Obama: 14 years later…Still Redistributing

On September 19, 2012September 19, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

Well, the Romney Campaign struck back hard yesterday, as the Obama Campaign and their lackeys, the MSM, tried to land crippling blows to Mitt, because of his “47%” Speech from May.

FoxNews has the story:

A newly released audio recording purports to feature a young Barack Obama saying he believes in government “redistribution” — a comment that Mitt Romney quickly seized on to claim his opponent thinks “the government should take from some to give to the others.”

The tape, posted on YouTube, was a throwback to the web video that emerged in 2008 showing Obama telling “Joe the Plumber” he wants to “spread the wealth around.”

This recording purportedly was from a 1998 conference at Loyola University. In it, the young Obama tells the audience he believes there has been “a propaganda campaign against the possibility of government action and its efficacy.”

“I think that what we’re going to have to do is somehow resuscitate the notion that government action can be effective at all,” Obama says. “I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution — because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody’s got a shot.”

The broader context of the talk is unclear. But Romney, who on Tuesday faced criticism about some of his own comments in a secretly recorded video, pointed to the Obama recording in arguing that he and his opponent have sharply different views on government.

Romney said there’s a “great divide” in the country.

“I know some believe the government should take from some to give to the others,” he told Fox News. “I think the president makes it clear in the tape that was released today that that’s what he believes. I think that’s an entirely foreign concept.”

Romney, for his part, has endured a wave of criticism from Democrats over a video showing him speaking at a private fundraiser back in May. In the video, Romney could be heard saying the 47 percent of people who don’t pay federal income tax “believe they are victims” and will support Obama “no matter what.”

Romney defended his comments in the interview with Fox News on Tuesday — and then cited the Obama recording to underscore his point that he and the president come at the job with two entirely different philosophies.

“Frankly, we have two very different views about America,” Romney said. “The president’s view is one of a larger government. There’s a tape that just came out today (with) the president saying he likes redistribution. I disagree.

“I think a society based upon a government-centered nation where government plays a larger and larger role, redistributes money, that’s the wrong course for America. … The right course for America is to create growth, create wealth.”

Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus also flagged the YouTube link on his Twitter account, with the comment: “TELLING !”

The Obama campaign has not responded to a request for comment. But Obama hit back at Romney during a taping of the “Late Show” with David Letterman, disputing that Americans who aren’t required to pay federal income taxes are “victims” and taking issue with Romney’s comment that he didn’t have to worry about those voters.

“My expectation is that if you want to be president, you have to work for everyone, not just for some,” Obama said.

Uh huh. That would be just fine and dandy, Scooter, if the “everyone” you were talking about, were Americans.

However, your socio-economic philosophy, from the getgo, has been out of touch with mainstream America. Remember what you said in 2008 to Joe the Plumber?

Here’s a report from ABC News, from October 2008 to help you remember, Mr. President:

Outside Toledo, Ohio, on Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was approached by plumber Joe Wurzelbacher, a big, bald man with a goatee who asked Obama if he believes in the American dream.

“I’m getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year,” Wurzelbacher said. “Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?”

Obama said, “First off, you would get a 50% tax credit so you’d get a tax cut for your healthcare costs….. if your revenue is above 250 – then from 250 down, your taxes are going to stay the same. It is true that from 250 up – from 250 – 300 or so, so for that additional amount, you’d go from 36 to 39%, which is what it was under Bill Clinton. And the reason why we’re doing that is because 95% of small businesses make less than 250. So what I want to do is give them a tax cut. I want to give all these folks who are bus drivers, teachers, auto workers who make less, I want to give them a tax cut. And so what we’re doing is, we are saying that folks who make more than 250 that that marginal amount above 250 – they’re gonna be taxed at a 39 instead of a 36% rate.”

Responded Wurzelbacher, “the reason I ask you about the American dream, I mean I’ve worked hard. I’m a plumber. I work 10-12 hours a day and I’m buying this company and I’m going to continue working that way. I’m getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American dream.”

“Well,” said Obama, “here’s a way of thinking about it. How long have been a plumber?”

Wurzelbacher said 15 years.

Obama says, “Over the last 15 years, when you weren’t making 250, you would have been given a tax cut from me, so you’d actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code. So there are two ways of looking at it – I mean one way of looking at it is, now that you’ve become more successful through hard work – you don’t want to be taxed as much.”

“Exactly,” Wurzelbacher said.

Obama continued, “But another way of looking at it is 95% of folks who are making less than 250, they may be working hard too, but they’re being taxed at a higher rate than they would be under mine. So what I’m doing is, put yourself back 10 years ago when you were only making whatever, 60 or 70. Under my tax plan you would be keeping more of your paycheck, you’d be paying lower taxes, which means you would have saved…Now look, nobody likes high taxes.”

“No,” said Wurzelbacher.

“Of course not,” said Obama. “But what’s happened is that we end up – we’ve cut taxes a lot for folks like me who make a lot more than 250. We haven’t given a break to folks who make less, and as a consequence, the average wage and income for ordinary folks, the vast majority of Americans, has actually gone down over the last eight years. So all I want to do is – I’ve got a tax cut. The only thing that changes, is I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well – even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts. Now, I respect the disagreement. I just want you to be clear – it’s not that I want to punish your success – I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you – that they’ve got a chance at success too.”

Looking back on the country’s reaction yesterday, Romney’s speech is not costing Romney anything. In fact, in a CNBC poll yesterday, 75% of those who responded, agreed with Mitt.

As far as Obama’s wish to “share the wealth” , we’ve all heard that political philosophy before:

From each according to his abilities to each according to his needs

Karl Marx

A Mistake in Communication? Or, a Stealthy Trap?

On September 18, 2012September 18, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

Well…Conservatives (including this one) have been waiting for Mitt to shoot straight with the American people…And he did.

The question being asked today is: was this a good thing or a bad thing?

The New York Times has the story:

Mitt Romney described almost half of Americans as “dependent upon government” during a private reception with donors this year and said those voters were likely to support President Obama because they believe they are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”

The blunt political and cultural assessment by the Republican presidential candidate offers a rare glimpse into Mr. Romney’s personal views as the campaign enters its final 50 days. Liberals quickly condemned the remarks as insensitive, and Mr. Obama’s campaign accused him of having “disdainfully written off half the nation.”

