4th of July Bombshell: Sarah Palin to Resign as Alaska Governor July 26

Does this signal readiness for a run in 2012?




More to come... stay tuned!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

photo by Mike's America

I'm so thankful I was born here!

You know how some people celebrate Christmas in July. I like to celebrate Thanksgiving on the 4th of July.

It's a day to be truly thankful to be an American. It's such an amazing country that millions around the world will stake everything they have to get here and enjoy the same freedom that those of us who were born here enjoy every day. Some new arrivals may think we take our freedom for granted (read the story of one first generation American who thanks his mother for coming here). Well, that may be true for some Americans (and we know who we are talking about don't we?) but it's not true for me.

Today is a celebration of Thanksgiving for being so fortunate to live in one of the greatest nations that ever blessed the surface of the earth.

It's a day to be proud of our accomplisments, our history and the hard won freedom that made it all possible.

Celebrate with music

Two favorites here: Lee Greenwoods "Proud to be an American" and the US Air Force Band's jazz version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic." If you are done with loud sounds for the day and ready to mellow out, how about the USAF Band's instrumental version of "America the Beautiful?"




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More links to patriotic music downloads at the bottom of this post.

Contrasting Demonstrations in Honduras: Violent Communists for Dictatorship vs. Peaceful Democracy

Guess which side Obama is on?

Citizens of the small Central American country Honduras are getting tired of the bad rap they have taken by removing their President before he could declare a dicatorship. They've taken to the streets for the past few days eager to send us all a message about what is really happening.

A pictorial of their demonstrations contrasts with the image of communist inspired violence in the streets:

People demonstrate against ousted president Manuel Zelaya and in demand of peace and democracy, at Morazan Square in central Tegucigalpa, on June 30, 2009. Tensions were running high in Honduras Tuesday with new street protests planned as deposed Zelaya vowed to return only days after being ousted in an army-backed coup.

Supporters of ousted Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya hold up placards during a march in downtown Tegucigalpa July 1, 2009.

A man holds a banner during a demonstration against ousted president Manuel Zelaya and in demand of peace and democracy, at Morazan Square in central Tegucigalpa, on June 30, 2009.

The poster reads, "Yes to democracy, not to dictatorship of Chavez".

A woman holds a sign reading: "We are happy Mel. Do not come back."

Contrast the above with this:

A demonstrator throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes between supporters of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and armed forces in Tegucigalpa on June 29, 2009.

And if you want to know who is behind the violence, here's a clue:

A demonstrator holds a banner of the late Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara during a show of support for ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya outside the Ministry of Foreign Relations in San Jose July 1, 2009.

Yep, the same old communist evil that has been directly responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands and the oppression of millions more thoughout Latin America.

Unemployment Continues to Skyrocket as Obama's Stimulus Plan Fails

Remember the CBO warning that Obama's plan was worse than doing nothing? They were right!

Thursday news that employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent.


I've updated this chart:

The original chart (minus the actual unemployment figures in red) is from the Obama's transition team and was used as a scare tactic to insist that disaster would fall on us if we didn't agree to Obama's spending spree.

Reminder: All of the economic forecasts, budget projections and deficit outlooks are based on rosy assumptions by the Obama economic team that have now been proven to be completely false! That means things are likely to be even worse than we originally feared!

Promises, Promises

Obama announces his position on taxing health benefits is "evolving."Those making $250,000 or less are about to see their taxes go up... AGAIN!

Throughout the campaign, then Senator Obama delivered a variation of this pledge:

"I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes." --Barack Obama

I've been watching a historical drama of the years Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain led Britain to the threshold of disaster in the late 1930's. At one point, Neville is pressed on a pledge he made to repair Britain's defenses. He responds: "A pledge doesn't mean it's forever."

Months ago, most of us learned that the promises Barack Obama made as a candidate were never intended as solemn vows. More like campaign slogans that can be discarded as readily as an American flag at an Obama rally. At the beginning of April President Obama signed the bill which was the single largest increase in tobacco taxes in history. That tax mostly impacted the poor and black Americans who are more likely to smoke.

Obama often signals his intention to abandon another campaign pledge by suggesting his stance on an issue is evolving. That language is being used again in the discussion over taxing health care benefits and also mandating same style health plans for everyone (something candidate Obama opposed).

At Wednesday's Obama campaign rally Town Hall meeting on health care, Obama managed to skewer both promises in a single answer. A new personal best!

