Yeah, but it's all legal and stuff

The Wall St Journal's article about Obama's spying on the dangerous terrorist Bibi Netanyahu has illustrated the slippery slope of the NSA's 702 collection program.  Yes, there should be some admission on the right that such a thing could occur.  Meanwhile, lefties who were once outraged at such things are using the legality to justify Boehner, McConnell and other congressmen getting caught up in a snooping program designed to stop Israel from stopping the ridiculous non-binding, non-treaty with actual terrorists dressed in Mullah suits. 

It's worth a look back at 2007 to see how far things have tumbled down the slope..

Merry Christmas

Laus Deo. 

Side Tracks

With the Christmas season now officially underway here's some Jay Sekulow

Carnival of Clowns

This is the kind of nonsense the Republicans are going to face going forward.  Front page of the NY Times today, a widget looping through the four main campaign issues determined by the Times, and framed by the Times..

So there you go, issues boiled down in a cartoonish fashion right before the debate, with no specific mention of fighting ISIS other than whether they want to admit Syrian refugees. Nothing at all about foreign policy other than global warming.  Maybe this was sent to the Times from the White House.

If you throw in the clown show that is Trump and how he is setting up a large part of the GOP electorate to be called bitterly clinging racist rubes by Clinton when he finally flames out; and if you consider that unlike General Petraeus, Hillary Clinton's far worse security violations will not be punished, it's beginning to look like this election is already over. They might as well just let George Stephanapoulis anoint the Clintons on Good Morning America and save us all the trouble of listening to campaign ads and robocalls.

Side Tracks

Another TSO classic, this one in Memphis.  I was at their show a year earlier, just not in the 3rd row.

Side Tracks

Here's a TSO classic with Jennifer "the voice" Cella..

A Strange Eulogy

Sandy Berger, the former National Security Advisor to Bill Clinton, has passed away. He died of cancer at 70 on Wednesday, ironically the same day America was attacked again by Islamic terrorists. Ironic, because he will be remembered more for his role in terrorism than anything else he accomplished in his career.

Here's a eulogy of sorts by the Politico, which contains some rather strange comments. First, from the current president:

"From his service in President Carter's State Department to President Clinton's National Security Advisor, Sandy devoted himself to strengthening American leadership in an uncertain world," Obama said. "Today, his legacy can be seen in a peaceful Balkans, our strong alliance with Japan, our deeper relationships with India and China."

First, was our relationship with Japan broken before Clinton came in? Second, you'll notice there's no mention of his legacy regarding Islamic terrorism (well, mainly because to the White House, it doesn't exist).  Here's how his former bosses remembered their old co-worker:

"Nobody was more knowledgeable about policy or smarter about how to formulate it," Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a statement Wednesday. "He was great both in analyzing a situation and figuring out what to do about it. His gifts proved invaluable time and time again, in Latin America, the Balkans, Northern Ireland and the Middle East."

The "Middle East"? Hmm, what did Berger do to improve it leading up to 9/11? But he was apparently an important outside advisor to Hillary2016!

As secretary of state, Clinton consulted Berger on topics from how to handle Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to how to "gain leverage over the Pakistanis" and persuade them to go after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, her emails show.

Wonder what he thought of the private server debacle, considering the fact he was once described as "sloppy" with regards to national security?  Or maybe that was the advice.  Anyway, he persuaded the Pakistanis to go after bin Laden? That didn't really work out too well, unless somebody just slipped something out (some believe they were involved).  But of course the Politico saved the most prolific part of Berger's legacy for last:

Berger's legacy was marred, however, when he pleaded guilty in 2005 to removing highly classified documents from the National Archives in Washington the previous year. The inspector general of the National Archives said that a staff member had witnessed the former NSA adviser wrapping the classified documents around his socks and under his pants.

And have we ever discovered exactly what he removed and/or destroyed from that esteemed repository, or why? Media at the time speculated it had to do only with the Millennium bombing plot (LAX) after-action reports he had access to, but that never made sense because it was a victory of sorts for Clinton.  Remember, he was prepping for interviews from the 9/11 Commission. 

Others were more conspiratorial, figuring it had something to do with TWA 800. Others theorized it had to do with the hunt, or lack thereof, for bin Laden before 9/11.   Remember how apoplectic Clinton got when anyone suggested he didn't go hard after weird beard? 

Or maybe it was to do with the attacks on Khartoum in 1998 following the AQ attack on the African embassies--Berger made the case Saddam Hussein was helping bin Laden cook up VX nerve gas. After a pharmaceutical plant specializing in manufacturing aspirin was bombed in response to his guidance--and no links were found-- Berger apologized. Wait, no, he never apologized or came down off that advice, at least publicly.  After the Bush invasion of Iraq it was odd the media never went back and revisited that mission, since the Clintons were basically bombing a country due to a link between Saddan and AQ.  Ok, just kidding there, it's not at all strange they wanted nothing to do with that history.  After all, they were involved.  

Actually it was all just another example of the vast right wing conspiracy.   Media Matters explained it all back in 2005, nothing to see move along wing nuts.

I always wondered about the risk/reward of stealing the docs and never completely bought the bumbler Oscar Madison meme, none of which seem supported by the linked accolades.  So, what would prompt such a risk? If it was protecting national security at large somebody else could have done it.  Makes more sense for it to have been more of a personal mission. With Hillary representing the future of the Clinton political machine at the time it made more sense as an attempt to get something very incriminating and legacy toppling out of the way before the 9/11 Commission, or politicians thereon, found it.  That he wasn't locked away by a Republican administration also begged a lot--a lot--of questions.

Unfortunately for the sake of transparency and the American public's right to know, he has taken some of that information to the grave. Based on all the good he did for the poor and hungry around the world let's hope it was one of those "you can't handle the truth" things rather than merely a secret mission from team Little Rock.   We probably stand more of a chance of seeing the Khalidi going away party video than we do ever getting closure here. 

Side Tracks

 Traditional..

When the going gets tough...

Hillary today:

"As I said this week, America must wage and win an immediate battle against ISIS, al Qaeda, and other terrorist networks, as well as a generational struggle against radical jihadism," Clinton added. "We face a choice between fear and resolve. Anita's murder should deepen our resolve. America must lead the world to meet this threat."

Hillary in 2011, as Secretary of State:

“In Iraq, almost 100,000 troops have come home and civilians are poised to keep the peace. In Afghanistan, integrated military and civilian surges have helped set the stage for our diplomatic surge to support Afghan-led reconciliation that can end the conflict and put al Qaeda on the run. We have imposed the toughest sanctions yet to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

So now Hillary talks tough about how we need to steel up and beat the terrorists, the same terrorists her policies were supposed to put on the run.  But she knows Americans have short memories, and she knows liberal journalists aren't about to do any reminding.

Paris

The following line in this CNN report sums up the UTTER FAILURE of our western leadership (emphasis added):

Scores were killed in the coordinated attacks late Friday, leaving a nation in mourning and the world in shock. CNN will update this story as information comes in:

How could any thinking, informed person consider this attack 'shocking' in any manner? If anyone is shocked then the politicians are to blame for bamboozling them into a false sense of security by pretending these Islamic terrorists are 'on the run' or 'contained' or 'JV' or just some 'deadenders'.

