It seems that people are beginning to recognize how bad BHO actually has always been [e.g.

, Cover
(BAM'S GOLF WAR: Prez tees off as Foley's parents grieve), Article (Obama blasted [by Liz Cheney and
French foreign minister] for golfing after tough speech on ISIS), and Editorial (Staying the course is not
an option. The President is obligated to vindicate the national honor while making mortally clear that an
attack on one U.S. citizen is an attack on all)]. Instead, BHO Leads by clich, for Inaction speaks more
softly than words and the White House Defends BHO by claiming Sports Help Clear Mind; this has not
mollified critics [MEDIA STOP DEFENDING OBAMA'S SERIAL-GOLFING; KURTZ: Media Baffled by
President's Deepening Isolation; NYT: Terrorist Horror, Then Golf; Politico's White: Obama's Golfing Will
Hurt Senate Democrats; Levin: Obama is Addicted to Golf like a Drug Addict; Obama's Vacation Ends,
Criticism Does Not; and Karl: Has There Been Any Discussion About Obama Maybe Taking A Day Off
From Golfing?]. Although robustly defended on MSNBC as usual [SCARBOROUGH: OBAMA GOLF
OUTINGS SEND SCREW YOU MESSAGE TO TERRORISTS], Only 10% believe Obama has improved race
relations; also note that REAL HOUSEHOLD INCOMES FELL 5.9% UNDER OBAMA. {Know also that the
GAO determined Bergdahl Swap to have been Illegal, impugning the DoD.}

NBC News claimed November Elections 'May' Be a Referendum on Gun Control [Then
again, they may not.] {To me, it matters little whether the media downplay any one
issue as pivotal in the mid-terms, for the public supports the GOP on all of them
(ObamaDontCare, Illegals, Foreign Policy, etc.}

MAUREEN DOWD, "The Golf Address: A historic speech by a teed-off president at tee
time": "FORE! Score? And seven trillion rounds ago, our forecaddies brought forth on
this continent a new playground, conceived by Robert Trent Jones, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal when it comes to spending as much time on
the links as possible - even when it seems totally inappropriate, like moments after
making a solemn statement condemning the grisly murder of a 40-year-old American
journalist beheaded by ISIL. I know reporters didn't get a chance to ask questions, but I
had to bounce. I had a 1 p.m. tee time at Vineyard Golf Club with Alonzo Mourning ...
Now we are engaged in a great civil divide in Ferguson ... We're stuck in the rough, going
to war all over again in Iraq and maybe striking Syria, too. ... If only I could just play
through the rest of my presidency. ... We here highly resolve that ... this nation, under
par, shall have a new birth of freedom to play the game that I have become unnaturally
obsessed with ... So help me Golf."

*

"Last Tango in Kabul: While war raged across Afghanistan, expats lived in a bubble of
good times and easy money. But as the U.S. withdraws, life has taken a deadly turn,":
"By 2010, the Surge was in full swing, and suddenly Kabul was the place where every
ambitious aid worker, war correspondent or diplomat wanted to be. ... But Kabul was a
magnet that attracted all sorts, including those on the delusional, egomaniacal quests
that America's crazies seem to have a near monopoly on. At a bookstore in Kabul, I met
a white-bearded Californian in his sixties who told me that he was trying to find a guide
to take him, for free, into Pakistan's tribal areas so he could capture Osama bin Laden. ...
The Taliban have outlasted the Surge, and are patiently waiting for the foreign troops to
leave. Condemned by our mistakes, we find ourselves in history's bind, too demoralized
to shape Afghanistan's fate, and yet complicit in it."

*

While The Middle East Burns, Obama Chooses to Lie to America; plays blame-game


*

Polls for Senate-Dems appear to be plummeting; Howard Dean considers it to be an
outlier [per yesterdays comments on MSNBCs Morning Joe], but the latest from New
Hampshire shows Shaheen only up by 2% [46% vs. 44% for Brown], results characterized
thusly by Real Clear Politics: a wave election would be needed to drag Shaheen under,
but that might be where were headed. [The new WMUR poll found only 38 percent of
New Hampshire adults approve of the way President Obama was handling his job, a 7
percentage point drop from about a month earlier, while 55 percent disapprove.]

