Libyan leader and general nutjob Muammar Gaddafi called for Palestinians to revolt against Israel yesterday.

Per Reuters Africa:

Gaddafi is respected in many parts of the Arab world for his uncompromising criticism of Israel and Arab leaders who have dealings with the Jewish state, though some people in the region dismiss his initiatives as unrealistic.

That’s an understatement.

In his first big speech since the happenings in Egypt, the radical Muslim leader said on state television, in a speech given to mark Mohamed’s birthday, a holy day in the Islamic calendar:

Fleets of boats should take Palestinians … and wait by the Palestinian shores until the problem is resolved. This is a time of popular revolutions.

We need to create a problem for the world. This is not a declaration of war. This is a call for peace.

All Arab states which have relations with Israel are cowardly regimes.

Palestinians want Israel to allow all refugees who fled or were forced to leave in the war of Israel’s creation in 1948 to return, along with their descendants.

However, Israel says any resettlement of Palestinian refugees must occur outside of its borders.

This nutjob also called for all Muslim countries to join forces against the West. He claimed that the world was divided into white, alluding to the United States, Europe and their allies, and green for the Muslim world.

The white colour has decided to get rid of the green colour. These countries should be united against the white colour because all of these white countries are the enemies of Islam.

While he actually said that violent acts committed by Osama Bin Laden’s al Qaeda network went against Islam because they killed innocent people, he hedged his bet by claiming that there was a political explanation for the emergence of militant Islamists:

Why did this movement emerge? Regardless of its behaviour, in my analysis this movement appeared in response to the American arrogance towards the Islamic nation and in response to its hegemony of the Islamic world.

It was a response to … the submission of rulers in the Islamic world, the subservience of rulers in the Islamic world to this arrogance from Europe and the United States

Gaddafi has for decades challenged what he describes as Western imperialism. His oil exporting country spent years under international sanctions for seeking banned weapons and sponsoring militant groups. The ban was lifted in 2004.

For you gentle readers out there who don’t know a whole lot about this radical Muslim, per answers.com:

(born 1942, Surt, Libya) Ruler of Libya from 1969. Son of a Bedouin farmer, he was born in a tent in the desert. He graduated from the University of Libya and Libya’s military academy and was a devout Muslim and ardent nationalist. As a captain in the army, he led the 1969 coup that deposed King Idris I. He espoused his own form of Islamic socialism, and his foreign policy was anti-Western and anti-Israel. In 1970 he closed U.S. and British military bases and expelled Italians and Jews. He banned alcoholic beverages and gambling and in 1973 nationalized the oil industry. He made unsuccessful attempts to unify Libya with other countries. His government was repeatedly linked with terrorist incidents in Europe and elsewhere, and he supported groups trying to overthrow neighbouring governments. He narrowly escaped death in 1986 when U.S. planes bombed sites in Libya, including his own residence.

About that 1986 bombing…

Thirty five years later, how does this Muslim nutjob feel about the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? Well, after all, it’s Valentine’s Day:

In President Barack Hussein Obama’s Speech to the Muslim World at the University of Cairo on June 4, 2009, he said:

…I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. I know there’s been a lot of publicity about this speech, but no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have this afternoon all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.” (Applause.) That is what I will try to do today — to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Now part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I’m a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam — at places like Al-Azhar — that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities — (applause) — it was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality. (Applause.)

Evidently, the Cairo speech let Gaddafi, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other radicals know exactly where this American President stood, as far as “the religion of peace” and its followers were concerned.

Even at the expense of our allies.

As Hosni Mubarak and his family fled to the sunny shores of Sharm el-Sheikh and life in exile, Vice-President Suleiman announced the former president’s resignation, one day after he told Obama to talk a long walk on a short pier.

Now what?

Well, for now anyway, Egypt’s military is in charge. They have already assured Egypt’s allies that the peace deal with Israel will remain intact.