This is a very sad night for western civilization.  And make no mistake, that's what this was--an attack on western civilization.  Paris is symbolic and the targets were symbolic. Let's hope the response is appropriate.

If it was a bomb...

The determination of what brought down Metrojet 7K-9268  has not yet been made, but everyone has seen the leaks coming from western intelligence pointing to a bomb.   So let's assume for a moment it was a bomb.

And let's assume it was planted by an operator on behalf of ISIS, due to the Russian connection.

Who might be the mastermind?   We know AQ has some good bombmakers.  AQAP's al-Asiri is notorious and a highly sought after drone target.  We know of bombmakers in the Khorasan Group in Syria (otherwise known as Core AQ).  One was reportedly just killed.   But we haven't heard of many bombmaker geniuses populating the ranks of ISIS.

What about this guy?    He's a little old, yes, but passing knowledge would be his main contribution.  He's a long-time resident of Iraq, still wanted years after creating a bomb that was placed on a Pan Am 747 flying to Honolulu in 1982.  At the time he was also working on a plot to bomb multiple aircraft before the plot was fortunately foiled.  This was years before the Yousef/KSM "Bojinka" plot was uncovered.   The Saddam government likely knew about this activity and looked the other way meaning they sanctioned it, for what it's worth. 

Ironically, ISIS is filled with ex-Saddamists.  Al-Umari is a Sunni loyalist, no doubt.  Many of the ex-Saddamists have taught their jihadist partners a few tricks of their former terror trade, which has resulted in a new, improved terrorist army featuring many of the same enemies Saddam had.  The only difference is the new group wears religious hats and dons beards.  

So it sounds reasonable to assume he might be working with them now if he's still active in the game.  At any rate, the United States has put up 5 million bucks in an effort to get this old man off the Arab streets, so they must have a good reason.   

MORE  11/9/15

One thing to note.  It's a bit strange how quickly and adamantly that "unnamed US security officials" have declared this a bomb.  Here's yet another story.  Even in the story the officials claim they are not directly involved in the investigation.  Others say they have terrorist chatter in the NSA intercepts, but that's something they will never release due to security.   Compare all that to the other mysterious aircraft crashes over the past 20 years, wherein officials went out of their way to deny terrorism was even possible.   Obviously a political component needs to be suspected.   This still could have been a mechanical issue.    

Side Tracks

Aviation Update

Another passenger jet falls out of the sky at cruising altitude.  This is getting a bit weird.

Weird or not, the loved ones of those lost on Metrojet flight 7K-9268 deserve a factual investigation.   Lots of speculation now as in every aviation disaster--early claims of terrorism by the terrorists should be taken with a grain of salt until more facts are established.  That said, claims by officials should also be scrutinized for accuracy.  They may be lying (for a variety of reasons) or just bungling the facts.

For instance, there is already confusion about the final minutes of the flight.  Many news sources are reporting something similar to this:

Ayman al-Muqadem, an Egyptian official with the government's Aviation Incidents Committee, said air controllers lost contact with the plane’s pilot after he radioed that the aircraft was experiencing technical problems and that he needed to make an emergency landing.

At the same time the Egyptian "Civil Aviation Authority" has said that communications were normal until the moment the aircraft disappeared off radar scopes, giving no indication of any technical issue. 

The above is very easy to confirm since it should be available on ATC voice tapes. It will also be on CVR recordings and we know both CVR and FDR were recovered. The distinction is critical in this case since it could mark the difference between sabotage or terrorism, ie, the plane suddenly disappeared as in the MH17 shootdown case, or a plane having issues and in crippled flight, trying to find a place to land before catastrophic failure occurred.

At any rate, this does not appear to similar to a TWA-800 type event since the aircraft was confirmed to be at an altitude where only sophisticated anti-aircraft systems can go as with MH17. If the plane was shot down using such a system it was either inadvertent or something very troubling.  But there's a ways to go before anyone should be reaching such a conclusion based on open source info.

SPEAKING OF 800..  11/2/15

Here's an interesting comment in a WaPo article on the doomed flight:

Modern planes don’t usually fall apart in flight, barring an explosion caused by a bomb or missile..

Indeed.

HEAT SIGNATURE  11/3/15

This is now being reported:

CBS News' national security correspondent David Martin reports a U.S. infrared satellite detected a heat flash over the Sinai at the time the Russian plane went down. The data is still being analyzed in an effort to determine what caused the flash. One possibility is a bomb, but an explosion in a fuel tank or engine as the result of a mechanical failure is also possible.

Since it almost surely has to be associated with the jet it would seem to rule out a sudden structural failure of the hull due to the old tail-strike repair, as some in the aviation business are guessing.   It also seems to line up with the video shown by ISIS propagandists.   At the same time, it doesn't completely rule out a mechanical issue.  An uncontained engine failure could blow parts out of the turbine and perhaps cause some kind of flash of heat, especially if it somehow caused a fuel fire.

That said, if the ISIS video is real then why would someone be randomly photographing a passing jet at over 30,000 feet?   It's not as if the photographer heard something and began filming (since the speed of sound would prevent that anyway) or saw something and began filming (video shows a jet before a small explosion).  

These questions can probably be easily answered by analyzing the aircraft debris for explosive residue and performing autopsies on the victims.  Whether this analysis comes out anytime soon is another question entirely.  It may depend on the conclusion.  Lots at stake for Egypt, Russia, the airline, the victims' families, and perhaps regional security.   

Side Tracks

"I had a tender moment planned".  LOL.  Yippie ki yay. 

Classified Relativism

The NY Times has an interesting feature today on former diplomat Robin Raphel, charged last year with delivering classified information to Pakistan.  Why interesting?  Because, as the story notes, the case against Raphel has "fizzled".  Hmm, as the bloggers say.

The Times goes on to mention numerous figures on the right and left who've been involved in mishandling classified information--yes, even Hillary.  For some reason they forgot to mention "Obama's favorite general" Hoss Cartwright, a person of interest in leaking Stuxnet intelligence on Iran to the media.  At last check that had fizzled due to complexities with the Iran nuke deal or something. 

That aside, it's been well-reported that the Obama administration has prosecuted more leakers than all other administrations combined, mostly lower level folks.  The Times article notes that current FBI Director James Comey was a little upset with the Justice Department's deal with General Petraueus as they feared it might set precedence for future cases--indeed that's exactly what Raphel's defense team seems to be doing.  But who cares about Raphel, right?  How does this relate to anything else?     

The cynic might say this points in one direction--the Clinton server in Chappaqua.  The cynic might also say the left needs a way to dumb-down the severity of mishandling classified information with their leading 2016 hopeful in the situation she's in.  So, have the media point to the relativism of past prosecutions and make everything muddy with hopes the peeps can get past such peccadillos worthy of putting lesser luminaries in Leavenworth.  Is that what's going on here?   

