According to officials with our government, President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) and his Administration are ramping up a covert war already in progress, striking at militant suspects with armed drones and fighter jets.

The Administration is trying to take advantage of internal conflicts in Yemen that has threatened the stability of the small country’s government in Sana, a United States ally. Yemeni government troops had been battling militants linked to Al Qaeda in the southnbut they have now retreated back to the capital. According to our government, the strikes are one of the few options to keep the militants from consolidating power.

Meanwhile, in Iran, where any mention of an Iranian nuclear weapon is taboo, its brutal government continues to swear that its nuclear program is entirely for peaceful, civil purposes.

Yeah, right.

An article appeared on the Gerdab website, run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on April 24th, looking forward to the day after Iran’s first test of a nuclear warhead. The following is a translation of the text:

The day after Iran’s first nuclear test is a normal day.

The day after Islamic Republic of Iran’s first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle.

It’s a good day. It’s seven in the morning. The sun is not fully up yet but everywhere is bright. In the northern hemisphere many countries are beginning the day…

The day before, probably in central deserts of Iran, where once Americans and some other Western countries wanted to bury their nuclear waste, an underground nuclear explosion has taken place. The strength of the explosion was not so great as to cause severe damage to the region nor so weak that Iranian scientists face any problems in running their tests.

Today is a normal day like any other. Like 90% of the year, there is news about Iran, and these are the headlines which can be seen on foreign news sites:

Reuters: Iran detonated its nuclear bomb

CNN: Iran detonated nuclear bomb

Al-Jazeera: The second Islamic nuclear bomb was tested0

Al-Arabia: The Shia nuclear bomb was tested

Yahoo! News: Nuclear explosion in Iran

Jerusalem Post: Mullahs obtained nuclear weapon

Washington Post: Nuclear explosion in Iran, Shock and despair in Tel Aviv

Meanwhile, the domestic media will offer many congratulations to the Hidden Imam and the Supreme Leader:

Keyhan: Iran’s first nuclear bomb was tested

Jomhoori-e-eslami: Iran successfully carried out a nuclear test

Iran: By order of the president, Iran’s 100% homemade nuclear bomb was tested

Ettela’at: Iran’s much anticipated nuclear bomb exploded

The news commotion will not knock life in Iran off balance. Civil servants will punch in at work on time as always, while some will be late as always. …The day after the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first nuclear test will be an ordinary day for us Iranians but in the eyes of some of us there will be a new sparkle. A sparkle of national pride and strength.

Don’t worry , Gentle Reader, with our involvement in  now 4 wars and all the  turmoil in the Middle East, President Obama has come up with a solution to bring peace among the warring Arab nations and make them allies of America:  split Israel in half.

There’s just one problem with Obama’s brilliant display of Smart Power!

Israel Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu told our boy Scooter:

No way.  No how.

From my article  Obama Gets Schooled, posted May 21st:

The day after Obama spoke to the American people from the State Department, with an audience of 12 sycophants, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, commanding the nation of Israel to give up half of their nation to the Palestinions, including a number of Christian holy places, he had a scheduled face-to-face meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu.

To say that it did not go well for Obama, is like saying that General Custer had a minor disagreement with the Indians.

In a magnificent display of leadership, Prime Minister Netanyahu told Obama what he could do with his command that Israel return to its 1967 boundaries.

Their meeting ran over by two hours, cancelling their luncheon plans.

While the two leaders agreed that there must be ironclad Israeli security alongside a Palestinian nation, no progress whatsoever was made on the issue of where the borders should be.

In response to Thursday’s speech by Obama, Netanyahu said:

While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines. These lines are indefensible.

As they sat together on a couch in front of the cameras after their private meeting, an uncomfortable looking Obama tried his best to spin their meeting into a positive thing. The president said:

Obviously there are some differences between us in the precise formulatons and language. That’s going to happen between friends.

Looking toward Netanyahu, he added:

What we are in complete accord about is that a true peace can only occur if the ultimate resolution allows Israel to defend itself against threats, and that Israel’s security will remain paramount in U.S. evaluation of any prospective deal.

The  following video from The Jerusalem Center, explains exactly why Israel’s security is dependent upon keeping her borders just as they are.

