Daily Archives: January 10, 2014

01/10/14

Sen. Ted Cruz Hammers Obama Administration as “An Extraordinary Threat to the Liberty of this Country”; Cites “Pattern of Lawlessness”

Hat Tip: BB

Read more at Freedom’s Lighthouse…

DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Sen. Ted Cruz compared America under President Obama to a corrupt dictatorship in which the chief executive decides which laws to follow and which to ignore. He cited the Obama administration delay of the employer mandate under the Affordable Health Care Act. He said the directive to ease deportation of immigrant parents and not to defend the federal ban on marijuana in states like Colorado and Washington that choose to legalize it were other examples of the president’s “consistent pattern of lawlessness.”

“If the president of the United States can simply pick and choose which laws to follow… we know what that looks like,” Cruz told small-government conservatives Friday. “There are countries on this globe where that is how the law works. You look at corrupt countries where the rule of law is meaningless, where dictators are in power and they have things they call law. But what does law mean?”

Cruz, who delivered an extended speech on the Senate floor against Obamacare and was a prime factor in last year’s government shutdown, told a conference of the Texas Public Policy Foundation he has not given up the fight to repeal the federal health care law. At a news conference afterwards, Cruz declined to say whether he would use upcoming budget battles in Congress to press the administration and potentially shut down government again. But he leveled a sharp critique against the Obama administration as an “extraordinary threat to the liberty of this country. A president who is not bound by the law is no longer a president. And if you love liberty that should concern you greatly.”…..

01/10/14

The Council Has Spoken!! This Weeks’ Watcher’s Council Results – 01/10/14

The Watcher’s Council

The People’s Cube

The Devil’s in the Details

Happy birthday to the Watcher’s Council fearless leader Rob Miller of Joshuapundit! Joshuapundit is one of the very best blogs out there anywhere. We couldn’t do what all of us do without you Rob and you have been a friend to each and every one of us. Salute and we hope you have one heck of a celebration surrounded by friends, family – love and laughter. Many, many more my friend. And here is the traditional drink via the Watcher of Weasels:

The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast and the results are in for this week’s Watcher’s Council match-up.

Even taking into consideration the normal high level of quality in both the Council and Non-Council entries, this was a tough call for the Council voters with some exceptional pieces to choose from and the close vote tally reflects it.

For instance, we had a tie this week in the Council category which I, as Watcher have to break.

A few entries this week weighed in this week on the attack by ObamaCare on Catholic institutions, but top o’ the stack was Bookworm Room’s Solidarity with the nuns — a tipping point moment? Aside from being an excellent dissertation in its own right, it captured a moment in time that is going to be interesting no matter which way things eventually go and she did it superbly.

With a very different kind of piece, we also had Joshuapundit with Al-Qaeda Wins A Major Victory Over The Iraqi Army, my somber analysis of what’s going on in Iraq and why, as al-Qaeda’s black flag flies over the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi and the Iraqi Army we spent hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars to train and equip retreats decimated back towards Baghdad.

A very easy choice for me to make this time and Bookworm’s piece is unquestionably the winner.

Here’s a slice:

Remember back in 1980 when something happened in Poland that seemed little but had enormous consequences? That was the year that Lech Walesa started to lead the Gdansk shipyard workers. Their trade union eventually led in a straight line to the Soviet Union’s downfall. From a trade union, those shipyard workers morphed into an enormous, non-violent protest against the Polish government (a Soviet proxy).

When the Polish government blinked, people throughout the former Soviet Empire realized that the Communist monster was weakening and could be challenged. Aided by Reagan’s, Thatcher’s, and Pope John Paul II’s moral support, as well as political and financial aid from Western countries fighting in the Cold War, communist bloc citizens suddenly had real hope — not the phony stuff Obama and his media acolytes socialists have always peddled, but real hope that the decades they’d spent imprisoned in their own countries were finally ending.

Let’s call the Solidarity movement a tipping point.

