Tag: John Kerry

Iraqi-Nam And The Administration Who Couldn’t Speak Straight

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

AFBranvoNoBoots-9172014Have you ever played the “Gossip Game”?

We used to do it all the time on Church Youth Retreats. You line up a long row of chairs and sit your group down in them. Somebody whispers a sentence into the ear of the person in the first chair, who then whispers it in the ear of the person in the second chair, and so forth. By the time the sentence is whispered in the ear of the person in the last chair, it sounds nothing like the original sentence.

The message that Obama and his Administration are communicating about how they are going to prosecute the “limited engagement” against ISIS/ISIL reminds me of the “Gossip Game”.

Let’s examine the Administration’s disjointed message, shall we?

September 11, 2014 – The New York Times reported that

After enduring harsh criticism for saying in a news conference two weeks ago that he did not have a strategy for dealing with ISIS in Syria, Mr. Obama sketched out a plan that will involve heightened American training and arming of moderate Syrian rebels to fight the militants. Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide bases for the training of those forces.

The White House has asked Congress to authorize the plan to train and equip rebels — something the Central Intelligence Agency has been doing covertly and on a much smaller scale — but Mr. Obama said he had the authority necessary to expand the broader campaign.

“These American forces will not have a combat mission — we will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq,” Mr. Obama pledged, adding that the broader mission he was outlining for American military forces “will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; it will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.”

Setpember 16, 2014 – ABCnews.go.com reported that

American ground troops may be needed to battle Islamic State forces in the Middle East if President Barack Obama’s current strategy fails, the nation’s top military officer said Tuesday as Congress plunged into an election-year debate of Obama’s plan to expand airstrikes and train Syrian rebels.

A White House spokesman said quickly the president “will not” send ground forces into combat, but Gen. Martin Dempsey said Obama had personally told him to come back on a “case by case basis” if the military situation changed.

“To be clear, if we reach the point where I believe our advisers should accompany Iraqi troops on attacks against specific ISIL targets, I will recommend that to the president,” Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, declared in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. He referred to the militants by an alternative name.

Pressed later by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the panel’s chairman, the four-star general said if Obama’s current approach isn’t enough to prevail, he might “go back to the president and make a recommendation that may include the use of ground forces.”

Dempsey’s testimony underscored the dilemma confronting many lawmakers as the House moves through its own debate on authorizing the Pentagon to implement the policy Obama announced last week. In Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. continued its expanded military campaign, carrying out two airstrikes northwest of Irbil and three southwest of Baghdad.

After the hearing, Dempsey told reporters traveling with him to Paris that the Pentagon had concluded that about half of Iraq’s army was incapable of partnering effectively with the U.S. to roll back the Islamic State group’s territorial gains in western and northern Iraq, and the other half needs to be partially rebuilt with U.S. training and additional equipment.

September 17, 2014 – According to politico.com,

“U.S. ground troops will not be sent into combat in this conflict,” Kerry testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “Instead, they will support Iraq forces on the ground as they fight for their country.”

…Kerry’s testimony comes as Congress races toward a critical vote to give the Obama administration the green light to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The House is set to vote on the measure later Wednesday, with the Senate to take up the legislation later this week. The measure has run into considerable opposition from both the right and the left but is expected to pass before lawmakers left Washington until after the midterm elections.

President Barack Obama reiterated earlier Wednesday in a speech at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, that he will not send U.S. combat troops to fight ISIL in Iraq, following testimony from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey that opened the door to that option earlier this week.

And later during the Foreign Relations hearing, Kerry declined to move off that position, despite questioning from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), whom Kerry told: “I’m not going to engage in hypotheticals.”

“The president has made a judgment as commander-in-chief that that’s not in the cards,” Kerry said, referring to ground troops.

Shortly before the hearing began before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, protesters from the anti- war group Code Pink – a prevalent sight on the Hill in recent days as lawmakers engaged in debate about arming Syrian rebels – stood up, held signs and chanted “No more war!”

Deviating from his prepared remarks, Kerry turned his attention to the protesters, seated in the front row of the hearing room, and told them that while he was sympathetic to their opposition to war, if they believed in the broader mission of Code Pink, “then you ought to care about fighting ISIL.”

Stressing that the Islamic State was “killing and raping and mutilating women” and “making a mockery of a peaceful religion,” Kerry told the protesters: “There is no negotiation with ISIL.”

Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) stressed that if the military campaign continues for an extended period of time – like he expects – lawmakers will need to pass a new authorization for the use of military force that focuses narrowly on ISIL. He signaled last week that the panel will begin drafting one.

“I am personally not comfortable with reliance on either the 2001 AUMF that relies on a thin theory that ISIL is associated with Al Qaeda, and certainly not the 2002 Iraq AUMF which relied on misinformation,” Menendez said.

Later as he questioned Kerry, Menendez told the secretary of state that “you’re going to need a new AUMF, and it’ll have to be more tailored.” Kerry responded that the administration would “welcome” it.

The panel’s top Republican, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, expressed deep skepticism about the Obama administration’s strategy to fight Islamic State extremists, telling Kerry: “We know the Free Syrian Army can’t take on ISIL. You know that.”

“I do want us to deal with this,” Corker told Kerry “You’ve not laid it out in a way that meets that test.”

Later in the day on September 17, 2014 – According to FoxNews.com,

The White House acknowledged Wednesday that President Obama would consider putting U.S. troops in “forward-deployed positions” to advise Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State — even while insisting U.S. troops would not be sent back into a “combat role” in Iraq. 

Obama and his top advisers appeared to be threading a needle as they carefully clarified how exactly U.S. troops might be used, a day after Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey opened the door to approving “U.S. military ground forces.” 

The White House continued to insist Wednesday that a “combat” role has in fact been ruled out, and that U.S. troops will not be engaging the Islamic State on the ground. 

Speaking at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, after visiting U.S. Central Command, Obama told troops: “I will not commit you and the rest of our Armed Forces to fighting another ground war in Iraq.” 

He vowed that the U.S. forces currently deployed to Iraq to advise Iraqi forces “will not have a combat mission.” Instead, he said, they will continue to support Iraqi forces on the ground, through a combination of U.S. air power, training assistance and other means. 

But shortly afterward, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest clarified that Dempsey was talking about the possible need to put U.S. troops already in Iraq into “forward-deployed positions with Iraqi troops.” 

Earnest said that step has not yet been necessary, but if Dempsey asks to “forward deploy” American advisers, “the president said he would consider it on a case-by-case basis.” 

He said, in that scenario, U.S. troops “would be providing tactical advice to Iraqi security forces” or be in position to call in airstrikes. 

“They would not have a combat role. They would not be personally or directly engaging the enemy,” Earnest stressed. 

So, now, we will officially have “boots on the ground”, even though we already have “Military Advisors” in Iraq.

And, like our men and women already there, they will not be allowed to fight.

What next? Are they all going to have to dress in traditional Iraqi clothing?

What is this? Leadership by ‘three blind men describing an elephant”?

This is what happens when you have a President more interested in “fighting a war” against a disease breaking out in his father’s home country, than protecting the country that he is supposed to be leading, from Muslim Terrorists.

Years ago, the local ABC Affiliate in Memphis used to run The Benny Hill Show at 10:30 p.m. on Saturdays. For those of you sheltered younger readers, Benny Hill was a wonderful British comedian and entertainer. “The Lad Himself” wrote a lot of his own hilarious  material, including such memorable characters as Cap’n Scuttle, and songs that would literally have you busting your gut in laughter. However, one of the things that Benny will forever be remembered for, happened at the end of every show, when one thing would lead to another, culminating in a rip-roaring chase scene, set to the saxophone-led accompaniment of the incomparable Boots Randolph’s “Yakety Sax”.

