Blessed are the Colt® Peacemakers
Chris Muir at Day by Day Cartoon

Chris Muir at Day by Day Cartoon
Hat Tip: BB
Give credit where it is due, Alex Jones has been doing great reporting on this story.
BLM to kill hundreds of desert tortoises as its conservation center runs out of money
Has our government finally learned? No matter what efforts we make, no matter the concessions – in the end it is Israel that faces accusations when things go wrong. The lesson here is that we should stop trying and refrain from further concessions.
What I am referring to is the tone, as well as content, of testimony given by Kerry yesterday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Tovah Lazaroff, providing an analysis in the JPost, wrote:
“It wasn’t what Secretary of State John Kerry said…it was how he said it….
“It was a narrative exclamation, and pause, strong enough to be heard round the world.
“It fell, like a slow drumbeat…”
Kerry’s accusation: that an announcement by Israel about building over the ‘67 line is what killed the chance to revive the “peace negotiations”
http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Poof-that-was-sort-of-the-moment-347973
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Lazaroff describes the progression of events that Kerry presented. I want to review it quickly here because Kerry’s misrepresentations require correction. No one should take him at his word.
Israel – which had committed to the release of 106 pre-Oslo prisoners, in four stages, in order to get the PA to the table for nine months – announced towards the end of March that the final group of prisoners would not be released as scheduled because of evidence that this painful (and, many would say, horribly inappropriate) concession was not achieving its intended results. The Palestinian Authority had stopped participating in direct negotiations – there was only separate contact by each party with US negotiators. What is more, there was solid evidence that once Abbas secured the release of that last group of prisoners, he was intending to call a halt to “talks.” He had been hanging in at a minimal level only to achieve the victory of the release of terrorists.
Israel said that the final group of prisoners would be released only if the PA committed to another nine months at the table after April 29th. A predictable furor followed, with the PA saying that it was entitled to the final prisoner release without having to make any further commitment.
At this point the US, seeking to salvage the process, intervened, and the news was full of talk about Pollard possibly being let out of prison (to “motivate” members of the Israeli government to agree to further concessions), and Israel agreeing both to the release of that final group of prisoners plus another 400 and, to boot, a partial freeze in construction in Judea and Samaria (NOT including Jerusalem and exempting building for which tenders were already out). All so the PA would stay at the table for another nine months.
Enough to give a nationalist Zionist a heart attack, even with the tentative talk about Pollard’s release (a cruel manipulation). But from the US perspective there should have been acknowledgement that Netanyahu was really trying.
~~~~~~~~~~
Before this grand new deal could be finalized, Abbas announced that he had signed applications for membership in 15 international organizations. This was precisely what he was not supposed to do, as long as there were negotiations. And this was the final blow. Kerry cancelled plans to fly to Ramallah to finalize the expanded deal, the US announced that it was no longer considering the release of Pollard, and Israel said all offers were off the table.
At the time this happened, I was astounded, that Abbas could very likely have secured the release of some 420 prisoners, and yet opted to go a different route instead. To me it was obvious that he was tired of the negotiations charade and was prepared to move to the next step – one that was well planned and bound to come sooner or later. Abbas blew it, willfully and defiantly.
~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time all of this was transpiring, an announcement was made by Israel regarding the construction of 700 new housing units in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. The tenders for this construction had been put out prior to this. It was not something new.
Kerry, however, has now chosen to point his finger at Israel, saying that this announcement about construction is what destroyed the possibility of salvaging the process.
This is how Lazaroff describes Kerry’s testimony (emphasis added):
“But while Kerry said the 15 applications were not helpful, he didn’t pause in that part of the narrative, nor did he state that this was the point of no return.
“He described matter-of-factly what happened after the March 29 release was delayed as both sides tried to conclude a deal to keep the talks going for another nine-months.
“’Unfortunately the prisoners weren’t released on Saturday, when they were suppose to be released,’ Kerry said.
“’A day went by. Day two went by. Day three went by,’ Kerry said. He moved his arms to underscore his words.
“’And then in the afternoon, when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof,’ Kerry said as he spread his arms wide and paused. It was a move that accentuated the drama.
“Kerry then finished his sentence: ‘That was sort of the moment,’ he said as he brought his hands down.’”
Poof? Kerry has sunk to a new low, even for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
I want to make several points here:
First, Israel had not committed to freezing building under the terms of the current negotiations, nor is there anything in the Oslo Accords that would prohibit this. Israel was in the process of offering a partial freeze when things fell apart, but had already clarified that the partial freeze would not include Jerusalem.
Gilo is over the ‘67 line, but it stands on what had been Jewishly owned property even prior to 1967.
