The Kumbaya Moment

Last week 40 world leaders gathered in Paris, days after the massacres at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, to protest the attacks.  Millions of people  marched through the streets of Paris, with heads-of-state at the helm. They marched in unity, showing solidarity with France, in support of free speech. It was a clear message to the Islamic terrorists that the world will stand against their oppressive beliefs and barbaric tactics. Unfortunately, the United States was not there to send that message with them.

While the White House claimed it would've been too difficult to effectively secure the President, there were no such concerns for either the Vice President, the Secy. of State or the Attorney General to have attended. And  yet, none of them showed up. The absence was stark and the backlash was swift. (And what was the excuse for Eric Holder, already in Paris that day, to miss the rally and return immediately to the U.S.? No excuse offered.)

Days later, in an effort to apologize for the lack of symbolic support for France, Secy. of State Kerry flew to Paris to deliver the message. As a gesture, he brought with him James Taylor, to sing "You've Got a Friend" to a Paris audience. A joke? Afraid not.

This is embarrassing. It's weak. And we can't take it back. Once again, Obama 'leads from behind' and all the world watches. This is our 'Kumbaya' moment.

Naming the Enemy

President Obama was careful to abide by his own mandate that Islam not be associated with terrorist attacks, by first calling the Paris shooting at the newspaper offices an act of violence by a few, only to later name it terrorism. However, he will not call it Islamic terrorism. This reinforces his statement in 2012, when speaking at the U.N., Obama said "The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam." Strange thing for an American President to say to the world. Strange, that is, unless that is where your sympathies lie. And therein, lies the problem.

This President is, and has been since day one, stuck in a conflict of interest...leading America in its fight against radical Islam on the one hand, and not wanting to admit that there's a faction (the fundamentalists) of the first religion he grew up to love and respect, that's committing murder in the name of that religion. The Muslim call to prayer "is one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," he has claimed.

When he took office, he ordered that all references to radical Islam, Islamists, Islamic terrorists, etc. (whatever phrase one wants to use that links up the two) be stricken from records, that all training of agents who combat terrorism be changed by eliminating any material that puts Islam in a negative light. According to Judicial Watch, (2012) "so far 700 pages of documents from about 300 presentations given to agents since the 2001 terrorist attacks have been purged." The goal being, "to banish any material that could be viewed as offensive to Muslims." As part of a wider Muslim outreach effort, there was a special Senate hearing to discuss how to best protect Muslim civil rights, a meeting between Homeland Security and extremist Muslim organizations to discuss national security, and NASA being ordered to focus on Muslim outreach and diplomacy.

All of this effort, designed to deny that a minority population within Islam, has as its primary objective, to pursue a global jihad, a holy war,  and to either convert or kill the infidels. Whether these violent Muslims are interpreting the strict word of the Koran, seeking revenge for western intervention, attempting to eliminate the western way of life, working to build their desired caliphate, or all of the above, one must wonder: why is our government going out of its way to pretend that these extremists are not killing in the name of Islam and are merely a violent few? These radicals are out for our destruction and our President refuses to acknowledge their end game. Hell, if he can't even name our enemy, how can we pursue a successful strategy against them?

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2012/02/u-s-bans-linking-terrorism-to-muslims-in-agent-training/

Looking Back and Then Ahead

The holidays and the busy-ness that comes along with it, have now come and gone.  My blogsite sat quiet that whole time, giving my political nerves a much needed rest. As I look back on 2014, many events are worth remembering, albeit briefly:

• The politicization of Ebola and the inexplicable reluctance by the President to ban flights from Ebola stricken countries.
• The huge wave of Republican gains in Congress, State Legislatures, Governorships on Election day.
• Jonathan Gruber, architect of Obamacare, caught several times on video admitting that the only way to pass the mammoth bill was to manipulate and lie to the 'stupid' Americans.
• Racial tensions exploded due to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner by police. Although facts of those cases didn't support the racist claims, the mayor of NYC latched onto those themes and created even more tensions with the NYPD, which ultimately led to the assassination of two police officers.
• The flooding of our southern border with tens and tens of thousands of illegals from Central America. This included thousands of children, many unaccompanied, who subsequently have been parceled out to cities across the U.S.
• Not to worry, Obama granted amnesty to millions of illegals, ursurping his power, once again, as the President.
• Iran is closer to having nuclear weapons, China is the world's #1 economy, Russia has moved into Ukraine, relations with communist Cuba have been 'normalized', North Korea hacks into communications giant Sony and stifles free speech, Israel is more alone than ever without the usual staunch support of the U.S., and Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering the effects of Islamists who are filling the vacuum we left behind. 
• The barbarism of Islamic terrorists escalates with many beheadings, unspeakable torture, and violent rape, as their desired caliphate in the mid-East expands.
• Conservative political speech continued to be stifled, as witnessed by: the IRS investigation, in which we learned that the directive to audit certain groups came from the top in Washington; several speakers, originally slated to speak at colleges, were then subsequently banned when Leftist groups protested their appearances; insurance companies were pressured by the White House not to speak out against Obamacare, lest they get retribution; Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich was forced to resign due to the revelation that he donated to an anti-gay marriage cause years before.

These examples are a drop in the bucket in a year of incredibly worrisome events for our country. 

As the new year begins, I'm gearing up for what lies ahead by tuning in and staying informed. Although not a peaceful route to take, (as staying away from the news can be), it's an important route for all of us to take. The path that this country is on, the path that this world is on, is filled with challenges. If we are to remain in control of our future and our children's future, we must know what it is we're up against, so that we can take steps to prepare and to resist if necessary.

Wishing all a happy and healthy New Year for 2015.