Shocked

Human Events

by  Oliver North

01/12/2010

On Wednesday, national security adviser Gen. James Jones warned that we would feel “a certain shock” at revelations in a White House report on what the Obama administration is calling the “failed Christmas terrorist attack.” He was referring to the breakdowns that allowed a 23-year-old Nigerian-born, al-Qaida-trained suicide terrorist to nearly bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit. But the stunning information isn’t learning “what did we know and when did we know it” leading up to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempt to detonate a bomb concealed in his underwear. The greatest cause for alarm is in what has happened since.

On Thursday evening — after multiple delays — the president stood before a teleprompter in the State Dining Room of the White House to deliver brief “Remarks on Strengthening Intelligence and Aviation Security.” He took no questions.

Then, in a “news blitz” that continued on and off the record for more than two hours, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, John Brennan, assistant to the president for counterterrorism, and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs provided additional details on what went wrong and the “reforms and corrective steps” needed to prevent a recurrence. Though the so-called mainstream media showered the presentations with accolades, little of what was said Thursday was reassuring. Some of it was downright disingenuous.

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Discovering who Obama is

Argus Leader

Jan. 12, 2010

In 2006 and when President Obama was on his world apology tour, he stated that America is not a Christian nation and that we are one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. Both these statements are false.

Obama claims he was born in Hawaii, yet he refuses to show America a legitimate long-form birth certificate and his college records. What happened to transparency?

In his book “Dreams from My Father,” Obama stated: “To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully.” The more politically active black students, foreign students, Chicanos, Marxist professors, structural feminists and punk-rock performance poets.

In his book “The Audacity of Hope,” Obama stated: “I will stand with the Muslims and Arabic immigrants if the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”

Obama issued an executive order halting military commissions, which resulted in charges being dropped against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of planning terrorists attacks against Americans, including the USS Cole bombing in which 17 U.S. sailors died. Now, Obama is bringing terrorists to the United States to be tried in our civilian courts rather than our military courts, which has many of those who lost loved ones on 9-11 upset.

Obama has broken many campaign promises from hiring lobbyists to not airing the health care reform debate on C-SPAN or placing spending bills on recovery.gov five days before signing them.

On the Oprah Christmas special, Obama gave himself a strong B+ for job approval and will give himself an A- if Obamacare gets passed. He holds the honor of being rated the worst president in the 11 months he has served as commander in chief. Unfortunately, Americans viewed Obama through the lens they wanted him to be and not who he really is.

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Obama Is Clueless And Shoeless

The Obama File

Walter Olson says voters elected an inexperienced, untested man as President of the United States.  Since Obama’s inauguration (January, ‘09) he has exhibited severe narcissistic tendencies, accomplished little, and shown an alarming propensity for wild spending to appease his liberal/radical base.  Essentially he is clueless about the economy.  He does not grasp the job creating opportunities afforded by free market capitalism.  Conversely, he espouses programs which are anti-business and job killers.

He does not seem to understand that our dependence on foreign oil can be solved by drilling in our country.  We have enough resources to be completely independent within ten years and could create thousands of jobs by drilling now.

He is totally clueless about military strategy and national security.  He refuses to acknowledge that we are at war with ruthless, dangerous terrorists.  His decisions to close Guantanamo and give the 9/11 terrorists a trial in NYC are seriously endangering the safety of U.S. citizens and the brave members of our armed forces.

Obama’s obsession with passing the current Health Reform bill borders on recklessness and an inability to recognize the wishes of the public.

Obama is clueless because he is shoeless.  He has never walked in the executive shoes of great leaders or corporate CEO’s; he has never trod the battlefields in combat boots; nor has he strolled in the scientists laboratories in their prescribed footwear, and never crept into the operating room in booties to view the miracles of medical science applied by wonderful, passionate doctors.

Barack Obama is absolutely unqualified to run our great nation and downright dangerous to our national security.  His administration is the major cause of increasing unemployment numbers and seems obsessed with destroying free market capitalism.

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American Republic replaced by “Council of Governors”?

Canada Free Press

By Judi McLeod  Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Quietly—even stealthily—in the opening days of the New Year, President Barack Obama has set up a “Council of Governors”.

Like the 30-plus czars running America with neither the people’s nor the congress’s blessings, the Council of Governors is already a done deal.

“Is this a first step towards Martial Law, or a tie to the InterPol, RAND National Police Force stuff we’ve been hearing about,” asked a Texas patriot who tipped off Canada Free Press (CFP) after finding news of the new Council of Governors on Twitter.  “Is this a sort of Homeland Security Politburo?

“I do know it’s another sleuth order executed without any announcement, OR EXPLANATION to the People.”

Patriots know by now that the promised Obama “transparency” is a fog.