The recordings surfaced even as Mr. Romney sought to retool his campaign message amid internal campaign sniping and calls from Republicans outside the campaign for him to be more specific about how his policies will fix the nation’s economy.

The video clips raised the possibility that his campaign would once again be sidetracked by Mr. Romney’s own words, a problem that has plagued the former Massachusetts governor since his hard-fought battle with Republican rivals during the nominating contests earlier this year.

The video of Mr. Romney making the comments was posted on the Internet Monday afternoon by Mother Jones, a liberal magazine, which said it had obtained the recording and had confirmed its authenticity. The magazine said it was concealing the identity of the person who took the video and the location and time of the recording.

The New York Times is unable to confirm where or when the clips were taken. The author of the article on the Mother Jones Web site, David Corn, said the video was taken after Mr. Romney won the Republican nominating contest, but he declined to comment further.

The video was apparently unearthed with help from James Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Mr. Carter, who lists “oppo researcher” on his Twitter bio, told New York Magazine that he helped find the videos and get them to Mr. Corn at Mother Jones. He is credited with “research assistance” on the Mother Jones Web site. Mr. Romney has repeatedly compared Mr. Obama to Jimmy Carter, suggesting both were failures.

In one video segment, Mr. Romney described how his campaign is writing off “47 percent of the people” who will vote for Mr. Obama “no matter what.” He adds that those people “are people who pay no income tax” and says “so our message of low taxes doesn’t connect.”

Mr. Romney said that “my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

Yes, what Romney said was the cold, hard truth. But, there were better ways he could have said it.

Romney communications director Gail Gitcho issued this statement in response to the release of the original speech:

Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work. Mitt Romney’s plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs.

Back on February 6, 2011, Fred Thompson wrote the following article for The New York Daily News:

Today, America remembers President Ronald Reagan on the 100th anniversary of his birth. It should come as no surprise that Reagan is a personal hero of mine and it should also come as no surprise why this is the case. I’m honored to share a similar story with our 40th President, one which saw two boys from small towns eventually find their way to Hollywood and Washington – although not quite in the same order and not quite with the same results.

But while our paths were different, having a taste for what he experienced has given me a more profound respect for Reagan’s ability to captivate and connect with the American people, an art that has been largely lost to the politically correct posturing and strategic doublespeak of today. Yes, some of his political success derived from his training as an actor. After all, all politicians are actors in some form or another.

But not all actors make good politicians and certainly the reverse is true as well. More than most Presidents, Reagan’s success was tied directly to his ability not just to speak to the American people, but to communicate with them. Entire books have been written on Reagan’s ability to communicate, but his reputation as The Great Communicator boils down to three basic traits: he was simple; he was clear; he was sincere.

Let’s not confuse “simple” with “simplistic.” Reagan was by no means simplistic. To the contrary, he communicated wide-reaching ideology and complex policies in terms people could understand. For instance, Reagan summed up his approach to the Cold War as, “we win, they lose.” His detractors called it naive, but that simple phrase communicated volumes about Reagan’s philosophy and strategy when it came to facing down the Soviet Union.

And Reagan’s message wasn’t meant only for American audiences but for international audiences as well. When Reagan called the Soviet Union the “evil empire,” the political establishment in Washington howled – but those trapped behind the Iron Curtain cheered. Reagan’s message was for all who hunger for freedom and as leader of the free world, Reagan understood that he spoke for them.

It was for that reason that Reagan insisted, despite the objections of his own State Department, to keep a line that will echo across the ages: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The State Department famously removed the phrase from drafts of Reagan’s speech – repeatedly. Each time, Reagan reinserted it, because he knew it would be heard by the whole world.

Allow me to preface my closing remarks by saying: I want Romney to be our next President.

If this speech was some sort of stealth campaign, designed to beclown the Obama Campaign and their sycophantic Media Lackeys, then , congratulations, Mitt…well done.

If it was a comment given under the illusion of privacy, then all I can say is he needs to learn from the 1980 Campaign of Ronald Reagan:

In order to achieve the landslide victory which we all hope that he will have, as Ronaldus Magnus achieved, Romney needs to be a UNITER, not a DIVIDER.

We have one of those living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave already.

US Ambassador Erroneously Says Libyan Attack Not Premeditated

On September 17, 2012September 17, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

According to a representative of the Obama Administration, the craven attack on the Libyan Consulate, which cost four Americans their lives, was not premeditated.

Abcnews.go.com has the story:

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi last week was not premeditated, directly contradicting top Libyan officials who say the attack was planned in advance.

“Our current best assessment, based on the information that we have at present, is that, in fact, what this began as, it was a spontaneous – not a premeditated – response to what had transpired in Cairo,” Rice told me this morning on “This Week.”

“In Cairo, as you know, a few hours earlier, there was a violent protest that was undertaken in reaction to this very offensive video that was disseminated,” Rice said, referring to protests in Egypt Tuesday over a film that depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a fraud. Protesters in Cairo breached the walls of the U.S. Embassy, tearing apart an American flag.

“We believe that folks in Benghazi, a small number of people came to the embassy to – or to the consulate, rather, to replicate the sort of challenge that was posed in Cairo,” Rice said. “And then as that unfolded, it seems to have been hijacked, let us say, by some individual clusters of extremists who came with heavier weapons… And it then evolved from there.”

Ambassador Christopher Stevens, along with three other Americans, were killed in Libya following the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi, on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Rice said the FBI is examining the attack, saying their investigation “will tell us with certainty what transpired.”

Rice’s account directly contradicts that of Libyan President Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf, who said this weekend that he had “no doubt” the attack was pre-planned by individuals from outside Libya.

“It was planned, definitely, it was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago, and they were planning this criminal act since their arrival,” Magariaf told CBS News.

Unlike other embassies around the world, Rice said there were no Marines present last week to protect the consulate in Benghazi, or the main U.S. embassy in Tripoli, saying the U.S. presence there is “relatively new” since the revolution that overthrew former dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

“There are not Marines in every facility. That depends on the circumstances. That depends on the requirements,” Rice said. “Our presence in Tripoli, as in Benghazi, is relatively new, as you will recall. We’ve been back post-revolution only for a matter of months.”

