"The border situation, at its core, is not an economic issue, a cultural issue, or a race issue. It's a national security issue," writes Norah Peterson at American Thinker.

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Obama Attacks: Sinking the Arizona ... People
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Half of Americans Reject Obama's Immigration Lawsuit 
Hey, Obama, Show Us Your Papers 
Fact: Obama on Illegals Fails His Oath of Office

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 07:12 AM | Permalink

File Under -- Look, Mom, No Teleprompter: Claudia Rosett writes at Pajamas Media:

Speaking Wednesday to Israel’s Channel 2 News, Obama struck a friendly tone.

And yet, as if he can’t quite help himself, out comes this astonishingly crude remark. As reported in the New York Times, he was asked about “the anxiety of many Israelis who feel that he does not have a special bond with Israel." Obama replied -- get ready for it: “Some of it may just be the fact that my middle name is Hussein, and that creates suspicion.”

Or could it be, as Rosett suggests, "that it’s Obama himself who’s been paying too much attention to his own middle name."

Rosett concludes: "There are life and death matters here in which he has been failing the test as leader of the Free World, and that -- not his middle name -- is the problem."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:43 AM | Permalink

"The United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the benefits of bombing Iran's nuclear program outweigh the short-term costs such an attack would impose," reports the Washington Times.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:02 AM | Permalink

How can this be? After all, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States assured the American people less than one week ago that our "southern border is more secure today than at any time in the past 20 years," notes IBD in "Shootout at El Paso City Hall."

But that was teleprompter happytalk disconnected from reality.

With each passing day, it becomes more and more clear: The Obama White House has become an impediment to the lives and liberties of Americans in Texas, not to mention in Arizona and in all the border States. 

Weakness at the border is not unrelated to weakness in Washington. Physical violence spilling over from Mexico into our land is not unrelated to constitutional violence spilling over from Washington into our land.

The lesson seems clear: Americans who remember who they are as creatures of resistance in their national heritage and in our human identity must rise up to throw off the oppressor -- whether he be across the border in Mexico or across the border in D.C.

It's 120 days until election day Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010.

Yesterday we celebrated our independence from an alien power imposing its will upon America. In this November we do so again. And there is no artificial timetable for withdrawal from the field of battle, Mr. Oppressor. Let freedom ring.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:01 AM | Permalink

"The Italian government is appealing to the European court of human rights to overturn a ban on classroom crucifixes," reports the BBC.

"This case against crucifixes was brought by a woman who argued that her children had a right to a secular education under Italy's constitution."

Apparently, the sovereign nation of Italy no longer exists. This need not be so.

Someone please go tell the European court and the Italians: If unalienable rights endowed upon humanity by the Creator are not universal, they are not unalienable.

If Italians want to live in an exceptional nation that need not go begging to other human beings for "rights," they may want to consider listening to, and applying instead, the information we have from the Creator. The Creator-based concepts that made, and can again make, the United States exceptional (see the Declaration of Independence) are equally available and applicable to any being created equal in the image of God. That includes the Italians.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:34 AM | Permalink

A Jewish dance group was attacked in Germany last Saturday while performing during a street festival in Hanover," reports Arutz Sheva.

"Members of the Haverim dance group were pelted with stones as they took the stage. One dancer was injured. As youth threw stones, they screamed 'Juden Raus' (Jews out). . . . Five of the six suspects" aged 9 to 19 are "Muslim immigrants."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:15 AM | Permalink

Arutz Sheva says the new gizmo is putting Iran "under the microscope."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:48 PM | Permalink

The feds are long since AWOL on sufficient border protection, and now the hapless Obama regime seems imperiously upset that a "sovereign state such as Arizona" is "doing something, anything, in the face of decades-long wanton negligence," notes the Augusta Chronicle.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 11:21 AM | Permalink

"Some Afghan and Western officials" reportedly say Karzia has "lost faith in the Americans and NATO to prevail in Afghanistan."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:52 PM | Permalink

To avoid bad faith and a merely private "faith" ("my" "truth") it is crucial that one's politics, commentary, science, ethics, theology, and worldview are rooted in real-world facts and the possibility of verifiability and therefore falsification.

Hence, the unfortunate attempt by Rosie O'Donnell to defend the anti-Semitic views of Helen Thomas, an effort that runs so afoul of history, space, and time that Eileen Toplansky can ask whether the woman is "merely uninformed or interminably stupid?"

I cast my vote for a Rosie who is passionately uniformed -- a state of being which, however, if practiced for years can produce a stupidity that seems interminable, if not dishonest, not just for an entertainer but also for a president. Bad faith, like a little learning, can be a dangerous thing. 