By the way, in a previous mention here of Ms Raphel there was a link to this 1996 LA Times story.  It's truly one of those "must-reads" from the past that shines light on how messed up things got later.  A snip, emphasis added:

And a Taliban official, Shirmohammed Stanekzai, gave public assurances this week that under the Islamic militia's rule, this country will no longer serve as a training ground or haven for foreign extremists. "As the Islamic movement of Taliban, we don't want to interfere in others' affairs," Stanekzai said. "We don't want to send people to create problems in other countries."

If foreign terrorists fall into the Taliban's hands, he said, "we will punish them hard."

Such words--uttered at a news conference for the foreign media, which have flocked to Kabul since the Taliban captured this capital last Friday--will be sweet music for officials in Washington. Combating terrorism and the global trade in narcotics are leading items on the U.S. foreign policy agenda.

The current conspiracy theories are understandable, even plausible, given the great mystery that still shrouds the Taliban's rise and rapid advance. How did a ragtag force that emerged in late 1994 among Muslim religious students in the southern region of Kandahar and adjacent areas of Pakistan grow so quickly that two years later, it has become master of three-quarters of Afghanistan?

Who paid for its weaponry, ammunition and vehicles? Who organized its training and logistics? Is intelligence or military assistance received from outside one of the reasons the Taliban has enjoyed astonishing, and relatively bloodless, successes over experienced moujahedeen commanders who, for nearly a decade, fought occupying Soviet troops?

Generous support for the Taliban from Pakistan, which wants to pacify its war-racked neighbor for its own strategic and economic motives, has been well documented. But is Pakistan's powerful ally, the United States, also involved in some way? Many in Kabul believe so, though again, their proof is circumstantial.

Notice the LAT refers to it as a conspiracy theory, but who remembers hearing that the Clinton administration propped up the Taliban back before 9/11?  Surely Ms Raphel has a memory of it.  Maybe she has a book in her?   And maybe Robert Redford can do another "truth" movie about this whole thing... maybe get Valerie Plame to star as Ms Raphel.  If they get to work soon they can have it out right after Hillary gets the nomination.  

Not Your Day..

Good Lord...

Aside from a cop driving around drunk, which is bad enough, they posted that picture with the headline.  Does he need any further punishment?         

Update Update

Just wondering about some forgotten stories...

.. about the important hunt for the non-Islamic African terrorist Joseph Kony.  Some may recall Obama sending several hundred American troops to help bring him to justice a number of years ago.  Not much news since, but the WaPo has just released an update..

As their mission stretches into a fifth year, however, U.S. troops have turned to some unsavory partners to help find Kony’s trail. Working from a new bush camp in the Central African Republic, U.S. forces have begun working closely with Muslim rebels — known as Seleka — who toppled the central government two years ago and triggered a still-raging sectarian war with a campaign of mass rapes and executions.

The Pentagon had not previously disclosed that it is cooperating with Seleka and obtaining intelligence from the rebels. The arrangement has made some U.S. troops uncomfortable.

Wonder if those Muslim "rebels" are actually Muslims, or are they non-Muslims like ISIS?  Or are non-Muslims like ISIS the ones Obama was talking about when he said non-Muslims should not condemn Islam due to Islamic terrorism, or was he talking about Christians?  And is Joseph Kony a Christian terrorist or just someone who is perverting Christianity?   Confusing. 

...and in another story, what about Obama's favorite general, Hoss Cartwright?  A few years ago he made news when he became a target of a US Attorney-led investigation of a leak of top secret information to the press on Iran.  Last word was that it was 'stalled' due to concerns over the Iran deal.   Well, it's done now, so what's going on?   Remember, David Petraeus was prosecuted for leaking in less time.  And he's not the only one.    

Oh well, maybe CBS will do a 60 Minutes special on some of this real soon.  Maybe they can get Lara Logan on the case. 

Good News or Bad News?

It's tempting to lay this story on the Obama people.  After all, they just made a nuclear deal with a country that has apparently released five top AQ operatives being held under house arrest in exchange for one of their diplomats captured in Yemen by AQ.

It sounds bad.  It may end up being bad.  But there's a slim possibility it's not all bad.  Iran has released AQ operatives under house arrest before, including bin Laden's son Saad, some of whom were later killed or captured.   One of the Khorasan members operating in Syria and recently killed were previously held in Iran as well. 

A lot depends on how this deal was done.  Evidently they were negotiating with someone in AQ, who had the Iranian diplomat under control somewhere.  And the five operatives have apparently not been swapped to anyone, only released from their house arrest.  They may still be in Iran, or may be trying to sneak away.  

But if there was a deal done, say a side deal as part of Iran's agreement to the nuke deal (and us freeing up over a billion they can use to fund their own proxy terrorists), this may have been the way it was done.  Obviously Iran cannot be seen handing over AQ terrorists to AQ nor can the West be seen making deals with terrorist masters for other terrorist hostages in exchange for more money for their own terrorists.         

So the jury is still out.  If there was a deal it's probably not unprecedented--Pakistan evidently took out a long-wanted AQ operative in their country last year only days after a Pakistani general came to Washington to collect on millions in aid money for the Pakistani Army.    Adnan el-Shukrijumah was a reported high level operative, pilot, and someone the government called very dangerous.  He had been wanted since 9/11 (according to the FBI he is still wanted).  Then suddenly after some money changed hands he was reported to be pushing up daisies.  Funny how that works.  

But that's the way this entire war on terrorism has worked...bodies of lies interspersed within truths and half-truths.  It appears some countries are not only holding US citizens and other westerners as hostages, but also holding AQ members for ransom as well.  Maybe Iran got what they wanted in the deal and part of it was them quietly releasing all their AQ hole cards so we can have access to kill them.

Or maybe this is just another in-your-face-Obama move by the Ayatollahs after they got their deal, like sending General Quds Force to Moscow to make a deal with Putin on Assad in Syria while knowing our position is that he 'must go'.  Or telling the press that Israel will be gone in 25 years, praise Allah, death to America.  Guess we will see.

Side Tracks

How far? 

Side Tracks

About those Syrian Refugees

Many reports have characterized the largely Syrian refugees flowing like a river into Europe as "military-aged males".  Indeed, that's certainly what it would appear from the media images.

Assuming that to be true, why is the United States letting military-aged males escape from Syria?  Isn't the US strategy to "train and equip" such males to fight for their country so our soldiers don't have to fight for their country?

Instead everyone is bending over backwards to resettle these military-aged males from Syria into the West.  Which theoretically suggests there will be no effective fighting force to muster against Assad, who has now invited Putey Poot to send troops and equipage to fight for him knowing we dare not risk any engagement.  Seems Trump has a point about our leadership.  That is, unless they are doing this deliberately.    

MORE 9/13/15

CNN is falling all over itself praising Germany for being so kind to the Islamic fighting-aged refugees flowing into their country.  In the screen shot below notice the headline.  But notice the breaking news headline bar above it.   Whoops.

Hillary emails: Not Really About Classified

Is the former Secretary of State in hot water due to possibly trafficking classified emails on her private email system?  News coverage seems to be trending that direction.  But it could also be a huge red herring.   The FBI is now involved, what if they come back in say January and announce that no evidence was found of her illegally moving classified documents?

