Obama: The Not-So-Smooth Operator

Obama increasingly comes across as devious and dishonest.

by Peggy Noonan  Wall St Journal

Something's happening to President Obama's relationship with those who are inclined not to like his policies. They are now inclined not to like him. His supporters would say, "Nothing new there," but actually I think there is. I'm referring to the broad, stable, nonradical, non-birther right. Among them the level of dislike for the president has ratcheted up sharply the past few months.

It's not due to the election, and it's not because the Republican candidates are so compelling and making such brilliant cases against him. That, actually, isn't happening.

What is happening is that the president is coming across more and more as a trimmer, as an operator who's not operating in good faith. This is hardening positions and leading to increased political bitterness. And it's his fault, too. As an increase in polarization is a bad thing, it's a big fault.

The shift started on Jan. 20, with the mandate that agencies of the Catholic Church would have to provide birth-control services the church finds morally repugnant. The public reaction? "You're kidding me. That's not just bad judgment and a lack of civic tact, it's not even constitutional!" Faced with the blowback, the president offered a so-called accommodation that even its supporters recognized as devious. Not ill-advised, devious. Then his operatives flooded the airwaves with dishonest—not wrongheaded, dishonest—charges that those who defend the church's religious liberties are trying to take away your contraceptives.

What a sour taste this all left. How shocking it was, including for those in the church who'd been in touch with the administration and were murmuring about having been misled.

Events of just the past 10 days have contributed to the shift. There was the open-mic conversation with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in which Mr. Obama pleaded for "space" and said he will have "more flexibility" in his negotiations once the election is over and those pesky voters have done their thing. On tape it looked so bush-league, so faux-sophisticated. When he knew he'd been caught, the president tried to laugh it off by comically covering a mic in a following meeting. It was all so . . . creepy.

Next, a boy of 17 is shot and killed under disputed and unclear circumstances. The whole issue is racially charged, emotions are high, and the only memorable words from the president's response were, "If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon." At first it seemed OK—not great, but all right—but as the story continued and suddenly there were death threats and tweeted addresses and congressmen in hoodies, it seemed insufficient to the moment. At the end of the day, the public reaction seemed to be: "Hey buddy, we don't need you to personalize what is already too dramatic, it's not about you."

Source and more: Online.WallStJournal

Bombshell Betrayal: Obama Leaks Info to Thwart Israeli Attack

Source and much more at: Atlas Shrugs [HT: Moriah]

The Obama administration is leaking information to pressure Israel not to bomb Iran. Enemy in the White House. Not only is Obama an anti-semite, he is anti-American (anti-freedom.) His islamophiliac polcies compromises American security. Iran is clearly an American threat. They have been at war with us since '79. Israel was willing to do the heavy lifting because our reckless and feckless president was too weak, too compromised. But to betray an ally like this?

Senior US officials tell 'Foreign Policy' "Israelis have bought an airfield and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."

Is it any wonder that 20% of Americans think Obama is Muslim. But their fruits ye shall know him and so we know him.

Obama warns North Korea

Staring into the void ... Barack Obama peers across the demilitarised zone into North Korea after arriving in Seoul for a nuclear security summit. Photo: AFP

SEOUL: The US President, Barack Obama, has warned North Korea that it will achieve nothing with threatening behaviour and risks deepening its isolation if it proceeds with a planned long-range rocket launch.

''North Korea will achieve nothing by threats or provocations,'' Mr Obama said during a news conference yesterday in the South Korean capital, Seoul, where he is attending a nuclear security summit.

Read more: SMH

Korea to Aim Missile at Australia, Obama Threatens Strong Response

• North Korea to test new rocket on April 15 [the 8th day of Pesach]
• Likely to have bigger payload, power
• US warns "aimed toward Australia"

A senior United States official says a long-range missile which North Korea plans to test next month will for the first time be aimed towards South-East Asia and Australia.

See: North Korea to aim missile test at Australia

SEOUL: North Korea will face a "strong response" if it launches a long-range rocket next month despite international calls to desist, a special adviser to US President Barack Obama said on Friday.

"If they go ahead anyway, we will want to work with our allies and partners for a strong response," Gary Samore, arms control coordinator at the National Security Council, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency in an interview.

The North's planned launch sometime between April 12 and 16 will be a key topic on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in Seoul next week.

See: US warns of 'strong response' if North Korea launches rocket

America's Nightmare

Elke's Warning - She was born under Hitler ym''s, raised under the USSR's sovereignty in East Germany, and came to America as a young adult.

