Jack's Newswatch

Bush’s former ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, on how Obama screwed up his predecessor’s handiwork in Iraq, the coming regional arms conflict—and what the president should say in his speech tonight about his decision to withdraw American troops.

President Obama has an opportunity in Tuesday’s Oval Office address on Iraq to show that he has finally learned something about American security in the hard world of international geostrategy. Of course, if he did, it would mean abandoning much of what he advocated during his election campaign, reversing many of his most-prized policies since his inauguration, disappointing his leftist political base, and causing acute heartburn on Norway’s Nobel Peace Prize Committee. I’m not holding my breath. But if the president was blessed with a revelation during his summer vacation, perhaps he now understands what we have at stake in Iraq going forward.

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Related:

Obama’s Speech on the End of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Updates:

2:21 pm EDT, September 2nd, 2010 — Rove: Obama’s ‘Come Home America’ Speech

Notes:

Bolton’s article was written before Obama gave his speech.

Popularity: 2% [?]

President Obama’s administration recently submitted a report to the United Nations on human rights in America. The 29-page report shows the nation badly flawed but fortunate to have a Nobel Prize winner as its leader. The report is billed as “a partial snapshot of the current human rights situation in the United States, including some of the areas where problems persist in our society.” Among the nation’s shortcomings listed in the report:

» Arizona has dared to try to enforce immigration laws that the federal government will not. But don’t worry, Obama is suing them.

» We incarcerate dangerous terrorists at a military prison in Guantanamo Bay. But don’t worry — Obama has signed three executive orders to protect them from the last administration’s rough handling and he “remains committed to closure of the Guantanamo detention facility.”

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See Also:

Cal Thomas: Has Obama lost even the liberals?

Felons by the thousands among infiltrating hordes

Popularity: 6% [?]

The liberal media have been criticizing those 20% of Americans polled who believe Barack Obama is a Muslim. The president declares himself a Christian, yet those 20% insist upon determining his religion based upon his father’s adherence to Islam. The left would have us believe this is bigotry and intolerance.

It should be noted that Canada — that bastion of liberalism, gay marriage, and universal health care — subscribes to the very same intolerant view. And it’s government policy.

We’re all aware by now of Edward N. Luttwak’s May 12, 2008 New York Times piece — recently cited on American Thinker — in which he wrote:

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Hard on the heels of the Ground Zero Mosque controversy, significant numbers of Americans think President Obama is a Muslim. The uncomfortable fact for the White House is the more the American people get to know Mr. Obama, the more they think he is a follower of Islam.

Rumors of Mr. Obama’s purported Muslim identity spread in January of 2007 and were tied to Hillary Rodham Clinton operatives, who denied responsibility. The Obama camp responded that “Barack Obama is not and has never been a Muslim. Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim and is a committed Christian who attends [The Rev. Jeremiah Wright's] United Church of Christ.” That seemed definitive.

But in a February 2008 interview with the New York Times, Mr. Obama said the Adhan, the Muslim call to prayer, is “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.” He then recited it, “with a first-class [Arabic] accent.” The opening of the Adhan contains the Shahada, the Muslim profession of faith, proclaiming, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God.” Stating this before two Muslims is the traditional requirement for joining the Islamic faith.

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Related:

KUHNER: Obama’s Islamic agenda

Pelosi Tells America to Shut Up on Ground Zero Mosque

Updates:

1:54 pm EDT, August 21st, 2010 – Religious leaders speak out against International Burn a Quran Day

Notes:

Sounds to me like things are “hotting up” as Muslims try to claim their victory and Americans scream “no way”.  We’ll all get to see how that goes on November 2nd.

And “no” Nancy.  America will NOT shut up.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Former Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich recognizes that daunting challenges await as prosecutors prepare to mount a new effort to convict him on corruption charges, but he told ABC News Friday he sees a triumphant political comeback in his future that will be no less dramatic than the one pulled off by Winston Churchill.

“I’m not ruling out doing something I’ve spent my whole adult life doing,” Blagojevich said when asked about a possible return to politics. “I believe some of the greatest stories in history are some of the great comebacks. You think about Winston Churchill, I mean he spent years in the political wilderness … . If Churchill can comeback from something like that, when I’m vindicated, I certainly don’t write myself off.”

Blagojevich sat down with ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross Friday as he embarked on a media tour aimed at recovering his reputation in the aftermath of a (mostly) favorable courtroom verdict – a jury this week found him guilty on only one of 24 counts, lying to federal agents. The panel could not find agreement any of the corruption charges, including most sensational government claim, that he attempted to cash-in the senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama for a new job or for campaign contributions.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

Nine years after 9/11, the site of the Twin Towers is still an open sore on the face of New York — a festering reminder of the terror attack which claimed almost 3,000 lives.

