Hey, It’s November!

Mark Noonan6 Comments

And that means just about a year from now we elect Obama’s replacement. Quite honestly, none of the people running can in any conceivable circumstances be worse than Obama. And, yes, this includes Hillary – she’s corrupt and rather stupid, but I don’t think she’ll do as horrific damage as Obama has done. Of course, we’re talking someone who is 95% as bad as Obama…so, better to go with Jindal, or Cruz, or Rubio.

Still, it is a relief that we are getting to the end of Obama. Well, not the total end – he’s rather young still and we’ll have him around to expound on American life and politics for decades. But at least the pen and phone will be taken away. He’ll only be able to say asinine things – he won’t be able to do them any longer.

As an aside, Rubio won the backing of a bazillionaire who donates to GOP causes…and, of course, pro-immigration causes, because that is what our bazillionaires do. It’d be better for Rubio, I think, if he declined the assist. Let Hillary and the Democrats get money from fabulously rich people – we really don’t need it.

As another aside, for some reason illegal immigrants have got the idea that they are free to enter the US at will – and will be provided benefits when they arrive. I can’t imagine where they picked up that idea.

A bit of a Global Warming Climate Change update – turns out that Antarctic ice mass isn’t actually declining. There are 6.36 million cubic miles of ice in Antarctica; the average thickness of the sheet is 6,500 feet (that is well more than a mile, folks) – we’re going to have to warm up more than a degree or two by 2100 to make a real dent in that.

From the Never Give Up files – Warmists are saying it will be too hot to work because of Global Warming Climate Change.

Democrat Attorney General of Pennsylvania is charged with a bunch of criminal counts. The MSM will ignore this local crime story.

You might recall that Obama promised us that he wouldn’t have US boots on the ground in Syria. That promise has reached its expiration date. We’re sending 60 troops – which is enough for us to get some people killed, but not enough to actually change the situation. This is the Obama Doctrine in a nutshell.

Now they are saying that bacon increases your risk of cancer – this is utter nonsense. Just another silly scare-story. Here’s the deal, folks: you can’t get out of life alive. Eat what you like – but in moderation.

The Obama Legacy

Cluster24 Comments

I can’t imagine Obama’s legacy will be too kind to him from his apocalyptic foreign policy, to his destruction of the health care industry, to his mishandling of the economy, and to his divisive nature, there will be many issues facing the next POTUS. Ironically, Obama was quick to blame Bush for everything he inherited and considering the massive number of problems that will confront the next President, I can only imagine the field day the next President could have in blaming Obama. Personally, though I hope the next GOP President will quietly take on the issues in a workman like manner and put Obama in the rear view mirror as I am sure this country is eager to do.

Of all the destruction Obama will leave in his wake however, the destruction of his own party could possibly be the most damaging legacy and could leave the Democrats in a political wasteland for years. Consider this, in 2009 the Democrats had full control 27 State legislatures yet today they control the legislatures in just 11 States, the lowest number since 1978. On the other hand, in 2009 Republicans controlled just 11 State legislatures yet today that number is 30. In addition, the Republicans control the majority of Governorships with 31 including the very blue states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Maryland. The GOP’s State game plan has been far superior then the DNC’s and the 2010 and 2014 election results are proof that the conservative message is resonating at the State level. Part of the GOP plan was to recruit women with their GROW (Growing Republican Opportunities for Women), a successful effort that resulted in many new women being elected including the youngest ever elected Congresswoman in Rep. Elise Stefanik.

At the Federal level, the GOP occupies more seats now in the House than they ever have, and in 2014 took over the Senate thanks in large part to Harry Reid and his tyrannical grip on power. The 2016 POTUS candidate field is a good example of what has transpired over the last several years. On the DNC side we see aging, career bureaucratic politicians campaigning on the same old stale and failed socialist economic ideas and still trying to advance a social agenda that has resulted in riots, rancor and discord throughout the country. On the GOP side, we see a diverse cross section of America from young to old, from politicos to outsiders, and all inclusive of men, women, Hispanic, Black and White, offering ideas that cross the spectrum. Once the next GOP President is elected, they will begin to work with a GOP led Congress and a majority of GOP led States to restore America’s capitalist economy and leadership in the world while the Democrats start to pick up the pieces of a broken party and a failed ideology.