For reasons best known to itself, the Obama administration has seen fit to wage war against these ladies:

These gals, of course, are the Little Sisters of the Poor. For more than 150 years, this order has been serving the elderly poor. And when I say “serving,” I mean that. They aren’t just conduits for funds. They go out every day and work amongst the elderly poor, especially the ones who are sick and alone. As you can see from the picture above, the little sisters are mostly elderly themselves. They are grandmotherly types whose deep and abiding faith carries them to places most people don’t even think about. And to the extent they do think about them, they cut a check to charity or, when they’re paying their taxes, try to minimize the pain by saying, “I guess it helps fund Medicaid.”

Being good Catholics, the Little Sisters were in the forefront of groups refusing to abide by the Obamacare mandate that they provide insurance for their employees that includes contraceptives and abortifacients. Aside from the fact that the nuns don’t need either contraceptives or abortifacients, to the extent that they might hire a receptionist or accountant, they weren’t about to condemn their immortal souls by providing those services for her either.

The Obama administration, recognizing that this was a fight it couldn’t win, came up with an illusory compromise: Religious institutions can sign a slip of paper saying that they won’t buy those “benefits” for their employees. However, their insurance company must still provide those same benefits for employees. In that way, said the administration, the nuns weren’t violating their consciences.

Nuns, however, are not as stupid as the Obama administration seems to think they are. They understand that, if their insurance company must provide those benefits, someone needs to pay for them — and that’s going to be the insured. In other words, even though the nuns will no longer directly pay for contraceptives and abortifacients, they will still indirectly pay as the insurance company hikes their fees to pay for unidentified “sundries.” Whether the nuns pay directly, or the insurance company pays on their behalf, the nuns are still paying.

Much more at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Sean Davis writing in The Federalist with a piece that was just classic, Sorry, Comrade, But You Didn’t Just Discover The Secret To Making Communism Work, submitted by The Glittering Eye. It’s a classic, hilarious take down of one of the new breed of totally ignorant proto-communists via an expensive Eastern liberal arts college writing in Rolling Stone about how Soviet-style communism is the cure for what ails us. I was reminded of a great line in Ernst Maria Remarque’s classic novel All Quiet On The Western Front where the old peasant soldier, Kat, dismisses the ignorance of some of the upper class townspeople the German soldiers run into to the younger soldiers by saying, “It’s their upbringing that made them stupid.”

On such stupidity do the Castros, Arafats, Lenins and Maos depend, like vampires need blood. A must read.

Here are this week’s full results. Only The Mellow Jihadi was unable to vote this week, but was not affected by the 2/3 vote penalty:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

See you next week! Don’t forget to tune in on Monday AM for this week’s Watcher’s Forum, as the Council and their invited guests take apart one of the provocative issues of the day and weigh in… don’t you dare miss it. And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that!

01/10/14

Defeat Franken: One Less Obama Henchman

By: Lloyd Marcus

Many are outraged that Obama would nominate a cop killer advocate to head the DOJ Civil Rights Division. http://bit.ly/1lAFaSD When will people realize that Obama is a lawless Chicago thug politician who surrounds himself with henchmen?

One such Obama henchman that we have a golden opportunity to defeat is Senator Al Franken. Franken’s numbers are tanking. Only 39% of Minnesota voters have a favorable opinion of Al Franken.

While Obama deceitfully gives pious speeches about bipartisanship and civility, his henchman says things like this, “Republicans are shameless d**ks. No, that’s not fair. Republican politicians are shameless d**ks.” Al Franken: The Truth (With Jokes) p. 58

Franken has become notorious on Capital Hill for numerous over-the-top angry outbursts against Republican Senators and staffers; behavior unbecoming of a U.S. Senator. http://bit.ly/JLnqWd Minnesota voters deserve much, much better than Franken.

Loyal henchman Al Franken rubber-stamps Obama’s every lawless decree. He voted for higher taxes, higher deficits and Obama’s stimulus. Franken urged his boss to militarily intervene in Syria without seeking congressional authorization.