Zechariah 12:3

3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it.

Richard Glover is an Australian Broadcaster and Sydney Morning Herald Op Ed Columnist.  The following statements are from a piece that the newspaper published by him, yesterday morning:

Surely it’s time for climate-change deniers to have their opinions forcibly tattooed on their bodies.

Not necessarily on the forehead; I’m a reasonable man. Just something along their arm or across their chest so their grandchildren could say, ”Really? You were one of the ones who tried to stop the world doing something? And why exactly was that, granddad?”

On second thoughts, maybe the tattooing along the arm is a bit Nazi-creepy. So how about they are forced to buy property on low-lying islands, the sort of property that will become worthless with a few more centimeters of ocean rise, so they are bankrupted by their own bloody-mindedness? Or what about their signed agreement to stand, in the year 2040, lashed to a pole at a certain point in the shallows off Manly? If they are right and the world is cooling – ”climate change stopped in the year 1998” is one of their more boneheaded beliefs – their mouths will be above water. If not …

OK, maybe the desire to see the painful, thrashing death of one’s opponents is not ideal. But, my God, these people are frustrating. You just know that in 20 years’ time, when the costs of our inaction are clear, the climate deniers will become climate-denial-deniers. ”Who me? Oh, no, I always believed in it. Yes, it’s hard to understand why people back then were so daft. It’s so much more costly to stop it now.”

That’s why the tattoo has its appeal.

The Mark of the Beast?

Leonard Weinstein, ScD, published an article on 4/25/2009 titled Disproving The Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) Problem. 

Here are some excerpts:

A hypothesis has been proposed that human activity over about the last 150 years has caused a significant rise in Earth’s average temperature.

…In order to support a hypothesis, specific predictions need to be made that are based on the claims of the hypothesis, and the predictions then need to either happen or be falsified. While the occurrence of the predicted events is not proof positive of a hypothesis, they increase the believability of the claims. However, if the predictions are not observed, this tends to indicate the hypothesis is flawed or even wrong. Some predictions are absolute in nature. Einstein’s prediction of the bending of light by the Sun is such a case. It either would or would not bend, and this was considered a critical test of the validity of his hypothesis of general relativity. It did bend the predicted amount, and helped raise the concept to the status of theory.

Many predictions however are less easily supported. For example, weather forecasting often does a good job in the very short term but over increasing time does a poor job. This is due to the complexity of the numerous nonlinear components. This complexity has been described in chaos theory by what is called the butterfly effect. Any effect that depends on numerous factors, some of which are nonlinear in effect, is nearly impossible to use to make long-range predictions.

However, for some reason, the present predictions of “Climate Change” are considered by the AGW supporters to be more reliable than even short-term weather forecasting. While some overall trends can be reasonably made based on looking at past historical trends, and some computational models can suggest some trends due to specific forcing factors, like any respectable hypothesis, specific predictions need to be made, and then shown to happen, before the AGW models can have any claim to being reasonably valid.

The AGW computational models do make several specific predictions. Since the time scale for checking the result of the predictions is small, and since local weather can vary enough on the short time scale to confuse the longer time scale prediction, allowances for these shorter lasting events have to be made when examining data that is supposed to be supporting the predictions. Nevertheless, if the actual data results do not significantly support the stated predictions, the AGW hypothesis must be reconsidered or even rejected as it stands.

…The final question is what prediction has the AGW hypothesis made that has been demonstrated, and that strongly supports the hypothesis. It appears that there is NO real supporting evidence and much falsifying evidence for the AGW hypothesis as proposed. That is not to say there is no effect from Human activity. Clearly human pollution (not greenhouse gases) is a problem. There is also very likely some contribution to the present temperature variations from the increase in CO2 and CH4, but it is almost certainly a small effect and not a driver of future climate.

Any reasonable scientific analysis must conclude the basic AGW hypothesis fails.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney disagreed with Professor Weinstein, just last Friday:

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney broke with Republican orthodoxy on Friday by saying he believes that humans are responsible, at least to some extent, for climate change.

