July 28, 2015 · 11:43 am

The Syrian moderates mirage again

After writing about John McCain and his dubious foreign policy acumen in my previous post, this headline is too delicious for me to resist:

#BringBackOurRebels: Obama’s 50-Man ‘Vetted Moderate’ Syrian Rebel Army Vanishes After Training in Turkey

Patrick Poole over at PJ Media reports on this $500 million dollar “training of vetted Syrian moderates” project, of which John McCain has been the premiere promoter.  Here’s a clue, he rode his “war hero” status in Congress for decades and by virtue of that he’s accorded this deference as an expert on military matters and foreign policy.  This Syrian moderate rebels delusion was fueled by foreign lobbyists, who escorted John McCain to Syria in 2013, where he is pictured with a man who looks like Abu Mosa, later the ISIS press officer.

On that 2013 “fact-finding” trip, McCain was escorted by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a lobbying group for the Syrian resistance.  A young woman, Elizabeth O’Bagy, became the voice of expertise on the disposition of Syrian rebel forces, culminating in her appearance as a subject matter expert from the Institute of the Study of War (ISW).  Dr. O’Bagy was exposed as a fraud, who lied about completing her doctorate work at Georgetown. She was fired from the ISW, but who should ride to her rescue – none other than John McCain, who hired O’Bagy as a legislative assistant.   McCain hired a fraud and if you want to really wade into a murky swamp, just do a few searches on Bryan Preston’s research into Elizabeth O’Bagy’s background, but despite her being exposed as a liar, McCain hired her and bolstered her credibility rather than being wary of her foreign ties and loyalties.  I still want to know who Elizabeth O’Bagy’s foreign contacts are – there’s more lurking there, if that swamp is ever drained.

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July 28, 2015 · 9:30 am

Who is the real maverick?

With Donald Trump my childhood bias against New Yorkers makes it difficult for me to even listen to him, let alone take him seriously as a Presidential candidate.  Growing up in rural northeast PA, an area invaded by discontented city dwellers seeking the quiet bucolic life, yet who upon arrival loudly demanded amenities (city sidewalks and streetlights for example) and vocally attempted to school the PA Dutch rural folks on how things should be done influenced my perception of New Yorkers dramatically..  Being one of those backward PA Dutch hicks, a healthy disdain for loud, brash New Yorkers blossomed.  Of course, there are a few other things, beyond the bad comb-over, that make me wary of  The Donald, like his womanizing ways, which speaks to a character issue that my straitlaced upbringing taught me to view with a jaundiced eye.  Then there’s the over-the-top braggadocio and brash mannerisms, which clash with my view that humility is a virtue to be revered.

Of course, to take on the Washington establishment and our venal mainstream media, it’s unlikely the milquetoast, humble types stand a chance of even getting noticed, let alone feared by the permanent political class or the press and that’s why with The Donald they’re pulling out all the stops to demonize, discredit and derail his presidential campaign.

While I can’t see myself voting for Donald Trump, mostly because I want a CINC with a calmer temperament and less bombast, but that Washington outsider/not-a-politician  attitude appeals to me a great deal.   So far, Carly Fiorina, another successful business person, has captured my interest.  With each interview, she shines brighter and there’s a careful, well-studied manner to the way she artfully handles questions, which speaks to time spent researching the gamut of  subjects she’s been quizzed on.  She can artfully turn gotcha questions right back on the interviewer, she doesn’t wilt under pressure and she doesn’t back down.  Plus, she lacks the theatrical circus atmosphere of the Donald Trump campaign, awash in reality show drama.

One of my favorite analysts, G. Murphy Donovan, a native New Yorker to boot, boldly penned a piece, “Trump’s Trump”, at the The American Thinker today, which pinpointed many of the truths nudging at my consciousness about the relentless charge to annihilate Donald Trump’s presidential campaign quickly:

“In any case, the merits of entrepreneurs like Trump might best be defined by the character or motives of his critics. Trump detractors are for the most part “B” list politicians, ambulance chasers, and a left-leaning Press corps that lionizes the likes of Nina Totenberg, Dan Rather, Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, and Brian Williams.

If the truth were told, most of Trump’s critics are jealous, envious of his wealth -e- and they loath his candor.  Donald might also be hated for what he is not. Trump is not a lawyer, nor is he a career politician who lives on the taxpayer dime. Trump is paying for his own campaign. Bernie, Barack, McCain, and Kerry could take enterprise lessons from a chap like Trump.”

