Reward For Capture of Major Iraq Terrorist: Courtmartial

Three Navy seals who captured an Iraqi terrorist who masterminded the mutilation and torture of U.S. contractors in 2004 are being rewarded for their service.

They are being court martialed for giving the Iraqi a bloody lip. Truly unbelievable.

India Leery of Obama

Where are those diplomacy skills? India isn't impressed. First, with Obama's introduction of Prime Minister Singh:

"Yours is the first official state visit of my presidency, its fitting that you and India be so recognised," 48-year-old Obama told the 77-year-old Indian leader.

The general reaction in India has been: Who the heck does this guy think he is? Note to the Great Diplomat: When you do a head of state an honor, you don't remind him, in public, of the fact that you have done him an honor, particularly in self-aggrandizing terms of this sort.

India was already miffed with Obama for his neglect of any mention of India while discussing Asian allies on his recent trip. The first post-foreign relations president, I guess.

The Real First Thanksgiving

I stole this from Rush Limbaugh, who reminded us of the real first Thanksgiving last year. Even in 1620, the earliest Americans knew that socialism and communism were big failures.

"The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store,' when they got here, 'and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well.

"They were going to distribute it equally. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. ... [William] Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives.... Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism,' and it had failed" miserably because when every put things in the common store, some people didn't have to put things in for there to be, people that didn't produce anything were taking things out, and it caused resentment just as it does today.

So what did Bradford's community try next? They unharnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the undergirding capitalistic principle of private property. Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result?"

Here's what Bradford wrote, the governor of the Massachusetts colony. "'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, 'for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.'

Yeah, But His Golf Game Really Needs It...

What would the media outcry have been if President Bush played golf 25 times (never mind in his first 9 months!) while U.S. soldiers were waiting for his decision that might save their lives.

Oh yes, we already know what the media outcry was with President Bush...which was why he gave up golfing entirely during his second term.

From Gateway Pundit.

IBD's Analysis of Obama's Bows

IBD's interesting take on Obama's bows.

Obama At An All Time Low Approval

Rasmussen reports an all-time low for Obama's approval at -15 (strongly approve - strongly disapprove). It's getting harder each day for the media to gloss over this fact.

Even Liberals Agree: Obama Foreign Policy is Amateurish

Forget about policies. The Obama team is incompetent (maybe it's a good thing). From Leslie Gelb:

President Obama’s nine-day trip to Asia is worth a look back to fix two potent problems, past and future. First, the trip’s limited value per day of presidential effort suggests a disturbing amateurishness in managing America’s power. On top of the inexcusably clumsy review of Afghan policy and the fumbling of Mideast negotiations, the message for Mr. Obama should be clear: He should stare hard at the skills of his foreign-policy team and, more so, at his own dominant role in decision-making. Something is awry somewhere, and he’s got to fix it.

Global Warming Evidence Is Fraudulent

It appears that the liberal scientists perpetrating the global warming fraud knew it was a myth all along. From Red State.

Prominent environmental scientists organize a boycott of scientific journals if those journals publish scholarly material from global warming dissidents.

The scientists then orchestrate attacks on the dissidents because of their lack of scholarly material published in scientific journals.

The scientists block from the UN’s report on global warming evidence that is harmful to the anthropogenic global warming consensus.

The scientists, when faced with a freedom of information act request for their correspondence and data, delete the correspondence and data lest it be used against them.

The scientists fabricate data when their data fails to prove the earth is warming. In fact, in more than one case, scientists engaged in lengthy emails on how to insert additional made up data that would in turn cause their claims to stand out as legitimate.

Interestingly, the NY Times said they won't release any leaked emails if they were not intended for public use. That's a joke if I ever heard one.

38% of Americans Support Obamacare

Who cares if only 38% of Americans want Obama's and the Democrats' health care plan?

Ram it down Americans' throats, whether they like it or not - and if you don't like it, you can go to jail.