But Rice said there was a “substantial security presence” at the consulate in Benghazi, noting that two of the four Americans killed there were providing security.

“We certainly are aware that Libya is a place where there have been increasingly some violent incidents,” Rice said. “The security personnel that the State Department thought were required were in place… It obviously didn’t prove sufficient to the – the nature of the attack and sufficient in that – in that moment.”

“But the president has been very clear. The protection of American personnel and facilities is and will remain our top priority,” Rice added. “That’s why we’ve reinforced our presence in Tripoli and elsewhere.”

Can you say, “Liar, liar, pants on fire”?

Poltico.com reports a different story:

Libya President Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf said Sunday that 50 arrests have been made in connection with last week’s “preplanned” attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

“The way these perpetrators acted and moved — I think we, and they’re choosing the specific date for this so-called demonstration, I think we have no, this leaves us with no doubt that this was pre-planned, determined,” Magariaf said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“And you believe that this was the work of Al Qaeda, and you believe that it was led by foreigners. Is that what you’re telling us?” CBS host Bob Schieffer asked.

“It was planned, definitely. It was planned by foreigners, by people who entered the country a few months ago. And they were planning this criminal act since their arrival,” Magariaf said.

Magariaf said that more than 50 arrests have been made with some suspects from Mali and Algeria.

“They entered Libya from different directions. Some of them definitely from Mali and Algeria,” Magariaf said.

When Schieffer asked if it would be safe for FBI investigators to enter Libya, Magariaf said he believes the FBI should stay out “for a little while.”

“Maybe it is better for them to stay for a little while, for a little while. But until we, we do what we have to do ourselves,” Magariaf said. “Any hasty action I think is not welcome.”

He called the attacks “ugly” and “criminal” deeds that do not reflect the Libyan people’s view toward America.

“These ugly deeds, criminal deeds were directed against the late Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues do not resemble any way, in any sense, the aspirations, the feelings of Libyans towards the United States and its citizens,” Magariaf said.

Just how stupid does this Administration think that Americans are?

Next thing you know, some nimrod will be telling us what we can eat, and how much Coca-Cola we can drink.

Oh, wait…

Israel Warned Us about the Muslim Situation

On September 16, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics5 Comments

Israel warned us about the volatility within the Muslim countries in the Middle East.

Israel’s own haaretz.com has the story:

For months before the most recent attacks on U.S. embassies in North African states, Foreign Ministry and U.S. State Department officials had been arguing over developments in these countries. Senior figures in Jerusalem claimed that Washington was burying its head in the sand and ignoring the increasing radicalization in states such as Tunisia and Egypt.

The Obama administration, which since the beginning of the Arab Spring has aided, directly or indirectly, the forces that brought down the dictatorial regimes in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Lybia, now finds itself in a position of helplessness. The attack on the consulate in Benghazi, in which the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed, and the storming of the U.S. embassies in Tunis, Sanaa and Cairo, proved the great hostility to the United States and the unwillingness of these country’s new leaders to challenge domestic public opinion.

Senior Foreign Ministry officials say their conversations with their Washington counterparts have focused on what Jerusalem terms “radicalizing trends” against not only Israel but also against the United States and the West in general.

One of the most recent such meetings took place a week ago, during a visit to Jerusalem by the acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, A. Elizabeth Jones.

“The Americans were constantly trying to supply explanations and excuses for events in the post-revolution Arab states, and simply ignored the problems,” one senior Israeli official said, adding, “In practice the administration’s ability to affect events in the Arab world has decreased immensely.”

The Foreign Ministry official presented the example of Tunisia, which was expected to be moderate despite the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood. Several weeks ago Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Zvi Rav-Ner, reported that the Tunisian ambassador to Poland had been called back to Tunisia unexpectedly, ending her posting there. Rav-Ner added that all five women serving as ambassadors of Tunisia in various countries had been recalled at around the same time.

The Israel embassy in Washington was instructed to report the matter to the State Department and determine whether it was aware of the development. Several days late U.S. officials reported that the measure was technical only, involving the replacement of all ambassadors from the previous regime, and had nothing to do with gender discrimination.

The Foreign Ministry conducted its own examination and determined that many male ambassadors from the previous regime had not been recalled. “We knew what was happening, but the Americans preferred to find excuses,” said the senior official.

Unlike our own namby-pamby leadership, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his nation’s leaders are not afraid of sending a message of strength and conviction to the Middle East…especially Iran:

Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war.

Western leaders are convinced that Iran will retaliate to any attack by attempting to mine or blockade the shipping lane through which passes around 18 million barrels of oil every day, approximately 35 per cent of the world’s petroleum traded by sea.

A blockade would have a catastrophic effect on the fragile economies of Britain, Europe the United States and Japan, all of which rely heavily on oil and gas supplies from the Gulf.

The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most congested international waterways. It is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point and is bordered by the Iranian coast to the north and the United Arab Emirates to the south.

In preparation for any pre-emptive or retaliatory action by Iran, warships from more than 25 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, will today begin an annual 12-day exercise.The war games are the largest ever undertaken in the region.

They will practise tactics in how to breach an Iranian blockade of the strait and the force will also undertake counter-mining drills.

The multi-national naval force in the Gulf includes three US Nimitz class carrier groups, each of which has more aircraft than the entire complement of the Iranian air force.

The carriers are supported by at least 12 battleships, including ballistic missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships carrying thousand of US Marines and special forces.

The British component consists of four British minesweepers and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Cardigan Bay, a logistics vessel. HMS Diamond, a brand-new £1billion Type 45 destroyer, one of the most powerful ships in the British fleet, will also be operating in the region.

In addition, commanders will also simulate destroying Iranian combat jets, ships and coastal missile batteries.

In the event of war, the main threat to the multi-national force will come from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps navy, which is expected to adopt an “access-denial” strategy in the wake of an attack, by directly targeting US warships, attacking merchant shipping and mining vital maritime chokepoints in the Persian Gulf.

Defence sources say that although Iran’s capability may not be technologically sophisticated, it could deliver a series of lethal blows against British and US ships using mini-subs, fast attack boats, mines and shore-based anti-ship missile batteries.