Checking the Net on the Council of Governors, CFP found other than a few blogs only UPI.com had the story as of this morning:

“President Barack Obama Monday established a panel of state governors to collaborate with Washington on a variety of potential emergencies, the White House said.” (UPI.com, Jan. 11, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.).  “Obama signed an executive order establishing a panel to be known as the Council of Governors, which will be made up of 10 state governors, to be selected by the president to serve two-year terms.  Members will review matters involving the National Guard; homeland defense; civil support; and synchronization and integration of state and federal military activities in the United States, the White House said in a statement.

“The statement said the White House would seek input from governors and governors’ association (sic) in deciding which governors to appoint to the council, which will have no more than five governors from the same party.

“The secretaries of defense and homeland security will also sit on the council, as will presidential assistants for homeland security and counter-terrorism, intergovernmental affairs, the U.S. Northern Command commander, the commander of the East Coast Guard, and the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

“The panel was set up under a provision of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, the White House said.”

There was no timestamp on the latest Emergency Order from Whitehouse.gov, which readers can see below.

The Obama administration seems to be conducting the business of America under cover of the dark.

EXECUTIVE ORDER
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,including section 1822 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-181), and in order to strengthen further the partnership between the Federal Government and State governments to protect our Nation and its people and property, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Council of Governors.
(a) There is established a Council of Governors (Council).The Council shall consist of 10 State Governors appointed by the President (Members), of whom no more than five shall be of the same political party. The term of service for each Member appointed to serve on the Council shall be 2 years, but a Member may be reappointed for additional terms.
(b) The President shall designate two Members, who shall not be members of the same political party, to serve as Co-Chairs of the Council.

Sec. 2. Functions. The Council shall meet at the call of the Secretary of Defense or the Co-Chairs of the Council to exchange views, information, or advice with the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism; the Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement; the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs; the Commander,United States Northern Command; the Chief, National Guard Bureau; the Commandant of the Coast Guard; and other appropriate officials of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, and appropriate officials of other executive departments or agencies as may be designated by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security.Such views, information, or advice shall concern:
(a) matters involving the National Guard of the various States;
(b) homeland defense;
(c) civil support;
(d) synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and
(e) other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities.

Sec. 3. Administration.
(a) The Secretary of Defense shall designate an Executive Director to coordinate the work of the Council.
(b) Members shall serve without compensation for their work on the Council. However, Members shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law.
(c) Upon the joint request of the Co-Chairs of the Council, the Secretary of Defense shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, provide the Council with administrative support,assignment or detail of personnel, and information as may be necessary for the performance of the Council’s functions.
(d) The Council may establish subcommittees of the Council. These subcommittees shall consist exclusively of Members of the Council and any designated employees of a Member with authority to act on the Member’s behalf, as appropriate to aid the Council in carrying out its functions under this order.
(e) The Council may establish a charter that is consistent with the terms of this order to refine further its purpose,scope, and objectives and to allocate duties, as appropriate,among members.

Sec. 4. Definitions. As used in this order:
(a) the term “State” has the meaning provided in paragraph (15) of section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002(6 U.S.C. 101(15)); and
(b) the term “Governor” has the meaning provided in paragraph (5) of section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122(5)).

Sec. 5. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
– (1) the authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; or
– (2) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,January 11, 2010.

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LETTER TO EDITOR: Supreme Court accountablity

Washington Times

I stand amazed at what I am witnessing in our constitutional republic. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the Constitution the rule of law in this nation? Don’t Supreme Court judges take oaths promising to protect and uphold that Constitution from foreign and domestic enemies? If our laws are derived from this text, then what is it called when those laws are ignored? It is called, “breaking the law.”

Our Constitution lays down the eligibility requirements for presidents. One requirement states that the president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen. Now, any reasonable thinking person knows citizenship is proven by one’s birth certificate.

President-elect Barack Obama‘s presentation of a Certification of Live Birth certified that he was born alive but not that he was born in Hawaii. So we have rumors of a Kenyan birth. How do you get to the bottom of rumors? You inquire and investigate.

Our Supreme Court judges are required to uphold our law and get to the bottom of this unnecessary upheaval that Mr. Obama has hurled America into. What’s so hard about producing a real birth certificate? He is challenging our rule of law by refusing to prove his natural-born citizenship and is, therefore, undermining the foundation of our nation.

If our Supreme Court justices continue to deny “hearing” the many lawsuits that they are being presented with concerning Mr. Obama’s citizenship, then they are failing to do their jobs. The law states eligibility through natural-born citizenship is required. It is the court’s duty to get to the bottom of this and hold Mr. Obama accountable to the law.

LONNIE LECZO

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ObamaCare vs. the Constitution

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY
NYPost.com

The health bills in Congress rob you of your constitutional rights. Here are five provisions (of many) that fail the constitutionality test and reveal Congress’s disrespect for the public:* Section 3403 of the Senate health bill, establishing a commission to cut Medicare spending, says the law can’t be changed or repealed in the future. This whopper shows that Congress thinks its work should be set in stone. Wrong. The people always have the right to elect a new Congress to change or repeal what a previous Congress has done.