The chaotic manner in which the administration is attempting to “prosecute” the limited war against the Muslim Terrorist Group, now numbering almost 32,000 members, known as ISIS or ISIL, is very reminiscent of a Benny Hill Show Chase Scene.

Except…there’s nothing funny about it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

ISIS Beheads American Journalist. Obama Goes Back on Vacation.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

obamaISIS8192014An American Journalist has been butchered by the Muslim Barbarians, known as ISIS.

Didn’t Obama say Monday that they had been “driven back”?

The London Daily Mail has the story…

  • American photojournalist James Wright Foley has been beheaded by ISIS forces Foley has been missing since Thanksgiving 2012 while working in Syria.ISIS posted the extremely graphic video ‘A Message to America’ to social media.

 

  • Foley speaks to camera before his death and labels the US his killersApparently coerced by his captors into speaking against his country

 

  • A masked and robed member of ISIS speaking English in what is thought to be a British accent addresses the camera as well

 

  • After the execution of Foley, the ISIS member says that missing American journalist Steven Joel Sotloff will be killed nextA man identified as Sotloff in a caption on the video is then paraded in front of the camera

 

  • Beheading comes one day after ISIS threat to America that ‘we will drown all you in blood’ for the US-aided Kurdish recapture of the Mosul Dam

The mother of executed photo-journalist James Wright Foley, 40, has issued a statement after a video surfaced Tuesday showing his horrific beheading by ISIS terrorists as revenge for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.

In a statement posted on the Free James Foley Facebook page, Diane Foley writes that she and husband John ‘have never been prouder of our son Jim’.

Mrs Foley writes that her son spent his life fighting to expose the suffering of the Syrian people, while pleading with his captors to spare the lives of remaining captive Steven Joel Soltoff, who also appears in the video as the group’s next target,

‘We implore the kidnappers to spare the lives of the remaining hostages. Like Jim, they are innocents. They have no control over American government policy in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the world.

‘We thank Jim for all the joy he gave us. He was an extraordinary son, brother, journalist and person.’

…President Barack Obama was briefed on the video as he was flying back to the White House on Air Force One From his Martha’s Vineyard vacation. White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden says the administration has seen the video.

And, just what did the Leader of the Free World do about this outrage?

That’s right, boys and girls. Absolutely nothing. He went back to his taxpayer-funded vay-cay.

President Obama went back to his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard Tuesday evening following less than 48 hours in Washington, leaving people puzzled over why he came back in the first place.

Obama’s two days in Washington were mostly quiet, and concluded with the president receiving his daily national security briefing in the morning, and joining Vice President Biden to huddle with members of his economic team in the afternoon.

Administration officials have insisted for weeks that the president just wanted to return to the White House for a series of meetings, but the explanation was met with a healthy dose of skepticism, since Obama rarely interrupts his vacations.

Judicial Watch estimates the extra roundtrip cost $1.1 million. Only daughter Malia accompanied Obama back to Washington.

Speculation for why Obama returned focused around the possibility of a secret foreign leader meeting or the roll out of a new administration initiative on immigration or corporate taxes.

But no such explanation materialized.

Remember how gentlemanly Republican Presidential Candidate was to Obama during his campaign? How he refused to “take the gloves off” and attack Obama like he did his fellow Republican Contenders for his Party’s Nomination?

Well, now Mitt says that Obama is even worse in his second term as President than he thought he would be.

Well, duuuh, Mitt.  We told ya so.

The Washington Times reports that

When Mitt Romney stumped here Tuesday for a trio of Republican candidates for Congress, the event had all the trappings of a “Romney for President” rally.

The crowd chanted, “Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!” They applauded loudest when the 2012 Republican standard-bearer took center stage, eclipsing the three Republican candidates who actually will be on West Virginia ballots in November.

Outside the event, union activists demonstrated. They denounced Mr. Romney as a “fat cat” and the “king of exporting jobs.”

Mr. Romney endured the same kinds of attacks during his run as the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.

Just about everyone attending the rally — the Republican candidates, party donors, reporters — pestered Mr. Romney privately and publicly about whether he will run for president again.

Each time, Mr. Romney insisted that he would not run. He has made that claim repeatedly as supporters clamor for his candidacy and his actions — if not his words — send mixed signals about his intentions.

“I’m not running,” Mr. Romney told reporters after the rally. “I’m expecting to be getting behind some good people or a good person who will be [the Republican nominee].”

The former Massachusetts governor has some pointed words for the man who defeated him two years ago, saying President Obama was doing “a good deal worse than even I expected.” He cited the U.S. economy and troubles abroad in such hot spots as Iraq, Syria and Russia.

“I was not a big fan of the president’s policies, as you know, either domestically or internationally,” he said, “but the results of his mistakes and errors, in my opinion, have been more severe than even I would have predicted.”

Really, Mitt? Jim Foley would agree with you. If, he still had his head.

By now, Gentle Reader, you are probably wondering what the point of today’s post is.  

My anger today is all about an oath,, which an ego-centric, unvetted, Former Community Organizer took on Tuesday, January 20, 2009…

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Since Obama took Office, he has been on a mission to “radically change” this “Shining City Upon a Hill”, our Constitutional Republic, into a Democratic Socialist country, no better than any other third world country.

His purposeful quest toward weakness and mediocrity has cost Jim Foley his young life.

Obama’s impersonal halfway measures against the Radical Muslims in ISIS,, may have won back a strategic dam, but it has just cost an American’s life.

During his presidency Obama has reached out to adherents of the “Religion of Peace, addressing them shortly after his first Inauguration at the University of Cairo, in a conciliatory speech, setting a milksop tone for his Foreign Policy, which after its full implementation, has turned out, at the hands of Obama and his two Secretaries of State, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, to be a miserable failure.

The death of Jim Foley is a signal of defiance from ISIS, and, of their disdain for President “Pantywaist, as the British Press dubbed Barack Hussein Obama, early on in his presidency.

Just as President Ronald Reagan, by shooting a missile straight into Muammar Gaddafi’s bedroom, shut him up for 25 years, so does Barack Hussein Obama have to make a show of decisiveness and strentgh, in retaliation for the beheading of Jim Foley, shown on the internet around the world.

The safety of our nation and its citizens demands it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Sec. John Kerry Gets Uptight When He Hears of “American Exceptionalism”. My Reply.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

John KerryOne of the first things that Barack Hussein Obama (mm mmm mmmm) did when he became President of the United States of America, was to go on a World Apology Tour, bowing and scraping in front of friend and foe alike, apologizing for the United States of America and minimizing American Exceptionalism, representing the greatest country on God’s green Earth as being “just another country”.

And, to this day, Obama’s latest Secretary of State, John Kerry, is continuing that same failed “Smart Power!” Foreign Policy of  negotiating from a strength of weakness:

As John Kerry travels from country to country on various diplomatic missions as secretary of state (almost half a million miles so far), he often addresses the staff and their families at the U.S. embassies in the countries he visits. Remarks at these informal gatherings are often more casual than the usual speeches or press appearances, and Kerry often jokes with the staff and recognizes employees of long standing with the State Department. Monday, Kerry had one such opportunity in Vienna, Austria, the last stop on his most recent trip, and towards the end of his talk he recalled his two Yale commencement speeches, forty-eight years apart, where he discussed “sort of the world we’re in” and America’s place in it:

…I was privileged to speak to the graduating class of Yale this year, and it was particularly a pleasure because it happened to turn out to be, literally, I hate to say it, 48 years to the day that I was privileged to speak as a graduating senior to my own class. And I talked to them about sort of the world we’re in right now, but at the end I tried to remind them all, which I remind you of, we are – I get always a little uptight when I hear politicians say how exceptional we are – not because we’re not exceptional, but because it’s kind of in-your-face and a lot of other people are exceptional, a lot of other places do exceptional things.

