Biden Offering Personally Guided Tour of Secret Bunker

Bidenrrhea of the mouth

from Michelle Malkin.com
By Michelle Malkin
May 18, 2009

I’ve been chronicling the gaffetastic mouth of Bozo the VP Joe Biden with a mixture of amusement and horror for the past year.

It’s not funny anymore:

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president.
According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president.

The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney remained under protection in secret after the 9/11 attacks.

Secure, undisclosed? Not anymore.

When he said “Gird your loins,” he wasn’t kidding. How long before Bidenrrhea of the mouth does even greater harm?

Heartbeat away.

Will President Obama dismiss it as yet another “rhetorical flourish?”***

Flashback: The increasingy erratic, super-gaffetastic Joe Biden
Flashback: Smirky loses control of his mouth again: “I shouldn’t be going off like this.”
Flashback: Bozo the VP strikes again
Flashback: Audio comedy gold: Bozo the Vice President is looking out for you
Flashback: The Joe Biden gaffe machine strikes again
Flashback: Bozo the Veep can’t remember “website number” of Recovery.gov
Flashback: J-O-B-S.
Flashback: Obama-Biden: Which disabled war vets will they insult next?
Flashback: Biden flashback: On second thought, I wasn’t really “shot at”

Click to read the article and the comments

US Signals It Will Appease Iran - At Israel's Expense

article from Joshua Pundit
photo from Joshua Pundit
Friday, April 17, 2009

The US Signals It Will Appease Iran - At Israel's Expense

The Obama Administration has sent a number of unmistakable signals recently to Israel that it considers them an obstruction rather than an ally...and that appeasing Iran and the Muslim world takes priority its relationship with Israel.

First, President Obama agreed on an important concession to Iran, reversing years of policy. They sent a message to the Mullahs that they would be willing to begin talks on Iran's nuclear weapons program without insisting that the Iranians at least temporarily cease enrichment - which means that the mullahs can run out the clock with endless negotiations while they continue to perfect their nukes and their delivery systems.

Second, the Israelis definitely took note of the North Korean fiasco, where Secretary of Defense Robert Gates went public before the Nork's recent missile launch to tell the world that the US couldn't or wouldn't do anything about it. As I mentioned at the time the Israelis, if they're paying attention, should realize that if the US either couldn't or wouldn't do anything to stop North Korea, they're not going to stop an Iranian missile strike on Israel either. And that any guarantees the Israelis get on that score are pretty much worthless.

Just to underline that message, it recently came out that SecDef Gates refused Japan's request to allow the US Navy to utilize America's most advanced radar, a seaborne X-band unit during the North Korean launch:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied permission for the U.S. Northern Command to use the Pentagon's most powerful sea-based radar to monitor North Korea's recent missile launch, precluding officials from collecting finely detailed launch data or testing the radar in a real-time crisis, current and former defense officials said.

To say that the Japanese were upset about this is an understatement.

The Israelis also have an X-Band unit, stationed in the Negev Desert as part of the well-publicized link up of the Israeli and US missile defense systems designed to ease Israel's concerns about Iran's nukes.The US has insisted that the unit remain completely under US control without any Israeli oversight or involvement..which wasn't a huge problem because the Israelis felt confident that the Americans would never allow a missile attack against a long time ally of the US.

After seeing how Japan, another log-time US ally was left hanging, I doubt the Israelis have that confidence.

Finally, Israel was the recipient of two high level blunt warnings from the US in the space of about a week against taking any action to stop the Iranians from getting nukes, one from Vice President Joe Biden and the other from Secretary of Def Robert Gates.

Gates statement was reminiscent of his remarks on North Korea, saying that the US can't do anything about Iran's quest for nukes and that an Iranian nuclear bomb can be prevented only if "Iranians themselves decide it's too costly."

He also said that a strike on Iran's nukes would unify Iran, "cement their determination to have a nuclear program, and also build into the whole country an undying hatred of whoever hits them."

Of course that ignores both the Iranian regime's determination to obtain nukes that's already cemented in place and its genocidal desire to use them on Israel, whether on it's own or by providing them its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. As for the hatred, that's pretty much a given already. Referring to a country as a cancer and threatening to wipe it off the map reflects sentiments that aren't going to change no matter what Israel does or doesn't do.

Not only does Gate's statement effectively signal the Mullahs that the US is not going to do anything effective to stop them, it tells the Israelis that the US is not to be depended on as an ally and that they're supposed to cringe, depend on Ahmadinejad and Khamenei's good graces and hope it all works out.

Gates, of course is speaking with Obama's voice. The Israelis would be fools to accept this, and I doubt they will.

