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Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

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So, how much credit does Barrack Obama deserve for the rescue of Captain Phillips? The efforts of Obama and his supporters to claim Obama was the reason behind this rescue, Black Five says… Not so fast.
The AP is reporting that President Obama gave the order to use military force to rescue the hostage, that is misleading.

WASHINGTON (AP)—Administration officials say President Barack Obama approved the military operation that rescued a U.S. captain held hostage by Somali pirates.

The officials say Obama ordered the Defense Department to use military resources to rescue Richard Phillips from a lifeboat off the Somali coast. He did affirm the military’s authorization to use force if the captain’s life was in danger, but they already would have had that authorization as part of their standard rules of engagement. If there are innocents about to be slaughtered the same reasoning that authorizes self defense also covers an [...]
Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

Holder Voids Case Against Ted Stevens. But Why?

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James Joyner at OTB, this morning brings news abot the latest action of Eric Holder’s Justice Dept:

Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped the case against Ted Stevens, NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports.
A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts of lying on his Senate disclosure form in order to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil industry executive and other friends. Stevens was the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, however, he lost his bid for an eighth full term in office just days after he was convicted. Since then, charges of prosecutorial misconduct have delayed his sentencing and prompted defense motions for a new trial. According to Justice Department officials, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to drop the case against Stevens rather than continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from the actions of prosecutors. The judge in the Stevens case has repeatedly delayed sentencing and criticized trial prosecutors for what he’s called prosecutorial misconduct. At one point, prosecutors were held in contempt. Things got so bad [...]
Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

Obama’s Optical problems

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On the morning of February 17th,I was standing in line getting coffee at the little cafeteria at my day gig. Behind me were two guys that had obviously been in heated discussion for some time. I don't know either of them. I can't vouch for the conversation being word for word, but here it is from my memory:
So, let me understand this. Obama's going to Denver, today... several days after the bill he was so much in a hurry to sign that none of Congress could actually take the time to read it, was placed on his desk. Why did he wait all that time after the vote? So he could vacation? Well, no, so he could fly out to Denver, I guess. Why Denver? So that he could sign it in a plant that makes Solar panels. He wants to be seen as a 'green' president. But what does it take to make this happen? How's he getting there? Well, he's got to fly Air Force One out to Denver. Doesn't that mean he's flying at least four planes? Air Force One, plus the military escort, PLUS a second plane for a decoy, and likely more escorts for the decoy? I guess so, why? How much fuel does that take? Oh, I heard [...]
Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

The Stimulus That Wasn’t Gets Passed

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Bruce McQuain, this morning at Q&Q:
Well there’s an agreement on the Generational Theft Act of 2009. The squishy middle has capitulated. As expected, just enough Republicans have signed on to ensure its passage. Names? Specter for one:
Specter said Friday night that action was “very necessary,” and this bill, though not perfect, is better than inaction. “I think no one could argue with the fact that the situation would be much worse without this bill,” Specter said at a news conference.
And of course, Susan Collins is the other (and Olympia Snowe is also reportedly going to vote for it). Voinavich and Martinez bailed. They’ll give this the veneer of bi-partisan legitimacy.
Which, doubtless, will be endlessly touted by the Democrats over the following two years. And, forever, for that matter, each time the amount of debt incurred by this mess turns up as a discussion point on online venues, or talking head programs. The problem is obvious; it is what Bruce describes as the “squishy middle” . I’ve been telling you people for nearly a decade now that it is the centrists among us that are going to kill us off as a nation. If this [...]
Phillips Rescue: Not So Fast, Leftie Spinners

The Result of Negotiation with Hamas? Prolonging the War.

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We’ve recently watched as Israel and Hamas have slugged it out. As always, when Israel seeks to defend itself, there have been many saying Israel’s response to Hamas has not been “proportional”. What is, in fact, a proportional response?. Any other country suffering under the weight of literally thousands of rockets landing indiscriminately on their territory would not only have responded with harsher and more deadly methods, but the world community would have likely agreed with their doing so. Yet Israel has to defend its right to survive in the court of world opinion. That’s a discrepancy I’ve never understood. Some historical perspective is in order. Let’s take World War II, Japan. The Allied offer at Potsdam was rejected. Pottsdam demanded surrender. Japan refused and kept fighting.. Nothing short of total Japanese defeat was going to end the war, So, the only way out of this fight was to win it. As a direct result of unrestrained force.. (What, after all, is nuclear warfare but unrestrained force?) resulting in defeat of Japan, the war [...]
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