Back To Bizarro World

If the president really believes his own rhetoric, things are worse than I thought. At yesterday’s “get tough” press conference, President Obama once again exposed the bizarre logic that dominates leftwing thinking and turns reality on its head. Believe it or not, our commander-in-chief actually said, and I quote:

“Finally, some have suggested that the events on Christmas Day should cause us to revisit the decision to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.  …But make no mistake:  We will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al Qaeda.  In fact, that was an explicit rationale for the formation of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.”

Let me see if I understand the president correctly: Because Al Qaeda was using our terrorist detention facility as a recruiting tool, we must shut it down. When did the United States of America start taking orders from Al Qaeda? And is it plausible that some young Yemeni man heard about Guantanamo Bay for the first time and said, “That’s it! I’m going to blow myself up to punish the infidel Americans for locking up Muslims in Cuba”? I don’t think so.

If Guantanamo Bay is such a major cause of terrorism, why does the president think Al Qaeda attacked us on 9/11? There was no GITMO on the day the World Trade Center towers fell. There was no GITMO on the day the towers were first attacked in 1993. There was no GITMO when the USS Cole was bombed in 2000. There was no GITMO when our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were blown up.

If GITMO really is a terrorist recruiting tool, how much sense does it make to relocate our terrorist detention facility to American soil? And if Barack Obama really believes that a terrorist prison creates more terrorists, then what are we supposed to do with them? (I have my own ideas!)

I hate to break it to you, Mr. President, but even if you pad-locked and fumigated GIMTO tomorrow, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula would not abandon its jihad against the West. And shutting GITMO in response to anything Al Qaeda says will only be interpreted by our enemies as weakness on our part and a victory for them. No, Mr. President, the prison is not the problem. Radical Islam is the problem. Stop bowing to our enemies!

Whose Fault?

ABC is reporting that two of the jihadist leaders behind the Northwest Airlines bomb plot were formerly Guantanamo prisoners who were released in November 2007. Before the day is over, Obama operatives and their media allies will be blaming George Bush for the Christmas Day plot.

Nice try – but no sale. During Bush’s second term, every liberal senator including Barack Obama was demanding that Guantanamo prisoners be put on trial or released. Liberal courts sniped at every step the Bush Administration took to deal with the “GITMO” prisoners. The ACLU and big media complained that the prisoners were being denied their rights. Steps taken to get information from the prisoners were condemned as torture. There were more negative stories about the U.S. soldiers guarding these thugs than about the thugs themselves. Liberal Illinois Senator Dick Durbin compared GITMO and our military prisons to a Nazi facility.

In that atmosphere, the Bush Administration started allowing limited releases from GITMO of prisoners they felt were least dangerous. At the same time, President Bush warned that some released prisoners had already gone back to the battlefield against the U.S. We were critical of the releases but also understood that it was a response to liberal pressure.

Now let’s fast forward to today. President Obama took office and his first official act was to sign an order to close GITMO, releasing as many prisoners as possible and bringing the rest to the U.S., where they would be granted all the rights of our Constitution. For the last year, Obama has fought to implement his plan in spite of all the evidence that he will make us less safe by doing so.

Now read this and weep. ABC is reporting that just this weekend the number of prisoners at GITMO dropped to fewer than 200 because President Obama transferred a dozen jihadist suspects to the governments of Yemen, Afghanistan and Somali. Meanwhile, other GITMO prisoners are getting their attorneys for the circus trials that will be held in New York as the result of another Obama decision. Finally it was Barack Obama’s administration that failed to keep an obviously high-risk individual from boarding the Northwest Christmas flight. That failure almost cost hundreds of lives.

The Obama Administration has one tune in its repertoire. It’s called “Blame Bush.” But it won’t fly this time, as we become less safe with each passing day.

Dear Friends,

The Senate Finance Committee will vote TUESDAY and will likely pass its version of ObamaCare complete with the abortion mandate, massive tax increases and the wholesale government takeover of healthcare.

Just one problem…

There is NO real bill in the Finance Committee!

The Finance Committee is working off what is called the “Chairman’s Mark,” which is really just “plain language” notes about the bill! Committee staffers admit that the actual legislative text for the bill hasn’t been written (or at least it hasn’t been released to the public!).