As for the US, if things continue as they are we're set to learn a very hard lesson on why appeasing a regime like Iran's is a no guarantee of our own security.

We will pay in blood and treasure and treasure for that lesson, and the longer we try to delay the inevitable the higher the bill will be.
Click to read the article and comments

Navy SEALs' Simultaneous Headshots on Somali Pirates Were Procedure

Expert: Without Headshots, Captain Phillips 'Definitely Would Have Been Killed'

from ABC News.com
By LEE FERRAN
April 13, 2009

At least one former SEAL was not surprised that each of the three Somali pirates was killed with just one shot, despite the fact that they were on a rolling sea and the Navy snipers had to make a successful "headshot," something he said is "extremely difficult."

Their job was made easier by the pirates' willingness to allow their boat to be towed, smoothing out the sea and settling them into an even keel.

SEAL sharpshooters are trained to hit targets "under a minute," meaning able to hit within an inch of a target from 100 yards, former Navy SEAL Harry Humphries told ABCNews.com.

For the snipers who killed the three Somali pirates, it had to be a "head shot," Humphries said, because one of the pirates was holding an AK-47 pointed at the back of American freighter captain Richard Phllips.

"There's only one way to be assured no involuntary trigger squeeze, and that is a head shot," Humphries said. "If you hit the central nervous system, the probability [of an involuntary trigger squeeze] is greatly reduced."

"The shot's extremely difficult to make depending on equipment that shooters have," he said. "If the sea was flat, the shot would be relatively simple."

During the five day standoff, the Navy worked to get close to the pirates, but as their patience wore thin, the seas became rougher. The waves turned the lifeboat into a moving target, and the rear of the U.S.S. Bainbridge where the snipers were deployed was also heaving with the waves.

The Bainbridge convinced one pirate to come aboard the Bainbridge to seek medical attention and the other pirates allowed their lifeboat to be towed out of rough seas to a calmer area.

During the towing, the boat was pulled to within 40 yards of the Bainbridge, and the act of towing made the snipers' jobs easier by putting their lifeboat in the middle of the large ship's wake which calmed the unruly waves and steadied the pirates as targets.

The combination of the one less pirate and the others on steadier water would have "put the sniper team in excellent condition," Humphries said.

SEALs' Constant Training

With a gun pointed at Phillips' back, and tensions rising, the commander on the scene feared for the captain's life and gave the green light for the snipers to fire.

Standard procedure is for the shooters to be accompanied by a spotter who will gauge the range precisely and any weather conditions that could affect the shot. At times there is also someone to coordinate multiple shooters and to initiate the firing since it is essential in a circumstance like this that they fire simultaneously. That role can also be filled by one of the snipers, Humphries said.

When two pirates exposed their heads and shoulders, and the third pirate was visible through a small window of the lifeboat, they fired. All three fell dead.

Humphries said SEALs' training requires they be ready for such an emergency at any time.

"It's the constant training" under realistic conditions, he said, including from a bobbing ship.

"They are trained to shoot in sea, air and land," Humphries said, echoing the SEALs acronym for Sea, Air and Land.

"Secondly, you know the weapon that you're shooting. The weapon is very important," he said. Their weapons were likely modified M-4 rifles, he said, since it wasn't a long distance shot.
There are also different strategies for what SEALs call the "cold shot," or the first shot.

"A cold shot requires different setting than follow-ups," he said.

Vice Adm. Bill Gortney called the simultaneous shots "phenomenal," and President Obama said how "very proud" he was of the job carried out by the military.

But while Humphries praised a job well done, he wasn't surprised by the deadly outcome.

"It's a standard, well executed hostage rescue tactical solution... They had no other choice," Humphries said. "[This was] the only way they get the job done."

"It's not a bunch of cowboys out there," he said. "It was a very controlled situation."
Click to read the entire article and comments

Obama appoints Biden as Pirate Czar...because Pirates don't mess with Joe!

Right’s rage at overbearing Obama

The torrent of ideas flowing out of the White House is raising hackles across the US

From The Sunday Times
by Sarah Baxter in Washington
April 12, 2009

A CONSERVATIVE talk show host claims Barack Obama’s policies amount to dousing the American public with petrol and lighting a match. A top adviser to George W Bush calls the vice-president a liar. And a congressman says there are 17 “socialists” in the House of Representatives.

The political invective is turning ugly after the promise of hope and change. Some say it is Obama’s fault for his hyperactivist style of government. Others say it is time the Republicans realised they lost.

The meaning of “Obamaism” – yes, he already has his own “ism” – is being hotly debated. Is it style or substance? The hype about his cool has been overtaken by the realisation on both sides of the divide that Obama meant what he said on the campaign trail about being a transformational president.

