Exit Strategy Exit Fee

(Image by Taylor Jones)

I was trolling to internet for more details on the Washington Naval Yard shooting.  So far one suspect has been identified and 12 people have been killed .  Otherwise, the story is still unfolding.

In the meantime, I came across another gem by Mark Steyn:  Apparently we have to fly all our equipment out of Afghanistan in order to avoid "customs fines".

So our "smartest person in the room" president and his cronies forgot to take corruption into account when concocting their quickie exit strategy. 

Be Sure to Check the Cover

(Image by Henry Payne)

Mark Steyn wrote a short follow-on piece today and made the recommendation that you check the cover page of the publication before delving in to it.  Otherwise, you'll be reading something remeniscent of the Soviet Union's "Pravda."

Meanwhile, The Diplomad, rolls-in on the "Peace in Our Time Deal".

Breaking News: Mass Shooting at Washington Naval Yard

All the national networks are covering the news of a mass shooting that occurred earlier today at the Washington Navy Yard.  The story is still unfolding. 

Another scrolling update is available at Breitbart. 

Even though the manhunt for other suspects/accomplices (at this time, its reported as two additional perpetrators), the "usual suspects" have already slithered out of the woodwork demanding gun control.

The first is none other than "the Fonz", while commentator David Frum made snide swipes at law abiding gun owners.

Both fail to realize that military installations are essentially "gun free zones."  No matter how many gun control laws are passed, anyone hellbent on wrecking havoc will be able to hunt with several minutes of impunity at the gun free zone watering hole.

When I first heard the news this morning, I thought "oh, a Fort Hood copycat killer." 

Even though I'm a mere blogger, my memory is better than a paid CNN anchor. 

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.

Rendering America Ineffective

(Image by Beeler)

 

During last week's Syrian shenanigans, I managed to read observations from just about every commentator that I like and respect.

 

But one voice was missing:  Mark Steyn.

 

It wasn't until Friday the 13th that he finally rolled-in with his commentary on American Ineffectualism.

 

VDH follows up with an encapsulated view of Team Obama's flip-flop and floundering in his Syria in a nutshell article.

Gun Grabbing Senators Get the Boot in CO

(Image from FOX News)

While the liberal media is patting Our Dear Leader on the back for "playing" Czar Putin, a gun rights battle was waged in the Centennial State.

Both senators were voted out of office by an historic recall election because Coloradans had no stomach for their proposed gun control laws.  Of course, Angela Giron, one of the now-ex-senators believes there's another culprit responsible for her loss:  "Voter suppression"

Of course, the outcome of the vote had nothing to do with what Ms. Giron's co-conspirator, John Morse, said about his fellow gun-owning citizens...

Which is probably why I haven't heard any post-election meltdowns by Mr. Morse.  He's said enough already.

Now that the Empire State's Moff Bloomberg's dream of bringing gun control to Colorado melted down, he may be funneling "Bloomberg Bucks" into Virginia. 

Hopefully, Virginians will follow the example set by the citizens of Colorado.

Clown Car Diplomacy

(Image by Henry Payne)

It's been a heckuva ride for Team Obama this week.  All set--kinda sorts--to use some dubiously miniscule amount of force to "fire a shot across Assad's bow" in response to the "overwhelming evidence" the Syrian government.  Then Vladimir Putin stepped in and offered to broker a deal of disarming the Syrian government of it's chemical weapons. 

Here's where things stand now.

Some liberal media types are tyring to convince us that Obama is Machiavelli incarnate.

 

(Image by Eric Allie)

But us conservative-ish types see it differently.  Essentially, Putin has taken Obama off the hook for something he really didn't want to do.

(Image by Chip Bok)

Czar Putin was even nice enough to write an op-ed in the NYT (this version annotated by the WaPo). 

But Charles Krauthammer has read between the lines, exposing Putin's, Assad's and even Obama's strategy and warns about the bitter fruits of epic incompetence.

Michael Gerson concludes that Obama's missteps that have led to our retreat from Syria.

For a thoroughly scathing review of Team O's incompetence, you can read some of The Diplomad's recent posts about:

Driving the Obama-Kerry Clown Car into the ditch .

The sad little man in the world's biggest office

and

Now we dither

Our Dear Leader and his team are definately out of their league when dealing with Putin.  Heck they've been playing out of their league when dealing with Assad, Kim Jong Un, just to name a few from the world's Rogues Gallery.

(Image by Eric Allie)

There's been a lot of message traffic this week between my friends and I over the Russo-Syrian Alliance.  This post is already link-heavy, so I'll just add the response from a friend who explained the appeal of this last political cartoon I hijacked from Townhall:

It's...just so hilarious. I find it funny on so many levels because it so concisely reflects the true situation:

1) Obama is so clueless he’s playing the wrong game.
2) Obama is so dumb he doesn’t even know how to play the game he thinks he’s playing.
3) Obama is so smug that he thinks he actually won the game.
4) Putin just can’t believe what a fool Obama really is.