Read carefully:

Q: Rob on Twitter said, "Does it really make sense, Mr. President, to tax me on my health care coverage?"

OBAMA: let me describe for you how this argument has evolved and where I've stood on it in the past and what's being debated in Congress.
...
Now, nobody at this point is -- or not many folks are talking about taxing benefits or completely eliminating the exclusion. What they are calling for now in Congress is to cap the exclusion so that people who have very high-priced health care, at a certain point they can only get a deduction up to a certain point, right? So let's say that the average health care cost for families -- a good health care plan costs $13,000. What they would say is the employer and the employee get an exclusion up to $13,000, but if you get some Cadillac plan that costs $17,000, then what we're going to do is you're going to have to pay taxes on that last $4,000. And the idea that is being debated in Congress right now is, is that a good way to ensure that people don't have these big Cadillac plans but instead have more sensible plans?

Now, I don't think -- and by the way, that also raises some money. So this has been offered as an alternative way to pay for that extra one-third of health care that we're not able to pay for through simply reallocating money.

I think the better way to do it remains the proposal I have to cap itemized deductions. I think that is a way that we can ensure that people who currently have health care aren't suddenly seeing the costs go up to pay for other people's costs going down, but instead everybody's costs can go down effectively.

In between all the usual Obama doublespeak one clear message rings out: TAXES WILL GO UP! And if you think only the rich will be paying higher taxes, think again.

Yes, think again next time you walk into a dark room and turn on the lights or start your car. Under the cap and tax energy bill that narrowly passed the House of Representatives last week every American will pay more for energy and every product and service with an energy component (that's everything).

Will Obama be Held Accountable for Breaking His Pledge?

Readers old enough to remember will recall how the first President Bush paid dearly for breaking his "read my lips, no new taxes" pledge. Will Obama be held to the same standard? Unlikely. With most Americans seemingly more interested in the latest celebrity tragedy than with how much Democrats are stealing from their pockets, any political points on this issue made by Republicans is likely to be ignored.

Still, there remain enough mushy middle ground voters of above average intelligence who are beginning to realize this isn't the "hope and change" they voted for. And if we keep pounding the drum, those numbers will continue to grow.

Keep pounding the drum!

Whose Side is Obama On?

He joins Castro and Chavez in criticizing the overthrow of looming dictatorship in Honduras!

Mata covered the Honduras story here. We had another dictator for life, in the mold of Castro and Venezuela's Chavez seeking to turn that small country into another tinpot dictatorship. The Army, the courts and the Congress acted and tossed the bum out.

And yet, Obama, who refuses to meddle when people in Iran are dying in the streets is peddle to the meddle to join some of the worst violators of human rights in the Western hemisphere in condemning Honduras.

The cartoon above says it all. And this also, by way of Gateway Pundit:

Gingrich: Obama sides with Castro and Chavez on Honduras
by Michael O'Brien
The Hill
June 30, 2009

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused President Obama of siding with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez when it comes to the recent coup in Honduras.

Gingrich blasted Obama for opposing the coup in Honduras, which the former GOP leader insisted would have left in place a "leftist dictatorship."

Gingrich tweeted Tuesday:

Sadly the obama administration has joined castro and chavez attacking honduran supreme court and congress for defending their constitution

Having castro call for defending democracy should convince any reasonable person that honduras was on the edge of a leftist dictatorship.

Honduras: Ousted President Caught in "Naked Power Grab"

Nothing so shocking about this coup
BY GLENN GARVIN
Miami Herald
June 30, 2009

...For weeks, Zelaya -- an erratic leftist who styles himself after his good pal Hugo Chávez of Venezuela -- has been engaged in a naked and illegal power grab, trying to rewrite the Honduran constitution to allow him to run for reelection in November.

First Zelaya scheduled a national vote on a constitutional convention. After the Honduran supreme court ruled that only the country's congress could call such an election, Zelaya ordered the army to help him stage it anyway. (It would be ''non-binding,'' he said.) When the head of the armed forces, acting on orders from the supreme court, refused, Zelaya fired him, then led a mob to break into a military base where the ballots were stored.

His actions have been repudiated by the country's supreme court, its congress, its attorney-general, its chief human-rights advocate, all its major churches, its main business association, his own political party (which recently began debating an inquiry into Zelaya's sanity) and most Hondurans: Recent polls have shown his approval rating down below 30 percent.