Next month, Iran will stage massive military manoeuvres of its own, to show that it is prepared to defend its nuclear installations against the threat of aerial bombardment.

The exercise is being showcased as the biggest air defence war game in the Islamic Republic’s history, and will be its most visible response yet to the prospect of an Israeli military strike.

Using surface-to-air missiles, unmanned drones and state-of-the-art radar, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and air force will combine to test the defences of 3,600 sensitive locations throughout the country, including oil refineries and uranium enrichment facilities.

Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya air defence base, told a conference this month that the manoeuvres would “identify vulnerabilities, try out new tactics and practise old ones”.

At the same time as the Western manoeuvres in the Gulf, the British Response Task Forces Group — which includes the carrier HMS Illustrious, equipped with Apache attack helicopters, along with the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle – will be conducting a naval exercise in the eastern Mediterranean. The task force could easily be diverted to the Gulf region via the Suez Canal within a week of being ordered to do so.

The main naval exercise comes as President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, today to discuss the Iranian crisis.

Considering the way that the whole “Arab Spring” situation has worked out, it appears that President’s July 2009 speech to the Muslim World at Cairo University was nothing but a massive waste of time and taxpayers’ dollars.

I wouldn’t blame Bibi if he told Scooter, “I told you so”.

The Muslim Riots: Those Aren’t Videos They’re Burning…

On September 15, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics6 Comments

Yesterday, in front of America’s Press Corps and the entire world, Obama’s Press Secretary, Jay Carney, lied his bespectacled backside off.

Here’s the exchange, courtesy of realclearpolitics.com:

JAKE TAPPER: Wouldn’t it seem logical that the anniversary of 9/11 would be a time that you would want to have extra security around diplomats and military posts?

JAY CARNEY: Well, as you know, we are very vigilant around anniversaries like 9/11. The president is always briefed and brought up to speed on all the precautions being taken. But, Jake, let’s be clear. These protests were in reaction to a video that had spread to the region.

TAPPER: At Benghazi?

CARNEY: We certainly don’t know. We don’t know otherwise. We have no information to suggest that it was a pre-planned attack. The unrest we’ve seen around the region has been in reaction to a video that Muslims, many Muslims, find offensive. And while the violence is reprehensible and unjustified, it is not a reaction to the 9/11 anniversary, that we know of, or to U.S. policy.

Mr. Carney…if movies caused people to riot, we Southerners would have burned Hollywood down to the ground because of that awful “Dukes of Hazzard” movie.

RadicalIslam.org very adroitly chronicles the real reason that the barbarians are rioting:

The apparent cause for this latest spasm of carefully-coordinated, anti-American violence in the lands of the so-called “Arab Spring,” where direct intervention by the U.S. was decisive in bringing to power the jihadist forces of the Muslim Brotherhood, was a film (soon to be released) deemed offensive to Islam and the Muslim prophet Muhammad that was made in the U.S.

The Salafist president of an Egyptian TV channel, Wesam Abdel-Wareth, deliberately whipped up Egyptian fury when he issued a call for a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy over the film. Most Embassy personnel had left before the chaos began and no one appears to have been injured in the Cairo attack; ominously, though, the Egyptian security presence outside the facility was notably light even as the mob was gathering.

As Andrew McCarthy wrote at The National Review Online, these were acts of war. There can be no question but that they were coordinated acts of war, purposely timed to fall on America’s solemn day of commemoration of the worst jihadist attacks ever committed on the U.S. homeland (by Iran and al-Qa’eda, which sprang from the Muslim Brotherhood).

Diplomatic facilities are the sovereign territory of the country to which they belong. The host country is responsible for their security – and even though neither Egyptian nor Libyan uniformed government forces directly participated in the attacks, it is obvious that their Muslim Brotherhood supporters, the ones who elected them to office and who are now calling for jihad and sharia, were.

Moreover, it is also clear that the U.S. Department of State was aware of the impending threat to its facilities over the film because its Cairo Embassy issued a despicable statement of abject appeasement in advance of the attacks that offered up the treasured right of American free speech on the altar of Islamophobia.

U.S. Embassy Condemns Religious Incitement

September 11, 2012

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

That statement came directly out of the talking points of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on its Ten-Year Programme of Action and is intended by both the OIC and the U.S. Department of State to impose legal limits on Americans’ freedom of speech by criminalizing criticism of Islam. Recall that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Washington, D.C. in mid-December 2011 to discuss implementation mechanisms for “Resolution 16/18,” a declaration adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council in April 2011.

Resolution 16/18 calls on countries to combat “intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization” based on religion without criminalizing free speech – except in cases of “incitement to imminent violence.” If now the measure of “incitement to imminent violence” is a “test of consequences” that imposes prior restraint on freedom of expression because of the unpredictability of volatile Muslim populaces easily roused to murderous fury, as in Benghazi and Cairo, then Islamic law on slander will have been enforced.

This is the real meaning of these attacks, which were purposefully calculated precisely to elicit the craven press release quoted above from the U.S. State Department. This is how dhimmitude is implemented. Islamic Jihad and Gama’a al-Islamiyya demands for the release of Omar Abdul Rahman (the “Blind Sheikh”), now serving a life sentence in U.S. federal prison for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, also have been issued, along with a threat to burn the U.S. Cairo Embassy to the ground if these demands are not met.

The sixth President of the United States of America, John Quincy Adams, wrote the following about the nature of Islam:

THE ESSENCE OF HIS [MUHAMMAD’S] DOCTRINE WAS VIOLENCE AND LUST: TO EXALT THE BRUTAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE [Adams’ capital letters]… Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged. The war is yet flagrant… While the merciless and dissolute dogmas of the false prophet shall furnish motives to human action, there can never be peace upon earth, and goodwill towards men…The precept of the Koran is, perpetual war against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God. The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a false and delusive promise of peace; and the faithful follower of the prophet, may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the command to propagate the Moslem creed by the sword is always obligatory, when it can be made effective. The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, by fraud, or by force.

I’m sure that there are those among you saying, “Well, KJ, what about all the nice Muslims, who aren’t involved in this mess?”

I have met many nice Muslims in my life. My question, though, is, “Why aren’t those Muslims who have pledged allegiance to OUR flag speaking up against this wanton violence against their own countrymen?”

Hmmmmm?