Yes, that will effectively 'clear' her in the minds of those who carve the American narrative (and you know you they are).  Hillary will sail forward to the nomination calling anyone who brings up the matter a hater or worse and she will be bolstered by her high profile supporters, otherwise known as mainstream journalists.

That's why people need to take a step back and focus.

The issue is not just classified emails.  Finding zero evidence of classified docs doesn't clear her.  Her crime is conducting government business entirely on a private server she controlled!   Based on rules and good ethics practices alone it basically an illegal network.  She literally told the American public to pound sand--she was going to have her own State Dept IT department and run her business off the grid, not reachable by FOIA or Congress or even some in the administration. 

And when it came time to turn over government-related emails to the archivists, she and she alone got to decide what was relevant and what went to the bit bucket.   And that HAD TO BE by design.  And that design had to be approved by the President of the United States, where bucks are supposed to go to stop.

And this same person is running to control everything. 

Aviation Update

You really have to hand it to NBC News for this...

"Island Storm may Help (or Hinder) Search for MH370 Clues"

That's some hard-hitting stuff right there.   Maybe Neptune will arise from the sea with the plane in his hand.

Meanwhile, has anyone confirmed how long the "flaperon" was lying on the beach at Reunion? Evidently they will try to gauge the barnacle growth to make a guess but without knowing how long it was there it seems a little suspect.  And if the part had been lying there for months why would anyone think more debris would wash up now, storm or no storm?

By the way, what happened to the imminent volcanic eruption?

Anyway, the French NTSB (BEA) has the flaperon and apparently that means they have control of the investigation now. Based on their findings on a few previous and somewhat strange international crashes...

We still don't know the actual causes of several mysterious crashes of late, including Air Algerie 5017, Ethiopian 409, Afriqiyah 771, Yemenia 626, MH370, and AirAsia QZ8501. We don't know what triggered the battery fire on UPS flight 6 out of Dubai. Most of these crashes were investigated in full or in part by the BEA.

...it seems completely fitting.  Yes, I am cynical. 

The Old Gray Lady takes a Mulligan (or three)

It's obvious to anyone of even marginal intellect that the New York Times bowed to the pressure of the Clinton political machine in walking back a story from last week suggesting Hillary was the possible target of a criminal inquiry into her email debacle.

So yes, conservatives were ticked, mainly because nothing like that ever happens to them after a NY Times bombshell. When a former Bush White House press secretary confirms it then it's not just a bunch of squawking from partisan yahoos.

Now enter another yahoo doing what leftists do--spinning the legitimate response into something sinister in an attempt to make the response--not the original action--the story:

The point here being that the New York Times wasn’t buckling under to the Clinton campaign. It was undertaking a long and painful walk-back.

Eric fargin Wemple, spending a column bashing conservatives for reacting to the Times reversing a blockbuster story before it was even through the news cycle, done at the behest of the Clinton campaign, based on the same kind of anonymous sourcing they claim was behind the original story.  Wow, it's not like the Times doesn't have editors.  Or reporters.  Or maybe they enacted this FUBAR on purpose?

On Friday afternoon, the Erik Wemple Blog asked Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill what he thought of complaints that the New York Times was doing the bidding of the Clinton campaign in making those initial, stealth changes. His answer: “You’re not serious are you?”

Ahhhhh. Yes. A Clinton hack says the mainstream media is tough on Hils, so it's true, right Eric? Maybe he doesn't realize how stupid that sounds.

Maybe he doesn't realize David Petraeus was brought up on charges for handing classified info to a fellow member of the military (with a clearance) and had his career ruined. 

It's really getting hard to put fingers to keyboard anymore.   This stuff never changes.  The Alinsky press continues focusing on GOP division, heralding every Trump quote about Mexicans as they put a GOP sign around his neck, while ignoring the fact he never bashes Hillary, which makes his entire stunt suspect.  But not worth investigating.  They don't even know Fiorina exists.  And the surgeon is invisible.  They simply never tire of trying to shape the campaign rather than just reporting on it.

And don't even start on the GOP itself, who deserve all the incoming ridicule.  Way to pull defeat from the jaws of victory, McBoner.    

Meanwhile the president has become nothing but a shallow Democratic message board troll, flitting around here and there on Air Force One to scold half the nation (when not scolding foreign leaders not involved in terrorism), actually saying he's concerned about who HE hands the keys to the White House in 2017?  Excuse me sir, but YOU are not handing them to anyone WE don't elect.  You get one vote just like the rest of us.

Amazing.   Frustrating.  Ridiculous.   America, 2015.  

NEED MORE?   7/28/15

Here's a screen grab of the Washington Post headlines on their front page, around 4pm Central Time...

Translations...

News
1.  Huckabee's an idiot
2.  Paul:  engaging in war on women with poor pun
3.  Huckabee pandering to blacks
Opinion
1.  Ted Cruz is bullying his own party--they are tired of it but found out he's a pansy
2.  Trump didn't say anything wrong but his advisor did, same thing
3.  The far right:  spree killers just like the Lafayette theater nut
4.  Bush (it could be any of them) hints GOP primary voters are extremists
5.  Hillary Clinton is a 'wounded queen', poor gal
6.  Some idiocy about white women
7.  Wow, they attack Hillary but it's about the Keystone Pipeline
8.  Jon Stewart: progressive hero figure
More Headlines:
1.  Pollard freed by Obama!   No actually, he just got parole by magic.  No politics here! 
2, 3, 4, actual real news
5.  Evil hunter killed the Lion King 

 You're welcome. 

Where and Why?

Where....

.. did Chattanooga jihadist Mohammed Abdul-Aziz get his AK47 and the ammo?   Has this been reported?  Haven't seen it.

... is AQ Number Three Adnan el-Shukrijumah?    There was big news of his death last year in Pakistan and he was removed from the State Department's Rewards for Justice Terrorism list, but he remains on the FBI's Most-Wanted Terrrorist list.  Why?  Haven't they gotten the DNA results by now?   

... is former Saddamite Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri?  He was reported killed in the battle to retake Tikrit some months ago, but the Iraqis never confirmed it.   An audiotape seems to suggest he's still alive.

... is AQ mastermind Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, aka the "Red-Headed Terrorist"?  He was in captivity in Syria but last reported to have been released by Bashar Assad after the West began calling for regime change in Damascus.  According to many he's the architect of the new war against the West involving lone wolf type attacks (of the Chattanooga variety). 

... is AQ kingpin Saif al-Adel?   He spent a long time hiding out in Iran after 9/11, but was rumored to have left Iran a few years ago.  Are there other al Qaeda members still being given shelter in Iran?  Has Kerry been asked about this?   Will Iran be taken off the State Sponsors of Terrorism list? 

... is Ayman al-Zawahiri?   How's the hunt going?

