Who Could Have Seen The Iranian Upheaval Coming? -- The Fruits of Victory In Iraq!

While Obama sits stubbornly wedded to his promise to negotiate with the dictators of the world -- despite the human rights violations of those same dictators -- the intelligencia and Washington pundits are amazed that the upheaval is occurring. No one could have seen this coming. Better yet there are those who are besides themselves trying to credit Obama.

But who, nearly 6 years ago could have actually predicted this happening following a US victory in Iraq? And in nearly the exact manner in which it happened -- The Iranian regime losing it's credibility by rigging the Iranian elections denying the people of Iran the right to the democracy they demand.

"In Iran the demand for democracy is strong and broad … The regime in Tehran must heed the democratic demands of the Iranian people, or lose its last claim to legitimacy."

George W. Bush discussing the impact of a free Iraq on the Middle East, November 6, 2003. Nearly 6 years ago.


Ronald Reagan fought the cold war for eight years. The year he left office the Soviet Union began to crumble and fell. His successor was there willing to follow through and capitalize on that victory (albeit cautiously at first).


George W. Bush fought the Axis of Evil for seven years. The year he left office one of the remaining two members of that Axis stood on the brink -- will Obama stubbornly cling to his, "one world of rainbows and lollipops as long as we extend an open hand," philosophy or will he grab the hard fought victory that has been presented to him? (Credit where credit is due, Obama's election did shift the focus off of Bush allowing Iranians to look inward).

More:

Full text of the speech is here but here is another quote:

"Iraqi democracy will succeed -- and that success will send forth the news, from Damascus to Teheran -- that freedom can be the future of every nation. The establishment of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event in the global democratic revolution. "

Even Obama's White House is claiming his speech lead to uprising -- link to Hot Air!

Update, June 25, 2009:
Robert Kaplan at the Washington Post finally notices that this was part of the goal for Iraq, but fails to mention Bush at all on the entire page -- entire column, not once.

As if the entire thing was not part of the plan but was just an after effect ... WTF people there was a plan and it was articulated!

More Bush (thanks commenter Juliesa at Hot Air):

To the people of Iran: You are rich in culture and talent. You have a right to live under a government that listens to your wishes, respects your talents, and allows you to build better lives for your families. Unfortunately, your government denies you these opportunities, and threatens the peace and stability of your neighbors. So we call on the regime in Tehran to heed your will, and to make itself accountable to you. The day will come when the people of Iran have a government that embraces liberty and justice, and Iran joins the community of free nations. And when that good day comes, you will have no better friend than the United States of America.

George W. Bush Discusses the Importance of Freedom in the Middle East January 13, 2008.
DKK

Not A Right, A Responsibility and Responsibility = Control

Health coverage is not a right, it is a responsibility.

As such the debate should be over who is responsible for your health coverage -- your employer, the government, or you.

Remember, responsibility for an issue is equal to control of that issue.
DKK

(Even today as the government assumes more control over health coverage the inevitable laws banning availability or taxing the consumables that may affect your health are creeping into the control over your body. Is there a right to control our own body as the left has always assured us?

Perhaps not, that is what we will decide as the health coverage debate begins again).

Didn't Believe Me Update, June 10, 2009:

Hot Air is reporting on a Politico story today:

Don’t be fooled by the presidential burger runs. Obama and Congress are moving across several fronts to give government a central role in making America healthier — raising expectations among public health experts of a new era of activism unlike any before.

Any health care reform plan that Obama signs is almost certain to call for nutrition counseling, obesity screenings and wellness programs at workplaces and community centers. He wants more time in the school day for physical fitness, more nutritious school lunches and more bike paths, walking paths and grocery stores in underserved areas.

The president is filling top posts at Health and Human Services with officials who, in their previous jobs, outlawed trans fats, banned public smoking or required restaurants to provide a calorie count with that slice of banana cream pie.

Even Congress is getting into the act, giving serious consideration to taxing sugary drinks and alcohol to help pay for the overhaul.

David

The Left Is Starting To Get What Bush Did Successfully For Years! (But crediting Obama -- WHAT?)

 Just last November I said:

Was Iraq the only way to win in Afghanistan AND secure the homeland?

Divided and distracted the forces of jihad from a country fundamentally and historically unconquerable and another that was fundamentally vulnerable.

Which I had originally pointed out back in 2003 describing the honeypot theory.