Even worse…

Majority Leader Harry Reid ultimately controls the process in the Senate and our best sources tell us he will push his own version of ObamaCare directly to the floor for a vote!  Once again, we have no idea what that bill actually says. There have been no drafts and it will not be subjected to Committee scrutiny!

It is very likely that the actual text of the Reid bill — the final bill the Senate votes on — will remain hidden until the very last minute. Why?  It’s clear that he doesn’t want the American people to know what is in this healthcare bill!

+ + Tell the Senate: “Show Us The Bill!”

This is political chicanery at its very worst.  Harry Reid knows the American public is not in favor of ObamaCare and its abortion mandate, so he is resorting to HIDING the bill’s content and his plans from citizens like you and me!

And as we learned from his “attach it to an unrelated bill and call the vote at midnight” strategy to pass Hate Crimes legislation, Reid will stop at nothing to please the White House and pass this dangerous, cost-prohibitive bill no matter what Americans think!

I’m asking you to take a stand with me and demand that the Senate SHOW US THE BILL before any further votes on ObamaCare are taken! There are two important ways to take action.

FIRST, fax your Senators and other key Senators and say, ”Show Us The Bill!” Go here to schedule your faxes:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=22163&CID=297&RID=20868001

Of course, if you prefer to send your own faxes, please go here for fax numbers and sample texts for your faxes:

http://www.libertyaction.org/r.asp?U=22164&CID=297&RID=20868001

SECOND, call your two Senators and tell them that they should not vote on ANY health reform bill until they and the American public have had reasonable time to review the ACTUAL LEGISLATIVE TEXT.

Sen. Feinstein          202-224-3841
Sen. Boxer      202-224-3553

Again, we simply MUST see the actual bill, especially when every draft has included provisions that could greatly expand abortion coverage and force you and me to pay for abortions!

Thank you for telling your senators, “Show Us The Bill!”

God bless you,

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

Obama Takes The Prize!

Eyes rolled across America today as the sunrise brought news that our apprentice president had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  Obama’s name is now added to an esteemed list that includes such note-worthies as Jimmy Carter (2002), Kofi Annan (2001) and Yasser Arafat (1994).  (Somehow the Nobel Committee never got around to recognizing the achievements of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul II, who brought down Soviet Communism and peacefully liberated tens of millions of people behind the Iron Curtain.)

All the commentators are suggesting the prize is premature because President Obama hasn’t actually accomplished anything yet to bring about peace.  That view fails to understand the mindset of leftwing elites who run international organizations like the Nobel Committee.  To them, America is the real threat to peace, particularly when we are led by men like Reagan and Bush, confident leaders who believed in American exceptionalism and willing to confront tyranny.

It also sends a message of just how much disdain the European elites have for the rest of us who dare to oppose the president’s appeasement and his socialism. George Bush’s efforts to keep America and the world safe from radical Islamic terrorism – the biggest threat to world peace today – were never deserving of recognition. But by electing Barack Obama, America got it “right,” and the liberal elites want to make sure you understand that fact, so they have bestowed Barack with one of the highest honors the international community can offer.

Today America is led by the “anti-Reagan.”  In his eight-and-a-half months in office, Obama has made apologizing for America a top priority.  He couldn’t find his voice when the Iranian regime crushed skulls.  He tells the United Nations that no country or group of countries can be above anyone else.  He has turned U.S. policy in the Middle East on its head – reaching out to Syria, Iran and Libya while regularly suggesting too many Jews in Jerusalem are the roadblock to peace.  He has dissed our allies, cancelled a defensive missile system and has been silent on human rights abuses in Cuba, Venezuela and around the world.

Just so you know, there were other nominees, including folks like Greg Mortenson, a decorated Army veteran, son of a Lutheran missionary and best-selling author. Mortenson has dedicated more than a decade of his life working in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan building schools and helping to educate tens of thousands of children, especially young girls. You can read more about Greg Mortenson here.

That Mortenson’s incredible record of accomplishment lost out to Obama’s rhetoric is not surprising. If you are a left-wing internationalist who thinks the key to peace is a weaker America willing to take orders from the U.N., who in the world would you give the Nobel Peace Prize to other than Barack Hussein Obama?