The Arabs refer to it as being in “East” Jerusalem, but in point of fact it is in Jerusalem’s south (or more accurately south west).
Sometimes Gilo is referred to as a “settlement” – which is what Kerry just did: it’s more dramatic than talking about a part of Jerusalem. Gilo, however, is solidly within the municipal borders of Jerusalem. It is a Jewish neighborhood with over 40,000 residents that no one believes would ever become part of a Palestinian state even if one were – Heaven forbid – to be established.
The furor over this is nothing but posturing.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan Tobin, editor of Commentary, responded similarly to Kerry’s “poof” statement. “Why did Kerry lie about Israeli blame?” he asks. And then proceeds to answer the question (emphasis added):
“…to blame the collapse on the decision to build apartments in Gilo…is, to put it mildly, a mendacious effort to shift blame away from the side that seized the first pretext to flee talks onto the one that has made concessions in order to get the Palestinians to sit at the table. But why would Kerry utter such a blatant falsehood about the process he has championed?
“The answer is simple. Kerry doesn’t want to blame the Palestinians for walking out because to do so would be a tacit admission that his critics were right when they suggested last year that he was embarking on a fool’s errand…
“Since Kerry hopes to entice the Palestinians back to the talks at some point, blaming Israel also gives him leverage to demand more concessions from the Jewish state to bribe Abbas to negotiate. Being honest about the Palestinian stance would not only undermine the basis for the talks but also make it harder to justify the administration’s continued insistence on pressuring the Israelis rather than seek to force Abbas to alter his intransigent positions.
“Seen in that light, Kerry probably thinks no harm can come from blaming the Israelis who have always been the convenient whipping boys of the peace process no matter what the circumstances. But he’s wrong about that too. Just as the Clinton administration did inestimable damage to the credibility of the peace process and set the stage for another round of violence by whitewashing Yasir Arafat’s support for terrorism and incitement to hatred in the 1990s, so, too, do Kerry’s efforts to portray Abbas as the victim rather than the author of this fiasco undermine his efforts for peace.”
It is said sometimes that trying to make peace cannot hurt. But we see that it can, when the effort is mismanaged.
Tobin’s assumption that Kerry hopes to entice the Palestinians back at some point is probably correct. Until today I have avoided posting about the interminable haggling about the end of this process. It has been unbearable to witness.
I do think it’s come to an end, for now, even though Kerry is still talking about what the next few days may bring. Imagine, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying, “Gaps remain, but both sides are committed to narrow[ing] the gaps.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu, for his part, has instructed ministers to cut off high-level contacts with the Palestinian Authority on non-security related issues (Tzipi Livni excepted).
~~~~~~~~~~
Some are speaking about scaling down expectations. Thus did Shlomo Avineri, a former director general of the Israeli foreign ministry say, “The gap between the most moderate position in Israel and the most moderate position in the Palestinian leadership is too [wide] right now. It’s time for the U.S. to think of a contingency plan treating this as a conflict-management situation.”
Perhaps a short term compromise, of sorts. What I see, however, is that Israel is trapped by Oslo, as these accords call for negotiations to resolve final issues. Thus will the process of negotiations come back to haunt us again and again, in various formulations, until there is the courage in the government to declare Oslo failed, and null and void because the PLO has abrogated its terms.
By: Nelson Abdullah
Conscience of a Conservative
Anyone who has ever visited a beachfront community knows that every house built there is firmly anchored to the ground on strong pilings. The reason is obvious: you cannot build a house resting on the sand alone because the lack of a foundation will cause the house the drift away as the sand shifts. Such an apt analogy applies to another house we all know about, the House of Representatives, the home of our lawmakers in Congress. The figurative pilings required to anchor this House is our United States Constitution, the document that all lawmakers swear to uphold in their oath of office.
Too bad most of those lawmakers have no idea about the meaning of the words they take in their oaths.
Lets start at the top. Listen to the calls for the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama for his innumerable crimes. The most conservative of the Republican members of the House claim that such a vote for impeachment would be useless since the action would then transfer over to the U.S. Senate for the trial and the Senate is controlled by liberal Democrats. Now drop down a notch and look at the Republican-led House committee investigating the IRS scandal that targeted Barack Hussein Obama’s political enemies in the Tea Party groups. The same conservatives on the committee want to hold Lois Lerner in Contempt of Congress for refusing to reveal details about the pro-Democrat scandal. They are currently debating asking the Department of Justice to seek a criminal indictment against Ms. Lerner. Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder, who is in charge of the DoJ and who, himself, is subject of another Contempt of Congress order for refusing to provide documents about covering up a DoJ orchestrated gun-running scheme, made a remarkable statement before another House sub-committee wherein he said that he has a “vast amount” of discretion in enforcing laws. Holder’s DoJ refused to investigate the Black Panthers who intimidated voters in Philadelphia in 2008. Holder says black people should have laws applied differently to them. Holder even told the state’s attorneys general a few months ago they are not obligated to defend state laws they don’t agree with. This is how the epidemic of corruption spreads from the top down.