Although the Dems may hope a Libertarian could Spoil GOP Chances in North Carolina
and Libertarian Amanda Swafford Could Force Runoff in Georgia Senate Race, more
telling is an NRSC memo, "Polling Analysis Reveals Five Frightened Democratic Senators"
- "TO: Interested Parties ... FR: Brad Dayspring ... An analysis of polling information from
six years ago reveals that five Democratic incumbents [Landrieu, Hagan, Begich,
Shaheen, Udall] are in far BIGGER trouble today than they'd have you believe. ...
REPUBLICANS POSITIONED TO TAKE SENATE MAJORITY: ... Democratic candidates are
trailing in seven states and tied in four others. An additional four states will continue to
tighten, meaning that come mid-to-late September, Democrats will be on defense in
fourteen or fifteen races."

Also, the new Montana U.S. Sen. Candidate Mocked Gun Owners, Christianity, the Bible,
and the Family. And Republican Rod Blum, a businessman who is running to represent
Iowa's 1st Congressional District, challenged his opponent, Democrat Pat Murphy, to
explain why he thinks illegal immigrant juveniles from Central America will become
terrorists if they are not granted citizenship. Nevertheless, Large Dem-donors are trying
TO SAVE SENATE, as Dems' ads assailing The Kochs' are full of images designed to make
ordinary Americans bristle; as a barometer of growing discontent, Dem [Local Big city
mayors and blue-state governors] have gone rogue, defying BHO chiefly on social policy.
{Also note, Marijuana initiatives could keep Senate Democratic.}

Lest we forget another pro-GOP campaign issue, note that ObamaCare's Latest 'Accommodation' to the
Contraception [Hobby Lobby] Mandate is an 'Insulting Accounting Gimmick': The latest revision of the
mandate requires nonprofit organizations to provide written notification to HHS to state their moral
objections to offering contraceptive coverage to employees. According to the rule, once it receives
notification, HHS will then arrange that coverage for the employees, without involving the employers.
{Heres another rendition of what occurred on Friday-p.m. when, presumably, no one was noticing:
Despite Supreme Courts Hobby Lobby Ruling Obama Administration Repackaged Abortion-Pill Mandate;
Obama is not going to let a mere Supreme Court decision get in the way of its radical pro-abortion
agenda. After losing major abortion-pill mandate litigation at the Supreme Court and then failing in an
attempt to ram a new abortion-pill mandate through Congress (where it couldnt even muster enough
votes in the pro-abortion Senate), the Obama Administration is back with two more attempts at the HHS
Mandate.} This overtly violates the Stupak-Pledge, but no one cares!

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Bilks Taxpayers out of Millions. Just over three
years ago, subsequent to the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill passing, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau came into existence. As Elizabeth Warrens intellectual
baby, it should be no surprise to conservatives that the CFPB is an exercise in the biggest
kind of government. However, in the third year of the CFPBs existence, a bevy of stories
have broken that underline that the bureau really might just be one of historys greatest
illustrations of how big government fails to deliver on its promises, wastes money,
benefits not the most needy but rather an entrenched class of bureaucrats, and actually
does harm to people historically less advantaged in society. It is, in fact, a case study of
what not to do where government is concerned.

There have been numerous articles about Ezra Kleins Vox which illustrate the generic problem with
trusting the lib-media, particularly when it attempts to tell people what to think. Vox is a general
interest news site for the 21st century. Our mission is simple: Explain the news. Yet, there is a general
lack of understanding readers (and journalists!) about key-topics, and the ability to have this laid out for
us is a refreshing idea; unfortunately, Vox doesnt deliver.