... why...  was FBI most-wanted terrorist Joanne Chesimard, wanted for the murder of a police officer and last known to be hiding in Cuba, not returned to the US in the process of normalized relations?  The Cuban flag will be hoisted in the State Department tomorrow morning, well, actually late tonight (to avoid inconveniencing the bureaucrats or waking the press).   Is there no talk of extradition?   Or is it a 'black lives matter' issue for the Democrats? 

Just wondering. 

Another GOP candidate in mix!

According to Fox News..

We'll see if this guy "Tump" can get any traction with so many others in the field..

Side Tracks

Let's leave it at that. 

Back when God was in the mix..

That was then...this is now..

The president 'evolved' beyond Rick Warren, the Pope, and God, who was previously 'in the mix', on SSM.   More likely he pretended to have a deeply-held belief to get elected and it worked. 

So it's useful to look back before looking ahead.  If the American public--and the American press-- can so easily tolerate that kind of deceit from their leaders then they will have no trouble electing Hillary and Bill Clinton for a third term. 

By the way, here's another snippet from the Warren interview about Supreme Court justices.  The president's answer on Clarence Thomas showed his angle on race pretty well.  His answer on Roberts was ironically interesting considering his 'pen and phone' leadership.  McCain came across as a rock-ribbed conservative, although it's likely he would not have practiced it while in office.  So they will all 'say anything' at times to get elected.  It seems a deeply-held belief would be a red line they wouldn't want to cross, but as we've seen with deadlines, they don't mean much either.  

Another Convenient Study

It appears ABC News pulled a hamstring in getting this report to press:

US Radicals Bigger Terror Threat Than Jihadis in America

Wow. So all this stuff about ISIS sympathizers being tracked in all 50 states and the US being under the greatest threat in our history is just a bunch of hooey?

All along we should have been fearing the new Confederacy?

Why yes, according to the left wing website ABC is quoting, whose study purports that "right wing" terrorists have killed more than the American Jihad since 2001. 

Now, this has come up before and it was just as silly back then. What this group is doing is pretty much mixing data to get their desired result (attack their real enemies on the right) and they do it by pretending certain events are terrorism attacks, all carried out by the new confederacy conspiracy.  In reality they are comparing a global cause, jihadism in the furtherance of Islamic Shariah world control, with a series of unconnected crimes.   It's amazing too, because for years the left wanted Islamic terrorism treated like an unconnected series of crimes, now it's no longer convenient to do that. 

If one is unconvinced one need not look beyond the attack on the Austin Texas IRS building, which they consider "right wing" terrorism (not only them).  The guy who flew into the building was 1) crazier than a bedbug and 2) left a manifesto praising Marx.

ABC "News" could have researched this a little and come to a similar conclusion but it was apparently "too good to check".  Or they checked it, understood the above, and decided they themselves wouldn't attach 'right wing' to their story, only leave it hanging as an inference (for plausible deniability).

Thank Heaven for the internet. Can anyone imagine a world where all we got was ABC News reports like this without the ability to double-check anything or make our voices heard far and wide?  Well, at least far.    

Cardinal-Gate

The media is having fun bashing the midwestern Yankees (otherwise known as the St. Louis Cardinal baseball team) over the alleged hacking scandal announced by the New York Times today.  Evidently someone used former Cardinal exec Jeff Luhnow's old STL passwords and entered the Astro's database. 

Details are still sketchy, but the Cards are already being mentioned in the same breath as the Patriots, Blacksox, Pete Rose and various corporate cheaters.  And that's just by the WaPo.  On the positive side, the team may actually get some significant TV time on ESPN now. 

But you might be asking, is there any politics here?   Well, maybe!   It just so happens the Cardinals principle owner is a guy named Bill DeWitt, who also happens to be a longtime buddy of the Bush family.  Conversely, the principle owner of the Stro's is Jim Crane, a former St. Louisan who made his fortune in Texas.  He also seems to be pretty chummy with ....the president:

For the second time in three years, Astros owner Jim Crane golfed with President Barack Obama on Sunday at Crane’s Floridian National Golf Course. Astros counsel Giles Kibbe confirmed the golf outing to the Houston Chronicle on Sunday afternoon.

The outing was first reported by the Associated Press, which noted that Celtics minority owner Glenn Hutchins and Milton Carroll joined the foursome with Obama and Crane.

But not just golf. Crane and one of the other Astro owners, trial lawyer John Eddie Williams (famous from Big Tobacco settlements) had a pretty nice fundraiser for the preezy earlier this year...

That's what comes with the territory when you host a sitting President of the United States for an intimate fundraiser. And that security detail, along with 55 deep-pocketed Democrats and President Barack Obama, turned the Williams home into security central on Wednesday night.

While guests such as Astros owner Jim Crane, Mayor Annise Parker and former Gov. Mark White mingled over cocktails, POTUS arrived via the underground garage, was welcomed by the Williamses and was whisked upstairs to the servants quarters where he dined privately with staff and security.

Wonder if any of them were at the "private party" at the White House this past weekend?!  Wonder if someone leaked this to the Times on the day after Jeb Bush announced for president, just for fun?   Ok, ok, it's all innuendo by association.  Probably just a weird coincidence on the politics, as always.

As to the baseball side, one could say the Cardinals are a fixture of the Midwest, drawing millions to Busch Stadium from across the central US region.  They have a long tradition of winning, surpassed only by the Yankees, but they have what the Yankees don't-- an image of Midwestern stand-up values.  Any kind of cheating scandal would not only do irreparable harm to the franchise but likely to the city of St. Louis as well due to all the outside money that pours in from the games.  We'll have to see who take the perp walks. 

About that Section 8 in the Burbs Thing..

The story that broke the other day, at least on conservative sites, about Obama's HUD wanting to use federal money as a kind of extortion racket to force municipalities to change zoning laws to basically break up affluent suburbs (and their voting blocs) is not really new news.

It actually broke in 2012. Someone wrote a book about it.  The same guy has been yelling about it for awhile.

The only word that comes to mind here is craven. Not necessarily for the Obama people--they promised change and Obama had socialist roots after all--but for our disgraceful national media.  They've buried this story and countless others in their eight year quest to help the historic first black president.  And he's taken every advantage. 

The End is Near

Today in Germany the president did one of his patented press conferences, using over 30 minutes to interact with 4 reporters.  The last question was about the Supreme Court's possible ruling on the federal exchanges in Obamacare.  The answer was the usual incomprehensible filibuster, but the reporter tried again one more time, at which point this is how it ended..



Bizarre.  

So what about the headline of this post?   Well, this answer doesn't signify the end being near, but the fact the person answering it has the power he does--and many would say his predecessor--is perhaps cause for concern.   Or, the end is near could refer to Obamacare itself, ie, something is going to end with this ruling, either the law or the GOP pushback.  Or maybe it's the end of this silly blog.  Hard to say which will come first. 

Side Tracks

From the Layla album..

All Climate is Local

Think globally, act locally?   All climate is local, not global.   Here in the Mid-South, temperatures have not really warmed much in 100 years.  This is true no matter what kind of correction factor is applied...normals are normals.

