Ralph Peters has a most excellent piece today, courtesy of the NY Post:

An ugly pattern’s emerging in our president’s beliefs:

He’s infallible. This is rich, given all the criticism of the Bush administration’s unwillingness to admit mistakes. We now have a president with Jimmy Carter’s naivete, Richard Nixon’s distaste for laws, Lyndon Johnson’s commitment to the wrong war, and Bill Clinton’s moral fecklessness.

Democracy isn’t important. Our president seems infected by yesteryear’s Third-World-leftist view that dictatorships are essential to post-colonial development — especially for Muslims.

Look where Obama has gone and who he supports: the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, his groveling speech in Egypt, his embrace of Hamas, his hands-off approach to the gory regime in Sudan — and now his dismay at the protests in Iran.

Strict Islam is true Islam. This is bewildering, given Obama’s childhood exposure to the tolerant Islam practiced in most of Indonesia. The defining remark of his presidency thus far was his Cairo demand for the right of Muslim women to wear Islamic dress in the West — while remaining silent about their right to reject the hijab, burqa or chador in the Middle East.

History’s a blank canvas — except for America’s sins. Of course, we’ve had presidents who presented the past in the colors they preferred — but we’ve never had one who just made it all up.

Testify, Brother.

Today’s Recommend Reading.

Tags: Obama, Recommended Reading

Gateway Pundit has a wonderful piece comparing and contrasting the stands of G. W. Bush and B .H. Obama, regarding the struggle for freedom and democracy in the world today:

“All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”

President George W. Bush
Second Inaugural Speech
January 20, 2005

President Bush’s made this pledge to political dissidents and freedom activists in 2005, “We will stand with you.” And, the oppressed took him at his word. There was an Orange Revolution in Ukraine, a Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and a Cedar Revolution in Lebanon that spring. There were democratic elections in Afghanistan where women were not only allowed to vote but took seats in parliament. There were democratic elections for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia released political dissidents. There were Arab democracy conferences in Qatar and women were allowed to vote in Kuwait. Egyptian judges stood up against a regime. Another regime in Libya opened up to the West. And who could forget the Iraqis who walked for miles, braving terrorist death threats, to vote in free democratic elections for the very first time.

President Bush later met with democracy activists from Burma on the twenty year anniversary of the bloody 8888 Protests in Burma. And before he left office in December 2008 President Bush met with dissident bloggers on Human Rights Day.

But those days are over. There’s a new administration in town with a new set of rules and a new set of priorities. Persecuted political dissidents and brave democracy activists do not rank high on the list.

Already this year the Obama Administration has waived sanctions on Syria, considered opening travel to Cuba, announced plans to drop sanctions against the murderous junta in Burma, reportedly approved Sharia Law in the tribal regions of Pakistan in exchange for a bogus peace treaty, praised the Venezuelan “democracy,” discussed holding talks with the Iranian regime, and accepted China’s human rights abuses. That’s quite a record and it hasn’t even been 200 days since they took office.

In February seven former Iranian student prisoners wrote a letter to President Obama and urged him to support the democratic movement of the Iranian people. Their letter went unanswered. It should come as no surprise then that as chaos broke out this weekend in Iran over a very controversial election result the Obama Administration fell silent.

Less than 24 hours after the flawed results were announced by the official media the Obama Administration announced that they would engage with the regime.

Whatever else his flaws, G. W. Bush was a vocal supporter of people around the world, of all faiths and races, who wanted to be free.

B. H. Obama, like most on the left, does not believe that Freedom and Democracy should be “imposed”, or, for that matter, that what we think of as American (or even Western) values are superior in any way to the oppression suffered by people in other nations, in the name of Religion or any particular brand of Politics.

Tags: Bush, Freedom, Obama

Thanks to Kyle Drennen at Newsbusters:

Newsweek editor Evan Thomas brought adulation over President Obama’s Cairo speech to a whole new level on Friday, declaring on MSNBC: “I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God.”

…”Reagan was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is ‘we are above that now.’ We’re not just parochial, we’re not just chauvinistic, we’re not just provincial.”

Thomas elaborated on Obama as God, patronizingly explaining: “He’s going to bring all different sides together…Obama is trying to sort of tamper everything down. He doesn’t even use the word terror. He uses extremism. He’s all about let us reason together…He’s the teacher. He is going to say, ‘now, children, stop fighting and quarreling with each other.’ And he has a kind of a moral authority that he – he can – he
can do that.”

