Happy New Year???

ObamaCare vs. The American Voter

According to Rassmussen and virtually every other poll located outside of a barroom dance floor, the majority of Americans oppose ObamaCare. Yet the Democrats insist on pushing this monstrosity through as quickly as possible without even giving the American public a chance to view what the bill contains. And I thought my kids had a hard time listening.

Obama FINALLY On Northwest Crotch Bomber

Anybody remember Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and its claim that Bush reacted too slowly to a terrorist attack. Or how about that film representing a president who was always on "vacation"?

Christmas Day 2009: A Muslim student identified as Abdul Mudallad ignited a bomb in his panties during the final hour of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit (a flight the Khaki Elephant has taken far too many times). The bomb burns, then fizzles -- a malfunction that saves the lives of some 300 passengers. A Dutch national, Jasper Schuringa, then seized the terrorist . . . oops, I meant, "potential terrorist" (sorry, Press Secretary Gibbs) and with the help of others on the flight was able to subdue the nutcase and prevent the arrival of 72 under-aged virgins.

Three Days Later: President Barack Obama finally responds to the attack . . . oops, I meant "alleged attack" (sorry, Mr. President ) . . . from his rented $9 million vacation estate in Hawaii.

Of course, Obama's response was not the first official comment by administration appointees. Robert Gibbs earlier referred to the incident as a "potential terrorist attack," by which he must have meant that a terrorist successfully igniting a bomb which he successfully smuggled on board a flight packed with civilian passengers but did not blow up ranks alongside fluffy bunnies on the current White House terror scale. I mean, it's not like we're talking about the potential tragedy of a friend's kid bumping his head. And then there was President Obama’s homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, who declared "everything happened that should have" and when it comes to national security "the system worked." Of course, a day later she claimed that her comments were taken out of context and what she actually meant by "worked" was "failed miserably."

And on the third day, enter Barack Obama -- the guy who promised that terrorists would be nicer to us if we simply said we were sorry over and over and over again (though what exactly we should be sorry for remains about as clear as Harry Reid's muddied ethics). Days after the attack, the President stepped forward to deliver another of his teleprompter-fed oratories, this time delivering a powerful message of commitment to al Qaeda, who claimed credit for the attack . . . oh, wait, he never mentioned al Qaeda. OK, well, he delivered a message of American strength to all terrorist organization who would threaten America . . . oh, I'm sorry, just re-read the transcript and he refers to this as the act of an "isolated extremist." Well, at least he firmly confronted bombing attempt as a legitimate act of terror against America . . . oh, just a minute, he actually described this by saying that "a passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body." One good thing, the bomb did fail and this guy was caught and now sits under watch as an enemy of the state who committed an act of war against America . . . oh, I see, it appears that he is actually sitting in a Michigan civilian prison with his lawyer and, as Obama says, "has been charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft."

Good Lord, how I hate to say that Hillary was right.

Obama's Top Ten Foreign Policy Debacles

Lately we've been focusing on Barack Obama's domestic policy disasters, you know, seizure of public corporations, government control of health policy, soaring unemplyment rate . . . the whole redistribution of wealth/sacrifice our children thing. But leave it to the Brits to remind us of what the mainstream American media continues to ignore: what a dangerous and diluded foreign policy "The Chosen One" has. (wait, are we finally past everyone sans the sanity suppressed Obots thinking of Obama as "The Chosen One"?)

Nile Gardiner of the UK Telegraph has compiled a list of Barack Obama's Top Ten foreign policy follies in his first year of presidency. Fist of all, hats off to Mr. Gardiner for keeping the list to a mere ten -- yoeman's effort, that. And second, please don't read these until 30 minutes after eating if you want to avoid the bends.

Here is a list of the ten biggest foreign policy follies of Barack Obama’s first year in office. I’ve tried to make the list inclusive of all corners of the world, ranging from Tehran to Tokyo to Khartoum, and frankly could easily have expanded it to a top 20 or even top 30 list. There are plenty to choose from, including some of the most cringe worthy moments in modern American history.

1. Surrendering to Russia over Missile Defence
The White House’s betrayal of US allies in eastern and central Europe by reneging on the deal to establish Third Site missile defences sent a clear signal that Washington was more concerned about appeasing Moscow than defending its friends. It symbolized all that is wrong with Obama’s foreign policy – including the willingness to curry favour with brutal enemies while giving the boot to some of America’s
closest partners.

2. Appeasing the Mullahs of Iran
If Barack Obama makes a New Year’s resolution, I hope it will be that he stops appeasing Tehran. The White House’s strategy of engagement with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been nothing short of a spectacular failure. While Obama has been busy emulating the European Union’s dismal Common Foreign and Security Policy and sending polite video messages, the Mullahs and their puppets have been busy advancing their nuclear weapons programme, enriching uranium, supplying arms to the Taliban, capturing British sailors, test-firing long-range missiles, threatening the annihilation of Israel, and killing pro-democracy protestors.

