I found this essay by Nile Gardiner to be worth a read.

Obama's (at best) ambivalence toward our European allies is a national embarrassment. Yes, DVD gift pack to Gordon Brown, I am looking at you. Yes, unwanted bust of Churchill, I am looking at you too. Yes White House gift shop presents for Gordon Brown's kids, I am also giving you an unPresidential "shout-out".

At worst, his passive-aggressive disdain for our traditional allies places Americans and American interests at extreme risk. Yes, scrapped european missile shield, I am looking at you.

And, to be truthful, I think part of my anger stems from the firm belief, if not outright conviction, that had Polish President Lech Kaczynski been a left-wing, anti-American, despot instead of a pro-American, free-market, anti-communist leader, the Mother Duffer (32 rounds in 14 months? really? OK..Tiger) would have moved Heaven and Earth to be there or to have acknowledged the event in some meaningful way.

Could you really see him skipping out on, say, Chavez' state funeral? Of letting it pass without some solemn intonation about the importance of the Chavista revolution? Really? I can't. No matter how many volcanoes erupt along the ring of fire, I have no doubt that Pres. Tiger Obama would have found some way to show his solidarity with that regime.

Which is what makes this point Gardiner raises resonate so clearly for me:

One would have thought that President Obama might have used the time he would have spent in Poland paying his respects to the Polish fallen. For example he could have visited the recently erected Victims of Communism memorial in Washington, or at the very least have signed the condolence book at the Polish Embassy. But what did he choose to do instead? Play yet another round of golf...

It is hard to think of anything more insulting to the Polish people on the day they mourned the loss not only of their president but much of their political and military leadership, for the president of the United States to be enjoying a round of golf after canceling plans to attend the funeral. It is yet another disgraceful example of crass insensitivity to a close American ally, which has become the hallmark of the Obama administrationÂ’s amateurish foreign policy.

Exactly right. Would have taken an hour out of his day and would have been seen as a welcome gesture by a country who has long counted on the United States to stand with it in opposition to the forces of totalitarianism to the East. The newly resurgent forces of totalitarianism that with whom our dear leader's regime recently signed a ridiculous nuclear treaty.

And don't think this is just me spouting off on a rant here. The Poles themselves have noticed too.

Mr Obama's Sunday golf game prompted anger in Poland, where the Warsaw Business Post carried a headline reading: "Obama goes golfing instead of attending Kaczynskis' funeral".

Hey...what's a backhanded slap to a country assisting our efforts in Afghanistan anyway, right?

I guess, on some level, I should be glad that Obama/Biden blew off the funeral. Lord knows, Slow Joe + open mic = irresistible urge to start a eulogy with a "How many Poles does it take to land an airplane"? joke. God love him.

So, I guess we at least were spared that inevitable, additional embarrassment.

Which, as far as this administration goes, is probably their most significant international achievement.

Posted by: Jack M. at 11:34 AM | Comments (233)
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At least, MSNBC says that about folks who use the word "regime", like their very own guest John Heilemann.

This is a follow-up to my earlier post which recounts that Heilemann had a conniption because Rush Limbaugh used the word "regime" to describe the Obama administration, something he says has "connotations of tyranny." He noted that Limbaugh was flirting with sedition because of it. And Joe Klein jumped back in to note that the opposition to Obama was because of his skin color and middle name.

Byron York did some research and discovered that Heilemann has himself used the word:

In the January 19, 2009 issue of New York, Heilemann wrote that Barack Obama had no particular expertise in economics, "So it's ironic, to say the least, that the first defining moment of the Obama regime happens to revolve around matters macroeconomic -- dealing not just with a nasty and potentially prolonged downturn, but with a wrenching, epochal crisis of capitalism on a global scale."

He also used it to describe the Obama folks twice in 2008 and noted that Secretaries Gates and Clinton would have fit in in a hypothetical "John McCain regime" in 2009.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 11:18 AM | Comments (30)
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As I suggested, it's not a strip club. There's no nudity and no actual sex or even seriously-simulated sex.

There is alleged "high art" of chicks in naughty outfits striking poses and doing sexual-but-arty dances.

Basically, it seems like an upscale mock-gothic cerebralized Hooters.

"It's high art that people have to conceptualize to get," said a masked performer named Mia, who also manages the performers.

I was trying to do some conceptualizing but found Mia too distracting. She was falling out of an outfit she called "a bit of 'Clockwork Orange,' " with a top hat and cane, and she was soon slithering around on a stage.

"It's meant to stimulate and shock, to get you a little nervous," said Art, and I was in fact a bit nervous as I wondered what exactly to write on my expense report. Art said he wasn't even aware the Young Eagles had been in his club until the news broke later on. "Maybe we lightened up their spirits a little bit."

...

On stage, Mia was doing neat tricks with the cane.

"She's moving art," said Art. "You don't even notice that she's there."

I noticed.

"This must be the lesbian bondage," Prang said as we moved into another room and watched the two women work the rope as if they were trying to invent an R-rated Olympic event.

