Barack Obama -- April 22, 2009

April 22, 2009

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Obama once dressed as
a Somali elder. Now he has
to kill Somali pirates.

event	description
Proof Somali Pirate Eligible To Be Tried As Adult	The sole surviving pirate from an attack on an American cargo ship off the Somali coast will be tried as an adult. Click HERE to see the absolute and incontrovertible proof that Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse is eligible for trial as an adult -- thanks Irish.
Obama Muddles Torture Message	Politico says that Obama’s attempt to project legal and moral clarity on coercive CIA interrogation methods has instead done the opposite -- creating confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right. In the most recent instance, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged in a memo to the intelligence community that Bush-era interrogation practices yielded had "high-value information," then omitted that admission from a public version of his assessment. That leaves a top Obama administration official appearing to validate claims by former Vice President Dick Cheney that waterboarding and other techniques the White House regards as torture were effective in preventing terrorist attacks. And the press release created the impression the administration was trying to suppress this conclusion. The president, who has said he wants to focus on the future rather than litigate the past, also opened himself to distraction and attack by retracting the earlier assurance by top officials that they had no plans to prosecute lawyers for former President George W. Bush who approved the "enhanced interrogation" program. A Democratic strategist close to the White House said that Obama, "looked resolute, and like he had threaded the needle perfectly on the substance. The heat from the right was preposterous, and the heat from the left was manageable. But now they look like the scarecrow, pointing in both directions. They got the policy right, but they look confused and beaten down by critics." The implications go beyond a typical Washington spat over "message control." Obama’s moves virtually guarantee a sharp public focus on two uncomfortable questions that his team previously sought to leave vague: • Should people be tried and even sent to prison -- as many Democrats want -- for what Obama regards as illegal practices under Bush? • Even if wrong, did those practices have any positive results in stopping new attacks? Obama’s own statements are murky on both questions. Obama has no problem, whatsoever, in releasing TOP SECRET government documents but he continues to fight the release of his birth certificate, education records, medical records and a boatload of other records that he should have to release. Definition of Top Secret -- "Containing information whose unauthorized disclosure would pose the gravest threat to national security." Am I to interpret that definition to mean, that if released by an incompetent, but authorized, government official, it doesn't pose a grave threat? Who says affirmative action isn't a wonderful thing?
Interrogations Prevented Los Angeles Attack	If you live in L.A. and didn't die in a terrorist attack, you may owe it to the CIA's use of the "enhanced interrogation techniques" that are currently under fire from Obama and his left-wing constituents. In a compelling Op-Ed in Tuesday's Washington Post, Marc A. Thiessen disproves Barack Obama's hollow claim that such techniques "did not make us safer." Rather than following the MSM lead and merely parroting the Obots talking points after the release of previously-classified memos this week, Thiessen actually examined the documents. Thiessen concludes that Obama's contention is "patently false. The proof is in the memos Obama made public -- in sections that have gone virtually unreported in the media." "...that have gone virtually unreported in the media." No surprise there. The legacy media has proved to be singularly un-inquisitive when it comes to facts that get in the way of Obama talking points. Thiessen specifically refers to a May, 2005 memo regarding two top al Qaeda operatives, Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah: "the CIA believes 'the intelligence acquired from these interrogations has been a key reason why al Qaeda has failed to launch a spectacular attack in the West since 11 September 2001.' . . . In particular, the CIA believes that it would have been unable to obtain critical information from numerous detainees, including Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM) and Abu Zubaydah, without these enhanced techniques... Before the CIA used enhanced techniques ... KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, 'Soon you will find out.'" But once the enhanced techniques were used, "interrogations have led to specific, actionable intelligence, as well as a general increase in the amount of intelligence regarding al Qaeda and its affiliates." In other words, the techniques worked when previous interrogation methods had failed. "as Abu Zubaydah himself explained with respect to enhanced techniques, 'brothers who are captured and interrogated are permitted by Allah to provide information when they believe they have reached the limit of their ability to withhold it in the face of psychological and physical hardship." The CIA documents reveal specifically that the enhanced techniques: "led to the discovery of a KSM plot, the 'Second Wave,' 'to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into' a building in Los Angeles... information obtained from KSM also led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemmah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the 'Second Wave.'" Further, the memo states that KSM might never have been captured, and the information he revealed never learned, without enhanced interrogation techniques used against Zubaydah. "...Zubaydah -- again, once enhanced techniques