Red Line? What Red Line?

(Image by Jeffry Hill)

 

Last Thursday, US intelligence confirmed that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons in "small amounts" against its own people. 

 

So what did our "tough talkin" Dear Leader do?  You know, the one pictured here...

 

(Image by Olie)

 

...he kicked the can to the Useless Nobodies (UN). 

 

You know, these folks...

 

(Image by Beeler)

 

The WSJ explores some of the potential consequences of Obama's "...I don't bluff" bluff. 

 

Spencer Ackerman of Wired, also called-out Obama's tough talk, stating that it boxes us into a corner. 

 

It's as if Our Dear Leader wanted it both ways:  To appear strong, yet not get involved in Post 9/11 Mideast War #3.  The tyrants of the world know this and probably think that this administration doesn't want play the World's Policeman anymore.

 

As Victor Davis Hanson often writes in his articles, that when it comes to foreign policy, presidents often have two choices:  Bad decisions and worse decisions.

 

Since Obama is a leftist leader, maybe he should have headed Trotsky's paraphrased quote:  You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.

 

The least Obama could do is turn in his Nobel Peace Prize.

 

(Image by Glenn McCoy)

 

Trial by Jury of (Non-Citizen) Peers in CA?

(Image from: 12 Angry Men)

Last week, the California Assembly passed a law removing the citizen requirement for jury duty.

Comrade Karla declared:  Yet more examples of how insane California has become. I fully expect other libtard states to try this as well.

While another friend pointed out that:  I can see many a verdict being thrown out when this gets crushed by SCOTUS...

This statement in the article caught my eye:

"...the bill said there is no correlation between being a citizen and a juror, and they noted that there is no citizenship requirement to be an attorney or a judge."

Us normal folk ASSume that attorneys--and especially judges--would be citizens of the communities in which they serve.  This common-sense omission however, is merely a loophole for coniving liberal lawyers to exploit.

Inmates Running the Asylum in Baltimore

(Image:  Harley Quinn and Joker)

In the shadow of the Boston Marathon Bombing and the unfolding See No Jihad Kabuki Theater by the media, a story unravelled in Baltimore that could have been lifted from the script of a porn movie.

Members of the Black Guerrilla Family took over Baltimore City Detention Center.  Twenty-Five people, including 13 prison guards have been indicted for:  racketeering, smuggling and sex between guards and inmates.

"Welcome to the Baltimore City Detention Center.  We hope you enjoy your stay."

"Let me show you to your suite, sir."

 

What's worse, is this isn't the first time the inmates took over the asylum.   

 

I watched this segment on The Factor last night.  Apparently this has been going on for the past four years.

 

RT America also has a video on this scandal. 

Terrorism: All in the Family?

The fallout continues to fall in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing.

The lead story:  Mommie Dearest was on a terrorist watch list.  Current peculation is that she "influenced" her sons to enroll in terrorist training of some sort. 

Speaking of speculation, a few days ago, The Diplomad went out on a limb and posited the frequent flier miles Tamerlan racked up was part of an informant recruitment gone bad. 

VDH, on the other hand cast a wider net, in his Paradoxes of the Boston Bombings.  Specifically, one doesn't merely download bomb-making instructions and stuff a pressure cooker with explosives, without some practice.  Tamerlan had to be trained by someone, somewhere.

The questions are:  Who trained him--and where?

Unfortunately, we're not going to get any answers soon.

Eric Holder put the kibosh on interrogating Dhokhar.  Now that he's been "Mirandized" we'll got no more answers from him.

Nor will we get any answers from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  You see, folks are begining to wonder how the Tsarnaev Brothers financed their operation--since the whole family was on welfare.  But Governor Deval Patrick slammed the lid on any inquiries, claiming they'd violate the Bombing Bros right to privacy. 

What about the rights of the victims, Guv'nor?

Or as one friend put it:  More to the point, what is MA hiding?

Responses followed:

I think the State Department needs to declare MA a state sponsor of terror and initiate a strong sanctions regime.