Politico can be depended upon to convey info admixed with a lib-spin; for example, it is
clear that BHO has made his mark, noting that only 4 anti-Obamacare House Dems
remain; the dramatic downsize underscores how quickly moderate Democrats have
been eliminated. Furthermore, going nuclear unclogged the Senate, for it has been
approving judges that could shape the law for a generation.

On the other hand, it has highlighted a series of faulty RINO-memes regarding Illegals
[e.g., Immigration reform ignored in key House race and immigration reform is not a top
issue this cycle] and the GOP [the GOP Must Modernize to Win]. The former suggests
Amnesty Activists were Quiet in August despite numerous murmurings that they are
poised to RR-through Congress their brand of reform and despite the fact that Gallup
found that Immigration is More Important Than Obamacare to Republican Voters. The
latter recapitulates three defects as if they are immutable: [1]Republicans have come
to rely more and more on the votes of the elderly, the most government-dependent
segment of the population, a serious complication for a party committed to reducing
government {thats because BHO gutted Medicare}; [2]The Republican donor class has
grown more ideologically extreme, encouraging congressional Republicans to embrace
ever more radical tactics {thats because BHO is far more ideologically extreme}; and
[3]The party's internal processes have rigidified, in ways that dangerously inhibit its
ability to adapt to changing circumstances {thats a false claim noting, for example, how
the 16-debates will be more tightly controlled by the party}.

The classic ploy of Moral Equivalence emerges when it condemns Congress as if it is
100% GOP-controlled; in the following quote, key-details are omitted: "We want our
politicians to act like LBJ. But not really. All three governors [Christie, Cuomo, Perry]
were doing exactly the thing Obama's Democratic detractors and sympathetic
commentators so often pound him for not doing - stretching the boundaries of your
authority to outmaneuver adversaries and ultimately get your way." There is no
evidence Christie knew of BridgeGate, Cuomo is a Dem, and Perry refused to fund a sot;
this contrasts with how BHO has greatly abused Executive Privilege [and secrecy].

Other political-news seems to portend another GOP wave election despite BHOs efforts to change
the subject; also, the POTUS-16 race is raging:

A Florida judge ruled Friday that the state's reconfigured congressional map will take
effect for the 2016 elections, a victory for Republicans that allows this year's races to
proceed under the existing lines.

Perry was indicted by a Grand Jury that contained one juror who Was an Active Dem
Party Delegate During Proceedings and, indeed, she went to an event with Sen. Kirk
Watson [who was a witness to the grand jury] while serving on the grand jury].

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) named as one of his key foreign policy advisers a controversial
Russia policy expert with deep ties to the Kremlin.

Heritage-Action [Mondays @ 5:30-6:00 e.d.t.; @ Dial-in number: 1-800-757-3718] has highlighted the
Export-Import Bank reauthorization issue regularly, and it may soon become hot [noting it was BHOs
theme of todays radio-address]; partisan messaging has begun in earnest, and its curious to note the
ongoing impact of the Cruz initiative of a year ago against ObamaDontCare:

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz: "We now have it confirmed - electing a
Republican Senate majority would put us back on the road to another shutdown."
Leader Nancy Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill: "Republicans in Congress have yet to
learn from their temper tantrum that shut down the government for 16 days and cost
the American economy $24 billion last year in October." DSCC fundraising email #1:
"This morning, Mitch McConnell revealed that if Republicans take the Senate, he'll force
President Obama to bend to his will by shutting down the government -- AGAIN!" DSCC
fundraising email #2: "McConnell's plan? Give President Obama an ultimatum: either
sign off on extreme policies like repealing Obamacare or shut down the government."

Nope, it's the Dems fault: Rep. Paul Ryan preemptively reacted to Senate Democrats
who are mulling attaching something like, say, the Ex-Im Bank to a spending bill next
month. "We will pass a clean [continuing resolution], and if for some reason the
Democrats don't take that, then they will clearly have shut the government down ... it
will be patently obvious ... that they are playing politics with this, and trying to trigger a
shutdown so they can blame us, but we're really blameless in this particular situation."