In his first three months in office, his administration has put forward a $3.5 trillion budget, produced a rescue plan for banks and bailed out the car industry and is promising a green energy “revolution”, universal healthcare, school reform and an overhaul of immigration.

That’s not counting foreign policy after a week of European summits, dubbed the Obama “apology tour” after he called America “arrogant”, and topped off with a row over whether the president bowed ingratiatingly to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G20 meeting in London.

There have been diplomatic overtures to Iran, the announcement of a “surge” in Afghani-stan and a demand for $83 billion in supplementary funding for the two wars, including Iraq, which will no longer be known as the “war on terror” but still upsets the left.

On top of it all, Obama turned salesman last week, urging homeowners to refinance their mortgages at the favourable new low interest rates.

“We’re starting to see glimmers of hope across the economy,” he said as the Dow Jones rose by 20% and jobless benefit claims recorded a slight fall.

For George Packer, a liberal commentator writing in The New Yorker, Obamaism is “activist government on every front”. The president’s attempt to preserve the fabric of society is not left-wing but “a pretty good description of what used to pass for conservatism”.

On the right, Peter Wehner argued in Commentary magazine that Obamaism represents the emergence of “European-style social democracy”, which will change America’s social and political landscape.

Moderate “blue dog” Democrats are concerned that Obama is taking on too much. Those who are defending tiny majorities in conservative-leaning districts fear a backlash from voters who worry the president is tilting too far to the left.

The scale of Obama’s ambition is enough to make Republicans see red. Glenn Beck, a Fox News host who has been generating his own headlines with exaggerated outbursts, said: “They’re marching us toward 1984. . . Like it or not, fascism is on the rise.”

Hearing of Obama’s plans for immigration reform, Beck imitated pouring petrol over a guest and lighting a match. “How much more can he disenfranchise us?” he fumed.

Spencer Bachus, a Republican congressman from Alabama, was accused of McCarthyism for saying Congress was pushing Obama too far to the left. “Some of the men and women I work with . . . are socialists,” he said. He has been keeping count. Pressed to explain, he said there were 17, but declined to name names.

Bush’s former aide, Karl Rove, caused a further stir last week after he called Joe Biden, the vice-president, a fantasist and a liar. Biden had recounted a conversation he had had with Bush in the Oval Office. “Well, Joe,” Bush said. “I’m a leader.”

“And I said: ‘Mr President, turn around and look behind you. No one is following’.”

Rove denied the exchange had ever taken place. “I hate to say this, but he’s a serial exaggerator. If I was being unkind, I would say liar.”

Despite the Democrats’ irritation with Rove, White House officials hope to take a leaf out of his book by keeping party activists in a state of permanent mobilisation. Obama’s campaign e-mail list of 13m supporters has already been used to drum up support in Congress for his spending plans.

In another attempt to energise the grass roots, plans are under way for activists from groups such as moveon.org and the labour organisation Change to Win to meet on Tuesdays in Washington.

Called the Common Purpose project, it is meant to provide “a way for the White House to manage its relationship with some of these independent groups”, according to one of those involved. Ellen Moran, White House communications director, has already turned up to one meeting.

The gathering is modelled on the Republicans’s long-established Wednesday meetings, run by Grover Norquist, the prominent tax reform activist.

But Norquist is sceptical the Democrats’ version will work. Various left-wing groups have been trying to copy it without success for years, he said.

“Our coalition holds together because nobody wants anything at the expense of anybody else. You can’t have healthcare reform that saves money if the labour unions take everything there is and you can’t have money for education workers if it is spent on health. That makes their coalition more brittle than ours.”

Norquist believes the president has pledged far more than he can deliver. But Obama is helped by the ability to raise colossal sums to stave off recession and reflate the economy. Temporarily, at least, there is plenty to go around.

The true nature of Obamaism may be revealed only once the money runs out. Then we will know if his hyperactivism has worked.
Click to read the article and comments

Iranians Charge U.S. Journalist Roxana Saberi with Espionage

Hey Obama, When are you going to do something? We now have 1 female journalist being held in Iran and 2 female journalists being held in North Korea. Gee, I think they just might be testing you. So far, you're getting an "F".

Roxana Saberi is a 31 year old journalist from Fargo, North Dakota.

Rees

from Hot Air.com

April 8, 2009
by Ed Morrissey

Apparently, all that talk about friendship and Nowruz greetings hasn’t helped. Early last month, I wrote about the suspicious disappearance of American journalist Roxana Saberi in Iran after running afoul of the police for “illegal reporting”. Today, Fox and AP both report that the Iranians have charged Saberi with espionage for her efforts to write a book about the Iranian people:

The lawyer for an Iranian-American journalist detained in Iran says she has been charged with espionage.