''They confiscated our lands... then we had nationalized health care.... [hitler ym''s started that].... no more private businesses.... everything was run by the government...... they confiscated the guns...... that's what happens under communism..... communism is anti-God.... so they took God out...... I see it happening in America..... he's taking over the health care, the banks......  I see it .....'' [Elke]

If you still can't see the similarities between Obama's plans and the above, see last week's post: Obama Preparing for.... Whitehouse releases new Executive Order: National Defense Resources Preparedness - giving them the power to basically do anything they like, and take control of everything and everyone.

Obama Bypasses Congress, Gives $1.5 billion to Muslim Brotherhood

''.... the news breaking now is that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will soon announce that President Obama will “resume funding for Egypt’s military, despite Congressional restrictions and objections from human rights and democracy advocates.”

[Congress had restricted and, in fact, halted military aid to Egypt until and “unless the State Department certifies that Egypt is making progress on basic freedoms and human rights.”]

You can read it all at Breitbart

Obama Preparing for .... ?

Whitehouse releases new Executive Order: National Defense Resources Preparedness - giving them the power to basically do anything they like, and take control of everything and everyone in case of war.

You can read it here: The Whitehouse

"And the king of the north shall again set forth a multitude, greater than the former; and he shall come on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army and with much substance. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south; also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall stumble. And the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mound, and take a well-fortified city; and the arms of the south shall not withstand; and as for his chosen people, there shall be no strength in them to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him; and he shall stand in the beauteous land, and in his hand shall be extermination."

......I heard from Rav Yehuda Sheinfeld Shlit"a and Rav David Hameyahel Shlit"a who explained these verses as referring to a war between Edom and Paras, which is the expected war between the U.S.A. and Iran. The King of the South is Iran, who is in the South, whereas the King of the North is the U.S.A. and Europe who are in the North. [Source: Geula Update: Rav Fish]

Obama: Live Press Conference

President Obama will host a live press conference today at 1:15p.m. [about one hour from time of publishing this post] - 8.15 pm Israeli time

He is expected to discuss the situation in Syria, concerns about Iran's disputed nuclear program and the U.S. economic situation.

Click here for link to listen live:  http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

The Story of Obama and Israel

Barack Obama ran for president as a pro-Israel candidate -- but his record tells a different story.

HT: Israel Matzav

Conspiracy Theory: Obama had Breitbart killed

Andrew Breitbart's untimely death has sparked wild conspiracy theories that the publisher was murdered on the President's orders.

The Conservative blogger, who published the infamous tweets that brought down former Representative Anthony Weiner, died on Thursday after he suddenly collapsed on a sidewalk near his Los Angeles home.

Within hours of his death, the internet was awash with methods and motives invented by conspiracy theorists explaining how and why Obama had the author killed.

The theories are fueled by Breitbart's announcement at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington last month that he had a college video of Obama that that would blow the lid off his presidency.

'[We] are going to vet [Obama] from his college days to show you why racial division and class warfare are central to what hope and change was sold in 2008,' Breitbart told the CPAC, reports Yahoo News.

'The rest of us slept while they plotted, and they plotted, and they plotted.' he added.

Read more: Daily Mail

Obama: New Sanctions on Iran

President Obama slapped new sanctions on Iran Monday, freezing all property of the Central Bank of Iran, other financial institutions, and the central government.

"These actions underscore the administration's resolve to hold the Iranian regime accountable for its failure to meet its international obligations," said a statement from the Treasury Department. "Iran now faces an unprecedented level of pressure due to intensified sanctions applied by the United States and complementary actions by many others around the world.

"The new E.O. issued today re-emphasizes this administration's message to the government of Iran -- it will face ever-increasing economic and diplomatic pressure until it addresses the international community's well-founded and well-documented concerns regarding the nature of its nuclear program."

More at: USA Today

Bibi Willing to Cede Judea and Samaria

A senior political source claims Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is willing to uproot most of Yesha in exchange for Obama's backing.

Arutz Sheva has received an unconfirmed report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to announce a plan to uproot communities and carry out mass evictions in Judea and Samaria.

Due to the political impasse between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu is expected to propose a final status solution that would leave Israel with only the major settlement blocs and eastern Jerusalem.

All Jewish communities outside the major settlement blocs would reportedly face destruction under the plan.

The report follows a report Monday morning in the Hebrew-language Ma'ariv newspaper claiming that Netanyahu has agreed to relinquish sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.

