King Obama Is Upset

          Comedic genius Mel Brooks turned 88 last week.  I remember him mostly for “Blazing Saddles” and “History of the World—Part 1.”  There is a scene in the latter in which Brooks, playing the part of a French monarch, fondles a female attendant and then, looking straight at the camera, boasts, “It’s good to be king.”  Barack Obama, who waved from the steps of Air Force One as he prepared to fly off to his next golf game while Iraq burned, could have played the part.        

          But it’s not quite working out for King Barack.  He’s upset that he isn’t getting his way.  In a Minneapolis speech last week he accused his opponents of failing to “do anything except block me and call me names.”
          Well, the last part is true.  Colonel Ralph Peters exploded on Bill O’Reilly’s show when he called the president a liar and a coward for not taking action in Iraq.  Michael Savage went even further by saying that Obama was insane.  Over the top?  Sure.  But understandable under the circumstances.  Frustration with Obama’s failed leadership does get some people’s blood boiling.
          As for blocking the president, his opponents in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives have every reason to persist in their intransigence.  Obama’s logic in pushing for a hike in the minimum wage, for example, has been consistently refuted; it’s a bad idea that will hurt business and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. 
          Obama wants comprehensive immigration reform that would lead to amnesty for illegals, yet he has done nothing to protect our borders from the swarm of “undocumented aliens” who invade our country every day.  Worse, he has released criminals from our jails, halted deportations, and virtually invited Central American countries to overwhelm our border agents with their unwanted children.
          On the energy front he has waged war on coal, prevented offshore drilling in Alaska, encouraged the EPA to find ways to prevent oil and gas production using fracking, and blocked the Keystone pipeline.  America has enough resources in the ground to become energy independent, but the president prefers to squander billions of taxpayer funds on eagle-killing windmills and renewable energy failures like Solyndra. 
          Worst of all, President Obama has repeatedly failed to execute his sworn duty to uphold the laws of the land.  He ignores or changes the ones he doesn’t like and arrogates to himself, through executive decrees, the legislative power that our Constitution assigns exclusively to Congress.  When Republicans announce that they will take action to stop this usurpation of power, Obama cries out like a bullied child, “They’ve decided to sue me for doing my job.”  Excuse me, Mr. President.  They’re suing you for doing their job, not yours.  Your job is to follow the law, not make it.
          Unlike Mel Brooks, you cannot act like a king, Mr. President.  Americans dumped their last king in 1776 and they don’t want another one.

Surprise, Surprise!

          It’s absolutely amazing, and sad, to see President Obama’s world collapsing around him.  Scandal after scandal, crisis after crisis, just when we think we’ve seen it all, another one pops up.  Surprised by most, the president appears incapable of dealing with any.

          Take Iraq, for instance.  The country was at peace when Obama moved into the White House.  All he had to do was negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement with Baghdad to maintain a small but meaningful military presence in the country to keep the peace and give Iraq the time to build a functioning democracy.  But he failed.  Instead, he pulled all of our troops out of Iraq.  The result was predictable: jihadists are back in full force and threaten to overtake the country.  Yet, as late as his May 28 speech at West Point, Obama claimed that his decision had been correct. 
          To someone as naïve as the president, the invasion by the ISIS terrorist army must have come as a complete surprise.  Now he is faced with a choice of either an emergency military intervention or doing nothing.  Incredibly, news reports have him talking to Iran, our avowed enemy, about what to do.   Now that’s what I call bold action from the leader of the free world.
          At home we have another IRS bombshell, the revelation that two years of Lois Lerner e-mails have been lost because her computer crashed.  “Mom, the dog ate my homework!”  This claim is so ridiculous, even liberal journalists won’t defend it.  It is clear to everyone that the IRS simply won’t give Congress the subpoenaed e-mails, no matter what.  With Lerner having taken the Fifth, this is a further indication that her e-mails likely would implicate the White House in this scandal.  But computer experts tell us that those e-mails are retrievable from backup systems required by law.  If it turns out that the e-mails were removed from those systems, someone should go to jail. 
          Will we ever uncover the truth?  Considering this administration’s record of cover-ups, obstruction, and outright lies, we shouldn’t bet on it.

 

Reflections on the Sacred

          As I move well into the fourth quarter (in football terms) of my life, I find myself wondering more and more about what awaits me in the end zone.  I have always been a firm believer in an afterlife, but I haven’t been privileged with a mystical vision or a near-death experience to give me a preview of coming attractions.  Yet, I sense that we don’t have to see beyond our earthly horizon to connect with the spiritual realm.