The lawyer, Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, says Roxana Saberi has been informed of the charges against her.

Saberi has apparently been held since late January on charges of purchasing alcohol, but the real crime is journalism without a license. Iran revoked Saberi’s permission to work as a journalist, but she chose to remain behind anyway to work on her book. Iranians often revoke permits for journalists while ignoring their work, but they obviously came to a different decision about Saberi — at the same time Barack Obama took the oath of office.

Joe Biden warned in October that nations would find ways to test a new, inexperienced President, and this looks like that kind of effort. The Iranians have gone out of their way to reject Obama’s overtures since he took office, including his call for greater dialogue. They have cemented their position on nuclear research, and have done their best to look as intransigent as possible. Thus far, they have not gotten Obama to push back against their rhetoric.

The trial of Roxana Saberi looks like another boundary test. Will Obama demand Saberi’s release publicly? Will Iran use it as a bargaining chip for further concessions? We will soon see how Obama responds to this test. In the meantime, keep Saberi and her family in your prayers.

Click to read the article and comments

Crowder: Our "Rain Man" Vice-President

from Hot Air
postedon April 2, 2009
by Allahpundit

A new one from Crowder, evidently aimed at offending every decent person in the western world. I wouldn’t have called Biden a “Rain Man”; I’d have called him a Special Olympics reject, which is much more light-hearted, jocular, and forgivable.

There’s nothing funny about this administration. Nothing.
Click to go to the article and read the comments

North Korea Says It Detained Two Americans for Illegal Entry

The first news I read about this situation indicated that the two reporters were standing in Chinese territory taking pictures of North Korea. That early article indicated that North Korean soldiers crossed over into Chinese territory to abduct these two reporters. If that is true, Obama can add another diplomatic mess to his plate.

The bottom line is that North Korea is holding two American Reporters. What is he going to do about it?
Rees

from Bloomberg.com
By Bomi Lim
blim30@bloomberg.net
March 21

(Bloomberg)-- North Korea said it detained two Americans this week for “illegally intruding” into its territory from China, confirming an earlier statement by the U.S. State Department.
The two Americans were taken on March 17, the communist country’s official Korean Central News Agency reported today. “A competent organ is now investigating the case,” it said, without naming the detainees or providing further details.

Two female journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were on assignment with San Francisco-based Current TV when they were taken into custody close to the border region, the Los Angeles Times reported. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said March 21 two U.S. citizens had been held by North Korean authorities.

The State Department is seeking information from “a number of parties” and has asked the Swedish embassy to discuss the case with the North Koreans, Wood said. The U.S. and North Korea don’t have full diplomatic relations.
Click to go to the article

The World Will Test Us, Part III

Russian planes fly over U.S. naval ships

posted March 21, 2009
by Ed Morrissey
from Hot Air

Joe Biden tried to warn America; he really did. In October, while campaigning for his running mate, Biden predicted what would happen if America elected an untested, inexperienced, single-term Senator as President:

“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.”

Indeed the world is, er, looking. And Russia, which floated the notion of basing its bombers in Cuba last week, gave the US Navy up-close looks at its bombers twice this week:

Two Russian planes flew within 500 feet of U.S. Navy ships participating in military drills with South Korea, military officials said.

After trying unsuccessfully to contact the pilots, U.S. fighter jets met up with the Russian planes and flew with them until they left the area, CNN reported.

One incident occurred Monday, when Russian Ilyushin IL-38 maritime patrol aircraft flew over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis while it was in international waters in the Sea of Japan. The Russian aircraft flew within 500 feet of the carrier, which was lower than other Russian flyovers in the past year, military officials said.

On Tuesday, two Russian long-range bombers overflew the Stennis and the USS Blue Ridge several times at about 2,000 feet, U.S. military officials told CNN.

Earlier this month, the Chinese started harassing an unarmed Navy exploration vessel, requiring the US to send armed escorts into the international waters of the South China Sea. North Korea is about to launch an ICBM with a reported range that easily includes American territory.

Moscow has flipped Kyrgyzstan and put our supply routes into Afghanistan in jeopardy.

Biden was right; they’re testing the mettle of the new President. Evidentally, they’re finding that he doesn’t have much, and they’re becoming more and more arrogant about their provocations.
Click to go to read the article and comments

Here's one of the great comments:

I don’t know why everyone’s so worried. After all, we have Mrs. Clinton out there leading our foreign policy team. And she’s armed with Smart Power!

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to go build a fallout shelter. The apartment complex is not going to like this.

kingsjester on March 21, 2009 at 12:24 PM