The return of "1984"

Team Obama's take on Hillary back in '08.


True then. True today.

The real American Sniper

In his own words...


From the Independent Journal Review:

This exchange, three years ago, between comedian and talk show host Conan O’Brien and Chris Kyle shows why the retired Navy SEAL was so beloved. At the time of the interview, Kyle was touring to publicize his book, American Sniper. 

In the nearly-five minute interview, Kyle admits that he wished he had tried out for SEAL Team 6. Considering Kyle was the best sniper in American military history, that comes as a surprise to many.

Conan gets the good-natured Kyle to laugh throughout, asking him about the more than mile-long kill shot Kyle touted in his book. Kyle, in his usual humble way, says he was just a ‘monkey on a gun,’ a suggestion at which O’Brien scoffs.

In a striking show of respect, after Kyle repeatedly addessess Conan as ‘sir’, O’Brien says:

You don’t have to call me, sir. I’m just a talk show host. You’re up here and I’m down here.

The three-year-old interview is a refreshing change from the kind of attention that Kyle has been getting since the movie version of American Sniper hit the screen. Hollywood and media critics have taken pot shots at both Kyle personally, and the movie itself.

Despite criticism, American Sniper continues to shatter box office records. A remarkable, and earned, success that the proud military veteran and humble author deserves.

I'm one of your biggest fans

Really.

Every Republican running in this next election should thank President Obama...

...for this pre-election soundbite/gift:



From the Washington Post: "A couple weeks ago, President Obama declared that, while he wasn't on the Nov. 4 ballot, his policies were. And just about every GOP candidate in a red or swing state soon launched an ad using that comment to tie his or her Democratic opponent to Obama...While it's the second time Obama has gone down this road, this comment probably stings more than the last one for Democrats running in key Senate races -- almost all of which are in red or swing states where Obama is quite unpopular...While Obama's previous comment suggested the election was indeed something of a referendum on him, these comments suggest not only that, but that Democratic candidates are actually on-board with him -- something most of them have made pains to argue is not the case...Obama's comments are the kind of thing Democrats might privately say to assure donors, but wouldn't really say in public."

Just a few more weeks...

Devastating

Finally, someone gets it...



And that person is Elbert Guillory, a Louisiana State Senator and candidate for Lt. Governor in 2015 who famously switched to being a Republican. Currently, he's giving U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu a run for her money -- which is no small thing, considering Louisiana is a solidly blue state.

As the respected blog Legal Insurrection points out, "This ad is brilliant, and every strategist needs to get on its level immediately. Real Clear Politics has the Louisiana Senate Race listed as a toss up, and the last thing a candidate like Landrieu needs is an ad contrasting her life of relative privilege with life on Academy Street. The winning message for 2014 isn’t 'Democrats are bad.' The winning message is, “these things that are happening to you are bad, and I know how to fix it.' This ad is what that messaging looks like."

Indeed.


(h/t: Legal Insurrection)

‘Sure Sounds Like Cheney’...

Fox News’ Shep Smith quizzed State Department press secretary Jen Psaki Wednesday afternoon over the legality of the U.S. airstrikes in Syria, saying “it sure sounds like” former Vice President Dick Cheney’s doctrine of preemptive war.



That grilled to perfection...

Susan Rice: When Obama repeatedly boasted about defeating al Qaeda...

...he didn’t mean all of al Qaeda.

In an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer, National Security Adviser Susan Rice was asked, "What happened to the days when the administration was able to say it felt confident that we had dealt a crippling blow to al Qaeda and Islamic militants?" Lauer also wondered about the President boasting that al Qaeda was "on the run" and "decimated" during the 2012 campaign.  Rice said the administration was only referring to its actions against "al Qaeda core" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that al Qaeda "has metastasized" "to places like the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen, parts of Africa, Somalia," Mali and Syria.

Glad she cleared that up... 

Why Your Plan Was Cancelled: Health Insurance and the Affordable Care Act

There's a bizarre reason why millions of Americans saw their health plans cancelled in 2013 and, as explained in a new video featuring Robert Graboyes of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, millions more will lose their plans in years to come.


"If you like your plan..."

"This isn't about him -- it's about us."

Ouch.


"He's great ... at promises."

"What we saw at the People's Climate March"

If you thought the '60s, the silly protests, the Commies & Socialists, and all of the other "fringe elements" had disappeared...well, you're wrong.


From Reason TV: "Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of New York City today to call for more action to combat global warming, in what organizers are calling the largest climate change march in history. Kmele Foster, co-host of Fox Business' The Independents, was on the scene for Reason TV talking to the participants."