          The sacred is all around us; like for a favorite radio program, we only have to tune in.  For me, I see the divine in a glorious sunset, a Gothic cathedral, a Beethoven symphony, the Sistine Chapel, and the many examples of creative genius all around us.  More and more, though, I find it in people and their capacity for selfless devotion to others. 
          Still, the daily news pummel us with stories of atrocities in Africa, murders in our inner cities, greed in our boardrooms, corruption in public office, and a growing culture of drug abuse and sexual predation.  Sometimes I wonder if human nature is defined more by hate, violence, selfishness, and concupiscence than by innate goodness.
          I have to believe, for my own sanity, that human nature is deeply flawed, but not irredeemably corrupt.  I suppose that its legacy dates back to the time when man evolved into a moral creature who discovered the difference between right and wrong.  But I also think that despite our depraved proclivities, we humans have been blessed with extraordinary individuals throughout history who have shown us that love and kindness raises us all above the morass.  Their example taught us that we can encounter the sacred not only in nature, art, and religion, but also in mercy, compassion, loyalty, devotion to duty, and personal commitment.   Few are called to acts of heroism, but all of us are capable of experiencing the spiritual side of our beings even in the most ordinary aspects of our daily lives.  
          Like I said, we only have to tune in.

Strange is our situation here on earth.  Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.  From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men – above all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.  – Albert Einstein

Carney Slinks Away

          I shouldn’t kick a man when he’s down.  But in this case I will.

          No, I’m not talking about Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.  The man was incompetent and paid the price for his incompetence.  But he was an honorable man.  He served his country admirably as a military officer and doesn’t deserve further humiliation.
          Not so for Jay Carney.  The Minister of Propaganda, a man called a professional liar for hire, is resigning.  Except perhaps for his boss, President Obama, nobody is calling him an honorable man.
          Some would say that Jay Carney was only doing his job.  But what kind of job calls for bending the truth, covering-up facts, and just plain lying to protect his boss?  If President Obama was the Liar-in-Chief, Jay Carney was his echo, his abettor.  When he first began his stint as Press Secretary, the Washington press corps gave him a pass; no one asked him tough questions.  Nobody pinned him down when scandal after scandal broke and he covered for the lies coming from the White House: Obama’s false promises on health care, the phony Benghazi video story, the denial of corruption in the IRS, the claim that the president only found out about the VA scandal by reading the newspapers. 
          This last one is what did Carney in.  In the face of clear, recorded evidence ot the president’s knowledge of VA problems from the day he took office, Carney insisted his boss didn’t know.  The press corps had had enough and hammered Carney mercilessly.  Finally, he’d had enough, too.  He resigned with his record of shameless mendacity hanging from his neck.
          Kimberly Strassel on Fox News Sunday put her finger on the corrosive culture in the White House.  She said, “You almost have to wonder if there is a scandal manual in the top drawer of the president’s desk. It isn’t just the ‘I heard it from the media.’  There [are] five steps the administration keeps repeating every time a scandal comes up.  Step one is, well, I didn’t know about it.  Step two is to express great outrage.  When that doesn’t work, step three is to fire some low-level bureaucrat. The study comes next.  Then…we’re going to wait to see what the I.G. [Inspector General] says or the FBI investigation…And then… six months later it’s either A: Done, or B: all the results are partisan, pushed by the Republicans…When you listen to some of his [the president’s] press conferences, they’re eerie.   It’s the exact same language every time.”  And there’s Jay Carney right there next to the president, ready to parrot those same lines, word for word.
          Jay Carney has been perhaps the most visible pawn in the president’s phalanx of prevaricators.  In an administration beset over and over by accusations of incompetence and scandal, Carney’s famous smirk became the symbol of this administration’s disdain
for honest reporting, his words the expression of the president’s disrespect for the truth.  Jay Carney’s tenure as Press Secretary marks a period when the leaders of this government lost two things they must demonstrate to earn and keep our confidence and our respect: moral leadership and personal integrity.  
          That is not a legacy to be proud of.

NGA Tournament Update

          We are now less than a month away from the start of the first professional golf tournament ever played in Perquimans County.  Little Hertford will soon be able to boast of being not only the hometown of Jim “Catfish” Hunter, but also the home of the Biggs Cadillac-Buick-GMC Classic.  The NGA professional golf tour is about to put Hertford on America’s sports map.