Scandals? What Scandals?

 

 

 

Team Obama has pulled one of the oldest tricks out of the Machiavellian Playbook:  When a leader is faced with trouble at home, generate/exacerbate a crisis beyond the borders. 

High-Seas Hijinks in the Med

While we await Our Dear Leader's speech on Tuesday (10 Sep 2013), Russia and now China are dispatching naval ships to the Mediterranean (the "Med" in naval jargon).  In Russia's case, they're sending reinforcements for the ships already there.

I find it very interesting that of all the vessels China could dispatch to "observe the actions" of US and Russian ships, they're sending an amphibious dock landing ship. 

I didn't know amphibious dock landing ships made good reconnaissance vessels.  Of course, it's been a while since I've played a naval wargame, so what do I know?

What if this amphibious dock landing ship actually docks with something, like a pier in a Syrian port, then "observes" supplies being rolled off?

What would Team Obama do about a Chinese naval vessel serving as a Syrian supply conduit? 

Anything?  What could we do without triggering a direct confrontation with China?

I admit I'm speculating about this possible sea-side "Ho-Chi-Min Trail."  But I can't help thinking that, despite all the firepower we're sending to the Med, Team Obama is still ignoring every principle of war published since Sun Tzu's best seller.  Meanwhile, we may be witnessing the Chinese employment of Economy of Force. 

Another interesting tidbit, is that while Russia's on-again-off-again cohort is sending an "observation ship," our longest standing ally, Great Britain has bowed out of this one.

Someone needs to update this graphic in the newsroom...

 

And here's some real estate in Damascus, Team Obama may be looking at...

 

Ramping-Up for the Bay of Pigs II?

 

Obama's "wartime logo?"

 

A couple of days ago a scathing article by Robert H. Scales was published in the WaPo.  As a retired US Army major general, he's been hearing a lot of complaints by his colleagues about the Syrian "non-war" plans.  Most damning of all--this is a war they don't want to fight.

Charles Krauthammer points out that unless Obama gets serious about what is to be accomplished by attacking Syria, then Congress should vote "no."

Meanwhile, the Obama machine is rolling forward and stifling critics.  Even members of the Congressional Black Caucus were told to "zip it" on Syria.  And to top it all off, Our Dear Leader is scheduled to appeal to the American people for intervening in Syria on September 10th. 

Normally, I'm seeing bad guys taken out and their toys broken.  But what liberal politicians and the liberal media don't understand is that war is an all-or-nothing undertaking.  Despite the rabid cries of "Bush Lied, Kids Died," at least the previous administration (and his dad's) had some objectives in mind, albiet however limited they were, or turned out to be.

Team Obama has none.

The Diplomad made our current mobilization to the Bay of Pigs. 

Hopefully, if Obama orders a strike against Syria, it won't end the same way as the original fiasco.

Obama's Cool War

While I've been off-line due to work, my e-mail inbox nearly burst with the accumulated message traffic for the past several days. 

Nearly all of it had to do with one topic:  Syria.

So, where to begin?

First, there's this indictment of Obama's staggering incompetence...

(Image by Eric Allie)

...which of course, now Obama's saying he didn't set any red lines, the world did. 

Meanwhile the GOP is also on thin ice, threatening to taking the US back to the 1930s.  But on the otherhand most of us conservative types don't want America acting as Al-Qaeda's Air Force. 

We're also upset over the blatant about face Democrats, along with the media have done, since "Bush's Wars."  Nancy Pelosi is now against it before she was for it, while the DNC Chairman is also for it.  Comrade Karla was quick to point out her chutzpah:

"She so forcefully makes the same arguments she condemned just 10 years ago!"

Here's another about-face example:

(Image by Glenn Foden)

The commentators and bloggers I read are all against attacking Syria:

Diplomad is not happy with the idea of attacking Syria, as evidenced by his posts here, here, here and most recently here. 

VDH points out how, over the years, Obama indicted Obama and asks, is the war to save face, or save lives?

And finally, Mark Steyn compares "Bush's Wars" with Obama's accidental war.

But it's not going to be an acutal "war," just a "shot across the bow."  With all the contortions the Democrats are doing to justify the impending non-war, Dennis Miller rolled-in with this comment on Facebook: 

"We have GOT to be the only country that sends out "Save the Date" attack cards." 

Operation True Lies?

(Image:  "Spy Romance" by "Spycrap")

 

Just over a week ago, news broke of yet another misuse of our government's intelligence capabilities.  Apparently, an undisclosed number of employees at the NSA have been spying, not on our nation's enemies, but on their "love interests."

 

Or in pseudo spook-speak:  "LoveInt."

 

Maybe this is a case of Live imitating art...

 

...Operation "True Lies"?

 

Last night, one of the commentators on Red Eye, I think it was Andrew Levy, who said that normally, this story wouldn't garner much notice.  However, when added to all the other "phony scandals," it makes people wonder what other abuses of power is going on?

 

Or at least among those of us who care and are paying attention.