The American Jingoist

White House Security Lapse a Disgrace

Thursday, November 26, 2009 12:06 PM

By: Ronald Kessler

The fact that party crashers were allowed into a White House State Dinner without being on the guest list is emblematic of the Secret Service’s corner cutting detailed in my book, “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.“

It’s clear from the Secret Service’s comment that the agency not only ignored the fact that the couple was not on the guest list but also did not do the usual background check to ensure that they were not possible threats. The party crashers could have had outstanding arrest warrants for murder. They could have been involved with terrorists. They could have been agents of Iran or North Korea. The Secret Service would never have known.

While the couple did pass through a magnetometer to detect weapons, they could have assassinated the president or vice president using other means—anthrax, for example. The additional security checks referred to by the Secret Service spokesman screen for such items as radiological contamination but would not detect secreted biological weapons.

The fact that the couple was allowed in in this dangerous age is a disgrace and is symptomatic of lax standards at the Secret Service ever since it was absorbed by the Department of Homeland Security in 2003. Because of lack of adequate funding, a management culture that considers itself invincible, and spinelessness when it comes to standing up to demands by those under protection, including the White House itself, the Secret Service now takes chances that would have been unthinkable prior to its absorption into Homeland Security.

As outlined in the Newsmax story Secret Service Is Putting the President at Risk, the corner cutting includes not putting people through magnetometers at all or shutting them down early when an event is about to start and staffs apply pressure to the Secret Service because attendees are waiting outside; cutting the size of counterassault teams; not keeping up to date with the latest firearms; and not even allowing agents time for regular firearms requalification or physical training, then covering that up by asking agents to fill out their own test scores.

Under pressure by White House or campaign staffs, the Secret Service has actually pretended to pass people through metal defectors but has turned then off so no alarm goes off to signal that a possible weapon or grenade has been detected. Last April, despite the fact that his presence was announced beforehand, the Secret Service did no magnetometer screening whatsoever when Vice President Biden threw the first pitch at the Orioles game in Baltimore.

When Mary Cheney, Dick Cheney’s daughter, insisted that the Secret Service take her friends to restaurants and the detail refused, the Secret Service acceded to her request to have her detail leader removed.

My assumption is that the same kind of spinelessness and desire to please the White House motivated the Secret Service Uniformed Division officer at the White House to allow the couple through so as not to inconvenience them by requiring that they wait for the results of a background check before gaining admittance.

To its credit, the Secret Service made it clear that the agency simply ignored the fact that the couple was not on the guest list. Thus, the White House’s social secretary’s office did not vouch for the couple. Even if it had, they should have gone through a background check before being admitted.

In interviews at headquarters for the book, the Secret Service admitted that it lets people into events for the president and vice president without fully screening everyone with magnetometers, but Secret Service officials offered excuses. That is like letting passengers into an airplane without putting them through metal detectors. When asked about this practice, former agents up to the level of deputy director told me on the record they would never have allowed such laxness when they were in the agency.

The corner cutting continues despite the fact that at times, threats against President Obama have been up 400 percent compared with when President Bush was in office.

While Secret Service agents are brave and dedicated and will take a bullet for the president, Secret Service management has betrayed its trust to a shocking degree. Assassinations occur because of the kind of lapses we saw at the White House on Tuesday evening.

What is needed is a shakeup of Secret Service management, including replacement of Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan with a director from the outside who will change the management culture. In addition, given the demands on it, the Secret Service’s $1.4 billion annual budget is pathetically small and should be doubled or tripled. What could be more important than protecting the president.

Ronald Kessler is chief Washington correspondent of Newsmax.com. View his previous reports and get his dispatches sent to you free via
e-mail. Go here now.The fact that party crashers were allowed into the White

© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Nearly 60 percent Say President Obama’s Decisions ‘Bad for America’

Monday, December 21, 2009

By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama speaks at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at City Hall in Oslo, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Odd Andersen)

(CNSNews.com) – A majority of Americans believe an increased government role in health care would lead to more government corruption, while a plurality of Americans think that scientific data supporting man-made global warming is “mostly falsified.” That is what a new poll by Survey USA reveals.