Despite his profession of uptightness on the topic of America’s exceptionalism, Kerry went on to close out his remarks explaining what he believes makes America uniquely exceptional:

But we are exceptional in a certain way that no other nation is. We are not defined by thousands of years (inaudible) of history. We are not defined by ethnicity. We are not defined by bloodline or by anything except an idea. And that idea was expressed in the Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution, the idea that people are created equal and that all people have a chance to aspire for greatness, for anything they want. Pretty amazing, right? So think about that. It’s the only country that is literally united and formed around and whose rule of law is based on that idea, one idea, and it’s pretty special. So thank you for representing it. Thank you. (Applause.)

Kerry used similar language in his 2014 Yale commencement address, noting that the American idea is what makes America different: that all are “created equal and all endowed with unalienable rights” and that “America is an idea and we – all of us, you – get to fill it out over time.”

Kerry, ever since Vietnam, has been very adept at using “weasel words”. He reveals much with his covert admission here as to actually “not really” believing in American Exceptionalism.

Like his Boss, President Barack Hussein Obama, Kerry believes that America is really “just another country”.

On July 17, 1980, Ronald Wilson Reagan, at the Republican National Convention, accepting their Nomination as the Presidential Candidate, spoke the following prophetic words:

The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal and moral responsibility of Democratic Party leadership — in the White House and in Congress — for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. They tell us they have done the most that humanly could be done. They say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith. They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.

My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view. The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves. Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation.

I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose. We have come together here because the American people deserve better from those to whom they entrust our nation’s highest offices, and we stand united in our resolve to do something about it.

We need rebirth of the American tradition of leadership at every level of government and in private life as well. The United States of America is unique in world history because it has a genius for leaders — many leaders, on many levels. But back in 1976, Mr. Carter said, “Trust me.” And a lot of people did. Now, many of those people are out of work. Many have seen their savings eaten away by inflation. Many others on fixed incomes, especially the elderly, have watched helplessly as the cruel tax of inflation wasted away their purchasing power. And, today, a great many who trusted Mr. Carter wonder if we can survive the Carter policies of national defense.

“Trust me” government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what’s best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties. The trust is where it belongs — in the people. The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it belongs, in their elected leaders. That kind of relationship, between the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact.

You see, Secretary Kerry, that is where the exceptionalism of America lies…not in the Halls of Power…but in the courage and spirit of the average American. A courage and spirit, which our history proves, has driven American Citizens to build a nation, which is indeed exceptional among all others.

Thr secret of this country’s exceptionalism is the “Average Joe”, the 9 to 5′er, working himself into the grave to try to provide for his family.

It was this same “Average Joe”, who fired the shot heard around the world and began the War for American Independence, who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in World War II, who waded through rice paddies in Vietnam, and who swallowed sand in Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The same “Average Joe” who, as a New York City Policeman or Fireman, ran up the stairs of the World Trade Center on 9/11/01, instead of running down them. The same “Average Joe”, who simply wants things to be easier in this life for his children and grandchildren, than he had it.

It is this same “Average Joe”, who takes family and friends in, when they are in the midst of a life-altering tragedy. The same “Average Joe”, who volunteers on a soup line or at a Senior Citizens Home.

Liberal Bureaucrats, like Secretary of State John Kerry and his boss, are professional political prevaricators. Men and women, whose ethics and morality change with the direction of the wind, and whose egos override their judgement…every time.

America is a Constitutional Republic. We are not ruled by a faceless all-powerful government. America’s politicians, like you, Mr. Secretary, and your Boss, President Obama, are OUR SERVANTS….not the other way around.

And, as your Boss, I expect you to possess a more complete knowledge of the history of the most exceptional nation on the face of God’s green Earth. I expect you to honor and respect the lives given and the sacrifices made by courageous Americans, who paved the way for you and the rest of this selfish generation, who are so desperately attempting to rewrite American History in order for it to be in accordance with the tenets of their Liberal Ideology.

You did get one thing right, Secretary Kerry. As our Founders wrote,

 That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…

However, He Blessed America.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Iran Says US “Expects Too Much”, Will Keep Nuclear Program. Ayatollah Says, “Death to America” (I’m Shocked.)

On By kingsjesterIn Politics2 Comments

iranianhostagecrisisWell, as any American with any knowledge of history…and, any common sense whatsoever, predicted, the barbaric Homeland of Muslim Extremism, known as Iran, has no intentions of honoring its “agreement” with the United States, so ineptly “brokered” by President Barack Hussein Obama and his lapdog, Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

According to the Jerusalem Post,

Western governments expect too much from Iran in negotiations over its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday amid the stalled diplomatic effort.

Zarif is scheduled to meet in Istanbul this week with EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, coordinator of the Iran negotiations, to discuss the state of the talks underway in Vienna with a self-imposed deadline of July 20.

Iran and world powers at the negotiating table – the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany – have expressed public concern over the pace of progress.

Ashton hopes to break the impasse in her meeting with Zarif.

“They should stop demanding too much,” Zarif told state-run media in Iran.

“We have our red line, and they too want assurances that our nuclear program will always remain peaceful. We believe these two add up.”

Iran considers the right to enrich uranium for nuclear energy a red line, but levels of enrichment are negotiable.

The parties hope to achieve a comprehensive agreement easing international concerns over Iran’s nuclear work by the July deadline. They may, however, extend the talks up to six months, should all parties agree.

“I feel the realism awakened from the last round of talks will bring us closer to conclusion,” Zarif said.

Which is a very ominous statement, because The Daily Caller has reported that

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, all but said on Sunday that negotiations over the country’s illicit nuclear program are over and that the Islamic Republic’s ideals include destroying America.

“Those [Iranians] who want to promote negotiation and surrender to the oppressors and blame the Islamic Republic as a warmonger in reality commit treason,” Khamenei told a meeting of members of parliament, according to the regime’s Fars News Agency.

Khamenei emphasized that without a combative mindset, the regime cannot reach its higher Islamic role against the “oppressors’ front.”

“The reason for continuation of this battle is not the warmongering of the Islamic Republic. Logic and reason command that for Iran, in order to pass through a region full of pirates, needs to arm itself and must have the capability to defend itself,” he said.

“Today’s world is full of thieves and plunderers of human honor, dignity and morality who are equipped with knowledge, wealth and power, and under the pretense of humanity easily commit crimes and betray human ideals and start wars in different parts of the world.”

In response to a question by a parliamentarian on how long this battle will continue, Khamenei said,“Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist. … This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. … This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.”

Khamenei cited the scientific advancement of the country. “The accelerated scientific advancement of the last 12 years cannot stop under any circumstances,” he said, referring to the strides the regime has made toward becoming a nuclear power.

On the night of November 24th, 2013, President Barack Hussein Obama spoke to the nation concerning the fabulous, toothless deal which he and the Haughty One, Sec. of State John Kerry had acquiesced to with the Mad Mullahs of Iran….