Obama and “Arab Spring” = The Lady and the Snake

On September 14, 2012September 14, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

The Obama Administration knew that American Embassies in the Middle East were under threat of attack, 48 hours before it happened.

Independent.co.uk has the story:

The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.

American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the “safe house” in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed “safe”.

Some of the missing papers from the consulate are said to list names of Libyans who are working with Americans, putting them potentially at risk from extremist groups, while some of the other documents are said to relate to oil contracts.

According to senior diplomatic sources, the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted, but no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and “lockdown”, under which movement is severely restricted.

Mr Stevens had been on a visit to Germany, Austria and Sweden and had just returned to Libya when the Benghazi trip took place with the US embassy’s security staff deciding that the trip could be undertaken safely.

Eight Americans, some from the military, were wounded in the attack which claimed the lives of Mr Stevens, Sean Smith, an information officer, and two US Marines. All staff from Benghazi have now been moved to the capital, Tripoli, and those whose work is deemed to be non-essential may be flown out of Libya.

And now, “Arab Spring” continues to rage out of control…

As the anti-U.S. demonstrations spread, the administration acted on a variety of fronts to convey two messages: that it had nothing to do with the offending video and that violence was not an acceptable response to the material.

Anti-American protests break out in the Middle East: U.S. diplomatic compounds came under attack Tuesday in Egypt and Libya, where State Department employees were killed.

The report alleges that local authorities failed to prevent the violence.

The impact of the administration’s message remained in question. In Sanaa, Yemen, the U.S. Embassy was overrun Thursday by protesters who stormed a wall, set fire to a building inside the compound, broke windows and carried away office supplies and other souvenirs before being dispersed by local security forces.

“We want to expel the American ambassador,” Abdelwadood al-Mutawa said as he and other protesters left the compound. He said he was motivated by reports of the movie mocking the prophet Muhammad. “We cannot accept any insult to our prophet,” Mutawa said. “It’s a red line.”

In Cairo, clouds of tear gas floated through the fortified area around the U.S. Embassy as security forces clashed with protesters for the third straight day. Smaller demonstrations were reported throughout the region, as well as in Iran and Bangladesh.

In Pakistan, where anti-American demonstrations are frequent, the government said it had “banned” the American-made video and blocked access to it online. Although Afghanistan reportedly did the same, “Innocence of Muslims” was easily available there on the Internet on Thursday night.

Two days after the deaths of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, and three other Americans in an outbreak of violence in the Libyan city of Benghazi, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took the lead in trying to distance the U.S. government from the movie, calling the film “disgusting and reprehensible” and condemning the violent response to it.

“The U.S. government had absolutely nothing to do with this video,” Clinton said at a meeting in Washington with a delegation from Morocco. “We absolutely reject its content and messages. But there is no justification — none at all — for responding to this video with violence.”

The message went out from Washington throughout the day, in White House briefings, in speeches in Arab capitals and through official Web sites, e-mails and Twitter feeds from the State Department and its embassies around the globe.

Some governments responded to U.S. calls for strong statements against violence. After days of relative silence, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, speaking during a visit to Brussels, condemned the attacks on the embassy in Cairo and vowed to defend the security of U.S. diplomatic buildings.

But Morsi also denounced the film and called on “the American people” to “declare their rejection” of such provocations. His Muslim Brotherhood movement joined other groups in calling for major but peaceful anti-U.S. demonstrations Friday, the traditional day of protest in the Muslim world and a time when appeals for tolerance will be tested.

During his misbegotten Presidency, Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm), beginning with his speech at the University of Cairo, has made it his mission to be seen as a friend of the Muslim World, up to and including having the Godfather Group of Islamic Terrorists, the Muslim Brotherhood, visit the White House. Heck, as I’ve reported, Secretary of State Clinton, has one of the Brotherhood’s relatives working on her staff.

This whole sorry, dangerous spectacle, unfolding before our deja vu-filled eyes, is reminiscent of the story/pop song of the woman who is seduced by a beautiful but venomous snake into taking it home with her. The snake eventually bites and kills the woman, because it cannot help it’s predatory nature.

Obama’s re-election bid has just been killed through his befriending an ideological den of snakes.

Middle East American Embassies Attacked. Obama Heads to Vegas.

On September 13, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Americans are in danger in the Middle East…and Obama has voted “Present”…again.

WTOP.com has the story:

Intelligence experts and U.S. government officials are starting to view the attack in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi as a coordinated attack.

Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., went as far Wednesday to say the attack had all the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

“This was a coordinated attack, more of a commando style event. It had both coordinated fire, direct fire, indirect fire,” Rogers said following an intelligence briefing on Capitol Hill.

Other sources, including officials at the Pentagon and the State Department, are also discussing the possibility that it was a planned operation, and some say several developments support the possibility.

The incident does not appear to be a random mob scene, but rather an opportunity that militants seized, sources say. The attackers used a rocket-propelled grenade, a weapon not traditionally carried by protesters, but commonly used by terrorists.

The attack is believed to have come in two waves. The first wave got inside of the compound, and a second wave penetrated a secure location inside the building. This development raises questions about how the attackers knew the location of that secure facility, sources say.

They also knew that Obama had outsourced the security of the Embassy to Libya. That worked out well, didn’t it? Well, better late than never, I guess:

WSJ.com reports that:

The U.S. responded to the assault by dispatching two Navy destroyers, dozens of Marines, federal investigators and intelligence assets to Libya to protect Americans and help hunt the suspected religious extremists who carried out the attack late Tuesday.

And, as I write this post, news comes of more unrest outside the Egyptian Embassy:

Egyptian security forces have used tear gas on a raging crowd of demonstrators near the US Embassy in Cairo. Several dozen people have reportedly been injured as the police dispersed the stone-throwing demonstrators.

Riot police have managed to push a group of several hundred protesters back in Cairo’s side streets near the embassy.

Some of the protesters have been injured, state news agency MENA reported, giving no further details. Witnesses reporting the incident on Twitter said as many as several dozen people may have been injured.

The incident comes just a day after some 2,000 demonstrators gathered around the US embassy, while a group of the most conservative protesters tore down the American flag and replaced it with a black banner bearing the traditional Islamic message, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet.”

