Here is Reuters’ video report on the press conference:

Carolyn O’Hara, a senior editor of Foreign Policy, at her interesting new blog, “Madame Secretary” notes, in her story, “Clinton and Mitchell’s remarks after their pow wow on his trip to the Middle East“:

No real details were provided, and they only took a single question with regard to any shift in policy toward Hamas:

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Andrea, you know, we have a very clear policy toward Hamas, and Hamas knows the conditions that have been set forth. They must renounce violence. They must recognize Israel. And they must agree to abide by prior agreements that were entered into by the Palestinian Authority.

We are just at the beginning of this deep and consistent engagement that we are part of, that Senator Mitchell is leading for our Administration, but our conditions with respect to Hamas have not and will not change. It is our hope that the work that needs to be done to move the parties toward an effort to settle many of the disputes that they currently confront will be effective. But Hamas knows that it must stop the rocket fire into Israel. There were rockets yesterday, there were rockets this morning. And it is very difficult to ask any nation to do anything other than defend itself in the wake of that kind of consistent attack. So that’s not new news.

That said, here is the full interview on video and, below the fold, the full text:

Remarks by Secretary Clinton and Special Envoy Mitchell After Their Meeting

“Hamas officials were set to hold talks in Cairo with Egyptian mediators to hear the Israeli response to proposals put forward by the Islamist group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has offered a one-year, renewable truce on condition that all Israeli forces leave Gaza within a week and that all the border crossings with Israel and Egypt are opened.

A senior Israeli official said on Saturday the Jewish state planned to halt its offensive in Gaza without any agreement with Hamas. A Hamas official has vowed the group would fight on.

Mubarak also said Egypt would call for an international meeting to discuss post-war reconstruction in the Palestinian coastal enclave.

He said his country would not agree to the presence of foreign observers on its soil to monitor the border with Gaza.

“I say that this is a red line and I will not allow it,” he said in the speech.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said earlier in the day Egypt was not committed to a U.S.-Israeli deal, signed on Friday, to halt arms smuggling into Gaza.”  Reuters

———————————

If I remember correctly, this outcome was predicted here.

If it was that evident, then why did Israel begin such an operation?

The Israelis have failed to humble Hamas. Rockets still arrive in Israel.  This failure in their self-declared war aim will cost them dearly in the strategic contest.  They are going to halt their “offensive without any sort of concession from Hamas?”  I suppose that they do not want the burden of this ongoing action to be carried forward into their relations with the Obama Administration.  The futility of what they have done in Gaza will be burden enough.

It is claimed by the agitpropers that Hamas is a satellite organization of Iran.  If that is so, then Iran has done a poor job of supplying their Palestinian subsidiary.  Where are the Iranian product improved and manufactured weapons that Hizbullah possessed in numbers in ‘06?  Where are they?  Impossible to deliver? All of them?

It would seem that political support and encouragement is one thing.  Supply is another.

This summons from Mubarak indicates a need to placate the Cairo mob.  No foreign inspectors on Egyptian soil?  That means that Egypt will not make a serious attempt to halt smuggling into Gaza.

Not a good outcome for Israel.

Perhaps a truce with Hamas would not be a bad idea.  pl

From Pat Lang’s blog, Sic Semper Tyrannis. Pat’s bio is below. UPDATE: Corrected to include full text.
………………………………………….

I have been asked to explain for the general public how it is that Hamas ("The Movement for Islamic Resistance"), A Sunni Muslim organization has come to be supported by the Shia theocracy in Iran.  How this happened will be well known to many readers here, but not to others.  Naturally the comments and interventions of Muslims and specialists will be welcome.

Some thoughts:

- The bar between Sunni and Shia Islam has never been as high as it seems to outsiders unfamiliar with Islamic history and the religious sciences.  These two forms of the faith have existed in uneasy but endurable coexistence since the rise of Shiism as a different understanding of the meaning of the Quranic revelation.

In the first centuries of Islam there were many possible interpretations of Islam.  Sufism, Kharaji separatism, Mu'tazilism, etc.  These and many more contesting forms of Islam existed then and somehow managed to survive in mutual but not terminal animosity.

  As I have often insisted, Islam is an endlessly fractious religio-political conception.  This is inherent in the faith because of the very way in which Sharia law is derived from scripture, practice and tradition and then accepted by bodies of believers through the process of religiousus consensus called in Arabic Ijma'.  This process continues today with every large or small consensus group believing itself to be practicing true Islam.  I will restrain myself from discussing Sufism here in the interest of general readability.

- Nearly all these consensus groups share the notion that it is the duty of true Muslims to defend the world-wide community of believers (Muslims) against the attacks of outsiders.  Islam aspires to an end of days scenario in which all people will be Muslims. 

Many of the Islamic consensus groups that I have mentioned above have believed that it is their particular destiny as true Muslims to be the rulers of this  community of believers.  The community is called the 'Umma in Arabic. 

Such ambition has usually been wildly fantasist in the clear inability of the groups to achieve a consensus of Muslims regarding leadership, but the groups aspire to this leadership nononetheless. 

This aspiration on the part of the takfiri jihadis networked together into what is "shorthanded" as al-Qa'ida enabled the egregious neocon propaganda concerning the imminent and threatening rise of a new Islamic state called "The Caliphate." 

The pseudo threat posed by "The Caliphate" was claimed to be as great as that posed by the Soviet Union in the Cold War or Nazi Germany.  A passing knowledge of Islamic history would reveal to all who cared to know that Islamic unity has been an unattainable goal for many, many centuries.  Regrettably, many honest but uninformed people were deceived by this propaganda ploy on the part of the Bush Administration and their neocon friends.

- Nevertheless, in defense of the shining image of the 'Umma and the belief in a spiritual duty to defend this supposed manifestation of God's will on earth, Muslims and predominatly Muslim states feel a deep obligation to defend fellow Muslims against non-Muslim enemies who can be seen as equivalent to the gathering of enemies who attacked the early community of Muslims in the time of the Prophet. 

In that spirit, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the "Supreme Guide" of Iran made a speech in December in which he firmly associated the Iranian Islamic Republic with Hamas.  The bottom line on the Shia/Sunni thing in the context of external attack - Muslims must be defended against non-Muslim and presumably anti-Muslim enemies.  Sectarian difference does not matter in this context.

- Against these religious considerations, Iran must weigh its state interests in a world in which there is no 'Umma except as an abstraction.  Iran wants an improvement in relations with the United States.  The Saudis do not want this any more than the Israelis do.  Any such rapprochment would diminish the ability of Saudi Arabia and Israel to manipulate public opinion and politicians in the United States to their continuing benefit. 