On our side, the United States and our friends and allies have agreed to provide Iran with modest relief, while continuing to apply our toughest sanctions. We will refrain from imposing new sanctions, and we will allow the Iranian government access to a portion of the revenue that they have been denied through sanctions. But the broader architecture of sanctions will remain in place and we will continue to enforce them vigorously. And if Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month phase, we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure.

Over the next six months, we will work to negotiate a comprehensive solution. We approach these negotiations with a basic understanding: Iran, like any nation, should be able to access peaceful nuclear energy. But because of its record of violating its obligations, Iran must accept strict limitations on its nuclear program that make it impossible to develop a nuclear weapon.

In these negotiations, nothing will be agreed to unless everything is agreed to. The burden is on Iran to prove to the world that its nuclear program will be exclusively for peaceful purposes.

… The world is united in support of our determination to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran must know that security and prosperity will never come through the pursuit of nuclear weapons — it must be reached through fully verifiable agreements that make Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons impossible.

As we go forward, the resolve of the United States will remain firm, as will our commitments to our friends and allies –- particularly Israel and our Gulf partners, who have good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions.

Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran’s nuclear program. As President and Commander-in-Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict. Today, we have a real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive, peaceful settlement, and I believe we must test it.

United States President Barack Hussein Obama has proven himself to be more concerned about America’s Enemies than our Allies…and, more concerned about reaching out to Muslim Radicals than demanding the release of Christian American Pastor Saeed Abedina, who has been held captive by Iran since the summer of 2012.

Obama, Kerry, and the rest of his Liberal Dhimmi Cabal has shown where their loyalties unequivocally lie, with their braggadocio over this Chamberlain-esque “deal” that is now blowing up in his face, and placing our very nation in imminent danger.. 

And, they are not with our allies nor the safety of the citizens of the United States.

Iran has always been, since the ouster of the Shah, a rogue nation. They are a threat to every nation who stands in the way of their crazed Political Ideology, disguised as a “religion”.

Either due to naivete or simple over-estimation of their own intelligence, on the part of Obama and his Administration, as regards their “superior intellect”, to quote Fred Thompson, as Admiral Josh Painter, in the great movie “The Hunt for Red October”…

This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, Says that Israel Will Become an “Apartheid State”, If They Don’t Give Half of Their Country to “The Palestinians”.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

americanisraelilapelpinYesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day on which to reflect upon the mass genocide of European Jews, carried out by the National Socialist Party, otherwise known as the NAZI Party, headed by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

On the very solemn day, it came out that United States Secretary of State John Kerry had recently made such a insensitive, racially-charged remark about the Jewish Homeland of Israel, that now American Leaders are calling for his “involuntary resignation”.

The Daily Beast reports that

If there’s no two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict soon, Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state,” Secretary of State John Kerry told a room of influential world leaders in a closed-door meeting Friday.

Senior American officials have rarely, if ever, used the term “apartheid” in reference to Israel, and President Obama has previously rejected the idea that the word should apply to the Jewish state. Kerry’s use of the loaded term is already rankling Jewish leaders in America—and it could attract unwanted attention in Israel, as well.

It wasn’t the only controversial comment on the Middle East that Kerry made during his remarks to the Trilateral Commission, a recording of which was obtained by The Daily Beast. Kerry also repeated his warning that a failure of Middle East peace talks could lead to a resumption of Palestinian violence against Israeli citizens. He suggested that a change in either the Israeli or Palestinian leadership could make achieving a peace deal more feasible. He lashed out against Israeli settlement-building. And Kerry said that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders share the blame for the current impasse in the talks.

Kerry also said that at some point, he might unveil his own peace deal and tell both sides to “take it or leave it.”

“A two-state solution will be clearly underscored as the only real alternative. Because a unitary state winds up either being an apartheid state with second-class citizens—or it ends up being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state,” Kerry told the group of senior officials and experts from the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, and Japan. “Once you put that frame in your mind, that reality, which is the bottom line, you understand how imperative it is to get to the two-state solution, which both leaders, even yesterday, said they remain deeply committed to.”

According to the 1998 Rome Statute, the “crime of apartheid” is defined as “inhumane acts… committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” The term is most often used in reference to the system of racial segregation and oppression that governed South Africa from 1948 until 1994.

Senator Ted Cruz responded to Secretary Kerry’s statement on his Facebook Page, yesterday:

Secretary Kerry has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to countenance a world where Israel is made a pariah because it will not sacrifice its security to his diplomatic initiatives.

It is my belief that Secretary Kerry has proven himself unsuitable for his position and that before any further harm is done to our alliance with Israel, he should offer President Obama his resignation, and the President should accept it.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen, Senator.

Kerry is simply doing the bidding of his President, Barack Hussein Obama.

They want Israel to give half of their country to the “Palestinians”, which would retun their nation to basically a strip of land, as it was before the Six Day War.

Who exactly are “The Palestinians”?

According to disoverthenetworks.org,

Since the Six Day War of 1967, the Arab world’s most powerful leaders — in Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Syria, and Iraq prior to Saddam Hussein’s demise — have waged a war of words against Israel. Having failed to defeat Israel by means of naked military aggression, these leaders and their advisors decided, sometime between the end of the war and the Khartoum Conference of August-September 1967, to bring about the destruction of Israel by means of a relentless terror war.

To justify to the world their ruthless murder of Israeli civilians and their undying hatred of the West, these leaders needed to invent a narrative depicting Israel as a racist, war-mongering, oppressive, apartheid state that was illegally occupying Arab land and carrying out the genocide of an indigenous people that had a stronger claim to the land of Israel than did Israel itself.

Thus the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), under the tutelage of the Soviet KGB, invented “The Palestinian People” who allegedly had been forced to wage a war of national liberation against imperialism.

To justify this notion, Yasser Arafat, shortly after taking over as leader of the PLO, sent his adjutant, Abu Jihad (later the leader of the PLO’s military operations), to North Vietnam to study the strategy and tactics of guerrilla warfare in the hopes that the PLO could emulate Ho Chi Minh’s success with left-wing sympathizers in the United States and Europe. Ho’s chief strategist, General Giap, offered advice that changed the PLO’s identity and future:

“Stop talking about annihilating Israel and instead turn your terror war into a struggle for human rights. Then you will have the American people eating out of your hand.”

Giap’s counsel was simple but profound: the PLO needed to work in a way that concealed its real goals, permitted strategic deception, and gave the appearance of moderation. And the key to all this was creating an image that would help Arafat manipulate the American and Western news media.

Arafat developed the images of the “illegal occupation” and “Palestinian national self-determination,” both of which lent his terrorism the mantle of a legitimate peoples’ resistance. After the Six Day War, Muhammad Yazid, who had been minister of information in two Algerian wartime governments (1958-1962), imparted to Arafat some wisdom that echoed the lessons he had learned in North Vietnam:

“Wipe out the argument that Israel is a small state whose existence is threatened by the Arab states, or the reduction of the Palestinian problem to a question of refugees; instead, present the Palestinian struggle as a struggle for liberation like the others. Wipe out the impression . . . that in the struggle between the Palestinians and the Zionists, the Zionist is the underdog. Now it is the Arab who is oppressed and victimized in his existence because he is not only facing the Zionists but also world imperialism.”

So, why would an American Administration and their fellow Liberals, including American Jews,  join with our nation’s sworn enemies in their Jihad against our staunchest ally, Israel?