In a television statement, they tentatively tried to assure citizens that all was well and also cautiously outlined the next steps to restore normalcy to a nation torn apart after an 18-day wave of protests.

The protesters may not like this new government very much, as they seem to be very reticent in following the masses’ wishes to dissolve parliament and throw out the current government in favor of some sort of all-inclusive transitional body to oversee reforms until elections can be held.

In their statement, the military did not rule all of this out, but, they did not commit to these actions, either.

President Barack Hussein Obama said in a television statement yesterday:

The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard and Egypt will never be the same.

Okay. But, that might not necessarily be a good thing.

Obama praised the protesters, calling them the “New Generation” in Egypt. He went on to say that they have “inspired” Americans with their nonviolent activism. He then vowed that the two countries will remain partners.

Obama said:

Egyptians have inspired us. For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence, not terrorism, not mindless killing … that bent the arc of history toward justice once more.

After Mubarak resigned, Obama said Friday that “the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace.”

Yeah. Like Iran in 1979.

I hate to harsh your mellow, Scooter, but what happens if the Muslim Brotherhood gains true political power and starts moving Egypt away from the West and Israel?

Noticeably Obama did not mention the MB in his self-congratulatory speech yesterday. But, he did cryptically say that the transition

must bring all of Egypt’s voices to the table.

The propaganda from American Liberals during the Egyptian uprising has been that the MB is not that influential in Egypt.

However, Democratic pollster Doug Schoen found that at least 60 percent of Egyptians support the MB.   Furthermore, those polled predicted that in a straight-up democratic election, politicians aligned with the MB would gain a majority and “probably the presidency.”

As I posted last week, according to haaretz.com, in an article posted the day of this famous speech:

U.S. President Barack Obama met with members of Egypt’s Islamist opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, earlier this year, according to a report in Thursday editions of the Egyptian daily newspaper Almasry Alyoum.

The newspaper reported that Obama met the group’s members, who reside in the U.S. and Europe, in Washington two months ago.

According to the report, the members requested that news of the meeting not be publicized. They expressed to Obama their support for democracy and the war on terror.

The newspaper also reported that the members communicated to Obama their position that the Muslim Brotherhood would abide by all agreements Egypt has signed with foreign countries.

But, wait, there’s more, as I have previously reported:

The Muslim Brotherhood has even met with the Obama Administration over the past year as reported by Richard Pollock atpajamasmedia.com:

Last month [January], U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and her senior staff privately met in Washington, D.C., with a select group of Muslim, Arab, and Sikh organizations. Among the mix were three organizations directly associated with an outlawed terrorist entity — the Muslim Brotherhood.

Secretary Napolitano spent an hour and a half briefing them on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) counter-radicalization and anti-terrorist programs. The intensive briefings spanned two days (January 27 and 28) and were called by the DHS.

So, here’s my question, and possibly, yours, as well.  What is Obama going to say and do when the radical Muslims take over Egypt, Algeria, and the other Middle Eastern nations that are currently in turmoil, forming a Caliphate?

Remember the article Obama:  Man of the World, written by Nicholas Kristof for the New York Times in 2007?  No?  Here’s an excerpt from Scooter’s own website, Organizing for America:

He spent four years as a child in Indonesia and attended schools in the Indonesian language, which he still speaks.”I was a little Jakarta street kid,” he said in a wide-ranging interview in his office (excerpts are on my [Kristof’s] blog, http://www.nytimes.com/ontheground). He once got in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in his
elementary school, but a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics — and more likely to be aware of their nationalism — if he once studied the Koran with them.

Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as ”one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.”

Moreover, Mr. Obama’s own grandfather in Kenya was a Muslim. Mr. Obama never met his grandfather and says he isn’t sure if his grandfather’s two wives were simultaneous or consecutive, or even if he was Sunni or Shiite.

It makes one wonder, doesn’t it?

 

 

Before we get to the story behind the title of today’s post, I have a question for you, gentle reader:  Did you hear what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said yesterday?  As we say in Dixie:  You ain’t gonna believe this!