Professional Tools

Today's White House briefing is just more evidence there is no effective media left in this nation.  Yeah, Bob Schieffer, the lovable dunce, confirmed it on Howie Kurtz's show over the weekend by admitting the press was smitten with Obama and probably didn't cover him like they should have, but the WH briefings confirm it almost every day.

Josh Earnest must have used the words "professionals" and "tools" in regards to the lapsed Patriot Act a hundred times today--in nearly every reply.  They are clearly key words designed to enhance his talking points and make the opponents look unprofessional or unpatriotic.  He didn't hesitate blaming the GOP for politicizing the lapse.  But there was not one mention of Ron Wyden. 

Earnest also would not admit the country was less safe, despite some decent prodding by Fox News and CNN (they should have ganged up on him over it) because that would be an admission the lapse was on Obama since the buck supposedly stops with him.   Now, if an attack comes, they WILL blame it on Paul (both sides) and get away with it.   There will be no video of the White House admitting they failed the public, etc.

In that same regard, Earnest got mildly caught in a lie about Obama's authority.  Remember that Bush put this program together in secret after 9/11 with no help from Congress.  It was an EO.  As we've seen, Obama is not shy about using his imperial phone/pen, so he could have altered the PA language any way and any time he wanted.  But doing so would put his exclusive BO stamp on it, and that was a bridge too far politically.  Best to lay back and blame Rand Paul.  Nobody in the briefing pointed out the White House was playing their own politics.   Another bridge too far.  

As to the program, let's face it--Bush lied about the bulk collection data.  Obama lied about it.  Had Snowden not come out there would be no national debate with Obama trying to take credit for reform.  Zilch.   The American people should be just a little upset that ALL meta phone records are being kept by the NSA, whether the voice part was there or not.  Having the phone companies keep the data, allowing government access with a valid warrant is better, so long as they don't use it as leverage against them in other ways or the data doesn't get hacked.  

From my view, there are parts of the PA that need reauthorization.  The bulk collection is another animal and it needs to be done differently, but the issue here is public understanding and acceptance of the trade off.   Obama has said the wars are over and AQ is diminished and ISIS isn't coming here tomorrow, so why do we need such a program anyway?   Of course few believe that.   All sides cannot resist playing politics, but they should put on their big boy pants and do some leading.

For instance, come clean and explain that we either give up some liberty and trust the NSA and others not to abuse this power (James Rosen comes to mind) or give up some security for the sake of liberty and freedom, which might mean we get hit again.  If we do and its because the government didn't know everything about everybody, including bank records, well, it's not their fault, it's the terrorists' fault.   Whether the public at large is even able to understand such a concept much less accept it is perhaps a question I don't want to know the answer to.   

Anyway, you now know what some inconsequential blogger thinks.  Does anyone know where Hillary comes down on this?  Has anyone even asked?   Where is the Scooby Van?   

Memorial Day

Here's a clip of General George Patton speaking in Boston after the war. His tribute to the Army Medical Corps towards the end shows the scope of the loss--and saved--within the Third Army alone.  We have much to be thankful for in this nation. 



ht JOM

Side Tracks

Advice for politicians. 

Iraq Victory Update

Another defeat in Iraq, another round of taxpayer-funded mechanized military hardware in the hands of ISIS:

A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, estimated that a half dozen tanks were abandoned, a similar number of artillery pieces, a larger number of armored personnel carriers and about 100 wheeled vehicles like Humvees. He said some of the vehicles were in working condition; others were not because they had not been moved for months.

Now we have to blow it all up. But according to Josh Earnest that's just a 'setback', we are winning otherwise.  So don't let your hair catch fire.  Unless you're an ISIS hostage in a cage, in which case you're screwed.  

Pretty amazing considering recent events--reminiscent of a certain infamous political figure, but here's the bottom line: as long as public opinion polls say no more ground troops in Iraq the president doesn't have to do squat.  Everyone knows he doesn't have a strategy TO WIN; such a strategy would be dangerous and costly.   So he has a strategy--it's called throwing BS around, pretending there is a viable coalition, doing some raids and air cover for the hapless Iraqis while trying to keep the Iranians at bay and negotiating on nukes, all of which acts to run out the clock through 2017.  If ISIS succeeds in pulling off a domestic terrorist attack, blame Bush, unless it's something like this, which would change public opinion on boots.  And they could still blame Bush. Yes, they are that craven.   

Meanwhile in the housekeeping department, apparently the King of Clubs may not be so dead after all (unless this new Izzat is the look-alike phony).  Word is the Iraqi government could not verify his death through DNA because they lacked samples.  Wonder if Mubarak al-Douri might be able to help? 

We also await the formal announcement of the death of AQ number three Adnan Shukrijumah, reported deceased last year in Pakistan, while his face is still on the FBI most-wanted page.  Why is this?  If it's about a DNA match, at last check his family still lives in Florida. 

Aviation Update

This story is making the rounds with peculiar wording, including on the Drudge Report:

Prominent online security expert claimed to have made one plane briefly fly sideways while he was a passenger on board, FBI investigation states

Emphasis added. How many people reading that actually believed the airplane was going along on a straight path then flew suddenly flew 'sideways', which technically would be, well, impossible? Here's how CBS explained:

During the interviews, "He stated that he successfully commanded the system he had accessed to issue the 'CLB' or climb command. He stated that he thereby caused one of the airplane engines to climb resulting in a lateral or sideways movement of the plane during one of these flights," said the affidavit, signed by F.B.I. agent Mike Hurley.

The documents say Roberts accesses the plane's controls via the in-flight entertainment system, his laptop, and an Ethernet cable.

Aside from the sensationalist nature of the revelation, his contention of hacking the flight computer and issuing a CLB command sounds like it would result in asymmetrical thrust.  Literally flying 'sideways' is certainly not something an aircraft could do, at least not in the world of elementary math and 90 degree angles.  A yaw condition would be something else, assuming this actually happened.     

Keep in mind this takeover revelation comes from Mr. Roberts, not the airline. And it comes from the court releasing an FBI affidavit, which also reads like a warning to everyone about how good the Bureau is at uncovering everything ever done on any PC, which they surely don't mind being out there in cyberland. There was no mention of the flight Mr. Roberts allegedly took over.  Also, it's not known whether his hacked command input actually led to a thrust increase or whether it was coincidental. 

Whatever the case, the FBI seems more interested in getting him in jail than using his information.  It will be interesting to see what happens to a guy who appears to be a cross between Duck Dynasty and Spook Central.  Surely he will ask for a jury trial if it goes that far.  

Of course this possible revelation opens a number of worm cans.  First and foremost, the 9/11 truthers will be pointing to it as incontrovertible evidence the aircraft were remotely controlled and flown into the buildings by Dick Cheney (there will be no links here). In a more recent story it could explain, in a SPECTRE kind of way, the disappearance of MH370.   Presumably also led by Dick Cheney in retirement.

And it may also come into the discussion about the overspeed crash of Amtrak 188 in North Philly.  This tragedy occurred only one day after ISIS had issued an online cyber-threat promising something that would "surprise" the infidels (for liberals reading, that means non-Islamic westerners like you).  There are several reasons they might issue a specious threat, such as watching to see how internet and security professionals reacted to prepare contingency plans, but then again, maybe there was something to it.  