“I believe the world is getting warmer, and I believe that humans have contributed to that,” he told a crowd of about 200 at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“It’s important for us to reduce our emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases that may be significant contributors.”…

In addressing climate change and energy policy, Romney called on the United States to break its dependence on foreign oil, and expand alternative energies including solar, wind, nuclear and clean coal.

Man-caused Global Warming has been revealed as nothing more that a con game, designed to make money for its investors and to bring power and prestige to its prophets.

Al Gore has turned out to be the P.T. Barnum of our time.  And, for Mitt Romney to make a statement like this, does nothing but illuminate a dangerous naivete and questionable judgement.

Hanging out on Conservative websites, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend: an intentional redefinition of Conservatism.

Pundits and posters who have a socially Liberal agenda, or, are quite often just plain Liberal, have tried to corrupt old fashioned Conservatism and mutate it into whatever they want it to be:  from Libertarianism to  Progressivism.

In Washington, D.C. on Friday, there was convention held by the Faith and Values Coalition.

The Coalition is headed by Ralph Reed, who made his name as the political strategist for the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. It was founded by Reverend Jerry Falwell in November of 2004.

As I wrote yesterday, faith plays a very important role in Americans’ lives, as does the concept of family values. 92 % of Americans believe in God. 75 % of Americans self-identify as Christians.

The GOP faces a problem. The only insider giving lip service to matters of faith and values, Mike Huckabee, has announced that he isn’t running.

The only other potential candidate who is unafraid to proclaim their Christianity is former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, whom the GOP Elite seems to be ignoring as long as they can.

So, how can the GOP Elite try to convince Christian Conservatives that they’re one of them?

In their minds, the answer was, by showing up at a two-day convention in Washington, DC, to brag on how strong and traditional their faith and values are, in order to try to solicit Christians’ votes.

At Friday’s session, the candidates and potential candidates spoke about religious/social issues and low-tax crusades, in an attempt to bridge the gap between Fiscal Conservatives (Moderates) and Reagan Conservatives (SoCons).

If the GOP power structure can’t accomplish this feat, they will lose the upcoming National Election, because even the Gallup polls show that there are far more Conservatives in this country than there are Moderates.

Speaking of Moderates, Moderate  Jon Huntsman told the crowd:

I do not believe the Republican Party should focus solely on our economic life to the neglect of our human life. If Republicans ignore life, the deficit we will face is one that is much more destructive. It will be a deficit of the heart and of the soul.

Flip-floppin’ Moderate and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, proclaimed that it’s “a moral tragedy for us to pile up more and more debt” that is passed on to younger generations.

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (yawn) was there. Pawlenty was raised Catholic but became an evangelical while dating his future wife, Mary. Pawlenty began and ended his speech to the convention on Friday with biblical quotes. He said the nation must turn toward God, protect the unborn, support traditional marriage and keep Americans secure.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who is slowly moving toward beginning a presidential campaign, reminded the crowd that she home-schooled her five biological children and served as foster mother to 23 others. She also reminded the audience that “marriage is under siege” in America, and then, closed with a prayer.

Perennial presidential candidate,Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, struck his familiar libertarian themes, and quoted from the Bible’s first book of Samuel.

Rick Santorum and Herman Cain were scheduled to speak yesterday, with former Godfather’s CEO Cain  giving the keynote speech of the convention.

Cain delivered a barn burner of a stump speech, per thehill.com:

“We have become a nation of crises,” he said. “And we have a severe deficiency of leadership crisis in the White House.”

Speaking to the largely evangelical crowd, Cain invoked Scripture from the beginning and related spiritual experiences when explaining what inspired him to run for the White House. He cited his desire to “make this world a better world” for his grandchildren, as well as his struggle with cancer five years ago.

When asked in a brief interview with The Hill if he considers himself a social or fiscal conservative candidate, he said that “those are just labels.” He cited his opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion and emphasized his business credentials, asserting that he was both.

Cain, who has never held elected office, addressed questions of his lack of foreign policy experience by claiming that Obama lacked those credentials, too.

“Reporters like to ding me that I don’t have any foreign policy experience,” Cain said. “Uh, does the current president have any?”

He criticized the Obama administration for having a “foggy foreign policy” and said that his position on Israel would be straightforward.