If there were such an improvement in US/Iranian relations, Iran would have a profound conflict of interests to deal with.  This is a problem for Hamas and indeed for Hizbullah which lurks below the horizon in the future of a possibly, but improbably changed US foreign policy in the Middle East, i.e., one that treats Israel as a foreign country like all other foreign countries.

- The recent "statement" by someone claiming to be Usama bin Laden is an interesting phenomenon.  As the cognoscenti know, the particular views of his "brand" of Muslims do not permit the acceptance of national, ethnic or other such distinctions among God's subjects.  Nevertheless, Usama seems to have chosen to back this PALESTINIAN Islamic movement.  Hamas should be wary of this lest a takfiri presence and influence lead to the attempt at imposition of norms that occurred in western Iraq.

I bid you all welcome, let the comments begin—  pl

…………………………….

Ed. Note: As Larry Johnson wrote about Pat Lang’s other recent post on “Israel’s Gaza Misadventure,” “Pat Lang is a dear friend and a brilliant scholar. He established the Arabic program at West Point, he headed up the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Middle East Division in the 1989-1991 timeframe, and he fought in combat in Vietnam. He is steeped in both politics and military strategies and tactics. When he writes (or speaks) one ought to listen.” Pat’s thought-provoking blog is Sic Semper Tyrannis, and includes his biography.

“The most frightening dangers come from four sources: fire, water, wind, and old men.”
So goes the ancient Chinese saying, reminding us that decisions leaders make—most of them by old men—often endanger the innocents no matter which side or who started the fight.

Bernard-Henri Levy’s striking essay, Liberate the Palestinians from Hamas , seeks to bring some measure of balance to the raging debate as to who is to blame, who shot first, and the seemingly endless lineup of conflicts between Israel and its neighbors.

Not being able for decades to distinguish between the good dead and the evil dead or, like Camus used to say, between “suspect victims” and “privileged executioners,” I’m also deeply disturbed by the images of the Palestinian children who have been killed.

But have media commentators been fair to Israel? Not so much, according to Levy.

No government in the world, no country other than the vilified Israel–dragged through the mud, demonized–would tolerate having thousands of shells falling on its cities year after year. The most remarkable thing in the affair, the true surprise, is not Israel’s “brutality”; it is, to the letter, its restraint.

But what about the fact that so few Israelis have been killed?

The fact that Hamas’ Qassam and, now, its Grad missiles have caused so few deaths does not prove that they are artisanal, inoffensive, etc., but that the Israelis protect themselves, that they live burrowed in the caves of their buildings, under shelter: a nightmarish existence, suspended, with the sound of sirens and explosions. I have been to Sderot: I know.

And, is Israel purposely targeting civilians?

The fact that, inversely, the Israeli shells create so many victims does not mean, as protesters have angrily proclaimed, that Israel is engaging in a deliberate “massacre,” but that the leaders of Gaza have chosen the opposite attitude and are exposing their populations, relying on the old tactic of the “human shield.” Which means that Hamas, like Hezbollah two years ago, is installing its command centers, its arms stockpiles, its bunkers, in the basements of buildings, of hospitals, of schools, of mosques. Efficient but repugnant.

What about that blockade that is preventing supplies getting into Gaza to aid the civilian victims?

… as for the famous complete blockade imposed on a starving people, who are lacking of everything in this “unprecedented” humanitarian crisis: Again, this is not factually correct. From the beginning of the ground offensive, the humanitarian convoys ceaselessly crossed the Kerem Shalom passage. According to The New York Times, on Dec. 31–in one single day–nearly 100 trucks carrying food supplies and medicine entered the territory. And I invoke, only to preserve the memory of it (for this goes without saying–but perhaps it would be better to actually say it …), the fact that Israeli hospitals continue, even as I write, to accept and care for wounded Palestinians every day.

Levy, as do all of us, hopes the fighting will soon cease.

They [media commentators] will discover, on that day [the fighting ends], that Israel has committed many errors over the course of many years (missed opportunities, a long denial of the Palestinian national demands, unilateralism), but that Palestinians’ worst enemies are the extremist leaders who have never wanted peace, have never wanted a State and never conceived of one for their people other than as an instrument and as a hostage.

Levy’s solution?

From two choices, one. Either Hamas leaders re-establish the truce that they broke, and, while they’re at it, declare null and void a charter founded on the pure rejection of the “Zionist Entity”: In doing so, they will rejoin the vast party for compromise that has not ceased–God be praised–to make progress in the region, and peace will be established. Or they will only, obstinately, consider the suffering of Palestinian civilians in terms of its fueling of their annealed passions, their insane hate, nihilistic, beyond words. And if that is the case, it is not only the Israelis, but the Palestinians, who will need to be liberated from Hamas’ somber shadow.

As for me, I am less interested in playing a blame game. Larry’s story yesterday (“This Will Sicken You”—and I am not including the link if you missed it to give you a chance to decide whether you want to look below the fold) made me reflect on the old men who make the decisions that directly cause such shameful outcomes, and how many guiltless little ones on both sides deserve so much better.

I have to admit that I feel kinda sorry for the guy. I would for any President buying into our current crises (of which there are far more than pictured here), but especially for one who has no experience in dealing with any of them.

I wonder if (or how often) our President-Elect says to himself, “What the hell was I thinking?”

For all of our sakes, all I can say is “Let’s wish him luck.”

As for me, I am thinking of trying to grow my own food.

First, there was this article in the Chicago Sun Times, Vandals Deface Three Local Synagogues:

Vandals spray-painted the words “Death to Israel’’ on two synagogues and a Jewish school early Saturday in three separate incidents police say could be linked and are being investigated as hate crimes.

In each case, the vandals — at times donning masks — used orange-colored paint, also shattering glass windows with bricks and rocks at two of the buildings.

A witness and security cameras identified the perpetrators as two men.

Moshe Perlstein, rabbi at Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago, said cameras captured video of the men damaging his rabbinical school at 2756 W. Morse starting at around 4:40 a.m. The footage shows one man spray-painting the side of the building while the other ran around to the front and threw rocks at the front door, breaking a glass window, he said. The video has been turned over to police.

That was not the end of it. There was more:

Similar graffiti was found at Anshe Motele Congregation, 6526 N. California, rabbi Alan Abramson said.

Lincolnwood police said vandals also scrawled “Death to Israel’’ and “Free Palestine’’ on the outside walls of Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, 7117 N. Crawford. Mitchell Sandler, past president of the congregation, said they threw at least two bricks at the front doors, damaging four windows.

Lincolnwood Police Lt. Mark Brines said police were notified at 6:10 a.m. that a caretaker in the building heard a brick crash through a window at the temple. The caretaker saw “two unknown males running from the scene,’’ Brines said.