Out and About on a Sunday

Mark Noonan18 Comments

A few recent polls show Trump fading in Iowa and Carson surging – which makes sense just on the fact that Carson is a much better fit than Trump for the highly socially conservative Iowa GOP. Be that as it may, Trump is for real. I thought he was a joke candidate. Then I thought he was a candidate surging because of the fury the GOP base has against the GOP establishment. But now it is different – and watching Trump on the trail reveals a man who is a quick learner. He still has massive obstacles to overcome to attain the nomination, but he’s starting to look like a political tsunami…something akin to the way Andrew Jackson came out of nowhere to completely overturn the political establishment in 1828 (and he’s also quite a lot like Jackson – supremely self-confident and determined to have his way, without too much concern about the legal and social niceties). In all the good and bad you can have in a President, the best good is a quick learner…because there is always a learning curve and the best pick it up fast (Obama, like Carter, has not learned a thing – likely because, also like Carter, he doesn’t think he has anything to learn). It remains to be seen if he can navigate his way to the nomination and then to the White House…if he does, the crucial aspect of whether he’ll be a good President is that ability to learn…and if he’s really smart, he’ll learn that the only way an Executive gets the government to do anything is to ceaselessly pester it with Presidential directives (Churchill was one of the few who knew this – and all his “pray give me the facts on one sheet of paper” and “action this day” memos were his way of just giving the bureaucracy no rest until they darned will did what he wanted them to do). The bottom line here is that if the establishment or even insurgents like Cruz want to beat Trump, then they’re going to have to out-campaign him. I don’t think he’ll implode for our entertainment at this point.

The Japanese have a hotel staffed by robots. A look at the future, folks – we’re not replicating ourselves and so we’re building a completely artificial world. Hopefully, this is only a temporary thing and we’ll snap out of it soon.

Climate alarmism – it is designed to scare you into compliance.

Why would Orthodox Russia ally with Islamist Iran? Because they both need oil to be north of $100 a barrel. Please note that China would not be pleased with oil that pricey – if we had anyone in DC with any diplomatic ability, at all, we’d be making hay with this situation. Bismarck said that success comes with hearing the hoof beats of history and grabbing hold of the tail as it goes by…unfortunately, our foreign policy is run by faculty lounge pinheads.

Tony Blair, in what I suspect is an attempt to placate the left in a bid to save Labour from a drubbing next election due to their kook-left party leader, has apologized for the Iraq war.

The prospect of Ryan becoming Speaker is actually a signal that the GOP is uniting. Don’t pop too many bottles of champagne, folks, but it is the way it is working. I see it as this: the TEA Party and the Establishment are getting on the same team. This means we’ll have to put up with some RINOism, and they’ll have to put up with some actual conservatism. This is the way it works, folks – always has and always will. Half a loaf is better than none.

The Aftermath

Cluster18 Comments

Hillary Clinton is a documented liar. That fact was well established yesterday if it hadn’t already been engraved in stone. Back in 1996 William Safire labeled Hillary a congenital liar as a result of recollections of events regarding the Rose Law Firm, Whitewater, Travelgate and of course her mastery of commodity purchases in cattle futures. Hillary will say anything, to any audience, using any accent necessary to pander to that particular group, and her seething hatred of all things Republican was again on full display. She has no principles, no morals, no compassion, no integrity, no decency and considering her reputation as one of the most publicly cheated on woman in the history of marriage infidelity, it can easily be argued that she has no self respect. And this is who the Democrats offer up as their candidate for POTUS. So what did we learn yesterday:

  • In 2012, Amb. Stevens sent 600 cables requesting increased security, none of which landed on the desk of Hillary Clinton, nor were any brought to her attention. However, every email sent by Sid Blumenthal did reach her, and were responded to.
  • As the attack was unfolding, Hillary established the video narrative despite emailing her family shortly thereafter wherein she correctly identified the attack as a terrorist attack. Four days later, she again lied as she looked the parents of the victims in the eyes and promised to punish the producer of the video.
  • Following the attack, Hillary sent Susan Rice out to lie to the American public, and then proceeded over the next 3 years to lie, spin, deflect, hide and erase relevant emails and information. She was not at all forth coming with information and in fact did have highly sensitive information on an unprotected server.