In fact, about the only people who didn't condemn Zelaya's political gangsterism were the foreign leaders and diplomats who now primly lecture Hondurans about the importance of constitutional law. They're also strangely silent about the vicious stream of threats against Honduras spewing from Chávez since Zelaya was deposed.

Just another example of Obama cozying up to America's sworn enemies while dissing our friends and the ideals of American exceptionalism!

Norm Coleman Concedes to Fraud King Al Franken in MN Senate Election

Now that the cheaters have succeeded in such a blatant way, what future election will be free and fair?

GOP's Coleman concedes, sending Franken to Senate
By BRIAN BAKST
Associated PressJune 30, 2009

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republican Norm Coleman has conceded to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota's contested Senate race, ending a nearly eight-month recount and court fight. Coleman conceded at a news conference in St. Paul, a few hours after a unanimous Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian and liberal commentator should be certified the winner.

Franken's presence in the Senate would give the Democrats control of 60 seats, enough to overcome any Republican filibuster if they stay united.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the earliest Franken would be seated is next week, because the Senate is out of session for the July 4 holiday.

Democrats now have one more clown in the U.S. Senate. You would think they had enough already!

Supreme Court Overturns Sotormayor: Sides with Firefighters

Apparently, not enough justices on the court who decide their cases on the basis of race!

Court rules for white firefighters over promotions
By MARK SHERMAN
The Associated Press
Monday, June 29, 2009 11:19 AM

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Obama Playing Monopoly with OUR Money!

It's a game where we all lose!



Full size graphic here.

Narrow House Vote Approves Massive Energy Tax Increase for "Global Warming"

Vote was 219 For 219 Against (Roll Call). 8 Republicans voted For and 2 Did not vote. Enough to have made the difference.

Republicans who voted For:

• Mary Bono Mack, CA-45
• Mike Castle, DE
• Mark Steven Kirk, IL-10
• Leonard Lance, NJ-7
• Frank LoBiondo, NJ-2
• John McHugh, NY-23
• Dave Reichert, WA-8
• Chris Smit, NJ-4

If you are a constituent of any of the above, you may wish to express your displeasure at their voting for a bill that will do nothing to prevent climate change but will saddle American's with thousands more in tax increases and job losses. Contact links for each member are available on their web page linked above.

Not Voting were:

• Jeff Flake, AZ-6
• John Sullivan OK-1

Constitutents of Jeff Flake may wish to inquire why he was not able to vote today. Cong. Sullivan was on one month's leave for treatment of an alcohol addiction. It's interesting to note that Cong. Patrick Kennedy (D-MA) was taken out of alcohol rehab for the purposes of voting. Dems apparently felt passing this bill was more important, or perhaps more doable, than sobering up a Kennedy.

300 Page Amendment to 1200 Page Bill Added at 3:09AM

House GOP Leader John Boehner (OH) describes the rush Democrats imposed on consideration of this bill so that few would have the chance to read it and object:

Dems had 30 years to write this bill, but left only hours to read it or debate it.

Graphic from House Leader Boehner's blog shows complexity of Democrat bill:

Congressional ACORN Corruption Probe Disbanded by "Powers that Be"

If you are a friend of President Obama you need have no fear of a corruption probe!

Here's another in what is fast becoming a series of moves designed to further shield Obama allies from any accountability before the law:

Conyers backs off probe of ACORN
Says 'powers that be' ended plans for hearings on group
By S.A. Miller
Washington Times
June 26, 2009

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. has backed off his plan to investigate purported wrongdoing by the liberal activist group ACORN, saying "powers that be" put the kibosh on the idea.

Mr. Conyers, Michigan Democrat, earlier bucked his party leaders by calling for hearings on accusations the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) has committed crimes ranging from voter fraud to a mob-style "protection" racket.

"The powers that be decided against it," Mr. Conyers told The Washington Times as he left the House chambers Wednesday.

The chairman declined to elaborate, shrugging off questions about who told him how to run his committee and give the Democrat-allied group a pass.
...

Pittsburgh lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh, whose testimony about ACORN at a March 19 hearing on voting issues prompted Mr. Conyers to call for a probe, said she was perplexed by Mr. Conyers' explanation for his change of heart.

"If the chair of the Judiciary Committee cannot hold a hearing if he wants to, [then] who are the powers that he is beholden to?" she said. "Is it the leadership, is it the White House, is it contributors? Who is 'the power'?"
...

