To Calm Fears, Obama to Urge Americans to Talk About Their Feelings

Strained
Young Muslim Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Suspicion: ... in the past year, especially in the past several months, as her emergence from childhood into young womanhood has coincided with the violent spread of the Islamic State and a surge in Islamophobia, she has had to confront some harsh challenges of being a young Muslim in America. (New York Times, 12/14/2015)

The New York Times identifies the most urgent problem in America, Islamophobia. Second place, transgender rights. A distant third, fear of being killed by Islamic terrorists.

All Americans Are Feeling the Strain of Islamic Terror (RedStateVT headline, 12/14/2015)
Islamophobia, really? Documented cases of actual violence against Muslims are rare. You can look it up. Do you know which group has more to fear? Jews, of course.


Intolerant
Mr. Obama, who barely tolerates the schmoozing that is presidential tradition, does far fewer receiving lines than his predecessors. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, worked a photo line at each of the 25 holiday parties he hosted in 2008, his last year in office, but the Obama White House has eliminated all but a handful. (New York Times, 12/14/2015)

So it turns out President Pippi Longstockings is not - would you say - a people person.


Anxiety Attacks
The public seems increasingly anxious about Mr. Obama’s handling of terrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks and the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that was carried out by extremists who claimed allegiance with the Islamic State. His Oval Office address on Dec. 6 appeared to do little to allay those worries, including among members of his own party.

In an effort to respond, the president is working to demonstrate that he has a plan for defeating the Islamic State abroad and for protecting Americans at home. Mr. Obama will also visit the National Counterterrorism Center on Thursday for his annual preholiday security briefing on the country’s threat level. “There’s heightened awareness about that in advance of this holiday season,” Mr. Earnest said.

This week is Mr. Obama’s last chance before Christmas to show Americans he is engaged on the issue; on Friday, he is scheduled to fly to Hawaii for his annual two-week getaway with his family.(New York Times, 12/14/2015)

So Obama is going to squeeze in some national security before his vacay and in between Christmas parties. The nation - "including members of his own party" - breathe a sigh of relief. 

Two By Four

Pushy
Rachid Tlemcani, a professor of political science at the University of Algiers, warned that Mr. Trump could push young people toward the Islamic State.

“A lot of people in the Middle East think of the United States as the last place we can go if things turn really bad, as it is the place of freedom and liberty,” Mr. Tlemcani said. “I think that sort of comment could even invite some act of violence against America. I think he is not responsible.” (New York Times, 12/9/2015)

Time out here. Who is less connected to reality? 

a) Donald Trump - who in the aftermath of a mass shooting (a.k.a. violence) in America committed by Islamic terrorists, one of whom was an immigrant - says we should put a "temporary ban" on Muslim immigration until we "figure out what is going on."

b) Rachid Tlemcani who says that Trump's comment could result in violence against America.


Preferences
Instead of debating the antiterror policy of the past seven years—the wisdom of ending the National Security Agency’s metadata program, whether ISIS can be knocked out without any ground troops, how the lack of nerve on Syria fed this mess, or whether Islamist terror can be defeated so long as our leaders refuse to call it by its rightful name—we’re all arguing over gun control.

Then again, if you were Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton, isn’t this the debate you’d prefer? (William McGurn, Wall Street Journal, 12/7/2015)

And if you were a corrupt media that had long ago abandoned any pretense of objectivity, wouldn't you rather talk about what a single Republican presidential candidate (one of a dozen or more) said than to examine the failed policies of the current Democrat president and the leading Democrat presidential contender?

We're Perfectly Safe Now

Bad Behavior 
After talking about his plus ça change strategy to tackling the Islamic State, he (Obama) began telling Americans what they “should not do”. Because everyone loves that estranged father who comes back into your life just in time to tell you how to behave. (Raheem Kassam, Breitbart.com, 12/6/2015)

President Above-It-All. When Bush's Iraq strategy failed, he came up with a winning strategy: the surge. Obama's strategy: tell Americans that 'This-Too-Shall-Pass.'  Raised in Indonesia, Obama proves again that he is simply not in touch with the average American.


