Love the Sinner

Kill Zone
“The Obama administration continues to claim authority to kill virtually anyone anywhere in the world under the ‘global battlefield’ legal theory and a radical redefinition of the concept of imminence,” said Zeke Johnson of Amnesty International. “President Obama should reject these concepts in his speech tomorrow and commit to upholding human rights, not just in word but in deed.” (NYT, 5/23/2013)

Amnesty International recommends that in cases like that of Anwar al-Awlaki and others who are actively trying to kill Americans, the U.S. use the following approach:

-Listen to their demands
-Provide incentives to get them to stop
-Surrender


Denial of Service
The Internal Revenue Service official who first disclosed that the agency had targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny, and in doing so ignited a controversy that has ensnared the White House, denied on Wednesday that she had ever provided false information to Congress. She then invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and declined to testify at a House hearing on the agency’s actions. (NYT, 5/22/2013)

Sounds to us like a pretty stunning development in the IRS portion of the Obama Scandals(tm). The New York Times does not rate it in the top three stories of the day. 


Hook, Line, Sinker
President Obama's former senior adviser, David Axelrod, told MSNBC recently that his guy was off the hook on the IRS scandal because "part of being President is there's so much beneath you that you can't know because the government is so vast."

In other words, the bigger the federal government grows, the less the President is responsible for it. Mr. Axelrod's remarkable admission, and the liberal media defenses of Mr. Obama's lack of responsibility, prove the tea party's point that an ever larger government has become all but impossible to govern. They also show once again that liberals are good at promising the blessings of government largesse but they leave its messes for others to clean up. (WSJ, 5/22/2013)

Bingo. Republicans should not say one more word about the Obama Scandals(tm). They should just let the Carneys, Pfieffers, Axelrods and others do all the talking (or in the case of Lois Lerner, the not talking). They dig the hole deeper every time they speak. 


The Fever
Then there's Poland, the exception to Europe's feverish disarmament. The Poles already have the Continent's seventh-largest army and are adding to it. This year's defense budget is 7% higher than in 2012. Even more eye-catching is Poland's decision to devote 140 billion zlotys ($43 billion) over the next decade—a third of all military spending—to upgrade and purchase equipment.
...
For NATO to stay remotely relevant, Europe needs militaries modern enough to deploy alongside the U.S. The Poles are doing their part, and there's a lesson for others here. The first step is a serious political commitment to security. The country's leaders recognize growing threats to the south (from Islamists in Africa and the Middle East) and from an authoritarian Russia to the east. Warsaw wants to play a leadership role in its region. (WSJ, 5/22/2013)

Unlike (ahem) some in the U.S., the Poles get it. They learn from history. That is what comes from being overrun by the Germans from one side and the Soviets from the other. Imagine how they felt hearing Obama tell Putin's flunky that he "would have more flexibility after the election." No doubt they figured that U.S. support under the current administration was squishy...and so they increase defense spending. 


Maddening
You know the world’s gone mad when I think Rand Paul is the only one who made sense at Tuesday’s Senate grilling of Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook’s crime? Making sure his firm pays as little in taxes as the law allows. (Matt Milller, Washington Post, 5/22/2013)

Miller added: "And while we are on the topic, I want to remind readers that the same applies to how individuals approach their own payment of taxes. Namely, pay as little as the law allows. That is why I alone among Liberal columnists did not criticize Mitt Romney on this issue during the election."

Just kidding!