Monthly Archives: May 2015

Prison Press Pass

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President Obama is good at getting prisoners released from GITMO but not so much from Iran. While he polishes his nuclear deal, a Washington Post reporter rots in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. Jason Rezaian has been the Supreme Leader’s guest there since last July.

Rezaian’s trial was yesterday. Secret – like the nuke deal. So far no word on the outcome.

BernieNomics

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I got a lesson in BernieNomics yesterday. In an interview with John Harwood, Bernie Sanders recommended a 90% income tax rate and complained that stores stock too much deodorant. It’s the armpit version of clean your plate because children in India are starving.

His views on kids’ sports on the other hand are laissez faire. He favors unsupervised play.

Climate of Fear

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The Islamic Caliphate is capturing and holding territory in Anbar province and Syria. ISIS murdered 262 people in Palmyra over Memorial Day weekend. If past behavior is any guide, antiquities there could be doomed. President Obama called the defeat of Ramadi a “tactical setback”.

In a commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy last week the president hinted at his military priorities. He named climate change the top national security threat.

 

Gulf Arms Race

150521-gulf-arms-racePresident Obama held a beer summit for Arabs and nobody came. At least nobody important. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman had to wash his hair. The King of Bahrain checked out horses with Queen Elizabeth.

The Arab leaders are not happy with Obama’s Persian nuke plans. Could it lead to a Gulf arms race? Saudi Prince Faisal said, “Whatever the Iranians have, we will have too”.

Knowing What We Know Now

150519-knowing-what-we-know-nowMegyn Kelly asked Jeb Bush if, knowing what we know now, he would have supported the invasion of Iraq. It would be a great question to ask Hillary Clinton since, as a Senator, she voted for the war. Alas, Hillary is above questioning so Megyn’s question is only being asked of Republican candidates.

Nobody asked him, but Professor Victor Davis Hansen answers the question here.

It’s a good question. Most of the Senate Democrats who voted for the the war quickly turned against it. Many Republicans and public opinion soon headed for the exits too.

With everybody against him, President Bush finally fired Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, poured more troops into Iraq, and put General David Petraeus in charge. The NYT published MoveOn.org’s ad calling him General Betray Us. Hillary called him a liar.

As it turned out the Petraeus plan worked. In 2010 Joe Biden proclaimed events in Iraq the Obama administration’s finest hour. President Obama withdrew U.S. forces as he had promised.

Islamic man-burning barbarians soon filled the vacuum. Obama called them al Qaeda’s JV team. On Sunday the JV team routed the Iraqi defenders in Ramadi – 70 miles from Baghdad.

At present the last line of defense appears to be Shiite fighters from Iran.

Knowing what we know now, who in their right mind would answer yes?