“The Cain doctrine would be real simple when it comes to Israel: You mess with Israel, you mess with the United States of America,” he said to a long standing ovation.

Now, there’s a man who gets it.

Americans long for a return to genuine Conservatism.  Reagan Conservatism.  We are not Europe.  We are not some Third World Barrio. This is America.  We are Americans…and we are exceptional.

An Australian group, going by the name of Mypeace, has launched a blasphemous, ill-informed “public awareness campaign in that country’s largest city of Sydney. It’s tagline:

Mypeace says that the purpose of the campaign is

to inform, not offend.

Uh huh.

One Catholic bishop has called the campaign

a direct assault on Christian beliefs.

Billboards in the metropolitan Sydney area sport one of four simple slogans:

• Jesus: A Prophet of Islam
• Holy Qur’an: The Final Testament
• Muhammad: Mercy to Mankind
• Islam: Got Questions? Get Answers.

According to Islamic doctrine, the 7th century Arabian Mohammed was the last in a long line of prophets of Islam stretching back to Adam, and including Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, John the Baptist – and Jesus. The “Got Questions?” ad in Sydney also describes Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed as “prophets of Islam”.

Every billboard invites Australians to get in touch with mypeace by phone or online, for literature and a free copy of the Qur’an. According to the Muslim organization, the ads will stay up for one month.

Later in 2011, the slogans will be seen on numerous public buses in the city.

One of the billboards calling Jesus a Muslim was vandalized a day after it was put up.

According to Mypeace, it is attempting to

address the many misconceptions on Islam, to educate fellow Australians on Islam, invite them to ask any questions that they may have.

On its website, Mypeace states that

“Islām” is an Arabic word which means peaceful, willing submission – submission to the code of conduct ordained by God. So Islam is a religion, but it is also a complete way of life based upon a voluntary relationship between an individual and his Creator. It is the way of life ordained by God which was taught by each of His prophets and messengers, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them). What distinguishes Islam from other religions is that it refuses to accept any form of creation, whatsoever, as a deity worthy of worship. Instead, it emphasizes the exclusive worship of the one God who created the entire universe and to whom all creation will eventually return.

Monotheism is the foundation of Islam and its most important concept which cannot be compromised in any way. Not only is God acknowledged as the sole creator and sustainer of everything in existence, but Islam declares that He is the only true deity and He alone is worthy to be worshipped. Further, it recognizes that the attributes of God are nothing like those of His creation and cannot be compared to it; He is absolute, perfect and unique. By following God’s guidance as revealed in the Quran, an individual can obtain meaning and purpose in this live and eternal paradise in the hereafter. [‘Permission from ‘Saheeh International’]

“peaceful, willing submission”…Daniel Pearl remains unavailable for comment.

Julian Porteous, auxiliary bishop at the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, fought back in an article, writing:

In Australia with its Christian heritage a billboard carrying the statement ‘Jesus A prophet of Islam’ is provocative and offensive to Christians.

Central to Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is more than a prophet. He is the Son of God. He is acclaimed Lord and Savior of humanity. This statement is a direct assault on Christian beliefs.

According to the Bishop, religions should not

set out to antagonize those with differing beliefs.

Dialogue between the religions can only take place when it is founded in mutual respect. It is not fostered by provocative statements.

Porteous urged Mypeace to withdraw the ads.

In a related story, gallup.com posted a poll on Friday whose results showed that 92 % of Americans still believe in GOD.  This result is only 4 % lower than the 96% figure that Gallup pollsters found when they asked the question in 1944.

Among to those polled, belief in God drops below 90% among younger Americans, liberals, those living in the East, those with postgraduate educations, and political independents. However, belief in God is nearly universal among Republicans and conservatives and, to a slightly lesser degree, in the South.

How many of these American believers in God are Muslim?

Per adherents.com:

According to an academic review of available survey-based data in 2001, informed by information provided by Muslim organizations and mosques, the highest reasonable total number of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million.

A more realistic number, supported by statistically significant survey data comparable to what has been used to to calculate the sizes of other religious groups, is less than 2 million Muslims in the United States, or about 0.5% of the total population.

