You expected something different?

President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain blasted Iran’s construction of a previously unacknowledged uranium enrichment facility and demanded Friday that Tehran immediately fulfill its obligations under international law or risk the imposition of harsh new sanctions.

“Iran is breaking rules that all nations must follow,” Obama said, detailing how the facility near Qom had been under construction for years without being disclosed, as required, to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “International law is not an empty promise.”

Yes, it is, Mr. President – international law is not just an empty promise, its a figment of liberal imagination unless it is backed up by a clear threat to use US military force. America – and America alone – has the combination of moral justification and military power necessary to be the enforcer of international law. If we won’t do it, then no one will. Period. End of story. Take Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, India and Brazil and roll them all together and you don’t have an equal amount of morality and force – none of these nations will actually enforce international law because they either can’t, or don’t even see the need. They will, if we lead, come along with us some times – but they won’t come along at all if we’re not willing to do so.

We are dealing in Iran with leaders who murder their own people in cold blood – people who are willing to do such criminal acts are not going to be deterred by lectures from an American President, nor tut-tutting from international do-gooders. People like the leaders in Iran do whatever they think they can get away with – right now, they think they can get away with building nuclear weapons and, truth be told, going back to the last two years of the Bush Administration there has been no indication that anyone would stop them.

Now it is crunch time – now we must decide: will we permit Iran to have nuclear weapons? If the answer is “yes”, then we might as well leave off the false rhetoric of condemnation as issuing such, and then doing nothing, not only makes us look cowardly, it also makes us look dishonest. If the answer is “no”, then we must steel ourselves to act – first against Iran’s gasoline supplies, finally against Iran’s military forces, if that proves necessary. Regardless of our choice, there will be wide repercussions around the world – there’s no way to ignore this and hope it will go away. An Iran armed with nukes will have an effect, an Iran prostrate under US force will have an effect – which effects do we want?

As for me, I prefer to take a calculated risk of war and deal with Iran, right now, before they can build nukes and put them on IRBM and ICBMs. My fear is that we’ll get nothing but waffling from Obama – statements of condemnations out of one side of his mouth, appeasement of Iran’s leaders out of the other…

Over at Instapundit – they’ve had several versions of this over the past week, and Palin keeps coming out on top in all of them.

Victor Davis Hanson notes what they see:

I don’t think the so-called outreach to Russia — which state has been much of the problem rather than any part of a solution with Iran — will help curb Iran’s nuclear ambition in the slightest. Iran will still try to cause trouble in Iraq and Afghanistan, and will acquire an atomic bomb soon unless it is stopped. And I don’t think Islamists inside the U.S. care a whit that Barack Obama is now president, except when noting their perception of a relaxation in our anti-terror efforts. And I especially don’t think China or Japan cares who is the American president, but will increasingly begin to call in geopolitical chits in exchange for financing our gargantuan and growing debt. In other words, some pretty tough actors are unimpressed by utopian hope and change, and are presently in the process of sizing us up to learn what are the new rules, if any.

The problem with the liberal theory that Bush was hated and Obama will make us loved is that its not based in any sort of reality. The United States is hated for what it is, not for what it does. Now, Obama’s plan to make us more like Europe – even as Europe slowly moves towards being more like the pre-Obama USA – might, in the long run, get people to stop hating us…they’ll switch over to just holding us in utter contempt. But just so long as we are the United States of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, so the world will hate us. Though, to be strictly accurate, its not the world that hates us. The fact that so many want to live here is a stronger indicator of global feeling about the United States. The hatred comes from the leaders of the world – those who want to use us to advance themselves, and those who see us as an obstacle to their ambitions. A free, strong America is just in the way (though gratefully accepted, short term, whenever the chips are down).