The Silver Lining of Obama

Victor Davis Hanson has a good overview of the public's growing disdain for Obama and sums it up best:

...I think not merely the thrill is gone, but a righteous anger about an Obama trifecta— of serial apologies and bows abroad, massive borrowing and deficit spending, and government-take overs of private spheres of life—is swelling up in the electorate. I haven’t seen in my lifetime anything quite like it. And this furor of being had has the potential not just to take Obama down, but also his ideology and supporters along with him for a generation.

So if the country isn't bankrupted or completely destroyed by 2012, the truth about Obama's liberalism will render it into the trashbin of history for a long while.

RI Bishop Forbids Communion for Patrick Kennedy

Patrick Kennedy was told by RI bishop Thomas Tobin not to receive communion because of his bashing of the Catholic Church for its pro-life stance.

Obama's Caterpillar Case Study

Fred Barnes has an interesting piece that lays out Obama's philosophy on economics and it begins with the story of Obama's speech in Illinois back in February with Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens.

Aboard Air Force One, Obama chatted amiably with Owens and [GOP Congressman Aaron] Schock. Owens showed Obama two pages of a PowerPoint presentation. The first gave the details of China's stimulus, devoted mostly to infrastructure. The second was Obama's stimulus (drafted by congressional Democrats), with far less money going to building and repairing roads, bridges, and other projects. That was the problem, Owens told Obama: too little for infrastructure and thus too little to engage companies like Caterpillar, which had just furloughed 20,000 workers.

When Obama delivered his speech in Peoria, he either hadn't understood what Owens told him or simply refused to accept it. The stimulus package, he said, would be "a major step forward on our path to economic recovery. And I'm not the only one who thinks so." Owens, the president said, had told him that "if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

This was not only untrue, but proved to be embarrassing for Obama. After the speech, Owens talked to reporters at the foot of the podium. No, he wouldn't be bringing back any workers. (Later, Caterpillar announced that 2,500 of the layoffs would be permanent.) Owens and Schock flew back to Washington on Air Force One. This time, Obama ignored them. There was a chill. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and adviser David Axelrod walked past Owens and Schock repeatedly to speak to the press pool in the rear of the plane. They didn't stop to chat either.

Once again, Obama is a very cold, calculating president who is either the most ignorant president in history or he is succeeding in his civil socialist revolution.

Obama Says His Asia Trip To Boost U.S. Economy

Obama sure has an interesting view of his foreign trips. Despite no tangible results from his trip last week to Asia, he claims that he might have helped create thousands of jobs. Just in case there were businessmen who didn't know that Asia existed and they were capable of buying U.S. products:

"Asia is a region where we now buy more goods and do more trade with than any other place in the world -- commerce that supports millions of jobs back home."

According to the AP,

The president pitched his trip as a way to reintroduce the U.S. to those trading partners, including China.

This too makes complete sense because there are probably millions of Asian businessmen who had no idea that the U.S. was a large market open to buying their goods. By the way, since when did Obama support free trade? He certainly didn't vote for any of President Bush's free trade bills.

Pelosi: Karzai An "Unworthy Partner"

Maybe this is what Obama had in mind when he proudly said he personally repaired U.S. relations with our allies?

In Obama's mind, he believes himself because of who he views as friends and allies (capitalist, free market countries don't belong).

Journalistic Priorities

From James Taranto of the WSJ:

Number of AP reporters assigned to story:
• ObamaCare bills: 2
• Palin book: 11

Number of pages in document being covered:
• ObamaCare bills: 4,064
• Palin book: 432

Number of pages per AP reporter:
• ObamaCare bill: 2,032
• Palin book: 39.3

On a per-page basis, that is, the AP devoted 52 times as much manpower to the memoir of a former Republican officeholder as to a piece of legislation that will cost trillions of dollars and an untold number of lives. That's what they call accountability journalism.

Naive Americans Believe Cutting Taxes Will Promote Jobs

Oh, those silly Americans. According to Rasmussen, a majority of Americans think that cutting taxes and reducing government spending is the best way to create jobs.

And the Democrat plan is oh, so close.

Scientists Facing Facts About Global Warming, Sort Of...

Scientists have at least acknowledged that global warming has stopped in the past 10 years, although they still fail to mention that the earth has actually cooled by the same amount in the last 10 years as it has cooled in the previous 90.