were employed -- furnished detailed information regarding al Qaeda's 'organizational structure, key operatives, and modus operandi' and identified KSM as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks." The 'Second Wave' attack planned by KSM, thwarted by the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, would have hijacked a jetliner and crashed it into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building on the West Coast. Thiessen points out, "without enhanced interrogations, there could be a hole in the ground in Los Angeles to match the one in New York." But the impact would have been far worse than the physical devastation to L.A and the resultant thousands of casualties. The nation was reeling after 9/11, deadly anthrax was being delivered through the mail, the economy was in trouble. A follow-up attack on the West Coast would have meant that, potentially, no one was safe. The effect would have been devastating. Even Obama's hand-picked CIA Director, has admitted that he might consent to enhanced interrogation techniques under a "ticking time bomb" scenario. And that is exactly the scenario in which the techniques were used during the Bush administration. Oh, and one more thing -- Congress, including some of its loudest Democratic critics, approved of these "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Obama’s Leap To Socialism	Obama showed his hand this week when The New York Times wrote that he is considering converting the stock the government owns in our country’s banks from preferred stock, which it now holds, to common stock. This seemingly insignificant change is momentous. It means that the federal government will control all of the major banks and financial institutions in the nation. It means socialism. The Times dutifully dressed up the Obama plan as a way to avoid asking Congress for more money for failing banks. But the implications of the proposal are obvious to anyone who cares to look. When the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) intervention was first outlined by the Bush administration, it did not call for any transfer of stock, of any sort, to the government. The Democrats demanded, as a price for their support, that the taxpayers "get something back" for the money they were lending to the banks. House Republicans, wise to what was going on, rejected the administration’s proposal and sought, instead, to provide insurance to banks, rather than outright cash. Their plan would, of course, not involve any transfer of stock. But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) undercut his own party’s conservatives and went along with the Democratic plan, ensuring its passage. But to avoid the issue of a potential for government control of the banks, everybody agreed that the stock the feds would take back in return for their money would be preferred stock, not common stock. "Preferred" means that these stockholders get the first crack at dividends, but only common stockholders can actually vote on company management or policy. Now, by changing this fundamental element of the TARP plan, Obama will give Washington a voting majority among the common stockholders of these banks and other financial institutions. The almost 500 companies receiving TARP money will be, in effect, run by Washington. And whoever controls the banks controls the credit and, therefore, the economy. That’s called socialism. Continue reading here . . .
From Supremacy To Adequacy	U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, spoke on the Senate Floor Monday delivering a detailed review of Obama's proposed cuts to the Department of Defense (DoD) budget. "I come to the Senate Floor today to speak out of great concern that we are heading down a dangerous road leading to the gutting of our military and settling for 'adequacy' versus 'supremacy,'" Senator Inhofe said on the Senate Floor. "I first made my concerns known in a YouTube video posted from Afghanistan immediately following the announcement by the Obama administration. My concerns drew an interesting reaction from the left. Not only did they say I was wrong to say that there were proposed cuts to the budget, they actually said that Obama proposed to increase the budget. I must confess it is a rare day when liberals actually claim to support increasing our nation's military. "The problem is the left is focused on one number -- one piece of military spending -- when we need to look the total Defense Budget -- what DoD actually spends on all its operations and how that money is used to maintain our military capabilities. In actuality, thanks to Obama, overall defense spending has been cut by $10.7B in FY09 and will be cut again in FY10 based on projected inflation and potential use of what is being called 'Overseas Contingency Funds.' Perhaps this is the new term for our Global War on Terror. "We have reached a crossroads where we will choose to either invest in the modernization and readiness of our military or mistakenly 'kick the can down the road' once more. Based on the projected defense budget for the next ten years, it looks like this administration is taking us down a path that leads to a weaker military that is poorly equipped. "The Obama budget of social welfare will triple the public debt in 10 years. We have already spent almost $2 trillion. The $700B for the Bank Bailout, that we now know was Tim Geithner's plan, was simply thrown away. The October 2008 vote gave $700B to an unelected bureaucrat to spend with no restrictions or accountability. Yet, all we need is an additional $28B for defense in FY10 to adequately fund our military. "My fellow Oklahoman Congressman Tom Cole said it best, 'Throughout his campaign and during his short tenure as President, he has made it clear that he believes his charm and eloquence are adequate substitutes for a strong military. That will not work.'" But, Jim, Obama is only doing what he said he would do during the campaign -- video.