In order to weave our way through the global scene, the thing we must do is adhere to first principles. This can best be expressed by the formula, “Democracy good, Tyranny bad”. When given a choice between the tyrant and the democracy, our support should always be given to the democracy (so, unshaken support for Israel against, say, Syria). When given a choice between two tyrants, our support should be given to the tyrant who least threatens us at the moment (so, support for Pakistani tyrants against Taliban tyrants). When given a choice between two democracies, our support should always be given to the democracy which has been most loyal to us over time (so, support for Poland over France, if they get in to an argument). Obama’s plan seems to be that we should be downright rude to friends, not at all concerned about Democracy and the worse the tyrant, the more we should give. This is a recipe for disaster – including the possible disaster of a world slipping in to World War, in the by and by.

The world looks and sees a man who doesn’t know what is best for America, doesn’t know who America’s friends are, and doesn’t understand what sort of people tyrants are. Our friends are dismayed, our enemies are emboldened – and the world grows more dangerous by the day.

Does anyone in the Administration care even a little for the sensibilities of the majority?

He is known to the United States as the “Safe Schools Czar:” a special advisor in the White House responsible for helping formulate policies designed to keep US public schools “safe and drug free.” But US pro-family leaders know Kevin Jennings as something more: a highly influential homosexual activist, who admitted in a book on his childhood that a deep-seated hatred of God and religious believers began when he fully embraced a homosexual lifestyle and bid God farewell with the words, “Screw you, buddy.”…

…Jennings still retains contempt for observant believers on what he calls “the religious right.” In fact, Jennings told a gathering of fellow activists in 2000 that conservative-minded Christians were “hard-core bigots” who should “drop dead.” But the GLSEN founder had the group laughing by telling them he really wanted to just say to them: “f*** you!”

Jennings was also on the board of advisers for a 2001 PBS documentary-style film that slammed the Boy Scouts of America for their policy of excluding homosexuals from their membership and was promoted at “gay pride” festivals to mobilize homosexuals against the Scouts.

Further concern has arisen about Jennings concerning his history as a former drug abuser, and as a school counselor back in 1988, who failed to report a sexually active homosexual relationship between an adult and a boy, then a sophomore high school student. Instead Jennings counseled the boy named “Brewster” on maintaining the relationship with the adult, which began in a bus stop bathroom.

The guy has a right to believe whatever he wants and pretty much abuse himself in any way he chooses – but to put such a screeching, hate-filled bigot in charge of keeping our schools safe? What’s next? Pornographers in charge of career counseling for young girls?

People have a right to enslave themselves to their lusts; to be depraved in all sorts of ways…but they have no right to bring their sewer in to our society and force us to call it good. This nation is mostly made up of Christians and was built mostly by the labor of Christians – we have a right to expect that our moral sensibilities be respected, especially in the public school system largely paid for by our tax dollars.

Someone in Obama-land really needs to wake up to the fact that we didn’t elect Obama Emperor last November – he’s a transient leader who’s primary responsibility is to defend us as we are, not impose radical social disintegration on us in service of the comforting lies morally bankrupt people tell each other.

Perhaps because the sun is getting less frisky:

Researchers in the US may have discovered further evidence that the Sun is heading towards an extended period of quiet activity, the like of which has not been seen since the 17th century. The impact this may have on climate is poorly understood but it would be good news for satellite communications, which would continue to avoid the harsher impacts of space weather.

Mostly ignored in the whole global warming debate is that large, hot, yellow thing which hangs in the sky from dawn until dusk. Global warming enthusiasts have launched a host of reasons for rising global temperatures, and even more excuses for why temperatures have been flat or declining for about ten years now – and all these discussions have ignored the sun. Well, the sun is checking in – and after a period of high activity, we’ve been heading in to a period of low activity. Amazing the way that works, huh?

I’ve noted over at NRO’s The Corner that a new phrase has entered the global warming lexicon – “climate stability”, this being coupled with talk of how global warming will have different effects on different parts of the world. In other words, “the weather will be different, but we global warming people will pick and choose out of the daily weather whatever we believe buttresses our case…and anyone who picks out contrary bits of weather will be told that they don’t know the difference between ‘weather’ and ‘climate'”.

