Wooden Props

Not So
Skeptics — and there are plenty in the National Security Council, the Pentagon, America’s intelligence agencies and Congress — are not so optimistic. They think Mr. Obama runs the risk of being dragged into long negotiations and constant games of hide-and-seek that, ultimately, will result in little change in the status quo. They argue that the president’s hesitance to pull the trigger on Tomahawk strikes on Syria nearly two weeks ago, and the public and Congressional rebellion at the idea of even limited military strikes, were unmistakable signals to the Syrian and Iranian elites that if diplomacy fails, the chances of military action ordered by the American president are slight. (NYT, 9/19/2013)

Well, what do you think?

Is it likely that the mullahs in Iran looked at Obama's actions with respect to Syria and said to themselves: "This infidel Obama is serious. We'd better not mess with him. Let's see if we can cut a deal..."


Aspirations
He told one man affiliated with the temple that he aspired to be a monk, but he would stay up late at night playing violent video games in his room. (NYT, 9/19/2013)

Aaron Alexis. Another mass murderer. Another video game addict. Connect the dots. 


Free Fall
While the unemployment rate has fallen steadily, hitting a five-year low of 7.3 percent in August, much of that improvement has come from workers dropping out of the labor force rather than vigorous job creation. The monthly pace of new jobs has slowed, falling from well over 200,000 new jobs being added each month at the end of 2012 to 169,000 in August 2013. (NYT, 9/19/2013)

Exactly the point that the New York Times raised so vigorously during the 2012 presidential election and the reason that they ultimately decided to endorse Mitt Romney.  

Or did that not happen?


Supreme AND Drastic!
In what can be seen only as an act of supreme indifference, House Republicans passed a bill on Thursday that would drastically cut federal food stamps and throw 3.8 million Americans out of the program in 2014. (New York Times editorial. (9/19/2013)

OK, here's an idea. If you want to qualify for food stamps you have to meet the following criteria, in addition to the income threshold:

You cannot have a smartphone with a data plan. Basic cell phone only.
You cannot have enhanced cable television. Basic cable only.
You cannot smoke or use alcohol. 
Public transportation only.
No fast food.
No piercings. 
No tattoos.
You have to show proof that you are actively looking for a job. No job training. No on-line courses. McDonald's is hiring.

Comply and Republicans will consider reinstating your food stamps. Or maybe you will not need food stamps....


Big Time
Apparently some White House staffers have a new nickname for the president: "Obam-me," because it's all about him and his big thoughts. (Peggy Noonan, WSJ, 9/19/2013)

Wow!


Walkers
On Thursday, all but two Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee walked out before the parents of two of the victims killed in the Benghazi attacks testified. (Breitbart.com, 9/20/2013)

Among those who walked out: Vermont's own Peter Welch. Thanks for honoring the fallen, Pete.


The Path to Doom 
California is challenging the historic status of American citizenship with measures to permit noncitizens to sit on juries and monitor polls for elections in which they cannot vote and to open the practice of law even to those here illegally. It is the leading edge of a national trend that includes granting drivers’ licenses and in-state tuition to illegal immigrants in some states and that suggests legal residency could evolve into an appealing option should immigration legislation fail to produce a path to citizenship. (NYT, 9/20/2013)

And so America ends.


Iced
Sea ice in the Arctic Ocean underwent a sharp recovery this year from the record-low levels of 2012, with 50 percent more ice surviving the summer melt season, scientists said Friday. It is the largest one-year increase in Arctic ice since satellite tracking began in 1978.
....
Contrary to popular impression, the melting of sea ice does not cause a rise of sea level, since the ice is already floating and displacing its weight in water. (NYT, 9/20/2013)

Now they tell us. 

Surrounded by Liberals

Dusty
“There is a set of recurring patterns on the Republican side trying to grind him into the dust, so we’re a bit dubious of their complaints,” said Representative Peter Welch of Vermont. (NYT, 6/1/2013)

Vermont's Welch speaking about AG Eric Holder. Those "patterns" Welch references being explained in the previous paragraph as the following:

Under his leadership, the department scaled back a voter-intimidation lawsuit from the Bush era involving the New Black Panther Party, a decision that conservatives used to portray the black-nationalist fringe group as a political ally of the Obama administration. He reopened criminal investigations into the Central Intelligence Agency’s interrogations of terrorism suspects and tried to prosecute five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks in civilian courts rather than military tribunals, which provoked accusations that he was soft on terrorism. And he abandoned the legal defense of a law barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage that social conservatives viewed as a bulwark against attacks on the traditional family. The party-line furor peaked with hearings into Operation Fast and Furious, a botched gun-trafficking investigation by federal agents based in Arizona. When Mr. Holder, after Mr. Obama invoked executive privilege, refused to provide department e-mails relating to the fallout after the operation ended, the House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress.

These are the dubious Republican patterns that give Welch pause.... Does he see nothing here worthy of further discussion?

Meanwhile this is what Holder still wants to accomplish:

“Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long for no good law enforcement reason,” he said in a speech in April.

Those dubious Republicans will say that the AG is wants to be kinder and gentler....to criminals.


Large and Small
And the other part of this is that liberals measure success in their sort of compassion ratings by the number of people on food stamps, welfare. The larger the number, the more compassionate you are, whereas a conservative says the smaller the number, the more successful the society. (Dailycaller.com, 5/30/2013)

This is Charles Krauthammer capturing - as only he can - the essence of Liberals and Conservatives. What's that word?  Oh, right...irrefutable.


Rub Down
Okay. Let’s accept the dubious proposition that the Yemeni prisoners could be sent home without coming back to fight us. And that others could be convicted in court and put in U.S. prisons.

Now the rub. Obama openly admits that “even after we take these steps, one issue will remain — just how to deal with those Gitmo detainees who we know have participated in dangerous plots or attacks but who cannot be prosecuted.”

Well, yes. That’s always been the problem with Gitmo. It’s not a question of geography. The issue is indefinite detention — whether at Gitmo, a Colorado supermax or St. Helena.

Can’t try ’em, can’t release ’em. Having posed the central question, what is Obama’s answer? “I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved.”

That’s it! I kid you not. He’s had four-plus years to think this one through — and he openly admits he’s got no answer. (Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post, 5/30/2013)

Lucky readers get a double dose of Krauthammer today. Much has been written about Obama's recent address on national security. A speech so bizarre that even POLITICO made a joke about it (Obama Debates Obama). Charles weighs in with his own funny line, but he was likely more incredulous than amused.