Stories about of ISIS' superior knowledge of the internet and computer systems have been all over the web of late.  How hard would it be for them to employ a guy like Chris Roberts? 

Whether the news on Saturday about a risky attack in Syria where the US Military targeted ONE GUY--and one guy few had ever heard of before--has anything to do with this is unknown.  Until the raid most knew the name Abu Sayyaf as the AQ terror franchise in the Far East.  Risky raids just to capture or kill one unknown guy don't seem to be the hallmark of the Obama administration--how would they have explained mission failure/capture?   There are things we don't know, and won't know.   Sometimes for the good. 

Side Tracks

Almost all the headline stories of today (and yesterday) revolve around money.   It's the root of every political system.  Fighting over who gets it drives almost everything people discuss, including Tom Brady's suspension.  Things haven't changed much over the course of history, in this regard. 

Go back in the hole, Seymour

Message to award-winning journalist Sy Hersh, the guy who exposed the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib: the left doesn't love you unless you are exposing Republican lies, criminality and scandal.  When you expose leftist lies and propaganda you are nothing but a scummy kook, and probably a racist.

So maybe you should consider going back in the hole and waiting until another Bush comes into power, or some other Republican.

After all, Mike Morell, the former second in command at the CIA, who helped propagate the lie that Benghazi was about a hateful video from an American practicing his first amendment rights, has said the Hersh story about bin Laden is "all wrong":

"I started reading the article last night, I got a third of the way through and I stopped, because every sentence I was reading was wrong. The source that Hersh talked to has no idea what he's talking about," Morell said.

Every sentence! Even the ones where he admits the SEALs did a raid and shot bin Laden, apparently--wrong.  Wrong, wrong wrong!

In the same CBS interview the same guy, Morell, apologized to former President Bush, er, no sorry, to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, for sending him over to the UN to lobby for taking out Saddam because..

"We said he has chemical weapons, he has a biological weapons production capability, and he's restarting his nuclear weapons program. We were wrong on all three of those," he said.

So the CIA was 'all wrong'.  But it's nice to see Mr. Wrong apologize to Mr. Wrong for being wrong.  All of which makes Bush the wrongest.  Wait, was Hillary Clinton all wrong when she characterized Pakistan as helpful in getting UBL:

She said: "In fact, co-operation with Pakistan helped lead us to Bin Laden and the compound in which he was hiding."

Gee, that's exactly what Hersh said.   But it's wrong!  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Maybe Hersh didn't deserve those awards after all.  Or maybe he does.

MORE  5/11/15

It's interesting to watch the mainstream media complain about Hersh's use of one anonymous source.  Wasn't "Deep Throat" one anonymous source?

Anyway, this Eric Wemple blog post in the Post points out why this won't be a major story--it indicts the mainstream press.   It also indicts the idea that waterboarding KSM helped find al-Kuwaiti, the courier Hersh's source claims doesn't exist.  So there's reason for the right wing to scream 'wrong, wrong, wrong' on this as well.   In other words, this is likely going nowhere, or the same place Hersh's story about Bashar Assad's use of (or not) chemical weapons went.

One thing the story claims is that the 'treasure trove' of information obtained in bin Laden's lair, CDs, memory sticks, etc, did not exist.   Investigators have been grumbling about the slow-walk given to the data's release, well, why not release it now, to prove Hersh wrong?   If there really are thousands of intelligence docs redact them, and release them.

MORE  5/12/15

Interestingly, neither the WaPo nor NY Times are front paging their stories at this moment, so you have to search the search bar.  The Times' report is strange, as if giving some credence to Hersh's allegations.   They also point out that an FBI agent described the 'treasure trove' in detail at a trial for an noted AQ figure some months ago, which means the government allowed him to perjure himself.  Either that or Hersh's sources are full of BS.  Or Hersh is actually a kook. Or the Obama administration is lying.  Again. 

Either way, it's certainly entertaining to watch the left throw their hero under the bus, even if gently in some quarters.

FUNNY, THAT  5/12/15

So far the only network news org that has at least partially confirmed Hersh's reportage is NBC News..

The broadcaster has corroborated Hersh's claim that the 'walk in' asset that revealed the vital information as to where bin Laden was hiding was in fact Pakistani.

The official US line, however, maintains that the CIA located him by tracking couriers to his walled in complex in Abbottabad, Pakistan. NBC News stated that it has 'long been pursuing leads about a walk-in', and that their own findings match those reported by Hersh.

So NBC is on board.  At least in print.  At today's White House press briefing the only question NBC's White House correspondent Chris Jansing asked Josh Earnest was about getting Harriet Tubman on the 20 dollar bill. It may have been just me but Earnest seemed almost amused at such a giggly question.  He had probably prepared for worse,  but NBC saved him the trouble today. 

Actually, watching the presser is like watching a White House lecture series with the professional reporters asking weaker questions than students might during a university lecture.  When one reporter--the Fox guy--asked about an inconsistency in the Benghazi narrative Earnest shot back at him, causing many in the room to laugh at Fox.  That's their idea of speaking truth to power.

Over at the State Dept there were no questions asked about it--just like yesterday. At the same time, many prominent political reporters have spent the past few days obsessing over Jeb Bush's inartful reply to Megyn Kelly's question about re-doing the Iraq war.  It's really an amazing thing to witness. 

Side Tracks

What's up with Jade Helm?

A lot of grinning, giggling and eye rolling in press rooms of late at the mention of upcoming military training exercise "Jade Helm 15".   Both Fox and CNN asked Sec Def Ash Carter about in his official Pentagon briefing yesterday, and others have brought it up in White House briefings.  The answer from Carter yesterday was so politically correct it was almost unintelligible.  Josh Earnest has been less charitable, evoking snickers, unmasking the press once again.  

This seems to be the trigger to the craziness....

As pointed out, the "hostile" and "permissive" areas tie directly to red and blue state maps of a political variety.  Was that intentional?  This map was developed by someone in the military, maybe at the Pentagon, and was subsequently leaked by someone in the military.  That alone says something about what some members of the services think about this exercise.

The main question is whether this map was an inside joke by some liberal in the DoD, a clueless coincidence, or a map of future takeover zones as the Alex Jones backyard bunker truther movement would have everyone believe.  Who created the map?  Was it ordered from above by civilians in the administration? 

When quizzed the military says it's just another training exercise using urban areas to simulate possible battlefield situations 'overseas'.  That's no doubt true--but one could also ask why such a massive scale and where are they preparing to fight?  Are they expecting a Biblical Middle East conflagration if the Iran nuke deal falls through and Israel launches a unilateral raid?   The paranoid nutcakes are not asking that question and the snickering media aren't either, but perhaps someone should ask the Obama folks after all the snickering dies down. 

After all, we were told the dumb Bush wars has been ended responsibly and AQ is apparently still on the run.  And the Iran nuke deal is not going to fall through and smash Obama's legacy--the proof of this is in the way the administration (and their media lap dogs) have ignored the war between Iran's proxy in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, along with the Iranians capturing a US-protected commercial vessel and holding it for ransom.  Heard much about those stories over and above Brady and Baltimore?     