I’ve been told by several people that the Iranian’s don’t want us to “intervene”.  My simple answer: you’re stupid.  That’s right, I’m blatantly, publicly saying that.  You will forever be able to quote me on this.  The video below features an Iranian woman who, on the phone, describes vividly a massacre she witnessed and begs CNN (and the U.S.) to “stop this” and to “help the people of Iran”.

Albert Einstein once said, “The world is a dangerous place, not [only] because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”  In my opinion, this includes those who look, notice, mention something, and move on.  The people of Iran don’t just need us to watch and spread the news.  They need us to help them.  Step in and help.  Give them more resources to take their country.

Here’s an excellent quote from the description of the same video:

Just to be clear to all those who say, this does not involve the US. It does!  After the final verdict on the elections by the supreme ruler, he had to say … death to America, death to Israel.  So you see, if they are allowed to kill their own people, they will not stop at anything to try to attack and kill the US!  This is beyond belief!

See, there’s a lot of people saying to Iran, “the world is watching.”  Here’s the problem though: Iranians are watching us.  They’re waiting for us.  They’re watching us bicker and debate about why we shouldn’t “intrude” or “meddle” in, what some people are calling, their revolution.  My guess is that they probably don’t see much ‘hope’ coming from us, especially not coming from the ‘leader of hope’ (I’m talking about Obama, just in case your brain’s running on 56k today).  Stop bickering; stop debating.  People are dieing.  People are being brutally massacred.  And for those who think this whole thing is a hoax… you’re stupid.  Yep, I said it again.  Why would the Iranian government start censoring foreign media, the web, and blocking text services?  To serve their people?  Come on, you’re smarter than that.

Prayers and Lord’s blessings to the Iranian people.

Iranian thug Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just kicked Barack Obama in the political groin. He said the worst thing he could possibly think of to insult Obama — he compared him to George W. Bush. Ouch! That has got to hurt. Obama and his leftwing allies have regularly defamed President Bush and suggested he is responsible for everything from hurricanes to wanton slaughter. To the Obamians, Bush is a war criminal. Obama was going to come into the White House and change America – and the world! The Texas cowboy would be forever forgotten.

Over the last five months, Barack Hussein Obama has made repeated efforts to convince Iran’s leaders that he was ready to do business with them. He sent the Iranian government New Year’s greetings; he apologized for his own country; he sent private “love” letters of respect to the ayatollah. (Maybe that made Mahmoud jealous.) But, alas, it isn’t enough. Barack Obama committed the ultimate sin – he reluctantly said people shouldn’t have their skulls cracked open and be shot simply for wanting basic human rights. Ahmadinejad is now demanding that Obama apologize for sounding like Bush.

It is probably too much to hope that as our apprentice president continues his on-the-job training, he may eventually learn that his own country is not the cause of the world’s woes but is indeed the only thing standing between mankind and another dark age.

- Excerpt from Gary Bauer’s Daily Report (6-25-09)
Sign up for his End of Day Report here.

Slowly Finding His Voice

As you know, we and other conservatives have been urging President Obama to speak up in support of the Iranian people who are daring to oppose the brutal Islamofascist regime that runs their country. Slowly the president is finding his voice, but it’s been a very frustrating exercise — like trying to get a two year-old to eat his vegetables. Meanwhile heads were getting cracked, dissidents were being jailed and innocent bystanders were being shot. Here is an excerpt of the president’s comments today at the White House:

“The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, the beatings and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions… I’ve made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran and is not interfering with Iran’s affairs. …some in the Iranian government, in particular, are … accusing the United States and others in the West of instigating protests over the elections. These accusations are patently false. They’re an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders. …

“In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to peaceful protests of justice. …Above all, we’ve seen courageous women stand up to the brutality and threats, and we’ve experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and extraordinarily painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.”

Much better, Mr. President. Almost Reaganesque.

