Sunday, October 21, 2012

BOOM: On Eve of Debate, Former Senior Obama Adviser Eviscerates Administration's Catastrophic Foreign Policy Failures

Rosa Brooks, a former senior adviser to the Obama State and Defense Departments has penned a damning indictment of the administration's foreign policy failures. The piece -- entitled "The Case for Intervention... In Obama's dysfunctional foreign-policy team" and published in Foreign Policy -- lists six things that Obama must do if he is reelected.

But you really only need to read the beginning of the article to get a sense for the debacle that is the Obama non-doctrine:

...he has presided over an exceptionally dysfunctional and un-visionary national security architecture -- one that appears to drift from crisis to crisis, with little ability to look beyond the next few weeks. His national security staff is squabbling and demoralized...


1. Get a Strategy. No, really. We don't currently seem to have one, grand or otherwise. We've got "the long war" -- but we don't seem to have a long game. Instead of a strategy, we have aspirations ("We want a stable Middle East") and we have laundry lists (check out the 2010 National Security Strategy). But as I have written in a previous column, there's no clear sense of what animates our foreign policy. And without a clear strategic vision of the world, there's no way to evaluate the success or failure of different initiatives, and no way to distinguish the important from the marginal...

Another of Brooks' recommendations is for Obama to get out of his bubble and talk to experts, not cronies, campaign aides and yes-men. But RedState reminds us that, ironically, Obama has moved backward in that respect, not forward.

The problem is actually much deeper than merely getting out of the bubble. The locus of the problem is in Obama’s personality and inflated self image. As former aide Neera Tanden said in a recent NY Magazine interview.

Clinton, being Clinton, had plenty of advice in mind and was desperate to impart it. But for the first two years of Obama’s term, the phone calls Clinton kept expecting rarely came. “People say the reason Obama wouldn’t call Clinton is because he doesn’t like him,” observes Tanden. “The truth is, Obama doesn’t call anyone, and he’s not close to almost anyone. It’s stunning that he’s in politics, because he really doesn’t like people. My analogy is that it’s like becoming Bill Gates without liking computers.”

Someone who doesn’t like people isn’t going to seek out people for informal meetings. People who know they are poseurs don’t talk to smart people because nothing is worse that revealing yourself as a poseur.

Somehow, over the years of coddling and social promotions, Obama has come to believe he is actually talented. As he has said:

“I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.”

I think Ms. Brooks is missing another obvious reason why Obama is in the bubble: he thinks things are going just swimmingly and sees no reason to change.

Honestly, folks, we don't need six things changed. We need one.

And his name starts with the letter 'O' and ends with an 'A'. And all we need to do is to pull the right lever on November 6th along with as many friends, family members and colleagues we can muster.

ANALYZING OHIO: A Bellwether District in a Bellwether County in a Bellwether State

Hamilton County -- home to Cincinnati -- sits in the southwest corner of Ohio. Election analysts have pointed to it as the single bellwether county for the state. It's safe to say that as Hamilton County goes, so goes Ohio. And as Ohio goes, so goes the entire nation.

Why is Hamilton such a bellwether? Consider the 2008 election, when Barack Obama won the state 51.2 percent to 47.2 over John McCain.

Hamilton County was the largest county in Ohio to model almost the exact 2008 statewide result, with Obama capturing 52.0 percent versus McCain's 47.0. Montgomery County, home to the city of Dayton, also modeled the 2008 result with a 52.0 to 47.0 margin, but is substantially smaller than Hamilton County.

In 2008, the Ohio District 1 House race pitted Steve Driehaus against incumbent Republican Steve Chabot. Driehaus won by a margin of 3 points, a spread nearly identical to that of Obama at 51.5 to 48.5.

But in 2010, Chabot -- with the rise of the Tea Party -- won his seat back from Driehaus by 5 points, 51.5 to 46.0. To be clear, Chabot was not a popular choice among fiscal conservatives; but the rage against Driehaus -- regarding Obamacare and the rest of the Obama agenda -- was sufficient to reverse the 2008 results with a swing of 8.5 points.

In 2008 and 2010, Ohio's District 1 represented the west side of Hamilton County -- and the west side of Cincinnati itself -- and consisted of a mix of urban, suburban and even rural voters (it has since been redistricted, so it won't be an apples-to-apples comparison). Yet the anger with Obama's agenda was sufficient enough to turn OH-1 from D+3.0 to R+5.5 between 2008 and 2010.

Did the Tea Party go away since 2010? Is the economy notably improved? Has Constitutional Conservatism disappeared? Is the world a safer place? Is Obamacare suddenly popular now?

I think it's safe to say that all five questions can be answered with the word "no".

Ohio represents a make-or-break state for both campaigns. And Hamilton County is the bellwether for the state, if the experts are to be believed. Using the 2010 results, Ohio's old District 1 very well could be a lock for Mitt Romney. And if the old OH-1 results hold, Mitt Romney is going to win Ohio by a very safe margin. I'm not in the prediction business, but I'll put a guesstimate in the comments.

What are you guys thinking about Ohio?



NO, OBAMA'S NOT GOING TO PAY YOUR MORTGAGE, SUGAR: Another Report Proves Republicans Better Informed Than Democrats

And in fact, "the results weren't even close":

...Pew’s latest survey only reaffirms previous surveys demonstrating [that Republicans are more knowledgeable than Democrats].

In a scientific survey of 1,168 adults conducted during September and October of last year, respondents were asked not only multiple-choice questions, but also queries using maps, photographs and symbols. Among other subjects, participants identified international leaders, cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, nations on a world map, the current unemployment and poverty rates and war casualty totals.

In a 2010 Pew survey, Republicans outperformed Democrats on 10 of 12 questions, with one tie and Democrats outperforming Republicans on just 1 of the 12. In the latest survey, however, Republicans outperformed Democrats on every single one of 19 questions.

