Showing posts with label Hillary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hillary. Show all posts

Sunday, May 24, 2015

"Emails offer glimpse into Clinton’s personal life", but not much concern for anyone else in the wake of the Benghazi attacks

A fascinating article was published yesterday by Agency France Presse (AFP) that legacy media outlets studiously avoided relaying. And I had to go to PM News Nigeria to find it.

Only hours before Hillary Clinton was to face her biggest challenge and tragedy as US secretary of state, she asked an aide to get her a French documentary about Libya.

"Can you get us a copy of Bernard Henri-Levi's (sic) film about Libya. I think Harvey made it and it showed at Cannes last spring," the then secretary of state wrote to her trusted friend and confidant Huma Abedin at 5:50 am on September 11, 2012 [hours before the attack on Benghazi]...

...The request to Abedin was among 296 emails released by the State Department on Friday out of 30,000 that Clinton has turned over after revealing that during her 2009-2013 tenure she had used a private server and email address... they offer a small, but unprecedented insight into Clinton's personal life, her daily work at the Department and how she handled the tragedy which caused a convulsion of grief in the close-knit diplomatic community.

A "convulsion of grief in the close-knit diplomatic community"? Yes, in fact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was so grief-stricken that she slept through the presidential intel briefing convened just four days after the attack.

YES, REALLY: Obama Says Iran Won’t Be More Dangerous with an Extra $150 Billion Dollars

By Daniel Greenfield

The Goldberg interview with Obama reads like a conversation with an idiot. Actually make that two idiots, both of whom are also compulsive liars.

One of the highlights of their insane exchange is when Obama tries to insist that Iran won’t be more dangerous if it gets another $150 billion.

Obama: The question is, if Iran has $150 billion parked outside the country, does the IRGC automatically get $150 billion? Does that $150 billion then translate by orders of magnitude into their capacity to project power throughout the region?

So Obama brings out the math, and by math, I mean specious arguments and assorted distractions.

“And that is what we contest, because when you look at the math, first of all they’re going to have to deliver on their obligations under any agreement, which would take a certain period of time. Then there are the mechanics of unwinding the existing restraints they have on getting that money, which takes a certain amount of time.”

Which matters to Obama because he wants it to happen when he isn’t on the hook for it, but doesn’t help anything. Well it helps him avoid responsibility.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

I Hear a Strange Echo: Iran Tells Israel to Give Up The Nukes, Then Obama Tells Israel Give up Nukes

By Sara Noble

The Obama administration likes to help Iran out on the nuclear issue. In the end, we will have Obama’s legacy.

On Monday, Iran demanded Israel give up their nuclear weapons, saying that failure to do so could kill the Mideast nuclear ban initiative. Coincidentally, on Thursday, the U.S. pressed Israel to get rid of their nukes because it would bring other nations into discussions on the matter.

Israel National News: US Pressing Israel to Lose Its Nukes

Assistant US Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation, Thomas Countryman, held talks in Israel with senior Foreign Ministry officials, about the possibility of making the Middle East nuclear-free on Thursday.

The State Department confirmed Countryman’s visit and sources in the US Administration said that Israeli agreement to the idea would be a catalyst for bringing additional countries into discussions on the matter.

This is while our allies and other terrorist nations including ISIS are seeking nuclear weapons.

Fars News Agency: Iran leads calls by non-aligned nations for Israel to give up its nuclear weapons

Iran on Monday led calls by non-aligned nations for Israel to give up its nuclear weapons as a major conference got underway on advancing prospects for a nuclear-free world.

The Disarmament Conference in New York has come and gone (ended May 22), while Western diplomats claim proposals could torpedo the process and push Israel to walk away!

Failure to reach an agreement on the issue could kill the Mideast nuclear ban initiative. The developing nations say the UN should convene another conference on a regional ban of nuclear weapons. They also demand Israel immediately join the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty).

It is clear that Obama and Iran seek the same goal: not a nuclear-free Middle East, but an Israel-free Middle East.

 
Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

BOLTON: Released Emails Prove Hillary Culpable in Terror Killings of Americans in Benghazi

It's still startling when a few courageous individuals dare to speak truth to power. Ambassador John Bolton is one such :

I think the most telling information that we have seen in this limited number of emails is that there are repeated examples of Secretary of State Clinton being told in 2011 and 2012 that the security situation of our personnel in Tripoli and Benghazi was very precarious. The country’s government had fallen apart—that the threat from terrorist attacks was high and that our people were very concerned about it.