Related
Rosie O'Donnell's Oppressive Coat

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:13 AM | Permalink

From Politico:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in her sharpest rebuke yet of the oil industry, said Friday that BP should not make dividend payments to stockholders until those affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are made "whole."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 03:38 PM | Permalink

So, apparently, there is still time for a concerned world to pressure Iran, says the U.S. secretary of defense. And with the likes of Gulf Oil Disaster Team Obama on the watch and knowing how to kick whatever, what's to worry?

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 03:25 PM | Permalink

Geert Wilders' "Freedom Party nearly tripled its representation in the Dutch parliament in Wednesday's elections," reports the UK Telegraph.  

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 11:41 PM | Permalink

"Barack Obama has been accused of holding 'his boot on the throat' of British pensioners after his attacks on BP were blamed for wiping billions off the company's value," reports the UK Telegraph.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:06 PM | Permalink

The attack occured 6 miles outside of Islamabad, the "closest to the heavily guarded capital the militants have struck thus far," reports the BBC.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:17 PM | Permalink

Zach Reed writes at the World Socialist Web Site:

Upwards of 10,000 people marched from Downing Street to the Israeli Embassy in London on June 5 to condemn the criminal attack on the Gaza aid flotilla by Israel on May 31. The attack, which occurred in international waters, saw the murder of nine Turkish civilians on board a Turkish-flagged ship attempting to deliver much-needed aid to Gaza, which remains under an Israeli blockade.

Here's what's really going on, according to Mr. Reed: "In reality, the world’s major powers continue to defend Israel because they pursue their own criminal imperialist ambitions and represent the same class forces."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 08:43 PM | Permalink

"A top adviser to President Obama is the contact person within the White House for communications with the Free Gaza Movement over plans to challenge Israel's blockade of the terrorist Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, according to a reputable source close to the Netanyahu government," reports Jerome Corsi at WorldNetDaily.

"The source, a career official whose reliability was established through his tips for the book Why Israel Can't Wait, identified John O. Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, as the contact."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 11:23 AM | Permalink

"Australian public opinion has made history," writes Peter Hartcher at the Sydney Morning Herald. "We have the distinction of becoming the first people in the world to name China as the world's leading economic power -- even before the Chinese themselves."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 01:12 PM | Permalink

At Newsmax:

German President Horst Koehler resigned Monday in a surprise move after being criticized for reportedly linking military deployments abroad with the country's economic interests -- creating a new headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel. . . .

He said in that broadcast that, for a country with Germany's dependency on exports, military deployments could be "necessary . . . in order to defend our interests, for example, free trade routes."

That was taken by many as relating to Germany's unpopular mission in Afghanistan, although his office later said that he was referring to anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia. Germans are often uneasy about deployments abroad, given the country's militaristic past, and the mission in Afghanistan makes many particularly uncomfortable.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 12:18 PM | Permalink

AP reports:

Confronting soaring frustration over illegal immigration, President Barack Obama on Wednesday condemned Arizona's crackdown and pushed instead for a federal fix the nation could embrace. He said that will never happen without Republican support, pleading: "I need some help."

In asking anew for an immigration overhaul, Obama showed solidarity with his guest of honor, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who called Arizona's law discriminatory and warned Mexico would reject any effort to "criminalize migration."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:10 PM | Permalink

"Back in 1984, when the late Jeane J. Kirkpatrick gave her famous 'Blame America First' speech to the Republican National Convention, liberals at least waited for something bad to happen before blaming America," writes columnist Michelle Malkin.

"Today, Obama Democrats have now mastered the treacherous art of the pre-emptive global apology. Foggy Bottom is crammed with so many 'human rights' zealots embarrassed by the country they serve that the State Department mission statement should be replaced with a condolence card."

Malkin notes that "Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Michael Posner is probably not the first Obama State Department official to badmouth America in front of foreign delegations. He was just dumb enough to get caught."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 07:21 AM | Permalink

Philip Klein writes:

The difference between a Jewish liberal and a Jewish conservative is that when a Jewish liberal walks out of the Holocaust Museum, he feels, "This shows why we need to have more tolerance and multiculturalism." The Jewish conservative feels, "We should have killed a lot more Nazis, and sooner."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 07:05 AM | Permalink

"There’s a white flag flying over America this morning and it was run up the flagpole by President Barack Obama without the knowledge or permission of the American people," writes Judi McLeod at CanadaFreePress.

"Sporting a Chicago White Sox baseball cap," McLeod continues, "the Girly on the Mound of yesterday’s baseball opener went on to toss the bombshell that he will make the world a nuclear weapons free zone."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:50 AM | Permalink

Barack Obama is known for bowing to heads of state from around the planet.

Consider the bow to the emperor of Japan. To the king of Saudi Arabia. And to the mighty mayor of Tampa. Florida.

But I've seen no film or news report of him meeting, greeting, and bowing to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, in town recently to dicuss a range of matters with the White House.

But rather than an Obama bow, the Jewish prime minister was treated to a series of Obama snubs. 