My question is simple: if 90 years of gradual warming is a long enough statistical time period to make the case for global warming, then why isn't a 10-year period long enough to make the case for global cooling? Compared to the earth's age, they carry the same statistical significance.

Dems Buy Obamacare Vote of Sen. Landrieu

Who says politicians can't be bribed with taxpayer money? That's the case with Dem Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.

On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”

The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”

I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.

Dems: Financial Transaction Tax On the Table

Dems want a bill to "create jobs" and they're thinking of taxing all financial transactions to do so.

First, wasn't the "stimulus bill" designed to create jobs? Second, why would increasing the burden on all stock and bond investments be good for the country? Any nitwit with half a brain knows that when you tax something, you get less of it. And capital is in dire need these days in order to create jobs, so why restrict it further?

Just another idiotic idea from a party and an Administration that is beating the U.S. economy to a pulp.

Lindsey Graham Schools Eric Holder

Eric Holder was a complete embarrassment yesterday on Capitol Hill, getting schooled by Lindsey Graham, who as a former military prosecutor, is right on about the KSM case. Holder is not only an incompetent AG, but a terrible bulls*** artist as well.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-S.C): Can you give me a case in United States history where a enemy combatant caught on a battlefield was tried in civilian court?

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't know. I'd have to look at that. I think that, you know, the determination I've made --

GRAHAM: We're making history here, Mr. Attorney General. I'll answer it for you. The answer is no.

HOLDER: Well, I think --

GRAHAM: The Ghailani case -- he was indicted for the Cole bombing before 9/11. And I didn't object to it going into federal court. But I'm telling you right now. We're making history and we're making bad history. And let me tell you why.

Now, the real focus of this NPR piece was Graham's subsequent question concerning whether or not U.S. officials would have to Mirandize Osama bin Laden if he was captured:

GRAHAM: If bin Laden were caught tomorrow, would it be the position of this administration that he would be brought to justice?

HOLDER: He would certainly be brought to justice, absolutely.

GRAHAM: Where would you try him?

HOLDER: Well, we'd go through our protocol. And we'd make the determination about where he should appropriately be tried. [...]

GRAHAM: If we captured bin Laden tomorrow, would he be entitled to Miranda warnings at the moment of capture?

HOLDER: Again I'm not -- that all depends. I mean, the notion that we --

GRAHAM: Well, it does not depend. If you're going to prosecute anybody in civilian court, our law is clear that the moment custodial interrogation occurs the defendant, the criminal defendant, is entitled to a lawyer and to be informed of their right to remain silent.

The big problem I have is that you're criminalizing the war, that if we caught bin Laden tomorrow, we'd have mixed theories and we couldn't turn him over -- to the CIA, the FBI or military intelligence -- for an interrogation on the battlefield, because now we're saying that he is subject to criminal court in the United States. And you're confusing the people fighting this war.

Obama Says He's Restored America's Standing in the World

Obama says that "America's standing in the world" is now restored, thanks to him.

It must be true - just ask Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Russia or China.

January 20, 2013 can't come soon enough...

Obama's Recovery Czar: We Can't Support Jobs Numbers

From ABC News:

The chairman of the Obama administration’s Recovery Board is telling lawmakers that he can’t certify jobs data posted at the Recovery.gov Web site -- and doesn’t have access to a “master list” of stimulus recipients that have neglected to report data.

So where do these "saved or jobs" numbers come from that Obama keeps touting? Completely made up. If Obama and Pelosi were CEOs of companies, they would be in jail for fraud.

Obama: Too Much Debt Could Erode Confidence

In today's irony file, Obama says that too much debt would not be a good thing for the U.S. economy.

"It is important though to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession," he said.

Why anyone takes this guy seriously anymore is beyond me.

Obama Creates Yet Another Fraud Task Force

Obama has never seen a new bureaucratic multi-agency task force he didn't like. He just created a new one to prosecute "fraud" that occurred during the financial crisis, whatever that means.