In an  article, posted on June 2, 2011, on americanthinker.com, Why Does the Left Hate Israel?,  Richard Baehr attempts to answer that very question…

…I have been to several of the left wing Israel hate fests. They are scary. There is real passion in the air. There is something about Israel that gets the juices going. Anti—Semitism is a part of it. There are a lot of people who are envious of Jews, on the left as well as the right. Patrick Buchanan thinks Jews have hijacked the conservative movement. But on the left, particularly in the academy, and in journalism, I am certain there is professional envy of the many Jewish faces and what better way to get even, and get back for sometimes losing the competitive battle, than by picking on the Jewish state as a surrogate. Leftist Jews sometimes lead the assault against Israel in these venues, thereby giving the attacks, whatever their reason, greater moral authority. Few Jews will stand up for Israel in these environments, because of the great pressure on the left to conform to the group think in the institutions they control.

…The evidence I believe is clear today that Israel faces far greater threats from the left than the right. The left is reflexively anti—Israel and has established important beachheads in significant American institutions— academia, the media, and the old line Protestant ‘high’ churches, as well as in the very seats of government power in many Western European countries, and their intelligentsia. It is not surprising that Israel seems unable to get a fair shake from college professors, the BBC, Reuters, NPR, or liberal churches. Being anti—Israel has become part of their religion.

As a Christian American, I know who I support:  God’s Chosen People. 

You see, I’ve read The Book.  I know the ending.

Until He Comes,

KJ

The Effort to Redefine Conservatism Continues…

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

reaganOver the last couple of days, there seems to be a renewed, concerted effort among the Northeastern Republicans’ Club, to question the usefulness of “Social (i.e. Reagan) Conservatives” to their efforts to win elections, both state and national.

Actually, it is something that I noticed starting to gain steam as the 2012 Presidential Primaries started kicking into gear: a serious effort to redefine Conservatism to mean “wanting a government which does not blow all my money and leaves me alone, so that I can do what I want do, regardless of how it effects others around me”.

For example, yesterday, at the annual Political Convention known as CPAC, a historically-Conservative meeting, the legendary RINO New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke, and received a standing ovation.

Later, well-known squish Senator Mitch McConnell spoke.

Meanwhile, on my favorite Conservative website, hotair.com, founded by Reagan Conservative Michelle Malkin, and now owned by Moderatate-leaning Salem Communications, the question was asked in one of the posts, “Is Social Conservatism Hurting the Tea Party?”

To quote the late, great Slim Pickens,

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a’goin’ on here?

Who are these individuals, who are so desperately trying to remove the Conservative Base from The Grand Old Party?

On the internet, these believers express themselves in various terms, which all translate to the same thing: Fiscally Conservative, Socially Liberal.

Their common goal is a desire to redefine the definition of Conservatism in order to make themselves feel better about their non-Conservative, and oft times, downright hedonistic,  social ideology.

You’ll find these same individuals on Internet Chat Boards, complaining about how narrow-minded and statist Reagan Conservatives, like myself, are.

And, God help you if you tell them that there is such a thing as morality and ethics. They will tell you that you”re nothing but a busybody who wants to meddle in people’s private lives  and take away their “freedom”.

They insist that the only way for the Republicans to win anything at all in 2014 and 2016, is to forget the antiquated ideology of Reagan (Social) Conservatism.

You know, that whole God and Country Bit that I always talk about.

Evidently,to these folks, good, old-fashioned American Faith, Values, and Ethics are just that…old-fashioned.

That’s funny. Down here in Mississippi, that is how we live our lives. We love God. We love our country. We love our family and friends…and, we look out for one another.

Mississippi is not the only state like that. All the states in the Heartland of America, share the same Classic American Values and Beliefs

That’s why the President, entering his 6th year in office, is still out campaigning. He can’t overcome them.

Look at all of the National Issues which he and all of his fellow travelers have been so feverishly trying to ram down our throats: homosexual marriage, amnesty for illegal immigrants, the legalization of marijuana, and gun confiscation. They have all been stalled by the conviction of average Americans to stand up for their faith and values.

No matter how much Progressive Propaganda is unleashed upon the American Citizenry, Conservatives in America’s Heartland are standing firm, solid in their beliefs, still “bitterly clinging to their Bibles and guns”.

No matter how many rigged polls  and slanted news stories are thrown at us, we will not be moved.

Concerning those who believe that being a Conservative only hinges on your Fiscal Ideology…

J. Matt Barber wrote in the Washington Times that

Ronald Reagan often spoke of a “three-legged stool” that undergirds true conservatism. The legs are represented by a strong defense, strong free-market economic policies and strong social values. For the stool to remain upright, it must be supported by all three legs. If you snap off even one leg, the stool collapses under its own weight.

A Republican, for instance, who is conservative on social and national defense issues but liberal on fiscal issues is not a Reagan conservative. He is a quasi-conservative socialist.

A Republican who is conservative on fiscal and social issues, but liberal on national defense issues is not a Reagan conservative. He is a quasi-conservative dove.

By the same token, a Republican who is conservative on fiscal and national defense issues but liberal on social issues – such as abortion, so-called gay rights or the Second Amendment – is not a Reagan conservative. He is a socio-liberal libertarian.

Put another way: A Republican who is one part William F. Buckley Jr., one part Oliver North and one part Rachel Maddow is no true conservative. He is – well, I’m not exactly sure what he is, but it ain’t pretty.

At the Forth Annual Conservative Political Action Committee Convention in 1977, Ronald Reagan said,

The principles of conservatism are sound because they are based on what men and women have discovered through experience in not just one generation or a dozen, but in all the combined experience of mankind. When we conservatives say that we know something about political affairs, and that we know can be stated as principles, we are saying that the principles we hold dear are those that have been found, through experience, to be ultimately beneficial for individuals, for families, for communities and for nations — found through the often bitter testing of pain, or sacrifice and sorrow.

One thing that must be made clear in post-Watergate is this: The American new conservative majority we represent is not based on abstract theorizing of the kind that turns off the American people, but on common sense, intelligence, reason, hard work, faith in God, and the guts to say: “Yes, there are things we do strongly believe in, that we are willing to live for, and yes, if necessary, to die for.” That is not “ideological purity.” It is simply what built this country and kept it great.

So, if your stated political ideology is one of those listed above, by not differing from them in your Social Ideology, and fighting against Reagan Conservatives, in your own Party, like me, whom you have so derisively named “True Conservatives”, aren’t you being unwitting dupes for the Progressives?

Even the Progressives claim to be “Fiscally Responsible”.

And another thing…if being a “Fiscally Conservative, Socially Liberal Moderate” was so popular and your viewpoint so widespread, why is homosexual marriage having to be put in place by activist judges? Why was “gay marriage” not passed in the majority of states by popular vote?

Could it be that, despite all of the propaganda coming out of the Northeast, from both sides of the political aisle, the majority of Americans in “Flyover Country” remain actual Reagan Conservatives?

Mmmmm…could be.

I’ll ask Presidents Dole, Gore, Kerry, McCain, and Romney for their opinions.

Oh, wait….

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama, Israel, and Iran: Iran + Nuke = Boom!