Now NYT liberal columnist Thomas Frideman agrees, but somehow gives credit to Obama -- I don't get it either, it is a liberal mind game thing I guess.   Commentary Blog went there so we don't have to!

But then we have a real doozy. It seems Bush kept us safe by taking the fight to the terrorists in Iraq, where it is still essential we complete the victory:

I believe that the most important reason there has not been another 9/11, besides the improved security and intelligence, is that Al Qaeda is primarily focused on defeating America in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world — particularly in Iraq. Al Qaeda knows that if it can destroy the U.S. effort (still a long shot) to build a decent, modernizing society in Iraq, it will undermine every U.S. ally in the region.
Conversely, if we, with Iraqis, defeat them by building any kind of decent, pluralistic society in the heart of their world, it will be a devastating blow.

So to recap: the Bush team kept us safe from an implacable foe by using interrogation methods which the American public approved of and by fighting (often against the admonitions of Friedman and his colleagues) and largely prevailing in Iraq. The latter effort may deal a death blow to Al Qaeda which one supposes made it a very worthwhile endeavor.

DKK

Manzullo Shows Why He's There -- Those Other Republicans Should Pay Attention! -- UPDATED WITH VIDEO

Rep. Manzullo to Geithner: Your Plan Is 'Radical'

In testimony before the House Financial Services committee that just adjourned, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner just had to defend his institutional takeover plan against charges of radicalism.

"Do you realize how radical your proposal is?" Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.) asked.

"It's not radical. . ." Geither began, before Manzullo interrupted him.

"You're talking about seizing private businesses and you don't consider that radical?" Manzullo replied, his voice rising.

Manzullo is trying to get Geithner to give details of the plan -- that's where Geithner got stung before -- but Geithner doesn't have them yet.

If the plan were not radical, Manzullo said to Geithner, "you would have answers to some of my questions, such as, what size business would be subject to this?"

DKK
The Ticker (WaPo)

Update:  Here is the video from Rep. Manzullo's YouTube page:

DKK

Thoughts of a Feebled Mind* -- What Iraq Was!

Was Iraq the only way to win in Afghanistan AND secure the homeland?

Divided and distracted the forces of jihad from a country fundamentally and historically unconquerable and another that was fundamentally vulnerable.
DKK

* Random thoughts from the past few weeks that made it to the "draft" section but never made it to a post because of the downward swing in my health.

Obamaganda

Obamaganda -- the MSM treatment of the 2008 election as described by Time Magazine Editor, Mark Halperin.

Thoughts of a Feebled Mind* -- Republican Plight

Republicans are in the wilderness because -- as their standard bearer this year demonstrated -- they began to believe that the government could actually solve all of our ills.

Everyday Republicans are still here waiting for a return to sanity.
DKK

* Random thoughts from the past few weeks that made it to the "draft" section but never made it to a post because of the downward swing in my health.

Thoughts of a Feebled Mind* -- Dems Plan Will Leave World Wanting

If Pelosi, Reid, and Obama get their way we will not drill another hole and will will deal with the consequences including financial for the poor here.

But how can they justify what their actions would do to the rest of the world we can't afford the cost of changing the third world over to tech.

But our Democrats don't seem to understand that fertilizer and everything else included in modern life cannot be replaced immediately -- the world will suffer.

* Random thoughts from the past few weeks that made it to the "draft" section but never made it to a post because of the downward swing in my health.

Wow -- Sorry -- I'll Try To Get Back

Hey, sorry about not posting.  I had a very rough time following that last round of testing.  I was on too high a dose on one of my meds and it was causing problems and so it had to be reduced (something about toxic build up).  Those meds gave a boost to my immune system and were probably why I was able to blog so much earlier this year.  Unfortunately on a lower dose I am just beat all of the time.

It sucks, I can get meds that will give me some energy but they will kill me, or I can go at a lower dose and barely have enough energy to make it through the basics every day.

Hopefully I can readjust soon but I am not betting on it.
DKK

McCain Beats Obama Bloody Without Even Having To Lift A (North Vietnamese Torturer Broken) Hand -- Will Obama Save Himself From Himself?

[Obama spokesman Dan] Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "extraordinary." The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe (March 4, 2000):

McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.

Jonah Goldberg at The Corner on National Review discussing this foolish advertisement by Barack Obama.



There is plenty of evidence in the Goldberg post that McCain does use the internet but because of his injuries his wife does the typing for him.  He uses the internet with the mouse.