Because all three buildings were used by orthodox Jews, Sandler said it appeared the men were targeting more devout Jews.

“This was a cowardly act in the middle of the night,’’ Sandler said. “Obviously there is dismay because of what’s been happening in the Middle East.’’

Local Jewish leaders were alarmed by what they see as a “rash’’ of incidents targeting Jews.

“It’s disturbing,’’ said Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Chicago Jewish Federation.

Disturbing, indeed. Whenever a group is targeted, when a hate crime occurs, it is disturbing. And there is yet more:

The incidents come a little more than a week after Ida Crown Jewish Academy, at 2828 W. Pratt, received a mailed bomb threat that also made reference to other Chicago-area Jewish institutions and day schools, said Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Chicago Jewish Federation.

And police said they are investigating as a hate crime a Dec. 29 incident in which a man hurled a Molotov cocktail at Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr., after making “derogatory comments’’ to a passerby.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been notified, police said.

No arrests have been made.

Next, Jewish Odysseus had this disturbing story via Mugata: German “Police” Join Jew-Hating Muslim Mob:

1:16 AM Received from Muqata Blog Reader in Germany, Sebastian M.

Today, 10.000 people demonstrated against Israel here in my hometown Duisburg (Germany) and to express their solidarity with Hamas. So, my girlfriend and me put two Israel flags out of the windows of our flat in the 3rd floor. During the demonstration which went through our street the police broke into our flat and removed the flag of Israel. The statement of the police was to de-escalate the situation, because many youth demonstrators were on the brink of breaking into our apartment house. Before this they threw snowballs, knifes and stones against our windows and the complete building. We both were standing on the other side of the street and were shocked by seeing a police officer standing in our bedroom and opening the window to get the flag. The picture illustrate this situation. The police acquiesced in the demands of the mob.

That’s a police officer removing the flag of Israel, just in case you couldn’t tell.

I understand that many people are angry and frustrated with Israel right now. I really do. Larry Johnson had a great piece on this very issue at No Quarter (”This Will Sicken You“). They are not innocent bystanders in this current conflict with Gaza, as they move into deeply populated areas clearly indicates.

That being said, I don’t think it is a stretch to say that for something like this to happen in Germany, for police officers to join in with an anti-Jew mob, raises a pretty ugly specter. We HAVE seen this before, and none of us can allow that to stand. Despite Israel’s incursions into Gaza, we cannot allow the pendulum to swing that far back again. Not in Germany. Not in Israel. Not in Gaza. Not in Bosnia. Not in Serbia. Not in Rwanda. We must be vigilant that this kind of atrocity does not happen again, that groups are not slaughtered for their ethnicity, their religious beliefs, or their political beliefs. We must be brokers for peace.

There is a group who does just that, for Israel and Palestine. For any place where there is war or injustice. Women in Blackis a collective of peace activists who realize that women have a different perspective of war. When I lived in Cambridge, Arabic and Jewish women would hold vigils - together - to call for an end to the violence between Israel and Palestine. They represented the mothers, sisters, daughters of people who had been, or were being killed. They represented the ones who brought forth those who were being killed, or tended to the wounded. Yes, they had a different perspective, indeed. Some of them had seen firsthand the devastation in the Middle East. From their website:

Who are Women in Black?

Women in Black… is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence. As women experiencing these things in different ways in different regions of the world, we support each other’s movements. An important focus is challenging the militarist policies of our own governments. We are not an organisation, but a means of communicating and a formula for action.

It is a start to end the violence, not just in Israel and Gaza, but around the world. Mothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, granddaughters and nieces, working to end injustice in the world, and violence, whether on a whole scale like war, or on the home front, like domestic violence. These women unite for that - peace. And that would be a cause well worth “fighting” for, wouldn’t it?

I am Jewish and have thus spent a lifetime having the history of Israel and the Jewish People explained to be from a very Zionist perspective. I have family in Israel and through the modern wonders of instant electronic communication, I am privy to the facts as they see them instantly.

Even so, I am often critical of the Israeli government and how they respond to given situations. As someone, who has spent a life in politics and public relations, I often look at an event in terms of how it will be perceived. When it comes to world perception, Israel can rarely win unless it has suffered a catastrophic loss. Thanks to the efficiency of the Israeli military and intelligence communities, those catastrophic losses are few and far between. So a military response, as the current one in Gaza is sure to be condemned by most of world community (with the excpetion of Pro-Israel lobbies here in the States.) Knowing this, my first response to the recent Israeli measures is to ask, “what the hell are they thinking?”

And reading the responses from those here at No Quarter has shown me that I was pretty much on target with how the world would view what Israel is doing. I have enormous respect for Larry Johnson and the other writers who have openly condemned the Israeli government in the strongest possible terms. Israel is again losing the P.R. war. But, public relations isn’t everything. There is another side. Victor Hanson wrote a thought provoking piece posted over at Real Clear Politics that provides other points of view worth considering. You can read the entire piece here

I will summarize a few key sections.

Legitimate military action is strangely defined by the relative strength of the combatants. World opinion more vehemently condemns Israel’s countermeasures, apparently because its rockets are far more accurate and deadly than previous Hamas barrages that are poorly targeted and thus not so lethal.

Second, intent in this war no longer matters. Every Hamas unguided rocket is launched in hopes of hitting an Israeli home and killing men, women and children. Every guided Israeli air-launched missile is targeted at Hamas operatives, who deliberately work in the closest vicinity to women and children.

Killing Palestinian civilians is incidental to Israeli military operations and proves counterproductive to its objectives. Blowing up Israeli non-combatants is the aim of Hamas’ barrages: the more children, aged and women who die, the more it expects political concessions from Tel Aviv.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to great expectations that the Palestinians there would combine their new autonomy, some existing infrastructure left behind by the Israelis, Middle East oil money and American pressure for free and open elections to craft a peaceful, prosperous democracy.

The world hoped that Gaza might thrive first, and then later adjudicate its ongoing disputes with Israel through diplomacy. Instead, the withdrawal was seen not as a welcome Israeli concession, but as a sign of newfound Jewish weakness — and that the intifada tactics that had liberated Gaza could be amplified into a new war to end the Zionist entity itself.

Hanson makes some valid points. The problem is, Israel can never win. It is a nation surrounded by “neighbors” who will always have large groups within their populations intent on seeking the destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas and other groups like it can only be defeated by their Arab brothers. The question is what is more likely to get them to stand up to the likes of Hamas. Turning the other cheek and ignoring the rockets aimed at your citizens while trying to negotiate or destroying the communities that house the missile launchers, munitions and terrorists?