Not only did henchman Franken help write the tyrannical Obamacare, he cast the deciding vote http://bit.ly/1hqaOSJ and boldly parroted Obama’s infamous lie, “If you like your health care plan and doctor, you can keep them.” http://bit.ly/18YfH06

Franken wrote a letter to fellow Obama hench-persons at the IRS instructing them to harass conservative groups. http://bit.ly/1i9oWgv Have you ever heard of such arrogant unethical behavior by a U.S. Senator? Are we dealing with a presidential Administration or a crime family?

Elected to the U.S. Senate under suspicious circumstances http://bit.ly/1azZNGx, Franken has been a tool of radical liberal special interest groups, rather than pursuing the best interest of the people of Minnesota.

Franken is so radical, he received a zero percent rating from numerous groups that include Citizens Against Government Waste, National Association of Manufacturers, Campaign for Working Families, Concerned Women for America, American Library Association, Sportsman and Animal Owners Voting Alliance and the American Conservative Union.

Franken is hellbent on protecting his boss’ signature power grab, Obamacare, which is wrecking havoc in the lives of millions of Americans. http://bit.ly/1cFdlQJ Removing the vulnerable Al Franken from the U.S. Senate is a powerful step towards repealing Obamacare.

As Obama reenforces his ranks with new henchmen like his disgusting DOJ nominee, it is crucial that we exploit every opportunity to weaken Obama’s ability to lawlessly bully us into submission. In 2014 we need to make it a national priority to defeat Al Franken; one less henchman for Obama. http://bit.ly/19W5jZR

Lloyd Marcus, Proud Unhyphenated American
Chairman: Conservative Campaign Committee
LloydMarcus.com

01/10/14

An Open Letter to the God of Islam

By: Amil Imani
Right Side News

It is axiomatic that to be a Muslim you must: believe in Allah by taking him as your one and only lord, accept Muhammad as Allah’s beloved messenger and take the Quran as a literal work of Allah and a perfect prescription for living.

Hard as I tried, I had a terrible time being a Muslim right at the entry level. I, therefore, decided to write this open letter in the hope of receiving some satisfactory answers to the many questions that trouble me greatly.

From the first breath of life to the last pang of death, Islam relentlessly bombards us: surrender yourself fully to Allah, pray for his help, let him make all decisions for you and run your life, don’t ever question anything, since questioning is the whisperings of the accursed Satan who strives to take you astray.

Islam says that Allah is the javaab-ul-doaa (answerer of supplications/prayers) and that to him we should supplicate for any and all help in all matters.

Well, I am doing exactly as I am advised. I am supplicating Allah in the form of this open letter, to provide me with answers to some of my numerous and troubling questions.

It must be a peculiarity about me. I am loath to surrender my inquiry about things and allow others, divine or not, to do the thinking for me. If I am to let Allah do all the thinking and deciding for me, then why am I given my own brain? I have challenged the Islamic divines.

See, I have already failed the test since I have not surrendered fully to Allah and, by questioning, did not place my total faith in him.

I have been spending much of my life trying to get some satisfactory answers to my questions about Islam from Islamic scripture and authorities without success. More often than not, I get conflicting answers, confusing responses and even outright contradictory statements.

Hence, I decided to pose some of my perplexing questions in this open letter directly to the god of Islam, Allah, earnestly hoping deliverance from the anguish of doubt.

I will do my very best to conduct myself with decorum and courtesy toward Allah. At no time will I behave rudely toward him, just in case he is indeed the sole author of this awesome universe, as Islam claims. To be discourteous and rude is not my habit. I don’t even behave rudely toward anyone, much less so in dealing with a purported unfathomably magnificent being.

The list of my questions is long indeed. Here are some of my questions, not necessarily in order of importance, presented in all meekness to Allah, the Lord of Islam. To me, all questions are important and assigning relative importance to them is arbitrary. So, I get started.

I have no illusions of grandeur and no pretense at knowing very much. I am a sincere seeker after truth and it is in this spirit that I am humbly composing this missive to you, Allah. I hope that I am not being discourteous by simply addressing you as Allah. I mean without preceding invocation of your name by honorifics.