Now beyond the obvious issue that anyone and everyone should have with a supposed Journalist and editor of a national (purported) News magazine likening a President to God, I have a greater issue with the other things that he said.

Reagan was President of The United States, and he was our greatest advocate and standard bearer.  Whatever else may be said about Reagan, he believed in this nation, and had unending pride in our accomplishments and our potential.  America is, after all, even today, the only nation on earth where literally MILLIONS of people struggle to emigrate to, so they can live in freedom of thought and religion, and (at least for the moment) have economic freedom.

What Thomas is saying is that Obama is ABOVE being America’s advocate.  That he has a higher calling.

And if Obama were President of the United Nations, I would probably not have a huge issue with that.

But it’s not his JOB to be the worlds Messiah, or Teacher on the Playground, as Thomas asserts.  His JOB is to represent the United State, and to look out for our best interests.

If Obama doesn’t, or can’t, put aside his own ambitions or personal feelings about America, he should resign his office.

The United States of America needs a President that has our best interests at heart, first and foremost.  We do NOT need a man dedicated to tearing America down to everyones elses level.  To taking away what makes America a special place.  And yes, a BETTER place that most other nations on this earth.

As an aside, in a recent speech, Obama made the following statement:

“I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq. So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.”

I have a serious problem with this, as should anyone who lives in freedom, enjoys freedom, or yearns for freedom, philosophically.  It is also patently untrue in a historic sense.

Indeed, in the ashes of World War II, which, coincidentally, is a subject today due to the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, America (and in some cases, our Allies) “imposed” representative forms of government on several nations, which remain in power today.

Iraq’s “imposed” Republic is stabilizing by the day.

Indeed, the most immoral thing possible is to ignore our brothers and sisters who even today suffer under repression and oppression.

Obama is a “…sort of God?”  What a horrible, sad thought for free people everywhere, and all those who yearn to be free.

Tags: Freedom, Obama

One – Courtesy of Doug Ross:

Red State, American Thinker and Joey Smith provide anecdotal and
quantitative evidence that would appear to confirm a decided bias
against dealers who donated to GOP causes or to anti-Obama Democrats.

Consider the partial list of Chrysler dealership owners, listed below.
You’ll notice that all were opponents of Barack Obama, most through
sponsorship of GOP candidates and organizations, but a handful through
Barack’s Democrat rivals (Hillary Clinton and John Edwards in 2008, for
example).

• Vernon G. Buchanan: $147,450 to GOP candidates and organizations
• Wallace D. Alley and Family: $4,500 to GOP.
• Robert Archer: $4,600 to GOP and conservative causes.
• Homer S. Higginbotham and Family: $2950 to GOP.
• James Auffenberg and Family: $28,000 to GOP; $6,000 to one Democrat candidate.
• Michael Maroone and Family: $60,000 to GOP; $8,500 to two Democrat candidates.
• Jerome Fader: $6,500 to Democrats; $2,500 to Independent Joe Lieberman.
• Stephen Fay and Family: $13,500 to GOP.
• William Numrich: $20,000 to GOP.
• Robert Carver: $10,000 to Democrats including $1,950 to Hillary Clinton, nothing to Barack Obama.

Lot’s more at the link.  More research ongoing.  Anyone have any info on the local dealers, and their political leanings?

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, a couple of hundred times is Democratic Hack action…

Two – Courtesy of the Washington Post – Obama Set to Create A Cybersecurity Czar With Broad Mandate

President Obama is expected to announce late this week that he will
create a “cyber czar,” a senior White House official who will have
broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation’s
government-run and private computer networks, according to people who
have been briefed on the plan.

Now, I don’t have a particular problem with having a “point man” for Cyber issues, but I am about feb up with the whole “Czar” thing, and not just because the name is massively and inappropriately misused, but because I am sick to death of Presidents creating these positions out of thin air, with absolutely no congressional oversight or reporting criteria.  These people weild very real authority and influence in the administration, but answer ONLY to the President.  In Obama’s own words:

Obama pledged during his presidential campaign to elevate the issue of
cybersecurity to a “top priority” and to appoint a national
cybersecurity adviser “who will report directly to me.”

Three - Courtesy CNS News:

According to an analysis of climate legislation performed by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the cap-and-trade system favored
by President Barack Obama and many congressional Democrats could
potentially damage the U.S. manufacturing sector and force jobs to move
overseas.