The term Muslim Brotherhood is an umbrella term for a variety of movements. In the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.

Jamie Smith, Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence later tried to perform damage control, when he said the following on ABC News:

To clarify Director Clapper’s point – in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood makes efforts to work through a political system that has been, under Mubarak’s rule, one that is largely secular in its orientation – he is well aware that the Muslim Brotherhood is not a secular organization.

Oh, so he was lying, huh?

As I write this, at 6:04 a.m. Central, February 11, 2011, Fox News is showing a sea of Egyptians in the streets of Cairo, reminding me of what Moses leading the Israelites out of that country must have looked like, as I read in Exodus, during my quiet time this morning.

The big difference is, it’s not God who’s fomenting this revolution.  It’s the Muslim Brotherhood tickling the ears of the naive and the downtrodden of this ancient land.

Adding more fuel to the protestor’s rage yesterday, President Hosni Mubarak basically told U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama (peace be upon him) to go taking a long walk on a short pier. Mubarak announced that he would hand over powers to his Vice-President, refusing to step down after more than two weeks of protests demanding that he quit.

Seeking to end the unrest, armed forces high command had earlier issued “Communique No.1,” declaring it was taking control of the nation in what some called a military coup.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians chanting “Leave! Leave!” had gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, anticipating that Mubarak was about to announce his resignation in a televised address.

Instead, Mubarak presented himself as a patriot and war hero, justifying, in his mind, his remaining in office until the election in September.  He praised young Egyptians who have stunned the Arab world with unprecedented rallies. He announced constitutional change and more power for Vice President Omar Suleiman.

Meanwhile, in the streets of Cairo, the crowds chanted:

Down, down Hosni Mubarak.

The crowd’s happiness soon turned to rage.

Mohamed ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize winner and retired U.N. diplomat who is a Liberal political figurehead being unknowingly used by the MB, wrote on Twitter:

Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now.

Mubarak announced that he would

delegate to the vice president of the republic the prerogatives of the president of the republic in a manner that is fixed by the constitution.

Egyptian Vice-President Suleiman is a 74-year-old former intelligence chief who was promoted just last month. He is not very popular with protesters, who want nothing else to do with a military-dominated government, such as the one that has governed Egypt for the past six decades.

Suleiman appeared on state television to say there was a “road map” for transition and said he would oversee a “peaceful transition of power”.

As of this morning, Egypt’s sprawling armed forces, the world’s 10th biggest and more than 468,000-strong, are supporting the Mubarak government. Egypt’s military have been the country’s power brokers since army officers overthrew the British-backed king in 1952.

And what was the President of the United States’ response, as Cairo burns, and the free world sits on the edge of their seats? 

Scooter issued a written statement.

Ooooo.  Scary.

In the statement, Obama criticized Mubarak without calling him out by name, for not offering clarity to his people or a concrete path to democracy. Obama called on Egyptian government leaders to do so, saying:

They have not yet seized that opportunity.

Meanwhile, at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Obama and his national security team were scrambling around like a Benny Hill Chase scene, trying to decide how to respond to a speech that they were not prepared for. In his response, Obama asked Egypt’s leaders to plainly explain what the new changes mean and how they would lead them to the freedoms or opportunities that have driven enormous crowds into the streets since late January.

Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy. And it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world.

Mubarak has been in power for 30 years, Mr. President.  Did you think that a “strongly worded statement” was going to make him straighten up and fly right?  Hardly.

But then again, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah told you not to embarrass his friend Hosni, didn’t he?

Per The London Times, during a heated telephone exchange on January 29th, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told President Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) not to humiliate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The King warned Obama that he would step in to bankroll Egypt if the US withdrew its foreign aid to the besieged Egyptian President.

Our country gives Mubarak $1.5 billion annually.

King Abdullah stated, in no uncertain terms, that Mubarak must be allowed to remain in power in order to oversee the transition towards peaceful democracy and then leave with dignity.