Israel has chosen the second option. The collateral damage is horrific and unacceptable. This response will undoubtedly add to anti-Israel fervor and strengthen the resolve of those who are sympathetic to Hamas. At the same time, maybe, just maybe, it may cause others to not allow Hamas to set up shop where they and their children live. There is no black and white, it is all an ugly gray tinted with crimson Arab and Jewish blood.

As you may know, I am on vacation, and had the opportunity to go to one of my all-time favorite places in the world, Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, SC. It is the largest outdoor sculpture museum in the country, and a gorgeous place to spend a day. It’s also one of my favorite places to shoot, so for the PUMAS in the crowd, I have these three photos for you today:

Things are so up in the air in the world today, with the violence in the Middle East, and the most unprepared PEBO ever about to take office in the midst of the numerous issues facing our country and our world. And so, I have this one, “Into the Unknown.” It is one of my favorite sculptures (and sadly, they had to put it behind this gate - it used to be out in the grounds):

In the face of it all, I am glad to be on this journey with you, faithful readers. Thank you for your thoughtful comments, and for reading these posts. And, thank you for making No Quarter the place to go…

This is an Open Thread, friends - what’s on your mind today?

Barack Obama paid ACORN more than $800,000 via one of their hundreds of subsidiaries operating out of the same address. The purpose: To “Get Out The Vote”. He trained early little ACORNS when they were just little nuts in Chicago–and denies it with his typical pathological liar dexterity.

Fannie Mae was the biggest fraud perpetrated upon America’s economy by the worst of criminals–members of congress,

Fannie Mae’s former CEO walked off with $90 million dollars as a reward for cooking their books and bringing down America,

Barack Obama has collected money from the brothers who live at a Hamas Compound and didn’t bother reporting it to the FEC,

AIG went on yet another trip on taxpayer money–this time to hunt partridge in England,

Nobody cares that Barack Obama is lying about his relationship with a domestic terrorist who still hates America and cannot wait to get his talons even further in the Subversion of America’s education.

Nobody notices that several additional members of the former Weather Underground are working hard to get Barack Obama elected.

Even more ironic, the Ohio Secretary of State needs the Supreme Court to tell her to do her job and allow the counties in Ohio to check several hundred thousand ACORN voter registrations to see if any of them is actually legitimate.

So who are they skewering? Why, Joe the Plumber of Course! A Wrench to the head for him! He questioned The One.

The Breaking News is that Joe isn’t a licensed plumber. And he was obviously a Plant! Obama showed up in Joe’s neighbhorhood and started talking to everybody while they Worshipped, and this guy Joe found out he was going to be there so he obviously moved into a house there really fast so he could pretend to be a resident and could be a plant! Yeah! That’s it…….

So Joe asked him a question like he wasn’t supposed to. He was just supposed to worship. Only it wasn’t a question The One wanted to hear.

And he’s a Republican, which I am assuming they regard as some kind of disease or something. I mean, inquiring minds want to know, Barack. Are you only planning to be President of the left wing of the left wing of the Democratic Party, Communists, Marxists, ex-terrorists and deadbeats? Or do you plan on getting rid of everybody else? You know, people who actually pay taxes and things? Just wondering.

After all, this Joe The Plumber thing is critical stuff! No sense of covering something trivial, like say, Obama’s Old Friend and political fixer Tony Rezko, the shameful slum lord who bilked the taxpayers out of millions to “restore” buildings as living quarters for the poor–but instead turned off the heat and allowed family pets in the form of rats–while Barack Obama looked the other way.

Why bother worrying about Obama’s connections to Rashid Khalidi, former PLO member. when you can check into Joe The Plumber and hit him with his own basin wrench for disturbing The One’s reverie?

Why bother looking into why an Iraqi prison escapee with a mansion in Chicago would contribute to Barack Obama’s campaign when you can tell the world that Joe The Plumber isn’t licensed yet?

All that other stuff is just plain trivial. What’s important is, Joe The Plumber. Why? Well because, it’s not nice to question The One Joe!!!! You made him look foolish, man. That can be downright hazardous.

Deflect. Re-route. Change the subject to something else. It’s what the Obama campaign is all about. Ask them about his terrorist buddies and hear an answer about the weather (scuse the pun). Mention ducks and hear about bears. Deflect, Deflect, Deflect. And if you can’t do that, just kill the messenger.

Congratulations Joe, you are the perfect example of what an Obama Presidency would be like. Complain, show doubt, ask a question, and plan to suffer for it. And get that American Dream crap right out of your head, Joe. That’s a Flusher under an Obama Administration. We need to all be the same, Joe. You know, you fail, I gotta fail too. It’s the Socialist Way, Comrade.

But don’t worry about taxes in the future fella! When they are done with you , you won’t be paying ANY taxes, because you won’t be working! The Secretary of State of your state will toot right along, complicit with voter fraud for The One, but you, Joe…..you are doomed, you bad boy you! You evil person! You don’t even make $250,000 a year, Joe! But don’t worry, you never will when they are done with you.

Now, I have a suggestion for you, Joe. I hear you work 10-12 hours a day. Why bother working so hard, Joe? What you can do if Barack Obama is President is just work enough to make sure you pay no taxes after your write-offs. Then sit and wait for the IRS to give you a check! What a deal, Joe! We’re all going to do it. It’s going to be the Great unAmerican Giveaway!

Get with it Comrade! And for goodness sakes, stop asking questions, will you? It annoys Comrade Obama and gets in the way of the Glorious Cause. That freedom and Democracy stuff is all over-rated anyways. That’s why millions upon millions of immigrants came here to get away from guys just like Barack Obama.

‘‘If you believed (Obama), I’d be receiving his tax cuts,’’ Wurzelbacher said. ‘‘But I don’t look at it that way. He’d still be hurting others.’’

Not as much as he’s gonna hurt YOU, Joe. Your question made The One gaffe. That’s a No-No. You’re toast, fella.

Meanwhile. off to the Re-education camp with you, Joe!

Murray refers to a report coming out of the NYTimes:

If small donors are going to be the fuel that powers campaigns from here on out, then the disclosure laws are probably going to have to change because there is a GIANT loophole. “An analysis of campaign finance records by The New York Times this week found nearly 3,000 donations to Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, from more than a dozen people with apparently fictitious donor information. The contributions represent a tiny fraction of the record $450 million Mr. Obama has raised. But the questionable donations — some donors were listed simply with gibberish for their names — raise concerns about whether the Obama campaign is adequately vetting its unprecedented flood of donors.”

Ya think? If someone is entering gibberish for names, as LisaB pointed out in her excellent stories covering the donations of someone named “Derty Pouiiy”, are you really telling me that wouldn’t or shouldn’t raise any red flags for the Obama campaign?