The poll also shows that 58 percent of Americans believe that decisions by the Obama administration have been “bad for America,” as opposed to 37 percent who think Obama’s decisions have been “good for America.”

These poll numbers come at a time when President Barack Obama is pushing for international agreement to address apparent global warming and is also advocating for a major overhaul of health care in America.

The poll of 1,450 adults by Survey USA was conducted Dec. 11-14, and was commissioned by the conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch. The poll asked questions on several topics,  including government corruption, transparency, illegal immigration and the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN).

Specifically, the poll asked, “Do you think data suggesting global warming is the result of human activity is mostly genuine? Or mostly falsified?” A plurality of 49 percent answered “mostly falsified,” while 41 percent answered “mostly genuine” and 10 percent were unsure.

Evidence about global warming has come under fire in recent weeks after hacked e-mails from the University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit apparently revealed that contrary evidence was suppressed while organized efforts apparently were made to discredit critics.

The health care overhaul proposal supported by Obama and congressional Democrats has been unpopular in most polls. This poll, however, asked, “Would an increased government role in the health care system lead to more corruption?  Less corruption?  Or will it make no difference?”

An overwhelming 62 percent said “more corruption,” just 14 percent said “less corruption” and 21 percent said it would “make no difference.” Four percent were unsure.

While other polls have showed Obama’s approval rating slipping below 50 percent, this poll asked, “As a whole, are the decisions being made by the Obama administration good for America?  Or bad for America?” To that, 58 percent answered “bad for America,” 37 percent said good and 6 percent were not sure.

“On virtually every single issue polled, the Obama administration appears to be completely out of step with the prevailing views of the American people,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It ought to be an especially troubling sign for President Obama that the majority of likely voters believe his decisions have been bad for the country.  Frankly, these poll results suggest that President Obama and many other politicians ought to rethink their approach to government.”

The poll further showed that 64 percent of voters think the government is too big and that 62 percent think that bigger government leads to more corruption. Also, 72 percent think political corruption play a “major role” in the financial crisis last year.

The poll also found that 56 percent think the federal government is operating “out of line” with the U.S. Constitution.

Steve Kest, executive director of ACORN, right, and ACORN member Hugh Alleyne. (AP photo)

In regards to the scandal-plagued ACORN, just 8 percent have a favorable view of the liberal activist group currently under investigation in several states for alleged voter registration fraud. A clear majority of 56 percent have a negative view of ACORN.

Obama also supports a comprehensive immigration reform package, which opponents believe is “amnesty” for illegal aliens. The poll showed an unfavorable rating here too, as 59 percent disapprove of the way the administration is handling illegal immigration.

Among those polled, 1,020 said they were likely to vote in the 2010 elections for U.S. Congress. The margin of error for the poll ranged from 2.6 percent to 3.1 percent.

CNSNews.com

Senate Health Care Bill ‘Ugly, Partisan and Dangerous,’ Conservatives Say

Monday, December 21, 2009

By Susan Jones, Senior Editor

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., talks to reporters on Capitol Hill early Monday morning, Dec. 21, 2009, following a 60-40 cloture vote, which is the first step in passing a health care bill. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

(CNSNews.com) – “Senators Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Robert Casey (D-Pa.) gave mere lip service to protect the most innocent among us by placing their stamp of approval on government funding for abortion coverage” in the Democrats’ health care bill, a pro-life group said after Senate Democrats advanced their bill in a 1 a.m. vote on Monday.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said the Senate’s middle-of-the night, 60-40 vote to cut off debate — thus allowing eventual passage of the bill — reflects the “ugly, partisan and dangerous process” that has characterized the proceedings all along:

“This legislation was drafted by a handful of people, supported by only one political party and will negatively affect every single American citizen.”