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2015/07/trumps_trump.html#ixzz3hBnnwmAC
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook

Likewise, the GOP establishment roils with anger and dismay that a political outsider is successfully gaining traction without the aid of their political backing, advice, or money.  Therein enters John McCain, the Republican the media rolls out at every turn as the voice of the GOP.  As a frequent critic and definitely not a member of the John McCain fan club, I’ve penned many harsh critiques questioning his foreign policy expertise and his motives.  Here’s my rather prescient view from June 2, 2013, “The GOP policy maverick rides again (unfortunately)”:

“Andrew McCarthy penned a brutally honest assessment of the John McCain Arab democracy projects in a National Review piece, “Syria: John McCain’s Next Libya” (article here).  It’s way past time for the GOP to take away the megaphones from John McCain and Lindsey Graham.  They spend more time being simultaneously for and against issues than John Kerry and that sure takes policy acrobatics to a whole new level.  These two relish all the media attention and they hog the media spotlight to such an extent that President Obama gets a pass on these policy debacles, because Graham and McCain so generously stamp the GOP seal of approval all over these foreign policy disasters.  It seems like only a few upstarts like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have the guts to stand up to these bloviating relics.   The GOP needs an internal rebellion or maybe it’s time for a new party, because the GOP  doesn’t seem to welcome new ideas and their “maverick” should be put out to pasture with his woefully misguided foreign policy adventure notions.”

The GOP’s internal rebellion has come to pass, let us see which maverick rides the winning horse into the sunset.

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July 27, 2015 · 2:07 pm

Zealots

Kathleen Willey, the former volunteer Clinton aide, turned activist to expose Clinton scandals launched a website, a SCANDAL a day, dedicated to keeping people informed of the Clinton lies, scandals and corruption.  Oh, yes, more fodder for the Clinton apologists to whine about a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

For the pundits ready to declare Hillary’s campaign on life support, ready to expire, here’s some advice, she will NOT back down, regardless how dismal her poll numbers.  As long as she has money to campaign, she will fight on.  She believes being the first female President of the United States is her destiny.   She is as convinced of this as David Koresh, the religious zealot, whom refused to surrender to her husband’s ATF, was that he was a prophet.  Yes, she is a megalomaniac, who will stop at nothing to achieve her ends.  The brazen lies, where she comes out over and over and tells more outrageous lies, insisting she is a victim of some vast, right-wing conspiracy, scream out that she’s not just ambitious  – she is a zealot who truly believes.

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July 19, 2015 · 12:30 pm

Patrick Poole schools the media

Once again Patrick Poole at PJ Media gathered all the clues for the hapless mainstream media who somehow can’t seem to find “a motive” for the Islamic terrorist, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez.  Mr. Poole’s:

“Some Helpful Clues for Tennessee Terror Attack Investigators and the Perplexed Media”

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July 19, 2015 · 12:22 pm

Walking the talk

The march to the left continues, so I’m just going to skip along this yellow brick road and toss out links to stories with my political commentary as we go.

There’s been talk swirling of the Obama administration trying to fundamentally transform the demographic make-up of communities across America with some HUD Big Brother plan to use federal grant money to compel communities to comply.  Sounds far-fetched and preposterous, just more of that “Obama the Marxist” crazy talk from those clinging to their guns and religion right wing-nuts:

“Feds accused of pushing ‘utopias’ in wealthy neighborhoods with diversity regs” (FoxNews, June 15, 2015)

“HUD’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing”

“Obama collecting personal data for a secret race database” (New York Post, July 18, 2015)

Just as an aside, the GOP remains lost in a plodding effort to pander to racial and ethnic constituencies, while the Democrats embraced the computer, high-tech new world, where they have stealthily worked to use the executive branch regulatory power to create new bastions of Democratic voters and break-up conservative districts.  They have drilled this down to the lowest level and analyzed this state by state, county by county.

And while they’ve been laying the groundwork for this HUD relocation plan, they’ve already physically relocated large numbers of illegal immigrants.  They’ve used the mainstream media to aid and abet them in the effort to banish the mean “illegal immigrant”  phrase from usage and recast these droves of illegals as “refugees”.

Duping the American public, an easy feat, as most of the American public doesn’t even follow the news, passed unnoticed and served as a crucial building block to get their plan off the ground, because “refugees” fall under the care of the US State Department Resettlement Program.  Refugees can be relocated in any state without any requirement that the State Department even inform the state government.

Demolishing conservative voting blocs and fundamentally transforming American communities to reconstruct carefully calculated Democrat-controlled  districts is what they’re really after.  The GOP doesn’t even have a clue!  They’re still trying to pander to the Hispanic vote and listening to outdated political strategists.  The GOP establishment invested more effort at sabotaging the Tea Party conservative movement than it has to actually studying what the Dem operatives  are implementing.