Somehow I think that every financial company that turned a profit will end up in Obama's crosshairs. But while he is investigating fraud and Ponzi schemes, perhaps he should have the agency start up on Capitol Hill.

The Dangers of the KSM Trial

Andy McCarthy prosecuted the Blind Sheikh who helped plan the first World Trade Center bombing. Via Powerline.

During the 1993 World Trade Center bombing trial of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (aka the "blind Sheikh"), standard criminal trial rules required the government to turn over to the defendants a list of 200 possible co-conspirators.

In essence, this list was a sketch of American intelligence on al Qaeda. According to Mr. McCarthy, who tried the case, it was delivered to bin Laden in Sudan on a silver platter within days of its production as a court exhibit.

Bin Laden, who was on the list, could immediately see who was compromised. He also could start figuring out how American intelligence had learned its information and anticipate what our future moves were likely to be.

Nevermind that if this were a real trial, it would be thrown out by the judge - KSM was never read his Miranda Rights. This is precisely why it has taken a radical Leftist to provide the first time in U.S. history that we have granted U.S. constitutional rights to enemies at war with the U.S.

U.S. Postal Service Loses $3.8 Billion

The government-run U.S. postal service lost $3.8 billion in the latest fiscal year and is projected to lose twice that amount next year.

Unfortunately, even if it were to lay off employees, it won't help much due to the hundreds of thousands of retirees receiving lucrative retirement plans. But you can trust them, Obamacare will be different...

Time For SecDef Gates to Go

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates needs to go - he's either a yes-man for Obama or inept - or both. When Obama killed the F-22 fighter program earlier this year, Gates argued that the gulf was so huge between us and China and that China wouldn't have a 5th generation fighter that could compete until 2020.

Gates was off by 11 years - China will test its new fighter jet this year. From Red State.

Obamacare: Forget Those Previous Breast Screening Guidelines

As if on cue, the new U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a study that says most women can ignore those previous suggestions for a mammogram until they're 50 - and even then, only get one every other year.

I'm pretty sure this is what Obama and Pelosi meant when they said they would make healthcare cheaper, but I think people will agree that this is anything but more rationing.

KSM in NYC Show Trial

Red State reminds us that the last time we put terrorists on trial, many of the discovery documents that were supposed to be confidential later showed up in Al Qaeda hideouts. He also argues that this is nothing more than a show trial:

Barack Obama would not risk a civilian trial without being sure of a conviction. This then amounts to a show trial, but one where the prosecutors will have to comply with discovery requirements that will potentially put classified material into the hands of Al Qaeda.

I hate to say it, but I don't agree with his first sentence. I think Obama would not be all that upset by a non-conviction here. In fact, he might think it's preferable, as it would show the world how non-biased and non-judgmental we are.

Obama's Plan For 3,000 Jobs in Illinois

Obama has a magical jobs plan to create 3,000 jobs in the state of Illinois. He plans to shut down the prison at Gitmo and move them to Illinois.

Anyone with even a sense of economics understands that all this amounts to is taking extra taxpayer money which the government doesn't have and giving it to people in Illinois that Obama chooses (hence, no overall economic impact). No matter - Dick Durbin called the plan "a dream come true." Really.

How Many Reporters "Fact Checking" Palin's Book?

Sarah Palin has a very good point:

We've heard 11 writers are engaged in this opposition research, er, "fact checking" research! Imagine that – 11 AP reporters dedicating time and resources to tearing up the book, instead of using the time and resources to "fact check" what's going on with Sheik Mohammed's trial, Pelosi's health care takeover costs, Hasan's associations, etc. Amazing.

If just a few reporters fact checked anything about Obama before the election, our country might not be headed off a cliff into bankruptcy.

Shocker: Newsweek Despises Palin

Ok, the U.S. economy is being destroyed, we have record deficits for years and years to come, unemployment is over 10% and headed higher,...in short, Obama is destroying America.

Yet Newsweek has the audacity to say that Sarah Palin, who holds no position in the government and who was trashed mercilessly by the Left, is "bad news for America."

Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor

When Obama bowed to King Abdullah, the White House denied it because American Presidents aren't subservient to other individuals. But there's no denying Obama's bow to Japan's Emperor this week. From Powerline.