Estimates of the U.S. Muslim population of 6 million, 8 million, 10 million or more may indeed be correct, but are not supported by empirical data. Such numbers may best be understood as “spiritual” numbers, rather than actual numbers.

However, according to the American Religious Identification Survey from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, 75 % of Americans identify themselves as Christian.

The vast difference in numbers probably explains why we haven’t seen Mypeace’s “public awareness” campaign in America…yet.

D-Day, also called the Battle of Normandy, was fought on June 6, 1944, between the Allied nations and German forces occupying Western Europe. To this day, almost 67 years later, it  still remains the largest seaborne invasion in history. Almost three million troops crossed the English Channel from England to Normandy to be used as human cannon fodder in an invasion of occupied France.

The twelve nations who participated in the invasion included Australia, Canada, Belgium, France, Czechoslovakia, Greece, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom, and, of course. the United States of America.

The codename for the invasion was Operation Overlord. The assault phase was known as Operation Neptune. Operation Neptune began on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and ended on June 30. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and ended with the crossing of the River Seine on August 19.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower faced a daunting task in the planning of such a massive invasion. He would have to move his forces 100 miles across the English Channel and storm a heavily fortified coastline. His enemy was the weapon-and-tank-superior German army commanded by the “Desert Fox” Erwin Rommel, one of the most brilliant generals of the war.

Less than 15 percent of the young men called upon to sacrifice their lives for our freedom in the invasion had ever seen combat.

A crossing of the unpredictable and dangerous English Channel had not been attempted since 1688. Once the invading forces set out, there was no turning back. The channel was soon hosting a 5,000-vessel armada that stretched as far as the eye could see, transporting both men and vehicles across the channel to the French beaches. Not to mention, the Allies also launched 4,000 smaller landing craft and more than 11,000 aircraft.

By the time the sun set on June 6, more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were dead or wounded, and more than 100,000 had made it ashore, capturing French coastal villages. Within weeks, supplies were being unloaded at Utah and Omaha beachheads at the rate of more than 20,000 tons per day. By June 11, more than 326,000 troops, 55,000 vehicles, and 105,000 tons of supplies had been landed on the beaches. By June 30, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Allied forces crossed the River Seine on August 19.

There has never been an exact count of the sacrifices made on D-Day. Although, it is estimated that more than 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded, or went missing during the battle. 209,000 of those who lost their lives were Allied forces. In addition to almost 200,000 German troops killed or wounded, the Allies also captured 200,000 soldiers. Captured Germans were sent to American prisoner-of-war camps at the rate of 30,000 per month, from D-Day until Christmas 1944. Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed during the battle.

Basically, the invasion of Normandy was a success, due to sheer force of numbers. By July 1944, some one million Allied troops, mostly American, British, and Canadian, were entrenched in Normandy. During the great invasion, the Allies assembled nearly three million men and stored 16 million tons of arms, munitions, and supplies in Britain.

Among the young men who stepped off those boats, in a hail of gunfire, was a fellow named Edward, whom everyone called Ned, from the small town of Helena, Arkansas.  Already in his young life, Ned had been forced to drop out of school in the sixth grade, in order to work at the local movie theatre to help support his mother, brother, and sister faced with the ravages of the Great Depression.

He was a gentle man who loved to laugh and sing, having recorded several 78 rpm records in the do-it-yourself booths of the day. And now, he found himself, a Master Sergeant in an Army Engineering Unit, stepping off a boat into the unknown, watching his comrades being mercilessly gunned down around him.

Ned, along with the rest of his unit who survived the initial assault, would go on to assist in the cleaning out of the Concentration Camps, bearing witness to man’s inhumanity to man.

The horrors he saw had a profound effect on Ned.  One that he would keep to himself for the remainder of his life.  While his children knew that he served with an Engineering Unit in World War II, they did not know the full extent of his service, until they found his medal, honoring his participation in the Invasion of Normany, going through his belongings after he passed away on December 29, 1997.

How do I know so much about Ned?  He was my Daddy.  You see, my love of Christ and, of this country, comes from my Earthly father, 40 years my senior.