Messaging is a challenge, and it is advised that this podcast be viewed as a media-achievement:

Ross Schriftmans 45-minute interview on WFYL was previously hyperlinked from the
radio stations website, but it has been isolated for easier-access; as previously hyped,
this was a model presentation, for he both conveyed key-points succinctly and was
equipped to elaborate philosophicallygentlywhen the opportunity was provided.
According to what he reported @ the Tea Party Patriots meeting a week ago, hes going
to be invited-back, perhaps in no small measure to his ability to frame conservatism in a
lingo that was felt to be palatable to an audience that, @ 9 a.m., was poised to listen to
Laura Ingraham. He didnt evade social-issues as he focused on BHOs Big Government.

Cable-News focuses on Ferguson, as the NEW YORK TIMES BURIED NEWS OF OFFICER WILSON'S INJURY
because the MSM and DEMS EXPLOIT MICHAEL BROWN'S DEATH TO KEEP 'BLACK PEOPLE PISSED OFF';
meanwhile, promptly upon arrival, without detailing what he had done, potentially, to be provocative,
Holder recalled being hassled by cops. Amazingly [perhaps not so amazingly], Prosecutors Have
Not Spoken to Darren Wilson, Don Lemon Does Not Know The Difference Between A Semi-Automatic
And Fully Automatic Gun, a TEACHER MADE SIXTH-GRADERS RE-ENACT THE DEATH OF MICHAEL
BROWN, and Al Sharpton became Obamas go-to man on race. {Also, it has been alleged that AG-Holder
contributed funds to Fergusons gang population as incentive to loot and spread civil unrest in the area;
these angry, government-sponsored terrorists have systematically infiltrated peaceful protests with the
intention of escalating the situation and inciting riots.} Thus, Under Obama, Blacks are beginning to see
that there is racial hope but no change.

Meanwhile, culture-wars continued apace [High School Student Suspended For Saying
'Bless You' After Classmate Sneezed; PALIN RESPONDED TO DAWKINS' CALL TO ABORT
DOWN'S SYNDROME BABIES; and Federal judge struck-down Florida's ban on same-sex
marriage]. Finally, anyone who grew-up adoring SNL will want to check-out a BOOK that
cites revelations that [1]Obama Had Muslim-Themed 'SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE' Sketch
Killed, [2]an 'Entitled' Hillary Canceled Show at Last Minute [and was replaced by
BHO], and [3] Lorne Michaels is allegedly 'more conservative than he lets on.'

BHO also continues to fail to enforce the law [DREAMer Who Killed Two Girls In Hit And Run Won't Be
Deported] as the border remains unstable [Illegals Hiding from Border Patrol Started Massive Fire on
Texas Ranch] and DNC-Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz incredibly claims deporting children detained at
the border is sending them to certain death. Pressured, the TSA Admitted Illegal Aliens are Allowed to
Fly Without Verifiable ID and an Interactive Map depicts Where Feds Let Go Convicted Killer Illegals [as a
Group Identified Towns Associated with Releases of Immigrants Convicted of Homicide]; as Obama
weighs executive action to bring 800,000 foreign workers into USA, Perry Said Terrorists Could Enter
USA via Mexico. Note that Rich Lowry, the editor of National Review, denounced Republican elites and
their high-priced consultants in the permanent political class for pushing amnesty legislation by
perpetuating the myth that there are so many jobs that American workers won't do; also, Majority of
Likely Voters Say Illegal Migrants Should Not Enroll in Public School.

The following hyperlinks were provided by Tea Party Patriots, focused on Illegals:

Tea Party News Network: Paul Ryan 'the Betrayer'

74% Oppose Executive Amnesty, but White House Threatens Anyway; most Americans,
including key voters like independents and Hispanics, oppose the Presidents plan to
fundamentally transform immigration laws.