Perkins said while health care reform is needed, the bill crafted by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will not alleviate the problems faced by American families. Moreover, the bill places an increasing tax burden on American families that will be used to “further devalue human life,” he said.

“What is most disappointing is that while some Democrats in the House of Representatives put the sanctity of human life first and foremost, not one Senator from the Democratic Party could be bothered to stand up for mothers and their unborn children,” Perkins said.

Perkins is urging Sens. Nelson and Casey to “reverse course” in future votes on the bill, but that is unlikely to happen.

An amendment to the bill includes language that would require the federal government to pay premiums for private health plans that cover abortion. Nothing in the amendment protects individual conscience rights. “A federal government run health care system will create a nationwide abortion network funded by government dollars resulting in the greatest abortion expansion since Roe v. Wade.,” Perkins warned.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sits in his office prior to the first vote on the Health Care legislation on Capitol Hill on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) also expressed disappointment with a so-called “compromise” on the issue of abortion funding announced by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb).

“This compromise offers no real protection for human life and does nothing to keep federal health care funds from being used for abortion,” said Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ’s chief counsel.

“The fact is that the Senate bill specifically authorizes federal funds to be used for abortions. The so-called ‘protections’ in the compromise simply require that the federal subsidies and premium dollars that are collected for these services be kept separate from other federal funds. The end result provides no restrictions on abortions, but simply sets up what can only be described as a scheme that allows for federal funding of abortions, which directly violates long-standing federal law under the Hyde Amendment.” (The Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Medicare and Medicaid programs.)

Sekulow said abortion should never be a mandatory health care benefit. “This latest compromise only adds to a problematic Senate bill that endorses government-run health care and will not serve the nation or the American people well.  We urge the Senate to reject this bill in its entirety.”

The ACLJ says it has heard from nearly 200,000 Americans who oppose the federal funding of abortion in health care legislation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., sits in his office prior to the first vote on the Health Care legislation on Capitol Hill on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

Rep. Steve King (R-N.Y.) accused Sen. Ben Nelson of trading “innocent unborn human lives, a fundamental moral principle, for a monetary concession – set aside exclusively for Nebraska.”

As the Associated Press reported, in exchange for his vote, Sen. Nelson won a commitment for the federal government to pick up the full tab for an expansion of Medicaid in his state — forever.

House Republican Leader John Boehner said the Senate bill includes “layers of accounting gimmicks” that will result in American taxpayers paying for an “abortion premium.”

Under Sen. Harry Reid’s “manager’s amendment,” there is no ban on abortion coverage in federally subsidized plans participating in the newly created insurance exchanges, Boehner’s office said in a press release. “Everyone enrolled in these plans must pay a monthly abortion premium (p. 41, lines 5-8), and these funds will be used to pay for the elective abortion services.” Moreover, Boehner noted, “The Reid amendment directs insurance companies to assess the cost of elective abortion coverage (p. 43), and charge a minimum of $1 per enrollee per month (p. 43, lines 20-22).

“In short, the Reid bill continues to defy the will of the American people and contradict longstanding federal policy by providing federal subsidies to private health plans that cover elective abortions.  The new language does include a ‘state opt-out’ provision if a state passes a law to prohibit insurance coverage of abortion, but it’s a sham because it does nothing to prevent one state’s tax dollars from paying for elective abortions in other states.”

Said Boehner, “Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it.”

CNSNews.com

Administration Slow To Cooperate with Congress in Fort Hood Slayings Investigation, Senators Say

Friday, December 18, 2009

By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) said at a press briefing following a closed-door meeting with Defense Department officials on Tuesday that the Obama administration is not cooperating in a full and timely way with the congressional probe into the deadly attack at Fort Hood Army base that killed 13 people. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

(CNSNews.com) – Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters earlier this week that information-sharing policies between the federal government and the U.S. military do not seem to have evolved since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by Islamic extremists that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

The senators said the Obama administration took too long to brief the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the Fort Hood shootings. The Senate panel has launched its own investigation into the Nov. 5 slaying of 13 people at the Army base in Killeen, Texas.