Absent Without Leave
President Barack Obama tried to reassure the American people from the Oval Office on Sunday evening that he takes the threat of terrorism seriously: “For seven years, I’ve confronted this evolving threat each morning in my intelligence briefing.” However, as the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) has shown, Obama skips more than half of his daily intelligence briefings. (Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart.com, 12/7/2015)

Obama has, however, attended ALL meetings in which climate change is discussed. 


Debatable
As the debate on how best to contain the Islamic State continues to rage in Western capitals, the militants themselves have made one point patently clear: They want the United States and its allies to be dragged into a ground war. (New York Times, 12/8/2015)

So the strategy of President Clueless is NOT to send troops in to defeat ISIS because that is exactly what ISIS wants, i.e. it plays right in to their prophetic visions of the end of times. Hence ISIS can run amok in the Middle East knowing full well that the only power strong enough to defeat them will not intervene. Sounds like someone just got outwitted.


Pen Name
(Marine Le Pen) talks about the French “nation” and its “sovereignty” and making France once again proud of its “founding values” and “authentic Frenchness.” Such language takes aim at anyone who does not embrace assimilation into the French way of life. (New York Times, 12/8/2015)

The implication of the New York Times is that French political figure Marine Le Pen is somehow a bigot because she insists on promoting French values and insists that immigrants assimilate. Because what could possibly go wrong if they don't?  


Preacher Man
He does not make a case; he preaches a moral. He mistakes repetition for persuasion. He does not struggle with the direction, details or trade-offs of policy because he’s figured them all out. His policies never fail; it’s our patience that he finds wanting. (Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, 12/8/2015)

No one has done a better job of dissecting the essence of Obama's personal and political philosophy than the Wall Street Journal op-ed writers.


Offering
GOP hopefuls weren’t “preaching about prayer.” They were offering their prayers (just like President Obama did the next day). If this had been an earthquake, would you reject prayers while survivors were still being plucked from the rubble? Would you denounce anyone who refrained from touting their preferred building code legislation? (Jonah Goldberg, Bostonherald.com, 12/5/2015)

Liberals opine that Republicans aren't allowed to express condolences to victims when a shooting takes place (e.g. at a Planned Parenthood center) because they support the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, Liberals never express condolences to babies exterminated by Planned Parenthood. 

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. 

Report: In Reversal Obama to Name ISIS a Varsity Team

Missing You
Missing from both Republican lists are two pillars of Mr. Obama’s agenda that many economists consider important for expanding the labor force and promoting long-run growth.

One is significantly higher spending for infrastructure. The International Monetary Fund recently called for such spending, saying it would pay off in broader economic growth.

The other is an overhaul of immigration laws. Despite business pressure to provide a path to citizenship for the millions here illegally, and to admit more foreigners with skills, Republicans’ opposition has only hardened in this campaign. (New York Times, 10/22/2014)

This would be hilarious if it were not so utterly dishonest. Does the Times think that Republicans are against economic growth and putting people back to work? They have been talking about these things for six years while Democrats have been talking about climate change and birth control. Infrastructure spending? First of all, that is nothing more than funneling money to labor unions who then rebate via political contributions to Democrats. Second, even Obama admitted that his "shovel-ready" jobs were a joke. 


Sunk Cost
According to one Democrat strategist quoted in this report, "The ineptitude of the White House political operation has sunk from annoying to embarrassing." (Breitbart.com, 10/22/2014)

Dems said it. 


Another First
A doctor in New York City who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea became the first person in the city to test positive for the virus Thursday, setting off a search for anyone who might have come into contact with him. (New York Times, 10/24/2014)

Still no flight bans from Africa. Not to worry... the doc only went bowling and took the NYC subway. 


Bad Chemistry
American security officials said Thursday that they were looking into a new report that Islamic State militants had used chlorine gas as a weapon against Iraqi police officers last month near Balad, north of Baghdad. (New York Times, 10/24/2014)

Will Obama issue (and ignore) another "red line?" Stay tuned for the answer. 

Breaking News: Obama To Delay Decisions On Everything Until After The Mid-Term Elections

Finger Pointing
“Our head of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that, I think, they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” Mr. Obama said on “60 Minutes,” the CBS News program, referring to James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence. Mr. Obama added that the agencies had overestimated the ability and will of the Iraqi Army to fight such Sunni extremists. “That’s true. That’s absolutely true,” he said. (New York Times, 9/29/2014)

So President Accountability has found his scapegoat. Even the New York Times cannot let this pass without comment:

"In citing Mr. Clapper, Mr. Obama made no mention of any misjudgment he may have made himself. Critics have repeatedly pointed to his comment last winter characterizing groups like the Islamic State as a "JV team" compared with the original Al Qaeda."