Amusingly, the Pew report attempted to soften the stark partisan knowledge disparity:

“Republicans generally outperformed Democrats on the current quiz. On 13 of the 19 questions, Republicans score significantly higher than Democrats and there are no questions on which Democrats did better than Republicans. In past knowledge quizzes, partisan differences have been more muted, though Republicans often have scored somewhat higher than Democrats.”

“Generally outperformed?” “Somewhat higher?” That’s a curiously charitable way to describe the surveys, which went from previous blowouts to a complete shutout in the latest edition.

The President's poster children -- the 66% of 18-to-29 year-olds that helped propel him into office -- have likely smartened up this year. That's the kind of lesson a 53 percent unemployment and underemployment rate for college grads younger than 25 will teach.


Larwyn's Linx: Spinning Benghazi

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Spinning Benghazi: WS
We will see some strange states turning Red on election night: Morris
President Obama's Closing Act: An Epic Collapse: Hewitt

Bret Baier Special On Libya: "Death And Deceit In Benghazi": RCP
The October Surprise: Ledeen
The 'War on Women' Backfires: Feldman

We are Closer Than You Can Possibly Believe…: Hoosier Access
Romney Making a Serious Play For PA: Nice Deb
Karen Harrington: More than Just the Anti-DWS Candidate: CDN

Economy

Britain’s Liverpool Pathway Is A Preview Of Obamacare And Hell: RS
Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America: Beacon
Shocker: Planned Parenthood Chief an Obama Volunteer: Powers

Change: Homeless student population tops 2,500 in Fairfax County: Riehl
Romney, RNC have 60 staffers working in PA: Riehl
Unions focus shifts from Obama to state-level races: Riehl

Scandal Central

Death Panels Here, Doctor's Plea For Help: NoisyRm
List: The 36 Obama-Funded Green Energy Failures: WZ
Revolt of the Drivers (cont.): WS

Climate & Energy

Why gas is nearly $4 a gallon: Babalu
Reports: Marcellus reserves larger than expected: AP

Media

Is it still an October Surprise if we already know what it's gonna be?: WyBlog
Obama quotes ‘New York Times economist’ as evidence Romney economic plan is a ‘snow job’: Malkin
Candy Crowley Not in ‘Cahoots’ With Obama; He and Axelrod Used Her: NB

Pew Research: Republicans More Knowledgeable Than Democrats: CFIF
Democrat Momentum Unstoppable!: Steyn
Ohio Is Closer than You Think: NRO

Media Elite slam Obama campaign as "belittling," "not confident," "peevish" and worse: Breitbart
About that 'Civilian National Security Force'...: Winter Soldier
PPP’ing on Barry’s Parade: Obama’s lead in Ohio dwindles to 1: Riehl

World

BENGHAZI: Documents show Stevens worried about security threats, al-Qaeda: Daily Bret
Obama's Binder Full of Muslims: Reagan Coalition
Mysterious Libyan ship linked to deadly terror attack?: Fox

Romney to Obama: Israel does not warrant 'public warnings': JPost
White House denies report US, Iran agreed to one-one-talks: JPost
Iran denounces Beirut bombing, points finger at Israel: JPost

Anti-Muslim filmmaker detained for almost a month...next court date three days after election: Times
Kevin Drum Beclowns Himself Covering For Obama: RS
Donald Trump: ‘I’ll be making a major announcement on President Obama next week’: FAM

Sci-Tech

We watch, crying, as Microsoft drops a Surface for fun and science: NextWeb
PayPal Here goes on sale at AT&T stores: like a one-stop shop for account hiccups: Engadget
Welcome home, Endeavor (time-lapse photography of Space Shuttle Endeavor’s last journey): VenBeat

Cornucopia

Obama Bumper Sticker Removal Kit: AT
Political Cartoon: Barack Obama's view of the U.S. Constitution!: TPC
Riders trapped for 2 hours atop Stratosphere after it lost power: Dallas News

These boots are made for walkin’ so when you get to a fork in the road, take it.: MOTUS
New, Innovative Special Forces Ready to Deal with Islamic Terrorism: Reaganite
Gun shop names assault rifle after Rangel: Post

Image: Boom! Frank Luntz says Florida is no longer a swing state
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help out America's Comeback Team now!

QOTD: "In terms of the November election, the party that wins the White House and controls Congress, what would create a better climate for small businesses and entrepreneurs?

I think if Romney wins, we're going to have an explosion of business in this country. A lot of huge companies have huge stockpiles of cash, a lot of it overseas. There's a lot of pent-up demand." [Here, for example, is one article of many out there that aims to get at how much corporate cash is involved: Idle Corporate Cash Piles Up.]

Is there one policy the federal government should implement to help the business environment, or should it be less involved?

"I think more than anything else, I'm going to repeat what 90 million people are saying, get rid of Obamacare, or at least most of it. I'm not so much in favor of what Romney or any change could do -- I would like them to stop some things. If, by chance, the Republicans get the White House and both houses of Congress, then I think a lot of headway could be made." --John Pruitt, small businessman

Saturday, October 20, 2012

DUJAN: Proof That the Obama Campaign Has Silently Admitted Defeat

Kevin DuJan offers a salient observation about President Axelrod's Obama's choice of venue for "celebrating" election night.

I’ve written before about the fact that Barack Obama was not planning another big Election Night victory party in Grant Park here in Chicago like the spectacle he put on in 2008, because no one I know in the Parks Department or in the event planning community had anything on their radar for Grant Park that night.


Because of the permitting and union rules that plague any event in this City (which wouldn’t be waived even for Obama, due to liability and insurance issues the City would face if anything went wrong and permitting was not followed to the “T”) we would have known a few weeks ago if Obama expected another win and was going to celebrate in Chicago again. That massive Grant Park victory rally took a while to plan and involved far too many vendors for anything similar to be replicated this year without people already knowing.