At minimum.  Looking at some of the comments, he even has self-identified Dems upset.  Hey, they voted for that tool. What do they expect?

More of the same, I'm sure.  The proletariat doesn't have a need-to-know.

The See-No-Jihad Kabuki Theater Continues

The Diplomad was quick to point out the politically correct, growning nonsense about refusing to state the obvious about the Boston Marathon Bombings.

Sultan Knish wrote a couple of thought-provoking articles this week on the subject.

First:  Why Muslims Kill.

Comrade Karla gave us some personal insight on this:

Classic case in point with a lib acquaintance of mind. He simply cannot reconcile the reality that Islam is a political ideology as much as a religion, so he comes back with stuff like “saying Islam is responsible for the bombing is like blaming Christianity for WW2.”  Yes, it really gets that dense.

They don’t have an actual intellectual basis for their reasoning, therefore they make sh*t up. Sort of like those political fund-raising emails certain people get.

Sultan Knish's second article, discussed the problem of investigating "Terrorism Without Motive".

(While this week's Friday Afternoon Roundup touched on all these, and similar subjects).

All this flailing about is being looked at as farcical.  The mental contortions our media and government agencies are doing to avoid examining jihad has earned us a skit on Latma TV.

Too bad all this is taking place in the real world and not a spy-spoof, then it would be hilarious.

Post Boston Marathon Bombing: The Islamic Elephant in the Room

(Image from FOX News 1450 KZNU)

 

Now that one of the alleged Boston Bomber Brothers lies in Beth Israel Hospital (talk about irony), maybe it's time the Ministry of Truth (left wing media) to discuss the ongoing/never-ending Islamic Jihad against us.

 

But given their performance and biases this past week, I'm not holding my breath.  I doubt their viewers will even call them out on their non-stop "angry white guys did it" speculation.

 

(From The Five's Facebook Fanpage)

 

But it wasn't just the left-wing media allegations against conservatives wasn't the only disturbing fallout of the Boston Marathon Bombing. 

 

Many of us were disturbed by the complete lock-down of Boston.  That an entire city was cowering from one armed tango (military slang for terrorist).  "Seano," the manager of The Five's Facebook Fanpage, posted this comment:

 

What a crappy week to be a liberal. :) You get smoked on gun control, and now families are holed up in their homes in Boston scared of the Muslim Terrorist who is capable of real harm, while many homeowners are UNARMED and unable to DEFEND their families. Next, they want to ram immigration down our throats but these foreign born Marathon TERRORISTS are screwing things up for the Free Love Woodstoc...k "Let'm all In" crowd! Finally, the Massachesetts Libs are getting a first hand look at what home searches feel like. Under Obie Communism, get used to it!

 

The Diplomad's Boston Bizzarre post, suggests a way of dealing with the Islamic issue--treat it as an enemy ideology and deny entry of such believers into our country.

 

But I'm not holding my breath such a politically incorrect policy will every be implemented.

 

Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Murrell of Politichicks has been dealing with "Christians are as bad as Islamist" comments this past week--and now fires back.

 

 

Boston Marathon Bomber Suspects: One Killed, One Captured

 

It's been an intense couple of days, filled with anxiety, fear, speculation more tragic deaths and false accusations; but the alleged Boston Marathon Bomber Brothers have been stopped. 

 

The most recent timeline of the manhunt comes from CNN. 

 

FOX News has an entire webpage covering Tsarnaev Brothers.

 

Despite not knowing all the facts, some (many?/all?) in the leftwing media were hoping to pin the Marathon bombing on the "angry white guys."  Leading the pack was David Sirota, with this outrageous headline:  Let's Hope the Boston Marathon Bomber is a White American.

 

Sorry Dave, the Tsarnaev Brothers were not the terrorist you were looking for.

 

For those who want to ignore Islamic terrorism, Andrew McCarthy warns that you can't wish away jihad.