Now you’ll recall in her limited public appearances to date that she has said, you know, I don’t get involved in that security stuff, you know, I have people that do that. Well I have to say when I heard that I was stunned. I’ve worked for six different secretaries of state, everyone of them coming from very different backgrounds, every one of them cared about the safety of the Americans who worked for them in the State Department. And not one of them would have missed the danger that our diplomats in Libya faced. And this was called to her attention repeatedly and she didn’t do anything about it. So When we ask the question, who is responsible for the tragedy of the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, there is a very clear answer. It was Hillary Clinton.

She said she didn’t know the security situation in Libya , these documents alone, these are the first documents, it’s only going to get worse after this, after the other documents come out, but these documents alone, we know she was advised repeatedly about how dangerous it was.

Of course, anyone could have arrived at the same conclusion years ago if he or she had read "DAMNING: The Complete Benghazi Timeline Spreadsheet", which was first published in 2013.
 
 

NEW EMAILS CONFIRM: Hillary Lied to Congress; Fully Aware of Terror Risks in Benghazi Months Before Attack

By Sharyl Attkisson

Newly reported emails indicate Hillary Clinton was personally made aware of security dangers in the months leading up to the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya. That’s according to the House Benghazi Committee, which has obtained 300 long-sought emails from the State Department among tens of thousands under subpoena.

The Benghazi Committee says there are a number of emails in which State Department personnel specifically passed along security issues to Clinton in 2011 and 2012 before the attacks. An August 2012 email to then-Secretary of State Clinton from one of her top aides, Jake Sullivan, referred to “some warning signs” regarding the deteriorating security situation.

Clinton has long denied being in the loop about mounting dangers in Benghazi and her agency’s rejection of security requests from U.S. personnel, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was killed in the attacks. Though Clinton was sent multiple cables about security prior to the assaults, she explained that she got far too many to read.

“They are all addressed to me,” Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in January 2013. “They do not all come to me. They are reported through the bureaucracy.”

The newly reported emails differ from the cables in that they were sent directly to Clinton’s personal email server and, in some cases, were from one of her top aides.

Friday, May 22, 2015

IN HER SECRET EMAIL ACCOUNT: Granny Hillary Didn’t Even Know Murdered Ambassador Chris Stevens’ Name

By Warner Todd Huston

In her secret email account messages that were released today, Clinton kept calling Ambassador Chris Stevens “Chris Smith.”

Clinton sent an email with the subject line “Chris Smith” shortly before midnight to three top aides, Cheryl Mills, Jake Sullivan and Victoria Nuland.

“Cheryl told me the Libyans confirmed his death. Should we announce tonight or wait until morning?” Clinton wrote.

Four Americans were killed that night after a terrorist group affiliated with al Qaeda stormed the consulate. But none were named Chris Smith. Clinton likely jumbled the names of ambassador Chris Stevens and diplomat Sean Smith. Two former Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, were also killed.

Clinton couldn’t even be bothered to learn the name of the man killed by terrorists.

This is the woman that Democrats want to make President.


Read more Warner Todd Huston at PubliusForum.com.
 

FORMER DEM SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN: Obama-Kerry Deal Leaves Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Intact

By The Tower

The emerging nuclear deal with Iran would only result in a “temporary turning down” of Iran’s nuclear program rather than ending it, former Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D – Conn.) told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) in an interview published yesterday.

“What started out as negotiations that would lead to the end of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an end of sanctions on Iran now ends up that the agreement will provide for the end of economic sanctions on Iran, but only a temporary turning down of Iran’s nuclear program,” he said.

Lieberman also characterized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before Congress in March as “a plus.”

In the lead up to the speech, Lieberman urged his fellow Democrats not to stay away, calling Iran “the greatest threat to the security of America and the world.”

There is too much on the line in the negotiations with Iran for members of Congress to decide not to listen to what Netanyahu, or any other ally, has to say on this subject. Just as British Prime Minister David Cameron deserved respectful attention when he called individual members of Congress recently to ask them to delay adopting more sanctions on Iran, and the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain deserved respectful reading when they made the same appeal to Congress in an op-ed in The Post, so too does the prime minister of Israel deserve to be listened to respectfully by members of Congress when he speaks next week.

At this very unstable moment in history, we cannot and must not avert our attention from what remains the greatest threat to the security of America and the world.


Read more at The Tower.
 