So yeah, this Jade Helm thing is a little weird.  It's not a take-over of Texas, there won't be any FEMA trains sending Tea Partiers to martial law internment camps.   Life will go on.  But if this is just a trolling operation by the Obama administration, it needs to come out.  And if it's in prep for something big, that might be newsworthy, too.  Obviously somebody leaked the map/plans for a reason.

Prophet attacked in Texas

As in the 'Prophet' Mohammad.  Many mainstream media reporters are using that descriptive term in their reportage on the shooting event in Garland Texas.   It's like saying "Lord and Savior" Jesus Christ in a story on Christianity. 

Anyway, the mainstream coverage is predictable.

CNN, other than calling Mohammad 'the Prophet' (capitalized-- and how long before they include 'peace be upon him') is explaining why Muslims don't like anyone to produce images of the Prophet.. it's blasphemy. Oh, and Geller's group is a 'hate group' according to the hate group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center.   Don't say it out loud, but they had it coming!

NBC makes a point to mention the extremists (no, not Geller's people) were using 'assault rifles', which illustrates the barbarity while opening the gun control door just a crack.

CBS has a huge headline mentioning 'the Prophet' Mohammad. Otherwise it's pretty fair so far.

ABC seems to have the most fair and balanced coverage of the legacy outlets, using the word 'prophet' in coverage but NOT in capital letters, as in "Islam's prophet Mohammad". Nice job. Their story on one of the perps is standard breaking news.

The WaPo informs readers of the incendiary Pamela Geller and her status with the SPLC. Does the SPLC consider Charlie Hebdo a hate group?

Finally, the Paper of Record pulls a story out of their archives about the 'firebrand' Geller, to accompany their normal coverage.

Overall not surprising. We'll see if it gets any worse, if and when the Islamic extremist apologists feel it's safe to pop up out of their holes and call this "hate" or even white privilege (never underestimate the far left).

As for Geller, my own personal opinion isn't very high on her but that's neither her nor there. She had a free speech rally knowing Muslims would be offended and lo and behold a few showed up and started shooting, which proves her point.

As to whether these two were actual members of ISIS or wannabes claiming allegiance, time will tell. The authorities have poo-poo'ed the Judicial Watch report about an ISIS camp near Anapra, Mexico and this may or may not be involved.   It doesn't really matter.  The bottom line is, as the former CIA Deputy Director recently admitted, the terrorists were never 'on the run'.   That's why they described Benghazi as they did.  It's a continuing problem that's not going anywhere no matter what Westerners do or say, short of widespread conversion.

Side Tracks

Nice use of the banjo, fiddle and harmonica to make the train sounds.  Neil Young is reportedly quite the railroad buff, by the way.  Ironically, or maybe not, in the early 90s the actual Southern Pacific Railroad commissioned a country singer to produce a corporate music video entitled "Southern Pacific Roll On", not quite as edgy as Young's song.  It didn't do much--the 'Espee' was swallowed up by the Union Pacific in 1995.                         

                       Southern Pacific train entering Tennessee on the Harahan Bridge circa early 90s.

Enough Said

Drudge flagged this today...

"Kid Interviewer Cuts off Obama"

The comments are hilarious, most having to do with the kid teaching the mainstream media baby birds how to do it, or about the kid's future now that he's dissed the One.     

Meanwhile, the "professionals" sit there in the White House briefing room and look embarrassed if Jonathan Karl or a Washington Times or Fox reporter asks a tough question.   Just imagine what we might find out if they replaced all the 'professionals' with a room full of 12 year olds like this kid.   

Deeply Held Beliefs Update

For the life of me I don't know how someone could say something like this--using the words she used--then later reverse it.  Only a true politician could reverse a 'sacred bond'.



There will no doubt be an elaborate explanation for this reversal coming soon, including hints that the reversal itself was due to the hatred of the vast right wing conspiracy.  The question is whether she will get away with it.

Dead Terrorists Update

We've seen a recent rash of reports on most-wanted terrorists and enablers going tango uniform.   Are they real?

For instance, before Christmas it was reported that AQ number three Adnan Shukrijumah, known also as "Jafar the Pilot", considered a particularly dangerous terrorist, was killed by Pakistani troops in a raid in Pakistan (shortly after the US promised another large sum of support money to that country).  After a few weeks Shukrijumah disappeared off the Rewards for Justice site run by the State Department, but he still appears on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list.  Reasons--they are still confirming it.  Rather amazing, since they had the body and DNA testing doesn't take that long.  Just think back to bin Laden, it was done almost immediately.  Not sure why they wouldn't have shouted it from the rooftops the day after. Instead the administration didn't want anything to do with any questions about it.        

Also, there was the long sought-after former second in command of the Iraqi Ba'ath regime, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, who was reported to be helping ISIS.  He was reported killed in a shelling near Tikrit about a week ago.  It made a flurry of news, then quickly vaporized from the news cycle.   The Iraqi government was supposed to be doing DNA testing to confirm.  In the interim a Shiite Hizballah group has claimed it's "100 percent" certain it was him based on their own tests.  You can view the corpse here--does this really look like the body of an over 70 year old man?  No bruises or bullet holes.  Does it bear a perfect resemblance to Izzat? Not really, but there is some.  Al-Duri was a rare Arab redhead, but keep in mind old Jihadists often die their beards red.  And again, the administration downplayed any questions from the press about him rather than doing the usual end-zone dance.   His loss would seemingly be a big blow to ISIS, yet nothing.  Strange. 

Finally the news today that the US blew away two most-wanted AQ terrorists, Adam aka "Azzam the American" Gadahn, and Ahmed Farouq, both American citizens on the wanted list.   Both were hit in separate non-targeted drone strikes on AQ camps--somewhere--they aren't saying very much.  The American hostage Warren Weinstein was also killed in the Farouq raid, which prompted a sort of unusual apology today from the president, taking great pains to convey that he was responsible and where the buck stopped, as if this wasn't already a given.  Of course it has never been a given, which is why this was weird. 

The White House presser today was fairly weird as well, with Josh Earnest promising unbelievable awesome transparency on the record about these deaths, then proceeding to provide almost no details about the raids due to operational security concerns.   Many journalists quizzed Earnest on whether the kills were within US law.  Maybe Loretta Lynch will decide this, after she gets through deciding on prosecuting Lois Lerner or investigating Hillary's shenanigans.  In reality it's possible he was trying to explain the tragic loss without admitting they are casualties of 'war', because the 'wars' are over, responsibly ended by Obama.  So if we aren't at war, why are we still air-raiding villages and killing civilians?    

One factoid--Mr Weinstein was mentioned many times by AQ leader Ayman Zawahiri, demanding captured AQ terrorists in exchange among other concessions, so it will be interesting to see whether the secrecy and stealth used today, and perhaps the reason they announced this today after 3 months, has something to do with pinpointing AQ Numero Uno and not just covering some hiney.