Lieberman and Collins, the committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively, said although a recent closed-door meeting with Defense Department officials on the Fort  Hood shootings was “helpful,” the Obama administration is not being transparent about its investigation into Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a Muslim with ties to Islamic extremists, who is charged with the killings. The senators said the administration is not fully cooperating with the congressional probe of the case.

Lieberman and Collins spoke with reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

“Today’s hearing was very helpful, but I would be remiss if I did not express my disappointment in the administration’s slow walking of this case,” Collins said after Tuesday’s briefing by Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence James R. Clapper, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Karl F. Schneider, and Maj. Gen. Carla G. Hawley-Bowland, commanding general of the Northern Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Hasan worked before being transferred to Fort Hood.

“It’s clear that the Department of Defense has been instructed to fully cooperate with the administration’s reviews and investigations that appear not to be under restrictions of any kind from the Department of Justice,” Collins said. “It seems to me that the administration needs to accord that same kind of cooperation to Congress as we carry out our constitutional duty to exercise oversight in this area.”

“I would say, generally, it’s taken us way too much time to gain the cooperation and consent of the executive branch of government,” Lieberman said. “This is a classic executive, legislative struggle.” Lieberman added that the committee and DOD officials “explored information-sharing issues” during the closed-door meeting.

“What kind of information-sharing should have occurred, according to existing procedures between the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Justice Department and the Army and then within the Army?” Lieberman said at the press briefing. “And what are the Army’s existing personnel policies regarding extremism in the military?”

Lieberman further said that earlier testimony from retired Army Gen. Jack Keene revealed that military personnel policies regarding extremism went back to the Cold War and that even after 9/11 those policies do not address Islamic extremism.

The senator from Connecticut also said that the Department of Defense refused to let the public hear how the Obama administration is proceeding in its investigation of the Fort Hood massacre.

“Frankly, we originally wanted it to be in public,” Lieberman said. “We think it could have been in public without in any way compromising the criminal investigation of Major Hasan, but the Department of Defense would not agree to that.”

Collins said she would continue to work to get the Obama administration to cooperate with the committee’s investigation into what Lieberman has called a terrorist attack after details of Hasan’s communication with a radical imam in Yemen were discovered and other evidence surfaced suggesting that Hasan is a self-radicalized Islamic extremist.

“I’m going to continue to press the administration to make available to our committee documents and people, the witnesses that we need to undertake the kind of thorough investigation that we are committed to undertake,” Collins said.

Lieberman said Congress’ investigation is just as important as the Obama administration’s effort to determine why the killings happened and how to prevent a similar tragedy. He said it was Congress’ duty “to try to protect [the American people] from anything like the deadly attack that Major Hasan carried out.”

In a press release on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Web site, Lieberman said the Fort Hood case should be seen as part of a larger threat from Islamic extremism.

“We are clearly facing an increased threat of homegrown terrorism – that is, U.S. citizens and others in America becoming radicalized here at home and plotting attacks both domestically and abroad,” Lieberman said. “In the latest example, five American citizens apparently looking to carry out jihad were detained in Pakistan just last week. The U.S. government needs to counter this threat of self-radicalization and homegrown terrorism aggressively, and I am committed to developing concrete recommendations for doing so.”

Hasan, who is reportedly paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by police during his alleged rampage, was charged earlier this month with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, on top of the 13 murder counts he already faced.

When asked about Lieberman and Collins’ claims, the White House press office referred CNSNews.com to the Department of Defense (DOD). As this story went to press, the DOD had not responded to CNSNews.com.

