The Exaction of Justice

Unfocused
Indecisiveness is the predominant characteristic of how Mr. Obama executes U.S. national-security policy. Undoubtedly there are other influences: ideological blinders; mistrust of America’s presence in the world; inadequate interest, knowledge, focus and resolve. But in implementing his policies, good or bad, the president has shown that equivocating is what he does best. (John Bolton, Wall Street Journal, 2/18/2015)

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it? There is almost no decision that Obama isn't willing to postpone.

Best line from Bolton? This one:
Colin Powell as secretary of state once advised British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that “if you want to bring the Iranians around, you have to hold an ax over their heads.” Instead, Mr. Obama is holding a selfie stick over his own.


Ending
CNN reports that “between 4.5 million and 7.5 million taxpayers received subsidies,” and an earlier CNN report cites an H&R Block estimate that 3.4 million of them will end up owing the IRS money on the deal. (Wall Street Journal, 2/18/2015)

OK, for the one-thousandth time: What would be the reaction to news like this if George Bush and Republicans had promulgated a policy like Obamacare? Answer: Rioting in the streets, egged on by MSNBC and the New York Times.


Error
About 800,000 taxpayers who enrolled in insurance policies through HealthCare.gov received erroneous tax information from the government, and were urged on Friday to hold off on filing tax returns until the error could be corrected. (New York Times, 2/20/2015)

Liberals prove - once again - that government cannot be trusted to do much of anything correctly. 

Liberal answer? Hire more government workers.


Avoidance
President Obama chooses his words with particular care when he addresses the volatile connections between religion and terrorism. He and his aides have avoided labeling acts of brutal violence by Al Qaeda, the so-called Islamic State and their allies as “Muslim” terrorism or describing their ideology as “Islamic” or “jihadist.”

With remarkable consistency — including at a high-profile White House meeting this week, “Countering Violent Extremism” — they have favored bland, generic terms over anything that explicitly connects attacks or plots to Islam. (New York Times, 2/19/2015)

In his ceaseless quest not to offend Muslims Obama is all-too-willing to offend just about everyone else - Christians, Jews, Americans, Europeans, etc.

In return for his delicacy, radical Muslims continue with the beheadings. We're guessing this is just another example of how Obama has been "set free to be himself" because he has no more elections. 

Best line from the WSJ on this topic:
Foreign policy is not a Harry Potter tale of good versus He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. (Wall Street Journal, 2/19/2015)


Argumentative
As he sought to rally the world behind a renewed attack on terrorism, President Obama argued on Thursday that force of arms was not enough and called on all nations to “put an end to the cycle of hate” by expanding human rights, religious tolerance and peaceful dialogue. (New York Times, 2/20/2015)

Because what the radical Islamists are really seeking is human rights, religious tolerance and peaceful dialogue....


Uniformed and Ignorant
The government should open a special enrollment period that lasts beyond April 15, the traditional filing time for most taxpayers. That would be fair to millions of consumers who remain uninformed about the health care law and ignorant about the subsidies it provides and the penalties for failing to enroll. And it would strengthen implementation of health care reform. (New York Times editorial, 2/19/2015)

New York Times editors apparently believe that there are still "millions of consumers" out there who do not know about the free health care available to them courtesy of Obamacare.


Endurance
Still, the country was treated to a level of detailed testimony on sexual indiscretion that surely surpassed what President Bill Clinton was made to endure over the liaison that eventually led to his impeachment in 1998. (New York Times, 2/20/2015)

In an article on French pervert Strauss-Kahn, the New York Times throws this line in. "What Bill Clinton was made to endure." Never mind what Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky and others endured.... In just a few short years, the Times will have reshaped Clintons travails from a sordid case of sexual abuse of an employee into a Republican hit job. 

Actually the Times has pretty much already done that, haven't they?