I’ve suspected for some time that Obama was going to plan for a concession speech on November 6th, but last night final confirmation arrived in the form of leaked news that the Obama election night event is being staged in private McCormick Place, not a big public setting like Grant Park.

Let me put this as clearly as I can because it’s crucial: if Democrats really thought Barack Obama was going to be reelected, then they would have planned a massive rally in Grant Park again; the fact this is not happening is proof that, despite what you hear coming out of the Ministry of Truth that is the national media, the Democrats really do not expect Obama to win this election. Campaign operatives in Chicago are, thus, making appropriate preparations for his imminent defeat.
Instead of Grant Park, Obama’s apparently going to have his election night event at McCormick Place…the convention center here in Chicago.


Let me explain a few things about McCormick Place that you could intimate from the photo above:

• it’s separated from the City by highways and is hard to reach by anyone traveling on foot from the various “El” trains that service Chicago…which indicates this event is not intended for throngs of Obama supporters.

• there are no buses that readily service McCormick Place like they do Grant Park…so once again, this event is not being planned for the public to come and celebrate with Obama.

• McCormick Place is completely indoors and is a venue that Democrats can easily control in terms of the camera angles and stagecraft of the event…which is a big deal because losing campaigns choose small, isolated places to hold concession speeches while winning candidates are feted on election night in, well, places like Grant Park.

I was an event planner here in Chicago for several years before the 2008 presidential campaign. I planned events in McCormick Place for various trade shows; it’s a building designed with flexibility for downsizing an audience if the need suddenly arises so that the participants do not feel lost in too much extra space. There are modular walls that achieve this, with dividers capable of cutting a space in half…and then in half again…if that’s what needs to be done to make a sparse crowd seem bigger for cameras.

...McCormick Place is not a spot to hold a victory rally, folks... but it is the ideal spot to give a concession speech... Take a look at that photo above again. The place sits on the highway. After the results come in, Obama just has to deliver his concession and then he’s in his car and on his way to his house in Hyde Park while Mitt Romney takes the stage in Boston as the new President-Elect. The highway that runs through McCormick Place leads right to Hyde Park…it would be less than a three minute drive for the Obama motorcade after they leave the convention center to head home and sulk.

I just don’t know any way else to put this, but planning his event at McCormick Place instead of Grant Park again (or another high profile outdoor venue like the Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, for instance) is a tacit admission that the guy is going to lose and will have an early bedtime on Election Night in Hyde Park at the Obama/Rezko Mansion.

From Kevin's lips to God's ear.


SAY, CAN WE AWARD OBAMA ANOTHER PEACE PRIZE? Egypt Wants Nuclear Weapons, Stronger Ties to Iran

Consider this reason #7,326 that Obama must be pink-slipped in November:

A poll of Egyptians conducted last month shows that they have increasingly positive views of Iran, believe that both Iran and Egypt should obtain nuclear weapons, and still trust their own military more than any other institution in Egypt.

The poll of 812 Egyptians, half of them women, was conducted in a series of in-person interviews by the firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and sponsored by the Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy organization with offices in Washington and Jerusalem. According to the poll, Iran is viewed favorably in Egypt, with 65 percent of those surveyed expressing support of the decision to renew Egypt-Iran relations and 61 percent expressing support of the Iranian nuclear project, versus 41 percent in August 2009.

...Iran's deputy defense minister said recently that the Iranian regime is seeking more military cooperation with Egypt. "We are ready to help Egypt to build nuclear reactors and satellites," he said on the occasion or Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy's meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last month. Morsy's office has said the two didn't discuss military cooperation.

Eighty-seven percent of respondents want Egypt to have its own nuclear bomb.

Israel Project CEO Josh Block told The Cable that the statistics show the effect of Morsy's outreach to Iran and the danger of regional proliferation of nuclear weapons if Iran is successful in obtaining a nuclear bomb.

What exactly is the "Obama Doctrine"? Mark Langfan's theory is as good as any.


LAST STAND: I Refuse to Give Up This Republic Without a Fight


You don't have to ride on a treacherous, unlit cow path from the north-side of Boston to Lexington as the King's Regulars attempt a surprise attack on the Sons of Liberty.

You don't have to board a frigate, sail for weeks across the Atlantic and then sack a city in Tripoli to rescue your imprisoned countrymen.

You don't have to kill a British soldier in a desperate, hand-to-hand struggle after leaping out of a boat on the beach at York during the War of 1812.

You don't have to hold the line against Pickett's desperate charge at Gettysburg as thousands of wounded men shriek bloody murder around you.

You don't have to resist a vicious attack by the Hun with fixed bayonets at Belleau Wood.

You don't have to survive a terrifying duck-boat run onto Omaha Beach as men around you are being chopped to bits by fortified Nazi gun emplacements.

You don't have to liberate the Nazi Death Camps, capping months of brutal fighting and desperate marching through the dirt roads of Europe.

You don't have to withstand a surprise attack by the Chinese 'People's Volunteer Army', fighting to hold the line in 35°-below-zero temperatures for days on end near the Chosin Reservoir.

You don't have to defend the city of Huế from a surprise attack by Viet Cong and PAVN regulars, fighting block-to-block as the entire country is set afire by the Tet Offensive.

You don't have to race across the desert, waiting for a chemical attack or a Scud missile to hit, baking in 130° temperatures, so that you can expel Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard from Kuwait.

You don't have to patrol a patch of hard-scrabble earth in Aghanistan or Iraq, waiting for the inevitable IED by the side of the road -- or signs that you've rolled right into an ambush by heavily-armed 'insurgents' equipped with Iranian RPGs.

You don't have to do any of those things. You just have to vote in November. You just have to take the time to rally your neighbors, your family members and your co-workers to vote for candidates who believe in the Constitution. You must marshal voters who will reject the out-of-control, free-spending government that has brought our country to the edge of bankruptcy.