Four participants in Tuesday’s demonstration who had climbed the wall of the embassy were arrested and transferred to the prosecutor’s office. Police are still looking for others involved in the incident.

“Arab Spring” is in full bloom. How absolutely lovely:

The American embassies in Algeria and Tunisia warned of more protests Wednesday, following attacks by protesters in neighboring Libya in which the U.S. ambassador and three embassy staff were killed.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and the three other Americans died in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi by armed protesters angry over a film by a California filmmaker that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

In an emergency message, the embassy in Tunis warned Americans to avoid crowded places, saying that even gatherings “intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.” The embassy in Algiers had similar advice.

The Algiers embassy said unspecified groups were using online social networks to organize demonstrations “to protest a range of issues” there Wednesday. The statement out of Tunis cited “media reports” indicating protests were planned, but said the embassy remained open.

So, what did the Leader of the Free World have to say Wednesday morning, before he jetted to Las Vegas for a Campaign Fundraiser? I’ll give you a clue: It was positively…uninspiring:

Every day all across the world, American diplomats and civilians work tirelessly to advance the interests and values of our nation. Often, they are away from their families. Sometimes, they brave great danger.

Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi. Among those killed was our ambassador, Chris Stevens, as well as Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. We are still notifying the families of the others who were killed.

And today, the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. We’re working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats. I’ve also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts. Already many Libyans have joined us in doing so, and this attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya. Libyan security personnel fought back against the attackers alongside Americans. Libyans helped some of our diplomats find safety, and they carried Ambassador Stevens’ body to the hospital, where we tragically learned that he had died.

Campare and contrast that to Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, who, by the way, has supposed to have been receiving daily foreign intelligence breifings from the White House, but has not.

I’ll hand it to Mitt. He acted more like a U.S. President than Obama did:

Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals who have served in our diplomatic corps were brutally murdered across the world.

This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us to think of these people who have served during their lives because of freedom and justice and honor.

We mourn their loss and joined together in prayer that the spirit of the almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain. Four diplomats lost their life including the US ambassador. And, of course, with these words, I extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones who have been left behind as a result of these who have lost their lives in the service of our nation and I know that the people across America are grateful for their service and we mourned their sacrifice.

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We will defend also our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion.

We have confidence in our clause…in America. We respect our constitution. We stand for the principles our constitution protects.

Regarding our present CIC, who, as I write this post, is either chowing down on Wagu Beef and arugula, or rolling craps at his fundraiser in Vegas…

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin nails him to the wall…again:

It’s about time our president stood up for America and condemned these Islamic extremists. I realize there must be a lot on his mind these days – what with our economy’s abysmal jobless numbers and Moody’s new warning about yet another downgrade to our nation’s credit rating due to the current administration’s failure to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan. And, of course, he has a busy schedule – with all those rounds of golf, softball interviews with the “Pimp with the Limp,” and fundraising dinners with his corporate cronies. But our nation’s security should be of utmost importance to our Commander-in-chief. America can’t afford any more “leading from behind” in such a dangerous world. We already know that President Obama likes to “speak softly” to our enemies. If he doesn’t have a “big stick” to carry, maybe it’s time for him to grow one.

Ouch. That’s gonna leave a mark.

This malignant tumor overtaking the Middle East, known as “Arab Spring”, is the fault of one President Barack Hussein Obama, and his hench-woman, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Their lack of spines and their quest to appease the Muslim Brotherhood, has brought us full circle, back to a Foreign Policy situation eerily similar to 1979.

God help us.

Obama: Apologizing to Our Enemies, Alienating Our Friends

On September 12, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

Yesterday, on the 11th anniversary of the worst attack on our soil in American History, the President and his Administration made a point of apologizing to our enemies.

USA Today reports

Egyptian demonstrators climbed the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo today and pulled down the American flag to protest a film they say is insulting to the prophet Mohammad.

Update at 2:07 p.m. ET: CNN reports that U.S. security guards fired a volley of warning shots as the crowd gathered outside the embassy walls.

CNN adds that the embassy had been expecting a demonstration and cleared all diplomatic personnel earlier from the facility.

Original post: The Associated Press reports that embassy officials say there was no staff inside at the time.

Reuters reports that protesters tried to raise a black flag carrying the slogan: “There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger.”

The news agency says about 2,000 protesters have gathered outside the embassy and about 20 have scaled the walls.

The AP says the protesters were largely ultra-conservative Islamists.

Iran’s FARS news agency says the film is the work of a group of “extremist” members of the Egyptian Coptic Church in the United States.

Al Ahram online says the film is reportedly being produced by U.S.-based Coptic-Christian Egyptians, including Esmat Zaklama and Morees Sadek, with the support of the Terry Jones Church in the United States.

Jones is the evangelical pastor who stirred controversy last year by threatening to burn a Quran in public.

CNN says the film in question is a Dutch production.

The AP says clips of the film available on YouTube show the prophet having sex and question his role as the messenger of Godâ??s words.

After the protest, the U.S. Embassy issued this statement on its website:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims â?? as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of other

The Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gomaa strongly condemned the movie, AllAfrica.com reports.

“Freedom of speech does not warrant desecrating sanctities,” Gomaa said in a statement Sunday.

But, wait. There’s more…courtesy of bbc.co.uk:

An American has been killed and at least one other wounded after militiamen stormed the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, officials say.

It is believed the protest was held over a US-produced film that is said to be insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

The building was set on fire after armed men raided the compound with grenades.

Protests have also been held at the US embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

In the attack in Benghazi, unidentified armed men stormed the grounds, shooting at buildings and throwing handmade bombs into the compound.

Security forces returned fire but Libyan officials say they were overwhelmed.

“One American official was killed and another injured in the hand. The other staff members were evacuated and are safe and sound,” Libya’s deputy interior minister Wanis al-Sharif told AFP.

The identity of the US official killed is not yet known. The consular worker was reported to have been shot.

***The official has been identified this morning as the U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Three other members of the staff were killed as well, per the BBC.

P.S.: Late last night, the Administration tried to walk back the apology:

The White House is disavowing a statement from their own Cairo embassy that apologized for anti-Muslim activity in the United States.

“The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government,” a senior administration official told POLITICO…

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a Tuesday statement.

