Monday, August 11, 2014

BloggeRhythms

By far, the most consistent factor regarding the incumbent's administration is its continual practice of doing nothing at all in almost every aspect of governance. In fact, in news conferences and interviews, when faced with questions about problems or unsatisfactory developments on most subjects, large or small, the incumbent’s most frequent response is a claim of not knowing what had happened until he’d seen the topic come up in the news.
 
Yet, despite the continuing practice of burying his head in the sand and ignoring existing and potential problems, doesn’t mean that those problems aren’t really there. And, just because speeches are frequently made to impress, build and pander to a political base to the contrary, doesn’t mean that the threats to the nation or the existence of its enemies aren’t real. 
 
Furthermore, while his continuing attempts of trying to “don’t do stupid stuff” may make sense in general, in his case the practice seems to be to never do anything at all.
 
That' why the situation today in Iraq is hardly surprising whereas, regardless of truly assessing that nation’s military capability and political landscape, a campaign promise was fulfilled, regardless. So, instead of actually determining how the U.S. troop withdrawal would be replaced and by whom, that nation was left vulnerable to the ISIS troops occupying almost half of it now.  
 
Nonetheless, though, is the ludicrous fact that even after seeing the debacle caused by withdrawal of U.S. troops, the scrambling effort to help the Kurds with airstrikes is “creating another tricky issue for Democrats," according to Chris Stirewalt of Fox News on-line. "With many Americans wary of greater U.S. involvement in Iraq and Syria," Stirewalt wrote, "there was no rush by vulnerable Senate Democrats this week to put out statements on the airstrikes. It remains to be seen whether they will forcefully back the president’s actions on the campaign trail or try to focus more on other topics.”
 
Which means that in the face of the current crisis in Iraq, instead of telling the truth and even attempting to explain to their voting base why our military support is needed in that nation now, politics still far outweighs the realities of terrorist threats to the world, which should be an impeachable offense.
 
Even Bill Clinton’s wife, in an interview this week,  took issue with the situation that’s been created and “unloaded on her former boss’s “failure to help build up a credible fighting force,” creating a “vacuum” filled by the extremists now wreaking havoc in the region.”
 
In her case, though, while trying to differentiate herself from the incumbent’s foreign policy position, her “criticism is a reversal from her 2009 Senate confirmation testimony, in which she embraced as her own an Obama vision that was conspicuously lacking specific principles.”
 
Additionally, in what amounts to quadruple-talk, “Clinton aides described the interview as one intended to promote her memoir… and not part of an overarching political strategy related to 2016,” according to Politico.
 
However, “White House deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, publicly responded to criticism from Hillary Clinton of Barack Obama's foreign policy back in June, just as Hillary's book tour was starting up. Rhodes said, "On the broad thrust of our foreign policy, she was fully on board. It would have been strange if she wrote a book in which she agreed with every single thing we did. There are also going to be places where she is going to have differences.”
 
On another issue, David Martosko, U.S. Political Editor for dailymail.co.uk writes that, “A flame-throwing American conservative activist (James O'Keefe) raised eyebrows in the U.S. on Monday by releasing a video of himself crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas.”
 
While tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America have entered the U.S. illegally in recent months, in Monday's video release, O'Keefe focuses on the implications for national security.
 
At the same time, “The official White House website includes a claim that 'today border security is stronger than it has ever been.” 
 
But O'Keefe told MailOnline that his "stunt proves the federal government's policy is lax and needs a dramatic overhaul. President Obama is trying to deny the obvious. We proved that border security is national security. The fence is not complete. The border is not secure. In fact, the video shows the border fence is a joke, and “'The primary responsibility of the commander-in-chief is to protect the homeland.”
 
And what’s even worse, “He illegally crosses into Mexico twice and returns – first in street clothes and again in army fatigues, wearing an Osama bin Laden Halloween mask.”
 
O'Keefe said in conclusion, “With a single trip to the border, we proved that President Obama and Congress have failed miserably and are misleading America.”
 
Which leads to another very questionable statement about leadership, this one from Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who said, “I do have clout in the United States Senate, 18 years. The way you get it is to stay there. You can’t buy it. It’s not given to you. You have to earn it.”
 
But, as Daniel Halper, of The Weekly Standard points out, “A problem for Landrieu during campaign season, though, is whether the energy chairmanship draws attention to the areas where she can’t get things done. If she can’t show the job delivers, it might undercut the argument that her seniority is indispensable.” 
 
And Mr. Halper’s probably exactly right, because to date, there’s still no XL pipeline approval, oil is selling at more than $97.00 a barrel and the EPA is still doing whatever it pleases environmentally, unchecked and unbridled. So, where’s the Senator when she’s needed? Probably on the way to the unemployment line would be my guess. 
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

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