I fully realize that I really am most insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But, again, you have created me so I must be worth something. It is this realization that gives me the courage to address you with my questions, your lordship.

Without further ado, here are some of my questions.

  • Islam says that you are the uncreated creator. I have a very hard time with that claim. Of course I am a most finite being and my intellect is hardly capable of imagining that something comes from nothing. There is that old refrain, “nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could” that humans take as an article of faith and fact. But, again, we humans are hardly capable of fathoming things that transcend the limits of our finite rational mind. Any clarification of this assertion would be immensely helpful.
  • Speaking of creating, Islam says that you created the universe by the command: kon va yakoon (become and became). The universe appeared instantly in obedience to your command. There are different views about this whole topic of creation that I don’t want to trouble you about. For now, my simple question is: Lord, by this simple command of kon va yakoon, you brought about this indescribably magnificent universe, yet you took some twenty years to write your smallish book, the Quran. Why did it take you so long to write it? I fear a thunderbolt might strike me dead for posing this intrusive question. I hope you hold off and allow me to continue.

So, I think maybe I can supply a rationalization, not a plausible reason, for it. I said to myself, your lordship, perhaps it took you twenty years because Muhammad was illiterate and slow in getting your dictates and taking them to a scribe to jot them down. That’s why. Yet, finding someone who could actually write things down among the horde of savages was not an easy task.

A follow up question! Why a supremely august being, as you are, with all the indescribably exulted powers and attributes, chose an illiterate Arab, a hired-hand of a rich widow, as your messenger is a mystery. Couldn’t you have chosen a Rabbi from nearby Medina, a Zoroastrian Mobed, a Christian Priest from Mecca itself, a Hindu Monk, a Buddhist Clergy? These were people who had specialized in matters of religion, rather than an Arab whose only skill was helping drive caravans of camels.

I have seen Islam’s pat answers to all questions: to no one is given the right to ask Allah about his doings, he does what pleases him and ordains what he wants. But this is no answer. It is a copout.

  • Are you male, your lordship? Pardon me for asking a personal question. The reason I ask is that you have much against women. You stipulate that women are worth one-half of men. You ordain that men are rulers over women and much more. I really don’t see that. My lifelong experiences with women have convinced me that women are every bit as worthy as men, if not even better in many respects. For one, women are the life-givers and nurturers of life. Men, by contrast, are forever in the business of life-taking.

Science tells us that women are as capable as men in every sphere other than those that require brute force. But, machines are much more superior to men in brute force and women can and do operate those machines as well as men.

Is there something inherently inferior or evil about women? If so, then, pardon me, your lordship. It is you who designed them that way. Didn’t you?

Is it not a fact that the savage chauvinist Arabs of Muhammad’s time are the ones who instituted this oppressive scheme against women and Muhammad stamped his approval of the fraud in your name?

  • My next question is about the role of religion. My limited understanding is that the major function of religion is to bring disparate people together. That is, bring unity and amity among the diverse and quarreling human groups. Islam fails miserably on this major point. While Muhammad was alive, he kept preaching the gospel of divisiveness. He taught a gospel of us against them, believers against the unbeliever. Since his death, Muhammad’s followers have doggedly followed his gospel of divisiveness.

How can fueling the fire of polarization bring about the peace of unity after what Muhammad did and his disciples continue to do, killing the unbelievers en mass and without the least bit of mercy?

Compounding the problem is the fact that as Muhammad was still gasping his last breath, his senior disciples were busying themselves with the business of killing one another in their lust for power and leadership. And Islam has been on a mission with the internecine as well as infidel killing ever since.

Whether or not I receive answers to these questions, I will persist in posing more of them in the future. Who knows? As unlikely as it may seem, Allah may indeed deem it appropriate to send another of his archangels with a Quran addressing these and other troubling questions. Keep in mind that he does what pleases him and ordains what he wants.

Amil Imani is the author of Obama Meets Ahmadinejad and Operation Persian Gulf.