Obama Declines to Defend Bombing of Hiroshima

When asked twice if the U.S. decision to bomb Hiroshima was the correct one, Obama declined to answer. No surprise - especially since Rev. Wright was so opposed to the bombings.

Anita Dunn Resigns, But Her Husband Moves In

White House communications director and Communist lover Anita Dunn resigned this week, but her husband Bob Bauer was just named new White House counsel. He will likely just take Anita's old office, Mao Tse Tung portrait and all.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to Be Tried in New York Court

Stunning. The terrorist mastermind of the 9/11 attacks gets the full protections and privileges of a New York civilian court, courtesy of the sympathetic Obama administration.

Reid Bows to Unions; Explores Medicare Tax Increase

It must be nice for unions when they can tell Harry Reid what to do. Instead of an original proposal to tax "Cadillac" health plans, which unions hate because they are the beneficiaries of the plans, Reid is now proposing a general Medicare tax increase for any family or small business making over $250K from 1.45% to 1.75%. Yes, this is in addition to the "wealthy" surtax - and yes in addition to the income tax increases - and yes, in addition to the capital gains and dividend tax increases - and yes in addition to the carbon tax increases.

TARP Funds To Bring Taxpayer Loss: Reviewed:

Neil Barofsky says that the TARP program will almost certainly bring about taxpayer losses. However, let's see who is really responsible for these losses. (Hint: they're not the banks.)

The NY Times has a useful guide from June that shows all of the TARP recipients, which fall into the following categories:

Citigroup: $50 billion
B of A: $45 billion
Other banks: $79 billion
AIG: $70 billion
Automakers: $85 billion
Homeowners: $50 billion
Small business: $15 billion
PPIP: $100 billion
TALF: $55 billion
Unused: $80 billion
Already returned: $70 billion (likely higher today)

I'm confident in saying that the Treasury will make money on its bank investments (after factoring in interest and gains from warrant sales). The government will likely get a large portion of its AIG investment back, despite running the top talent out of the company.

There is not a lot of info on PPIP and TALF funds, so it's hard to estimate what the return will be.

That leaves the automakers, homeowners and small business investments of $150 billion. This is what we used to call pork - and the money is already gone. Hey, I could actually live with this if the government took the remaining funds (and that amount to be returned by banks) and "retired" the money. After all, TARP was supposed to be a temporary program to help the financial institutions.

Unfortunately, Obama thinks the money belongs to him and he is determined to spend every last dime that gets returned. And for that reason alone, taxpayers will likely see a huge loss from TARP.

Inspector General for Fannie, Freddie Remains Unfilled

Obama has yet to fill the vacant position of inspector general for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - likely because an independent IG would see all of unsound financial practices of the two government entities.

Think about it - if there's no inspector general, then the agencies can carry out Obama's political agenda without any repercussions. And that agenda is a de facto nationalization of the mortgage industry.

Obama: No Republicans Allowed in Civil Service

Obama wants to rewrite the rules for the Civil Service and purge the agency of all political appointed Republicans.

Venezuela seems to be Obama's template for eliminating all opposition.

Obamacare Would Destroy Tort Reform On the Books

Texas was one of 30 states to pass tort malpractice reform that helped it reduce its premiums by as much as 50%. Obamacare would practically force states to eliminate those reforms. According to the WSJ, there are benefits to states that develop "alternative medical liability law" but only if the law "does not limit attorneys' fees or impose caps on damages." It then sums up Obamcare well:

The hidden Pelosi tort bomb is one more example of the stealth radicalism that defines ObamaCare. If it passes in anything like its current form, we are going to be cleaning up the mess for decades to come.

Obama Wants Another Afghan Option (The White Flag)

The generals on the ground in Afghanistan are all united - the U.S. needs additional troops. But Obama isn't convinced and apparently wants another "option" for the country.

Fair enough - the generals haven't yet offered up Obama's favorite option - waiving the white flag and going home. No doubt we'd be speaking German or Japanese today if Obama was commander during World War II.