A senior political source told Arutz Sheva that Netanyahu will present the plan to retreat from Judea and Samaria to U.S. President Barack Obama in exchange for the U.S. endorsing the principles Netanyahu laid out in his Bar Ilan speech.

Those principles are:

1. The Palestinians must recognize Israel as the Jewish nation’s state.
2. The treaty must be an end to the conflict.
3. The Arab refugee problem must be solved outside of Israel’s borders.
4. A Palestinian state will have to be demilitarized and a peace treaty must safeguard Israel’s security.
5. The settlement blocs will remain within the State of Israel and Jerusalem will remain its united capital.
6. While Netanyahu did not specifically mention the Jordan Valley in his Bar Ilan speech he did specify Israel would retain the strategically critical region "regardless of whatever final status agreements are made with the PA."

Full article: Israel National News

Obama breaks into song

Well, if he doesn't get to serve a second term as President, he's got a great career as a soul singer....
Obama breaks into song as a tribute to Al Green [video]

US, Israel in open rift over Iran: Big joint military drill cancelled

US-Israeli discord over action against Iran went into overdrive Sunday, Jan. 15 when the White House called off Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint war game the US and Israel have ever staged, ready to go in spring, in reprisal for a comment by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon in an early morning radio interview. He said the United States was hesitant over sanctions against Iran's central bank and oil for fear of a spike in oil prices.

The row between Washington and Jerusalem is now in the open, undoubtedly causing celebration in Tehran.

Nothing was said about the 9,000 US troops who landed in Israeli earlier this month for a lengthy stay. Neither was the forthcoming visit by Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, Thursday mentioned.

Source: Debka

The Obama's [Secret] Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Never one to miss a chance to blog Alice in Wonderland, I couldn't resist this one:

A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.

“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.


The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole.


“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,” the book says.

Read more: NY Post


"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
 "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." 
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. 
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

The Aptly Named George Soros

"Soros' latest Israeli project is a subversive attempt to gain influence and undermine the country"

Read the article at: Soros' Latest Israel Project

Also see:  The Secret Force Behind Obama

Obama the anti-Israel President

Barry learns the lingo

US President Barack Obama has entertained his Australian hosts by trying his hand at the local lingo at an official dinner.

Mr Obama told of speaking to American troops in Afghanistan who were mystified as to why their Australian counterparts were always talking about cheese.

It transpired the Aussies were just greeting them with "Cheers''.

"We may not always speak the same way or use the same words but I think it's pretty clear ... that we understand each other, we see the world in the same way,'' Mr Obama told the more than 600 dinner guests last night.

He told last night's parliamentary dinner hosted in his honour he'd had "a real chinwag'' with Julia Gillard.

"When Julia and I meet we listen to each other, we learn from each other. It's not just a lot of ear-bashing. That's a good one - ear-bashing. I can use that in Washington,'' Mr Obama said.

Read more: News.com

Vegemite, Crocodiles and The Obamas

Australia is preparing itself for President Obama's arrival tomorrow, where he will address Parliament in Canberra and then fly to Darwin.

When Barack Obama lands in Australia tomorrow he'll have a "quasi-vegetable by-product paste" shoved into his mouth and told to like it.....  Even if Mr Obama manages to dodge an unwelcome breakfast, he'll still have to contend with crocodiles.

The NT News reports that the President has been insured against crocodile attack for his visit to the Northern Territory.  TIO insurers issued him the standard policy - a cover note carrying a photograph of a salt-water crocodile with the promise to pay his family $50,000 in the event of a fatal attack. TIO usually charges $10 for this sort of service but it gave Mr Obama his cover for free (although the $50,000 payout still feels a bit low for a presidential death).

Read more: Obamas' Aussie Trip: Dodge Crocs, Dodge Vegemite

How Obama Thinks

Obama would have to be the most fascinating person I've ever kept an eye on.  Mainly because he makes no sense.  This article sheds some light.

The President isn't exactly a socialist. So what's driving his hostility to private enterprise? Look to his roots.

Barack Obama is the most antibusiness president in a generation, perhaps in American history. Thanks to him the era of big government is back. Obama runs up taxpayer debt not in the billions but in the trillions. He has expanded the federal government's control over home mortgages, investment banking, health care, autos and energy. The Weekly Standard summarizes Obama's approach as omnipotence at home, impotence abroad.

The President's actions are so bizarre that they mystify his critics and supporters alike......

Continue reading at: Forbes.com