Capitol Hill had bristled at the prospect of hearings because it threatened to rekindle criticism of the financial ties and close cooperation between President Obama's campaign and ACORN and its sister organizations Citizens Services Inc. and Project Vote.

The groups came under fire during the campaign after probes into suspected voter fraud in a series of presidential battleground states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Mexico and Nevada.

ACORN and its affiliates are currently the target of at least 14 lawsuits related to voter fraud in the 2008 election and a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act complaint filed by former ACORN members.
...

Ms. Heidelbaugh, who spearheaded an unsuccessful lawsuit last year to stop ACORN's Pennsylvania voter-registration drive, testified in March that the nonprofit group was violating tax, campaign-finance and other laws by, among other things, sharing with the Barack Obama campaign a list of the Democrat's maxed-out campaign donors so ACORN could use it to solicit them for a get-out-the-vote drive.

ACORN also provided liberal causes with protest-for-hire services and coerced donations from targets of demonstrations through a shakedown it called the "muscle for the money" program, said Ms. Heidelbaugh, a member of the executive board of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Mr. Conyers, a fierce partisan known for his drive to continue investigating President George W. Bush's administration, had been an unlikely champion for opponents of ACORN.

The culture of corruption within the Democrat Party is alive and well and there is no check and balance that can stop it!

Global Warming Bill Voting Today in House of Representatives

CLOSE VOTE: CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!
Red State has the list of Reps who are on the fence!

Plus: New bombshell EPA report, doubting science, censored!

The House of Representatives is holding a series of votes on the 1300 page+ cap and tax bill today. It's doubtful that more than a handful of members have actually read the bill.

But with absolute certainty we know the following:

• There is no one who can honestly guarantee that if this bill passes it will make the slightest difference to the world's ever changing climate.
• It will however, be one of the most massive tax increases in history and will tax American families thousands or more per year.
• For every green job created, many more jobs will be lost as the increase in production costs of American goods drive customers overseas where competitors do not have such burdensome costs and regulations.

Want more proof that the global warming debate is a fraud? Read on....

EPA Tries to Silence EPA Expert on Global Warming

In May we learned of an Office of Management and Budget report which cast doubt on the assumptions underlying the global warming fanatics drive to control our lives. Today, we learn that an EPA official with extensive knowledge of the science of global warming was being censored for speaking out.

Here's the gist of the story:

Source inside EPA confirms claims of science being ignored, suppressed, by top EPA management
By Thomas Fuller
San Francisco Examiner
June 25, 2009

Source inside the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed many of the claims made by analyst Alan Carlin, the economist/physicist who yesterday went public with accusations that science was being ignored in evaluating the danger of CO2.

The source, who chooses not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said that Carlin was rebuffed in his attempt to introduce scientific evidence that does not accord with the EPA's view of global warming, which largely relies on IPCC reports. The source also saw Carlin's report and said that it was 'based on 8 points of peer-reviewed, recent and relevant scientific publications' that cast doubt on the wisdom of regulating CO2 as a pollutant.

The EPA's draft Endangerment Finding was initially written over a year ago during the Bush administration, and Lisa Jackson (the new head of the EPA) and her team wanted to get the Finding out on or near Earth Day, according to a schedule that was made public about a week before formal publication of the proposal. The draft was submitted to agency workgroups with only one week for review and comment, which is unprecedented, and received only light comments--except for Carlin's.

Alan Carlin, who had hosted a series of seminars featuring peer-reviewed scientists who disagree with the IPCC reports (but were unattended by members of the workgroup developing the Endangerment Finding) went public...via the Competitive Enterprise Institute after realising that there would be no debate about the science. The lectures by the scientists are available on the EPA website, but were not even mentioned in the Finding. Carlin was advised to get an attorney--and has since been reassigned to mundane work.
...
EPA may not have the expertise to evaluate many of the comments, as they are more charged with dealing with the effects of global warming through regulation rather than determining the true nature of the cause. Our source says members of the workgroup complained to other EPA staff that they don't understand these issues, much less how to relate the scientific studies identified in Carlin's report to the IPCC report.

Here is the PDF of the report by Alan Carlin.