On high alert

Here's the latest from friend and radio colleague Larry Johnson, who is posting from Europe. (As previously noted, Larry was formerly employed by the CIA and the State Department; today he's consultant and frequently quoted on counterterrorism, intel and international matters.) This appeared on his blog, No Quarter. A seasoned and reasonable observer/commentator, Larry discovered something -- unreported elsewhere -- while in Paris.

Paris on High Alert, But Baghdad the Target

By Larry Johnson on September 6, 2014 at 6:55 PM 

Something is going on in Paris, at least last night. Police were out in massive numbers surrounding the U.S. Embassy and the British Embassy. No public warning was issued, however.

I happened to be walking with the wife along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées on the Champs Elysee last night heading towards Place de La Concorde. Couple of blocks west of Place de la Concorde we ran into a gauntlet of police. Vehicles parked bumper to bumper. Officers kitted out, some with body armor and automatic weapons.

But the real concern is with the Americans still in Baghdad. The first tell was Obama finally authorizing the deployment last week of an additional 350 troops to the Green Zone. The threat from ISIS is not abating. Chatter is hot and heavy about something happening on the anniversary of 11 September.

I am not enjoying the delicious irony of Mr. Nobel Peace Prize Obama (granted that prize for simply being a nice looking black man with no accomplishments) conducting more drone strikes than George W. Bush and reversing course on carrying out military operations in Iraq. It is just the reality. Unfortunately, Obama is worried more about managing the domestic political consequences of taking action against ISIS than he is in crafting a genuine strategy to deal with the menace.

On leadership...

A lot has been said during these last few weeks about our president...and his feckless foreign policy.

A lot.

The "back story":

• Across the Pacific, the Chinese are "projecting power" with their growing blue water navy, harassing neighboring nations and threatening expansion. The ChiComms are being so aggressive that Vietnam is turning to its old nemesis, Japan, for aid; and Japan, no friend of nuclear weapons, is giving serious thought to changing its constitution to allow its military to have nukes. (The wild North Koreans also figure into the equation.)
• In Eastern Europe, Vlad Putin is doing his best to restore some bizarro version of old Imperial Russia. First, it was Crimea (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Moscow); and now, Ukraine is seeing its sovereign territory nibbled away...daily. Next up: Lithuania? Can we get a Estonia? Latvia? How about Poland? (And you thought the Cold War had ended.)
• The worst appears in the guise of a rogue bunch of "non-state actors," who are tearing-up the Middle East and threatening everyone else. Known as ISIL, ISIS or "those bat-sh** crazy bastards," the group (once called the "jayvee" team by President Barack Obama), has now swelled to more than 20,000 strong. Nerves were further rattled when, last week, Obama said he had "no strategy" in place to deal with ISIL/ISIS...a group that has been steadily menacing for close to a year. (Even The Washington Post's editorial board took notice!)

Which brings us to the following. Below is a perfect dissection of the problems at hand...chief among them: a lack of leadership -- on the part of our president.

This piece is by Kevin Elliott, a Bay Area public relations professional who knows a thing or two about leadership, strategy and communication. The White House would be smart to follow his lead(s) here. But then, that's probably expecting waaaaay to much.

The Bliss Index gives you Kevin Elliott:

I've been trolling the news this morning and it is interesting to see how ideology colors pronouncements by various news outlets. Various outlets that are either balanced or conservative in their editorial policy point to the British Prime Minister -- the man with a plan -- as the example of leadership. 

The same outlets reflect the frustration of the nation at the President's announcement that he doesn't have a plan to deal with the growing threat that his defense secretary has called, "unlike anything we've ever seen." 

Enter the other side... The Huffington Post is beside itself that American conservatives are praising David Cameron's no-nonsense tough talk. HuffPo points out that at least we are bombing the terrorists. And then they go on to lament the daily cost of the military action on the Islamic State. 

In Britain, the left opposition is answering Cameron with a call for (wait for it) mandatory programs for deradicalization for young jihadi wanna-bees. Okay, so if some nut wants to run off and fight for the terrorists, the Labor Party wants to send them to a mandatory government program. 

Great. 

Where is Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill? Okay, at least the British have their clear leader... But why is it wrong for us to ask -- no, demand -- clear and unambiguous leadership? 

President Obama has made his position clear repeatedly. The threats against our country are of our own making, he believes. They are the result of generations of exploitation at home and abroad. He was elected, he believes, to get us out of foreign conflicts and he has declared those wars in the Levant and Afghanistan to be over. 

We will not get a firm, clear word from the White House that we are committed to defeating or destroying the Islamic State. It's not his style and doesn't fit his narrative. So, instead, we will have an election this year...and another in 2016. 

And if anyone doesn't believe that elections have consequences, you need look no further than this week...either here in the US or over in the UK.

Spot-on.

Bonus add: Dilbert gets it.

