does obama think the U.S. is the problem?

"The administration does not like to use hurtful words to our enemies. Our friends are another matter. Compare the treatment Great Britain, Honduras, and Israel have received with the walking on eggshells approach to our foes. Early on, the administration jettisoned the term "Global War on Terror" in favor of a catch phrase only a bureaucrat could have coined -- "overseas contingency operations." The word "terrorism" was similarly airbrushed from official language. Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano prefers the term "man-caused disasters" because "it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear ..." A more anodyne term has now surfaced from a number of officials -- "countering violent extremism."

These euphemisms betray a weak-mindedness about foreign policy the likes of which we have not seen since Jimmy Carter warned us about our "inordinate fear of communism." This attention to softening our image arises from the leftist conviction that strife and trouble in the world are the result of U.S. bullying and bravado, or can at least be diminished by American meekness. This is such an ingrained worldview that nothing as mundane as experience can shake it. Thus we have the spectacle of Barack Obama, repeatedly rebuffed in the most graphic terms by Iran's ruling gangsters, nevertheless persisting in seeking engagement."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/04/10/what_the_euphemisms_tell_us_105104.html

gasoline prices hit $9/gallon in the UK

where do you think all this "free" healthcare and "free" education comes from? by the way, last time I checked, canadians were paying $6-7/gallon. moral of the story: there's no such thing as a "free" lunch.

http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/168128

al-qaeda vows to bomb world cup

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2926941/Al-Qaeda-threaten-to-bomb-the-World-Cup.html

mourning: Poland's president and wife among at least 88 dead in plane crash

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1264964/BREAKING-NEWS-Plane-carrying-Polish-president-crashes-Russia.html

representation without taxation

"Let’s explore the idea as a thought experiment. If taxation without representation was an outrage that sparked the Revolution, why is representation without taxation acceptable? It’s logical to suggest that only those who pay for government benefits should have a vote in selecting our representatives. Allowing net tax consumers to vote seems like an inherently dangerous practice, given their numbers – we’ve reached the point where 47% of American households pay no income tax – and their strong motivation to support politicians who promise endlessly increasing benefits. When politicians loaded with vast public funds to purchase votes meet up with a population eager to sell its votes for benefits, a grim marketplace will inevitably develop.

This is a formula not only guaranteed, but designed, to produce an unsustainable entitlement state. The high-rolling politician secures victory by defeating the productive, and creating a dependency class large enough to smother taxpayer revolts at the ballot box. Restricting the vote to those who pay into the system would break this fiscal short circuit. It would also tend to cut down on voter fraud, since the IRS puts a great deal of effort into tracking people who owe taxes.

Social Security, Medicare, and now ObamaCare will swell to consume the entire federal budget, along with much of the wealth produced by the entire planet, within the next two decades. That’s the fearful nature of the deficit tornado spinning over Washington D.C. Charity for the destitute is not unsustainable, even when it’s pumped through the corrupt and wasteful digestive system of the federal government."

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/04/09/representation-without-taxation/

nuclear posturing, obama style

"Apart from being morally bizarre, the Obama policy is strategically loopy. Does anyone believe that North Korea or Iran will be more persuaded to abjure nuclear weapons because they could then carry out a biological or chemical attack on the U.S. without fear of nuclear retaliation?

The naivete is stunning. Similarly the Obama pledge to forswear development of any new nuclear warheads, indeed, to permit no replacement of aging nuclear components without the authorization of the president himself. This under the theory that our moral example will move other countries to eschew nukes.

On the contrary. The last quarter-century -- the time of greatest superpower nuclear arms reduction -- is precisely when Iran and North Korea went hellbent into the development of nuclear weapons.

Seeing America retreat, they will rethink. And some will arm. There is no greater spur to hyper-proliferation than the furling of the American nuclear umbrella."

http://townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2010/04/09/nuclear_posturing,_obama-style?page=full&comments=true

obama to voters: big govt. is "necessary"

this is hilarious:

"Look, I don't want government any more than is necessary," Obama told voters at a town hall in North Carolina last week.

He noted there's a limit to what private companies can do, and it doesn't include building roads or paying for public defense.

"That's where government comes in," he said."

hmm..last time i checked, the government was bailing out the banks, taking over the auto-industry, owning 60% of privately owned CITI group, nationalizing the student loans program, socializing health-care, redistributing wealth, and bankrupting America.

http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2010/04/09/obama_reminding_voters_government_not_all_bad

"social justice" is an oxymoron

"Phrases such as "social justice," "political justice," and "economic justice" have a certain egalitarian connotation -- which is why they are so often used as the justification for more and more big government programs. It's clever wordplay, for we all believe in "liberty and justice for all." But isn't justice about righting wrongs?

"Social justice" posits a false political premise: that the economic condition of "poverty" is an inherent societal injustice perpetrated by the inequities of capitalism against an entire social strata of innocent victims, depriving them of fundamental economic entitlements and securities -- a civil rights issue -- which further contends that the only just remedy is the redistribution of wealth to achieve societal equality.

If "fairness" is misunderstood to be the forced equalityof resultant circumstances or outcomes, then life obviously isn't fair, nor ever could be: That's why bras and jockstraps come in different sizes. Individuals will always have innate physical, intellectual, and psychological differences that affect their lot in life. Everyone's life experiences differ, from when and where one is born, to how someone is raised, schooling (or not), culture and customs, achievements and failures, everything. Besides, failure is one of life's greatest teachers, and without its sting of accountability, all achievement would be meaningless."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/the_liberty_to_achieve.html

gotta love howard dean

he admits that obamacare is just another lefty policy of wealth redistribution. the openness is refreshing. the policy is disastrous.

government is the biggest lawbreaker

"Measured just by the number of victims, there is no close second place to government as the biggest lawbreaker. Measured in terms of impact, government lawbreaking is disabling our entire society.