“It is unclear why someone making a political donation would want to enter a false name. Some perhaps did it for privacy reasons. Another, more ominous possibility, of course, is fraud, perhaps in order to donate beyond the maximum limits. There is no evidence that questionable contributions amount to anything more than a small portion of Mr. Obama’s fund-raising haul. The Times’s analysis, conducted over a few days and looking for obvious anomalies, like names or addresses with all consonants, identified about $40,000 in suspect contributions that had not been refunded by the campaign as of its last filing with the Federal Election Commission, in September.”

I’m also not sure just how we can believe the NYTimes “tiny fraction” comment, particularly since last week, the NYTimes erroneously reported that Obama’s ties to unrepentant terrorist William Ayers amounted to ‘nothing to see here folks, let’s move on.’ We see what nonsense that was. The man launched his political career in Ayers’ living room, served on two boards with him and Obama has had continued significant contact with him over many years. I’d say that’s a little more noteworthy than Obama’s statement that Ayers “is just a guy who lives in my neighborhood.”

Perhaps a little further investigation on the part of the MSM will bear more fruit in reference to Obama’s receiving both fraudulent and foreign donations as well.

Next on Murray’s watchlist, per the Wall Street Journal,

“The Obama campaign said it was a mistake for an outreach coordinator to join a meeting last month attended by leaders of two controversial Muslim groups as it seeks votes from large Muslim populations in swing states. Minha Husaini, newly named as head of the campaign’s outreach coordinator to Muslims, attended a discussion session Sept. 15 with about 30 Muslim leaders and community members in suburban Washington, the Obama campaign confirmed. Participants included leaders of the Council of American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim American Society, which have been cited by the government in the past for ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.”

Since Hamas has already endorsed Obama – not really the kind of endorsement a future President would want, I would have thought – wouldn’t it have been wise for them to do a little checking before looking for votes with organizations that have questionable ties? And that, by the way, is not to offend or exclude members of the Muslim community who have no such ties.

“The Obama campaign’s Muslim outreach director participated in a meeting in mid September that was attended by several controversial Muslim activists,” NBC News’ Jim Popkin adds on the NBC Deep Background blog. “The Obama campaign now concedes that was a misjudgment, and that its top Muslim staffer would not have attended the meeting if she had known the full participant list beforehand. ‘Would a campaign staffer have attended if they were aware of the complete list of attendees? No,’ said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt in an email statement to NBC.”

Another Obama “misjudgment.” They are piling up like crazy. Who’s minding the mint over there?

Murray further tells us that talk radio is all over this today:

A Washington Times report essentially accuses Obama of doing something the Dems accused Reagan of doing in 1980. “At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn’t be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval. Mr. Obama’s conversations with the Iraqi leaders, confirmed to The Washington Times by his campaign aides, began just two weeks after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in June and stirred controversy over the appropriateness of a White House candidate’s contacts with foreign governments while the sitting president is conducting a war.”

“Some of the specifics of the conversations remain the subject of dispute. Iraqi leaders purported to The Times that Mr. Obama urged Baghdad to delay an agreement with Mr. Bush until next year when a new president will be in office - a charge the Democratic campaign denies.”

Well, of course the Obama campaign denies it. We have been asking this question for several weeks – did Senator Obama violate the Logan Act?

Please take a look at NancyA story, Obama’s Iraq Double-Take Gate Response and decide for yourself.

Interesting that the most significant story, in re Obama’s possible misconduct during his visit to Iraq, was buried at the bottom of Mr. Murray’s report. Were they hoping we wouldn’t notice?

I find it amazing that internet reporting is ’suspect,’ meanwhile NoQ has been shouting about the above stories and more for months. ACORN fraud in particular is growing huge legs on TV and talk radio. See NancyA’s excellent reporting on this subject.

I have to wonder if MSNBC dipping a toe in the water in at least mentioning the above indicates the backlash they feel from viewers – their ratings have been tanking as a result of their egregiously biased coverage in favor of Senator Obama.

Money seems to be the bottom line with the corporate controlled media in terms of what they will report and who they favor. If their bottom line starts to hurt at the hands of more angry viewers turning them off, it will be interesting to see if more stories like this start cropping up in unlikely places.

But don’t hold your breath.

Up first, we have this lovely button:

For the family that prays for Obama, stays together, or something like that. Well, if what the NY Post had about Obama potentially violating the Logan Act* by attempting to delay troop withdrawal from Iraq to suit HIS political purposes is true, risking lives as a result, he’s gonna need a lot of those prayers. See, it’s illegal - some might even say TREASONOUS - for a civilian to work against a presidential administration in a foreign country. Oopsy daisy!!

Then there is this nice little bumper sticker for all you Catholics out there! You can put this right next to the sticker for your parochial school!

Oh, great! Now I know what to get my good friend, Divine Democrat! Ahem.

And finally, last but not least, there is this:

All hail, the Obama Faithful!! Oh, wait - am I misreading that? Nope, I don’t think I am. That may not be exactly what they WANTED to convey, at least consciously, but that’s about what they seem to expect from their followers - complete and utter devotion. Praise Obama - he has come to liberate us from our pesky morals, our integrity, our sense of decency and fair play! That must be the “Change” Obama promised to bring us!! Hallelujah!!

And just in case you think I am making this up, here is the letter from the Obama Camp:

Dear friends,
Great news! We now have faith merchandise available for you to show your support for Barack Obama as a person of faith.

Check out the Believers for Barack, Pro-Family Pro-Obama, and Catholics for Obama buttons, bumper stickers and signs….

Believers for Barack rally signs and bumper stickers, along with all Pro-Family Pro-Obama merchandise, are appropriate for people of all faith backgrounds. We’ll soon be rolling out merchandise for other religious groups and denominations, but I wanted to get this out to you without delay.

Take good care,

Paul Monteiro
Deputy Director of Religous (sic) Affairs
Obama for America

Oh, YAY! And God-O-Meter said there will be more to come, like “Clergy for Change.” Oh, I cannot WAIT to get one of those! Actually, yes, yes I can. Many of you will like THIS one: “Pro-Israel Pro-Obama.” I wonder how HAMAS and The Nation of Islam will feel about that one…I guess Obama can ask his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, about that.