 

Then there's Obama's queasiness about using the "T-word."  Charles Krauthammer discusses O's uneasiness in his Language of Terrorism article.

 

With one brother dead and the other in serious condition, we still don't know what motivated these two, "angels" according to their dad/"losers" according to their uncle, to kill innocent people. 

 

One observation was brought to our attention, via a Tweet by David Reaboi:  The initial bomb detonated at the site of the Russian flag.  (About 2:20 minutes into the RT video).

 

Coincidence?

 

Probably.

 

While the Boston Marathon Bombing dominated the news, it wasn't the only event that that occurred.

 

Tying all the news-worthy--and not-so newsworthy--stories, along with a hefty does of social commentary, is Mark Steyn with his Freaky Week in America article.

 

And the winner of the most ironic (as opposed to "iconic") photo of the month, is of the vehicle carjacked by the Marathon Bomber Brothers, sporting a "COEXIST" bumper sticker:

 

 

Supposedly There's a Suspect--But No Arrest

(Image:  The Social Security Office, Casa Grande, AZ; from FOX News) 

 

There was some hyperventilating on the news today:  It was reported a suspect in the Boston Marathon Bombing was found and an arrest was imminent--later changed to--suspect in custody.

 

About an hour ago, the authorities claimed they had a suspect, but no arrest had been made. 

 

Reports like this could go on for days, even weeks.  Meanwhile, a letter containing ricin were sent to Obama, while suspicious-looking letters arrived at various congressional offices. 

 

Without a suspect in custody, the bloviating continues among some of the "news" agencies.  Tom Friedman of the NYT suggested we "move on," but the blogger pointed out that Friedman is a "usual suspect" advocating gun control.

 

Speaking of media double standards, the story of the Casa Grande Bombing has been largely ignored by the media lackeys.  I must admit, I didn't even hear about this until Comrade Karla forwarded today's update with the following comment:

 

Interesting—here’s a great example of attempted Islamic terrorism that was pretty much ignored by all but the local media. What a surprise.

Some observations so far--

--from The Diplomad.

--again from Comrade Karla-- was over on Breitbart—the MSM went absolutely batsh*t crazy on Monday, far beyond what I expected.  They’re basically saying all our “domestic” terrorism is angry white guys, this is angry conservative thing, it shows all the signs, etc. etc.

Never was there a bigger band of fools and idiots.

 

Ditto that.

Well, It Didn't Take Long...

 

...for a couple of the "usual suspects" in the lamestream media to blame the Boston Marathon Bombing on "right wing extremists."

 

The truth is, at this time, we don't know who perpetrated the attack. 

 

Maybe it is an "angry white man's" group.  But then again, maybe it isn't .

 

For now, we know something about how the bombs were made.

 

Here's some updated snippets:

 

--Three people have been confirmed killed, including eight year-old Martin Richard, and 176 injured.

 

--No additional devices were found  (yesterday it was reported two unexploded bombs were discovered).

 

Comrade Karla introduced the led story and today's short e-mail commentary:

 

"MSLSD" and the hyperventilating Chris Matthews were first out of the gate with the whole “angry white male right winger” theme. CNN wasn’t far behind.

 

People were pretty quick out of the gate with that one during the DC sniper episode of 2002.

 

I remember that, too. How much time did they waste looking for angry white guys in a white panel truck?

 

At least Beantown's mayor hasn't speculated that the perpetrator(s) "hate Obamacare."  

 

Breaking News: Two Explosions at Boston Marathon

 

Information is still unfolding at the time of this posting.  FOX News reports as of 1:35 PM (PST).

 

FOX News is also conducting live streaming video.

 

Yahoo! Sports has a photo gallery up and running.

 

For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, The Seattle Times is also covering the story.

 

Here's what we know so far:

 

--Two explosions occurred near the finish line at 2:50 PM (EST).

 

--Two people confirmed killed.

 

--Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC has been closed to all traffic.

 

--Two additional explosive devices were discovered.

Meanwhile, marathon is still going on, with runners being re-routed.