Per a senior source in the Saudi capital:

Mubarak and King Abdullah are not just allies, they are close friends, and the King is not about to see his friend cast aside and humiliated.

Smart Power! is not working very well, is it?

Meanwhile, the White House has been putting on a show for the cameras, warning Egypt’s leaders that the protests that they’re experiencing in their country will not end until they start to show real reforms and a transition to a freer society, criticizing any concessions by the Mubarak government of not meeting even the minimum threshold of what the Egyptian people want.

However, Obama and his administration officials continue to hedge their bet, reminding anyone who will listen that the United States is not seeking to dictate events in Egypt, because it can’t.

White House spokesman Baghdad Bob Gibbs told reporters yesterday:

We’re not going to be able to force them do anything.

However, that hasn’t stopped them from putting on a show of authority, calling for the end of harassment of the protestors, for Mubarak’s government to add more opposition leaders to the negotiations, and calling for the end of the repressive emergency law that Mubarak has instituted.

Obama and his administration have issued other edicts four steps that they want the besieged Egyptian Government to take, but, so far, the response has been **crickets**.

As thousands of protesters packed into Cairo’s central Tahrir Square for a 17th day, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has said about 300 people have been killed since the protests began, with new fatalities still being reported.

But…but…I thought that President Obama was supposed to be a Foreign Policy suuuuper-genius?  I mean, just read his Foreign Policy Guiding Principles from whitehouse.gov:

President Obama has committed himself and his Administration from the beginning of his presidency to a foreign policy that ensures the safety of the American people. But he also refuses the false division between our values and our security; the United States can be true to our values and ideals while also protecting the American people. We will use all elements of American power to achieve objectives, and consult closely with the Congress so that our policies may have the broad and bipartisan support that makes them most effective. Finally, while there are instances and individuals who can be met only by force, the United States will be prepared to listen to and talk with our adversaries in order to advance our interests.

Our (average Americans’) values or his values?

And didn’t Hillary tell us that Smart Power! was the greatest thing since sliced bread?

What happened?  I thought that the president’s speech at the University of Cairo to the Muslim world at the University of Cairo on June 4, 2009 was supposed to heal all wounds, make the oceans rise and fall, etc.  I mean, he told them that he understands:

I’ve come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. I know there’s been a lot of publicity about this speech, but no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust, nor can I answer in the time that I have this afternoon all the complex questions that brought us to this point. But I am convinced that in order to move forward, we must say openly to each other the things we hold in our hearts and that too often are said only behind closed doors. There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Koran tells us, “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.”

That is what I will try to do today — to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart.

Now part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I’m a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

Evidently, the Muslim world was not impressed.

Do you get the feeling that they’ve figured out that Smart Power! consists of speaking loudly, but being reticent to back it up?

Next week, House Republicans (and any Democrat Representative with any common sense whatsoever) are going to vote to block funding for President Barack Hussein Obama’s (mm mmm mmmm) signature legislation, the unwanted monstrosity known as Obamacare.

This action will occur as the House takes up a budget plan next week according to House Republican Leader Eric Cantor.

In preparation for this upcoming vote, the Administration’s Health and Human Services Agency released the following propaganda on January 18th:

Without President Barack Obama’s health care law, as many as 129 million Americans — half of those under age 65 — could be denied coverage or charged more because of a pre-existing medical condition.

Without the law, up to 129 million people with health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis or cancer would be at risk of losing health insurance when they need it most or being denied coverage altogether.

This new estimate by the Health and Human Services Department is more than twice as high as a figure that supporters of the law were using last year.

What Ms. Sibelius and her staff did not say is the fact that most of those millions of people are covered by health insurance at work and don’t face any immediate risk of being denied care for their pre-existing medical problems. In Fact, those who take a new job and sign up in their employer’s health plan are already protected by a 1990s law.

According to economist Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change:

Most of these people don’t have a problem, with or without health reform, because they get their coverage through their employment, and employer coverage takes everybody.