New Hillary Emails Reveal She Received Sensitive and Now-Classified Info on Her AWOL Private Email

If anyone else had done what Hillary did, they'd be serving five to 10 in Leavenworth. Because it would appear that Granny Clinton received now-classified documents on her private email server.

The Associated Press ... revealed on Friday that Clinton received information on her private email server that has now been classified about the deadly attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi.

The email in question, forwarded to Clinton by her deputy chief of staff Jake Sullivan, relates to reports of arrests in Libya of possible suspects in the attack.

The information was not classified at the time the email was sent but was upgraded from “unclassified” to “secret” on Friday at the request of the FBI, according to State Department officials. They said 23 words of the Nov. 18, 2012, message were redacted from the day’s release of 296 emails totaling 896 pages to protect information that could damage foreign relations.

Because the information was not classified at the time the email was sent, no laws were violated, but Friday’s redaction shows that Clinton received sensitive information on her unsecured personal server.

In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Hillary's email server -- which effectively disappeared gigabytes of information -- received plenty of then-classified info. Which is one major reason said emails were disappeared.

The other, of course, being the Clinton Global Graft Initiative.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Uhm, no, Sidney Blumenthal was not the source of the Hillary-Obama Benghazi video lie

There are reports circulating today, courtesy of The New York Times, that Hillary consigliere Sidney Blumenthal was the author of the Benghazi video lie. To wit, "intel" provided by the Sidster claimed that Al Qaeda affiliates attacked the American consulate in Benghazi due to... a video no one had ever seen.

The State Department released 850 pages of Hillary Clinton Benghazi-related email documents and the NY Times reviewed the ones having to do with Clinton Family buddy Sidney Blumenthal. (all the Blumenthal emails are embedded below) Amongst the treasure trove of emails is this paragraph on a correspondence sent by Blumenthal to Clinton on 9/12/12 the day after the attack:


Earlier this week The Times established that the Blumenthal emails were sent out to staff at state without telling them who it was from (he was described as HRC friend) and that much of the Libya intelligence that Mr. Blumenthal passed on to Mrs. Clinton appears to have come from a group of business associates he was advising as they sought to win contracts from the Libyan transitional government. And Most most of what Blumenthal sent was garbage.

Of course, back in the little land we like to call reality, the facts on the ground were ignored by the Times. As The Complete Benghazi Timeline reminds us, Clinton publicly linked the Benghazi attack to the video even before American heroes Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty had been killed.

On the night of Sept. 11, 2012 — before former Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed by a terrorist mortar strike — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a public statement linking the attack against the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, with an anti-Muslim video, which she referred to as "inflammatory material posted on the Internet."


...the Associated Press first published a story quoting Clinton's statement at 10:58 p.m. Eastern time on Sept. 11 ... The AP released a story that night datelined Cairo, written by Maggie Michael and Sarah El Deeb, and carrying the headline, "American killed in Libya protest over film."

My belief is that Hillary and Obama hatched the video story in the wee hours of the night to cover their copious failures. And Sidney Blumenthal was "commissioned" to back up their fable.

No one should be fooled. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are responsible for everything related to Benghazi, including the cover-up.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The Perfectibility of Mankind and the Left

This is a post by Geoff B., once thought lost in the great pub crash of 2009 and recovered via the Wayback Archive. Its original publication date was December 24, 2008. Kindly restored by Camp o' the Saints and slightly edited by mois.

The Perfectibility of Mankind and the Left

 
One of the basic differences between the Progressive Left and Conservatives/Classical Liberals is on whether or not humans can be, or be made, perfect in this world. The perfectibility of mankind.

To Conservatives humans can never be perfect in this world. For religious conservatives man achieves perfection only when joined with God. In this world perfection is to strive for, but will never be achieved. Failure happens to all and is forgivable. One should acknowledge one's failures and vow to avoid repeating the mistake. Apologize to those injured. Seek forgiveness. Show remorse. Make amends. Be punished if society deems it necessary. In politicians, as in others, perfection is not sought. The perfect not being possible, Conservatives then seek the best available in an imperfect world of choices.

For the progressive Left and the socialist Left, humans are perfectible. The imperfections seen are explained as due to the circumstances that people are in, how they were brought up, how they were educated, or how they were treated and seen by society. To the left people would be perfect if the world around them could be transformed to retain their innate perfection. This is the Utopia sought. The world must be perfected so all humans will be perfect.

Politics is the means used to structure this perfect world for all humans. Force, of course, is required to change the world into the perfect state so that all will live in perfection. This brings up an interesting dichotomy.