It will take time to sort out exactly what happened, not to mention trying to assess who's responsible for this heinous crime. 

Update 2:40 PM (PST):

One of my friends e-mailed us a YouTube link of an on-scene video from The Boston Globe. 

(I wouldn't call this video graphic, but you do see fleeting glimpses of casualties from the first explosion being tended to).

Update 7:57 PM (PST):

US News provides a timeline of the marathon, the bombings and the response so far.

End of Biofuel Boondoggle?

 

 

 Another green failure may come to an end. 

 

(Image by Ramirez)

 

I must admit, at first I thought the concept of biofuel was really cool--until I read about food production was being diverted wholesale to fuel production.  This in turn caused the price of food to jump, especially among the world's poorest countries.

Of Nukes and Men

 

The article Rolling the Iron Dice...

 

(Image by Zukazame)

 

 

...sparked a lengthy discussion about the situation in Korea between Comrade Karla and a couple of friends: 

 

Raises some interesting questions. My initial reaction would be an unqualified “no, he can’t” but then again this admin continues to surprise.  One thing I find interesting is this is the 2d or 3d article I’ve read that still thinks 2d ID is forward deployed.

 

Nightwatch is the first place I've seen that at least mentioned the possibility (remote, I'll grant) that NK could fire a Musudan into the Pacific and pop an airburst as the ultimate demonstration of capability. I don't consider it likely, even if they do have the capability, because then even China might freak out. Then again, I was reading that China clarified its rhetoric from the other day that sounded as if they were chastising NK; now they say they were chastising the U.S. for causing the current crisis. China is not a reliable partner right now, and even if they were, they do not control the Norks, only influence them. The un-Kim may be blackmailing them to provide further aid, not just trying to manipulate South Korea and the U.S.

BTW, this article has the usual statements that give me pause "surely no nuclear warhead small enough to fit on such a delivery vehicle" and "unlikely to be able to strike the U.S." -- I do not have sufficient faith in the IC to get such a crucial fact right. Their track record is poor and the stakes are too high to take chances.

The EMP threat is very real and very plausible. It's a grey enough area they might think they could do it without inviting nuclear retaliation. With the current preisdent, they might gamble he'd be over-cautious. I'd be concerned that he might be that, or over-aggressive, but who knows what the norks really think.

Of course, in a major war, the norks would likely only nuke Japan, Guam and South Korea in order to prevent reinforcing the peninsula. But, once again, we should not downplay the enemy's capabilities or trust our analysis of their intentions. The data is too sparse and the track record too spotty.

 

If ever there were a good case for pre-emption, this would be it. But since Bush used it, I’m sure it’s anathema to the administration (as is any other sensible foreign policy, it would seem). 

Did you see that interchange with the DOS rep and the reporter (probably not as the MSM ignores this stuff) asking why they were saying “all is well, go ahead and stay/visit S. Korea.”

The admin position seems to be “we’ve heard this before, it’s no big deal.” I hope that’s not actually how they are treating this, but since the President is too busy trying to turn the US into a North American version of the EU, it may well reflect reality.

 

I am not so sure - I think that was the case in 1994, but no longer. Now, the worst case with NK is war and preemption guarantees war. The real threat is their massive artillery collection pointed at Seoul. They already have the nukes, and I'm sure they'd use them. Long term the danger is proliferation, given that now even Obama, Kerry, Hagel and the rest of the "missile defense is bad" crowd have had thier come to Jesus moments. 

Our best bet is to remain firm, yield nothing, avoid provocation, and let the Norks collapse on their own. That will be ugly, but hopefully less so than a war.

(Image by Ramirez)

 

You point out the best course of action…but then there’s always the potential the Norks “go for it” when they realize that they are going down anyway.  End result is the same, I guess.

 

Exactly so. Given that, I prefer to go with the COA with at least a chance for a non destructive conclusion.

 

The entire discourse wasn't gloom & doom however, when the following Tweet from Tim Siedell showed up:

 

Just pass a law saying you can't have nukes unless you pass a background check. North Korea problem solved. 