What makes it really bad is that when you attack a man for not using the internet or being able to send an Email because of injuries he sustained in the service of the country couldn't you at least spend 5 minutes on Google for the real story like many bloggers have done?  Who looks the fool now, Barack!

I hate to do this, but alas, not all is lost for team Obama.  Today is a perfect time for Obama’s own Sister Soulja moment. He could order that computer ad pulled, apologize directly for having placed it.

Considering how foolish and hateful it makes him seem and how much it distracts from the message in the second half it was a tactical mistake as well as a strategic mistake.

Reclaim the mantle of change and ‘new politics’ and only put ads on that proclaim what he will do. If he does it now he may be early enough to make McCains ads look petty if Obama never responds with anything but positive, “I will,” messages.

He would be locked in though — no negative replies at all.

That would be as bold a move as Palin was for McCain — for that reason he wont do it. He can’t face the screaming of the left and media.  The critters at Kos, DU, and the other fever swamps of the left have been demanding that Obama hit back and hit hard.


The flailing by team Obama is really beginning to show.  It's time a grown up stepped in to run that thing.  Remember, this is what he considers executive experience that qualifies him to be President.
DKK

Update: Ace notes that Forbes Magazine noted McCain’s disability in 2000, too:

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate’s savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. “She’s a whiz on the keyboard, and I’m so laborious,” McCain admits.

September 11 -- Seven Years Ago A Strong Man Comforted A Wounded Nation With More Then Just His Words!

"The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."
- President George W. Bush, September 11, 2001 Address to the Nation

Confidence In Palin Pick -- Update Confirmation From McCain Camp

Many of the talking heads in Washington are not thrilled with Senator John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his VP, but I have to say I think it is a very good move.

Some grouse that this removes the experience issue from McCain's quiver and that may in fact be true -- although this comparison by Red State of the Governor's record next to Obama's is somewhat devastating to the Senator.

 But here is the key;  In 2008 change trumps experience hands down.

The adds practically write themselves:

Open with the Hillary statement of McCain being qualified on day one and "Obama has a speech he gave in 2002"

Voice over -- that hot lady's voice (that hasn't been Palin all along has it?)
"One team has a record of "-- fill in the issues,  or "One Candidate picked a VP from outside The Washington system and she has a record of,"

• "Confronting and defeating corrupt political machines regardless of party affiliation."   -- Show some of the many headlines of Governor Palin addressing the corruption in her own party in Alaska and McCain addressing spending and corruption in Washington (Republicans spending like drunken sailers anyone)
  

Hillary's Voice over in the background slightly echo/muted  --
"And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002" while showing headlines of his ties to Rezko and the corrupt Chicago Machine and his admission to the boneheaded move that he profited from, and his picking Biden who has been in the Senate since Palin was 9.

End with the, "don't hope for change, vote for it!" line or an even stronger line about one team with a proven track record of change.

Pick an issue -- you want change, one team has a record of accomplishing real meaningful change.  Hit the Maverick line hard, after all the press gave him the label, rub their noses in it!

Do an entire series hitting hard on energy policy,  foreign policy, and the economy, but throw in education, Obama's death of aborted babies argument, you  name it they can dig it up.

Gee' didn't Bill Clinton just propose this in his candidate X candidate Y scenario last week:

Suppose, for example, you’re a voter, and you have candidate X and you have candidate Y. Candidate X agrees with you on everything but you don’t think that person can deliver on anything. Candidate Y disagrees with you on half the issues, but you believe that, on the other half, the candidate will be able to deliver.

This is the kind of question that I predict - and this has nothing to do with what’s going on now - but I am just saying if you look at five, 10, 15 years from now, you may actually see this delivery issue become a serious issue in Democratic debates because it is so hard to figure out how to turn good intentions into real changes in the lives of the people we represent.

This type of attack would again put Obama on the defense and reduce the impact of the McCain/Bush talking point that Obama camp has been pushing so very hard.

As a matter of fact, here is another really good one that would put a huge dent in that meme:

Open with the Hillary statement of McCain being qualified on day one and "Obama has a speech he gave in 2002"

Voice over -- that hot lady's voice,

"One team has a proven record of fighting for the surge that was necessary for victory in Iraq," -- clippings or video of McCain's repeated calls for a surge.

