Coffee Creates Focus...In The Wrong Places

So when I show up to a coffee place and they ask for a name, I usually say Spartacus.  Mostly I am hoping when they call the name and I stand up or step forward and say I am Spartacus, someone else will, or multiple other people will.  So far, no luck.

However, the Washington Post thinks the goings on of a Starbucks is important.  After all, it is located in the Central Intelligence Agency.

The article goes into the in depth quandaries of doing background checks on the Starbucks employees, the fact that receipts record the store number as number one, and that customers don't offer up a name, not even fake ones as I do.

My whole issue with all this is not who or how the CIA conducts operations in its own Starbucks.  It can even recruit people to the Osama bin Laden Capture team for all I care, but what I do care about is the Washington Post's abject failure as a news organization.

Their coverage of the IRS and Benghazi scandals has been pitiful - acting more like a mouthpiece for the Administration than a member of the Fourth Estate.  Even now, when Obama's popularity numbers are sagging, they feel it their responsibility to focus on coffee's ability to focus CIA employees rather than is the Administration focused on the threats America faces.

In case you missed it in the news, this Administration appears to have used the IRS to target groups it disagreed with politically.  This Administration refused to protect its own overseas employees in an attack on the American consulate in Benghazi and woops, in case anybody forgets, the CIA under this Administration has missed the growing presence of ISIS as a force.

I keep hearing how print media is going the way of the dinosaur and I keep wondering if they aren't hastening their own exit.  They are creating the situations for why more than half of people don't want to read them.  They are slanted propaganda pieces, not independent voices in the political arena.  I apologize if I am ranting about a newspaper's misplaced focus, but I understand why they are dying off.  In the meantime, I need a cup of coffee.

Foreign Policy Freefall

 Free fall.  That was the description that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers used when commenting on the President's foreign policy.  Senator McCain (his 2008 opponent) was hardly kinder when he said President Obama was in denial or overwhelmed.  Perhaps the most damning criticism though came from Senator Diane Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman, who said Obama was "too cautious" when dealing with ISIS.

These statements by senior Congressional leadership are a bipartisan slamming of President Obama's hopes and dreams that the world will magically right itself.  Mr. Obama seems to have missed the boat when it comes to the fact that Hitler did not accidentally commit suicide after trying to take over the world.  It happened because thousands of lives confronted evil directly.

Mr. Obama seems to think the Cold War just had a course, like the arc of a pendulum, and eventually everything would be good again.  He gives no credit to the Reagan peace through strength initiatives and instead gives away American technology to those who would harm us with it.

The mainstream media gives Mr. Obama tons of credit for the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, but was this really that amazing a feat?  Even Bill Clinton considered a strike on bin Laden, but chose against it because of the possibility of local civilian casualties.  Whether or not those stories are true or not, in the post 9/11 world, who would not have been willing to launch an attack against bin Laden?

The point is Mr. Obama has again and again missed the mark on foreign policy issues except pulling the proverbial trigger on Osama bin Laden. That is it.  Otherwise his foreign policy appears disconnected and ineffective.

Senator Robert Mendez noted that in Ukraine the Russians were carrying out an invasion.  Rogers echoed those comments noting that the Russians weren't on a "sight seeing tour."

President Obama threw down the gauntlet against Syria with respect to the use of chemical weapons and they crossed the line.  Obama did nothing showing his lack of self respect and losing respect across the world, but worse was the initial line as it appears Basher al-Assad is the safer bet in Syria.

It appears the President has zero plan for what to do with the Israeli-Gaza conflict that is now in a cease fire after it appears Hamas has run out of rockets.

The President and his team have completely underestimated  the intensity of ISIS and because of their immigration strategy has no idea if they are streaming across the southern US border.  Even David Cameron has said he needs a new law allowing police to seize the passport of ISIS fighters.

Meanwhile the President plays golf.  I hope for his sake, his putts sink as well as his foreign policy positions.  I just hope the country does not follow suit.

Unexceptional Leadership...Isn't

"Good" news for President Obama.  Recent polling indicates his foreign policy approval rating is only four points worse than his approval rating for how he handles the economy.

The bad news is his approval rating on the economy is at 39.4%.  Ouch!  Foreign policy approval is 35.3%.  That isn't an approval...that is the percentage likelihood that Tony Romo makes it through all sixteen games of the season.  These numbers are not even anemic because they represent the fact that at least some Democrats now realize that President Obama is wrong on issues affecting two core issues to every American: our world standing and our pocketbook.

At the same time his best friends for the past six years, the Washington Post, admits that the recent gaffe at his press conference stings because it fits into people's preexisting suspicions.  I remember Lyn Nofziger referred to the Reagan administration as not amateurs, but novice amateurs.  Well if Ronald Reagan and Company were novice amateurs who the Hell are these kids?