          On June 23^rd, professional golfers will arrive for their first practice round on Albemarle Plantation’s Sound Golf Links.  These stars of the future will be challenged by a course that demands precision on the fairways and finely honed skills on the greens.  They will discover that short does not necessarily mean easy.
          The first round of the tournament actually begins on Thursday, June 26^th, but it will be preceded by fun events on Tuesday like the Shootout and the Long Drive contest, and the Pro-Am on Wednesday. 
          The Pro-Am and the minor sponsorships are especially important to this community, because these sponsorships by individuals and local businesses will add significantly to the proceeds of the week-long event.  Combined with major sponsorships by Biggs, FedEx, Vidant Chowan, and Griggs Lumber in conjunction with Albemarle Preferred Builders, they now exceed $60,000 in projected revenues.  As previously announced, net proceeds from the week-long event will be donated to the Albemarle Food Bank.
          Even though sponsorships to date have already assured the financial success of this tournament, there is room for more.  Businesses in Perquimans County and surrounding areas who have not yet responded to solicitations are encouraged to take advantage of this unique fund-raising opportunity.  Having more sponsors means a greater contribution to a worthy cause.
          Finally, for county residents who would like to come as spectators on one of the tournament days from Thursday to Sunday, June 26-29, tickets are available for $5 at Woodard’s Pharmacy and the Sound Golf Links pro shop.   When it comes to feeding the hungry, every little bit counts.

The Shoes Fit

                    “If the shoe fits, wear it,” says the old adage.  Bret Stephens, in writing about the foreign policy of the President and his Secretary of State, recalled that the great German poet Goethe once wrote that nothing is worse than aggressive stupidity, but that pompous impotence surely comes in second place.  These two shoes are a perfect fit for Barack Obama and John Kerry.  They have been wearing them in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine. 

                    Stern warnings in opposition to Russian incursions take the form of sanctions that produce derision and laughter.  A response to a request for arms results in a shipment of meals-ready-to-eat (MREs).  Meek, ineffective, and yes, laughable.  That’s American foreign policy these days. 
                    Let’s move on to Nigeria where the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has been terrorizing Christian communities since 2009.  The FBI, the CIA, and members of Congress repeatedly asked the State Department to treat the group as terrorists, but Hillary Clinton refused, apparently believing that appeasing terrorists promotes peace and stability.  And let’s not mention that Boko Haram has ties to al Qaida, because that would run counter to the president’s claim that al Qaida is on the run.
                    When Boko Haram slaughtered hundreds in Gamboru Ngala and later incinerated 59 boys in an attack on a Christian Easter service, there was silence in Washington.  But when the terrorists kidnapped 300 girls and threatened to sell them into slavery, Hillary finally spoke up and called the action abominable and criminal.  Michelle Obama then jumped into the fray with a Tweet of herself holding a poster that read “# Bring Back Our Girls.”  So that’s it.  We now place our foreign policy in the hands of a hypocritical former Secretary of State and an outraged First Lady.  That will surely make Boko Haram quake in fear.
                    So what should we do about Boko Haram?  Should we send forces into Nigeria to rescue those girls?  Our intrepid Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel takes the cue and says, “We’re going to bring to bear every asset we can possibly use to help the Nigerian government” ….except put boots on the ground.  What a show of force!  Oh, but we’ll send personnel (presumably unarmed) to help locate the girls.  Now there’s a bold plan!
                    To aggressive stupidity and pompous impotence, we must now add to our foreign policy fearsome outrage and feckless bravado.   When you send those scouts into the jungle, Chuck, make sure they take a lot of MREs with them.

 

 

Dems Fear Benghazi

          The more Democrats say that Benghazi is old news, a dead issue, a red herring, etc., the more it appears that they fear the truth. 

          From the beginning, the Administration’s response to inquiries on Benghazi has been to delay, obstruct, deny, lie, and cover up.  At last a memo, withheld from investigating committees for a year and a half, has surfaced to establish that the White House was complicit in prepping Susan Rice to make false statements on five Sunday talk shows following the murders of four Americans in Benghazi.  Under direction from Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, she blamed the attacks on a protest against a video.  For House Speaker Boehner that was the last straw; he had no choice but to appoint a Select Investigating Committee to cut through the lies and get to the truth.

          Among those most fearful of the truth is Hillary Clinton, the Democrats’ presumptive candidate for President in 2016.  She will have to answer for the lack of security before the attacks; she will have to confirm or deny that she and the President were the ones who came up with the “blame the video” idea; she will have to explain why she continued to lie to the public and to the families of the deceased when she knew the video story was false.  “What difference, at this point, does it make?” is not an answer the Committee will accept.

          Hillary Clinton will not have an easy sail to the presidency.  Challengers will help voters recall Clinton White House years filled with scandals that she blamed on a “vast right wing conspiracy.”  They will bring up Whitewater, missing records, mysterious deaths, bimbo eruptions (Monica Lewinsky is already back in the news), cattle futures, and her failed health care proposal.  They will point to her dismal record as head of the State Department.  And they will point to the hypocrisy of her rants about the Boko Haram kidnappings when she was the one who refused repeatedly to place Boko Haram on the terrorist watch list. 

          Columnist William Safire once called Hillary Clinton a congenital liar.   She may not be a match for Barack Obama in that department, but I’m willing to bet she’ll be at her very best mendacious self when the questions start coming.  Stay tuned.