Now some of you heathens out there might be just a bit sceptical about Obama’s reaching out to the religious among us. Some of you might just be bitterly clinging to his comments about religious folk bitterly clinging to their guns and religion. Oh, ye of little faith!! He cares about you, he really does. Didn’t you see the BUTTON?? Or the STICKER?? C’mon! Don’t play hard to get! Obama loves you, this I know! For his minions have bludgeoned me with that claim for weeks now! I mean - because he shows us in so many ways: FISA, public campaign funds, off-shore drilling, NAFTA, gun control…Oh, I could go on and on with all the ways Obama’s Words have touched our lives. Praise the One who can stop the waters rising, and slow their very movement! Now the Faithful may proudly display the object of their veneration right on their cars and their lapels! Will wonders never cease?!

But wait! There is one more left to see. This courtesy of my talented partner who wanted to make sure we were all represented. Here it is:

Step right up! Order yours today!!

* Text of the Logan Act: Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

My oldest brother sent me the piece Gloria Steinem wrote on Gov. Palin, an elitist, patronizing piece in which she diminishes people who hunt (not understanding, I guess, that many people hunt to put FOOD on the table, especially in these difficult economic times), among other smears. So, I felt compelled to write him back. A lot of this is information those who have been paying attention already know:

I am not an apologist for Sarah Palin, but I find the argument that SHE is inexperienced as Steinem said to be laughable. The DNC selected the least experienced candidate ever, one who refuses to make available ANY paper trail at all - no college or law school transcripts, no medical records, no passports, no birth certificates, and claims he had NOT ONE PAPER or DATE BOOK available from his time in the IL Senate (which is part-time service, btw). One who has no legislative accomplishments of note to his name. Never mind the LONG list of his sordid associates which throw his whole “good judgment” stance out the window.

Or his lack of chairing ONE meeting of the European Affairs Subcommittee, which oversees Afghanistan, and now claims that we need to do more abt Afghanistan,and who wants to return to the foreign policy of DONALD RUMSFELD…If this was BUSH, the Progressives would be going batshit crazy screaming our fool heads off.


But for some reason, this is all fine and dandy. Never mind all of the university professors who are now shrugging off his constant plagiarizing (and his picking a running mate who is also a plagiarizer), an act that can get students thrown OUT of universities. Why? I really don’t get this infatuation with this man! Without a teleprompter, he can barely even talk!! But he is “eloquent,” and has “good judgm ent.” Um, no. And he is sexist as all hell, to boot.

And for some reason, Obama is constantly comparing himself to the VP pick, not the presidential nominee. Much easier for him to pick on a woman than a man, as he demonstrated time and again during this campaign. Flipping Hillary off, brushing her off his shoulder and his shoe, having “99 Problems BUt a Bitch Ain’t One” playing when he won Iowa. Class act this guy. Oh, and for what it’s worth - he lives 1 1/2 blocks away from Bill Ayers, who lives right down the street from the Farrakhan Compound. What a coincidence.

Oh - is now when I tell you that my brother has a PhD., and developed some major software, whose clients include NASA? Yeah. He’s supposed to be smart (my younger brother and his wife - both PhDs - also are big Obama supporters, at least my brother is. My sis-in-law is a “Vote Democrat” no matter what more than anything.). Just goes to show that there is a difference between being educated and having common sense. I can say that because I have BOTH!!! Ahem.

Here’s what he wrote back:

These are interesting accusations. Do you know these things for a fact? What is your source of information? Is there some doubt about the fact that Obama was elected president of the Harvard Law Review? You don’t get to that place by being a flaky biscuit. Is there any doubt about the fact that McCain was at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy?

I don’t follow you with the Donald Rumsfield foreign policy thing. What do you mean?

One thing I can say for sure. I have seen Obama in many interviews and town hall type conversations, besides the podium speeches. He has always impressed me with his speaking ability in off the cuff situations. This is a sharp dude.

I also like Joe Biden very much. He is a solid, decent, knowledgeable person.

At the end of the day, this is about policies, not personalities. Who do you think is going to best implement the objectives of Hillary Clinton? If you say McCain-Palin, then I don’t see how you get there.

Oh, boy. Evidently, he does not have the same desire for sources when others are “accused,” but whatever. And yes, he DID go there about the personalities. Here’s my response:

Yes, I know these things for a fact. This is what I do every day, all day long.

I don’t know if I will even vote this year, so don’t assume I am voting for McCain/Palin. I can say that McCain is an honorable man, and has given his entire life i n service to this country. That means something. He is also moderate, and a reformer, something Obama will NEVER be (oh - today’s BIG report is about Obama raging on Palin, particularly about the Bridge to Nowhere, which she did get rid of afterall - and which HE VOTED FOR TWICE!!! He claimed, “Palin Can’t Just Make Stuff Up!” No, that purview belongs to Obama alone.). But Obama will never get my vote. He should never have assumed he would.

So that’s how my morning started - not at ALL about what I was going to write today. But you never know what is going to come up, I reckon. And I know there is evern more about Obama, but I figured I was pushing my luck with him actually reading it this far.

Ah, families…

Yesterday we read about the $28,500 in contributions to the Obama Campaign by two Palestinian members of a large Hamas-supporting refugee compound who claimed to live in the nonexistant town of Rafah, Georgia. The total later was calculated to be $33,500.

Today the Obama campaign stated that they actually retured that money but “forgot” to report it to the FEC due to a “technical error”.

According to the upstanding and honest Obama Campaign:

The donations came in between Sept. 20 and Dec. 6 and virtually all of the money, about $33,500, was returned by December 6. But the refunds weren’t reported to the Federal Election Commission due to a technical error, campaign officials said.

The remaining $2,500 was refunded Monday. The refunds will all be reflected shortly in an amended report. New controls to prevent such attempts are now in place, the campaign said.

Well that settles that, more or less, right?

Nope.

Unfortunately for the Obama campaign, the two USA-hating Hamas lovers Palestinians flat out deny that any of the money was returned to them.

The Obama camp insisted the remaining $2,500 was refunded Monday and all of the refunds will be reflected soon in an amended report. The campaign said new controls are in place to prevent any similar attempts in the future.

But WND asked two of the brothers – Monir and Hasam Edwan – to respond to the campaign’s claims.

“No, we did not receive any money back from the Obama campaign at any time,” said Monir Edwan.

It’s hard to tell which side is lying isn’t it? It takes a liar to know a liar. Let em fight it out.

But that’s not all folks! Since we are on the subject, however indirectly, of Obama’s ties to the types of middle easterners who love to blow people up, shoot women or set them on fire for a diversion–yet another Obama adivisor has resigned.

Chicago lawyer (where else??) Massen Asbahi, Barack Obama’s Arab American and Muslim American outreach coordinator, has resigned as a result of questions about his connections to various dubious Islamist interests in the Middle East (Translation: Funding for terrorists who love to blow Americans and Israelis up).

The Muslim-outreach coordinator to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has resigned amid questions about his involvement in an Islamic investment fund and various Islamic groups.