An Open Letter to @LauraMeckler of the Wall Street Journal, cc: @HillaryClinton @WSJopinion @WSJ #ReadyForHillary

By Lee Cary

Ms. Meckler:

Thanks for your recent article ("Hillary Clinton’s State Department Staff Kept Tight Rein on Records", dated 19 May 2015).

As a writer for the American Thinker website (Nov. 2007 through Jan. 2015) I tried to get a clear response from the Department of State concerning roughly $6 billion of department funds that were not thoroughly accounted for during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure there. It was an exercise in futility that I documented in the article entitled "State Department won't say how missing records for $6 billion were stored", dated 25 September 2014.

Legacy media, including the Wall Street Journal, reported the story initially, but soon moved on (e.g., "State Department can't account for $6 billion in last 6 years")
.
Mrs. Clinton’s tenure at State was also cited in two other "Management Alerts" issued by the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The three OIG Alerts were catalogued in my article entitled "Hillary's reputation for competence as Secretary of State erodes from within", dated 12 October 2014.

You, Ms. Meckler, are on the cusp of a significant story. Question is: Will you pursue it? I’m an old grandfather and have retired. Time for your generation and the Wall Street Journal to hold the D.C. scammers accountable. If not your generation, then who?

Dr. Lee D. Cary

 

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

GONNA PUT SOME ICE ON THAT, GEORGEY-BOY? Peter Schweizer Eviscerates Bogus "Newsman" George Stephanopoulos

Via Mark Steyn, we arrive at a new set of revelations by Peter Schweizer regarding phony journalist George Stephanopoulos. You may recall that former Clinton operative and current Clinton operative-cum-ABC News employee recently interviewed Schweizer regarding his recent bestseller. Or, rather, he grilled Schweizer over the author's brutal evidence that the Clinton Global Graft Foundation appeared explicitly designed to extract government favors in exchange for massive payoffs.

Schweizer's evidence is overwhelming and, rather than acting like a real journalist, Stephanopoulos instead conducted an interrogation rather than an interview -- never disclosing that he had multiple, deep, and devastating conflicts of interest. It wasn't just that the "newsman" had donated $75,000 to the Clinton Global Grift Initiative:

For example, in his on air apology for this ethical mess, Stephanopoulos did not disclose that in 2006 he was a featured attendee and panel moderator at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

He did not disclose that in 2007, he was a featured attendee at the CGI annual meeting, a gathering also attended by several individuals I report on in Clinton Cash, including mega Clinton Foundation donors Lucas Lundin, Frank Giustra, Frank Holmes, and Carlos Slim — individuals whose involvement with the Clintons I assumed he had invited me on his program to discuss.

Stephanopoulos did not disclose that he was a 2008 panelist at the CGI annual meeting which, once again, featured individuals I report on in the book, such as billionaire Clinton Foundation foreign donor Denis O'Brien.

ABC's most visible news employee did not disclose that in 2009, he served as a panel moderator at CGI's annual meeting, nor did he disclose that in 2010 and 2011, he was an official CGI member.

Stephanopoulos did not disclose that in 2013 and 2014, he and Chelsea Clinton served as CGI contest judges for awards, in part, underwritten by Laureate International Universities — a for-profit education company I report on in the book. Bill Clinton was on its payroll until his recent resignation.


Disgraceful. Unethical. Disgusting.

And all in a day's work for today's crony media.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

10 Startling Charts That Completely Debunk the Global Warming Scam

It's amazing to me that, post-Climategate, anyone with more than three working neurons could believe in the legitimacy of the United Nations' global warming bunko scam.

Over at the world's most popular climate site, our favorite peer Christopher Monckton of Brenchley fires a massive salvo of data, charts and explanations that crush the progressives' latest attempt to regulate capitalism. My favorite charts are as follows:

10. 2000 Years of... Consistent Climate Cycles

Monday, May 18, 2015

SHOCKER: Hillary Claim That She Used Only One Personal Email Account While at State... Also a Lie

I hope you're sitting down:

Emails published by the New York Times Monday indicate that Hillary Clinton used more than one private email address during her time as secretary of state, contradicting previous claims from the Democratic presidential contender’s office.

Multiple emails show Clinton used account “hrod17@clintonemail.com” while serving in the Obama administration as secretary of state.

Clinton’s attorney, David Kendall, had previously told Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) that that particular address had not “existed during Secretary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.”