I was raised by members of the Greatest Generation.  It is today that we pause to remember their sacrifices at home and abroad.  Not only theirs, but the sacrifices made by our Best and Brightest and their families, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

May God bless them all and may He hold them in the hollow of His hand.

After calling our strongest ally on the carpet yesterday and telling them that they must give half of their country away, United States President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm)meets today with that country’s, Israel’s, Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, face-to-face.

To call today’s meeting tense is like saying Lindsey Lohan has a slight drinking problem.

After Obama’s speech Thursday, in which he called for a Palestinian state on the borders of 1967, as part of his magnificent vision for an U.S.-brokered peace deal, Netanyahu responded, saying such a deal could leave Israel “indefensible.”

Even though Obama and his Administration did not expect any progress toward reviving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the president’s speech yesterday basically slammed the door after the horse had left the barn.

The American Administration’s (not the people’s) position aligns with the Palestinian view that they should be given the half of Israel that lies in the West Bank and Gaza should largely be drawn along the same lines that existed before the 1967 war in which Israel captured those territories and East Jerusalem.

According to Netanyahu:

The viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of Israel’s existence.

Is it just me or did Bibi basically tell Scooter to “go jump”?

Back in the summer of 2002, President George W. Bush gave a speech on the same topic that President Obama gave yesterday:

…I call on the Palestinian people to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror. I call upon them to build a practising democracy, based on tolerance and liberty. If the Palestinian people actively pursue these goals, America and the world will actively support their efforts. If the Palestinian people meet these goals, they will be able to reach agreement with Israel and Egypt and Jordan on security and other arrangements for independence. And when the Palestinian people have new leaders, new institutions and new security arrangements with their neighbours, the United States of America will support the creation of a Palestinian state whose borders and certain aspects of its sovereignty will be provisional until resolved as part of a final settlement in the Middle East.

In the work ahead, we all have responsibilities. The Palestinian people are gifted and capable, and I am confident they can achieve a new birth for their nation. A Palestinian state will never be created by terror – it will be built through reform. And reform must be more than cosmetic change, or veiled attempt to preserve the status quo. True reform will require entirely new political and economic institutions, based on democracy, market economics and action against terrorism.

Compare and contrast the excerpt from Bush’s speech to this excerpt from the speech our current president gave yesterday:

For decades, the conflict between Israelis and Arabs has cast a shadow over the region. For Israelis, it has meant living with the fear that their children could be blown up on a bus or by rockets fired at their homes, as well as the pain of knowing that other children in the region are taught to hate them. For Palestinians, it has meant suffering the humiliation of occupation, and never living in a nation of their own. Moreover, this conflict has come with a larger cost to the Middle East, as it impedes partnerships that could bring greater security and prosperity and empowerment to ordinary people.

For over two years, my administration has worked with the parties and the international community to end this conflict, building on decades of work by previous administrations. Yet expectations have gone unmet. Israeli settlement activity continues. Palestinians have walked away from talks. The world looks at a conflict that has grinded on and on and on, and sees nothing but stalemate. Indeed, there are those who argue that with all the change and uncertainty in the region, it is simply not possible to move forward now.

I disagree. At a time when the people of the Middle East and North Africa are casting off the burdens of the past, the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent than ever. That’s certainly true for the two parties involved.

For the Palestinians, efforts to delegitimize Israel will end in failure. Symbolic actions to isolate Israel at the United Nations in September won’t create an independent state. Palestinian leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection. And Palestinians will never realize their independence by denying the right of Israel to exist.

As for Israel, our friendship is rooted deeply in a shared history and shared values. Our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable. And we will stand against attempts to single it out for criticism in international forums. But precisely because of our friendship, it’s important that we tell the truth: The status quo is unsustainable, and Israel too must act boldly to advance a lasting peace.

The fact is, a growing number of Palestinians live west of the Jordan River. Technology will make it harder for Israel to defend itself. A region undergoing profound change will lead to populism in which millions of people -– not just one or two leaders — must believe peace is possible. The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome. The dream of a Jewish and democratic state cannot be fulfilled with permanent occupation.