Because if the Constitution doesn't mean anything, if all of the founders' sacrifices went for naught, if all of those American heroes who fought and bled and died for the flag mean nothing, if all your parents and grandparents gave you doesn't amount to a hill of beans, well, then our generation will be forever known as the weak-willed group that let the American dream slip from our fingers.

And we will be known forever as the generation that allowed American exceptionalism to be stolen from us by a radical leftist from San Francisco, a crooked, power-hungry weasel of a man from Nevada, and an Alinsky-trained community organizer who rose to the presidency without qualifications or even so much as a background check by the media.

You don't have to bleed for your country. All you have to do is rally our forces to vote in November. That is what we can do and that is what we must do to preserve this Republic for future generations.


SOLVENCY: Democrat politicians run their own finances just as well as they run the country's

Color me shocked: the Democrats are just as incompetent with their own money as they are with ours.

Obama Campaign Borrows $15M from Bank of America


Obama For America took out a $15 million loan from Bank of America last month, according to the campaign’s October monthly FEC report. The loan was incurred on September 4 and is due November 14, eight days after the election. OFA received an interest rate of 2.5% plus the current Libor rate.

Warren Buffett, Obama donor and namesake of the infamous “Buffett Rule,” invested $5 billion in Bank of America last year in an effort to help the ailing financial institution. Last month, two weeks after OFA took out the loan, Bank of America announced a plan that would lay off 16,000 workers by the end of the year.

Obama has a complicated relationship with Bank of America. The bank contributed $20 million toward the cost of the Democrat National Convention earlier this year...

Curious how we never hear about the incestuous ties between the Obama campaign and BofA, eh?

Oh, and then there's this.

DNC takes out $10 million loan while RNC has $83 million in bank


The Democratic National Committee was unable to keep up with the Republican National Committee's fundraising again in September, despite taking out $10.5 million in loans.

The DNC raised $20.3 million in September, including the loans, and only $3.7 million of its total fundraising came from individuals and political action committees. The rest came from transfers and offsetting operating expenditures...

Boy, that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is doing an outstanding job, isn't she? She's such a bipartisan and non-polarizing figure.

In conclusion, I assert that not only are Democrats intellectually bankrupt, they're also just plain bankrupt.

Try and contain your chortles.


Larwyn's Linx: Has the preference cascade begun?

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Has the preference cascade begun?: Q&O
Brutal Ad Shreds Obama's 'Not Optimal' Daily Show Line: Nice Deb
Five (Non-Libya) Questions for Monday’s Debate: Commentary

!*$#!: CIA Told WH Instantly That Benghazi Was Terror Attack: CDN
The Left's War on Ballot Box Integrity: RSM
Florida: Romney 51%, Obama 46%: Rasmussen

UN Gun Control Is Back: Morris
Is the Obama Campaign Abandoning Four Key Swing States?: Tatler
Romney Out-Hustling Obama on the Campaign Trail: Dossier

Could Claire McCaskill lose to Todd Akin? You betcha: LI
Bummer: Allen West Crushing Dem Opponent in Florida: Pavlich
RNC Trounces DNC in Fundraising; DNC Now Bankrupt: RSM

Economy

CA Official Who Nixed Unemployment Report a Big Obama Donor: JWF
Key Democrat Admits: We Have to Raise Taxes on Everybody: C4P
Mitt:Obama's has become the incredible shrinking campaign: RWN

Ahead of Election, Obama Stops Releasing ‘Stimulus’ Reports: WS
Ohio doctor running newspaper ads slamming Obamacare: DC
Small Business Owners Beg Americans to Vote for Romney: Yahoo!

Scandal Central

President Obama’s Taxpayer-Backed Green Energy Failures: Foundry
Demo Congresswoman Capps fails to report over half a million dollars in income: DC
DOJ: Growth in Violent Crimes Against Whites: JW

Claire McCaskill's Husband Got $40 Million in "Stimulus" : Ace
Oh Perfect: SCOTUS To Decide Whether You Can Legally Resell Your Stuff: AllAm
Is Obama Trying to Buy the Election With His Welfare Explosion?: CNBC

Climate & Energy

Energy in the Executive: The President's real record on fossil fuels.: WSJ
Good news: Interior Department creating their very own climate-change committee: Hot Air
Regulation: USDA Lays an Egg: Elephant

Media

Nate Silver Asks: Whose Shark Is This, and Why Do I Feel a Need to Jump It?: RSM
Dem insiders appear to know that Obama will likely lose: MagFarm
It's Over: American Digest

Rage Against the Media: Mjfellwrites
When You've Lost Andrea Mitchell...: Breitbart
Nestlé Sued Again For Selling Bottled Tap Water As Spring Water: Forbes

World

MUST SEE: An Urgent Message for America: Loudon
“He said Allahu Akbar” – Survivors tell what really happened during the terrorist attack on Fort Hood: Scoop
Libyan attackers feel free to attack Obama administration with impunity.: Lane

Fort Hood victims see similarities to Benghazi: Times
CIA found militant links a day after Libya attack: Mercury News
Satellite photos of Iran military site bring questions of explosives testing: Fox

Prime Suspect in Benghazi Attack Turns Up, Chillin’ with a Strawberry Frappe: Tatler
Stevens repeatedly conveyed worries to Obama admin about lawlessness, violence in Benghazi: Scoop
Judging presidential candidates by their endorsements: JPA

Sci-Tech

The truth about Google's horrible, no good, very bad day: Fortune
Top brass to discuss U.S. Air Force role in cyber warfare: Reuters
Google Insiders Bail Prior to Stock Plunge: Mish

Cornucopia

What’s It Like to Spend One Minute as James Bond?: Gizmodo
Social media sensation dies of cancer at age 13: BizWk
Here's what Business Insider looked like this day in 1987: Reformed Broker

Image: Bosch Fawstin
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: If You Are Reading This, You Are the Resistance

QOTD: "I would like to ask you to honor your parents, grandparents, favorite teachers, and anyone else who shaped you and helped make you who you are today in the country you love by taking a moment and thinking about how you can help make Mitt Romney’s win as big as possible on November 6th. This will involve taking a step beyond things you normally do now…and interacting with a greater circle of people than just your current friends and family. It will most likely involve reaching out to people in your community or total strangers on the phone or online and asking them to help save our country by voting for Mitt Romney, the man who can fix the mess we are in.