I was particularly surprised to see the president so forcefully shoot down the accusations of the Iranian regime that we were interfering and instigating the protests. After all, that had been the major excuse that he and so many in the media were offering for his silence – that any critical statements or messages of support would be seized upon by the regime as proof of our “meddling.” It was absurd to begin with (as Brit Hume notes), but the mullahs made the charge anyway. It seems Mr. Obama is no longer worried about “alienating the ayatollah.” Now that he has spoken up and removed his own fig leaf, maybe we can begin to have a real debate about a serious policy toward Iran. (More on that in the next item.)

Many dissidents assumed “Mr. Hope and Change” would be one of their strongest allies. Instead, politicians from the European Union took the lead. When France is a more aggressive advocate for freedom than the United States, the world should be worried. Let’s hope that the president’s statement is not too little, too late. Having received little in the way of encouragement from Washington, while the tyrants in Tehran terrorized their own citizens for days, the protests appear to be waning. I pray that this historic opportunity to break the back of the “axis of evil” and transform a state sponsor of terrorism is not yet lost.

Mohammed to Obama: “We need your help”

This morning I received an email from our friends at National Review that contained an excerpt from a CNN interview with one of the thousands of demonstrators in Tehran. This demonstrator, Mohammed, gives his opinion on what he thinks the United States and the rest of the world should do regarding Iran. Consider this exchange and how it contrasts with President Obama’s desire for dialogue and diplomacy based on “mutual respect”:

MOHAMMED: “Americans, European Union, international community, this government is definitely not elected by the majority of Iranians. So it’s illegal. Do not recognize it. Stop trading with them. Impose much more sanctions against them. My message, to the international community, especially I’m addressing President Obama directly — how can a government that doesn’t recognize its people’s rights and represses them brutally and mercilessly have nuclear activities? This government is a huge threat to global peace. Will a wise man give a sharp dagger to an insane person? We need your help international community. Don’t leave us alone.”

Mohammed gets it. Why is it so hard for our “experts” at the State Department and the White House? Diplomacy and appeasement do not dissuade dictators. President Obama is an impressive orator, but no one — not even Barack Hussein Obama — is going to talk a Holocaust-denying madman out of his desire to “wipe Israel off the map.” Words will not stop his work to destroy the “Great Satan,” which is how the Islamic radicals in Iran refer to the United States. The West must confront the reality that Mohammed is warning against. We need a serious plan of action, not just words. And here too Mohammed has a suggestion:

REPORTER: “Mohammed, what do you think the international community should do besides sanctions?”

MOHAMMED: “This regime is really dependent on importing gasoline. More than 85% of Iran’s gasoline is imported from foreign countries. I think the international communities must sanction exporting gasoline to Iran and that might shut down the government.”
The president should also rescind his invitation for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4th parties at U.S. embassies around the world. Obama dodged a question today about his “hot dog diplomacy” when asked by Fox News reporter Major Garrett if the Iranian government representatives were still welcome. And President Obama should immediately restore the funding that he cut for pro-democracy efforts in Iran.

- Excerpt from Gary Bauer’s Daily Report (6-23-09)
Sign up for his End of Day Report here.

The yearning for freedom continues in Iran, but Barack Hussein Obama remains sphinx-like in his response. He says he is “troubled” by the events the whole world is watching, but he assures everyone he remains committed to “engaging” Ahmadinejad. How about engaging the forces of democracy, Mr. President? How about one sentence from the “Leader of the Free World” urging the Iranian dictatorship to stop shooting, clubbing and arresting dissenters who simply want basic human rights. Unfortunately for those Iranians being shot, clubbed and jailed, Mr. Obama thinks that taking a stand for freedom would be “meddling.”

Has the president noticed that the demonstrators carry signs written in English? Does he realize the significance of Iranians chanting “Death to the Dictator” in our language not Farsi? They are trying to get your attention, Mr. President. They thought “hope and change” included them too. You may feel the constant need to apologize for America, Mr. President, but oppressed people of color around the world still see the country that embarrasses you as their “last best hope.”

The president has a lot on his plate, so I don’t want to be unfair. It takes a lot of hours to bankrupt a nation while running several major industries and getting ready to direct health care and control our climate. He needs to drop something from the “to do” list. Here’s my suggestion: You could stop bashing democracies like Israel, which is on our side, and instead bash tyrants that hate America.

- Excerpt from Gary Bauer’s Daily Report
Sign up for his End of Day Report here.