[A female patron said she] and her colleagues had to check out the place after reading about the GOP faux pas.

"It's actually pretty tame," she said.

And in a way, it was. No nudity, no lap dances and no lesbian canoodling to speak of. I felt sorry for the Young Eagles, who probably wished they'd gone to an old-fashioned strip club.

Two weeks ago, the club -- which is just a racy-themed nightclub -- was described by the media as an "S&M-themed club" or a "lesbian-bondage-themed-club."

The media was always counting on people to read "themed" right out of those descriptions, to bleep over it, to ignore it. That is --there are no actual knights at Medieval Times. A "theme" is a mode of decor.

Last week, liberal hack Margaret Carlson decided to do ignoring on behalf of her readers and described it as an "S&M club." No "themed" this time -- now it's an actual S&M club, like you see on CSI every ten episodes.

People may still resent the RNC spending so much on a group of donors (but again -- that's how big-money donors are induced to part with their cash), but let's not allow the media to lie about what this club is.

I feel bad for the woman who was fired over this, in this sense. I'm sure that as the young donor outreach person, she was instructed to sell the idea that the GOP is hip and stuff. The thing is, that's a lie. It's not hip. Stuff like this continues to cause bouts of shrieking agita. So she was instructed, like HAL from 2001, to lie to reconcile two incompatible directives.

One on hand, show the GOP is hip and not necessarily straight-laced and not easily provoked into shrieks over risque-but-still-tame fare.

On the other hand, what was really expected of her is that she should take the dudes to the same old places. Cigar bars and stuff.

Posted by: Ace at 11:09 AM | Comments (62)
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This morning, the justices heard argument in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which asks whether a public law school can deny official recognition to a student group that limits officers and voting members to those who share its core religious commitments. Official recognition comes with some money, access to school facilities, permission to use the school's name and logo, and other benefits, but to get it the student group would have to follow the school's non-discrimination policy. more...

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 10:37 AM | Comments (108)
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The teabagger in question is a Democratic donor, threatening the life of a Republican Representative.

But there is no violence on the left. It's a right-wing phenomenon only.

The Brooksville Republican’s office received a “telephonic threat” on March 25 from an unidentified male, authorities said.

Late Sunday, FBI agents and Hernando deputies arrested Erik Lawrence Pidrman, 66, at his Spring Hill home in connection with the threat. The charge is “threatening to assault or murder a US official,” according to FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier.

...

The caller stated: “Just wanna let you know I have 27 people that are going to make sure that this [expletive deleted] does not live to see her next term. Good-bye.”

This guy donated to Hillary Clinton in 2008 -- something Gateway Pundit is able to dig up, but the media apparently couldn't. But you can see why it was so difficult for them -- Gateway Pundit typed "Pidrman" and then hit "search" and you know the media is far too busy being objective to take the two seconds necessary for such digging.

BTW -- 27 guys? That sounds like a militia to me.

Posted by: Ace at 10:19 AM | Comments (66)
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Al-Bagdhadi had been declared dead more times than Saturday Night Live, and then, several years ago, thought to be mythic and fictional by many US analysts.

The bad news? He was real.

The good news? Emphasis on the was.

They also got al-Masri in the same raid -- he was the actual leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, taking over from Zarqawi after we zeroed him in 2006.

...

Both men were found in a hole in the ground.

“The security forces surrounded the hole, and when they got them out they were dead,” Mr. Maliki said at the news conference. Mr. Maliki said computers and letters were found that included communication between the men and Osama bin Laden.

One United States soldier died during the operation in a helicopter crash, which officials said was not caused by enemy fire.

“The death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to Al Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency,” said Gen. Ray Odierno[.]

This time, the US military released a statement confirming the kills, and they've always been the ones to knock down claims of al-Baghdadi's death before.

In related news, there is no Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Posted by: Ace at 10:06 AM | Comments (91)
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It's an election year so McCain is all about the fence.

McCain, a longtime advocate of comprehensive immigration reform which includes a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, said that border security must now be first priority.

"The lesson is clear: First we have to secure the border," McCain said in a press conference. "If you want to enact some other reforms, how can that be effective when you have a porous border?"

"So we have to secure the border first," he added.

Feel free to take a walk down memory lane for some earlier, non-election year McCain stands on immigration, including his 2003 support for "amnesty" and voting to kill the fence in '06.

I'm sure the fact that J.D. Hayworth is within 5 points of McCain is purely coincidental to this new found love of the importance of border control.

Here's a way McCain could earn some team player and conservative street...call on Charlie Crist to not run as an independent now when it might have some impact and promise to support the Republican nominee.

UPDATE: McCain also says he backs the tough enforcement act that Arizona just passed.

“I think it’s a very important step forward,” McCain said Monday. “I can fully understand why the legislature would want to act.”

ItÂ’s a dramatic switch for a senator who supported comprehensive immigration reform with Democratic lion Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) just four years ago. McCain is facing a primary challenge from the right in former Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

Shameless Pandering thy name is McCain!