Okay. So, Obama and his Administration apologized to those who want to kill us…and then, realizing that he’s trying to get re-elected, tried to disavow the apology?

And, on top of that, these Barbarians killed a United States Ambassador and 3 staff members???!!!

Well, you ask, then how is Obama treating our friends? Answer: Like garbage.

The Washington CBS Affiliate has the story:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making it clear that Israel will not wait to take out Iranian nuclear facilities.

In heated comments toward the United States, the Israeli prime minister said that it’s becoming clear that diplomacy will not work with Iran.

“The world tells Israel, `Wait. There’s still time,’” Netanyahu said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. “And I say: `Wait for what? Wait until when?’ Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.”

The Obama administration has consistently stated that they don’t want to go the military route against Iran and give more time for the sanctions to force Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

Netanyahu worries Iran will continue developing nuclear technology without giving the Islamic nation a firm timeline to stop.

“If Iran knows that there is no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it’s doing. It’s continuing, without any interference, towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there, nuclear bombs,” he said, according to Haaertz.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak tried to downplay the harsh rhetoric, saying in a statement to Haaertz that the tension between the U.S. and Israel should be ironed out “behind closed doors.”

The Israeli paper also reports that the White House denied Netanyahu’s request to visit President Obama at the end of this month.

Bibi needs to understand. Scooter had more important plans, as Breitbart.com explains:

The president will chat with the “Late Show” host during a trip to New York City next week, according to the National Journal. Letterman’s nightly monologues mostly spare the president from satirical ribbing, saving his most cutting remarks for the Romneys … or even former President George W. Bush.

The news comes on the same day Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he couldn’t meet with him due to a scheduling conflict.

The interview will be the second Obama has had with Letterman since the comic made a crude, demeaning joke about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s daughter.

Letterman later apologized.

Yeah? Well…I want an apology from the 52% of voters who elected this Terrorist-sympathizing, self-aggrandizing, anti-American apologizing wuss.

Pass the Tylenol.

Preparing for Remembrance: A 9/10 State of Mind

On September 11, 2012 By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

A Note From KJ: I wrote this article on September 10, of last year. I share it on this 11th anniversary as a reminder. Never forget the fallen.

As our nation prepares for tomorrow’s day of remembrance, in commemoration of the largest Islamic Terrorist Attack ever on American soil, a realization struck me:

If it was up to this country’s Progressive Politicians, Americans would ignore the horrific events of that day, and forever be stuck in a 9/10 state of mind.

Let’s look at the words and actions of New York City’s own Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as an example:

From nydaily news.com:

Mayor Bloomberg touted New York as “the safest place to be” Friday morning, even as an unconfirmed terror threat loomed over the city.

On his weekly radio program, Bloomberg said the city was prepared to handle a sinister plot that surfaced days before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“I’m not at liberty to talk about the details of it,” he said. “Keep in mind we have threats all the time: on the Internet, every day, particularly around big sporting events, religious holiday and other commemorations of things like 9/11.

“And each time the NYPD with the FBI, we increase our security, and obviously we’ve done that for this.”

The mayor described the threat as “credible” but not “corroborated,” meaning it comes from a single source.

“‘Corroboration’ means multiple sources, which increases the likelihood that it’s real,” he said. “‘Credible’ means it’s possible.”

Security was ramped up around the city as federal officials reported Thursday night that New York and Washington, D.C., may be in the terrorists’ cross hairs, following a “credible” threat.

Bloomberg said he rode the subway to City Hall on Friday morning, and was planning to go to the U.S. Open tonight.

“It’s serious, but the right answer is go about your business. If you lock yourself in your house because you’re scared, they’re winning.”

In an appearance on the CBS “Early Show,” Bloomberg said the city’s 3,000 security cameras, radiation detectors and far-flung cops would keep New Yorkers safe.

“The level of security in this city probably makes New York the safest place to be,” he said.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned of a potential plot to “avenge Osama Bin Laden’s death” a decade after the attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

Bloomberg said New York always hikes up security around 9/11, but said the city is well-protected at all times. This time around, he said on his radio show, security is “a little more.”

“Everyone should feel just as comfortable,” he said.

“The message is, over the 10 years: New York is back, and the terrorists haven’t won.”

This from the same guy, who in 2010, backed to the hilt the building of the Ground Zero Mosque.

And, is excluding New York’s heroic first responders from the official ceremony, per newser.com:

They risked their health and safety in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, but now officials say some 3,000 first responders will not receive invites to the 10th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero due to space constraints, reports CNN. The city maintains that the ceremony, which will be attended by two presidents, is for victims’ families. “We’re working to find ways to recognize and honor first responders, and other groups, at different places and times,” says a rep for the mayor’s office.

“The best of the best that this country offered 10 years ago are being neglected and denied their rightful place,” complains the founder of an advocacy group for emergency crews who worked at Ground Zero. “I’m crying because it’s really a big betrayal on the part of the city, to rob me from my way to pay homage and to find that comfort and healing,” says one first responder. Other first responders say they believe they are being excluded from the ceremony to keep those suffering from untreated illnesses related to 9/11 out of the spotlight.

Those brave first responders were family men, Christian Americans, many just good ol’ Catholic boys (as we say in Dixie).

However, that aspect of their lives, their Christianity, will not be allowed to be spoken of in the New York City official remembrance:

Here is what attorney and Catholic Deacon Keith Fournier wrote in his op ed, Oppose Mayor Bloomberg’s Exclusion of Clergy and Prayer from 9/11 Memorial, posted at catholic.org:

Like all Americans, 9/11/2011 forever changed my life. I have my “Ground Zero Heroes” and, I will write about one in particular on that day. I remember the outcry of goodness which followed the evil act; the heroism, the virtue, the demonstration of authentic charity and true solidarity. I remember the spontaneous outpouring of religious expression manifested in our national response. I will never forget the emergence of the Ground Zero Cross and all the memorials which were built everywhere as that crater became a shrine.

However, the Mayor of New York will exclude clergy and will censor religious expression at our National Memorial. His actions are not only insensitive, they are unjust. There has been an outcry from Religious leaders and from most Americans. However, Mayor Bloomberg has unilaterally decided to disregard our history, misinterpret our Constitution and dishonor many who lost their lives on that day which will forever define America. He should be ashamed.