Administration Slow To Cooperate with Congress in Fort Hood Slayings Investigation, Senators Say

Friday, December 18, 2009

By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) said at a press briefing following a closed-door meeting with Defense Department officials on Tuesday that the Obama administration is not cooperating in a full and timely way with the congressional probe into the deadly attack at Fort Hood Army base that killed 13 people. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

(CNSNews.com) – Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters earlier this week that information-sharing policies between the federal government and the U.S. military do not seem to have evolved since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by Islamic extremists that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.

The senators said the Obama administration took too long to brief the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the Fort Hood shootings. The Senate panel has launched its own investigation into the Nov. 5 slaying of 13 people at the Army base in Killeen, Texas.

Lieberman and Collins, the committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively, said although a recent closed-door meeting with Defense Department officials on the Fort  Hood shootings was “helpful,” the Obama administration is not being transparent about its investigation into Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a Muslim with ties to Islamic extremists, who is charged with the killings. The senators said the administration is not fully cooperating with the congressional probe of the case.

Lieberman and Collins spoke with reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

“Today’s hearing was very helpful, but I would be remiss if I did not express my disappointment in the administration’s slow walking of this case,” Collins said after Tuesday’s briefing by Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence James R. Clapper, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Karl F. Schneider, and Maj. Gen. Carla G. Hawley-Bowland, commanding general of the Northern Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Hasan worked before being transferred to Fort Hood.

“It’s clear that the Department of Defense has been instructed to fully cooperate with the administration’s reviews and investigations that appear not to be under restrictions of any kind from the Department of Justice,” Collins said. “It seems to me that the administration needs to accord that same kind of cooperation to Congress as we carry out our constitutional duty to exercise oversight in this area.”

“I would say, generally, it’s taken us way too much time to gain the cooperation and consent of the executive branch of government,” Lieberman said. “This is a classic executive, legislative struggle.” Lieberman added that the committee and DOD officials “explored information-sharing issues” during the closed-door meeting.

“What kind of information-sharing should have occurred, according to existing procedures between the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Justice Department and the Army and then within the Army?” Lieberman said at the press briefing. “And what are the Army’s existing personnel policies regarding extremism in the military?”

Lieberman further said that earlier testimony from retired Army Gen. Jack Keene revealed that military personnel policies regarding extremism went back to the Cold War and that even after 9/11 those policies do not address Islamic extremism.

The senator from Connecticut also said that the Department of Defense refused to let the public hear how the Obama administration is proceeding in its investigation of the Fort Hood massacre.

“Frankly, we originally wanted it to be in public,” Lieberman said. “We think it could have been in public without in any way compromising the criminal investigation of Major Hasan, but the Department of Defense would not agree to that.”

Collins said she would continue to work to get the Obama administration to cooperate with the committee’s investigation into what Lieberman has called a terrorist attack after details of Hasan’s communication with a radical imam in Yemen were discovered and other evidence surfaced suggesting that Hasan is a self-radicalized Islamic extremist.

“I’m going to continue to press the administration to make available to our committee documents and people, the witnesses that we need to undertake the kind of thorough investigation that we are committed to undertake,” Collins said.

Lieberman said Congress’ investigation is just as important as the Obama administration’s effort to determine why the killings happened and how to prevent a similar tragedy. He said it was Congress’ duty “to try to protect [the American people] from anything like the deadly attack that Major Hasan carried out.”

In a press release on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Web site, Lieberman said the Fort Hood case should be seen as part of a larger threat from Islamic extremism.

“We are clearly facing an increased threat of homegrown terrorism – that is, U.S. citizens and others in America becoming radicalized here at home and plotting attacks both domestically and abroad,” Lieberman said. “In the latest example, five American citizens apparently looking to carry out jihad were detained in Pakistan just last week. The U.S. government needs to counter this threat of self-radicalization and homegrown terrorism aggressively, and I am committed to developing concrete recommendations for doing so.”