Obamas executive amnesty endgame has been elucidated by Tea Party Patriots co-
founder Jenny Beth Martin; she explored the hubris and strategy behind Obamas threat
to grant amnesty through unilateral executive action.

Second Illegal Immigrant Wave may soon Crash on Dems; over the last several months,
more than 60,000 children and 240,000 adults have entered the United States illegally,
causing an unprecedented strain on our borders resources [indeed, the entire USA].

A Group without a Lobbyist is the American Worker; This Administration is actively
working against the interests of the American worker, thundered Senator Jeff Sessions
of Alabama.

Obama Administration was hit with transparency lawsuit; the most transparent
administration [10 cabinet agencies, the Internal Revenue Service and the White
House] was sued by the government watchdog group Cause of Action.

Obamacare Killing Enrollees, One Glitch at a Time; the goal of Nevadas healthcare
exchange, established under Obamacare, was to enroll 118,000 residents but, due to
unforeseen problems, only 38,000 enrolled.

Obama did not attend the funeral of Major General Harold Greene in Arlington National
Cemetery, who was killed in Kabul[2]; BHO played golf.

Big Government: Another Self Inflicted Wound for the GOP

Forbes: Tackling The Real Unemployment Rate: 12.6%

DC Examiner: Guatemala's human smuggling network is big business for 'coyotes'

Statewide, Corbett said he kept no-new tax pledge the 'best I can' and, noting the pension-debate,
LABOR DAY PARADE ORGANIZERS said CORBETT is NOT WELCOME; recognizing that Job #1 for next PA
governor is A huge budget gap, it was announced that the FIRST gubernatorial DEBATE is IN 1 MONTH.
Related to the pension-debate is the fact that Carbondale officials violated state law when they
encouraged four city police officers to retire last year by sweetening their pension benefits, as per state
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, while Turzai is looking to House Dems for talks on pension reform;
related to internal GOP-strife is the fact that, Amid protests, the Lebanon GOP committee voted to
withhold spending in Diamond race.

Two crimes in Philly received national attention, noting that neither victim was armed:
a Violent, Unprovoked Attack Inside a Frankford Business, and a Violent Assault on a
Temple Univ. Jewish Student. Also, a Pittsburgh mom and her daughter were shot and a
Philly man gunned down a would-be thief, and a 73-Year-Old Woman Shot an Alleged
Burglar Through Bedroom Door, Chasing Him Out Of House. Meanwhile, Mayor
Emanuel claimed Chicago is not the murder capital because statistics that show that
violent crime is down in 2014.

These issues are of acute interest noting that Lee Stanley, Congregation
Rodeph Shaloms Unofficial Historian, was Murdered in his home on
Mole St. [a few yards east of Friends Select School, which I attended for
2-6 grades]; I grew-up with him, his father [Cantor Harry] tutored me
prior to my Bar Mitzvah, and Lee wouldnt have known how to hurt a
flylet alone defend himself from being beaten-to-death.

People must be allowed to have guns, as is noted by Chris Cheng [who explains how
sacrificing our privacy to government databases can be exploited and used for
discrimination, initiating his brief video by noting that Russians asked Jews to register
their firearms when they invaded East Ukraine] and by Colion Noir [who discussed how
he carries a weapon simply to protect himself, providing his brief video while sporting a
Phillies-Cap and claiming he likens being able to handle such contingencies just as he
carries Altoids in case he feels he has halitosis].

