This is nothing short of blood money. This is criminal and the Ft. Hood base commander should be fired right now."

ISNA was identified by the Justice Department at the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing conspiracy trial as an unindicted co-conspirator. The defendants at that trial were convicted of funding Hamas to the tune of millions of dollars. This should have come as no surprise. ISNA is the Muslim Brotherhood's umbrella entity for Islamist organizations in the United States.

A Muslim--a Jihadist--murders those which he has sworn oaths to lead, to stand beside and to render no harm to. So what do his commanders do?  They bring in a representative from America's Muslim Brotherhood entity to chat up the troops and bribe the bereaved.

No, I can't name this feeling.  But I know in my gut that the base commander didn't order this visit.   The permission for this came from the top.

.

Victicrat Civil War

...with acknowledgement to the Sage of South Central for the use of the term.

Too delicious:

The long-simmering family feud between the Congressional Black Caucus and the first African-American president burst into the open on Wednesday, with members boycotting a financial overhaul vote as a warning shot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

From what I can tell, members of the Race Baiters Caucus are angry that the Race Baiter in Chief is neither kowtowing to them nor cutting them a sufficiently large enough piece of the action known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

So what else is the CBC thinking of doing to "force" the Obama Administration to see reason?

[My Congressional Representative Maxine] Waters suggested the CBC’s 43 members could vote with the GOP to scuttle a variety of Democratic bills if Obama and [White House Chief of Staff Rahm] Emanuel don’t address what she thinks is a lack of understanding of the CBC’s wide-ranging goals of reducing urban unemployment, home foreclosures and bank failures.

Fools negotiating foolishly from a position of weakness--though I'm sure that the Republicans will take it.  But it's hilarious that the Hope and Change Express Bus won't even slow down for those who were and are its main source of fuel. Thus is it always with Leftists.

(Thanks to Instapundit)

On Our Own?

UPDATE:  Dr. Melissa Clouthier, who had the story yesterday, interviews Chaplain Dr. Keith A. Robinson.

Disclaimer: I don't know whether any of this is true but it's better to put it out there than not. [I moved the page break.]

A terror dry-run seen from one end:

I was in 1st class coming home. 11 Muslim men got on the plane in full attire. 2 sat in 1st class and the rest peppered themselves throughout the plane all the way to the back. As the plane taxied to the runway the stewardesses gave the safety spiel we are all so familiar with. At that time, one of the men got on his cell and called one of his companions in the back and proceeded to talk on the phone in Arabic very loudly and very aggressively. This took the 1st stewardess out of the picture for she repeatedly told the man that cell phones were not permitted at the time. He ignored her as if she was not there.

The 2nd man who answered the phone did the same and this took out the 2nd stewardess. In the back of the plane at this time, 2 younger Muslims, one in the back, isle, and one in front of him, window, began to show footage of a porno they had taped the night before, and were very loud about it. Now….they are only permitted to do this prior to Jihad. If a Muslim man goes into a strip club, he has to view the woman via mirror with his back to her. (don’t ask me….I don’t make the rules, but I’ve studied). The 3rd stewardess informed them that they were not to have electronic devices on at this time. To which one of the men said “shut up infidel dog!” She went to take the camcorder and he began to scream in her face in Arabic. At that exact moment, all 11 of them got up and started to walk the cabin. This is where I had had enough! I got up and started to the back where I heard a voice behind me from another Texan twice my size say “I got your back.” I grabbed the man who had been on the phone by the arm and said “you WILL go sit down or you Will be thrown from this plane!” As I “led” him around me to take his seat, the fellow Texan grabbed him by the back of his neck and his waist and headed out with him. I then grabbed the 2nd man and said, “You WILL do the same!” He protested but adrenaline was flowing now and he was going to go. As I escorted him forward the plane doors open and 3 TSA agents and 4 police officers entered. Me and my new Texan friend were told to cease and desist for they had this under control. I was happy to oblige actually. There was some commotion in the back, but within moments, all 11 were escorted off the plane. They then unloaded their luggage.

Read the whole thing, then if you're skeptical....

Look at the incident from the other end as witness by Chaplain Dr. Keith A. Robinson, Corps Commander of the Houston Regional Community Chaplain Corps:

What I'm Reading (December 2, 2009)

Via Glenn Reynolds, I became aware of the existence of the Encounter Broadsides.  (Encounter's publisher is Roger Kimball.)  There are seven of them--so far--Outdentand they are penned by conservative thinkers and opiners like Michael Ledeen and Victor Davis Hanson.

Because the first couple are on back order, I have received and am reading the following. One need only take a look at the title of this third one in the series to discover the upshot.

It's only thirty-five pages long which I would guess is about the average length of the rest. Taking their cue from the founders, the authors of these broadsides intend to

make the case for liberty and the institutions of democratic capitalism at a time when they are under siege from the resurgence of collectivist sentiment.

And yesterday I received another book regarding a topic that seems to be on the back-burner of Internet political discussion but I contend is one of the main ideologies fueling the present leaders of our government.

The title refers a segment of a 1956 Martin Luther King Jr. speech in which he asserted that 11:00 Sunday mornings (church attendance time) was the most segregated hour of the week. But that assertion is preceded by these accusatory statements:

There is another thing that disturbs me to no end about the American church. You have a white church and you have a Negro church. You have allowed segregation to creep into the doors of the church.

Therefore I applaud Jeremy D. Lucas for his sense of irony when choosing the title of his book.  Why? Because of the book's subject matter. Here's the subtitle:  A Layman's Guide to the History of Black Liberation Theology.

This one is short also--only seventy-five pages long.  Perhaps I'll get to finish a book for a change!  And these two most definitely need finishing.

Who Dosed Me?

I have the flu.  Not the H1N1 kind, but it's yucky.  And I haven't had anything respiratory in seven to eight years, so I'm thinking conspiracy.

Yes I'm kidding.  But I'm annoyed because it's keeping me out of the gym.  Oh...have I mentioned that I've lost thirty pounds since July? :)

What It's All About

Tonight, when President Obama is giving his speech on Afghanistan, the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas will be preempted. In the episode, Linus gives one of the greatest televised speeches ever. Listen, watch and remember because many--including one formerly friendly blogger--consider this hate speech. And soon, such speech will be banned if we are not vigilant.

Bold White People

Suddenly I like these two.

[T]here are more images posted on Michaele Salahi's facebook fan page , including photo opportunities at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Awards Dinner four weeks prior to the State Dinner. Photos show the couple among the likes of Senator Roland Burris and his wife, Patrick Kennedy, and Star Jones. President and Mrs. Obama were also in attendance.

According to Congressional Black Caucus Foundation representatives, Michaele and Tareq Salahi crashed the September 26th dinner, and were caught sitting at someone's tables.

Oh sure they got tossed out on their cans--and rightly so.  But I can't help but smile when somebody takes the time and effort annoy the Democrat Race-Baiting Victocrat™ Caucus HORs.  

(Via Drudge)

UPDATE:   At the end of the article...

Since President Obama attended and spoke at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Awards Dinner, the Secret Service was very much involved. But unlike the White House State Dinner, most of the 4,000 foundation guests didn't have access to the President, and as a result the security bubble for President Obama was much smaller.

But shouldn't the Salahis' names and faces have been on a Secret Service list somewhere?  A list similar to and much shorter than the no-fly list which commercial airliners are purported to have? One would think that a pair who once bogarted their way into an event in which the POTUS will be present would bear watching thereafter.  One would think.

This is just too weird.