The mess the Obama Administration has made out of the verification of bin Laden’s demise is just incredible. For crying out loud, this isn’t rocket science – this is providing reasonably conclusive evidence that a person is actually dead. The fumbling efforts by Obama’s team to do this simple task have already provided grist for conspiracy theory mills. From now until the end of time there will be those who will assert that bin Laden is not dead. That, though, is not our primary concern – our primary concern is that bin Laden not appear to escape us at the last moment.

It would be horrible if, after all the years of effort to get him, bin Laden were to have woven about him a story of miraculous escape from our clutches. We got him, he’s dead – let’s prove it to the world. Everyone in the Obama Administration should step back, take a deep breath and work out a clear, easy plan for doing this.

As far as releasing pictures of the body – that is something I actually disagree with. A human body should never be on display like that – only in the most respectful, reverent manner should a body be in public. This is a firm, Christian view. We do, however, have to produce the body in some manner. And we could convene a grand jury before which the Administration could present the evidence of bin Laden’s death – including all forensic evidence, most especially including all photographic evidence. Such a jury – made up of average Americans – would rule on whether or not the evidence indicates bin Laden was killed where and when we claim. While kooks and conspiracy theorists will never be satisfied, if we can meet the requirements of a reasonable person, that will lay the matter to rest.

It is just terrible that this moment of triumph has been marred by yet another example of the rank incompetence of Obama and his handlers – it is time to grow up fast and start doing this right.

From Rasmussen:

The real Republican presidential primary race is still months away, but for now New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appears to have the solidest support when likely primary voters are asked who they would definitely vote for…

…A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that given a list of 18 potential GOP nominees, 30% of Likely Republican Primary Voters say they definitely would vote for Christie. Another 22% say they would probably vote for him. Just 22% say they would probably or definitely vote against the governor, and 26% more are undecided…

It is still a very open race as Huckabee, Romney and Bachmann all garner 26% “definite” support, while Palin and Ryan come in at 23%. Trump is back at 21%. But that Christie is doing this well even though he hasn’t really made a first move towards running indicates that he has built up a large reservoir of support in the GOP base since he was elected – mostly, I think, because he’s been a fighter. He hasn’t taken anything the left has thrown at him lying down – he hits right back, and hits harder.

And that, I think, is what GOP primary voters want – someone who will get down in to the trenches and go toe to toe with the Democrats. GOP voters – and, it think, Independent voters – want someone who shows a willingness to take risks and fight it out for what is right. No more Mr. Nice Guy; no more “esteemed colleague” nonsense in regards to the Democrats. Fight and fight and then fight some more; that is what is wanted.

And it is what America needs – we’re teetering on the edge of disaster on a lot of fronts and the only the most vigorous (ruthless, really) action will pull us back from the edge. This is no time to be nice – no time for a “new tone”. It is time to fight for America – and whomever shows the most fight going in to 2012 is probably going to be the GOP nominee, and the next President of the United States.

J. E. Dyer has an excellent write-up of Sarah Palin’s recent foreign policy speech – a definite must-read. In it, Palin is shown to be someone who understands a great deal of what is needed for US foreign policy, especially as it relates to the use of military force. But because Palin – like almost all (or, maybe, all of them, entirely) foreign policy experts – fails to step outside the Wilsonian-cum-Post WWII foreign policy framework, she fails to deliver the new direction we need.

It is all well and good to be firm that if we go to war, we must go all the way to war and fight to win. It is wise to be wary of nation-building efforts without taking the fatal step of refusing to ever nation-build. But until the United States is freed from the entangling alliances of the past 70 years, we will not be able to build a foreign policy geared towards true American interests.

What must first be stated is just what is our most important interest. It isn’t peace. It isn’t the maintenance of international agreements. It isn’t ensuring national self-determination. It is the preservation of freedom – primarily American freedom, with the secondary need to preserve and expand the freedom of others as a defense of our own freedom. If we are not preserving and advancing freedom we are not only not helping ourselves but are, indeed, harming ourselves. In the preservation and expansion of freedom around the world is the best assurance that regardless of what happens to us – stronger or weaker as time goes on – our nation and our liberties will be maintained.

Unfortunately, we are tied to various alliances and groups – most notably NATO and the United Nations – which positively hinder the defense and expansion of freedom. The most recent example of the anti-liberty absurdity of our alliances and agreements is the fact that Syria – currently involved in massacring its own people – is set to become a member of the United Nations human rights council. Right now, in order to defend freedom – that of our selves and others – we require permission from either a UN packed with tyrants or a NATO packed with the bribed stooges of tyrants. There is no chance for a consistent, rational foreign policy for us – nor one in defense of our main interest.