When government breaks the law, not just individuals, but entire industries are often the direct victims. Government lawbreakers, however, are not subject to the same standards as are individuals. Government lawbreakers have become arrogant, and government lawbreaking has therefore proliferated. If government were held to the same standards of legal sanctions for individuals, the weight of those punishments would actually crush government."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/government_is_the_biggest_lawb.html

the greatest political war obama never expected

"So it is today in the United States of America. We have a president and a party (infested with a cabal of heathen leftists) whose grand design is to bloat the state and, hence, their power. But the left's smart plans have come athwart something, that something being the freedom-loving intransience of God-fearing conservatives and many other Americans (God-fearing as well). What Barack Obama and the left have gotten is what they never expected: a political war -- perhaps one on an epic scale that will bring down the House of FDR.

Liberty-loving Americans need to keep the fight up not just to November, but well past it. Victory comes to those who weather adversities and persevere. American patriots propose not just to secure recently imperiled liberties but to eventually restore the liberties lost to the statists over the last eight decades. Let us pray that God disposes well of the patriots' intentions."

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/04/the_great_political_war_obama.html

individual liberty is a diminishing commodity these days.

clever.

http://article.nationalreview.com/430684/there-oughta-be-a-law/shannen-w-coffin

victor davis hanson: a man of genius

"All this is not to say that statism did not make advances. By 2008, almost 40 percent of the population was either entirely, or in large part, dependent on some sort of government handout, entitlement, or redistributive check. The size of government, the annual deficit, and the aggregate debt continued — no matter who was president — to reach unprecedented highs.

Nonetheless, until now we had not in the postwar era seen a true man of the Left who was committed to changing America into a truly liberal state. Indeed, had Barack Obama run on the agenda he actually implemented during his first year in office — “Elect me and I shall appoint worthies like Craig Becker, Anita Dunn, and Van Jones; stimulate the economy through a $1.7-trillion annual deficit; take over health care, the auto industry, student loans, and insurance; push for amnesty for illegal aliens and cap-and-trade; and reach out to Iran, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela” — he would have been laughed out of Iowa.

It was not his agenda but his carefully crafted pseudo-centrism that got Obama elected — that, and a dismal McCain campaign, weariness over the Iraq War, a rare orphaned election without any incumbent candidate, the September 2008 meltdown, and the novelty of the nation’s first serious African-American presidential candidacy."

http://article.nationalreview.com/430623/our-american-catharsis/victor-davis-hanson

if (when) we europeanize, europe is in trouble

"By now you may have heard: America is on its way to becoming another European country.

Now, by that I do not mean that we’re moving our tectonic plate off the coast of France or anything, but rather that a century-long dream of American progressives is finally looking like it might become a reality. The recently passed health-care legislation is the cornerstone of the Europeanization of America. And to pay for it, the White House is now floating the idea of imposing a value-added tax (VAT) like the ones they have throughout most of Europe.

Europe is a free-rider. It can only afford to be Europe because we can afford to be America."

http://article.nationalreview.com/430816/if-we-europeanize-europe-is-in-trouble/jonah-goldberg

it's time to reform the tax system

"According to the Tax Foundation, this year the top 10 percent of earners are on the hook for about 73 percent of all the income taxes collected by Washington.

On the flip side, nearly 50 percent of households -- because they don't make enough or they have various deductions -- do not pay any income tax whatsoever. (Your payroll taxes "fund" your own stake in Social Security and Medicare.)

If there's a smoother way to spread the wealth, I'd love to hear about it. But if government is a force of righteousness -- a wondrous $3 trillion gift that saves lives and imbues America with hope -- why is it that so many of its citizens aren't fully invested in the magic?"

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/04/09/glory_to_the_taxpayer_105109.html

supreme court justice john paul stevens (90) to retire

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR2010040902312_pf.html

time for a 180, america

"In order to be a more perfect union in today’s environment we need to be more aware. Without awareness there can be no subsequent resulting action as citizens. Trying to evaluate legislation and governmental action without a knowledge of the Constitution is a lot like sitting in the passenger seat as the driver moves ahead in the dark - without headlights. An enlightened people were the hope and the

engine of our new Republic in the 18th century. It is no different today."

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/04/07/janine-turner-constitution-federalist-papers-read-founding-fathers/

obama to appear on American Idol

you've got to be kidding me..

http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/04/08/obamas-to-appear-on-american-idol/

netanyahu cancels trip to obama's nuclear summit

"Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed power in the Middle East but has never confirmed or denied that it possesses atomic weapons. It has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, or NPT."

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE6372DV20100409?feedType=RSS&feedName=egyptNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FAfricaEgyptNews+(News+%2F+Africa+%2F+Egypt+News)&sp=true

cheney: obama putting america on a 'path to decline'

"Cheney told the roughly 3,500 conservative activists and donors gathered for the conference that there are three prongs to the president's foreign policy: "apologize for America, abandon our allies and appease our enemies."

"Cheney criticized the administration for expressing concerns about Afghan president Hamid Karzai, and not categorically casting the Afghan leader as an ally. The posture, she said, marked a "dangerous and juvenile display."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002093-503544.html