Please consider going to the official Romney website and signing up for its action center.

Learn how you can help the campaign from home.

If you have any bucks to spare in this horrible Obama economy, please consider sending what you can to the campaign.

Here are some other things you can do that won’t cost you anything but a few minutes a day of your time:

• If you see anyone online in conservative ranks pulling Eeyore garbage, jump in and tell that person to knock it off because they are not helping the cause. It’s time for Eeyores to shut up and keep their worries, fears, and cries for attention to themselves. Grown ups have work to do.

• If you notice any conservative writers attempting to play Tokyo Rose games to demoralize Republicans at a time when we’re so close to a major victory, shout these people down. Go after them on Twitter, Facebook, and email and demand they stop churning out this propaganda. Tell them flat out they are Tokyo Roses and commence weeding them out. After the election, we’re going to take things a step further and demand that some of these people be removed from sites like HotAir, TownHall, National Review, etc. because they clearly operated from a pro-Obama agenda by echoing the Left’s talking points during the last few months of this race. We’re not going to allow that to keep happening in the future..." --Kevin DuJan

Friday, October 19, 2012

AL GORE ON SUICIDE WATCH? Yet another academic paper shows temperatures were warmer 1,000 years ago. Oh. And 2,000 years ago.

Let me be the first to say it on our side of the fence: The science is settled, b***hes.

Yesterday I highlighted the paper The extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere temperature in the last two millennia: reconstructions of low-frequency variability, by B Christiansen of the Danish Meteorological Institute and F C Ljungqvist of Stockholm University which showed that using a multitude of proxy samples in the norther hemisphere, that:

“The level of warmth during the peak of the MWP (Medieval Warm Period) in the second half of the 10th century, equaling or slightly exceeding the mid-20th century warming, is in agreement with the results from other more recent large-scale multi-proxy temperature reconstructions.”

Now another paper, by Esper et al published in the Journal of Global and Planetary Change, shows that not only was the summers of the MWP equal or greater than our current warmth, but that the summers of the Roman Warm Period of 2000 years ago were significantly warmer than today.
The record provides evidence for substantial warmth during Roman and Medieval times, larger in extent and longer in duration than 20th century warmth.

Oh, my. I anticipate major lefty butt-hurt... along with cries for their binkies.

The United Nations' global warming bunko scam is unraveling day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. Climategate, Climategate II, the IPCC's own data, and simple common sense demonstrate the falsity of "global warming".

Or are they calling it "climate change" now? I forget.



THIS: The Gathering

You can feel the excitement. It's palpable.

...speaking of rallies, this was Romney's in Virginia last night:


...the Obama campaign resembles nothing so much as John McCain's did at this point in 2008 -- aware of its pending defeat, but struggling on and hoping for some enormous "game changer" to arrive... [Romney's] edge is so great --and the early voting during these weeks of Romney ascendancy so significant-- that the president knows and his inner circle knows there is defeat ahead...

Which means the last debate will be even more off-putting than the last two as a desperate incumbent again tries to make up for the lack of a record on which to run, and the failure to develop anything resembling a second term agenda. Too late for that as well.

Turns out the "brain trust" in Chicago didn't have that many brains and ought not to have been trusted.

And one reminder: take nothing for granted. Whether you live in a pure Red State, a pure Blue State, or anything in between:

• Vote and get everyone you know who supports liberty to vote.
• Vote the straight Republican ticket.
• Every radical Leftist Democrat must be fired with extreme prejudice.

Because if we are to repeal Obamacare, we must take not only the Presidency, but hold the House and take the Senate as well. It's time to rally everyone you know. Let's make this a moment we'll tell our kids and grandkids about.


MOM OF BENGHAZI ATTACK VICTIM RIPS OBAMA'S COMEDY CENTRAL RIFF: Four Dead Americans "Not Optimal"

It would seem that the only things President Obama concerns himself with are politics and personal recreational pursuits. You know, like golf and pickup basketball.

These facts were reinforced by Obama's latest appearance on The Daily Show, during which he described the Benghazi attack -- that claimed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three American personnel by Al Qaeda -- as "not optimal".

The mother of an American diplomat killed during a terrorist raid on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has hit out at Barack Obama for describing the attack as 'not optimal', saying: 'My son is not very optimal - he is also very dead.'

During an interview shown on Comedy Central, Obama responded to a question about his administration's confused communication after the assault by saying: 'If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal... It was a disrespectful thing to say and I don't think it's right.


'How can you say somebody being killed is not very optimal? I don't think the President has the right idea of the English language.'

Speaking from her home in San Diego, Mrs Smith, 72, continued: 'It's insensitive to say my son is not very optimal - he is also very dead. I've not been "optimal" since he died and the past few weeks have been pure hell... I am still waiting for the truth to come out and I still want to know the truth. I'm finally starting to get some answers but I won't give up... There's a lot of stupid things that have been said about my son and what happened and this is another one of them.

...She told Anderson Cooper last week that top officials had told her 'outright lies', adding: 'Everyone of them, all the big shots over there told me - they promised me, they promised me that they would tell me what happened... I told them, please don't give me any baloney that comes through with this political stuff... I don't want political stuff. You can keep your political, just tell me the truth - what happened. And I still don't know.'