Inactive
California has become the first state to require students on college campuses to receive active consent before all sexual activity. (New York Times, 9/28,2014)

Of course.

This is what colleges are focused on today - teaching kids the proper way to go about having sex - instead of teaching the classics.

Under Control

The Purge
Hours after President François Hollande purged leftist members of his government last month for opposing his economic policies, Manuel Valls, France’s combative prime minister, climbed a stage before hundreds of cheering French executives and called for a new relationship with business to lift France from its malaise.

He admonished the left wing of the French Socialist Party to stop posturing against capitalism, then launched into a lengthy pro-business discourse that drew a standing ovation. “France needs you,” he told the bosses at the annual summer conference of the Medef, France’s employers’ union. “And I love business!” (New York Times, 9/16/2014)

No 'Occupy Le Wall Street' in France. The French suddenly love capitalism. And remember, Liberals believe that we need to emulate the French in every way!


Zoned Out
Even as momentum builds against the austerity policies that Germany has pushed on the eurozone, the question remains whether Europe can afford the welfare systems that have defined the left for generations and that critics blame for ushering in the debt crisis in the first place. But if the left now backs away from its ideological touchstones, then what does it stand for? (New York Times, 9/16/2014)

What does the Left stand for, if not building bigger and bigger social welfare programs?

Well, nothing , really. It is their raison d'etre.


The Mix
Mr. Obama, seeking to allay fears of another Iraq war, has promised that American ground troops will not be involved in fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. In a sign of the administration’s mixed message, the president pointedly did not call it a war, while his advisers later did. (New York Times, 9/17/2014)

RedStateVT did not say 'mixed message.' The New York Times said 'mixed message.'


Crying Out Loud
The Democrats’ strategy of making an increase in the minimum wage a midterm election rallying cry has been drowned out by world events. The party continues to talk about it, but it appears that few are listening. (New York Times, 9/17/2014)

We at RedStateVT just cannot get our head around a minimum wage increase. Liberals want companies to pay their workers more...which means they will need to raise their prices...which means everyone will pay more for the goods and services that these companies provide. So really, it is just another form of higher taxation. 

Actually that does make sense because there is really nothing that Liberals like more than higher taxes. Got it now.


Quote of the Day
ObamaCare has become his Ukraine. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., Wall Street Journal, 9/17/2014)

Also Obama's Ukraine? 

Ukraine.


Truthfully
Whatever happened to Cindy Sheehan? Where is Code Pink? I haven’t seen an “EndLESS War” bumper sticker in years, since 2009 to be exact.

The anti-war movement is MIA as this war, er counterterrorism operation, begins. Back when Bush was waging war, dissent was the highest form of patriotism. Now it’s “racism.” If you speak truth to power in the Obama era, they call it hate speech. The IRS will audit you. (Howiecarrshow.com, 9/16/2014)

Do you listen to Howie Carr's radio program? You should!

Keeping Score

Everything Old
The Obama administration is preparing to carry out a campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria that may take three years to complete, requiring a sustained effort that could last until after President Obama has left office, according to senior administration officials. (New York Times, 9/8/2014)

President Obama's proposed military actions in the Middle East were met by boisterous objections from Dennis Kucinich, Bernie Sanders, Code Pink and Senator Barack Obama. 

Get it?


Price of Victory
Unilateral action by the president might undermine the prospects for bipartisan agreement on a broad immigration overhaul for years to come.

As the election draws closer, some nervous Senate Democrats have told White House officials that President Obama’s actions could cost them victory at the polls.

It was that concern, shared by members of Mr. Obama’s inner circle as well as other members of Congress, White House officials said, that ultimately prompted the president to break the promise he made on June 30 in the Rose Garden to act on his own before summer’s end to fix the immigration system. (New York Times, 9/8/2014)

Another broken promise! Is anyone out there keeping track...anyone?

And again, Obama will not act - at least for now - to implement a policy that if implemented would cause people not to vote for Democrats. Sounds like another winner.