Now, ultimately, it is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No peace can be imposed upon them — not by the United States; not by anybody else. But endless delay won’t make the problem go away. What America and the international community can do is to state frankly what everyone knows — a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people, each state enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.

So while the core issues of the conflict must be negotiated, the basis of those negotiations is clear: a viable Palestine, a secure Israel. The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.

Obama basically said nothing about the Palestinians electing new leaders.  he just told Hamas to behave themselves.

Obama’s naivete and/or willing dhimmitude (the Muslim system of controlling non-muslim populations conquered through jihad) not only insults our strongest ally, it puts our nation at risk by projecting an image of weakness.

Then, there’s that little matter of Genesis 12: 1-3:

1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I guess they never studied that scripture at Trinity Church.

Yesterday was a very long day.  Being an average 52 year old American male, I had to go to the Cardiologist for a Nuclear Stress Test, a Sonogram, and a Plaque Predictor.

As if I was not stressed out enough, I came home and read the following on my favorite Conservative website, hotair.com. (Hi, Ed!  Hi, AP!).  Allahpundit had found it on the outrageously Liberal website wonkette.com:

“Why just celebrate tax day today, April 18th? It’s also Trig Paxson Van Palin’s 3rd birthday. His mom went to a lot of trouble to leak amniotic fluid over 8 states to make sure that he arrived in this world somewhat alive,” writes Wonkette operative “Barbara_i,” reminding us of the occasion. “Sarah went to a whole lot of trouble to name him ‘Van Palin,’ a ‘Van Halen’ reference he will never get.” Indeed.

Enjoy yourself today, Trig. Have fun! Get drunk (on purpose this time)! We can hardly wait for 15 years from now, when you will finally be able to vote and will be sent off by your mother’s junta to fight the Union in the Great Alaska War. It’ll be quite a loss. You’re the smartest one in that family.

That strange man yelling unintelligibly at Sarah Palin? He’s merely a lowly shepherd proclaiming the birth of our savior. Today is the day we come together to celebrate the snowbilly grifter’s magical journey from Texas to Alaska to deliver to the America the great gentleman scholar Trig Palin. Is Palin his true mother? Or was Bristol? (And why is it that nobody questions who the father is? Because, either way, Todd definitely did it.) It doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are privileged to live in a time when we can witness the greatest prop in world political history.

What’s he dreaming about? Nothing. He’s retarded.

The author of that waste of bandwidth, added the following to this horrific post:

UPDATE: I regret this post and using the word “retarded” in a reference to Sarah Palin’s child. It’s not nice, and is not necessary, but I take responsibility for writing it. For those who came and are offended by this post: I’m sorry, of course. But I stand by my criticism of Sarah Palin using her child as a political prop.

–Jack Stuef

When I read this classless tripe, as the father of a special 24 year old daughter, I  almost threw my computer monitor out the window.  There are certain things that writers, who have any sense of decorum at all, will not write about.  The under-age children of a political figure is one of them.  Our special or challenged Americans are another.

The Left’s defense of this garbage is the feeble argument that Sarah Palin is making political hay out of Trig and his condition.

That’s awfully hypocritical, especially since they cast the first stone.

Since Trig arrived in this world, the Left has accused him of belonging to  Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol.  And when they weren’t doing that, they were scurriously declaring that Palin should have aborted this sweet little child of God, embracing eugenics, similar to the way in which President Barack Hussein Obama’s Regulatory Czar, Cass Sunstein, did when he wrote the following in his 1993 book, The Partial Constitution:

A restriction on access to abortion turns women’s reproductive capacities into something to be used by fetuses. … Legal and social control of women’s sexual and reproductive capacities has been a principal historical source of sexual inequality.

Restrictions on abortion, surrogacy and free availability of pornography are troublesome,” he wrote.

I do not mean to oppose equality to liberty. … Liberty does not entail respect for all ‘choices.

Additionally, in a 2003 book review, Sunstein argued there is no moral concern regarding cloning human beings since human embryos, which develop into a baby, are “only a handful of cells.”

A handful of cells?  How elitistically simple.

My “handfull of cells” is presently in school, learning how to live on her own.  She is already trained in Microsoft Office Products, having been taught at that very same school, where she also served on the Student Council.