Hillary's Voice over in the background slightly echo/muted  --
"And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002" then show the interview of Obama saying his policies in Iraq were not much different then the Bush administration!


"Don't hope for change, vote for it -- McCain/Palin!" 

DKK

Update --

Last Sunday, 24 hours after Mr. Obama announced his running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, Mr. McCain met with his senior campaign team at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Phoenix. By then, campaign advisers said, the group had long decided that Mr. McCain’s “experience versus change” argument against Mr. Obama had run its course, to the extent that it had worked at all…
In any case, one campaign adviser said, Mr. McCain hated running as the wizened old hand of experience. Despite his embrace this year of President Bush and many of the administration’s policies, Mr. McCain, a campaign adviser said, still saw himself as the maverick who delighted in occasionally throwing political grenades at his own Party.

NYTimes via Hot Air
DKK

McCain Picks Palin

Instapundit has a rundown on the early reactions.

It is quite interesting to me that I have yet to hear a Republican say the dreaded line I heard over and over for the last week about Biden, "I think Hillary would have been a better choice but Biden is ...."
DKK

Want To Know How An Obama Administration Would Run, Just Watch His Home State -- Illinois, The State With No Ethics, Hope OR Change!

The Illinois Legislature passed a comprehensive reform measure to bring ethics to all areas of state government. For the most part, it ends pay to pay politics, which has caused all manner of corruption in Illinois.

The governor vetoed it putting an executive order in place instead.  The problem:

The executive order won’t take effect until AFTER the election, and it won’t cover state departments or branches that are not under the governor’s control.

Plus, there are no penalties for breaking this order. So, the governor couild ignore his own ethics executive order and he could not be punished. Nor could anyone else. Plus, executive orders aren’t laws, they can be changed or abolished by whim.

DKK
Sweeny Report

Biden Doesn't Compliment The Obama Brand, He Alters It -- Forced By Poll Numbers?

Obama has built up a brand.  Biden does not fit that brand.  He alters it.

I don't know if worldwide events influenced his selection of if poll numbers did, but he doesn't seem to fit.  Just not quite right.
DKK

Update -- As if to prove my point:

Biden has accepted $5,133,072 in contributions from lawyers and lobbyists since 2003. Obama does not accept contributions from federally registered lobbyists.

And he has one other weakness that hasn’t received much attention to date. One of Biden’s sons, Hunter, is a registered Washington lobbyist in a year in which Obama has been excoriating lobbyists and the culture of corruption in Washington. The younger Biden is a name partner at the firm Oldaker, Biden & Belair, LLP, and seems to have specialized in lobbying for just the kind of earmark spending by Congress that Obama has vowed to slash. Republican insiders say the party is likely to make an issue of Biden’s family lobbying ties.

Also expect to hear more about Biden’s close ties with credit card companies. His largest contributor (based on total contributions by employees) over the past five years has been MBNA, the Delaware-based bank aquired in 2005 by Bank of America than until then was the world’s largest independent credit card issuer and a major supporter of the 2005 bankruptcy bill that Biden crossed the aisle to support.

Hot Air

Obama Chooses Biden!

Obama picks Biden for veep
DKK

Double Down On Democrat Win -- Democrats Major Sponsor George Soros Enriched By Democrats Energy Policy

Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) in the second quarter, making the Brazilian state-controlled oil company his investment fund's largest holding.

As of June 30, the stake in Petrobras, as the Rio de Janeiro-based oil producer is known, made up 22 per cent of the $3.68 billion of stocks and American depositary receipts held by Soros Fund Management, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Petrobras has since slumped 28 per cent.

Soros has increased his mining and commodities holdings, a move that accelerated in the first quarter with purchases of such companies as Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, the world's largest iron-ore producer, and Talisman Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company. In November, Petrobras announced the discovery of Tupi, a field with as much as 8 billion barrels of reserves, making it the largest find in the Americas since 1976.

"Petrobras has something that other oil companies don't have: oil - lots of it and they're going to find more," said Ricardo Kob-ayashi, equity fund manager with UBS Pactual in Rio de Janeiro.

"If you can buy now and hang on, if you have the staying power, it's great."

Tupi is part of a new deepwater offshore region known as the pre-salt that may contain as much as 50 billion barrels, according to Peter Wells, oil analyst with the UK's Neftex Petroleum Consultants.

 Fine, Soros can invest in evil oil, I don't have a single problem with that!  I appreciate that, it reduces the cost of my gas!