When questioned about the 600 cables from Amb. Stevens, Hillary said that she couldn’t be bothered with the numerous security requests the State Dept. receives and that those requests were the responsibility of the “security professionals”. So let’s review, Hillary sends an Ambassador into a dangerous country in which the leadership was recently toppled by a coalition brought together by Hillary Clinton and of which she gladly took credit for, and then proceeds to ignore those requests for additional security and admittedly has little to no direct contact with that Ambassador. That alone is a dereliction of duty that she should have been fired for, but to me the most important and disturbing aspect to Benghazi is Sid Blumenthal. Here is a guy that was forbidden to be hired by the President, was paid for by the Clinton Foundation and who was on the ground in Libya with direct access to Hillary providing her with intel and advice. This was a man who had no security clearance or position within the government who was directly influencing American foreign policy without any direct knowledge of the President as admitted by Hillary. I only wish the panel would have dug into the reason why Blumenthal was there. In my opinion, I believe the Clinton’s and Blumenthal saw a huge financial opportunity to partner with the new Libyan government, therefore Ghadaffi had to go. Not because he was an imminent threat to America, which was the standard for Iraq, but because the Clinton’s saw a big financial upside.

The Beghazi tragedy not only disqualifies Hillary as a POTUS candidate, it seriously brings into question her standing as a human being.

S.A.F.E.

Cluster17 Comments

Coming to a State near you:

The SAFE (“Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement”) Act was presented to the New York State Senate and passed into law in 15 minutes.  No debate was allowed, and senators did not have time to read the bill before voting it into law.

The SAFE Act is a complete ban on the sale or transfer of all military-style semi-automatic rifles manufactured within the past several decades.  It is a total ban on the AR-15, AK-47, M-14/M-1a, HK G3, Steyr AUG, and many other civilian copies of military firearms.  Prior to the passage of the law, Gov. Cuomo publicly stated that he was considering “confiscation” of existing rifles, but the final version of the law allowed existing owners to keep their rifles as long as they registered them with the State.  Upon the death of the owner, the rifle will be confiscated; it cannot be transferred to an heir within New York State.

Like most, if not all liberal policies, this too will accomplish nothing. I heard the other night that guns purchased at gun shows accounted for less than 1/2% of all gun crime, but that doesn’t stop liberals from using gun shows as the example of our “out of control” gun culture. The Democratic Party must be stopped if America is to continue it’s rich history.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/10/court_decision_paves_the_way_for_australianstyle_gun_ban.html

Weekend Open Thread – Gross Negligence Version

Cluster32 Comments

Democrats are desperately trying to paint Hillary’s server debacle as simply a partisan attack with no “there there” following Kevin McCarthy’s comment, but the FBI has another term for it – Gross Negligence, which carries a possible ten year sentence and there is no doubt that she is guilty:

Under 18 USC 793 subsection F, the information does not have to be classified to count as a violation. The intelligence source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity citing the sensitivity of the ongoing probe, said the subsection requires the “lawful possession” of national defense information by a security clearance holder who “through gross negligence,” such as the use of an unsecure computer network, permits the material to be removed or abstracted from its proper, secure location.

Through deleting emails after being notified to turn over her server, to allowing her attorney, without security clearance, to have a flash drive of those sensitive emails, Hillary has violated federal law through those two actions alone. But I think what Hillary is really trying to cover up more than anything else is her communiqué with long time friend Sydney Blumenthal who was on the ground in Libya and allegedly encouraging Hillary to push Obama to move forward and depose Gaddafi. Why? Sydney felt that he could financially benefit from working with the new government in Libya, and if proven to be true, this would be the greatest scandal in American history. At the very least, Hillary helped depose a foreign leader who posed no imminent threat and left the country in complete shambles and a vacuum of which was filled by jihadists. Judgement like that is a complete disqualifier for POTUS.