Add Eric Holder’s name to the list of Democrats who have no idea about the meaning of the words he took in his oath of office.
Maybe these people should be charged with perjury for lying under oath when they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and had no intention of doing so. Perjury is, after all, a somewhat higher crime.
Now if it is so highly unlikely that the DoJ would ever prosecute Democrat Lois Lerner for her miniscule crimes before a House sub-committee, speaking about the members of the U.S. Senate, the one reason no one could expect the Democrats there to look unfavorably upon the criminal misdeeds of Barack Hussein Obama was evidenced in a vote on a United Nations treaty to disarm and confiscate weapons held by law-abiding American citizens. When U.N. Resolution 2117, which lists 21 points dealing with the control of firearms and point number 11 calls for member states to support the collection and disarmament of its citizens, came before them, 46 Senators, 44 Democrats plus 2 Independents decided to ignore the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and voted to pass it. Luckily the resolution failed, but 46 members of the U.S. Senate did vote to surrender the sovereignty of the United States of America. Should we ever see treason trials on the order of what took place in Nuremberg, Germany following WWII I would expect the hangman’s gallows would be quite busy for some time.
It is no longer a joke or even sarcastic humor to equate Democrats with hypocrites. It is no longer relevant to mention that the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in 2012 tried to remove the name of God from their party platform. It has become a matter of life or death for our nation to see them all for what they really are. Back in the days when a majority of our Congressional representatives knew who our real enemies were we used to have a House Committee on Un-American Activities. It was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. It was created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties. It was abolished in 1975 when the Democrats were in power. Maybe it is time to bring it back.
My name is Nelson Abdullah and I am Oldironsides.
Our friends Dick Manasseri and Gary Kubiak take center stage… These are true Tea Party warriors. 😉
Promote then as an object of primary importance, Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. – George Washington
Heritage Action Sentinels are a group committed conservatives doing the hard work of Congressional accountability. Hear from some of the top conservative activists in the country who are fighting the Washington Establishment and big government. See why they fight, their journey through the Sentinel Program, and learn how to start your own journey at http://heritageaction.com/sentinel
Start: 10 April 2014 9:17 am
Venue: San José State University
Trevor will be a special guest speaker at this Protest Event, exposing “The Enemies Within.”
This event is sponsored by the Gilroy-Morgan Hill Patriots:
Date: Thursday April 10, 2014.
Time: 6:30 PM.
Where: San Jose State University Event Center Arena On corner of 7th and Paseo De San Carlos.
Parking: (1 block away) Park in the South Garage (corner of 7th & San Salvador) Cost is $5.00 after 5:30 pm.
The event is in front of the Event Center which is on the corner of 7th and Paseo De San Carlos at 6:30 pm.
“The Enemies Within: Communists, Socialists and Progressives in the U.S. Congress” is like no other book written on American politics. The book exposes, in layman’s terms, the comprehensive communist, socialist and extreme progressive infiltration of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.
The book profiles fourteen Senators and more than fifty Representatives and their ties to the Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America, the Workers World Party and the Institute for Policy Studies, Council for a Livable World and other radical anti-American organizations. Trevor has done the hard work to connect the dots of why the U.S. Congress has moved further and further left over our lifetime and you won’t want to miss him.
San José State University
1 Washington Sq
San Jose, CA 95112
It’s all over the place, isn’t it? ‘Nuff said.
Welcome to the Watcher’s Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the ‘sphere and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.
Council News:
First off, we have a party to go to, we do. Nice Deb’s actual birthday was April 6th, but we’ll celebrate it in style today!
First off, a cake. I chose a double Dutch chocolate number, with chocolate ganache icing and just a lil’ bit of rum for flavor.
Beverage? I thought some Kristal Brut would go nicely. Can’t go wrong with a classic, yes?
Our friend Debra is fairly new to the Council. Back last June, when a vacancy opened up, I happened across her site and really liked what this no nonsense conservative lady was putting out. Her response when I asked if she’d be interested in joining the Council? “Sure, sounds like fun.”
You see, that’s the other side of her persona. Among her other attributes, she has a really good sense of humor, so I knew right then she’d fit in well with the rest of the gang. And she certainly has, to say the least.