How do we explain this mystery?

Perhaps BB neglected to bow to Obama, unlike NBC's Brian Williams. So maybe Obama needed to teach the prime minister a lesson in civility. 

Perhaps Obama thought BB was a Tea Partier who affirms the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Can't be seen bowing to an American patriot.

Such a provocative act might be seen as incendiary, an incitement to right-wing violence of the kind fair-minded observers have long associated with the likes of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and other racists, prudes, Nazis, and caucasians.

Whatever the explanation, rest assured that Obama is right and that whoever objects or questions his authority is wrong. Yep, it's great to have an infallible president who is never, ever wrong about anything (as is called for in the living Constitution).

This is the man called by history and fate to heal America and heal the world. He knows just when to bow to others and when to tell them to sit down, shut up, and go home.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 08:48 PM | Permalink

"Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is grateful that actor Sean Penn has defended him against his critics within the U.S. media," reports AP. 

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 08:02 AM | Permalink

"It was standing room only at the Boston Brighton Tea Party organised by the Freedom Association early this evening at which Dan Hannan was guest speaker," writes Jonathan Isaby at ToryDiary. "He said that it was time to 'bring sanity and order back to the public finances' an that had to be done by reducing expenditure rather than increasing taxes."

Hat tip: Big Government

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 12:10 PM | Permalink

Question Politicized Authority: "Without trustworthy science and with so much at stake, Americans should be wary about what comes out of this politicized conference," writes Sarah Palin in a column at the Washington Post.

"The president should boycott Copenhagen," concludes the author of Going Rogue. 

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:19 AM | Permalink

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) "said Tuesday he is going to attend the Copenhagen conference on climate change to inform world leaders that despite any promises made by President Obama, no new laws will be passed in the United States until the 'scientific fascism' ends," reports Fox News.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:23 PM | Permalink

"The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations," reports the UK Guardian.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 01:17 PM | Permalink

"As delegates from 192 countries kick off the United Nations global climate gathering in Copenhagen on Monday, CNSNews.com offers some angles that are unlikely to make mainstream media headlines."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:12 AM | Permalink

"Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan," writes Gabor Steingart at Der Spiegel.  

"One didn't have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama's speech," Steingart continues.

"It was the least truthful address that he has ever held. He spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly."

My View: Obama's heart was not in this speech, just as his heart is not in winning this war. 

A dark cloud now hovers above the head of Obama. I hope I am wrong, but this suggests dark days ahead for the United States and our troops in the field.

The need for the people of America to return home to Declarational and Constitutional foundations is stronger than ever. Those foundations will help us weather the mere "values" of weak presidents who know not what they do.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:07 AM | Permalink

"Last night President Obama outlined his long-anticipated war plan for Afghanistan before thousands of cadets and families at the United States Military Academy," writes Robert Maginnis at Human Events.

Unfortunately, "Obama’s lofty ideas don’t mesh with the realities on the ground."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:17 AM | Permalink

Heroes on Trial: "In the latest absurdity in the war on terrorism," editorializes the Washington Times, "Petty Officers Matthew McCabe, Jonathan Keefe and Julio Huertas face charges related to the apprehension of Ahmed Hashim Abed, alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four American security contractors in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. The 'war crime' at issue is a punch in the gut."

And after the trial, this may be in order: Let the SEALS run for Congress. They seem to know who the bad guys are.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 09:25 AM | Permalink

Mr. Obama's cute line on "jobs created or saved" "Flunks Science Test," writes Caroline Baum at Bloomberg.

"At first it was just an unverifiable assertion," she writes. "Now it turns out to have been a case of bureaucratic ineptitude and possible fraud."

Well, that platitude may be a joke, but Obama's dithering on Afghanistan isn't.

One wonders: In the midst of all this presidential indecisiveness, how many additional U.S. warriors have been wounded or killed? How many hung out to dry because a commander in chief is working on his jumpshot? Or setting up show trials for terrorists in New York City?

And how many additional U.S. warriors will be killed or wounded now and tomorrow in Afghanistan and across the world because an American president exudes a weakness and lack of seriousness approaching and perhaps surpassing even that of the ill-famed Jimmy Carter?

Perhaps CNN, MSNBC, and CBS are already looking into this. Perhaps not.

Or perhaps a hard-news outfit like Fox can ask the president about it when he makes an announcement on Afghanistan sometime after Thanksgiving. 

A final point: Weakness invites aggression, but strength invites peace. Go ask Reagan.  

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 12:48 PM | Permalink

"Obama's advisors fear a comparison with former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, even more than with Bush," writes Gabor Steingart.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 02:36 PM | Permalink

"U.S. Senator John McCain predicted an allied win in Afghanistan in one year to 18 months if sufficient troops are sent, as the White House mulls sending tens of thousands of reinforcements," reports AFP.