Asbahi “briefly served on the board of Allied Assets Advisors Fund, a Delaware-registered trust [and a subsidiary of the American Islamic Trust]. Its other board members at the time included Jamal Said AKA Sheik Jamal, the imam at the fundamentalist- controlled Bridgeview Mosque in Bridgeview, Ill., outside Chicago],” Simpson and Chozick wrote

Here is his introductory page at mybarackobama. Get it while it’s hot. I am sure it will be scrubbed soon. Not that there aren’t screen shots. No matter though. This is just one more in a long line of Middle Eastern “coincidences” associated with the Obama campaign.

UPDATE: It seems that Winston, directly out of Orwell’s 1984, works for Barack Obama. The mybarackobama page has been scrubbed. For those of you who missed what was written there:

All -

Assalamu-Aleikum. My name is Mazen Asbahi and I’ve been blessed and privileged to be serving the Obama for America Campaign as the National Coordinator for Muslim American Affairs. I’m also coordinating Arab American matters. I’m treating the two roles separately as these are two separate constituencies, though of course there is some overlap.

In order to get Senator Obama elected, the Campaign needs all of you to continue your support and if possible to take it to another level. It’s a race for every vote in the key battleground states, such as Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio. We need Muslim Americans to get excited about the Campaign, and there’s a lot to get excited about!

Sure, there have been mis-steps. And of course there are added sensitivities with our faith given the “smear” campaign trying to paint the Senator as too exotic and too un-American to be President.

If you have not plugged into the Campaign, please do. The Campaign makes it very easy to do. Visit your local Obama offices and register voters, raise money, get the word out, and pull in your friends and family to also participate.

Please feel free to contact me with ideas, critiques and suggestions for improvements on our outreach strategies. (Please keep in mind that I’ve just signed on :)).

Peace,

Mazen Asbahi

Now, Barky, let’s talk, mmmmmmkay??? Did you already know that taking money from Palestinian citizens is illegal? Just asking. I was wondering, though, since so many have complained about your lax online contribution form, why have you continued to leave your form open to this type of illegal donation. I mean, it wasn’t that long ago that you had to donate the $2300 online contribution from your Chicago neighbor, Iraqi prison escapee and Rezko-bribe-loving former Minister of Electricity, Aiham Alsammarae.

Remember? I do.

You sure do have a lot of friends in interesting places, Mr. Obama.

The Real Barack Obama tells us that Monir Edwan and Hosam Edwan from “Rafah GA” donated $29,500 to Barack Obama’s campaign. They just happen to be members of a large Hamas-Supporting clan.

Speaking to WND, the two brothers praised Obama and admitted giving the money online to his campaign. They said they are not U.S. citizens but are citizens of “Palestine.”

But wait! Before you judge these innocent men from the nonexistent ”Rafah GA,” they said it’s all about Obama T-shirts. After all, Barack Obama is indeed very popular among Israel-bombing folks. So, the enterprising brothers bought a boatload of them and claimed to be Americans living in Georgia. Cool. No problem there, right? Nothing sneaky or anything, right?

The donations would violate election laws, including prohibitions on receiving donations from foreigners and guidelines against accepting more than $2,300 from one individual during a single election, Bob Biersack, a spokesman for the Federal Election Commission, told WND in response to a query.

I can’t help but imagine that all of Obama’s little helpers who love his “Manifesto” over in Gaza might have worn these T-Shirts while they made cold calls to American voters during the primaries–urging voters to vote for Obama. I know that all Americans can’t help but think that a call from Gaza City the day of a Primary is a good thing. Truly, Mr. Obama is a Global candidate when it comes to the Middle East. Minus Israel of course. No sense of hanging out with the only pesky democracy over there, right?

You can read more about the two T-Shirt Totin’ Hamas-lovers from “Rafah GA” here.

First Hamas endorsed him and then Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez endorsed him.

And now North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il AKA “Dear Leader” has endorsed him too.

Dear Leader seems particularly ecstatic at the thought of an Obama Presidency, because Obama is going to sit down and talk with him without pre-conditions or anything.

Kim can give Barack a tour of his nuclear reactors and warheads and things and Obama can say,

“Now Kim. Can I call you Kim, man? This is not a good thing, OK buddy? I mean it’s not nice to blow people and things up, you know? “

And Kim is going slap his forehead and say,

“You know, Barry, You’re right! I could have had a V-8! I promise I will stop! I know I promised to disarm a couple of times before but this time I swear, I really mean it, because you are Barack Obama, that’s why!”.

And then they will both sit down to a nice Korean dinner of Japchae and Galbi gui, and later they can stroll around the starving people in the countryside, check out the billboards depicting US forces skewered on People’s Army bayonets, maybe smoke some of those Marlboro knockoffs Dear Leader dumps into the market.

They can have an extended discussion of Dear Leader’s Marxism-Leninism expertise, a subject which Mr. Obama holds great interest in, as loudspeakers calm them both in the background with their gentle soothing declaration of “We must safeguard the leadership of Comrade Kim Jong-il!” And everything will be just fine after that!

In fact, Dear Leader is even going to promise to stop his state-run criminal enterprise, replete with drug-running operations, and scams to counterfeit everything from U.S. dollars to namebrand cigarettes to Viagra. He is going to be healed and Barack Obama can just float right on to his next talk with no pre-conditions.

I’m telling you it’s going to be a miracle.

A miracle I tell you.

I mean look at this face. How can you not trust this face. Ok, Ok, so he has a dead squirrel on his head, but he’s really a sweet guy! Poor Kim is so misunderstood. He didn’t really mean to buy those nuclear reactors or make those warheads or threaten anybody or anything!

Once Barack Obama talks to him, it will be all over, let me tell you. That’s why Europe and surrounding countries aren’t nervous at all about Barack’s idea to just sit down with this good fellow, make Nicey-Nicey and spread Hope-y Change-y everywhere.

Below is a Commercial made by a nonpartisan not for profit organization named Vets for Freedom Political Action Committee. In it, an Iraq combat veteran from Illinois discusses how he and 12 other combat veterans were unable to meet with Barack Obama. This vet wants to know why it is that Barack Obama is willing to meet with despots and terrorist leaders but not with Generals or combat veterans. He wants to know how it is that Barack Obama is so smart about the Middle East when he hasn’t even been there during his two and a half years in the Senate.

“If Barack Obama won’t listen to us, who will he listen to?”

Republicans and John McCain are ready to pounce on the unprepared and unqualified Senator of Illinois. This is yet another reason why Democrats must nominate Hillary Clinton, who would never ignore our veterans and our men and women in uniform. Do Democrats seriously think Obama will win against McCain if two of the important issues of this election are national security and veterans’ issues? We are in for a long and uncomfortable ride this November if they actually do.

