THE FOUNDATION
"To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude that the fiery and destructive passions of war reign in the human breast with much more powerful sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and that to model our political systems upon speculations of lasting tranquillity would be to calculate on the weaker springs of human character." --Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 34, 1788TOP 5 RIGHT HOOKS
Hillary Criticizes Obama's Foreign Policy
In remarks to several press members on an Air Force One junket recently, Barack Obama summarized his foreign policy: "Don't do stupid sh--." If only he followed that advice. Obama's petulant comment received some ridiculing from an unlikely source -- Hillary Clinton. The aspiring president rebuked Obama's foreign policy credentials, saying, “The failure to help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the originators of the protests against [Syria's Bashar al-]Assad ... left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled," referring to the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL). She added, "Great nations need organizing principles, and 'Don't do stupid stuff' is not an organizing principle." On that, she has a point. Though she’s never been as far left as Obama on foreign policy, Hillary is clearly positioning herself for 2016 and has to differentiate from Obama's utter failure. More...Comment | Share
White House Admits 'False Information' Caused Border Crisis
The Obama administration's story about the influx of children crossing the border has changed. No longer are these youthful aliens fleeing gang violence. Joe Biden told a group of activists the situation south of the border is "bad, but nothing's changed. Nothing's changed in six months or a year; the neighborhoods are no more violent or less violent." What has changed, he said, was organized crimes' business model. "What's happened is a group of folks [a.k.a. gang members] got together and decided that there's a hell of a good way to make money. 'You just don't transfer drugs, give me $5,600 and I'll take your baby to the border, and your baby's going to be home free.'" And the new business model lands squarely at the feet of the Obama administration for fueling the idea that children crossing the border can stay in the U.S. -- "because of an awful lot of false information," as Biden put it. This isn't just another Bidenism, either. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson wrote a letter to Central American families setting the record straight: "The 'permisos' do not exist," he wrote. More...Comment | Share
Obama Doesn't Know What He's Talking About
Barack Obama sat down with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and showed just how out of touch he is with the media and the GOP in Washington. "What you've seen with our politics," Obama said, "partly because of gerrymandering, partly because of the Balkanization of media so people just watch what reinforces their deepest biases, partly because of big money in politics, is increasingly politicians are rewarded for taking the most extreme, maximalist positions." He continued, "Because of this maximalist ideological position, we've been blocked." Obama has limited experience working in a minority party, so he might not understand fully how a minority party operates. A good minority party serves as the cautionary voice -- yes, even the counter balance -- to willy-nilly progress. And the "Balkanization" of the media? He's not talking about the golden age of news, is he? Forty years ago, two reporters working in an un-Balkanized newsroom, with unfettered access to the halls of power, took down a president. We don't think Obama wants that. More...Comment | Share
Hawaii Nixes Close Obama Friend
It looks like it is another damning judgment on Obama-style politics. Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie barely made it out of the gate of his re-election campaign before he was defeated in the state's primary. Seems like the traditionally Democrat state was fed up with increased taxes and the governor's "political style." Worse still, Abercrombie got a glowing endorsement from Barack Obama. Fox News reports, "Abercrombie's defeat comes after President Barack Obama last month urged residents of his native state to back the governor, invoking the Hawaiian word for family in a radio ad by saying Abercrombie is 'like ohana to me.'" But voters in the Aloha State just said "Aloha `oe" (farewell to you) to the Obama dynasty. More...Comment | Share
James Brady's Death Ruled a Homicide
On August 4, Ronald Reagan's former press secretary and long-time advocate of gun control James Brady died. He was 73. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide stemming from when John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan, also wounding Brady. The courts found Hinckley not guilty on grounds of mental insanity. Hinckley's attorney Barry Levine said, "I think it (the medical examiner's ruling) will mean nothing. No prosecutors will bring such a case. The notion that this could be a successful prosecution is far-fetched. There is no legal basis to pursue this." Another prosecution for Hinckley makes little sense as Brady survived for decades after the shooting. Besides, Hinckley already stood trial for his actions. The medical examiners' ruling could perhaps give ammunition to the gun control lobby, who can now say one of their own died at the hand of a gun. Thus, dragging Hinckley before a court again threatens the constitutional rights every American enjoys. More...Comment | Share
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RIGHT ANALYSIS
Obama's Long War Drive-By
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“[W]hen we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye,” said Barack Obama of the mission, though he had no problem turning that blind eye toward the Christians in Mosul.
You know things are bad politically for Obama when he's authorizing bombing in Iraq. Bill Clinton did the same thing in Afghanistan and Sudan to distract from his 1998 midterm troubles, and he then bombed Iraq just for good measure in December of that year. Obama declared Friday, “I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks,” adding, “I think this is going to take some time.” He then promptly departed for vacation at Martha's Vineyard.
Before he left, however, he made time to remind everyone that leaving Iraq wasn't his decision -- a half truth at best. In fact, his perpetual six year presidential campaign has been run on leaving Iraq, and he couldn't resist repeating his boast of keeping that promise: "I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that's what we've done." At a very high price, we might add.
His strategy now, however, isn't really a strategy. "As commander in chief," he pontificated, "I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq." Memo to Obama: This is the same war. He continued, "[A]nd so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there is no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq."
So he's going to drop a few bombs and leave the rest to someone else -- the equivalent of a drive-by shooting.