I am not sure, but even the Washington Post Editorial Board took the President to task for the whiplash he must be causing foreign leaders when they hear one thing from his United Nations Ambassador and then hear him contradict her.

The Editorial Board remarks about his comments on both Ukraine and ISIS as well as the abosolute lack of exceptionalism shown by this administration.  This is the bad parent who continually says no instead of offering options.  Instead of speaking about America's greatness and ability to do things, the world seems to have escaped his charm.

Barak Obama keeps talking about American shortcomings.  He has encourages the fires around the world that now burn and no one is to blame for this but himself.  Finally, the media seems willing to explain to this President that unexceptional leadership...isn't leadership at all.  Unfortunately the message will not get out until the next President arrives to put out the fires this guy started.

The Citizenship Of Workplace Violence

The Army psychiatrist, Nidal Hasan, accused and convicted of the "workplace violence" murders of thirteen employees by the US Govenment has now asked to become a citizen of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

At the time, many were outraged that Hasan's crimes would be considered an act of workplace violence instead of the terrorism they clearly were.  the US government demurred and chose to not admit this was another act of terrorism on US soil or they would have had to offer up Purple Hearts to those wounded by this act of terrorism.

While the US Department of Homeland Security continues to worry about the domestic terrorism that Christian conservatives who want to practice their faith might bring, they are actively missing acts of domestic terrorism being committed by persons like Mr. Hasan or the Americans who have died and who continue to fight overseas for ISIS.

It might seem that our work is only beginning when it comes to terrorism.

Vacation

Various news reports have President Obama leaving for vacation in Martha's Vineyard for the next few weeks, but the real question we should be asking is: Hasn't he been on vacation?

While the President leaves town to play golf with NFL stars and other friends, seven year old jihadis are posing on Twitter with the severed heads of their enemies.

Should we then be surprised that Hillary Clinton, trying to feather her
own nest is already slamming her former boss as weak on foreign policy - when she led the State Department.  It would make for great daytime television drama if the soap opera weren't so real.  Meanwhile her leadership style appears to be to check poll numbers and stick her finger to the wind hoping for providence.

The fact is that neither one of these amateurs has any idea what goes on in the real world outside their dense little circles of friends and sycophants who tell them what they want to hear.

While it has become common practice to simply blame Bush for any problems Mr. Obama has had to face, he has now owned the office for six years.  Is he that helpless that he still blames his predecessor?  What is interesting is how calm, cool, and collected President Bush has been on all these attacks.  While I still find him to the wrong President who vastly increased the police state that is the US, he looks like a monk in comparison to Mr. Obama.  Moreover, it has been Obama that has destroyed the US military, not a foreign foe, but its own leader that makes it less likely to be able to confront attacks in the world.

Perhaps Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton are hoping you will not notice as things continue to spiral out of control, but it spiraled out of control on their respective watches.  Perhaps they hope that you will be too ensconced in your NFL schedule or holiday shopping.  Maybe they are hoping you are too busy making ends meet to notice the trail of disaster they have left behind.  Hopefully though voters will remember that while the world burns these two enjoy their vacations from the limelight.

Harming The Truth

I am amazed by the anti-Semitic behavior I see being displayed on television.  Nearly everyone seems mad at the Jews.  How dare they unleash their weapons upon the people of Gaza?  While I agree there is a crisis in Gaza, it is not because of Israeli aggression, but rather their own ineptitude.

Who leads Gaza.  Hamas.  Who are they?  They are a terrorist organization who have an express goal of eliminating Israel. Hardly a conversation starter for neighboring countries.  Can you imagine Canada being led by a political party that says we want to destroy the United States?

People will claim that this is because of Israel's blockade of Gaza, but here too we need a quick history lesson.  In 2005 when the Israelis left Gaza, they did so leaving 3000 greenhouses from which the new occupants might have grown food and spices for export to the rest of the world.  Instead they chose to loot and destroy the gift left behind from those who offered an olive branch of peace.

When did the blockade begin of Gaza?  Not until Gaza showed that they would rather import concrete to build tunnels into Israel, rather than housing and hospitals for their people.   While the world complains about Israel targeting Alawda Biscuit and Ice Cream Factory, the El Majd Industrial and Trading Corporation, and other private sector companies I heard gross silence from both the world and the US President when it came to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of three Jewish teenagers which started the current conflict.

It is interesting to question economic development in Gaza because while most families subsist on dollars a day, the leadership is living large.  Prior to his death, Forbes Magazine, suggested Yasser Arafat might be worth $300 M himself though Israeli intelligence suspected more than a billion.  Which number is really less important than the idea that these "freedom fighters" are in dire straights because their leadership hoards money for themselves while hiding in reinforced bunkers.  At the same time they send out the children of those making roughly $3000 US per annum and ask them to stay at the sites where they launch rockets from knowing a response will be coming shortly.

The Gaza military strategy is the same and is summed up by Prime Minister Netanyahu when he said "We are using missile defense to protect out civilians, and they're using civilian to protect their missiles."