Hasan, who is reportedly paralyzed from the chest down after being shot by police during his alleged rampage, was charged earlier this month with 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder, on top of the 13 murder counts he already faced.

When asked about Lieberman and Collins’ claims, the White House press office referred CNSNews.com to the Department of Defense (DOD). As this story went to press, the DOD had not responded to CNSNews.com.

Soon after Barack Obama won the White House, French President Nicolas Sarkozy referred to him as “my friend” and strove to become the first European leader to meet with the newly elected American.

Now the honeymoon between the two leaders is over, according to The Financial Times.

Sarkozy has now shifted to “an anti-Obama position,” said Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, a spokesman for the opposition Socialists.

France turned down an American request to send more troops to Afghanistan, and Sarkozy has expressed frustration at what he perceives as Obama’s equivocation over Iran’s nuclear program and at the priority Obama has placed on the long-term goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons, the Times reports.

In a sharply worded speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September, Sarkozy alluded to Obama’s disarmament goals.

“We are right to talk about the future, but before the future there is the present, and the present is two major nuclear crises,” he said, referring to Iran and North Korea. “We are living in a real world, not a virtual world.”

Jack Kelly wrote on the Real Clear Politics Web site that Sarkozy “was furious with Barack Obama for his adolescent warbling about a world without nuclear weapons” at a meeting Obama chaired of the United Nations Security Council.

Sarkozy is reportedly still miffed over Obama’s refusal to attend an event with the French leader during his June visit to France to commemorate the D-Day landings, and has made disparaging comments about Obama’s decision-making and lack of prior government experience.

“French frustration is aimed at Washington’s hesitancy or even weakness,” according to the Times.

But Sarkozy could be stressing his differences with the U.S. for domestic purposes, one senior French official disclosed, adding, “On the fundamentals we are much closer to President Obama than we were to President Bush.”

Editor’s Note:

• Obama: America’s Controller in Chief — Read Special Report

By Robert O’Harrow Jr., Washington Post

The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show. The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers, whose nomination has been held up by GOP opponents. In the aftermath of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, calls have intensified for lawmakers to install permanent leadership at the TSA, a critical agency in enforcing airline security. Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as “inadvertent” and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators obtained by The Post that he had accepted full responsibility long ago for a “grave error in judgment” in accessing confidential criminal records about his then-estranged wife’s new boyfriend. His letter to Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate homeland security committee, and Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican on the panel, attempts to correct statements about the episode that were made in a sworn affidavit on Oct. 22 and have been reported. Southers did not respond to a request for an interview.

Read More and Comment:

CIA chiefs turn on President Obama

By DAVID GARDNER, Mail Online

Barack Obama was accused of double standards yesterday in his treatment of the CIA. The President paid tribute to secret agents after seven of them were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. In a statement, he said the CIA had been “tested as never before” and that agents had “served on the front lines in directly confronting the dangers of the 21st century.” He lauded the victims as “part of a long line of patriots who have made great sacrifices for their fellow citizens and for our way of life.” Yet the previous day he had blasted “systemic failures” in the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to prevent the Christmas Day syringe bomb attack.

Read More and Comment:

Obama’s Christmas Vacation

by Kristinn Taylor, Big Government

Richard Nixon had advertising executive H.R. Haldeman; Ronald Reagan had image master Mike Deaver; Barack Obama has public relations guru David Axelrod. All three men understood the power of visuals in communicating the strengths of the presidents they served on the campaign trail and in the office of the presidency. I don’t know where David Axelrod has been since President Obama began his ten-day Christmas vacation in Hawaii, but it is safe to say he is goofing off as much as his boss. Since the Christmas Day terror attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on approach to Detroit, Axelrod and Team Obama have failed in their most basic duty of reassuring the American public that the president is on the job. It took four days, from when the attack occurred Friday morning Hawaii time to Monday afternoon Washington time, for Obama to be seen -on the job- when he made a statement before the media about the terror attack. Over that time span, the administration failed to update the White House web site with any mention of the attack. In Obama’s absence, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano were sent out on the Sunday talk shows (except for Fox) to spin the administration line that “the system worked.” That PR strategy was mocked across the boards, forcing the administration to put Obama in front of the cameras for the first time since he went on vacation.