This center is a nonpartisan research organization.

Cantor said at a news conference yesterday, concerning the planned blockage, that:

I expect to see one way or other the product coming out of the House to speak to that and to preclude any funding to be used for that.

House Republicans are looking to immediately cut at least $32 billion from the government’s $3.7 trillion budget, trying to shave some largess from budget deficits that could hit an estimated $1.5 trillion this year.

Details of the package will be made public on Thursday.

According to Cantor’s office, a proposal to block funding for Obamacare is expected to be offered as an amendment during the House debate next week. Republicans, keeping faithful to a campaign pledge for a more open legislative process, will debate a number of amendments to the spending bill.

The problem is, this amendment, which will probably pass the House, is not likely to get past the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The usual congresschickens fear that the attempt to block funds for Obamacare could lead to a government shutdown.

Good. As Sheriff Buford T. Justice (played by the late, great Jackie Gleason)once said:

That’s called an attention-getter.

The last government shutdown happened in 1995.  America had a Democrat President and a Republican Congress.  According to ask.com:

The 1995 “shutdown” of the United States federal government was the result of a conflict between Democratic President Clinton and the Republican-controlled Congress over funding for Medicare, education, the environment and public health. It took place after Clinton vetoed the spending bill which Congress sent him. Thereupon, the Federal government of the United States put non-essential government workers on furlough and suspended non-essential services from November 14 through November 19, 1995 and from December 16, 1995 to January 6, 1996 (see budget crisis). The major players were Bill Clinton, the Democrat then serving as President, and Newt Gingrich, the Republican then serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Republican action in 1995 hurt their popularity,  due to the likability factor of President Bill “Bubba” Clinton.  In fact, political pundits point to it as one of the leading causes for Clinton’s re-election. 

Democrats are claiming that a 2011 government shutdown will have the same results.

There are two problems with that theory.  First, the imperious, inept Scooter Obama, not good ol’ boy Bubba Clinton is President of the United States.  Second, certainly the Republicans wouldn’t be so stupid as to run another Bob Dole it’s-his-turn-Washington-Insider, would they?…Would they?

Don’t answer that.

 

As I and millions of other Americans suffer this morning from eating too much at Superbowl Parties last night, we have one consolation:  The President and First Lady are probably suffering as much as we are.

Per Yahoo.com:

Last night at the White House Super Bowl Party, the menu included Yuengling Lager and Light, brewed in Pennsylvania, and Hinterland Pale Ale and Amber Ale, all the way from Wisconsin. White House Honey Ale was also imbibed.

The 100-plus guests at the bash at the Executive Mansion also indulged in bratwurst, kielbasa, cheeseburgers, deep-dish pizza and Buffalo wings with sides of German potato salad, twice-baked potatoes and assorted chips and dips.

Wait a second.  Isn’t this the same administration that wants to regulate what we peasants eat?

Michelle (ma belle) has already called for a war against childhood obesity and has called for strict regulation of school menus, including removing Coke machines from America’s public schools, which America’s teachers are fighting, tooth and nail. ( Never try to deprive our teachers of their carbonated caffeine.  Trust me.  I have one at home.)

Additionally, the Obamas and their Administration have attacked Walmart and are trying to force America’s restaurants into putting nutrition information on their menus.

Michelle and her advisers have been meeting the National Restaurant Association over the last year, in an attempt to force restaurants to serve smaller portions and children’s meals that include healthy offerings like carrots, apple slices and milk instead of French fries and soda.

Additionally. the First Lady recently proclaimed that she had cajoled…err….reached an agreement with Walmart to lower prices on fruits and vegetables and to reduce the amount of fat, sugar and salt in its foods.

Tomorrow, Queen Michelle will begin a three-day publicity assault to spotlight “Let’s Move!,” her campaign to reduce childhood obesity.

She will premiere a new public service announcement, appear on the “Today” show and travel to Atlanta to promote gardening and healthy-eating programs.