On By kingsjesterIn Politics1 Comment

americanisraelilapelpinIsrael exists; it has a right to exist in peace behind secure and defensible borders; and it has a right to demand of its neighbors that they recognize those facts. I have personally followed and supported Israel’s heroic struggle for survival, ever since the founding of the State of Israel 34 years ago. In the pre-1967 borders Israel was barely 10 miles wide at its narrowest point. The bulk of Israel’s population lived within artillery range of hostile Arab armies. I am not about to ask Israel to live that way again. – U.S. President Ronald Wilson Reagan, Speech on United States Policy for Peace in the Middle East, September 1, 1982

It is well known, through his words and actions, that America’s current (P)resident Barack Hussein Obama, cares more for Israel’s enemies, than he does for God’s Chosen People. If it were up to Obama, Israel would be forced to give the nomadic people known as Palestinians, half of the land that the nation of Israel sits on. Not only that, but he and his talking horse, (at least he has the face of one) Secretary of State John F. Kerry,”negotiated”, and I use the term loosely, an agreement with the Mullahs of Iran, to stop building a nuclear bomb, in exchange for allowing them to continue their Uranium Enrichment, an agreement which makes about as much sense as Pee Wee Herman starring in the title role in the next “Terminator” movie.

In return, a new poll suggests that most Israelis trust “The Leader of the Free World” about as far as they could throw Moochelle.

According to new poll, a huge majority of Israelis do not trust President Obama with regard to Iran, and believe Obama will allow Iran to go nuclear. Only 22 percent of Israeli voters believed that Obama would “ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon.”

Almost two-thirds of Israelis thought that statement was untrue, and 15 percent gave no answer. President Obama has just a 33 percent favorable rating in Israel, as opposed to a 50 percent disapproval rating. Even those who favor Obama are split evenly on whether or not he will prevent Iran from going nuclear.

That distrust of Obama is shared by Israel’s Prime Minister.

The Jerusalem Post reports that

The Iranian interim agreement that went into effect on Monday does not prevent Iran from implementing its intentions to create nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Netanyahu said in the Knesset.

Netanyahu, in a speech welcoming visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to the Knesset on Monday, said that the international community’s goal – one that has not yet been achieved — must be stopping the Iranians from gaining the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.

The prime minister likened the manufacturing of the fissile material needed to make a bomb to a train that must pass through three stops: the first stop of enriching uranium to 3.5 percent, the second stop of enriching uranium to 20 percent, and the final step of enriching uranium to 90 percent.

“The agreement in Geneva did away with the 20% stop, but left the train on its track and enables Iran to upgrade the locomotive by developing new centrifuges, so that when the day comes it can leap in a very short time to the final stop on an express track without stopping at an intermediary stop,” he said.

The final agreement that the world powers negotiates with Iran must take the “Iranian nuclear train off the tracks,” Netanyahu said, adding that Iran must not be allowed to have the capability to manufacture a bomb.

Netanyahu also said that the international community should be demanding of Iran – at a time when it is relieving sanctions and giving Teheran legitimization – that it end its calls for the destruction of Israel, and the arming of terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

Fat chance, Bibi. Remember, these same Barbarian Nations who threaten your nation’s existence, are on the UN’s Security Council.

So, how much of Iran’s boasting about their ability to bult a nuke is fiction and how much of it is fact?

Olli Heinonen is the former deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He was asked Sunday on Aaron Klein’s WABC Radio show about the timeframe in response to statements from Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, who boasted last week that Tehran can nix its deal with the West and resume enriching uranium to 20-percent levels within one day if it so desires.

Heinonen responded that if Iran wanted it would currently take the country “two, three weeks to have enough uranium hexafluoride high-enriched for one single weapon.”

He told Klein: “If [Iran] in reality [abrogates the deal] tomorrow, they still have quite a substantial stock of uranium hexafluoride, which is enriched to 20 percent. … And then technically, when Iran has committed to this month to certain parts of the processes in such a way these tandem cascades are not anymore connected with each other, you can indeed put them back in one day’s time.

“So if this all happens in the next, let’s say, weeks, this is really true. They can start to produce 20-percent enriched uranium,” he said. “Now, in order to go fast for Iran, it actually needs to make several such tandem cascades. Not just those in Natanz and Fordow [nuclear plants]. They have to put perhaps some 6,000 centrifuges to work in this kind of a mode.”

Continued the former IAEA director: “If they do that, which they can technically do, it will take certainly a little bit more than one night to do. But then once they have sorted it out, it would take about two, three weeks to have enough uranium hexafluoride high-enriched for one single weapon.”

On May 22, 2011, President Obama said,

A strong and secure Israel is in the national security interest of the United States not simply because we share strategic interests … America’s commitment to Israel’s security flows from a deeper place — and that’s the values we share.

A deeper place? As in piled higher and deeper?

Mr. President, if something happens to Israel, or Iran gets taken out by a preemptive strike from Israel, that blood is on your hands. 

And, if this treatment of God’s Chosen People continues, I am afraid we are going to find out why America is not mentioned in The Book of Revelation.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Obama Lauds Negotiation “Victory” Over Iran…Goes on Hawaiian Christmas Vacation…American Pastor Remains in Iranian Jail.

On By kingsjesterIn Christianity, Politics3 Comments

PastorSaeedAs President Barack Hussein Obama and his family enjoy their $4,000,000 Hawaiian Christmas Vacation, ON OUR DIME, an American Pastor sits, abandoned to die, in Iran’s most horrible prison, ignored by an Administration who would rather proclaim “victory” after negotiations with those same barbarians, which ended with Obama and his Administration making Former British PM Neville Chamberlain look like Gen. George S. Patton, in comparison.

Fox News reports that…

Naghmeh Abedini, whose husband, Saeed Abedini, is serving an eight-year prison term in Iran after being arrested more than a year ago while visiting his homeland, told FoxNews.com she felt betrayed when she later learned U.S. diplomats were negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran even while claiming nothing could be done for her husband.

“Initially, when I went to the U.S. government, they said we don’t have a direct relationship with Iran,” Naghmeh Abdeini said, moments after telling a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee her husband’s health is failing in prison. “Here we were sitting across table from Iran. It was our best leverage. It should have been a precondition.”

The Boise, Idaho, mother of two said her husband’s relatives in Iran have been able to meet with him sporadically, and have given her grim news about his condition. She said the imprisoned American’s father saw Abedini 10 days ago and reported that has internal bleeding from repeated beatings at the hands of guards and fellow inmates and was covered with lice.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who chairs the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations, said “time is running out” for Abedini, who experts believe would be unlikely to survive eight years in Iran’s brutal prison system. Smith said Abedini and two other Americans being held in Iran should have been the first order of business when U.S. and Iranian diplomats sat down for talks, sometime earlier this year.

“You begin every conversation with it; it should be center of every conversation and every conversation should end with it,” Smith told FoxNews.com. “How can we have a discussion with any regime when they are torturing our citizens?”

Earlier, lawmakers on the panel heard the distraught wife detail her fears for her husband and the heartbreak she and their two children feel due to his absence.

“His condition has worsened and the kids and I fear his life,” she said, before holding up a photograph of her children on their first day of school. “Tears were streaming down my face as I got the kids ready for school with their father missing.”

Abedini “went to Iran to build an orphanage for Iranian children last year” and “remains in an absolute hell-hole prison,” Smith told the committee.

A U.S. State Department official.

“We continue to have serious concerns about the fate of a dual national U.S.-Iranian detained in Iran Saeed Abedini,” the official said. “As we noted previously, President Obama raised Mr. Abedini’s case in his Sept. 27 phone call with President [Hassan] Rouhani and we continue to urge the Iranian government to release Mr. Abedini so that he may be reunited with his family.

“We have been repeatedly clear that we are calling on Iran to release all detained U.S. citizens and we will continue our efforts until Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Robert Levinson all return home,” the official added.

On the night of November 24th. President Barack Hussein Obama spoke to the nation concerning the fabulous, toothless deal which he and the Haughty One, Sec. of State John Kerry had acquiesced to with the Mad Mullahs of Iran….