What Liberals do not seem to understand is that fact that special, and all other, children are not disposable handfulls of cells, nor are they targets to be attacked for political gain.

Just as I love my daughter, Sarah Palin very clearly loves Trig.  And, just like every other human being, they are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Everyone knows that for 20 yrs, President Barack Hussein Obama attended Trinity Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, a Black Liberation Theology Church, where he sat under the teachings of Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

The following story brings up the question, once again, as to what in the world was he taught there?   More on that later in this post…

As every Jew and Christian knows, the yearly celebration of Passover recalls the bondage and suffering of Jews in Egypt and the miracle of the Exodus.

Exodus 12: 21-28 (English Standard Version)

21 Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.'” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

28 Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Somebody needs to explain this to President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him). According to him,the glory of Passover can be seen in the recent violent Muslim uprisings in the Middle East.

For the past three years, Obama has released a message before his annual, politically-driven participation in the Passover Seder Dinner.

This year, the Leader of the Free World stated:

The story of Passover…instructs each generation to remember its past, while appreciating the beauty of freedom and the responsibility it entails. This year that ancient instruction is reflected in the daily headlines as we see modern stories of social transformation and liberation unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa.

Obama concluded his message by saying:

As Jewish families gather for this joyous celebration of freedom, let us all be thankful for the gifts that have been bestowed upon us, and let us work to alleviate the suffering, poverty, injustice, and hunger of those who are not yet free.

And, just to sound good, Obama ended with the Hebrew term “Chag Samayach,” which means “Have a happy holiday.”

Obama first attended a Seder during his presidential campaign in 2008, basically to endear himself to America’s Jewish population, as the polls at that time, were not in his favor. At the end of the Seder, when Jews chanted, “Next year in Jerusalem,” Obama responded, “Next year in the White House.”

The story goes, per Lauren Salkeld, writing for the epicurious.com website, that, after a campaign rally, Obama met with Eric Lesser, one of his Jewish backers. Despite the heavy campaign schedule, Lesser and two friends had organized a makeshift Seder in a hotel basement. As they began, Obama stuck his head in and asked, “Is this a Seder? Can I join?”

After achieving the Presidency, Obama held another Seder last year, complete with all of the Jewish customs, and will have one again this year in the White House’s Old Family Dining Room.

This is not unusual in itself, as Christian churches all over America hold Seder Dinners, in which they invite a Rabbi to demonstrate the dinner and explain the custom of the eating of the bitter herbs.

I know. I’ll be attending one this Friday night.

Where things get twisted, involves the adaptation of the old hymn Let My People Go by the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and the evolution of the whole Social Justice Vanguard, as exemplified by Obama’s Spiritual Adviser Jim Wallis and the non-biblical concept of Collective Salvation. The Far Left, Obama included, have twisted around the story of the Jews’ Egyptian Captivity and their Redemption by God, in order to try to make it apply to Palestinian Authority Arabs.

In Obama’s case, this is not surprising.  Per discoverthenetworks.org:

Many of [Rev. Jeremiah] Wright’s condemnations of America are echoed in his denunciations of Israel and Zionism, which he has blamed for imposing “injustice and … racism” on the Palestinians. According to Wright, Zionism contains an element of “white racism.” Likening Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa’s treatment of blacks during the apartheid era, Wright advocates divestment campaigns targeting companies that conduct business in, or with, Israel. He has referred to Israel as a “dirty word.”

…On the “Pastor’s Page” of the June 10, 2007 edition of the TUCC newsletter, was an open letter from Palestinian activist Ali Baghdadi calling Israel an “apartheid” regime that was developing an “ethnic bomb” designed to kill “blacks and Arabs.” Wrote Baghdadi:

“I must tell you that Israel was the closest ally to the white supremacists of South Africa. In fact, South Africa allowed Israel to test its nuclear weapons in the ocean off South Africa. The Israelis were given a blank check: they could test whenever they desired and did not even have to ask permission. Both worked on an ethnic bomb that kills Blacks and Arabs.”

To repeat myself, President Barack Hussein Obama sat under the teachings of this man for 20 years…and for the past 3, he has held Seder Dinners.

Ain’t political expediency wonderful?