Another statement from Clinton’s office said she only used one address during her time as secretary of state... Clinton served as secretary of state from Jan. 2009 to Feb. 2013. The emails she sent with the “hrod17@clintonemail.com” were sent in 2011 and 2012, according to the documents released by the Times.

A representative for Clinton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze.


As security experts noted a few months ago when the Hillary email scandal first broke, it's virtually certain that Hillary's email server was compromised by foreign governments. Which means Hillary put her own butt-covering over national security.

If America is willing to elect a sleazy, lying, unscrupulous, unethical, lying crook like Hillary in 2016, well, we deserve everything we get. Yes, I said "lying" twice. Because she warrants it.


Hat tip: BadBlue News.
 

RIPPLE EFFECT: Saudis said to be purchasing nuclear weapons from Pakistan to counter Iranian threat

By The Tower

Saudi Arabia had made the “strategic decision” to purchase a nuclear weapon from Pakistan amid the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, a former American defense official said in a report published today in The Sunday Times.

“There has been a longstanding agreement in place with the Pakistanis and the House of Saud has now made the strategic decision to move forward.”

While the official did not believe “any actual weaponry has been transferred yet”, it was clear “the Saudis mean what they say and they will do what they say”, following last month’s Iranian outline nuclear deal. …

Asked whether the Saudis had decided to become a nuclear power, the official responded: “That has to be the assumption.”

The assessment is shared by an American intelligence official who spoke to the Times, saying that “hundreds” of CIA employees are trying to determine if Pakistan has already supplied any nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.

JAW-DROPPING: Documents Reveal Obama, Hillary Knew Al Qaeda Had Planned Benghazi Attack 10 Days in Advance

By Judicial Watch

"These documents are jaw-dropping. No wonder we had to file more FOIA lawsuits and wait over two years for them. If the American people had known the truth – that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other top administration officials knew that the Benghazi attack was an al-Qaeda terrorist attack from the get-go – and yet lied and covered this fact up – Mitt Romney might very well be president. And why would the Obama administration continue to support the Muslim Brotherhood even after it knew it was tied to the Benghazi terrorist attack and to al Qaeda? These documents also point to connection between the collapse in Libya and the ISIS war – and confirm that the U.S. knew remarkable details about the transfer of arms from Benghazi to Syrian jihadists." --Tom Fitton

Judicial Watch announced today that it obtained more than 100 pages of previously classified “Secret” documents from the Department of Defense (DOD)and the Department of State revealing that DOD almost immediately reported that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was committed by the al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood-linked “Brigades of the Captive Omar Abdul Rahman” (BCOAR), and had been planned at least 10 days in advance. Rahman is known as the Blind Sheikh, and is serving life in prison for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and other terrorist acts. The new documents also provide the first official confirmation that shows the U.S. government was aware of arms shipments from Benghazi to Syria. The documents also include an August 2012 analysis warning of the rise of ISIS and the predicted failure of the Obama policy of regime change in Syria.

The documents were released in response to a court order in accordance with a May 15, 2014, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against both the DOD and State Department seeking communications between the two agencies and congressional leaders “on matters related to the activities of any agency or department of the U.S. government at the Special Mission Compound and/or classified annex in Benghazi.”

Spelling and punctuation is duplicated in this release without corrections.

A Defense Department document from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), dated September 12, 2012, the day after the Benghazi attack, details that the attack on the compound had been carefully planned by the BOCAR terrorist group “to kill as many Americans as possible.” The document was sent to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Obama White House National Security Council. The heavily redacted Defense Department “information report” says that the attack on the Benghazi facility “was planned and executed by The Brigades of the Captive Omar Abdul Rahman (BCOAR).” The group subscribes to “AQ ideologies:”

Friday, May 15, 2015

Why the Clinton Foundation Scandal Should Terrify Every American

By Peter Schweizer

One of the last vestiges of broad-based bipartisan agreement in American politics is the belief that foreign money should not influence U.S. political leaders and their decisions. The Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the ban on foreign political money, and President Barack Obama and Republicans have echoed similar themes.

We now know that the Clinton Foundation served as a conduit for the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars from foreign individuals, entities, and governments. Moreover, during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Sec. of State, former President Bill Clinton received numerous lucrative speaking fees funded by foreign entities, including a $500,000 Moscow speech paid for by a Kremlin-linked bank with interests pending before Mrs. Clinton’s State Dept. 