I continue to worry that Corbett remains vulnerable each/every time the Sandusky affair is viewed as
newsworthy; boosters can claim We are (still) Penn State [per Robert C. Jubelirer] and it can be
observed that a volcano threatened the UCF [Univ. of Central Florida] vs. Penn State opener in Ireland,
but legal maneuvers are now so secretive that No news is, well, no news. On the other hand, although
the Sandusky cover-up case is unusually shrouded, it was announced that lawyers for former Penn State
President Graham Spanier and top administrators Gary Schultz and Tim Curley maintain their clients are
innocent and were misled by then-university general counsel and former state Supreme Court Justice
Cynthia Baldwin about her role as legal adviser when they went before a state grand jury. I have been
blogging extensively regarding this electoral concern on PoliticsPA during the past two years and have
been attacking her because [reportedly] she also repeatedly misled the Board of Trustees during 2011
[denying there was a problem both to individuals and to the group, prior to 11/2011].

It is necessary to note the ethical problem that has arisen regarding Breitbarts Joel
Pollak, a problem that I sensed [and voiced contemporaneously] years ago when he
spoke @ a Republican Jewish Coalition meeting to promote one of his books; he would
not commit to confronting Iran militarily [during a chat over munchies @ a center-city
lawfirm], although he has been generally a good-guy; I subsequently sent him a few
typo-edits of his tome. Ryan has been a squish on Illegals and promoted a budget that
encompassed ObamaDontCare. Furthermore, in this instance, Pollak praised Ryan
without divulging his having supported Pollaks congressional campaign; note this letter:

Pollak was a Democrat until eight years ago and voted for Gore, Kerry
and B. Hussein Obama! "I was then a raving Democrat, he told me in a
telephone interviewPollak went to South Africa on a fellowship. He
stayed to tutor in the impoverished township of Khayelitsha, continuing
to believe that the role of government is to transform the lives of the
disadvantaged. He voted for Schakowsky, for Gore and Kerry for
president, and, in 2004, for Barack Obama for the Senate."

Paul Ryan was the "main attraction" at a fundraiser for Pollak's House
campaign! ["Paul Ryan fires up a packed Chicago Crowd for Joel Pollak"
"September 1, 2010" "Blogging from Chicago" "Wisconsin Congressman
Paul Ryan was the main attraction for 400 Joel Pollak supporters who
packed the Four Seasons Hotel Ballroom to financially support his
campaign for the 9th District congressional seat in Illinois." "Joel Pollak
was very pleased of the results of the fundraiser which netted over
$150,000."

Why shun Paul Ryan? Because he has sold out the Conservative base
to curry favor with Boehner and the rest of the Chamber of Commerce
shills. When you sell out the Middle Class by favoring cheap jobs for
illegals, you're done in my book. He talks about doing it to get workers
for Wisconsin dairy farms, yet we all know that the big money he is after
is not based on that. It's about cheap labor for Silicon Valley and
Chamber of Commerce crony capitalists. I guess he's just decided it's
comfortable to be one of them.

Noting that Ingraham said the Amnesty Push is 'The End of the Road' for Paul Ryan,
there is now a definable chink in the armor of Breitbart; lets see what happens next.

To close by addressing another journalism-problem, Politico's Dylan Byers Failed to Mention the Obvious
About Fareed Zakaria, alleged plagiarism in his best-selling book [constituting a third-round of issues].
{Also, Al Jazeera America Staffers are Rattled By Layoffs and Catastrophic Ratings.}




Continuing the process of providing extensive well-written and insightful memos which arent uploaded
onto the Internet, consider these excerpts from Jim Geraghty:

Look at the response from . . . Chris Matthews:

"I don't know why he used the word 'justice.' It's not appropriate here. This is an attack
on our country, we have to react to it," an upset Chris Matthews reacted to a video
excerpt of President Obama's statement today about the beheading by an ISIS member
of American freelance journalist James Foley.

"This is our country versus this group that's declared war on us. What's justice mean in
this con I don't know why the word's used, like we're going to go to the World Court
with this?!" Matthews sneered to guest Howard Fineman of the Huffington Post Media
Group on the August 20 edition of Hardball. Later in the segment, an irate Matthews
insisted "no American president can survive if he lets Americans be beheaded on
international television with impunity. Impunity! He has to strike back, as an American,
it's in our soul!"