Obama's Jugend	Yesterday, Obama signed a huge expansion of his "youth brigades" legislation when he signed into law the "GIVE Act," H.R. 1388. This bill provides for the massive expansion of the National Service Corporation and allocates to it billions of dollars. One of the program's executives says it will allow for the management of up to eight or nine million people. The Obama File has been tracking Obama's plans to assemble such a corps ever since Obama told a campaign stop in Colorado Springs in 2008 that he wants a "Civilian National Security Force" as big and as well-funded as the U.S. military. H.R. 1388 includes a National Service Reserve Corps whose members have completed a term of national service, training and not less than 10 hours of volunteering each year. In a conference call with WorldNewsDaily.com reporters, Alan Solomont, the chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, said the 75,000 current members of the AmericCorps program "leverage" about 2.2 million volunteers, and the total of all such volunteers who are managed through the federal program total about four million. He said the possibility with the expanded authorization and funding means that up to eight or nine million could be involved. "If we triple the size of AmeriCorps from 75,000 members to 250,000 members annually, and if we -- if those 75,000 AmeriCorps members are currently engaging 2.2. million volunteers a year, we could triple that to 6.6 million volunteers, 250,000 AmeriCorps members. So I think -- you can do the math -- I think that was about six or seven million, and then we have another half a million in Senior Corps and another million or so in Learn and Serve America [for children]," he said. And he's not counting the people in Obama's Public Allies, nor those trained in the many Camp Obamas. Congress is also considering a "public service academy, a four-year institution that offers a federally funded undergraduate education with a focus on training future public sector leaders." Joseph Farah, warns, that if we're going to create some kind of national police force as big, powerful and well-funded as our combined U.S. military forces, isn't this rather a big deal? I thought Democrats generally believed the U.S. spent too much on the military. How is it possible their guy is seeking to create some kind of massive but secret national police force that will be even bigger than the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force put together? Is Obama serious about creating some kind of domestic security force bigger and more expensive than that? If not, why did he say it? What did he mean? Melody Barnes, director of the White House domestic policy council, confirmed the plan was in response to Obama's demand for civilian service during his campaign. "That's certainly something that the president has spoken about. And he started his call around nation service publicly during the course of the campaign when he talked about the fact that government cannot be a solution to all of our problems, and we have to work together," she said. Officials said there also are specific programs for seniors and children to become involved in the government operation, and the plan goes far beyond just working on planting trees or addressing storm damage. "The bill provides the opportunity for a social innovation fund," said one official, that will allow the government to pursue changes in health care, energy and education -- Obama's trifecta. Judi McLeod wrote for Canada Free Press that the bill simply would turn everybody into a community organizer. "Everybody means the roughly seven million people called to public duty in the $6 billion National Service effort," she said. "But members pressed into the service of the one million-strong Youth Brigade, sanctioned by 'Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE),' will have none of the freedoms of the community organizer who started it all. "There's no room for God in Obama's long promised Youth Brigade, no room to protest, petition, to boycott or to support a strike, and loopholes to give its mandatory membership a pass," she wrote. "Obama's plan requires anyone receiving school loans, among others to serve at least three months as part of the brigade." Gary Wood at Examiner.com said it's part of Obama's plan to set up national service. He noted the explanation offered by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel: "It's time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service." This is nothing more than one, big, government-funded indoctrination program -- Obama intends to create his own Jugend.