On our side, the United States and our friends and allies have agreed to provide Iran with modest relief, while continuing to apply our toughest sanctions. We will refrain from imposing new sanctions, and we will allow the Iranian government access to a portion of the revenue that they have been denied through sanctions. But the broader architecture of sanctions will remain in place and we will continue to enforce them vigorously. And if Iran does not fully meet its commitments during this six-month phase, we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure.

Over the next six months, we will work to negotiate a comprehensive solution. We approach these negotiations with a basic understanding: Iran, like any nation, should be able to access peaceful nuclear energy. But because of its record of violating its obligations, Iran must accept strict limitations on its nuclear program that make it impossible to develop a nuclear weapon.

In these negotiations, nothing will be agreed to unless everything is agreed to. The burden is on Iran to prove to the world that its nuclear program will be exclusively for peaceful purposes.

… The world is united in support of our determination to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran must know that security and prosperity will never come through the pursuit of nuclear weapons — it must be reached through fully verifiable agreements that make Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons impossible.

As we go forward, the resolve of the United States will remain firm, as will our commitments to our friends and allies –- particularly Israel and our Gulf partners, who have good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions.

Ultimately, only diplomacy can bring about a durable solution to the challenge posed by Iran’s nuclear program. As President and Commander-in-Chief, I will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I have a profound responsibility to try to resolve our differences peacefully, rather than rush towards conflict. Today, we have a real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive, peaceful settlement, and I believe we must test it.

Negotiations? More like surrendering to the enemy. Where has the State Departments vaunted “Smart Power!” been concerning Saeed Abedini?

Pastor Abedini converted from Islam to Christianity over 10 years ago, and was previously sanctioned for evangelizing in Iran. However, according to the 34-year-old father of two, he had only returned to Iran to help establish an orphanage when authorities yanked him off a bus in August of 2012 and tossed him into the notorious Evin prison in Tehran.

They got around to a “trial”, eventually, and sentenced him to eight years. He has since been moved to Rajai Shahr Prison in Karaj, a prison that houses Iran’s most violent criminals. His supporters report that he has been beaten and tortured in the prison. It is reported that Rajai Shahr Prison was built to accommodate 5,000 inmates, but at present houses about 22,000. This over-population has led to severe overcrowding and inhumane conditions.

Evidently, President Barack Hussein Obama values sucking up to a Radical Muslim Country which supports Terrorism, and is working on a Nuclear Bomb, with which to destroy “The Great Satan” (America), more than he does securing the freedom of a Christian American Pastor, being held in barbaric conditions, by Obama’s “new friends”.

Actions speak louder than words.

Priorities…priorities.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Secretary of State John Kerry Visits Vietnam to Talk…About Climate Change. This is “Smart Power?”

On By kingsjesterIn Politics4 Comments

johnkerrycartoonSecretary of State John F. Kerry has returned to Vietnam. No, it’s not to negotiate or leverage some sort of accords which would strengthen the defense of our country. Oh, no. It’s much more important than that. Sec. Kerry has returned to the scene of his “heroism” to address the “problem of Climate Change”.

Yahoo News reports that

It is the first time that Kerry has returned to the Mekong since 1968 when he served as a young U.S. naval officer in Vietnam battling Viet Cong guerillas in a conflict that earned him three Purple Hearts, a Silver Star and a Bronze Star.

“It is obviously amazing for me to be here today,” Kerry told students gathered on the banks of the Cai Nuoc river. “Decades ago, on these very waters, I was one of many who witnessed the difficult period in our shared history,” he said.

“Today on these waters I am bearing witness to how far our nations have come together and we are talking about the future. That is the way it ought to be,” he said. “As our shared journey continues, our eyes are firmly fixed on the future and not on the past.”

Dressed in casual khaki-green trousers, a blue-checked shirt and wearing sunglasses, Kerry is surrounded by aides and other officials on the boat but he is mostly quiet and introspective.

“It hasn’t changed all that much,” Kerry remarks at one point during the tour. The familiar smell of burning firewood in the air coming from villages takes him back to his time on the river.

At the small riverside community of Kien Vang, translated roughly as “the golden ant”, Kerry stops to take a walk, visiting a small convenience store where he buys candy for the local children. There he pets a dog and is reminded of a mutt he adopted while serving in Vietnam he named “VC” – short for Viet Cong.

Here he also inquires from Dang Kieu Nhan, deputy director of the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute, about water levels and how possible changes in water flows on the river will affect villagers.

His concern is not only the effects of climate change on the Mekong but also plans by China to build four more dams along the Mekong to generate power for its rising economy, projects that will have a disastrous downstream impact on Cambodia and Vietnam, according to environmental specialists.

In addition Laos is also proposing to build hydropower plants on the Mekong, while Cambodia has plants for two dams on the river.

Across the canal, Kerry addresses these developments in a speech to the students, while also pledging $17 million to a program to address the impact from potential climate changes.

“No one country has the right to deprive another country of the livelihood and eco-system and its capacity for life itself that comes with that river,” Kerry says.

“That river is a global asset, a treasure that belongs to the region, and so it is vital that we avoid dramatic changes in the water flow and sediment levels. Already we are seeing fisheries are experiencing threats to the fish stocks as a consequence of the changes taking place,” he adds.

Kerry says he will raise the issue when he next visits China “so that we can work together on it in an effective way.”

While the Main Stream Media and the rest of the Liberals are portraying Sec. Kerry as some sore of conquering hero returning to the scene of his past triumphs, there is a part of Kerry’s “Vietnam Experience” that they avoid talking about. And for good reason.

On September 19, 2005, Fox News  reported

John Kerry’s opposition to the Vietnam War led him to many places, including Paris, where he met with the North Vietnamese in 1970. Kerry said then, and says now, that the meeting was a part of an effort to learn more about U.S. POWs. But some question the propriety of a commissioned Naval officer meeting with the enemy at a time of war.

When Kerry testified before the Senate in 1971, he pushed for an immediate, unilateral withdrawal of U.S. forces. If that happened, he said he knew the North Vietnamese would return all U.S. POWs.

“I have been to Paris. I have talked with both delegations at the peace talks, that is to say the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Provisional Revolutionary Government,” Kerry said.

Kerry referred to an eight-point withdrawal plan that was offered to the U.S. by Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, then-foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government. While on his honeymoon in Paris with his first wife Julia Thorne, Kerry met with Madame Binh at a meeting that included members of both delegations to the peace talks, according to Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan.

Explaining Kerry’s trip, Meehan said in a statement, “Senator Kerry had no role whatsoever in the Paris peace talks or negotiations. He did not engage in any negotiations and did not attend any session of the talks. Prior to his Senate testimony, he went to Paris on a private trip, where he had one brief meeting with Madame Binh and others. In an effort to find facts, he learned the status of the peace talks from their point of view and about any progress in resolving the conflict, particularly as it related to the fate of the POWs.”

Kerry’s meeting with Binh occurred while he remained a commissioned officer with the U.S. Navy. Kerry was, by then, a member of the Navy Reserve and not on active duty.

“We’ve had presidents who have served in the military. We’ve had presidents who have never served in the military. But we’ve never had an American president who met with the enemy in a time of war while a naval officer in reserve status. Inconceivable,” said John O’Neill, a key member of the anti-Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (search).

Some critics have suggested Kerry’s meeting might have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice (search), which prohibits members of the armed services from meeting with the enemy at a time of war. Meehan told FOX News the code of military justice did not apply to inactive reserve officers and that Kerry “did nothing wrong.” Meehan also said that Kerry met with the North Vietnamese only once.