To add insult to injury, in the eyes of the victims’ families and the majority of Americans, approval has just been granted for a mosque to be built two blocks away from Ground Zero.

What began as a local planning dispute could come to determine the fate of Barack Obama’s Presidency.

In favour: America’s liberal elite. Against: 70 per cent of the American people. With crucial mid-term elections looming in November, the President finds himself marooned on the wrong side of public opinion. It could cost him control of Congress and, in two years’ time, the White House itself. At an event to mark the Muslim festival of Ramadan, Obama backed the plans for a mosque and Islamic cultural centre 400 yards from Ground Zero, saying: ‘As a citizen and a President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise their religion as anyone else in this country.

‘That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.’

He also managed to ignite the Bible Belt and God-fearing, moderate Middle America by proclaiming that Islam was a major force in ‘advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings’ and had ‘always been part of America’.

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Related:

Lack of Foresight Lets Mosque Controversy Balloon

Obama’s Petulant Presidency

Updates:

1:54 pm EDT, August 19th, 2010 — Mosque supporters beg George W. Bush to come to Obama’s rescue

1:56 pm EDT, August 19th, 2010 — Prominent Muslim Group Asks Bush to Weigh In on Mosque Controversy

1:57 pm EDT, August 19th, 2010 — Worse Than Carter

1:58 pm EDT, August 19th, 2010 — One in five Americans think Obama is Muslim: poll

1:59 pm EDT, August 19th, 2010 — Democrats Looking for a Way out of the Mosque Mess

The Black Knight

Popularity: 9% [?]

President Obama has engaged in numerous high crimes and misdemeanors. The Democratic majority in Congress is in peril as Americans reject his agenda. Yet more must be done: Mr. Obama should be impeached.

He is slowly – piece by painful piece – erecting a socialist dictatorship. We are not there – yet. But he is putting America on that dangerous path. He is undermining our constitutional system of checks and balances; subverting democratic procedures and the rule of law; presiding over a corrupt, gangster regime; and assaulting the very pillars of traditional capitalism. Like Venezuela’s leftist strongman, Hugo Chavez, Mr. Obama is bent on imposing a revolution from above – one that is polarizing America along racial, political and ideological lines. Mr. Obama is the most divisive president since Richard Nixon. His policies are Balkanizing the country. It’s time for him to go.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

The president may have several feathers in his cap, but they’re covered by an invisibility cloak. As he treks across the country, his salesmanship cannot eclipse the overdetermined feeling of gloom that attends to the economy. The big debate in Washington right now is whether Obama helps or hurts Democrats across the country. Generally, presidential approval ratings correlate with the midterm performance of the president’s party. Obama’s average approval ratings are a hair above 45 percent and his favorability rating is lower than 50 percent.

Voters seem to be shrugging their shoulders. In Missouri, Obama’s approval rating is at 34 percent, and the Democratic Senate candidate, Robin Carnahan, gets no fewer than 42 percent of the vote in recent polls. In Kentucky, Obama gets accolades from 41 percent of voters, which is equal to the percent of voters who support Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul. Obama’s ratings in Ohio are higher than in other battleground states — 45 percent — and higher, by a few points, than Democratic Senate nominee Lee Fisher, who leads Republican Rob Portman in the latest polls. Obama’s numbers in Connecticut have rebounded a bit over the past several months — he’s now at 46 percent, outpolling both Republican and Democratic Senate candidates.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Public confidence in President Obama has hit a new low, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Four months before midterm elections that will define the second half of his term, nearly six in 10 voters say they lack faith in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a clear majority once again disapproves of how he is dealing with the economy.

Regard for Obama is still higher than it is for members of Congress, but the gap has narrowed. About seven in 10 registered voters say they lack confidence in Democratic lawmakers and a similar proportion say so of Republican lawmakers.

Overall, more than a third of voters polled — 36 percent — say they have no confidence or only some confidence in the president, congressional Democrats and congressional Republicans. Among independents, this disillusionment is higher still. About two-thirds of all voters say they are dissatisfied with or angry about the way the federal government is working.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Nick Popaditch – a medically retired Gunnery Sergeant, wounded in Fallujah, received the Silver Star – is running for Congress in California.

We have stated/posted our support of Nick throughout his recovery, his retirement and now in this new fight.

When you jump into the political ring, you know (and Nick and April Popaditch know) that politics can get dirty.  You expect attacks on your politics, your conduct of your life, etc.

But you don’t expect the media to attack you war wounds with an editorial cartoon…you don’t really expect a blatant disrespect for your service…like this cartoon that appeared in Saturday’s (July 10th) edition of the Imperial Valley Press:

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Related:

Popaditch electoral site

Notes:

This is a man Palin can get behind –  and she should.

Popularity: 5% [?]