 

Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?

 

Why indeed Comrade.

 

Meanwhile, The Diplomad has been quick to point out the ironies in his Nork Nukes and Obama post, along with warning that unfinished business in foreign policy is like Eating Pizza in Geneva.  (Hint:  Both are distasteful).

 

 

 

The wildcard in all this is China. 

 

 

What China's response will be if/when things deteriorate even more, remains to be seen.

Nork Nukes

(Image by Lisa Benson)

 

 Looks like N. Korea may have the capability to strap a nuke warhead on a missile afterall. 

 

Will this affect our current policy?

 

Probably not, according to one on-line friend:

 

Actually, this should change nothing in our calculus since we should not have been assuming otherwise.

 

While Comrade Karla has this theory:

 

I’m guessing that release of info was not an accident; maybe somebody’s trying to get The One to actually pay attention to his responsibilities?

 

Let's hope we don't find out whether or not N. Korea has nukes the hard way.

It's Been Tried Before

 

Comrade Karla unearthed this political cartoon of the '30s. 

 

Funny how some things never change.

 

According to Trotsky's Agenda, Our Dear Leader has completed the first two phases of the plan.

 

That is:

 

--Busting the government with deficit spending, under the guise of "economic recovery."

 

--Blaming the capitalists for the failure of this so-called recovery.

 

Now all that needs to happen is:

 

--Junk the Constitution and declare a dictatorship.

 

(Which may be easier to do when you confiscate the firearms of law-abiding citizens).

 

 

The Iron Lady Passes...

 

I've been off line for several days now.  My fiance and I got married last weekend, so I avoided the news while playing host to visiting family and friends. 

 

One headline I couldn't avoid was the news about the death of Margaret Thatcher four days ago.

 

The Economist dubbed her No Ordinary Politician.

 

Talk about an understatement.

 

 

 

She was my favorite Prime Minister during my lifetime so far.  I think the Post-World War II Anglo-American alliance was at it's strongest during the Reagan-Thatcher years.  Much has been written about their friendship.

 

 

Now, I think our relationship with Great Britain is about as low as it can go and still be called an "alliance." 

 

 

Only our relationship with Israel is lower...

 

 

Of course, Britain's Iron Lady had--and still has--plenty of enemies. 

 

I've been one of her fans since she became Britain's only woman prime minister.  On the day of her death, Mark Steyn wrote a short tribute in The Corner and discussed her legacy--with tips to Republicans--on the Hugh Hewitt Show.

 

It's a shame none of our political leaders, on both sides of the Atlantic, are made of the same stuff as Maggie was...

 

Update 8:30 AM:

 

The Diplomad 2.0 weighed in with  Another Great One Leaves Scene.

 

Update 12:00 PM:

 

Mark Steyn rolls-in again with Thatcher Thought Britain Was Worth Fighting For. 

 

The Nutty Nork Leader

(Image by Jerry Holder)

In the latest news coming from "The Land of the Morning Calm:"  North Korea announced plans to jump-start its nuke reactor. 

The latest tantrum from Looney Un sparked a few comments from friends:

I like how news articles keep saying “but experts don’t think the North Koreans really want to start a war…”

Presumably they haven’t read any history about irrationality/Murphy’s Law etc.
Didn’t they ever see The Bedford Incident?

They don't much like no one did in 1914.  The better sources I follow think the tension is already breaking on the peninsula. Also, the Norks are indicating they're going to start relying more on nukes and less on conventional forces as a way to save money.

At least S. Korea's president warned of a "strong response" against any N. Korean provocations.

PC Trumps PH

(Image from Canada Free Press)

The Department of Defense (DoD) has been infected by Political Correctness for some time now.  The latest sympton of this social disease is the ruling that no Purple Hearts will be awarded to victims of the Ft. Hood shooting. 

It's appalling that after the ridicule and outrcy, the Obama Regime still considers this merely a case of workplace violence.