No one should kid themselves.  This conflict is about Hamas' desire to elimenate Israel.  They know they can not do it militarily so are choosing to put their citizens - the ones they victimize - into harm's way.  A nation who does this must have some reason and the only strateguc reason must be to garner international support and stoke anti-Semitic feelings around the world.

What is sad is that despite previous offers of friendship and help, it was Hamas who said no to the Egyptian cease fire proposal.  Israel was in.  While Hamas has had previous offers of economic assistance it chose to focus on how to smuggle rather than how to succeed.  Instead of building infrastructure, it chose to build tunnels into Israel for the purposes of kidnapping and murder.  It endangers citizens rather than protect them.

When we do not admit these things or force the world to recognize the truth, we harm it ourselves.

Where's The Danger?

In 2010, Vice President Biden said that Iraq would be one of the Obama Administration's great accomplishments because of the safety it had created and that the warlords who had fought for hundreds of years would be happy partners who would give up their weapons to settle things around a meal.  (I guess Vice President Biden was also doing the polling for the Eric Cantor campaign too.)

While we have dithered as the international dilettantes this Administration has proven to be, Iraq has been overrun by Islamic militants who are returning sharia law to the land and doing so in force.

Meanwhile where is America?  America is busy re-patriating Islamic militants to the region in exchange for a would be deserter.  Mrs. Clinton said there was no danger to America.  I wonder what America she is talking about.  The one where she says people do not need identification to vote, but do require identification to buy her book and have it signed or the one where Americans had to be evacuated from Iraq.

What is sad is this did not have to happen, but again the dillentant President created this course.  He slammed his predecessor's victories in the region and now faces a worst case scenario where Iraq's police and soldiers lie on the side of the road decapitated.  These are the peace loving people that Obama has again and again sided up with in his foreign policy plans for the region.

The question will come up, why should I care?  It's Iraqis killing Iraqis, but this type of rage doesn't quietly subside.  It will go on and on until this rebellion is put down.  the danger is real and is facing us.

Mrs. Clinton in a recent interview said there was no danger to America.  She is wrong.  The danger is clear to many of us that it is in The White House.  The danger is in Massapequa, or whereever Mrs. Clinton calls home these days.  The danger is close to home.  The danger is thousands of miles away too, but the danger is here.  It is amongst people who put politics above policy where the danger is and 2014 looks to show us this in all too real images.

Perspective

Happy Donut Day folks.  That's right...somehow today is Donut Day.

How did this happen?  Let's face it, Donut Day is a holiday honoring the overweight, morally bankrupt children of the men who stormed Normandy, France all of those seventy years ago.


Somewhere along the way we have lost our way.  Then we were a nation that would face down evil.  As the world sat on its hands all those years ago and watched the systematic extermination of Jews, gypsies, poles, and other "inferior" races the German high command found unacceptable, America and England finally stood up under the leadership of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt.

They stood up against a regime of oppression.

I hate to question some of our Hallmark and promotional holidays, but what gives?  I realize it is the first Friday in June, but boys and girls in marketing you should have thought this one through a little better.  That means it is possible to interact with this day every few years.

I wonder how many donuts the GIs had as they stormed off their amphibious assault ships to face down German MG42s and Panzershrecks.  Today is the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, not Donut Day.  Today is a day to find an elderly veteran and buy him a cup of coffee (if he will take it) and say thank you, not fill your stomach with fat, sugary dough.

Feel Safe Yet?

Maybe no one told me, but when did America begin negotiating with terrorists?

Okay, I know the answer is since forever.  Regardless of claim it certainly happened during Iran-Contra when Oliver North & Co. decided they would be better off doing their own thing negotiating with moderates to get back American hostages.  While it is well know I love Reagan as a President, that was certainly a blemish on his administration.

Worse, a major difference between then and now is it appears Bowe Bergdahl is less a hostage than a willing participant.

Sgt. Josh Korder, described Bergdahl "at best a deserter..." and according to the Daily Mail may have taught Taliban fighters ambush and bomb making skills.  I am not sure they needed this information as among the five who are leaving US custody include Mullah Mohammad Fazi, the Taliban Army Chief of Staff, and Mullah Norullah Noori, a senior Taliban commander, both of whom are wanted by the United Nations for war crimes.  Given the Obama administration's reluctance towards unilateral action I am shocked that if these men were to be turned over to anyone it would not be the UN.

The move is not only creating a groundswell of discontent amongst the American public, but is also fueling anger in Afghanistan where it is believed these terrorists will return home to attack the government there once American leaves.

Another concerning development is the tweet since deleted by Robert Bergdahl which makes it look like America is ready to free those prisoners that attacked American pre and post 9/11.

If you think your flights will be safer or your freedoms more secure with these fellas on the street, you are hallucinating.  America is in greater danger now than ever before and the dilettante American President has put us there.