Read More and Comment:

Guess how ‘the One’ will be honored next

By Drew Zahn, WorldNetDaily

Hawaii’s state legislators are lining up a string of new holidays, parks and memorials to honor Barack Obama, the first American president to claim the state as his home – though commemorating his birthplace may prove difficult. Senate President Coleen Hanabusa wants Aug. 4 to be a state holiday commemorating Obama’s birthday, reports the Honolulu Advertiser; and State Rep. Della Au Belatti is pressing for Obama’s inauguration day, Jan. 20, to be memorialized in Hawaii as Barack Obama II Ohana Day. And though Hanabusa and Belatti are Obama’s fellow Democrats, even Republican state Rep. Gene Ward is hoping to add to the honors list. “We’re all Americans first and then we’re Republicans and then we’re Democrats,” Ward told the Advertiser. Ward is proposing Hawaii establish a President Barack Obama Birthplace State Park. Only, the president has yet to reveal exactly where his birthplace is.

Read More and Comment:

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis In Obama Residence Week Before Sting Videos Launched

by Publius, Big Government

This afternoon, on arguably one of the slower news day of the year, the Obama White House released another document dump of “visitor records.” According to the White House, today’s batch total more than 25,000 records, covering meetings between September 16-September 30th. You can scroll through the list of records on the White House site OR you can download the raw data. Interestingly, the full download uncovers almost 30,000 records, including many from outside the mid-September time-frame detailed on the White House site. In other words, only the records from the specific two week time period are viewable on the White House site. Many other visitor records were released today-they are just much harder to find. Like, for example, the visitor records for Bertha Lewis. According to the visitor logs, on September 2nd Bertha E. Lewis made an appointment on to visit the White House on September 5th at 12:30. (We usually need to plan further ahead to get our hair cut.) On the evening of the 4th, that appointment was cancelled so Bertha could move her appointment earlier, to 10am. And it doesn’t seem to have actually been a work visit, as her appointment indicates she was visiting the Residence within the White House. Also, September 5th was a Saturday. Nice.

Read More and Comment:

Thursday, 07 Jan 2010 12:33 PM

By: Dan Weil

Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman says there’s a good chance that the economy will fall back into recession, thanks to the reversal of fiscal and monetary stimulus.

“It is not a low probability event, 30 to 40 percent chance,” the Princeton University professor told Bloomberg.

“The chance that we will have growth slowing enough that unemployment ticks up again I would say is better than even.”

Unemployment currently stands at 10 percent.

The Federal Reserve’s decision to finish its acquisition of mortgage-backed securities and federal agency debt in March could send mortgage rates higher, Krugman says.

And that increase, in turn, could depress the housing market.

“Probably mortgage rates go up some,” he said.

And housing sales may “falter.”

If the Fed sells mortgage-backed securities as part of its withdrawal of stimulus, mortgage rates may rise 1 percentage point, hurting the economy, Krugman says.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is now about 5.35 percent.

“Stimulus we know starts fading and goes negative around the middle of the year,” Krugman said.

“Inventory bounce, which is driving things right now, will fade out as inventory bounces do.”

Krugman isn’t the only one worried about the economy.

“We are in a post-credit bubble credit collapse that is ongoing,” David Rosenberg, chief economist for Gluskin Sheff + Associates, wrote on Ritholtz.com.

Economists err in calling this downturn “The Great Recession,” he says. “This is truly a gentle way of saying ‘Depression.’”

© Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Check out the Washington Beat on video – your source for lively and lustrous conservative cacklings.

NEGRO, PLEASE
When President Obama was still a senator from Illinois, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid characterized him as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” This, according to Reid, made Obama better suited for the presidency.