Outside of the UN and NATO, our bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade and defense agreements hobble us and force us to defend unsavory regimes who work against our interests on a daily basis (the most notable of these regimes is Saudi Arabia…but they are just the worst sinner in the whorehouse, as it were). George Washington was right from the beginning – we must avoid entangling alliances. True US policy – the defense of our own and others’ liberty – requires us to be untied to any nation or group of nations, free to decide moment to moment and case by case what our action will be.

The next US President should pledge to end US participation in NATO and the United Nations, and review all alliances and defense agreements to ensure that no particular agreement is out of date and no longer serving our primary interest. Palin has made the necessary first step in a policy getting us away from Obama’s foreign policy idiocy – but until we get away from the dead foreign policy of 50 and 60 years ago, a return to Obamunism in foreign policy will be inherent in the system. Time for a change – a real change.

From the Daily Mail:

Actor Jim Caviezel has claimed his Hollywood career was wrecked by playing Jesus.

He said he was ‘rejected in my own industry’ after taking on the lead role in Mel Gibson’s controversial movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’.

Since playing the son of God in the 2004 film he said offers had dried up and he is shunned by many within the industry…

…Caviezel, a devout Roman Catholic, said he knew playing Jesus would be risky.

‘Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been,’ Caviezel said. ‘Not much has changed in 2,000 years.’

He said he wasn’t worried about the stalling of his career…

And, so:

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.” – John 15:18

So, no surpirse – and no worries for Caviezel. But it is illustrative that the mere making of a particular type of movie would put an actor on the outs with the entertainment industry. You can be a whore, a drug addict and an all-around horrible person and still stay on top in Hollywood…but play an important roll in a reverent film, and you’ve got no chance.

This is because those who do manage it – ie, manage to actually live as a Christian – are a standing indictment of those too lazy or cowardly to even try. If you are the typical person – ie, a compendium of sin – then it can be much more comforting to have around you really creepy people: you look good in comparison with them. But having a good person around you? All that does is make you look like a creep, yourself…better to ostracize such people.

But the time will come when even those who have most relentlessly excluded the truth from their lives will be confronted with it. I wonder what they will say, then?

Couldn’t agree more:

…I can happily report that I completely underestimated the skill, courage, and perseverance of America’s military. And, almost as happily, I can report that I also completely underestimated the capacity of America’s erstwhile “peace community” for turning on a dime and embracing the kind of all-American xenophobic flag-waving bloodlust they only recently decried. So today I stand proudly with my new friends of the formerly antiwar left in a mindlessly jingoistic salute to President Obama for an extralegal military assassination well done…

…Of course, I’m not naive enough to think our current wave of national unity will last forever. At some point, possibly after the next election, American troops will once again assume their traditional role of psychotic baby-killing objects of fear and pity. And, doubtlessly, those of us who still admire them must once again assume our traditional role as America’s flag-humping racist chickenhawks. But when that day comes, we can look back at the week of May 1, 2011 and realize that it isn’t personal. Hey, that’s just the way the chad crumbles.

From Consumer Affairs:

The psychological price-point of $4 a gallon is looming straight ahead, and will likely be hit before the end of the week, based on the rate of recent price escalation.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.967 a gallon, according to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Survey. That’s nearly a dime a gallon more than seven days ago…

I paid $3.95 the other day; I can easily see $4.50 by Memorial Day…

Not good news – from Ynet:

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Nabil al-Araby on Monday evening for the first time since the uprising in Egypt.

Salehi said at press conference on Tuesday that cooperation with Egypt, especially in the political arena, “will help establish stability, security and peace in the region.”

He also praised Egypt for its role in the reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas. “Palestinian unity is the key factor in empowering the resistance against the Zionist enemy,” he said…

So, two of the most powerful Moslem powers are drawing closer together – and agreeing that its a swell idea to have Hamas and Fatah united in governing Gaza and the West Bank. With news out of Syria being couched in terms of “if Assad is ousted it will be a bloodbath” (and, so, we’d better not work to overthrow Assad), we can see the start of a re-alignment in the Middle East…with Israel under greater threat, America having less influence and war much more likely.