Or Maureen Dowd, souring on Obama so thoroughly:
His circle keeps getting more inner. He golfs with aides and jocks, and he spent his one
evening back in Washington from Martha's Vineyard at a nearly five-hour dinner at the
home of a nutritional adviser and former White House assistant chef, Sam Kass . . .
The extraordinary candidate turns out to be the most ordinary of men, frittering away
precious time on the links. Unlike L.B.J., who devoured problems as though he were
being chased by demons, Obama's main galvanizing impulse was to get himself elected.
Almost everything else from an all-out push on gun control after the Newtown
massacre to going to see firsthand the Hispanic children thronging at the border to using
his special status to defuse racial tensions in Ferguson just seems like too much
trouble.
The Constitution was premised on a system full of factions and polarization. If you're a
fastidious pol who deigns to heal and deal only in a holistic, romantic, unified utopia, the
Oval Office is the wrong job for you. The sad part is that this is an ugly, confusing and
frightening time at home and abroad, and the country needs its president to illuminate
and lead, not sink into some petulant expression of his aloofness, where he regards
himself as a party of his own and a victim of petty, needy, bickering egomaniacs.
I could quote Mollie Hemingway just about every day, but her thoughts on our response to the Foley
outrage are particularly good. I suspect she's way more skeptical and disinclined towards foreign military
actions than I am, but her "have we thought this through" points are always worth examining. And here
she perfectly isolates that section of Obama's soaring optimistic rhetoric that sets off the BS detector
deep within our brain stem:
That's why they say 3) unbelievably inane things such as, "you're on the wrong side of
history." Or "The future is always won by those who build, not destroy." That is literally
Mickey Mouse philosophy. And I don't mean that in a good way.
President Obama's utopian fantasy of "the future" "always" being "won by those who
build, not destroy" is just obviously and resoundingly false, for better or worse. I mean,
define "future." And define "winning" and "building vs. destroying." Tamerlane had
tremendous success destroying and slaughtering his enemies for most of a century.
And World War II didn't end by building up Nagasaki. There are good winners and bad
winners littered throughout history.
What's more, this "wrong side of history" nonsense is nothing more than a religious
belief in supernatural causality. It implies that history isn't shaped by men but, instead,
by outside inevitable forces that can always be counted on. If this were so, we wouldn't
need to work so hard to raise up good children and fight the evils all around us.
Obama's had this tic for a long time, and what's fascinating is that he clings to it -- bitterly? even after
five and a half years of being president. David Brooks, back in 2008:
Obama speeches almost always have the same narrative arc. Some problem threatens.
The odds are against the forces of righteousness. But then people of good faith unite
and walls come tumbling down. Obama used the word "walls" 16 times in the Berlin
speech, and in 11 of those cases, he was talking about walls coming down.
The Berlin blockade was thwarted because people came together. Apartheid ended
because people came together and walls tumbled. Winning the cold war was the same:
"People of the world," Obama declared, "look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a
continent came together and history proved there is no challenge too great for a world
that stands as one."
Representative Mike Pompeo, (R., Kan), a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, West
Point graduate, and former Army cavalry officer, is . . . somewhat less than inspired by the president's
response so far:
"The President is correct that terrorist groups like ISIS don't belong in the 21st Century
and that we must be relentless to see that justice is done. But there is another, even
greater reason the United States must take action: To prevent more Americans from
being killed. The President is wrong to continue to downplay this threat by saying that
ISIS is claiming to be at war with America merely out of expediency, or that ISIS is
motivated by sheer 'nihilism.' This is not a "J.V. team," as the President has put it. ISIS is
an army of cold-blooded killers motivated by radical Islam. They continue their march,
uninterrupted, to convert by the sword, kill Christians and other religious minorities,
and expand their control of the Middle East. The Iraqis have already demonstrated that
they cannot stop them on their own. The President's current path of action has been far
too limited to make a difference. We must do what is necessary to eliminate ISIS,
protect the innocent, and keep Americans safe."
Clip and save this comment from Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst: "ISIS is surely a major problem
for Iraq, and its tactics and strategy are abhorrent, as demonstrated by the beheading of American
journalist James Foley, its use of crucifixions and its genocidal attacks on the small Yazidi minority. But
that doesn't mean it is a serious threat to the American homeland."
Maybe he's right.
Or maybe he's wrong.
*
President Obama Doesn't Care What We Think About His Golfing
After that brutal New York Daily News cover Thursday afternoon, hitting him for going golfing right after
his remarks about the beheading of an American, President Obama responded Thursday afternoon . . .
by going golfing.
President Obama doesn't care if the optics are bad. He doesn't care if there's an awful contrast because
U.K. prime minister David Cameron canceled his vacation plans. He doesn't care if he's getting grief from
once-stalwart fans like Chris Matthews and Maureen Dowd. He doesn't are if congressional Democrats
are openly griping about his lack of interest and disconnect in the New York Times, and he doesn't care if
senior Democrats are declaring that he's completely checked out of his presidency other than attending
fundraisers.
He doesn't care what any of us think.
There are times when resisting the cries of the crowd can be an act of courage. It is brave to stay true to
your own conscience and judgment in the face of howls of outrage. Paraphrasing that old saying, "One
man with a conviction is a New Jersey Democrat majority."
But I'm not sure "I'm entitled to this time off, and I don't care what anybody says," is the right line to
draw in the sand. And we've already seen what happens to President Obama's other red lines.