Posted by: DrewM at 09:36 AM | Comments (130)
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It's not on tape as far as I can find but this blogger says he asked Romney about it at a book signing.

The story is now making it's way around the rightysphere and to paraphrase Twain, I'd hate for it to be a case of incorrect information making it's way around the world before the truth gets its boots on but it seems in keeping with Romney's approach to the issue.

Remember Romney said in an '08 debate

I like mandates. The mandates work.

This is why Romney can not and must not be the Republican nominee in 2012.

Let me say upfront I wasn't a committed Mitt guy in '08 but I wasn't as down on him as much as others were either. The flips aren't a deal breaker for me (though they are the reason I couldn't embrace him wholeheartedly). Before health care passed and repeal became the imperative that it is, Romney was probably my leading candidate going into '12. I think that election will be a referendum on Obama and the candidate that appears to be the 'anti-Obama' will have the best shot at beating him. At one point, Mitt seemed to be that candidate.

That all changed when the House passed ObamaCare on March 21st.

Even if Romney does say he opposes the individual mandate, he still has said he'd take credit for Obama's health care "accomplishment". Given his background with the issue and weird statements about the law since its passage, Romney is simply damaged goods when it comes to health care.

He might still be able to come up with a convincing narrative to explain the differences between MassCare and ObamaCare as well as his role in the former. But then the debate will be about Mitt and what he thought then vs. now and whether he can be reliable going forward. Meanwhile the focus will be off Obama and the damage done by this health care scheme.

Republicans need the issue to be a clean and clear choice...we have to nominate someone who was opposed to ObamaCare from the start. Only then will the focus stay on Obama and what he has wrought.

Sorry Mitt, for all your other strengths, on this issue you simply aren't the clear cut anti-Obama we need.

Via The Corner

Posted by: DrewM at 08:43 AM | Comments (277)
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Another day, another leftist exploring new ways to shut down debate. Racism, the reflexive bleat of the Left, hasn't stuck. How about accusing the other side of crimes that historically carried a death sentence?

On NBC's April 18 "The Chris Matthews Show," Time columnist Joe Klein all but accused former GOP vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, along with Fox News host Glenn Beck of sedition.

"I did a little bit of research just before this show - it's on this little napkin here. I looked up the definition of sedition which is conduct or language inciting rebellion against the authority of the state. And a lot of these statements, especially the ones coming from people like Glenn Beck and to a certain extent Sarah Palin, rub right up close to being seditious."

New York magazine's John Heilemann got into the act, but he's still plugging the racism claim:

"And Joe's right and I'll name another person, I'll name Rush Limbaugh who uses this phrase constantly and talks about the Obama administration as a regime," Heilemann said. "That phrase which has connotations of tyranny. And what's so interesting about it to me, to get to Norah's point - what is the focus, what is the cause of this? You think back to 1994, there was Ruby Ridge. There was Waco. There were triggering incidents. There's been nothing like that. The only thing that's changed in the last 15 months is the election of Barack Obama. And as far as I can see, in terms of the policies that Obama has implemented, there's nothing."

So Heilemann thinks Palin, Beck, and Limbaugh have something in common with Waco and Ruby Ridge. I wonder what that could be? It's odd. A year ago this month, we were discussing DHS Secretary Napolitano's "Rightwing Extremists" report that happened to be sourced from Southern Poverty Law Center blog posts.

And of course he sees no "triggering incidents", no problems with Obama's policies. He has no objection to midnight votes in Congress on Obama's "signature" policy. He has no problem with back-room deals cut with the taxpayers' money. No problem hanging Israel out to dry. And no problem with spending the U.S. government into a hole it will take a generation to pay off. Nope, no triggering incidents that might make people oppose Obama.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 08:23 AM | Comments (139)
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President Obama, Democrats, and other fools who need to be smacked upside their heads with an economics text promised that green jobs would reinvigorate the economy and replace lost factory jobs.

The jobs have yet to materialize:

At Joliet Junior College, $190,000 in shrink-wrapped wind-turbine equipment recently arrived to teach students the mechanics of servicing the devices—but there are still relatively few jobs for those who get trained. Down the street at Atlantic Plant Services Co., which helps manufacturers save money by insulating pipes and other equipment, managers think they could create hundreds of new jobs, but only if the government offers tax breaks for insulation installed by businesses as it does now for homeowners.

Joliet is discovering what cities across the U.S. have found: Declaring that a city is going to replace yesterday's lost jobs with new green ones is a lot easier than actually doing so.

AnnaLee Saxenian, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies regional technology clusters, says the nationwide push could produce plenty of service jobs and some manufacturing jobs, but it's unlikely to replace the millions lost in autos and steel and semiconductors to overseas producers. "People are jumping on a bandwagon," she says. "Washington needs something to sell. It can't be a panacea for everyone."

Indeed.

Anybody think Washington's going to get around to actually addressing the Democratic anti-prosperity policies dragging down the U.S. economy anytime soon? Wanna make bets?

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 07:58 AM | Comments (114)
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