Runaway inflation,
Dismantling the CIA,
the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
Iran taking Americans hostage
Gas lines

So why do I say Barack is acting like a 21st Century Jimmy Carter, only not as bright?

Look at his contortions on Iran and Hamas. Ignore for a moment last week’s gaffe in which Barack claimed the reason we are having trouble in Pashto-speaking Afghanistan is because our Arabic translators are tied up in Iraq. Let’s ignore the fact that the Afghans don’t speak Arabic. Check out Barack’s contradictory positions on Iran. Speaking in Billings, Montana Barack said:

“Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel’s existence. It denies the Holocaust,” he said. “The reason Iran is so much more powerful than it was a few years ago is because of the Bush-McCain policy of fighting in Iraq and refusing to pursue direct diplomacy with Iran. They’re the ones who have not dealt with Iran wisely.”

But later that same day, before an audience in Portland, Barack said that Iran, among others, was not a serious threat:

We can solve all problems if we just talk to these folks. But here’s the problem for Barack. He wants to convince voters that he is proposing basic diplomacy–you know, just like Reagan talking to Gorbachev–when, in fact, he is proposing the exact opposite. No President since World War II has proposed unconditional negotiations with any of our enemies. But that is exactly what Barack is proposing with respect to Iran. Accoring to the New York Times:

Making clear that he planned to talk to Iran without preconditions, Mr. Obama emphasized further that “changes in behavior” by Iran could possibly be rewarded with membership in the World Trade Organization, other economic benefits and security guarantees. . . .Senator Barack Obama said he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president, and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.

Barack does not understand that in dealing with Iran we must make clear that there are fundamental principles we will not compromise.

So perhaps Barack Obama could explain why he insists on pre-conditions for talks with Hamas–an elected entity that has not carried out significant terrorist attacks against the United States–but not Iran, who has conducted more terrorist attacks against the United States than any country or entity in the world? In fact, one could argue that Iran’s support for groups like Hamas (and even more for Hezbollah) would make Hamas but a proxy for Iran. So Barack, depending on his physical location, believe that Iran is and is not a grave threat. He believes that we should talk to Iran without pre-conditions but should not talk to the terrorist group funded by Iran unless they meet certain conditions. Confused? You bet.

Democrats get ready. Barack Obama is Jimmy Carter without the brains. Jimmy Carter was a nuclear scientist. But his failure to confront the threat of Islamic extremism in Iran opened the door for the rise of the Ayatollah Khomeni. This in turn sent shivers through the oil markets. The price of oil went up. Supplies dipped. And Americans were introduced to gas lines. And Carter’s solution? He donned a cardigan sweater and asked Americans to turn down their thermostats to 68 degrees as preliminary steps for confronting the energy crisis. Despite his training as a nuclear scientist, Jimmy Carter was generally perceived as a naive bonehead. He was genuinely surprised when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in late 1979. His policies of placating the Soviets blew up in his face and ultimately put this nation in peril. The election of Jimmy Carter was in part a reaction to the corruption of the Republicans during Watergate. The subsequent defeat of Jimmy Carter was a reaction to his weak and feckless policies.

But Jimmy does not get all of the blame. No sir. He had a foreign policy guru–Zbigniew Breszinski. Funny thing. Guess who also is advising Barack Obama? Yep, Zbig is back. And Barack reportedly is taking some cues from him.

There is nothing wrong negotiating with rogue states and actors. But there is something very wrong and very foolish about agreeing to negotiate without preconditions. On this particular issue Barack is clearly not ready for prime time.

UPDATED–Some of you are skimming rather than reading. I do not blame Jimmy for the Soviet invasion. However, it happened on his watch and is part of his legacy. Moreover, Carter was wringing his hands and expressing surprise that the nasty old Commies would do such a thing. For those of us who were following events at the time, this simply reinforced the image of Carter as weak and feckless. That’s the point.

I felt I had let my readers down by not jumping on Barack’s Ebay waffle sooner. I felt like such a failure that it was a good thing that Hillary came through to cheer me by handing Obama his ass on a plate in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night.

Now, those of you who know me also know that I never give up. Having lost the timely opportunity to write about Barack’s waffle, I believed that my readers would lose faith in Uppity once they found out that she didn’t do her homework soon enough.

But, being a tenacious little bugger, bearing dozens of sexist Corporate America scars to prove it, I wasn’t going to let Barry’s waffle go unrecognized–if for no other reason than the symbology of it all. I mean what else would he order for breakfast but waffles, considering his ever-reversible stances on things like gun control and raising payroll taxes on the middle class?

It seems that, as it is with all immature children, Barry didn’t finish his breakfast and someone snatched what was left of the spitty meal from Plastic Jesus’ blessed plate. This, by the way, was the same waffle Barry used as an excuse not to answer a reporter’s question.

Having successfully avoided traveling reporters’ questions for ten days since he declared half of PA to be racist hicks who pray a lot and hang onto guns, Barry had gotten very creative.

When the reporter approached him and asked him about Carter’s visit to his terrorist endorsers, Hamas, Barry No-More-Debates Obama responded, “Why can’t I eat my waffle“.

When pressed further, Barry said, “Just let me eat my waffle”. Atta way, Barry. No sense of discussing a few more of your “casual” terrorist friends when you are about to get your ass handed to you on a plate in another Primary, right?

Apparently, Barry was lying again. And he wasn’t just lying about Hamas either. The fact is, he didn’t eat his waffle and here’s the proof. As you can see, Barack didn’t finish his waffle and some very enterprising person saw an Ebay opportunity with the potential to match the income generated by the cheese sandwich with the image of the Virgin Mary on it.

I mean if people would be willing to pay thousands for an image of the Virgin Mary on a half-eaten cheese sandwich, imagine what people would be willing to bid for Jesus Obama’s waffle, complete with his DNA and spit on it! Not only that but he left his little sausage behind in Pennsylvania too! Why don’t you think about that. I’ll wait….

Now you have got to love America — what’s left of it. Just as Barack’s waffle and his sausage were…um…pulled from Ebay, another enterprising soul was ready to capture Barry’s spitty breakfast for posterity! Here we have an interpretive painting of Barack Obama’s waffle listed on Ebay.

Now, if you look at the original and do a comparison, you will see that this is indeed a very realistic rendition offered by this published artist, wouldn’t you agree?

At the time of this entry, this listing of an artist’s rendition of Barack’s waffle and little sausage has had more than two thousand hits. I just hope the holder of the original doesn’t sell it for DNA. I would hate to think anybody would clone the vapid jerk in the perpetual disconcerting black suit.