"But he said that timeline is threatened by U.S. President Barack Obama's delay in rolling out a new Afghanistan strategy."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 02:37 PM | Permalink

In "The China President Obama Didn't See," an intriguing comment on Obama's recent trip to communist China, Leslie Hook in the Wall Street Journal muses upon why the Chinese government is so fearful of "unregistered" churches.

She writes:

Chinese and foreign observers alike believe the number of Chinese belonging to underground churches may now exceed 100 million people. That figure has grown rapidly as more and more Chinese, particularly well-educated city dwellers, turn away from Communist Party atheism. [emphasis added]

Life has never been easy for the underground churches, and recently it has gotten a lot harder. This is the result, according to the Christian charity group China Aid, of a state directive handed down in August. Why do China's powerful leaders fear these churches, most of which steer clear of politics? It may be that they have grown increasingly paranoid about the political power of religion given the unrest they have faced in Buddhist Tibet and Muslim Xinjiang. Or it could be because dissident intellectuals, such as jailed human-rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, have sometimes tended toward Christianity. [emphasis added]

As a questioning and free-thinking human being who affirms the philosophic and reality-oriented answers given in the Judeo-Christian worldview to the basic questions of existence raised by life in a challenging universe -- answers superior to those offered by secular humanism, atheism, agnosticism, and so on (and superior, by the way, to that fragmentation that passes for political liberalism these days) -- one can appreciate in some small measure why "well-educated city dwellers" and "dissident intellectuals" are attracted to Christianity. 

As a person religiously committed to god-talk secularism, Mr. Obama seems blessedly ignorant of the vibrancy and intellectual strength of the historic Judeo-Christian worldview here in the United States. So I suppose, in this respect, it is hardly unexpected that he misses it abroad in the land of Mao.

Upshot for Mr. Obama and the Chinese: The next few years may hold a few surprises for him, them, and like-minded people of secular faith.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Stop Dithering: And why it's necessary to win the "war of necessity."

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 04:04 PM | Permalink

Peter Goddard writes at the Toronto Star:

News that a McDonald's is to open shortly in the bosom of the Louvre has sent waves of shock and horror worldwide. Appalled art lovers cringe at the possibility of the outlet serving up a juicy Double Da Vinci burger with a side of frites. Or a Francis Bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich.

More . . .

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Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Sarah Palin writes on her Facebook page:

Our allies and our adversaries are watching to see if we have the staying power to protect our interests in Afghanistan.

I recently joined a group of Americans in urging President Obama to devote the resources necessary in Afghanistan and pledged to support him if he made the right decision.

Now is not the time for cold feet, second thoughts, or indecision -- it is the time to act as commander-in-chief and approve the troops so clearly needed in Afghanistan.

At the time of this entry here at Pro-Existence, more than 10,500 people had indicated they "Like" what they read, and 1,600 had offered comments. Palin's note was posted yesterday at 5:57 p.m.

Read the rest of "We Must Win in Afghanistan," by Sarah Palin.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 10:47 AM | Permalink

"A majority of Americans are skeptical that diplomacy with Iran will succeed and say the U.S. should use military action if necessary to prevent the Iranian government from developing a nuclear weapon," reports Bloomberg.com.

"A Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey released today found 61 percent of Americans would support a military strike. Twenty-four percent said it is more important to avoid conflict even if that means Iran will end up building nuclear arms."

Read the story.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 01:20 PM | Permalink

"Sources tell Newsmax the Obama administration is muzzling its top military leaders, and keeping them from publicly airing their views on how to fight the war in Afghanistan," reports David A. Patten at Newmax.

"The administration's primary target: top Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose speech in London last week apparently caught administration officials off guard," writes Patten. "In fact, The Daily Telegraph reported that Obama's advisers were 'shocked and angered' by McChrystal's speech."

Read the story at Newsmax.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 11:08 PM | Permalink

Holocaust-denying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "vitriolic attacks on the Jewish world hide an astonishing secret," says the UK Telegraph.  "A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots." 

"A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian -- a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver," reports the Telegraph. "The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth."

One wonders how many of Ahmadinejad's Jewish family and relatives were murdered or otherwise liquidated in the Holocaust that never happened.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 05:29 PM | Permalink

Peter Ferrara writes at American Spectator:

A cherished maxim of self-congratulatory liberals is the notion that diplomacy and negotiation are always the best course of action because "as long as the two sides are talking, they are not shooting."

That was not true on the morning of December 7, 1941.

On that very day, Japanese diplomats were in Washington to continue ongoing talks for peace between Japan and America, as Japanese planes were slaughtering some 2,400 American servicemen at Pearl Harbor.

President Obama now has America, and Israel, on that same course in regard to Iran.

Read the rest of "A Clear and Present Danger," by Peter Ferrara.

Posted by Rick Pearcey at 06:47 AM | Permalink