But historian Gerald Nicosia has written that Kerry met with the North Vietnamese twice.

Citing redacted FBI files, Nicosia said, “The files record that Kerry made a second trip to Paris that summer to learn how the North Vietnamese might release prisoners.”

Nicosia told FOX News that the FBI files contained a newspaper clipping about a speech Kerry gave in August 1971 saying that he had just returned from a Paris meeting with the North Vietnamese. Nicosia told FOX he discussed the article with Kerry’s authorized biographer, Douglas Brinkley, who told him that Kerry had confirmed he’d met with the Vietnamese in 1970 and 1971.

How Obama and Congress could have put this Lightweight in such a powerful position, boggles the mind. Of course, this same bunch thought that an ex-First Lady, with no Foreign Policy experience, in the form of Hillary Clinton, would make an excellent Secretary of State, too.

With a track record behind both of them consisting of Arab Spring, Benghazigate, the Syria Fiasco, and now, the Internationally -panned Iranian Agreement, as far as the position of Secretary of State is concerned, we’ve gone from Tokyo Rose to a combination of Benedict Arnold and Pee Wee Herman.

Kerry didn’t return to the scene of his war victories, He just went there to visit his “buds”.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Of Obamacare, the United Nations, and a Congressional Betrayal

On By kingsjesterIn Politics10 Comments

McCainObamaYesterday was a dark day for America.

After witnessing the gallant, patriotic “non-filibuster” against Obamacare by Senator Ted Cruz, Americans then watched as veteran Senator and Former Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, betrayed any Republican ideals he might have ever had, and basically give the Democrats’ Response to his own Party Member’s historic speech.

To say it was disgusting, is an understatement.

Speaking as an average American, it was heart-breaking, aggravating, and unconscionable to watch the shriveled up, past-his usefulness, former “Maverick” pucker up and kiss Obama’s and the Democrats’ collective (I used that word on purpose) derriere, like a septuagenarian Oliver Twist, wanting another bowl of gruel.

Please, sir. May I have some more?

Judas received 30 pieces of silver for betraying Our Lord and Savior. What are McCain and the rest of these Vichy Republican Turncoats receiving for the worst betrayal of America, since Benedict Arnold?

Whatever they are receiving for their duplicitous behavior, I hope it is worth the end of the Republican Party.

Don’t get me wrong, like you, I knew this was coming. The Vichy Republicans have been a bunch of self-serving grifters since before the days of Ronald Reagan. Heck, if they had had their way, Ronaldus Magnus never would have been the greatest President of the United States of America in our lifetime. What overcame their Progressive plans for our country back then, was a very good, decent, and honest man, who had a desire to serve his country, and make things better for average Americans, like you and me.

Unlike the present occupant of the White House, Ronald Wilson Reagan not only talked the talk…he walked the walk.

And, as horrifying and self-serving as the actions of McCain and the Republican Elite are, the patriotism and leadership which Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and their allies showed, gives us hope for the future

And, we’re going to need that leadership, and these public servants, to protect this country from the “regime”.

The other big news yesterday was Secretary of State John (I fought in Vietnam.) Kerry, without the blessing of Congress, signing the UN Arms Trade Treaty.

The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) requires countries to regulate and control the export of weaponry such as battle tanks, combat vehicles and aircraft and attack helicopters, as well as parts and ammunition for such weapons. It also provides that participating countries will not violate arms embargoes, international treaties regarding illicit trafficking, or sell weaponry to countries for genocide, crimes against humanity or other war crimes.

With the unwavering support of Obama and his Administration, the ratifying General Assembly vote totaled 155 to 3, with 22 abstentions. Iran, Syria and North Korea voted against it.

The problem with the treaty is that is positively porous, due to all of the loopholes contained in it. The list of controlled weaponry in it includes “small arms and light weapons”. Of course, the U.N. claims that the pact is meant to regulate only cross-border trade and would have no impact on domestic U.S. laws and markets.

The Senate Republicans have threatened to block this violation of our sovereignty, but, then again, they said that they would stand against Obamacare, too, didn’t they?

My question is, what legitimate right does the United Nations and any of the countries therein, have to “make rulings” affecting the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and us American citizens who are protected under it?

This Administration seems bound and determined to make America into just another nation, assigning American Exceptionalism (regardless of the show he put on for Putin) to the trash heap of  history.

Their pure ignorance to America’s place in the world is overwhelming. Only by standing up to the thug nations represented at the UN, will America be respected, and left alone, as the sovereign nation that we are.

Obama’s bowing and scraping, like a leader of a country who occupied a subservient position to nations filled with barbarians, who would slit every American’s throat, if given the chance, is an stunning example of this naivete and downright ignorance.

And, now, what’s twice as frightening, is the fact that, except for what seems to be a minority of the “so-called” “Opposition Party”, average Americans like you and me, have no one in a position of authority to truly speak for us.

Our present “Republican Leadership”, like the former “Maverick”, now Democrat Lackey, speaks only for themselves, and their own avarice.

That’s why Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and the rest of the “Young Conservatives” are a badly-needed breath of fresh air.

Come to think of it, that’s why Facebook is shutting down the pages of Conservatives. Dissension will not be tolerated, by the Progressives of both sides of the aisle.

Witness McCain’s disgusting display yesterday.

Just like King George thought that raising taxes and hiring Hessian mercenaries to keep our forefathers in line, America’s Modern-day Tyrants, the Progressives, mistakenly believe that lies, threats, and censorship will stifle The Tea Party Movement, along with America’s Majority Conservative population.

They expect us to surrender to their Marxist ideas for running and thereby, ruining, the greatest country on the face of God’s green Earth.

They have forgotten their American History.

Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe is best remembered for uttering a single word — no mean feat, considering that even the shortest Bible verse has two. Commanding the U.S. Army’s beleaguered and surrounded 101st Airborne Division during World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, McAuliffe received a German surrender ultimatum. “Nuts!” he replied, and became a lasting symbol of American courage and determination under fire.

A 1918 West Point graduate, McAuliffe held various field artillery positions before World War II. On the eve of D-Day, McAuliffe jumped with the first wave as a commander of division artillery, although he had never received formal parachute training.

In December 1944, during the siege of Bastogne, Belgium, McAuliffe was acting commander of the 101st in Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor’s absence. The Americans had been holding the Belgian town “at all costs,” and on Dec. 22, Gen. McAuliffe received the encouraging news that the 4th Armored Division was beginning its drive north to relieve the 101st. Later that morning, members of the division’s glider regiment saw four Germans coming up the road carrying a white flag. Everyone hoped they were offering surrender. Instead, they presented two pages demanding the Americans’ surrender: “To the USA Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne. . .There is only one possibility. . .the honorable surrender of the encircled town.”

McAuliffe glanced at the message and said, “Aw, nuts!” When he told his commanders he didn’t know what answer to send, Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard said ‘That first crack you made would be hard to beat, General.” Everyone laughed as a sergeant typed up the succinct response: “To the German Commander: Nuts! The American Commander.”

Between this stoic reply, Patton’s troops from the south, and a change in the weather that allowed air reinforcement the following day, the 101st was able to hold Bastogne. Their victory resulted in the first full-Division Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.

McAuliffe’s actions at Bastogne helped assure the final defeat of the Germans.

After reading Gen. McAuliffe’s story, if you are an average American, like me, facing the betrayal of those who are supposed to be OUR public servants, you can only reply with a heartfelt “Amen!” and a promise that 

I have not yet begun to fight!

Until He Comes,

KJ