Preface: We have become increasingly concerned that EPA and many other agencies and countries have paid too little attention to the scinece of global warming. EPOA and others have tended to accept the findings reached by outside groups., particularly the IPCC and the CCSP as being correct without a careful and recritical examination of their conclusions and documentation.
...
We do not maintain that we or anyone else have all the answered needed to take action now. ... we believe our concerns and reservations are sufficiently imporatnt to warrant a serious review of the science by EPA before any attempt is made to reach conclusions on this subject.

The report goes on to highlight the major differences which exist in the science of this issue.

Here is the email by the EPA official in charge, who declined to submit Carlin's comments for further review stating:

“The time for such discussion of fundamental issues has passed for
this round. The administrator and the administration has decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision.
…
I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and
that would be a very negative impact on our office.”
--Al McGartland, Office Director of EPA’s National Center for
Environmental Economics, March 17, 2009

It's become increasingly clear that the science on climate change is not "settled" as the fanatics like to suggest. It is also clear that no one can make a legitimate claim that the fantastically expensive and economically disruptive legislation currently before congress will make the slightest difference in our climate.

What is clear is that the climate change bill is riding on the back of a fraud and that it's real agenda is another massive power and money grab by the socialists in power who need more funds for their political indoctrination programs.

Obama Health Care Plan Not the Gold Standard He Promised in Campaign?

If not, then why does the current bill exempt Members of Congress?

"If you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance Members of Congress get for themselves."
--Barack Obama, "Closing Argument" speech, Canton, Ohio, October 26, 2008

In a rare moment during last night's Democrat Party health care infomercial on ABC, President Obama was challenged by Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center. Dr. Devinsky asked if Obama's wife or one of his daughters was sick and the plan the President proposed limited tests and treatments, would Obama "potentially sacrifice the health of your family for the greater good of insuring millions, or would you do everything you possibly could as a father and husband to get the best health care and outcome for your family?"

The short answer (something that is difficult for Obama) is no. He would do whatever it takes.

But the question itself stems from a faulty premise. Neither Obama, nor members of Congress will have to face the difficult choices of Obama-Care. Page 114, line 22 of the Kennedy-Dodd "Affordable Health Choices Act" bill (PDF) clearly exempts members of congress and federal employees and their families. They will continue to be covered by what many regard as the Gold Standard for health care at your expense.

Will YOUR Member of Congress Join Obama Care?

Thursday, Rush Limbaugh started a new campaign directed at those members of congress pushing health care reform. He invited his listeners to call or write their Representative and Senators and ask "will you be giving up your federal benefit and joining Obama Care?" If not, then why foist this monstrosity on us?

Unions Exempt from Health Care Taxes

Readers may recall how candidate Obama pounced on John McCain in the presidential election wrongly claiming he would tax health care benefits. Well guess what? Obama may soon be taxing health care benefits. But the bill Democrats are working on exempts Unions, whose health care plans are among the most generous of all (otherwise GM and Chrysler would still be making money).

It appears that the finest health care at an affordable cost will come to Americans, like the auto union, who invested early and often by contributing to the Obama campaign! For the rest of us, get used to standing in line and being told that lifesaving care is unavailable.

Obama's Biggest Problem: He Doesn't Listen!

He talked for 45 minutes during ABC's "Health Care" infomercial!

It's clear to anyone who has ever dozed through an Obama speech that the man likes the sound of his own voice. He's known for rambling, long winded speechifying even in press conferences.

ABC's all Obama all day long extravaganza Wednesday was no different. Obama answered one question from the handpicked crew of supporters attending the Town Hall style event on health care with a vague monologue that went on for four minutes and thirty three seconds. No doubt leaving many viewers scrambling for the remote or praying for a commercial break.

It's also noteworthy that nowhere in what was billed as a "dialogue" on health care did Obama face any Republican critics. Even critical advertising was banned.

Obama possesses the rare gift of being able to say so much and so little all at the same time. The only question is: when will voters decide they've heard too much?

How Long 'til the Nightmare is Over?

Here's a nifty counter that you can use to count down to liberation day!





I found it at Conservative Gal's Twitter blog.

Lefties Attack Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) with Comic Book

They have to use a reading format easy for their voters to understand!

Like Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Congresswoman Michelle Bachman of Minnesota is a rising star in the GOP. And like Gov. Palin, she's attractive, she's smart, she's conservative and she's a Christian. Therefore, the left must destroy her.

Jump starting that effort in a way that is easy for left wing zealots to understand, a bunch of loons in Minnesota have published a comic book called "False Witness."

Cover is below. Page images can be found here.

What is it about strong, conservative women that threatens these little lefties so much?