But that’s not all the Commissioner of the Food Police has been doing.  She and her caloric centurions have worked with soda makers to design cans with calorie counts and, if that is not enough, she is spearheading a major remake of the Food Pyramid.

Why? Did anybody ask her to? What business of her’s is what we choose to eat or feed our children?

As I mentioned earlier, Michelle even strong-armed Congress to make schools have more fruits and vegetables in the lunches they offer, and she instructed lawmakers to require restaurants to print nutrition information on menus, a provision that wound up in the monstrosity known as Obamacare.

Michelle and her Food Police are everywhere. Lanette R. Kovachi, corporate dietitian for Subway, said she had taken part in at least four conference calls with Mrs. Obama’s food advisers.

According to Melody Barnes, Michelle’s domestic policy adviser and the chairwoman of a presidential task force on obesity, industry has been eager to work with the White House. I’ll bet. But the Caloric Queen will not lend her name to any plan or program, she said, unless it meets the recommendations of a task force report issued in May.

If someone wants her support, we take a hard look at the data and the research to determine if the commitment meets our standards. And if the result is good for business as well as for the health of American children, we see that as a win-win.

Regarding her agreement with Walmart, this was strictly a business move on the company’s part.  They have been trying to expand into urban areas for years, and teaming up with the First Lady, will open up  resistant, Liberal,  local politicians to the idea of allowing the retail giant in their neighborhood.

Walmart is playing this Administration like a fiddle.  Good for them.

First ladies of previoius Administrations have donated their time and effrorts to important causes, such as the fight against illiteracy.  Why does this imperious regime think that it is their perogative to dictate what we and our children eat at our dinner tables?  If I want to order a pizza for dinner and then eat a cold slice for breakfast, that’s my business.  I’m a free American. 

What’s next?  Telling us what kind of light bulbs we can use?  Oh…never mind.

Anyway, I realize that a lot of Americans do not eat in as health a manner as they should.  As someone who has dropped almost 30 pounds over the last year, I recognize the dangers of weighing too much.  However, personal responsibility is the only solution for obesity.  Just ask Richard Simmons.

The Obama’s attempt to legislate our daily caloric intake, while they continue to eat like King Henry VIII, is hypocrisy of the higher order.  Michelle Antoinette would be proud of them.

Oh, and Michelle, if you are so concerned about Americans’ weight, here’s a suggestion:  look over your shoulder, toward the floor.

Physician, heal thyself.

Today, at the Superbowl, there will be a special video played. 

No, it won’t be a music video from Lenny Kravitz, Prince, Usher, Paul McCartney, or The Who.  It won’t even be a self-congratulatory proclamation from the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

It will be a tribute to a man who was born in 1911 in Tampico, Illinois, the son of a shoe salesman and a devout Christian Mom, just a regular American guy, who wound up becoming a sports announcer in the Midwest after washing dishes to pay for his college education.

However, that was just the beginning for this fellow.  His good looks, engaging manner, and quick wit got Hollywood interested in him.  He made several movies, in which he played the dashing leading man, like the role of “The Gipper” in The Knute Rockne Story.  He had the privilege of playing a young George Custer to Errol Flynn’s Jeb Stuart, and the adventure of playing second banana to a chimpanzee.

At the age of 50, after serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild, he entered the arena of politics.  He subsequently became Governor of California.  Then, at the age of 69, he became the President of the United States of America, after failing twice to win the Republican Nomination.

I’m sure, by now, that you’ve figured out that I’ve been writing about Ronald Wilson Reagan.   This week, Americans have been celebrating the life and legacy of the greatest American President in our lifetime.

President Reagan has gone down in history as “The Great Communicator”, because of quotes like this:

On Government:

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

If the federal government had been around when the Creator was putting His hand to this state, Indiana wouldn’t be here. It’d still be waiting for an environmental impact statement.

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

On America and his own Christianity:

Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.

Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

 We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child. 

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

There are no easy answers’ but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. 

If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.

If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.

In researching the occasion of his 100th birthday,  it has been interesting to read all the Liberal sites.  They are still feverishly trying to “debunk” the “Reagan Mythology”. 

Unfortunately for them, and the Moderate Republicans who carry their water, Americans have all the wonderful speeches that President Regan made, and the memorable quotes, like those listed above, that he left us to refer to, which repudiate their flimsy efforts in trying to recast President Reagan to fit their political ideologies.

It’s only fitting that he be honored tonight during the biggest American sports event of the year.  As The Gipper himself once quipped:

Going to college offered me the chance to play football for four more years.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.  You are missed.

As we watch events unfold in Egypt, our Progressive friends , including the Obama Administration, are insisting that this is democracy unfolding. That might very well be. However, your humble writer remembers the Iranian Revolution. And, as I’ve written before, this scenario seems all too familiar.

The Egyptian Crisis may not wind up being the idyllic democratic paradise that Liberals wish to paint its future as, with rainbows and unicorns included. There are snakes nipping at the heels of Lady Liberty as she walks through the sands of Egypt.

The Muslim Brotherhood, or al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, have their blood-stained fingers on the pulse of the revolution.

The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is Egypt’s oldest and largest Islamist organization.

The group was founded by Hassan al-Banna in the 1920s, and has been at the heart of Muslim activity throughout the world ever since, through its subterfuge of political activism combined with Islamic charity work.

Supposedly, the group started out with a mission to spread Islamic morals and good works. However, they soon became involved in politics, especially the fight to rid Egypt of British colonial control and all Western influence.

The MB has led the fight against the ruling National Democratic Party of President Hosni Mubarak, since he assumed power in 1981.

The MB have always claimed that they support democracy. However, they have stated publicly that they want to create a state ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia.

They are known throughout the world for creating the slogan:

Islam is the solution.

It was during the 1980s that the MB jumped into the mainstream of Egyptian politics.

Their leadership formed alliances with the Wafd party in 1984, and with the Labour and Liberal parties in 1987, thus becoming the main opposition force in Egypt. In 2000, the Ikhwan won 17 seats in the People’s Assembly.

Within five years, independent candidates sponsored by the MB won 20% of the seats.

President Mubarak was not happy about this. He jumped on the MB with both feet, jailing hundreds of them, and put into law a number of “reforms” to try to slow down their resurgence.

Mubarak even re-wrote Egypt’s constitution to stipulate that:

political activity or political parties shall not be based on any religious background or foundation.

Additionally, independent candidates were banned from running for president and anti-terrorism legislation was introduced that gave the security forces sweeping powers to detain suspects and restrict public gatherings.

When these efforts produced a block-out of opposition party candidates from winning elections, Mubarak’s government faced allegations of widespread fraud.

So, here we are. Cairo is on fire, the MB is providing the torches and the kerosene, and American Progressives think that it’s a 4th of July fireworks display.

The MB’s deputy general guide, Mahmoud Izzat, says, hey, we’re all about this liberty thing:

We are part of the people. The people are demanding the basics – mainly the necessities of life – and they have the right to do so. The people also demand their freedom and the dissolution of the fake parliament.

The youths want the demonstrations to be peaceful but the regime uses excessive violence against the youths, such as rubber bullets.

And the Muslim Brotherhood wants to arm the youths with the sword of Allah. 

I say that because word has just surfaced that there was an assassination attempt on the life of Egypt’s Vice-President Omar Sulieiman on January 29th, right after his appointment to his position.  The attempt has been described as an organized attack on the VP’s motorcade.

WH Press Secretary Baghdad Bob Gibbs, when asked about the assassination attempt at a recent press conference, replied:

I’m not going to … get into that question.

Considering the clandestine meetings that this administration has had with the Muslim Brotherhood, as documented in my recent posts, that does not surprise me at all.