We came so close – in 2004, the Middle East was ours to command. Had we just keep up the pressure and taken the next step (which would have been regime change in Syria and Iran), then the fundamental problem of Islamism would have been well on the way to solution. President Bush tried, but it was all he could do to merely stay the course in Iraq – the political pressure was so intense against him that he didn’t have the ability to advance. And now we’ve got a President who wants to retreat – with the worry now that the death of bin Laden will be taken as an excuse to cut and run out of Afghanistan…thus leaving that nation to become either Iran or Pakistani dominated.

All in all, we’re being pushed back to the margins – no one trusting either our willingness to fight, and thus not trusting us to be a worthy friend or foe in the region’s development. We’re just looking on events, hoping they don’t come ’round to bite us. But bite us they will – because those making the running in the Middle East today are the Islamists who wish our death. We’ll be a decade repairing the damage the left did to our position in the Middle East – and part of the price to be paid will be in blood.

That is from the movie Breaker Morant; set in the waning days of the Boer War, the issue is the trial of some British officers for murder. The Boer War was the first of the modern, twilight wars where national armies were pitted against a shadowy enemy who lived among ostensibly civilian personnel, and whose rule of war was ambush, and often cruelty. In order to counter these tactics, the British engaged in a lot of different sorts of actions – including the use of what we would call “counter-insurgency” operations; men trained to operate and fight like the enemy. In such actions, hard men were called upon to do very rough things – and for political reasons it was eventually considered expedient for the British government to disassociate itself from the forces they had raised.

Such is war – a terrible thing. During war, many things can be done in the heat of battle which in the cool light of hindsight appear unwise, perhaps even wicked. In the Breaker Morant story, the point was whether it was really right and proper to try men for things done in battle – can a man really commit murder on a battlefield? This is a question without answer – and which can never be answered. But all of us who have not had to walk in such shoes must be very slow to judge those who have.

It is to be hoped that liberals will now reflect. Here is an event – the killing of bin Laden – which was an action under “Rule .303”. We took him and we shot him under Rule .303. It was a hard deed; but some times such things are necessary. And some times it is necessary to roughly handle other enemies, in other circumstances. Liberals expressed shock and horror over waterboarding as well as other tactics used in this war – what of shooting an unarmed man? Which is worse? In truth, neither is worse – because depending on the circumstances, either can be the correct action.

When ever a human being contemplates shedding the blood of another, the default position must be to err on the side of mercy. If an excuse can be found or a mitigating circumstance determined, that is the course to be taken. But after considering it in that light, after praying over the various actions contemplated, it is determined that a hard deed must be done, then those of us who had no part in the decision or the carrying out of the mission should be wary of sitting in judgment. We don’t know the pressures the decision maker and the actors were under – we weren’t them, and we weren’t there. A bit of empathy goes a long way – and would have done liberals a lot of good 2001-2009. It is to be hoped that now they’ve directly blood on their own hands, liberals will start to learn a bit of wisdom.

And now back to our regularly scheduled economic collapse – from Zero Hedge:

Today SNAP released the most recent food stamp numbers. Not surprisingly, we just saw another all time high 44.2 million poverty-level Americans relying on government funding for day to day sustenance. Granted the number appears to be plateauing, so all those who bought the change if not the ho[y]pe, can rejoice as it may start declining next month: a development that is sure to be herald for Obama a 4th Putin-esque term…

We’re now at the tail end of the Obama Boom – that bit of economic “growth” propelled by massive money printing and borrowing. The big question: now, what? Does the economy take off like a shooting star without government subsidy and thus create an economy for Obama’s re-election, or does it immediately sag down in to renewed recession, thus ensuring President Palin on January 20th, 2013?

No one can say for certain, but the fact that we’re borrowing like mad, our dollar is collapsing and gasoline is just below $4 and may rise to $5 indicates a rocky future for our economy. Maybe Obama will eventually get us up to a round 50 million on food stamps before he’s done…

How did the left describe the Seal team that did in bin Laden? From the Washington Examiner:

Under Bush, JSOC was routinely smeared by the left and placed at the center of many Bush/Cheney conspiracy theories. Specifically, New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh alleged it was Dick Cheney’s personal assassination squad:

“After 9/11, I haven’t written about this yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven’t been called on it yet.”

Hersh then went on to describe a second area of extra-legal operations: the Joint Special Operations Command. “It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently,” he explained. “They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. … Congress has no oversight of it.”

“It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on,” Hersh stated. “Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.“…

Remember these liberals crowing now – they hated the military all through President Bush’s term and took every opportunity to slander them. Don’t forget – don’t let them off the hook; keep reminding them what they used to say…and what they will say, again, when a Republican is President.