Blast From Russian Pacific Volcano Punches Hole in Clouds

Photo from the International Space Station!

Full size image here.

One giant belch likely emitting more CO2 into the atmosphere than all the cars on earth do in one year!

More photos and full story here.

SC Gov. Mark Sanford Admits Affair

And resigns as Chair of the Republican Governor's Association.

As a native of South Carolina, I was disappointed to learn the news that our Governor, Mark Sanford, admitted to having an affair with a woman in Argentina. I wasn't a big supporter of his so it's not a personal disappointment but it does remove the likelihood that his strong conservative voice will be heard on the national stage in the run up to the 2012 election.

And while he mislead state officials as to his whereabouts in a bizarre weeklong story, there is no indication now that he asked any officials to lie on his behalf. Also, in comparison with the multiple scandals of then President Bill Clinton, Sanford never lied under oath to a federal judge.

We Republicans always hold our elected officials to a higher standard so Sanford's career in national politics is either terminated or put in the deep freeze.
It's unclear whether Sanford will stay as Governor in a term set to expire in 2010.

Not that this episode will set any kind of example to Democrats. They'd still vote for a child molester if he had a (D) after his name. One thing this sad news illustrates is that Republicans have high standards for their leaders while Democrats have none!

Obama O.K. With Inviting Murderers to 4th of July Weenie Roast

Signals Iranian govt. officials are welcome at embassy parties!

In the face of the violence in Iran, a strong American President, a real leader, would take some concrete action to match his outrage over Iran's behavior.

A weak President, would do this:

No discussion of sanctions with our allies. No U.N. resolution condemning Iran. Nothing at all but empty words. Oh, and Iranian government officials are still welcome at our 4th of July BBQ.

How do you want your burger cooked Mahmoud?

UPDATE: No Iranians have RSVP'd so Obama has withdrawn the invite. Instead of withdrawing the invite because of the violence. WEAK!

Obama Press Conference: He's Waiting to See How Iran Crisis "Plays Out"

A leader leads. Obama is a follower!

From today's press conference:

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Your administration has said that the offer to talk to Iran's leaders remains open. Can you say if that's still so even with all the violence that has been committed by the government against the peaceful protesters? And if it is, is there any red line that your administration won't cross where that offer will be shut off?

OBAMA: Well, obviously what's happened in Iran is profound, and we're still waiting to see how it plays itself out. My position coming into this office has been that the United States has core national security interests in making sure that Iran doesn't possess a nuclear weapon and it stops exporting terrorism outside of its borders.

We have provided a path whereby Iran can reach out to the international community, engage, and become a part of international norms. It is up to them to make a decision as to whether they choose that path. What we've been saying over the last several days, the last couple of weeks, obviously is not encouraging in terms of the path that this regime may choose to take. And the fact that they are now in the midst of an extraordinary debate taking place in Iran, you know, may end up coloring how they respond to the international community as a whole.

We are going to monitor and see how this plays itself out before we make any judgments about how we proceed. But to reiterate, there is a path available to Iran in which their sovereignty is respected, their traditions, their culture, their faith is respected, but one in which they are part of a larger community that has responsibilities and operates according to norms and international rules that are universal.

We don't know how they're going to respond yet, and that's what we're waiting to see.

QUESTION: So should there be consequences for what's happened so far?

OBAMA: I think that the international community is, as I said before, bearing witness to what's taking place. And the Iranian government should understand that how they handle the dissent within their own country, generated indigenously, internally, from the Iranian people, will help shape the tone, not only for Iran's future, but also its relationship to other countries.

Basically, what he is saying with the repeated statement of seeing "how this plays out" is that he is neutral in the battle between good and evil being waged in the streets of Tehran and he'll work with whomever wins. The best opportunity to replace the evil regime that is directly responsible for much of the terrorism and bloodshed the world has experienced in the last 3o years is floating slowly past us as we watch the horror on the streets of Tehran go unchallenged by the President of the United States.

American leadership at critical moments has achieved great progress in human history. Unfortunately, the world now sees a President who does not share the vision of American exceptionalism which led to so many advances in world peace and prosperity in earlier years.

Meanwhile, Obama's State Department has invited Iranian diplomats to 4th of July parties at our embassies worldwide for the first time in many years!

I hereby apologize to the world, and especially to the Iranian people for the weak and passive response by this President of the United States! You are on your own. Obama doesn't care!