This is so deep into the “No Duh” category that I am almost shocked (though not amazed) that they actually had to do an official Study on it.  The failure of Leftist politicians in general, and the Democrat party in particular, to understand even the basics of economics and human nature has moved far beyond stereotyping into near parody.

Tags: Obama, Quick Shots

Back in October, I made the observation that:

Do I really think that Obama is trying to form a new Hitler Youth type movement?  Probably not.

But if I had to pick between Obama and McCain, as to which one was more likely to do exactly that – there is no question that it would be Obama.

Fast forward to the present, and we find out about this (courtesy of the LA Times):

The organization, known internally as “Barack Obama 2.0,” is being designed to sustain a grass-roots network of millions that was mobilized last year to elect Obama and now is widely considered the country’s most potent political machine.

Organizers and even Republicans say the scope of this permanent campaign structure is unprecedented for a president. People familiar with the plan say Obama’s team would use the network in part to pressure lawmakers — particularly wavering Democrats — to help him pass complex legislation on the economy, healthcare and energy.

Though the plan still is emerging, one source with knowledge of the internal discussion said the organization could have an annual budget of $75 million in privately raised funds. Another said it would deploy hundreds of paid staff members — possibly one for every congressional district in certain politically important states and even more in larger battlegrounds such as Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia and North Carolina.

The full-time staff is likely to consist primarily of the presidential campaign workers, many in their 20s, who served as the local points of contact for the campaign’s vast network of neighborhood volunteers. As part of the new organization, these workers probably would focus on similar campaign-style tasks, such as arranging phone banks, distributing signs, recruiting more helpers, buying coffee and doughnuts for house meetings and reporting voter contact data to senior officials.

“The only way to keep this thing going is to have boots on the ground,” said a strategist familiar with the plan who spoke on condition of anonymity because campaign officials have not granted permission to talk about it.

In what would be another unprecedented step, Obama’s political staff is deciding whether to create a service organization that would use the vast corps of its grass-roots campaign supporters. As described by one source knowledgeable with the discussions, this nonprofit arm would be used to help victims of natural disasters, but would do so under the Obama umbrella while continuing to build the overall network’s massive e-mail database.

The prospect of a president being able to guide a service or relief agency outside the framework of his government is a unique development.

So we now see that the Obama is not only planning to run a perpetual campaign, but to build his own organization separate from the Democrat Party.  Think ACORN, but dedicated to Obama and his administration. 

If John McCain had won the election, and made the same move, there would have been wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Media.  The Left would have been screaming about Brownshirts and Nazis.

So, let me do the media a favor, and point out that there is a modern equivelant to what Obama wants to build:

It is called Hamas.

From Wikipedia:

Since its formation in 1987, Hamas has conducted numerous social,
political, and military actions. Its popularity stems in part from its welfare and social services to Palestinians in the occupied territories,
including school and hospital construction. The group devotes much of
its estimated $70 million annual budget to an extensive social services
network, running many relief and education programs, and funds schools,
orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, soup kitchens, and sports
leagues. According to the Israeli scholar Reuven Paz “approximately 90 percent of the organization’s work is in social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities”

The only difference I can see is that Hamas has a fully fledged Military wing.

Of course, that may just be a matter of time.

Tags: Obama

From Gateway Pundit:

Obama appeals to devotees in Virginia:

I feel like we got a righteous wind at our backs here, but we’re going to have to work. We’re going to have to struggle. We’re going to have to fight.

And here is an exerpt from the writings of Chairman Mao:

The ill wind of opportunism is falling, the righteous wind of socialism is on the rise.

By the end of this year the victory of socialism will be greatly assured. Naturally there will be many struggles ahead and we must struggle hard.

Tags: Mao, Obama

-> Keith Olberman and John Stewart will quickly be out of a job, without a viable target in in the White House, Senate, or House of Representatives.  Indeed, MSNBC will shortly thereafter fold as a commercially viable enterprise.

-> Stephen Colbert will be forced to broaden his scope, if he doesn’t want to share the same fate as Olberman and Stewart.

-> With no viable Republican targets, some of the Media will turn on the Socialists Democrats in power.  In extreme circumstances, they may begin to identify corrupt left wing politicians by their party affiliation.

-> With far left politicians and political hacks in charge of Everything, it will remind people of the lessons the Eastern Europeans learned under Soviet (Marxist/Leninist/Stalinist) oppression.  We may be hunting Socialists with dogs by the 2nd decade of the 21st Century.

Tags: Obama