Not that it should be any surprise, of course. As she’s shown me and her other Council mates on many occasions, she really is Nice Deb.
Happy Birthday, Debra… and many, many more.
THE COUNCIL IN ACTION:
This week, Midknight Review, Right Reason, Maggie’s Notebook and The Pirate’s Cove earned honorable mention status with some fine articles.
You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher’s Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn’t get nominated by a Council member? No worries.
To bring something to my attention, simply head over to Joshuapundit and post the title and a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address (which won’t be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6 PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher’s Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning.
Simple, no?
It’s a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher’s Council readers and Council members, while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?
So, let’s see what we have for you this week…
Council Submissions
Honorable Mentions
Non-Council Submissions
Enjoy! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter… ’cause we’re cool like that!
By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
“We’re not pointing guns at anyone but we’re sure getting a lot of guns pointed at us.”
– Carol Bundy, wife of Nevada rancher
I’m from Nevada and trust me when I say there is a long and deep hatred of the BLM there. Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Clark County, Nev., and his family have run a ranch there for well over a 100 years. Their cattle have fed off open range grazing freely, until 1993, when the US government decided they wanted to extort Bundy by charging him fees to let his cattle feed on a ranch that he oversees. Now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has moved in with officials armed with machine guns, who are surrounding the ranch and forcibly removing the owner’s cattle, according to the rancher’s family. This is with the help of hired cowhands. Shame on them. Bundy won’t go down without a fight – you see, he’s fighting for his family and his Constitutional rights and he’s willing to go down for it. He’s not alone by any means… this whole situation could turn into another Ruby Ridge or Waco — the Feds are making their fascist point: we own all of the land and you can pay up or have it seized.
After 20 years of court battles, the BLM finally got a corrupt judge to issue a federal court order to have Bundy’s “trespass cattle” forcibly removed with heavy equipment, sporting artillery, the family said. Heavy handed doesn’t begin to cover it here.
“The battle’s been going on for 20 years,” Bundy told theWashington Free Beacon. “What’s happened the last two weeks, the United States government, the bureaus are getting this army together and they’re going to get their job done and they’re going to prove two things. They’re going to prove they can do it, and they’re gonna prove that they have unlimited power, and that they control the policing power over this public land. That’s what they’re trying to prove.”
Bundy said the government has brought everything but tanks and rocket launchers.
I’m sick of this. I’m sick of the Feds breaking down our doors with SWAT teams in the dead of night. I’m sick of warrantless search and seizures. I’m sick of them seizing our property and forcing us to prove innocence to get it back. I’m sick to death of the spying and bullying. And I think the rest of America feels the same way. These jack booted thugs are taking away this family’s livelihood that they have owned and worked for since 1870… now they’ve arrested his son. Bring on the Range War you asshats. I wish I was back in Nevada, I’d be standing with the “Red Dawn” supporters out there. The Feds are saying the protestors violated a “First Amendment Area” that was cordoned off by these brown shirts. WTF? What the bloody hell does that mean? Hundreds told the goons they could stuff it and protested any way.
This is the fricking EPA Marxists at work over the endangered desert tortoise. More Agenda 21 forced upon the people – more government regulation and control. These radical environmentalist thugs are cheering all this. You are evil and we’ve had enough.
Environmentalists are praising the government’s forceful actions, which are being taken to protect the “desert tortoise.”
“We’re heartened and thankful that the agencies are finally living up to their stewardship duty,” said Rob Mrowka, a Nevada-based senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Gold Butte area has been officially designated as critical habitat for threatened tortoises—meaning the area is essential to their long-term survival as a species.”
“[Cliven] Bundy has long falsely believed that Gold Butte is his ranch,” added Terri Robertson, president of Friends of Sloan Canyon.
The BLM designated 186,909 acres of the Gold Butte off-limits for the “critical desert tortoise” population in 1998. Bundy had already lost his grazing permit five years earlier for refusing to pay fees for the land, which his family has ranched since the 1870s.
The “federal grazing fee” is $1.35 per “Animal Unit Month,” or the amount of forage needed per animal, each month. Bundy said he owes roughly $300,000 in back fees, while the BLM asserts he owes over $1 million. The BLM defended the removal because Bundy did not “voluntarily” give up his cattle.
So, the government just decided they own the land and that is the way it is, huh? Screw the government. And I mean that. I am beyond angry over this and am struggling not to get profane here.
From the DC Clothesline:
“We’ve had enough, we’re going to take our land back, we’re done,” said Bundy’s wife, Carol Bundy, adding that the rally was held “to show that we are not standing alone. People are getting tired of the federal government having unlimited power.”