The GOP abandoned its base long ago, so conservatives  should invest time at trying to understand the far-left’s masterful propaganda and media manipulation in the digital era rather than continue reactionary hysteria.  Ranting that President Obama is a far-left radical, while a true statement, allows the leftist establishment to marginalize and dismiss those on the right who speak out.   The GOP won’t defend conservative values, so conservatives need to learn to organize themselves at the grassroots level, then build a network across America to promote American values.  Positive American messages will gain traction, while political histrionics will continue to alienate.  And at the end of the day, instead of whining, conservatives need to live their values, because nothing speaks louder than walking the talk.

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July 18, 2015 · 10:26 pm

Has the CINC called the families?

The White House narrative on the latest Islamic terrorist attack in America has yet to fully emerge, but the FBI is pulling back from the “terrorism” label, CNN is running a story about “something happened to him over there” and Andrea Mitchell is left grasping at “redneck hunting” as a reason he had guns.  Yes, the mainstream media will follow the administration talking points and wander further afield from the obvious truth, that the shooter, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez was another Islamist terrorist.  Yes, it will be anything, except Islamic terrorism.

Th President visited New York City with his daughters today and the press have been all over that story, but I have yet to find any reporting to indicate that the Commander-in Chief called the families of the 4 Marines and 1 sailor slain in Chattanooga.  Has anyone else seen this reported anywhere?

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July 17, 2015 · 11:38 am

Awaiting the fairy tale White House narrative

So, as we await more damning details on the latest jihadist to attack right here in America, be aware most in the media will play along with the ubiquitous “lone wolf”, ho-hum workplace violence trope and bury facts that don’t play into the evolving Obama administration narrative.   Unlike the white supremacist, druggie, Dylan Roof, whose sins must be born by all white Southerners and their Confederate ancestors, this murderer, Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez, in the Marine slayings yesterday in Chattanooga, TN, won’t bring calls to admit jihadists are inspired by their religion and you won’t hear the words “Islamic terrorism”coming from the mouths of this administration nor most of the media.  All tracks leading to connections to the worldwide jihad will be carefully covered as this White House constructs the official narrative – just remember the Benghazi spontaneous attack over an obscure video explanation.

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July 16, 2015 · 11:24 pm

Bill Whittle explains “gaslighting”

Bill Whittle explains “gaslighting”, which this administration and the GOP insiders in DC practice all the time:

Oh, yeah, and the mainstream media deliberately manipulates you too.

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July 16, 2015 · 4:51 pm

Wolf Blitzer Makes A Fool Of Susan Rice On Iran Funding Terrorists

Wolf Blitzer Makes A Fool Of Susan Rice On Iran Funding Terrorists.

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July 16, 2015 · 7:54 am

A gloomy 2016 picture

Predictions on politics have a shorter shelf life than seafood, where often within hours a poor choice of words, a photo disaster or a gotcha media moment topples the top contender and clears a path for another to race ahead.  That said, here’s my impressions thus far.

My “feelings” so far place Bernie Sanders 15 minutes of fame amongst the far-left fringes and major malcontents on the left as a boon to Hillary Clinton.  Yes, his brand of leftist moonbeam socialism will doom him in the Democratic primary and clear the path for Hillary, unless some unforeseen scandal from her past derails her or she self-destructs from her pathological penchant for mendacity.  Of course, with the amount of money and media manipulators on staff, she can rest easy that barring a scandal from her past gaining traction, she still remains the inevitable Democratic nominee.

The GOP on the other hand is positioned to implode, despite the happy talk about how it’s wonderful to have so many great candidates.  The very fact that so many candidates have jumped in speaks to a party that has lost its way.  To highlight how far the party has strayed from its base, Donald Trump’s rise in the polls should clue in even the most short-sighted GOP party hack that they’ve got a huge problem.

For decades, GOP party flacks flapped on and on about how they want to turn the GOP into a big party tent and attract more women and minorities.  The party goes out of its way to appease and play to certain constituencies (especially trying to court the Hispanic vote), but the party routinely betrays its conservative base, in both big ways and small.  Donald Trump, hardly a conservative or even a Republican, daring to speak out against illegal immigration, tapped into a deep-seated well of resentment within the conservative base.  His appeal has everything to do with his challenging the PC orthodoxy rather than the cautious, careful positioning that the other GOP hopefuls continue to engage in.

In the end, Trump seems to me more sideshow than serious contender, but other contenders would do well to pay close attention that they must work hard to earn the trust of large segments of the GOP base by being authentic and honest.  All this parsing and repositioning will doom most of the GOP field.  Let’s hope the field narrows quickly, because with so many candidates and the Donald Trump sideshow, no GOP candidates are gaining the national name recognition or attention necessary to build support within the GOP, let alone among enough independents to win.

Amidst the littered GOP field, the Democrats, even with the Queen of Mendacity as their candidate, have a much easier path to the White House.

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