Supportive
He does not return phone calls. He does not ask for support. He arrives late for meetings. And he acts as if he has all the time in the world. The complaints have piled up for weeks, dismaying many longtime supporters of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and sending others into the arms of his rivals for the presidential nomination, according to interviews with more than two dozen Republican donors and strategists. (New York Times, 2/20/2015)

Jeb Bush. Chris Christie. Scott Walker. Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush. Scott Walker. Jeb Bush. Chris Christie. Scott Walker. 

What is it?

The New York Times rotation for hit pieces on potential Republican presidential contenders. 

Obama Bravely Confronts America's Biggest Problem: Cost of Community College

Fueled
Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault. The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi. And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam. (New York Times, 1/15/2015)

We knew that The New York Times was heavily invested in Hillary Clinton for president. We just did not realize how much. The Times conducts an "investigation" and concludes that Hillary's hands are clean on Benghazi. Incredibly, absent any other excuse they revert to "the video made them do it." 

A video that no one saw. 

Of course, the Times must neutralize any potential threat to Hill. Henceforth, any time a Republican challenger brings up Benghazi, the Times will be able to refer to their own article as "proof" and accuse the Republican of deceit. This is how journalism works in a Liberal world.


Abstract Thinking
In the abstract, President Obama’s proposal for making community college tuition-free seems a reasonable response to a troublesome fact: The American work force is less educated than it needs to be at a time when most jobs in the new economy will require some college education. But for such an idea to work, states and localities that have been starving community colleges for decades will need to begin holding them to higher standards and commit to sustained financing instead of using the new federal money to dodge their own financial obligations....the preliminary plans released last week call for an estimated $60 billion in new spending over 10 years to help cover tuition and fees for full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average — about a C-plus — and who make consistent progress toward completion. (New York Times editorial, 1/15/2015)

Catch the logic here! Editors at The Times demand that states need to hold community colleges to higher standards...and give them more money. Students, of course, will not be held to higher standards. A C+ will be just fine! This is accountability in a Liberal world.


Our Favorite Quotes
Two weeks ago, the economist Thomas Sowell posed a question that I can’t get out of my mind: “Has anyone asked the question, ‘How could so many people across the country spend so much time at night marching, rioting and looting, if they had to get up and go to work the next morning?’ ” (quoted by Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 1/16/2015)


We're now in a situation where the Belgians are carrying out preemptive raids against ISIS terrorists. The Belgium police are now taking a harder line than the White House. (former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, quoted on Foxnews.com, 1/16/2015)

 Yeah, liberals hate bullying all right, but they’re not opposed to using it. When they casually throw out words like ‘bigot’ and ‘racist,’ it does cow people into avoiding this debate. And if you’re doing that, you don’t get to wear the ‘Je Suis Charlie’ button, the button you should wear says, ‘Je Suis Part of the Problem.’ (Bill Maher quoted on Breitbart.com, 1/17/2015)

Hat tip to Bill Maher, someone we have been highly critical of in the past...and will be again in the future. For now, however, we will note that he has been incredibly brave in exposing both Liberal hypocrisy on the issue of free speech and on calling out Muslims on the intolerance and violence that plague their religion. 


Fruitless
Wall Street may be growing anxious about the negative impact of falling oil prices on energy producers, but the steep declines of recent weeks are delivering substantial benefits to American working-class families and retirees who have largely missed out on the fruits of the five-and-a-half-year economic recovery.

Just last week, the federal Energy Information Administration estimated that the typical American household would save $750 because of lower gasoline prices this year, $200 more than government experts predicted a month ago. People who depend on home heating oil and propane to warm their homes, as millions do in the Northeast and Midwest, should enjoy an additional savings of about $750 this winter. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Given lower energy prices Liberals will seek to raise taxes on oil and gas. That is basic economics in a Liberal world. 


Drop Outs
When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses.

But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and basements into “Breaking Bad”-style laboratories, using flammable chemicals to extract potent drops of a marijuana concentrate commonly called hash oil, and sometimes accidentally blowing up their homes and lighting themselves on fire in the process. (New York Times, 1/18/2015)

Coming soon to Vermont when Governor Shumlin realizes his dream of legal dope.  This is logic in a Liberal world.