Here's what I have a problem with:

• Soros has already been convicted in France of insider trading -- INSIDER TRADING, AKA; buying a security with info not available to the general public so that you can cash in on the security.
• Soros has invested in a Brazilian company that drills for oil off of Brazil.  They have made huge discoveries in oil that no one suspected might be there!  That company makes more money when the price of oil goes up and stays up.
  
• Soros is funding the Democrats to the tune of millions and the Democrats have dug in their heels on the "All Of The Above," energy plan because it includes drilling.  
• Because of this the price of oil goes up and stays up because we aren't allowed to drill off our own shores or in many places in the US.  
• Circle complete -- Money for money!  International insider trading to the max!  The man knows how to run an investment!
  

He is the perfect example of the culmination of every socialist society so far.  The rich and powerful take advantage of the system for their own enrichment.

So what if you can't afford food or gas, he has important things to do with his money like getting guns off the street and electing Barack and he needs that oil to continue his good works!

Soros  is the major sponsor of the nutroots who bragged that the Democratic party was theirs because they had bought and paid for it!  Every time they block an all of the above energy plan they pay him dividends on that investment!

This man is really a slimy individual!
DKK
Gulfnews

New Ice Age Prediction -- Repeat After Me, "We Really Don't Know Enough About What We Are Doing To Risk Destroying It All!"

An expert from the National Autonomous University of Mexico predicted that in about ten years the Earth will enter a "little ice age" which will last from 60 to 80 years and may be caused by the decrease in solar activity.

Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the UNAM, as argued earlier during a conference that teaches at the Center for Applied Sciences and Technological Development.
...
Velasco Herrera described as erroneous predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), pursuant to which the planet is experiencing a gradual increase in temperature, the so-called global warming.

The models and forecasts of the IPCC "is incorrect because only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity," said the specialist also in image processing and signs and prevention of natural disasters.

The phenomenon of climate change, he added, should include other kinds of factors, both internal, such as volcanoes and the very human activity, and external, such as solar activity.

DKK
Milenio (translation)

Obama Spent As Much Just In Ads As McCain Spent Total For July -- Yet Poll Numbers Dropping -- The More You Know Him...

Barack Obama spent more on advertising last month than Republican rival John McCain spent on his campaign, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

Obama spent $57.2 million in July, including $33 million on advertising. McCain spent $32.4 million, with $18.7 million going for ads.

McCain entered August with slightly more money than Obama when funds in the bank accounts of the Republican and Democratic party committees are included.

DKK
Bloomberg

Media Can't Be Bothered With That -- They Are Too Busy Diggin Up Divorce Papers Or Something!

THE OBAMA / BILL AYERS / ANNENBERG STORY has broken out into the Legacy Media now. Tom Maguire comments: "Hard to believe that with our aggressive national media covering a Presidential campaign that Obama and Daley could mange this cover-up in plain sight. Yeah, real hard."
I caution those who are excited about getting into the archives, though: It probably won't happen, and by now I'm sure that the files have been vacuumed of any seriously embarrassing matter anyway. This is Chicago.
UPDATE: What leaked out.

It really is amazing that the very same media that cleared the way for Obama's Senate win by suing to force the release of his opponent's sealed divorce documents just can't seem to care about the extent of Obama's ties to an unrepentent domestic terrorist.
DKK
Instapundit

Wiki info on Barack's Senate race:

Barack Obama's backers emailed reporters about the divorce controversy, but refrained from on-the-record commentary about the divorce files.^[7] On March 29, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider ruled that several of the Ryans' divorce records should be opened to the public, and ruled that a court-appointed referee would later decide which custody files should remain sealed to protect the interests of Ryan's young child.^[8] The following week, on April 2, 2004, Barack Obama changed his position about the Ryans' soon-to-be-released divorce records, and called on Democrats to not inject them into the campaign.^[7] The Ryan campaign characterized Obama's shift as hypocritical, because Obama's backers had been emailing reports about the divorce records prior to Judge Schnider's decision.^[7]

Ryan dropped out less then a week after the records were released.

And who demanded those documents to be released:

Ryan married actress Jeri Ryan in 1991; together they have a son, Alex Ryan. They divorced in 1999 in California, and the records of the divorce were sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. Both Ryan and his wife agreed to make their divorce records public, but not make the custody records public, claiming that the custody records could be harmful to their son if released.

Answers.com
DKK