Plain and simple: it's a cover-up. The CIA has stated that it informed the Administration within 24 hours that the murder of the four Americans was an act of terror. Yet three days later, the President began his lies about the video being responsible.


"Fog of War", my ass.

As an aside, the prime suspect in the Benghazi attack is hanging around publicly in restaurants, chilling, shooting the breeze and mocking America.

I will say it again: my blood is boiling. This administration needs to go.


The Quote is Fake But the Schedule is Real

Spotted at the invaluable White House Dossier:


Say, wasn't Wisconsin supposed to be a Blue State and locked up for Obama? *

At HillBuzz, Kevin DuJan's assessment yesterday aligns with the increasingly defensive nature of the Obama campaign:

As I write this, Democrats are moving the firewalls back into uncharted territory. The Obama campaign has already abandoned North Carolina…and Virginia and Florida are next. Mitt Romney is going to win all three of these states. Surprisingly, as of today, Obama’s also given up completely on Colorado too. I think the Frank Luntz focus groups in Las Vegas after the second debate are a good indication that Nevada is lost to Obama as well. The political maps are still giving New Mexico to Democrats but I have a hard time buying that... I think Governor Susana Martinez will deliver her state to Romney in the end.

My own home state of Ohio is not a tossup. I’ve written before that the thing you need to know about Ohio is that is has correctly voted with the winner of the presidential race in every election since 1960. Ohioans vote with the zeitgeist…and that energy is all going towards Mitt Romney. Ohio, the heart of it all, the Buckeye State, will be in Romney’s column just under three weeks from now.

That means Democrats’ new firewall of defense against a complete and total blowout are pushed back to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Hey, could one of you guys do me a favor and check up on Nate Silver and make sure he's okay?


Larwyn's Linx: Political Ad Destroys Obama’s Libyan History Rewrite

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Political Ad Destroys Obama’s History Rewrite about Libya: LoneCon
Obama is coming for your guns: Kuznicki
About the “undecided” woman who asked the AK-47 question...: ProWis

The Candy Crowley Tipping Point: AmSpec
Michelle: Barack Never Blamed Anyone for His Problems: JWF
Allen West; Field of Dreams: Loudon

Dramatic Shifts in Early Voting in Tennessee, North Carolina: Geraghty
Romney takes the lead on RCP’s electoral map: Scoop
Obama's Hope Fades in Virginia: AmSpec

Poll shows Romney leading in blue Pennsylvania: Exam
Romney Shreds Obama at Al Smith Dinner: JWF
As Romney Gains, Senate Remains Challenging for GOP: RWN

Economy

Unemployment spikes back up, recovery lasted a whole week: WyBlog
Welfare spending jumps 32% in four years: Times
Don't Be Distracted: RSM

Romney recommends small business execs send message: ConHideout
Surprise! Jobless claims return to 18-month range : Hot Air
Obama Spending, Not Bush Tax Cuts, Drives Deficit: IBD

Scandal Central

A Few Questions I’d like To See President Obama Answer: DLim
An Insider’s Account of the White House’s Unseemly Tactics in the Chrysler Bailout: Cato
How Obama’s claim (and Crowley’s intervention) will likely backfire: Q&O

Climate & Energy

BOOM: Another DOE-Backed Solar Company Goes Bankrupt: Foundry
Bummer: Climate Change Creates Worst European Wine Season In Half A Century: Cove
Yet another paper demonstrates warmer temperatures 1000 years ago and even 2000 years ago: Watts

Media

Nate Silver Blows Gasket as Gallup Shows Romney Pulling Away in the Presidential Horse Race: AmPower
Michelle Malkin exposes Obama’s war on women, slams Candy Crowley as the democrat plant: Scoop
Chris Matthews: Is challenging Obama unconstitutional?: Exam

Newsweek Abandons Print: After 80 years in print, magazine adopts an all-digital format: Beast
Obama Campaign Co-Chair Eva Longoria Gets Schooled: Malkin
Romney Spokesperson Mocks MSNBC For Paying Men More Than Women, Andrea Mitchell Agrees: Mediaite

Hell Freezes Over - Again: Mitt Romney Receives Endorsement of Orlando Sentinel: HySci
Why would anyone believe Obama will focus on jobs in a second term?: Greenroom
A reminder to conservative pundits who criticize aspects of Mitt Romney's debate performance: Winter Soldier

CNN admits that Crowley’s disregard of the rules was intended to help Obama: Power Line
The 20 Creepiest Campaign Emails of the 2012 Season: PJM
Bob Beckel on today’s Gallup poll: If these numbers are correct it is over for Obama: Scoop

World

Justice for the Fort Hood Heroes: Glick
Ingsoc: England Now Arresting People For Calling Scientology a "Cult": Ace
Obama Discusses Benghazi With Jon Stewart: ‘If Four Americans Get Killed, It’s Not Optimal’: Flopping Aces

Obama Voters In Their Natural State: Ignorance: Ace
Fidel Castro has massive stroke, suffered cerebral hemorrhage – American leftists on suicide watch: FAM
DoD to cut Tricare Prime in 5 West areas: ArmyTimes

Sci-Tech

4K now officially known as Ultra High Definition: TechRadar
Dolphins Can Sleep One-half of Their Brain At a Time Say Researchers: Slashdot
Apple says no Java for you, removes plugin from browsers on OS X 10.7 and up: Engadget

Cornucopia

The Secret Life of Willard Mitty: Zombie
Prompter: C&S
What makes America… America?: iOTW

Image: The Number of Obama Supporters Who Have Never Heard of Benghazi Attack Will Terrify You
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Support America's Comeback Team