Joe Biden: Gaffe Machine

Oops, he did it again...


Open mouth...insert gaffe.

That crazy Kim Jong Un!

North Korea is mad! Dance video features Kim Jong Un

From NPR:

He grins, he fumes, he fights — and through it all, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un dances his way in and out of preposterous situations. That's the premise of a video that has become popular in China and reportedly sparked a protest from North Korea.

Citing "a source in China," the reports that "the North feels the clip, which shows Kim dancing and Kung-Fu fighting, 'seriously compromises Kim's dignity and authority.'"

The newspaper says that after North Korea asked China to stop the video from spreading, "Beijing was unable to oblige."

In the video, Kim's face is superimposed onto a kitchen sink's worth of videos, in scenes taken from everything from viral dance videos and TV shows to the vaudevillian action film Kung Fu Hustle. In one segment, Kim pirouettes in a dance studio — before being hit with a kick delivered by President Obama. Other world leaders also make appearances, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

And while a couple of sequences make fun of Kim's fascination with weaponry, we'll note that the video doesn't accuse the North Korean leader of not having rhythm.

Every Obama speech. Ever.

It's like he's scripted or something...


...or something.

A long list of everything going wrong with Obama's foreign policy

Wait...he's got a "foreign policy?"

Welcome to "The Obamacare Care-nival!"

"Something Creepy This Way Comes"...

Some thoughts on "the Beautiful Game"... and America

June 30, 1994

Why Americans Will Never Love Soccer

By Jeff Bliss

DESPITE THE MEDIA-DRIVEN FAUX EXCITEMENT, we Americans will never go crazy about the game of soccer. And without sounding too much like Joe McCarthy, I have to say soccer is un-American.

Let me explain. Soccer is not about anything Americans appreciate. The very fact that it's called football elsewhere enrages enough red meat gridiron fans to keep soccer from ever being popular here.

First, real football players must weigh as much as an Army tank and wear twice as much protective armor. Soccer players run around in little more than their underwear. Americans like equipment: first-baseman's mitts, helmets, and menacing face masks. Soccer has precious little of this.

Second, we didn't invent the game...so that means it can't be all that great. OK, you think you're smart because you know about baseball's ties to cricket and American football's ties to rugby. The truth is we took these games and improved them. Soccer, on the other hand, belongs to the world (like the metric system).

Suggestions from the United States to modify soccer, such as allowing eye gouging and body slams, have been largely ignored. If it ain't ours and if it can't hurt you, we don't want it. (Suggestions to return the game to its pre-Columbian roots, with the losing team facing execution, have also been dismissed.)

Third, and most importantly, sports symbolize a people. As an example, let us compare baseball and soccer. Soccer is the perfect metaphor for the rest of the world. Baseball, our national pastime, is the story of individuals banding together for a common goal. Everyone has the same chance to be a hero or a goat, and every player has a specialized skill used for the good of the team. Additional examples, like baseball statistics, go on ad nauseam. Believe me.

Soccer, on the other hand, is about a bunch of guys who wander around a field chasing a ball. It's a game of turnovers: I've got the ball. No, now you've got the ball. No, I have the ball. No, you have the ball. No, he has the ball. . . well, you get the idea. We don't like that in a sport or anything else in our lives. We want stability. Also, there's "diving"  (falling to the turf and pretending to be grievously fouled). Actually, there's a lot of diving. A lot. As soon as their team gains an advantage, the "injured" players always make a speedy recovery (the quickness rivals any faith healer's powers).

One more thing. Soccer, played on a field only slightly smaller than the continent of Asia, is ridiculously low-scoring and tie games are not unusual. We like scoring. We like it so much, we made touchdowns worth six points. A total of six points in a soccer game is usually regarded as scandalous (no one ever worries about a juiced-up ball in soccer). I know what I'm talking about. During my short-lived career as a high school and college soccer player, I scored a total of one goal -- just a few short of what most pro players score during their entire careers. OK, so it was against my own team . . .

And please don't mention youth soccer. I acknowledge its popularity -- I played it. But the secret is youth soccer is a conspiracy of parents across the nation: get those youngsters out there running their heads off for an hour or more on Saturday mornings and they're less likely to raise hell around the house the rest of the weekend. Why do you think I made my kids play?

All kidding aside, soccer is a great game.

It's just not our game.

  

(Note: I wrote this piece when the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994. A few minor alterations have been made.)

Casting doubt...

Doubt is never hard to come by when you're talking about the Obama Administration's foreign policy. (Bonus doubt points: White House spokeshole Jay Carney lies about it with a straight face.)



Riiiiiight.

Tingles speaks up for the Tea Party...

Who thought this day would ever come?



Even a broken clock is right twice a day...