As news of this past occurrence came to light this week, the blowback immediately started to hit Reid. RNC head Michael Steele, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) all called for Reid’s resignation, to which Reid sloughed off the criticism, essentially responding “Get lost.” Perhaps that’s because he had the backing of Obama, who immediately forgave the Majority Leader and told America to move on.

But conservative blogs weren’t so quick to move on. Many pointed to Obama’s treatment of Robert Gates’ arrest in Cambridge, or the treatment of Trent Lott, who lost the House Speakership after his off-handed comments on Strom Thurmond’s past bid for the presidency. Why dismiss Reid’s comments when others were dealt with so harshly?

Then there were those who didn’t see any problem with Reid’s remarks at all. Liberal blogger Ezra Klein asked, “Do people seriously dispute that light-skinned African Americans have traditionally been more palatable to white Americans? We literally have studies on this subject.” On ABC News, conservative columnist George Will asked Liz Cheney, “did [Reid] get it wrong? … Did he say anything false?”

Perhaps the best indicator of how this incident will impact Reid is to let the voters decide. Reid is up for re-election this year, and his approval ratings have been dropping before the race card was even an issue.

SARAH PALIN INCHES CLOSER TO 2012 PRESIDENTIAL BID
Palin announced that she would speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) in April – the second-most important GOP political gathering after the Republican National Convention. That’s an eager indication that she’s considering a run in the 2012 GOP presidential primary. The SRLC will follow her keynote address at the National Tea Party Convention one month prior. The Tea Party Convention is billed as an organizing platform for the tea party grassroots, signaling that Sarah is eager to make inroads with the GOP’s most active constituency.

GOP CHAIRMAN UNDER FIRE
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele came under fire this week for profiting off his book tour and book sales, in addition to earning income from his full-time job at the RNC. Book profits and royalties collected from private speeches only compounded criticism that his performance after one year has been lackluster. Steele responded by telling his critics to fire him or “shut up.”

OH HOEVEN
Republican North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven announced this week that he would run for the U.S. Senate after Democrat Byron Dorgan finalized his retirement just one week ago. Hoeven was the guy who scared Dorgan out of running again – polls had him fifteen points ahead of the third-term Senator, and that was before Hoeven made any sort of indication that he was interested in running. If anything’s certain in November this year, it’s that North Dakota is going to be painted red.

CLINTON ON A JETPLANE
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began an important trip abroad yesterday designed to build on relationships and make good on Obama’s national security goals. These goals primarily consist of the president’s hardened stance on terrorism, which has been amped up following the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attacks. The areas that Clinton will focus on are Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East. Her first stop is Honolulu, followed by a visit to Australia with Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

HITTING IRAN WHERE IT HURTS
Secretary of State Clinton made waves this week by calling for targeted sanctions against Iran. She said the U.S. should hit Iran’s elites, and though she didn’t specify exactly whom she meant, it was assumed that the target of her remarks was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the group that specifically upholds the goals of the Islamic revolution of 1979 and is not part of the standard Iranian military. Specific sanctions weren’t mentioned, but the fact that she mentioned them at all means that the Obama administration may be beginning to take the threat of Iranian nukes seriously.

IRAN’S NOT LOOKING SO HOT
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Ct.) reported this week that the Iranian government was on the ropes, which means that concessions on the nuclear front may be imminent. The Senators predicted that a deal could be reached with the unruly nation within a year or two.

WILL OBAMA’S PLAN WORK?
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has hinted that the surge of U.S. troops in Afghanistan might be having the desired effect. On ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday, General McChrystal said the surge has “changed the way we operate in Afghanistan,” though much work still remains to be done.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Who else could own the title this week other than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid? From the new book “Game Change”?

Reid “was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — a ‘light-skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,’ as he said privately.

- Jillian Bandes
National Political Reporter, Townhall.com

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