But does any of this matter? Moreover, is it, as some have intimated, akin to “bribery”?

As Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton made combatting corruption by foreign actors “a major focus of U.S foreign policy,” as her spokesperson at the time put it. More specifically, she pledged her support for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) “anti-corruption agenda.” So, how does the OECD define bribery?  

BOOM: Federal Court Issues Historic Ruling in Hillary Email Scandal

By Judicial Watch

Last Friday, a federal court judge did something we had never seen before – U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton reopened a Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The lawsuit had sought documents about an advertisement intended to air in Pakistan entitled “A Message from the President of the United States Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

Judge Walton issued the ruling on Friday, May 8, in response to a joint motion by Judicial Watch and the State Department. This is historic. My attorney colleagues at Judicial Watch tell me they are aware of no precedent of another FOIA lawsuit being reopened by a federal court.

Judicial Watch filed suit in December 2012, after the State Department failed to respond to a September 24, 2012, FOIA request for all records concerning the advertisement produced by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad intended to air in Pakistan. The advertisement was an absurd and dishonest “apology” for the Internet video that President Obama, then-Secretary of State Clinton, and other administration officials falsely blamed for inspiring “spontaneous demonstrations” resulting in the attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya. The disgusting ad was a misuse of tax dollars and part of the cover-up of the truth about the Benghazi terrorist attack.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

THE OBAMA DOCTRINE: Humiliation and Defeat

By Daniel Greenfield

John Kerry returns from his latest Russian visit bearing two baskets of potatoes and a t-shirt.

The t-shirt, given to him by Foreign Minister Lavrov, might as well say, “I wasted my time in Russia and all I got was this lousy shirt.”

It’s a diplomatic success only in relation to Kerry’s previous humiliations such as the time that Russia’s adeptly slimy foreign minister kept him waiting for a week before returning his call while the State Department spokeswoman announced to the world that Kerry was “ready to talk whenever Foreign Minister Lavrov can find the time.”

The Putin regime enjoys humiliating the United States, but even it seems to have tired of degrading Kerry who ruins their fun by failing to realize what is going on. Instead Kerry has become a nonentity; a forgotten messenger boy. It’s a fitting purgatory for the formerly tireless leftist activist in the Senate.

It wasn’t all that long ago that John Kerry was being touted as the last best hope for diplomacy. No one could quite admit that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had made a complete mess, but the sighs of relief when John Kerry got the job instead of Obama’s dishonest crony Susan Rice spoke volumes.

American diplomacy had never before hit the low point that it had under Obama and Clinton. Liberals with an interest in foreign policy had expected professionalism; instead the two politicians used it as their private piggy bank. Obama handed off ambassadorships to key countries to big donors while Hillary spent more time seeing to the interests of Clinton Foundation donors than to our national interests.

Obama had campaigned as an internationalist who would put aside the provincialism of the Bush years to build meaningful multilateral relationships based on his experience with other countries and cultures. But once in office, he treated visits to other countries like domestic campaign trips to obscure states.

Foreign leaders soon found out that an Obama visit was usually a cross between a photo op using their historical landmarks as background and a vacation. While his gaffes and embarrassing behaviors got the most attention, the underlying problem was that he didn’t understand what his job was. His routine of self-important speeches and announcements of billion dollar programs that would never materialize was built for his endless domestic campaign and its lapdog media. And it didn’t play well internationally.

ABC’S STEPHANOPOULOS GRILLED "CLINTON CASH" AUTHOR: Forgot to Note His Own Donations to Bogus Foundation

While Politico got credit for the story, it turns out it was Andrew Stiles at Washington Free Beacon who broke the original scoop.

ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos donated $50,000 to the Clinton Foundation in recent years, records show. The contribution is publicly available information, but the host had not previously disclosed it to ABC viewers, despite taking part in on-air discussions about the Clinton Foundation and its controversial relationship with foreign donors.

...Stephanopoulos’s recent coverage of the topic has been challenged by critics who question his objectivity as a longtime Clinton aide. The host’s April 26 interview with Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer, for example, elicited partisan reactions after Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed the Schweizer to acknowledge the lack of a “smoking gun” among the allegations in his book...

Conservative commentators, meanwhile, complained about Stephanopoulos’s “aggressively” dismissive questioning, and took issue with a former Clinton operative asking Schweizer, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, about his “partisan interest” in writing Clinton Cash ... ABC News viewers should have also been reminded of the host’s connection to the Clintons, the politicians at the center of the discussion.