Let's review some history. The creation of the Islamic State is just the latest chapter in a centuries-old battle. At one time the group was known as al-Qaida in Iraq, though Obama foolishly belittled them as al-Qaida's JV team. But earlier this year al-Qaida disavowed the group, and, after the breakup, they adopted the name of The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which they then shortened to the Islamic State. Now, al-Qaida fighters are joining ISIL.
Straddling like a spider web over portions of Syria and Iraq, ISIL's goal is to create a hardline Sunni Islamic caliphate. This places them in direct opposition to the Shia-controlled Iraqi government -- which is undergoing its own strife from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's regime that won't go away and may even be staging its own coup. Meanwhile, ISIL also opposes the government in Syria and has annexed much of that nation's eastern frontier in heavy fighting. Even Iran is involved in the fight against ISIL, supporting the current government in Iraq as well as Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
While the fighting has many of the elements of an exceedingly bloody but simple civil war, the ominous threat of ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi upon his 2009 release from an Iraqi detention camp -- “I'll see you guys in New York” -- is reflected in a recent video from Vice News featuring ISIL press officer Abu Mosa taunting Americans about being humiliated in Iraq again. “Don't be cowards and attack us with drones,” said Mosa. Of course, Obama didn't use drones this time; he dropped a couple 500 pound bombs.
Yet even the provocation of being called “cowards” and the capture of American-supplied Iraqi military hardware may not do much to sway an American public weary of fighting in the Middle East. It is, however, drawing the allegiance of a few hundred Westerners who have decided to join the struggle for radical Islam.
One of those was Moner Mohammad Abusalha, a 22-year-old Florida man who drove an explosive-laden truck into a Syrian restaurant. His final video featured his rant about “always [being] sad and depressed” in America, but happy with the life he was about to give up. Abusalha had returned to Florida in the months before his demise, but eventually went back to Syria to play his role in the suicide bombing. How did he slip in and what does that mean for homeland security?
What's striking about this particular stage in the seemingly never-ending religious strife in the region is the savagery toward opposition fighters as well as otherwise innocent civilians, particularly Christians and other non-Muslims. It's the utter disregard for human life, including their own, as well as the shocking willingness to perform it live on video, which seems to make this conflict much worse than a garden-variety civil war.
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, George W. Bush reminded us that we would be embarking on a Long War against radical Islam. “Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen,” Bush said. And as for being war weary, columnist Arnold Ahlert writes, "You know the trouble with being war weary? It is an utterly bankrupt notion when it rubs up against the reality that those dedicated to the destruction of Western civilization have no weariness of war whatsoever."
Barack Obama has rejected the idea that the struggle is far bigger than some cheap humanitarian relief via a quick bomb drop on the way out on vacation. And in forging his foreign policy on such errant assumptions, he has ensured the war will be even longer.
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TOP 5 RIGHT OPINION COLUMNS
- Arnold Ahlert: An American Caliphate?
- Stephen Moore & Arthur Laffer: Seeking Lower Taxes, Companies Flee the U.S.
- John C. Goodman: Are We Going Broke?
- Star Parker: Don't Mistake Tea Party Birth Pains for Death Throes
- Burt Prelutsky: Illegal Aliens Are What They Are
OPINION IN BRIEF
The Gipper: "Great nations have responsibilities to lead, and we should always be cautious of those who would lower our profile, because they might just wind up lowering our flag."Columnist Arnold Ahlert: "[I]t took the toppling of the World Trade Center, damage to the Pentagon, a would-be attack on that very same White House targeted by ISIS -- along with the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans -- to snap the nation to attention. Yet even as the bodies remained buried under tons of smoldering rubble, the hand-wringers who reflexively look to blame America first began their tireless and ultimately successful efforts to take a paradigm historical shift and turn it into a national mea culpa. 'Why do they hate us?' gained an unseemly traction, ultimately leading to the 'Bush lied people died' campaign that itself was a lie. One based on 2004 Democratic presidential aspirations, as opposed to the realpolitik of Islamic savagery. ... Unfortunately, that cynicism has metastasized. ... [W]e have the emergence of a transnational caliphate that far too many Americans see as something that can be contained within the Middle East."
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Economists Stephen Moore & Arthur Laffer: "Inversions vividly illustrate the amazing dysfunctions of the U.S. corporate tax code. The corporate tax raises $250 billion per year, or 1.5% of GDP, which is one of the lowest tax revenues in the world. And, the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. ... An inversion occurs when an American company merges with a smaller company in a lower-tax jurisdiction such as Ireland. The deal is structured so the smaller company acquires the larger American company. Operations and management often remain in the U.S., but the legal headquarters is changed to the lower-tax jurisdiction. By inverting, the company is no longer legally U.S.-based and thus is not required to pay U.S. taxes on profits earned abroad. ... The administration’s response is simple: Blame everyone else for the dysfunctional tax code and then outlaw inversions retroactively. ... [T]he Obama proposal is pure demagoguery and would encourage multinational companies to avoid the U.S. altogether, meaning even fewer U.S. jobs. The Obama plan is like seeing a raging fire in a building and locking all the doors shut so no one can get out."
Fred Thompson: "During an interview with The Economist, President Obama said. 'I would take the complaints of the corporate community with a grain of salt.' And then Michelle would ban the grain of salt for being unhealthy."
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform -- Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen -- standing in harm's way in defense of Liberty, and for their families.
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