Here is the tragic toll of 9/11/01, broken down by the numbers. Courtesy of nymag.com:

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819

Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

Number of NYPD officers: 23

Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658

Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22

Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1

Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39

Bodies found “intact”: 289

Body parts found: 19,858

Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274

FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661

Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300

Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26

Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714

Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million

Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion

Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25

Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million

Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9

Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40

Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50

Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered “inappropriate” to play after 9/11: 150

Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26

Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000

Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110

Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans from plane to train or car: 1.4 million

Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

9/11 was indelibly seared into the collective memories of Americans on that fateful day, regardless of the present-day wishes of a minority percentage of our population.

As we prepare to remember our fallen, I have but one question for the milk-soppish, near-treasonous, Blame America First crowd:

Have You Forgotten?

It is Time for Romney to Kick It Into Gear

On September 11, 2012 By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

If you surf the Internet and read the political pundits, all you see is concern and “wringing of hands” at Mitt Romney’s supposedly ineffectual Campaign Strategy.

For example, The New York Times reports that

…With some nervousness apparent among Republicans, Mr. Romney’s campaign rushed out a memo on Monday stating that any post-convention polling lift for Mr. Obama was “a sugar high” that would not last the next few weeks, let alone to Election Day.

Even as one of the first post-convention polls by a major news organization, from CNN and ORC International, showed Mr. Obama with a slight gain, 52 to 46, over Mr. Romney, within the poll’s margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. The two campaigns agreed that readings right after the conventions can be ephemeral and that the race was likely to remain competitive until the end.

“There is no doubt that we come out of the conventions in better shape than we went in,” said David Axelrod, a senior strategist for Mr. Obama. “But as I’ve always said, the structure of the race is such that it was close before and it’s close now.”

Neil Newhouse, Mr. Romney’s pollster and the author of the memo released on Monday said, “Voters are on a Bill Clinton sugar high that’s simply not going to last — polls taken right now probably don’t reflect the reality of where this campaign actually is.”

Still, Mr. Newhouse’s comments and memo reflected the sense on both sides that in what had been stubbornly static race, Mr. Obama had, indeed, established some sort of uptick in support following his convention in a way that Mr. Romney had not, though Mr. Romney’s aides said he had helped himself among important segments of the population.

Mr. Newhouse said that the Republican convention had worked to improve Mr. Romney’s standing, in particular among female voters.

“What we feel we got out of our convention was an improved image for the governor, and some specific attributes that people associate with him,” Mr. Newhouse said.

The full force of Mr. Romney’s first major general election advertising push, which began late last week, has yet to sink in, he added.

Rush Limbaugh, as he always does, had a logical explanation on his show yesterday, for all this consternation over Romney:

Folks, this is so predictable. The campaign to depress you and to dispirit you is underway, and it’s at full bore. It’s going 150%. These people have a disaster of a convention they’re trying to turn into the greatest convention ever. Obama is pitied. I can’t tell you all the theories. I’ve got people depressed ’cause they think the new iPhone isn’t gonna have anything in it. I’m surrounded by it. And I’m here to tell you, it is September the 10th. There’s two months to go. There’s no way this is over. There is no way.

I’ll give you another example. TheHill.com had a poll last week. I don’t have it here in front of me. But it was a devastating poll to Obama. The Washington Post and ABC News poll was devastating to Obama. Just last week, on Tuesday at his convention, TheHill.com poll had 52% thinking the country’s headed in the wrong direction, Obama’s bad for the country. It was horrible. The polling data from last week, Tuesday of the convention, was absolutely disastrous. And now all of a sudden it’s done a 180 in a week and all that last week doesn’t matter, and now TheHill.com has a poll out. Guess what they say? Guess what they went out and asked people? Do you think you’re not being played and set up, you know what? This election it is not about Obama. It’s not a referendum on Obama. Oh, no. This is a choice between two men. Why, they went out and they polled the exact theme of Obama’s speech, which was Jimmy Carter’s speech of 1980, which Pat Caddell says, hey, I recognize that; I wrote it.

So now it’s not a referendum on Obama. It’s a choice between two guys, which means, of course, whatever Romney says matters. I’m here to tell you, folks, you have got to stay bucked up. The effort to depress you and keep you home, I’ve never seen it like this before in my life. I have never seen this intense an effort by the Democrat machine, including the pollsters, and it’s sucking in a lot of our media. A lot of conservative media’s getting sucked in by this. They’re buying it ’cause they get caught up in the bubble that is the world as created and defined every day by the mainstream media. Their lives hinge on polling. And of course the polling, if you look carefully, you can find flaws.

The polls are just being used as another tool of voter suppression. The polls are an attempt to not reflect public opinion, but to shape it. Yours. They want to depress the heck out of you, and they want to suppress your vote.

Hopefully, Mitt is about to kick his campaign in gear. Maybe, his appearance yesterday in Ohio will provide us with a clue.

Cincinnati.com has the story:

MANSFIELD [OHIO] — Mitt Romney’s campaign speech here kept getting interrupted as several hundred people cheered repeatedly, raising the noise level as their voices echoed off the cinder block walls and cement-floored wharehouse of PR Machine Works, Inc.

Keeping to his standard stump speech, Romney hammered at President Barack Obama’s policies, saying, “We don’t want another four more years of the last four years.”

Playing off Obama’s campaign theme of “Forward,” Romney said, “Forwarned is better than forward. We’d see more years of high unemployment. We’d see more year of massive deficits. … We’re forewarned. We’re not going to re-elect this man.”

Romney, the Republican nominee for president, appeared with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, as well as the president of the company, Mark Romanchuk, who is a Republican candidate for the Ohio House.

The business, a machine and parts fabricator, was started by Romanchuk’s father in 1964 in a Mansfield garage. That provided the opening to the Romney message that Americans build their businesses, a criticism of Obama’s slip in a speech where he said businesses didn’t grow without government help. PR Machine Works has a history of government contracts with the military.

With all my heart, I truly want Romney to be our next President. While I’m not all that enamored with all of his past political viewpoints, he is certainly a step in the right direction, and an improvement over the Manchurian President.

At least then, we’ll actually have a President who loves the country he’s supposed to be leading.

Kingsjester's Blog

Author: kingsjester