* A Senate health-bill amendment mysteriously allocates $100 million to an unnamed facility that “shall be affiliated with an academic health center at a public research university in the United States that contains a state’s sole public academic medical and dental school” (Sec. 10502, p. 328-329). Why not name the facility?

Dodd: Got his pork into health bill.

This pork deal was arranged by Sen. Chris Dodd for the University of Connecticut Health Center, although 11 hospitals in the nation technically meet these specifications. If Congress wrote the provision in Polish or Russian to keep the public in the dark, it would be unconstitutional. The language is a deception. The fact that legislators commonly do this makes it more damaging, not less so.

* The bills require you to enroll in a “qualified health plan,” whether you want it or not. Forcing people to buy insurance obviously reduces the number of uninsured. But Congress doesn’t have the authority to force people to buy a product.

Sen. Orin Hatch (R-Nev.) said on the Senate floor, “If Congress may require individuals to purchase a particular good or service . . . We could simply require that Americans buy certain cars . . . for that matter, we could attack the problem of obesity by requiring Americans to buy fruits and vegetables.”

Some Congress members claim the “general welfare clause” of the Constitution empowers them to impose a mandate. But they’re taking the phrase out of context. The Constitution gives Congress power to tax and spend for the general welfare, but not to make other kinds of laws for the general welfare.

The Senate bill (pages 320-324) claims the “interstate commerce” clause of the Constitution gives Congress this authority. But for half a century, states have regulated health insurance. In fact, individuals are barred from buying insurance in any state except where they live, the antithesis of interstate commerce.

Congressional majorities have frequently resorted to the commerce clause to justify their lawmaking. In FDR’s first term, Congress cited it to pass the National Industrial Recovery Act, which gave the federal government power to micromanage local businesses, setting wages and hours and even barring customers from selecting their live chickens at the butcher. Two Brooklyn brothers, owners of Schechter Poultry Corp., a kosher chicken business, challenged that interference. In 1935, the US Supreme Court ruled the NIRA unconstitutional.

In 1995, the high court again admonished Congress against using the commerce clause as a basis for expanded lawmaking, even when the purpose is as worthy as keeping handguns out of a school zone (US v. Lopez). The court ruled that Congress must stick to its enumerated powers and leave states to police school zones (and, perhaps, mandate health insurance).

* Never before has the federal government intruded into decisions made by doctors for privately insured patients, except on narrow issues such as drug safety. Nothing in the Constitution permits it. But the Senate bill makes you enroll in a plan and then says that only doctors who do what the government dictates can be paid by your plan.

“Qualified plans” can contract only with a doctor who “implements such mechanisms to improve health-care quality as the [current or future] secretary [of Health and Human Services] may by regulation require” (Sec. 1311, p. 148-49). That covers all of medicine, from heart care to child birth, stents to mammograms.

* Finally, the “takings clause” of the Fifth Amendment bars government from taking your property without compensation. It should protect everyone, no matter how unpopular — even insurance companies, but Congress ignored it in writing the health bill. The Senate version goes beyond reining in insurance-company abuses, a just cause, and actually caps insurance-company profit margins at well below current levels, robbing shareholders.

Next year, Congress could impose similar caps on profit margins of bodegas, pizzerias and grocers, by arguing that food — also a necessity — is too expensive. Your business could be next.

In 2010, ordinary citizens will have to stand up for their constitutional rights, just as the Schechter brothers did 75 years ago. Congress members swear to uphold the Constitution, but it appears many are ignorant of what it says. They should be mandated to take a course, as pilots and doctors are. Congress needs to be reminded that the Constitution defines and limits its powers.

Betsy McCaughey, a former New York lieutenant governor, is author of “Government by Choice: Inventing the United States Constitution.”

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Obama’s Visa Policies Increase Islamic Immigration to the U.S.A.

DIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS VISAS INCREASE FROM ISLAMIC TERROR-SPONSORING NATIONS

The Post & E-Mail

News Summary by Harry Hunter

U.S. Increases Religious and Diversity Visas

(Jan. 9, 2010) — If the hellish Islamic terrorist attack of 9-11-2001 taught us anything, it should have taught us that handing out visas to Islamic immigrants is dangerous to our health.  Pamela Geller has been studying that lesson at her website Atlas Shrugs, and it appears that Barack Obama did not learn the lesson very well.

On January 8, Ms. Geller posted “Atlas Exclusive:  Diversity and Religious Visas Continue to Increase from Islamic Terror Sponsoring Nations,” in which she documents the Obama administration’s loosening of visa regulations for immigrants with Islamic backgrounds.  First, Muslim-fathered, Muslim-educated Obama relaxed the rules for religious visas:

Obama wasted no time in opening up the visa regulations when he took office last year, beginning with “religious visas.” Before, whoever wanted to enter as a supposed ‘missionary’ needed to demonstrate his/her affiliation with a religious institution for at least two years. Obama changed it to almost no proof at all.

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