QOTD: "For what it’s worth: Obama is making an appearance today at Ohio University in Athens, in the rural, Southeastern corner of the state. The OU Democrats requested his appearance, and it’s being sold as the product of their elbow grease. But just observing the logistical nightmare involved in moving the POTUS around makes you realize that this trip isn’t happening because some scrappy young college Dems wished it so. Although this area of Appalachia is very poor and can trend conservative outside the city of Athens, generally speaking the district couldn’t lean more to the left unless they air-lifted reinforcements in from Madison or Ann Arbor. Seriously, the voters here are congenitally incapable of rejecting any ballot initiative that involves a tax levy. Republicans are curiosities; faculty Republicans (like me), endangered species. So it begs the question: just why is Obama going to the trouble of showing up? The last sitting president to do so was Lyndon Johnson in 1964, and he was launching the war on poverty at the time. One can only imagine what Chicago’s internal polling is telling them about the state of the race in Ohio (and/or among college-aged, suburban voters from Columbus and points north, who disproportionately attend the school), if they feel compelled to shore up this bastion of Great Society liberalism in the Valley That Time Forgot." --Paul Millazzo, via Instapundit

Thursday, October 18, 2012

OCCUPY vs. TEA PARTY --- Live in NYC

If you're anywhere near New York City on October 27th, you're not gonna want to miss this show.


Click here to check out show times.


ONCE IN A WHILE HE BLURTS OUT THE TRUTH: Bill Clinton admits the economy is broken

Well, this won't help the ever-widening rift between the Clinton clan and Barack Obama.

At a campaign event for Barack Obama's reelection campaign, Bill Clinton said that Mitt Romney's argument "is true, we're not fixed"...

Governor Romney's argument is, we're not fixed, so fire him and put me in. It is true we're not fixed. When President Obama looked into the eyes of that man who said in the debate, I had so much hope four years ago and I don't now, I thought he was going to cry. Because he knows that it's not fixed.


...A Romney spokesman comments: "We agree with former President Bill Clinton. The economy has not been fixed under President Barack Obama. Today, more than 23 million Americans are struggling for work, poverty has increased and food stamps are at record levels. Mitt Romney believes we can do better by creating 12 million new jobs with higher take-home pay, cutting spending to put our nation on course for a balanced budget, and actually fixing our economy."

With a record number of people on food-stamps, a record number of people in poverty, a record number of people who have left the work-force, and a record decline in household income, it's safe to say that Bill Clinton is right.


BOLDLY INTO THE BREACH: The true story of SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods and their heroism at Benghazi

Atreides writes:

President Obama implied in his Weekly Address that Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were part of Ambassador Christopher Steven’s security detail:

Glen and Tyrone had each served America as Navy SEALs for many years, before continuing their service providing security for our diplomats in Libya. They died as they lived their lives — defending their fellow Americans, and advancing the values that all of us hold dear.

Sounds good, the only problem is this statement is a total fabrication. Yes, they were both former Navy Seals, but neither Tyrone nor Glen were part of the Ambassador's official security detail.

No. The truth is: they heard the attack, they heard the gunfire, and despite the danger to themselves they rushed into the breach taking weapons from the frightened Libyan security officials to help protect the American Consulate, Ambassador Stevens and his embassy aide Sean Smith.

Both Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were under no obligation to assist, protect or defend Stevens. They could have bugged out, they didn't….. They ran into the breach. It was, and is, an important enough distinction such that two U.S. officials quickly wanted to tell the truth. They told the Guardian:

...they feared the Obama administration’s scant description of the episode left a mis-impression that the two ex-Navy SEALs might have been responsible for the ambassador’s personal safety or become separated from him.

Woods and Doherty weren't part of the detail, nor were they personally responsible for the ambassador’s security, but they stepped into the breach when the attacks occurred and their actions saved others lives — and they shouldn’t be lumped in with the security detail,...


According to what scant actual information is available the former SEAL team members, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods, appear to have been in Libya because they were contracted by another intelligence office to track down the missing surface-to-air missiles from the initial rebel uprising.

During the Gadaffi overthrow massive stockpiles of Libyan weapons including MANPADS and other surface to air missiles were looted from the military storage facilities. Estimates put the number of missing missiles around 20,000.

It appears Doherty and Woods were in Libya to track down those weapons. As a consequence of their visit they were crashed at an annex to the US consulate grounds using it as a safe place to meet, coordinate, and evaluate their ongoing intel. Their location was approximately a half mile from the main consulate compound area.

They were inside an annex building when the main consulate complex came under attack from the Libyan al-Qaeda terrorists. They heard the distant shots and responded to a call for help from the compound itself. Both Woods and Doherty evaluated the assassination attempt, and immediately took up arms to defend Ambassador Stevens.

Their heroism is incredible when you consider what they were facing. Doherty and Woods reached the main compound of the Consulate and evacuated approximately 20 employees. Unfortunately, Ambassador Steven’s aide Sean Smith was already dead when they arrived. Woods and Doherty fought through the firefight, and took the consulate employees back to the annex building where again they came under another wave of attacks.

Between the initial firefight at the Main Consulate, and at the annex building, for over two hours they were able to fight back against approximately 200 al-Qaeda terrorists, who pre-planned and coordinated the attack to occur in two stages.

The second wave of attacks at the annex brought even more firepower upon them. Yet they held their position providing time for the 20 consulate employees to be rescued. In total for over two hours they held off upwards of 200 attackers, under heavy fire from RPGs, mortars, and at least one 23mm Anti Aircraft gun firing on their position(s) around the consulate grounds and the annex building.

May they rest in peace and their memories be for a blessing. Our thoughts and prayers are with their loved ones.


Update: While I received this post as a comment on another article, the entire article (and more) appeared originally on Conservative Treehouse and is well worth seeing.

BENGHAZI, ILLUSTRATED: The debate, the lies and the cover-up

I've converted this devastating video into comic book form so even progressives can understand.


Click here to share this link with your email list.


Larwyn's Linx: Who Denied Security to the Benghazi Consulate?