Pointless
His (new Meet the Press host Chuck Todd) questions to President Obama were succinct and pointed, but Mr. Obama is not a rewarding guest in a one-on-one interview. He tends to give long, meditative and atonal answers that wear down listeners. (New York Times, 9/8/2014)

So Obama is boring and doesn't answer the question asked. Really? The greatest orator of this or any generation?


For Better or Worse
His policy is better than he has articulated it.... (E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, 9/3/2014)

Does Dionne even recognize the irony of what he writes? Obama the orator (the greatest of this or any generation - see above) is unable to 'articlulate' his foreign policy. 


Round Up
When President Obama addresses the nation on Wednesday to explain his plan to defeat Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria, it is a fair bet he will not call them the “JV team.”

Nor does he seem likely to describe Iraq as “sovereign, stable and self-reliant” with a “representative government.” And presumably he will not assert after more than a decade of conflict that “the tide of war is receding.”

As he seeks to rally Americans behind a new military campaign in the Middle East, Mr. Obama finds his own past statements coming back to haunt him. Time and again, he has expressed assessments of the world that in the harsh glare of hindsight look out of kilter with the changed reality he now confronts. (New York Times, 9/9/2014)

Yes, that about sums it up. Thank you New York Times. It's true we are hard on you, but it feels so right and so honest when you get it correct.


Heartless
A new ABC News poll has nothing but heartache for Democrats and President Obama. By a wide margin of 52-42%, voters see President Obama as a failed president. Americans also see Obama as more of a divider than uniter. Only 38% believe President Obama is uniting the country. A majority of 55% believe he's dividing the country. (Breitbart.com, 9/9/2014)

And he is not yet halfway through his second term! Just think of how much further Obama has to fall. Let's hope Americans remember the next time they use the polls to elect novelty candidates. 

Flaming Visions

JV
Earlier this year, President Obama likened the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria to a junior varsity basketball squad, a group that posed little of the threat once presented by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. (New York Times, 8/22/2014)

First Obama says you can keep your health care plan, then he says ISIS is not a threat. Does this guy get anything right?


Discharged
Ferguson police officials have said Mr. Brown and a friend were walking in the street when Officer Wilson stopped them. In an ensuing struggle, they said, Officer Wilson was hit in the face and Mr. Brown tried to take his gun, which discharged. Later, Officer Wilson shot Mr. Brown six times as the two men faced each other. (New York Times, 8/23/2014)

Weeks later, after writing countless stories reminding us every few sentences that Michael Brown was unarmed, the Times pens an article about police procedures in confrontational situations. Thirteen paragraphs in we finally hear the police side of the shooting. Of course the Times just says that the officer was "hit in the face" not that his eye socket was broken as others have reported. 

If we were writing the first sentence quoted above we might have written it differently: Ferguson police officials have said Mr. Brown and a friend were illegally walking in the middle of the street high on marijuana after having robbed a convenience store when Officer Wilson stopped them.

RedStateVT's Health Insurance Cancelled! Obama, Shumlin are Mum

What, Him Worry?
If Mr. Obama hoped to show America’s enemies that they cannot hijack his schedule, he also showed many of his friends in America that he disdains the politics of appearance. He long ago stopped worrying about what critics say, according to aides, and after the outcry over Wednesday’s game, he defied the critics by golfing again on Thursday, his eighth outing in 11 days on the island.

It was all the more striking given that Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain canceled his vacation after the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria released the video showing Mr. Foley’s death because the accent of the masked killer suggested he came from Britain....But the criticism went beyond the usual political opponents. Privately, many Democrats shook their heads at what they considered a judgment error.  (New York Times, 8/22/2014)

Too Cool for School Obama. Even Democrats must be silently wishing that his term would just end. If the mid-terms do not go the Dems way, it will only get worse. You think he is checked-out now? Just wait. 


Live Fire
Russian Forces in Ukraine Are Firing Artillery, NATO Says
The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday. (New York Times, 8/22/2014)

Which, of course, takes us back to the famous Hillary Clinton reset button with Russia. Somewhere a Republican strategist is already writing the campaign commercial...

Which also reminds us of the Ann Coulter adage that Democrats can NEVER be trusted with national defense.