UPDATE: Beware of the Branch Carbonians!

UPDATE II: Are the global warming advocates hiding the climate data?

After getting a little insulting with Sarah Palin, shows some class – a rare thing for any sort of MSM outfit, and thus doubly appreciated.

In regard to those school kids being taught to praise Dear Leader Obama in song, the liberal fascist in charge responds:

But officials at the B. Bernice Young Elementary School in Burlington Township, New Jersey, deny the timing had anything to do with politics and said the song was performed back in February.

They said the recording of the class song was ‘not authorised’ and it should never have been put online. (emphasis added)

Get it? They’re not upset that the kids were being propagandised as if this is North Korea – no; they’re upset that the double-plus-ungood happened…that it got out on the internet!

Firing the teachers and administrators involved is only a first step – people need to go to jail over this. Anyone who would even think about doing something like this has, in my view, renounced their American citizenship…no true American is capable of such a servile act.

Can you feel the love?

James T. Jacks, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, and Robert E. Casey, Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Dallas Office of the FBI, announced today that Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Smadi, who was under continuous surveillance by the FBI, was arrested today near Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower located at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas, after he placed an inert/inactive car bomb at the location. Smadi, a Jordanian citizen in the U.S. illegally, lived and worked in Italy, Texas…

…He has repeatedly espoused his desire to commit violent Jihad and has been the focus of an undercover FBI investigation.

Didn’t this guy get the memo? Obama apologised – the Jihadists are supposed to understand that they don’t need to fight us…they can go back to the peaceful ways they had before that Evil, Wicked, Mean President Bush came along and deliberately provoked them…

I need help here, liberals – why isn’t the magic fairy dust of an Obama apology working?

Which isn’t actually news, but its a nice to contrast this with what happened on September 12th in DC:

Police fired canisters of pepper spray and smoke at marchers protesting the Group of 20 summit Thursday after anarchists responded to calls to disperse by rolling trash bins and throwing rocks.

The march turned chaotic at just about the time that President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrived for a meeting with leaders of the world’s major economies.

The clashes began after hundreds of protesters, many advocating against capitalism, tried to march from an outlying neighborhood toward the convention center where the summit is being held.

The protesters banged on drums and chanted “Ain’t no power like the power of the people, ’cause the power of the people don’t stop.”

The marchers included small groups of self-described anarchists, some wearing dark clothes and bandanas and carrying black flags. Others wore helmets and safety goggles.

One banner read, “No borders, no thanks,” another, “No hope in capitalism.” A few minutes into the march, protesters unfurled a large banner reading “NO BAILOUT NO CAPITALISM” with an encircled “A,” a recognized sign of anarchists.

The marchers did not have a permit…

Do note the rather hostile MSM coverage here – now that Obama is President, dissent is no longer the highest form of patriotism. These kooks apparently didn’t get the memo that now all is well in America – with The One in charge, there’s no need to be out there having a riot.

Wonder if any lefties will decry the clear evidence of hatred at these demonstrations? Or is that only a conservative thing?

That’s the way to do it, Barry:

Gordon Brown lurched from being hailed as a global statesman to intense embarrassment tonight, after it emerged US President Barack Obama had turned down no fewer than five requests from Downing Street to hold a bilateral meeting at the United Nations in New York or at the G20 summit starting in Pittsburgh today.

The prime minister, eager to portray himself as a leading player on the international stage in America this week, was also forced to play down suggestions from inside his own party that he might step down early, either due to ill health or deteriorating eyesight.

Let’s see – Brits, mad. Israelis, mad. Poles, mad. Czechs, mad. Hondurans, mad. Chinese, mad. Germans, contemptuous. French, contemptuous. Saudis, contemptuous. Russians, contemptuous. Iranians, contemptuous. Venezuela, contemptuous. Nicaragua, contemptuous. Cuba, contemptuous. Afghans, doubtful. Iraqis, doubtful. Taliban, confident.

Great job, Mr. President. What will you do for an encore?