Send us tips! Bloggers: install a Larwyn's Linx widget. Get real-time news, 24/7, at BadBlue.

Nation

Who Denied Security to the Benghazi Consulate?: Nice Deb
Post-debate, Obama admits he didn't call Benghazi a terror attack: Bizzy
Romney Debates Crowley And Obama On Benghazi, Wins: RSM

Obama hints at handgun restrictions too: Exam
Female Debate Coach Complained About 'Hostile Workplace' at WH: WS
He Knows. Obama Says “When I Was President” At Debate: Bruce

Women Who Worked With Romney Think He's Awesome: Sarah
What About Michigan?: Ricochet
Report: Obama campaign turning grim on FL, VA, NC -- and CO?: Hot Air

A bright and shining Libyan lie: Hanson
To More and More Women, Romney Is the Safer Choice: Barone
Harrington Outraises Debbie Wasserman Schultz By 2-1 Margin: Shark

Economy

Applebee's, Jimmy John's warn Obamacare will cut profits, employees: Exam
L.A. To Give Illegal Immigrants ID Cards: JW
Obama’s Doctrine of “Fairness” has been Tried Elsewhere: ObjStd

The second debate: Thomas
Hell Is Paved With Obama’s Intentions: RWN
Hope and Change: 900 Applicants for 42 Positions: LadyLiberty

Scandal Central

Clinton, Obama Try to Rewrite History on Benghazi: Foundry
Mexico Atty Gen Marisela Morales: Obama Involved in Fast and Furious: MagNote
Elijah Cummings, left-wing groups try to erode ballot box integrity: Watchdog

Climate & Energy

Debate Analysis: Did Regulation Quadruple Under Obama? The Numbers Say Yes: Foundry
Obama campaign defends debate silence on climate change: Hill
Obama Now Hitting Romney on... Wind Energy: Ace

Media

Bizarre Coincidence: Democrats Get More Time in All Three Debates: NRO
2008 Obama Voter: President's 'Been Bullsh--ting the Public With the Media Behind Him': NB
Obama at Hofstra: Relatively Alert, Ergo Big Winner: Coulter

Millennial Poll: Obama Is So Yesterday: NatlJournal
America may be over their Pop Star and ready for a President: Riehl
In Iowa Paper, Perot Backs Romney: Ace

Media Doesn't Notice That Obama Told Iowan Women They Were "Well Qualified To Teach": Ace
Last night’s debate: the view from Ohio: GayPatriot
DNC host committee owes $8 million: Politico

World

Military Endorsements Aren’t Decisive. That Said: WOW!: RSM
Tea Partier Tries to Blow Up Federal Reserve in NYC: AWD
Mitt Was Right: Obama Said “Act of Terror” After Describing Spontaneous Protest: Nice Deb

Sci-Tech

Hacked terminals capable of causing pacemaker deaths: SC Mag
SOUNDS DIRTY TO ME: Magic Finger Turns Any Surface Into a Touch Interface: Slashdot
Where the Internet Lives: Google invites you in to see its data centers: NextWeb

Cornucopia

10 Important Things You May Have Missed in the Second Presidential Debate: HillBuzz
OJ kept knife he used to kill ex-wife and Ron Goldman; trying to sell it for $5 MILLION: Daily Mail
Shoot Me to the Stars: Star Photography Lightroom Presets Included!: Flickr

Image: Did Regulation Quadruple Under Obama? The Numbers Say Yes
Today's Larwyn's Linx sponsored by: Help Fire Sherrod Brown: Elect Josh Mandel to U.S. Senate

QOTD: "In terms of total rulemakings, Obama’s total was almost equal to Bush’s—at 10,215 and 10,674, respectively. But most analysts recognize that these gross figures mean little, because most regulations are routine actions, such as aviation maintenance bulletins and fishing season limits.

Far more telling are the numbers of “major” rules: those that will cost the private sector $100 million or more each year. We found that 106 such major new regulations have been adopted during the Obama years, compared to 28 under Bush—a ratio of 3.8 to 1. In terms of cost, Obama’s rules imposed some $46 billion in additional annual burdens, compared to $8.1 billion in new costs during the first three Bush years, a whopping 5.6 to 1 ratio.

These numbers should not be surprising: President Obama has hardly been shy about making the case for increased regulation, and the record reflects that. Governor Romney was right to point that out." --James Gattuso

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

SHOCKING: Hacker Demonstrates Ability to Kill Anyone With a Pacemaker Inside a 30-Foot Radius

Remind me, if you will, to get a secure pacemaker when I reach that stage of my life. That is, if Obamacare hasn't banned them or killed me by that point.

Hacked terminals capable of causing pacemaker deaths


IOActive researcher Barnaby Jack has reverse-engineered a pacemaker transmitter to make it possible to deliver deadly electric shocks to pacemakers within 30 feet and rewrite their firmware.

The effect of the wireless attacks could not be overstated — in a speech at the BreakPoint security conference in Melbourne today, Jack said such attacks were tantamount to “anonymous assassination”, and in a realistic but worse-case scenario, “mass murder”.

In a video demonstration, which Jack declined to release publicly because it may reveal the name of the manufacturer, he issued a series of 830 volt shocks to the pacemaker using a laptop.

The pacemakers contained a “secret function” which could be used to activate all pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in a 30 foot -plus vicinity.

Each device would return model and serial numbers.

“With that information, we have enough information to authenticate with any device in range,” Jack said.

In reverse-engineering the terminals – which communicate with the pacemakers – he discovered no obfuscation efforts and even found usernames and passwords for what appeared to be the manufacturer’s development server.

As we learned with Stuxnet, many embedded devices were never designed with security in mind. And it only takes one clever attack to raise awareness.

Hopefully our medical device, power and telecommunications companies are remediating these kinds of vulnerabilities as we speak.