More than 100 supporters violated a crudely taped off “First Amendment Area” to rally in support of the Bundy family, erecting two flagpoles with the words “We the People” attached, above a flag which read, “Liberty Freedom For God We Stand”. The first amendment area stood empty, with one sign nearby declaring, “1st Amendment is not an area.”
“I grew up on this ranch. This is what we knew,” said Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy’s younger sister. “It’s got nothing to do with the cattle and the tortoises. It’s about taking our rights — power — and it’s wrong.”
“Right now it looks like the movie Red Dawn,” said, Ryan Bundy. “Right now we’ve got 200 plus federal agents up there in a military compound that they have put together and they’ve got snipers….everybody’s armed, and they’ve been monitoring our ranch with high-tech surveillance equipment….it was never about the grazing fees, it’s about control.”
Ranch manager Derrel Spencer warned that a “revolution” was brewing unless a solution could be found to settle the dispute.
As we reported yesterday in an article that has already garnered over 4300 comments, Bundy’s son Dave Bundy was arrested on Sunday by BLM officials after refusing to follow a dispersal order as he filmed cattle from a state highway. According to Dave’s brother Ryan Bundy, snipers had guns trained on them throughout the incident. Feds claimed Dave Bundy had violated the ludicrous “First Amendment Area,” outside of which free speech is banned.
Trained snipers have their sites on these people, just itching for a bloodbath:
I would ask these Feds how they sleep at night? How do you justify this and live with yourselves? Have you really pledged all to the government and have forgotten what it is to be a free American? Obviously, you’ve made your choice. Well, mine is made too and I stand with the Bundys. After his son’s arrest, Cliven Bundy posted a statement on his website which read, “They have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range War begins tomorrow.” Damned straight Cliven – they stepped way over the line. They arrested his son and threw him physically on the ground for taking pictures. The BLM said they took Dave Bundy into custody following his “failure to comply with multiple requests by BLM law enforcement to leave the temporary closure area on public lands.”
This is what arming the Fed to the teeth brings and don’t kid yourselves, the Bundys are not an isolated case. They are coming after many of us and this is just one line in the sand. This is Obama’s new homeland military force in action:
“They’re carrying the same things a soldier would,” he said. “Automatic weapons, sniper rifles, top communication, top surveillance equipment, lots of vehicles. It’s heavy soldier type equipment.”
His wife, Carol Bundy, said that roughly 200 armed agents from the BLM and FBI are stationed around their land, located about 75 miles outside of Las Vegas. Helicopters circle the premises, and the airspace and nearby roads remain blocked.
“We’re surrounded,” Carol Bundy said. “We’re estimating that there are over 200 armed BLM, FBI. We’ve got surveillance cameras at our house, they’re probably listening to me talk to you right now.”
Video has been taken of helicopters and cowboys removing the cattle, but true to their evil nature, the Feds are lying about it. What did you expect? They are claiming their security is in place because ‘they’ have been threatened. That’s rich and so typically Progressive. As of Monday, officials had seized 234 of Bundy’s 908 cattle. Impounding the cattle alone could cost the government as much as $3 million, but to the Bundys, it is priceless in its devastation.
The sheriff and governor there are being cowards. They say there is nothing they can do. No… they don’t want to get into a pissing contest with the government. Weakness is being bleated from politicians who could damn well put a stop to this:
“And our sheriff says he just doesn’t have authority, our governor says he doesn’t have authority, and we’re saying, why are we a state?”
“I’m a producer,” Cliven Bundy said. “I produce edible commodity from the desert forage, and all of these things are governed under state law. So, in other words, this type of government has eliminated all of our state law, eliminated our state sovereignty, and has took control over our public lands and even took control over our Clark County sheriff. They’ve taken the whole county over. The whole state, almost.”
“This is just about power of the government,” Carol Bundy said.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R.) voiced his concern about so-called “First Amendment Areas,” designated locations set up by the BLM where citizens can protest the removal.
“Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment Area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
“To that end, I have advised the BLM that such conduct is offensive to me and countless others and that the ‘First Amendment Area’ should be dismantled immediately,” he said. “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans. The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
Sandoval also said his office has received numerous complaints about the BLM’s conduct, including road closures and “other disturbances.”
Nice speech Governor, how about putting something behind your words? Offensive? That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one and you know it. Grow a set and kick the Feds out, it’s your state damn it. The Bundys will do whatever they have to. They’ll protect their family and land, no matter the cost. What’s your cost? What are you doing? A tough-as-nails rancher will be the last man standing as federal fascism cowboys up in Nevada. I feel a revolutionary rallying call coming on.
Update: