December 23-28, 2016
Dec 23 06:15 Berlin terrorist killed in Italy Dec 23 06:38 Dishonest Hillary Dec 23 12:25 Dishonest Democratic centrists Dec 23 17:26 Obama's anti-Israel administration Dec 23 23:48 Dishonesty, betrayal & backstabbing Dec 28 09:28 Medical emergency bleg Dec 28 10:04 Trumka's misguided hissy fit Dec 28 15:34 John Kerry vs Alan Dershowitz
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Berlin terrorist killed in Italy
Anis Amri, the Tunisian man suspected of killing 12 and injuring 56 in a Berlin terrorist attack, was reported as being killed in a police confrontation in Milan, Italy this morning.
Fox News is reporting a "man killed in a shootout with Italian police in Milan early Friday is reportedly the main suspect in Berlin truck attack on a Christmas market that killed 12 people and injured 56. During a press conference the Italian interior minister said the man is 'without a shadow of doubt' the Berlin market attacker. The shootout with suspect Anis Amri took place at 3 a.m. in a Milan neighborhood during a routine police check."
The Italian interior minister was right when he "said the two police officers who stopped Amri 'have done an extraordinary service to the community.'" In fact, that's understatement. What's troubling, though, is that "authorities say Amri has used at least six different names and three nationalities in his travels around Europe."
It's troubling because it suggests that this terrorist knew how to manipulate the system.
Posted Friday, December 23, 2016 6:15 AM
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Dishonest Hillary
Salena Zito's latest column mocks Team Hillary's barrage of excuses for why Mrs. Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Ms. Zito explains what she learned on "Amtrak's famed Capitol Express, which connects Washington, DC, with a series of cities in the Midwest."
According to the article, "Audrey and Robert, a Virginia couple, were heading to Montana to visit their daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren; Edward of Lancaster, Pa., was traveling to see his mother and brothers and sisters in Fort Wayne, Ind. All had voted for Trump - and all had noticed the way they were still being portrayed by the losing side. 'On Nov. 8 I went from a responsible, hard-working, upstanding citizen to an uninformed bigot who gleefully supports Russian interference in our elections and the destruction of our republic,' Robert said. 'At least that's what I have read in the newspaper or seen on television, so it must be true, right?'"
Hillary's support has shrunk while Trump's support has remained steadfast. Part of that is because there's no questioning Mr. Trump's patriotism. People believe him when he says he wants to make America great again. They don't think of that as just a campaign slogan.
Meanwhile, a growing number of people don't trust Hillary. Others think that she's just in it for herself or that she thinks it's her birthright to be president. This video does a beautiful job mocking Hillary:
Posted Friday, December 23, 2016 6:38 AM
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Dishonest Democratic centrists
Prior to this op-ed , I thought that the Democrats most prone to delusion lived in fever swamps with Keith Ellison, Nancy Pelosi and Babs Boxer as neighbors. Thanks to Stan Greenberg's op-ed, I have to consider the possibility that the entire Democratic Party is nuts.
Greenberg's op-ed starts by saying "President Obama will be remembered as a thoughtful and dignified president who led a scrupulously honest administration that achieved major changes." I'd use lots of terms to describe the Obama administration but scrupulously honest isn't one of them. Fast and Furious was the personification of dishonesty. Weaponizing the IRS to harass TEA Party organizations isn't the picture of scrupulously honest, either. Unanimously getting shot down 13 straight times by the Supreme Court for his attempts at executive supremacy doesn't say scrupulously honest. It says President Obama didn't respect the rule of law.
Later, Greenberg said that President Obama "rescued an economy in crisis and passed the recovery program, pulled America back from its military overreach, passed the Affordable Care Act and committed the nation to addressing climate change."
First, President Obama didn't rescue "an economy in crisis." TARP, passed during President Bush's term, started the stabilization. The Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing, not President Obama's stimulus, injected life into the economy. Pulling "America back from its military overreach" created ISIS, which is expanding its lethality each day.
The American people aren't stupid. They tried telling President Obama that they didn't want Obamacare. He didn't care. Ideology demanded that it be passed so the Democrats lied about it, then passed it. The next election, the American people threw a beat-down on the Democrats' agenda. Still, President Obama wouldn't listen. Eventually, he said he'd get things done with a pen and a phone.
President Obama's outright disrespect for the Constitution and the rule of law got people upset with Democrats. That's why they're on the outside looking in. Half of the states have a Republican governor and Republican legislatures. In DC, there's a Republican waiting to be sworn in as the next president and Republican majorities in the House and Senate.
That type of repudiation doesn't happen to "thoughtful and dignified presidents." It happens to despots who ignore the Constitution and the American people. That's President Obama's identity.
Posted Friday, December 23, 2016 12:25 PM
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Obama's anti-Israel administration
Thankfully, President Obama's anti-Israel administration is quickly coming to an end. Unfortunately, it got in one last cheapshot against Israel on its way out the door.
This afternoon, the "United States on Friday allowed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction to be adopted, defying extraordinary pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in alliance with President-elect Donald Trump. The Security Council approved the resolution with 14 votes, with the US abstaining. There was applause in the chamber following the vote , which represented perhaps the final bitter chapter in the years of antagonism between President Barack Obama's administration and Netanyahu's government."
History will record the Obama administration as the most anti-Israel administration in US history. That isn't just my opinion. According to CNN's report, "a senior Israeli official ... accused the United States of abandoning the Jewish state with its refusal to block the resolution with a veto." In this video, Alan Dershowitz explains why PEOTUS Donald Trump had to intervene:
Samantha Power, the US Ambassador to the UN, issued this dishonest statement on the resolution:
Like U.S. administrations before it, the Obama Administration has worked tirelessly to fight for Israel's right simply to be treated just like any other country - from advocating for Israel to finally be granted membership to a UN regional body, something no other UN Member State had been denied; to fighting to ensure that Israeli NGOs are not denied UN accreditation, simply because they are Israeli, to getting Yom Kippur finally recognized as a UN holiday; to pressing this Council to break its indefensible silence in response to terrorist attacks on Israelis. As the United States has said repeatedly, such unequal treatment not only hurts Israel, it undermines the legitimacy of the United Nations itself.
Ambassador Power read this just after voting to sabotage Israel.
It's honest to say that the Democratic Party hasn't hesitated in abandoning Israel. A senior Israeli official told CNN said "President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN. President Obama could declare his willingness to veto this resolution in an instant but instead is pushing it. This is an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN and undermines the prospects of working with the next administration of advancing peace."
President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry are laughingstocks in terms of advancing peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel rightfully dismissed Kerry as a pro-Arab stooge being manipulated by the Palestinian terrorist government. Rather than leaving office quietly, President Obama and Secretary Kerry decided to push a resolution that sticks a knife in Israel's back on their way out the door. That's what I'd expect from children, not diplomats.
Posted Friday, December 23, 2016 5:26 PM
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Dishonesty, betrayal & backstabbing
When honestly assessing the Obama administration's abstention in Friday's UN Security Council vote on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, it's impossible to say that the administration didn't want to stab Israel in the back on its way out the door. It's impossible to say that the Obama administration's speech after the vote wasn't extremely dishonest. Finally, Samantha Power's vote represents the worst betrayal of Israel in US history.
As usual, Charles Krauthammer provided the most detailed explanation of what the US abstention meant. In his explanation, Dr. Krauthammer said "what happened today is that the United States joined the jackals of the UN -- that was a phrase used by Pat Moynihan, the great Democratic senator and former ambassador, who spoke for the US standing up in the UN and to resist this kind of disgrace. To give you an idea of how appalling this resolution is, it declares that any Jew living in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem -- the Jewish Quarter, which has been inhabited by Jews for 1,000 years, is illegal and breaking international law, essentially an outlaw, can be hauled into the International Criminal Court or international courts in Europe, which is one of the consequences. The Jewish Quarter has been populated by Jews for 1,000 years. In the war of 1948, the Arabs invaded Israel to wipe it out. They did not succeed but the Arab legions succeeded in conquering the Jewish Quarter. They dispelled all of the Jews. They destroyed all of the synagogues and homes and for 19 years, no Jew could go there. The Israelis got it back in the 6 Day War and now it's declared as not being Jewish territory."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein's statement shows the Democrats' hostility for Israel:
President Obama's refusal to veto today's UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements sends a strong message that the United States still supports a two-state solution. Ending settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is an absolute necessity if we're ever to achieve a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
I've watched with growing concern the increase in Israeli settlements over the years, where approximately 400,0000 individuals now live. I believe the expansion of settlements has but one goal: to undermine the viability of a two-state solution.
I've met with displaced Palestinian families who have been kicked off land they've lived on for many generations. The ill will that results from these settlements is a significant roadblock to peace, and I again call on Israel to end their expansion so that a two- state solution remains a possibility.
That's incredibly naive. Either that or it's utterly dishonest. The biggest thing preventing a 2-state solution are the Palestinian terrorists that the Israelis have to negotiate with.
Posted Friday, December 23, 2016 11:48 PM
Comment 1 by Chad Q at 26-Dec-16 06:26 PM
Who would have thought that Obama would have given the direction to abstain during such a powerful vote? I mean it's not like the guy ever voted "present" while he was in the senate for 2 years. But I digress.
Why does this surprise anyone on the conservative side of thinking? Obama has been against Israel since day one so why would it change on day 2900? What's more disappointing is the actions or lack their of, of the Jewish members of congress who follow lockstep with Obama.
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 28-Dec-16 08:53 AM
It isn't that it surprised anyone with an attention span of > 3 seconds. It's that this decision was done to hurt the lone democracy in the Middle East. The Trump administration should move the US Embassy to Jerusalem to show the despots in the UN that we won't tolerate their constant attacking of Israel. Next, Congress should zero out our funding of the UN. (The US contribution is estimated at 22%-25% of the UN's budget.) Then we should shift that money to aid to Israel. Finally, tell the nations that think of divesting in Israel will find trading with the US difficult to impossible. Let it be known that there's a price to be paid for alienating Israel.
It's time these despots found out who the true superpower is. It isn't Russia. They're bullies. They aren't a superpower. There's a big difference.
Medical emergency bleg
I can't wait for 2016 to end. Please understand that parts of 2016 were exceptionally enjoyable. Think Trump defeating Hillary, Republicans flipping the Minnesota Senate and, most importantly, the Cubs defeating the Cleveland Indians (Sorry Hugh .) in winning their first World Series championship since 1908.
What hasn't been that enjoyable has been my health.
At 2:30 am on Aug. 1, I woke up with chest pain. A friend gave me a ride to the hospital, where I checked into the ER. After running a couple tests, I was admitted into the hospital. I was told by the cardiologist that treated me that I'd dodged a major bullet. The cardiologist said that I had a 90% blockage of the left anterior descending artery. The path chosen was to place a new stent in the LAD through angioplasty. In the 9 days that I was in the hospital, I lost 23 lbs.
On Friday, Sept. 30, I was rushed by ambulance to the ER with an acute shortness of breath. I was able to tell theme that I wasn't feeling any chest pains. After running an EKG, they were able to confirm that I wasn't suffering a heart attack. After running another test, I was diagnosed with multiple blood clots in my right lung and multiple blood clots in my left lung. The good news is that I'm recovering nicely. I'll probably have to take warfarin the rest of my life but that's ok.
I wish that would've ended my health issues but it didn't. This past Saturday, Christmas Eve morning, at 8:05 am, I slipped on a patch of glare ice on the top of my back porch. I landed on the sidewalk 3 rungs lower, a drop (for my back) of 60". It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that I was instantly in pain.
I'm finally out of the hospital but now there are things I need going forward. First, I need a railing for my steps to give me something solid to stabilize myself when navigating my steps (both going up and down.) After Saturday's fall, I realize I need a rain gutter to keep melting snow from the roof from icing up my steps. I don't need a full gutter system, just something to keep the melting snow off my steps. There are some things I need inside the house, too, starting with an ergonomic chair for my computer.
A few weeks ago, I posted a bleg on a political subject. Today, I'm posting an 'emergency bleg' to help defray the costs of the changes I'll need to make going forward. No contribution is too small. All contributions are sincerely appreciated. If you want to contribute to these causes via credit card, hit the donate button in the top corner of the right sidebar. If you don't trust that method, just leave a comment to this post. I'll send you an email explaining how to contribute through more conventional methods.
Here's hoping you had a Merry Christmas. Here's wish you a Happy New Year.
PS- Despite being in the hospital for Christmas, God still figured out a way to bless me. Color me grateful and humbled for that.
Originally posted Wednesday, December 28, 2016, revised 07-Jan 6:15 PM
Comment 1 by Crimson Trace at 28-Dec-16 09:59 PM
Glad you're back in the saddle, Gary! It's clear that God still has work for you to do down here so don't get too excited for heaven . . . yet! Here's to your healing and good health. Godspeed!
Comment 2 by JZ at 30-Dec-16 06:28 PM
Concur with Crimson Trace . . . Glad you are back. Wishing you good health. God bless.
Response 2.1 by Gary Gross at 31-Dec-16 12:09 AM
Thanks to both you & CT. I'm ready to leave this year's health problems behind.
Trumka's misguided hissy fit
Richard Trumka's misguided hissy fit should be seen for what it is: the actions of a desperate man who's losing control of the people who pay his exorbitant salary.
When Trumka wrote "publicity stunts and Twitter rants are no substitute for a comprehensive, coherent economic strategy that invests in America and lifts up the voices and the power of working people", what he's really saying is that he's hoping union workers wouldn't listen to Republicans. He's also saying he wants union workers to support the party of elitists, aka the Democratic Party, because he's thankful for being part of the Party's 'royalty'.
Mr. Trumka hasn't been in touch with the unions' rank-and-file for decades. He's blindly supported the Democratic Party's anti-worker agenda, then tried telling workers that the table scraps that Democrats shovel them is like eating like a king.
Mr. Trumka is wrong when he said the "share of income going to the middle class has fallen in almost perfect correlation with the declining percentage of people working in jobs where they enjoy a union." The share of income going to the middle class started falling when union fat-cats (like Trumka) paid more attention to lining their own pockets than they paid to fighting environmental activists who crushed their blue collar jobs.
Mr. Trumka was nowhere to be found when President Obama, Mrs. Clinton and Secretary Kerry killed the Keystone XL Pipeline project. That's because he'd been bought off in the name of Democratic Party unity. The next time that Mr. Trumka speaks before the rank-and-file, the dues-paying members should pepper him with questions for why he isn't representing them.
Let's remember that Mr. Trumka sold out workers by supporting Obamacare, which essentially killed the unions' Cadillac care health plans. That hurt blue collar workers immensely. It's time for private sector unions to ask if people like Mr. Trumka has their best interests at heart.
Posted Wednesday, December 28, 2016 10:04 AM
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John Kerry vs Alan Dershowitz
John Kerry's history on foreign policy throughout the years has been nothing short of a disaster. This morning, John Kerry ended his foreign policy career with a disastrous, rambling, lengthy speech at Foggy Bottom.
Let's skip the formalities and stipulate that the Obama administration hates Benjamin Netanyahu. That's why President Obama sent his campaign team to Israel to defeat PM Netanyahu.
It didn't take long for PM Netanyahu's office to respond to Kerry's speech, saying "For more than an hour, Kerry obsessed over the issue of settlements and hardly touched on the root of the conflict - Palestinian resistance to a Jewish state within any borders." Secretary Kerry's inability or unwillingness to admit that the Palestinians have never negotiated in good faith with Israelis is the heart of the problem. It's why Secretary Kerry's diplomacy is such a failure.
Later, PM Netanyahu added "Israelis do not need to be lectured about the importance of peace by foreign leaders." Saying that relations between this US administration and Israel are chilly is understatement. Saying that Secretary Kerry is more incompetent than Mrs. Clinton is mind-boggling. This snippet of Secretary Kerry's speech is both naive and frightening:
Alan Dershowitz's op-ed obliterates Secretary Kerry's speech. This paragraph alone obliterates Kerry's BS:
Before June 4, 1967, Jews were forbidden from praying at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site. They were forbidden to attend classes at the Hebrew University at Mt. Scopus, which had been opened in 1925 and was supported by Albert Einstein. Jews could not seek medical care at the Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus, which had treated Jews and Arabs alike since 1918. Jews could not live in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, where their forbearers had built homes and synagogues for thousands of years. These Judenrein prohibitions were enacted by Jordan, which had captured by military force these Jewish areas during Israel's War of Independence, in 1948, and had illegally occupied the entire West Bank, which the United Nations had set aside for an Arab state. When the Jordanian government occupied these historic Jewish sites, they destroyed all the remnants of Judaism, including synagogues, schools, and cemeteries, whose headstones they used for urinals. Between 1948 and 1967 the UN did not offer a single resolution condemning this Jordanian occupation and cultural devastation.
This exposes the Obama administration's deep-seated hatred of the Netanyahu government. The Obama administration knew that this resolution would tip the international scales into the Palestinians' favor. Here's Prof. Dershowitz's explanation of that:
But that has now changed with the adoption of the Security Council Resolution. The UN has now determined that, subject to any further negotiations and agreements, the Jewish areas of Jerusalem recaptured from Jordan in 1967 are not part of Israel. Instead, according to the resolution, they are territories being illegally occupied by Israel, and any building in these areas - including places for prayer at the Western Wall, access roads to Mt. Scopus, and synagogues in the historic Jewish Quarter - "constitutes a flagrant violation under international law." If that indeed is the status quo, absent "changes . . . agreed by the parties through negotiations," then what incentives do the Palestinians have to enter negotiations?
President Obama's hostility towards Israel has never been more openly displayed than during this past week. Without question, he's been the most hostile, anti-Israel president in US history.
Originally posted Wednesday, December 28, 2016, revised 01-Jan 12:36 AM
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