On another disturbing note, the weakness of Obama continues to make life miserable for people around the world and he could care less. Obama’s indifference to the full out assault on Israeli’s by emboldened Palestinians is shameful and lays to rest the question of whose side Obama is really on. There is no question that through his actions, Obama has turned his back on Israel and has abandoned the long established relationship we have with the Middle East’s only democracy.

These are interesting times and decent civilized people had better wake up, pay attention, and do what is needed to defeat the current assault on democracy, personal freedom, common sense, and civility. And the greatest threat resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Hope and Change

Cluster20 Comments

Last nights Democrat debate was déjà vu all over again. Every issue and position last night was discussed in the same manner, with the same rhetoric as it was 8 years ago, ie; “we need to invest in infrastructure”, “we need to invest in clean energy”, “we need to make the rich pay their fair share”, “millionaires and billionaires are ruining this country”, “republican war on women”, republican obstructionism”, “mass incarceration”, “leading from behind” etc, etc. And then of course we heard the usual populist giveaway ideas; free college tuition, expanded Medicare, and expanded family leave, along with the now obligatory deference to the BLM movement. A couple of my favorite moments was when Hillary said that she walked over to Wall Street and told the investment bankers to “knock it off”, and then when she stated that she didn’t take a position on Keystone, until she did take a position on Keystone. Those are two fine examples of leadership aren’t they?

The Democrats are again running on Hope and Change, and are seemingly prepared to say whatever they have to, too curry favor with whatever audience they are in front of. Not once did we hear specific policy ideas on any pressing issues. Instead we heard nothing more than populist platitudes and empty political rhetoric. Hint to the political class: if you have been working for over 30 years on all of these unresolved problems, it is time to step aside and let someone else give it a try. But of course all Democrats, and most current Republicans, have no interest in resolving problems, preferring instead to keep the wheel barrels of K street cash rolling in, and too keep average Americans at each others throats over divisive issues.

Monday, Monday

Mark Noonan30 Comments

Things are not looking too hot in Syria:

CIA-backed rebels in Syria, who had begun to put serious pressure on President Bashar Assad’s forces, are now under Russian bombardment with little prospect of rescue by their American patrons, U.S. officials say.

Over the past week, Russia has directed parts of its air campaign against U.S.-funded groups and other moderate opposition in a concerted effort to weaken them, the officials say. The Obama administration has few options to defend those it had secretly armed and trained.

The Russians “know their targets, and they have a sophisticated capacity to understand the battlefield situation,” said Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who serves on the House Intelligence Committee and was careful not to confirm a classified program. “They are bombing in locations that are not connected to the Islamic State” group..

If they are really hitting the necessary targets – and I suspect that they are – then we can only assume that our security has been breached. This would come as no surprise as security under the Obama Administration has been notoriously slack. Syria is turning into a geo-political debacle for us.

The LA Times asks if Clinton can change the gun debate. The answer is “no”, but I’m very hopeful that she’ll make this a key element of her campaign. The American people are, if anything, more in favor of the individual right to bear arms than at any time in our nation’s past. I can’t think of anything better for us on the political front than Hillary, desperate to shore up leftwing support, going on a gun control rampage.

Just to set the record straight for any Trump supporters out there – if Trump does emerge as the nominee, then I’ll vote for him. But Trump is flat wrong on eminent domain.

The Libertarian Moment is stated to be over. I’ll state that it never began. I respect my Libertarian-minded fellow conservatives. I fully understand where they are coming from. I agree with them on a lot of issues. But the United States will never be Libertarian – and any desire for it, if pressed too hard, will just backfire. Better to just get with the right balance – the maximum freedom possible consistent with orderly government.

The Carson campaign finds some uses for Hillary’s Hard Choices.

Speaker Ryan?