(Speaking of red lines, next time you hear someone bragging that the U.S. forced Bashir Assad to destroy
all of his chemical weapons, remind them that they only gave up their illegal chemical weapons and that
there is such a thing as legal chemical weapons: "International weapons inspectors have issued
preliminary findings that chlorine gas was used in a 'systematic manner' in Syria this year, long after the
government of President Bashar al-Assad pledged to give up other toxic weapons such as sarin.")
It's not just the number of rounds of golf. It's that Obama's actions subsequent to his bold words
demonstrate that he doesn't really mean anything he's saying.
Back when I came up with the "All statements from Barack Obama come with an expiration date, all of
them" rule, my aim wasn't quite to say Obama is a pathological liar. (Admittedly, you're free to draw
that conclusion from the record.) In many cases, Obama probably meant what he said when he said it . .
. but then, at some future point, keeping his word became difficult. And he conveniently forgot about his
pledge. For example, Obama was probably perfectly fine with the idea of accepting public financing and
its attached spending limits in 2008 until the moment he realized or was informed he would be giving up
one of his campaign advantages. So he came up with some nonsense about how his campaign's
fundraising success amounts to a "parallel public financing structure" and thus he didn't need to accept
the spending limits.
Most of us look at that and say, "Hey, you broke your promise." Obama would pat us on the head and
tell us it's complicated. He likes to tell us, and probably himself, that he's a pragmatist. He's just looking
for what works, and keeping a promise that now looks disadvantageous just doesn't "work," or, to use
one of his hackneyed phrases, "just doesn't make sense." He's got a country to fundamentally
transform. Omelettes, broken eggs, etc. He hand-waves away the little detail that he's proven himself
someone willing to break his word in order to get what he wants and in fact is echoing all of the "cynical
voices" he campaigned against his whole life.
You recall Obama's exhausted "we will not rest" pledge, deployed after every crisis. Even when he gives
a decent delivery of his remarks, like he did Wednesday, talking about how relentless and determined
the U.S. government is . . . afterwards, it's back to the links. There's no action that follows; no
emergency meetings or summits, no new deployment of military resources to the region. Business as
usual. Does anyone really believe his pledges of relentlessness anymore? Does the Islamic State?
I suppose someone will say, "The president golfing shows the terrorists can't shake him out of his
routine." What's so vital about that routine that an interruption of it constitutes a terrorist victory?