Have We Ever Looked Worse?

This man is the President of the United States of America.  The leader of the free world.  Until he abdicated that position in the wake of the blood bath which occurred in Paris a few days ago.

I am ashamed for my country.

World leaders gathered with French President Hollande in a show of solidarity against Islamic terrorism.  One was missing.  Obama.
Why?

Consider those who put aside differences to attend the massive rally in Paris.  Israel's Netanyahu.  Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.  Two who have little love for one another.  Ukrainian President Poroshenko  and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.  David Cameron was there.  So was Angela Merkel.  The King and Queen of Jordan.  More than 40 in all.  Except the United States. No President.  No Vice President.  No Secretary of State.

I wonder if France will stand with us the next time we need a coalition as they have in the past.  Or any of the others for that matter.  Well, it's not a problem concerning this continent you might say. Except for Canada just a few short weeks ago.  Oh, yes, the Oklahoma beheading was in there too recently.  And going back a ways to the "work place violence" at Fort Hood.

Yes.  It is a problem on this continent and in this country with it's porous borders and political correctness run so amok authorities cannot monitor what goes on in Mosques.

When 9/11 happened the world let it be known they were all American.  Why aren't we saying today we are all Charlie?  We are, you know, and ignoring it doesn't make it any less true.

Why wasn't our President there?  Is it because it wasn't at all about him? Leader of the free world?  Not today.

The 21st Century Way

Without intending to Hillary Clinton has proven herself unworthy of the presidency.  Why is that?  Remember not too long ago when during a speech she talked of how we must understand our enemies and even empathize with them?

Wrong-o, Hillary.  Today five terrorists stormed the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris and killed 12 people for daring to publish satirical cartoons about the terrorist's precious Mohammad. What a guy.  Such marvelous actions he inspires.

We need neither understand nor empathize with these barbaric miscreants.  We need to eliminate them from the top down. Or the bottom up.  What ever works. Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in a fool's paradise. Do you really think they care if we understand them?  No.  Besides, what's to understand?  They hate us, they want to annihilate us and take over the world according to their own accords. What?  Do we want them to spell it out in English so we can understand it?

The more we placate them the worse they get.  We're just giving them more time to work toward their ends.  Just like the negotiations with Iran over the nuclear program they insist they don't have.  Right.

When will moderate Muslims band together and condemn these people? When will the west get more aggressive in fighting them? When will this administration get real with the world?

It won't.  The President will continue following his own drummer no matter the consequences.  It has become apparent he has no interest in jobs nor economic reform nor anything else except what he deems in his own little netherworld to be desirable.

The worry is today it's Paris.  It's getting closer.  Where next?  Coming across the pond isn't all that difficult these days. The last thing we need looking forward is another president who agrees with this one.  That is if we're still here to look forward!

Is Bipartisanship Already Over?

Let's see, it's January 6, 2015.  It looks like it's going to be a long year.

The President has finally made clear what he has been hinting at for years.  He will veto the Keystone Pipeline.  He will veto the medical device tax.  He will veto a return to the 40 hour work week.  And so forth and so on.

I've never seen anyone like this President in all my 70+ years.  I cannot begin to understand his thought process.  All I know is he keeps telling us his way is the 21st century way.  I guess he thinks he can single handedly bring the rest of the world up to his standard no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary.

The question now is will the Congress revert to maybe the 20th century way when both sides of the aisle would work together to come up with viable compromise.  Where both sides of the aisle would work together to over turn a veto when they knew in their heart of hearts the veto was wrong.

We have a lot of new blood in this Congress. I'm wondering what type it may be. Hopefully there is plenty of type A.  A for America.  The country, it seems, no longer has much tolerance for O.

Why Can't Cops Protest?

Am I in the minority?  I do not think the police turning their backs on Mayor DeBlasio was in poor taste nor was it an insult to their fallen comrades. If nothing more it was a show of support for the two officers who died because vehemence toward police had gotten out of hand. How else were they going to let it be known they aren't happy with their treatment.

If the Sharpton/DeBlasio race baiters have the right to protest then I think the police should too.  Actually I think they've done it with class considering what they could do.  After all, they are the ones armed to the hilt.

All they did, however, was turn their backs on the person they have a grievance with in the only venue where they could be sure he got the message.  Or at least couldn't deny getting it.  They didn't turn over and burn cars, they didn't break windows, beat civilians nor rob businesses. They didn't rain debris on unsuspecting pedestrians. They merely turned their backs. On the one person with whom they had a grievance.

Is our discomfort because of the brotherhood they share?  They have each others backs in a way no other profession other than active duty combat soldiers do.  Daily they face the worst of us more than the best.  Sure, not all of them are good guys and sometimes we lose patience because it takes so long to weed out the bad ones.  We don't like their 'attitude'.  But what would we do without them?

We want their respect.  Is it too much for them to ask the same from not only those they protect but from those to whom they must answer?  I think not.

I'm willing to wager if we should ever have another, God forbid, incident like 9/11 who do you think would be leading the first responders?  I think I can safely say it wouldn't be the likes of Bill DeBlasio.  Most likely it would be a cop.  We need to remember that. 

Bullies

SONY has been hacked.  A lot of what had been assumed as private information was suddenly public.  Who was to blame?  The FBI tells us it was North Korea.  I have my doubts.

Maybe they had a hand in it but somehow I doubt they evey knew  the movie spoof about doing in their "Young One" was being made.  No, I think some insiders had a hand in it.  But no.  The FBI says it was North Korea.  After all they have information the rest of us don't.  Like where the perps of Benghazai hang out.

The President assured us he would retaliate appropriately.  We've placed some more sanctions on them.  They don't have anything anyway so I don't see that they'll have any impact. But such is the way our government does business these days.

Now, if you really want to let someone know we can't be bullied by some two bit caricature, why don't we start with Al Sharpton?  The same Al Sharpton who sits with the Mayor of New York and the President of the United States on one hand and on the other  extorts large cash contributions from corporations to keep him and his National Action Network from accusing them of racism. Companies like Macy's, Honda and AT&T.

Also those organizations who demand politicians sign a pledge to favor their cause or a candidate will be run against them. Or the office holders who are in positions of power who won't allow legislation to come to a vote because it's not what the man wants.

They are all bullies.  Their behavior is despicable.  If anyone takes a pledge to do anything, let it be to give the likes of these no sway.  I wonder if we even recognize that we're being held hostage to these people and their special interests.  It's part of what's wrong with government because it starts at the local level and embeds itself forever after. That's what lobbiests do.  That's what political action groups do.  Those who cater to them get ahead, those who don't don't.

Perhaps it's time we get behind those who have the guts "to just say no". When you look at the players you see it isn't at all racist.  Sure, Sharpton, the President and Holder are black but Kim Jong Un isn't. The House and Senate leadership is lily white.  So are the Christian Conservatives who demand their pound of flesh.

It goes to show that unsavory behavior has nothing to do with race.  It has to do with character. Just because a person is a caricature doesn't mean he has character.  At least not a good one.