Mark Noonan14 Comments

Seems that a lot of people want him in the position – and he’s highly reluctant to do it. Partially this would be because as Chairman of Ways and Means, he’s already one of the most powerful people in Washington; another part would be that Speaker is a thankless job…but I think another part of it would be a supreme lack of ambition on the part of the man. And that, in and of itself, commends him highly for the job.

First off, let me say I’m not one of the scorched-earth variety of conservative. I do believe that compromise is necessary to get anything done in DC, unless by some miracle you wind up with the White House and a massive majority in Congress – and everyone is pretty much on the same page. That happens very rarely. Running through the history I can really only think of three times it happened – early in the Civil War when the secession of the South left the GOP is absolute control in DC, and when the Democrats blew out the GOP in the 30’s and 60’s. Other than that, if you want to get things done, you have to offer at least something to the minority party, even if it is in practical terms eye wash.

That said, I do believe that the problem with the Congressional GOP is the fear of a fight on principle. Part of this is, of course, because some of them lack any principles – they are in politics for purely personal ambition and they are only GOP because they wound up living in an area of the country where the GOP is dominant…move some of them to the San Francisco Bay Area and in a week they’d become ultra liberal because that is how you get ahead (and don’t let us kid ourselves – a lot of liberal Democrats are just like that…move them to a GOP area of the country and watch them shift to the right to maintain electoral viability). Another part of it is that a lot of people who go into politics are really small people – pitiable creatures who are kept up awake at night by a hostile leading article in a newspaper; who worry what their perceived betters in the socio-economic food chain might think of them; who’s greatest fear is being found on the “wrong” side of an issue. The combination of this has hamstrung the GOP, especially – because our leaders, unlike the Democrat leaders, are mostly a mixture of the two things – the unprincipled and the afraid. Of course, Democrats do have it easier – the MSM, largely being of the left, shields the Democrat leadership from the fires of public scorn. But even with that advantage, the bottom line is that the Democrat leaders are willing to fight. Say what you will of Reid and Pelosi, they do go to the mat and get down and dirty in the political game…more then willing to take a hit in order to advance the Democrat ball.

These facts are just common to democratic governance – the chances that any particular person entering politics will be a genius along the lines of Lincoln are just as good that any particular person entering music composition will be a Mozart. That is, the chances are just about zero. These people who rule in our name are made of the common clay of humanity – heir to all the follies of humanity. But in the normal run of events, most of the time the people who rise to the top do have something extra…that extra bit of drive or intellect or simple desire to make things work. They are willing to take risks – even risks which can ruin them, if it comes out badly. For some reason or another, since the fall of Gingrich, the Congressional GOP has lacked anyone on top who has that little extra. This is why I welcome this bit of disarray in our ranks – it means that we’re about to shake things up. Now, maybe we roll snake eyes and get even worse leadership…but maybe we get lucky and hit the jackpot.

I don’t know if Ryan is the jackpot – but he’s certainly better than the current crop of leadership, while still retaining that “insider” status which makes him acceptable to the unprincipled and the afraid. And, just perhaps, he’ll be able to craft a strategy to advance our agenda, and prove he has the mettle to stand up to the slings and arrows…making himself the willing target of abuse. I guess we’ll see – if Ryan accepts it, and then if he can do the job.

Wednesday Open Thread

Mark Noonan2 Comments

Been working on a long new article and the thing I use for a brain just isn’t cooperating. So, I’ll just throw up a few links for now.

There’s a company called Glencore. Apparently our crack-jack financial industry has just noticed they have piled up $100 billion in debt which they might not be able to pay. Does the word “Lehman” ring any bells, folks?

Gallup won’t poll during the primaries, and may not poll during the general. Just getting too hard to accurately poll, I guess. Keep that in mind while you watch the polls.

Speaking of which, in swing States 60% think Hillary is untrustworthy – which indicates that as many as 40% of swing State people just haven’t been paying attention.

Ted Cruz neatly rips the Sierra Club to shreds.

We keep hearing about the GOP’s demographic problem – well, the Democrats have one, too.