As tensions in the Middle East continue to grow, word came out yesterday from, you guessed it, Wikileaks, that Islamic Terrorists groups are farther along in their quest to rid the world of the infidels than the authorities previously thought,

Per vancouversun.com:

Al-Qaida has been gathering nuclear material and having rogue scientists build “dirty” bombs.

It has also been learned and passed along in security briefings that Islamic Terrorist groups are also dangerously close to producing “workable and efficient” biological and chemical weapons. If used, these weapons could kill thousands.

The information was revealed through thousands of classified American Intelligence documents which Wikileaks got a hold of and passed on to The London Daily Telegraph.

It was revealed in a Nato meeting in January 2009, that al-Qaida was planning to use “dirty radioactive IEDs”, makeshift nuclear roadside bombs that could be used against British troops in Afghanistan.

Not only would the “dirty bombs” cause massive explosive damage, they would leave the area contaminated for years,

NATO found out in these same briefings that “greater advances” in bioterrorism had been made by the Islamic Terrorists than they were aware of.

A bunch of documents concerning the smuggling of nuclear material, sent to Washington from foreign U.S. embassies, tell the story of how criminal and terrorist gangs were dealing in large amounts of highly radioactive material across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

These alerts detail how customs guards at remote border crossings used radiation alarms to identify and seize cargoes of uranium and plutonium.

Authorities learned that freight trains were carrying weapons-grade nuclear material across the Kazakhstan-Russia border, highly enriched uranium was transported across Uganda by bus, and a “small time hustler” in Lisbon offered to sell radioactive plates stolen from Chernobyl.

In September 2009, two employees at the Rossing Uranium Mine in Namibia smuggled almost half a ton of uranium concentrate powder – yellowcake – out of the compound in plastic bags.

“Acute safety and security concerns” were brought to light in 2008 concerning the uranium and plutonium laboratory of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear safety watchdog.

The deputy director general of the IAEA, Tomihiro Taniguchi, has privately warned America that the world faces the threat of a “nuclear 9/11” if stores of uranium and plutonium were not secured against terrorists.

The problem is, according to diplomats who visited the IAEA’s Austrian headquarters in April 2008, there was “no way to provide perimeter security” to its own laboratory because it has windows that leave it vulnerable to break-ins.

And to top it all off, Senior British defense officials have raised “deep concerns” that a rogue scientist in the Pakistani nuclear program “could gradually smuggle enough material out to make a weapon”, according to a document detailing official talks in London in February 2009.

But, hey, no worries.  After all, we have a strong, steel-spined American president who deals firmly and decisively in the arena of America’s foreign policy, don’t we?

According to an article at nytimes.com, 30 minutes before Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak gave his speech announcing that the would not seek re-election, he was in a 30-minute phone conversation with President Barack Hussein Obama.

Per people familiar with the discussion, supposedly Obama was more forceful in insisting on a smooth transition.

Uh huh.

Well, the president sure didn’t show that steel spine in the speech he made to Americans yesterday afternoon.  He praised the Egyptian military for showing restraint and the protesters for remaining peaceful.  However, he did say that “the status quo is not sustainable”.

That’s forceful?

Waitasecond.  I thought Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, that

We’re not advocating any specific outcome.

Wow.  Smart Power! in action.  Nothing like consistency in Foreign Policy.

Do you remember when the powers-that-be in the Administration decided that from now on acts of Islamic Terrorism would be called “man-caused disasters”? That went over like a lead ballon.   However, have you noticed that the Administration and their Main Stream Media sycophants are still extremely reticent to identify guys named Mohammed as Muslim or Islamic Terrorists? 

Why is that?  They had no problem identifying Timothy McVeigh. 

See what playing nice in the arena of Foreign Policy with these barbarians has accomplished in the past two years?  The entire Middle East is on the verge of becoming a Caliphate, surrounding Israel,  (Please pray for Israel, by the way.) and Islamic Terrorists are on the cusp of having nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

This is Smart Power?