3. Ending the War on Terror
Not only did Barack Obama order the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay within hours of becoming president, but he also embarked upon ending the entire War on Terror, which was swiftly renamed an Overseas Contingency Operation. Nearly a year later the threat from al-Qaeda remains just as great, if not greater, but President Obama refuses to describe the battle in terms of a global war, and balks at identifying the enemy – Islamist terrorists. At the same time he has given the enemy a huge propaganda victory by endlessly castigating the Bush administration for supposedly “torturing” terrorist suspects, and apologizing for the
counter-terror strategy of the previous US government.

4. Announcing a Surge while Declaring an Exit
There can be no doubt that the three months of dithering by President Obama over whether to deploy more forces to Afghanistan was highly damaging to the United States, and sowed considerable uncertainty within the NATO alliance. When Obama finally made an announcement in December to send an additional 30,000 troops to the battlefield, a huge step in the right direction, his decision was immediately undercut by the simultaneous announcement of an exit timetable, starting in 18 months. It is hard to imagine Churchill or Roosevelt declaring in the middle of the Second World War that they would fight the Nazis for another year and a half, and then start withdrawing their forces on the grounds of cost.

5. Apologising to France for America’s “Arrogance”
Barack Obama’s Strasbourg speech will go down in history as one of the most embarrassing moments ever for a US president on foreign soil. As I wrote earlier, “The President of the most powerful nation on earth traveled to France to deliver a grovelling, massive mea culpa for US foreign policy, including the War on Terror. Utter humiliation for America on European soil in front of a largely French and German audience who bitterly opposed the liberation of Iraq – not even Jacques Chirac could have dreamt it up.”

6. Giving DVDs to the British Prime Minister
I’m no fan of Gordon Brown, but the treatment of the Prime Minister at the hands of the White House on his visit to Washington in March was an appalling humiliation for Great Britain. The PM was received as though he were the leader of a third world banana republic rather than America’s closest ally, denied an official press conference and even a dinner. To add insult to injury, Brown was packed off with 25 discount DVDs ranging from Toy Story to The Wizard of Oz, which couldn’t even be played in Britain.

7. Siding with Marxists in Honduras
The Obama administration has certainly been consistent in its strategy of cuddling up to America’s enemies while kicking its friends. True to form the White House and State Department rushed to condemn the constitutional removal of left-wing, America-hating, Hugo-Chavez-backed despot Manuel Zelaya from power in Honduras, and his temporary replacement with pro-American Speaker of the House Robert Micheletti. Whatever happened to the good old days when the United States actually fought against Marxist tyrants in Latin America and backed anti-communists?

8. Bowing to Emperors and Kings
The last time I checked, Barack Obama was not a subject of imperial Japan, but his bow before Emperor Akihito was a scene straight out of the 1930s. A simple handshake with the descendent of Emperor Hirohito would have sufficed, but the president opted for a full-blown bow when the two met in Tokyo in November. It is one thing to pay respect to a monarch, but quite another for an American president to prostrate himself and his nation before a foreign leader. Needless to say, eyebrows were raised not only in America but across Asia as well. This was far from an isolated incident. Obama did exactly the same when he met with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G-20 in April.

9. Embracing Genocidal Killers in Sudan
I’ve included this in the list because it illustrates the extraordinary lengths to which the Obama administration will go to appease the most evil tyrannies on the face of the earth. In October Obama extended the hand of friendship to the brutal regime in Khartoum led by Omar Hassan al-Bashir, responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands in Darfur, offering to lift sanctions if there were “concrete steps in a new direction”. The moral bankruptcy of this approach was summed up by Obama’s hugely controversial special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Major General J. Scott Gration:“We’ve got to think about giving out cookies. Kids, countries — they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement.”

10. Throwing Churchill out of The White House
Barack Obama’s decision to throw a bust of Sir Winston Churchill out of the Oval Office within days of taking power set the tone for his foreign policy. It sent a clear signal that the president cared little about the Anglo-American Special Relationship and the transatlantic alliance in general. It spoke volumes about Obama’s disdain for Britain, a nation that he has never mentioned in a major policy speech, as well as his scorn for the kind of powerful, assertive leadership that Churchill embodied.

H/T to Great Satan's Girlfriend: 44 So Far

Merry Christmas From The Khaki Elephant

Botticelli's Mystical Nativity

The Grinch Who Stole Health Care

I know it's not over yet. I know that there is a possibility that the House will not support the Senate version of the health care bill, especially since only a few house members have to recover from their spending stupor to shift the vote (the House legislation passed by a narrow margin of 220 to 215). I know that the will of the majority of Americans may still prevail . . . but I can't help being annoyed by the fact the the Senate Democrats, in their lust for power, took a step toward selling our children's future on Christmas Eve.

One thing I'll say for the Grinch, at least he only stole from the children of Whoville once. If this bill eventually passes several generations of future Cindy Lou's (who may be no more than two) will be victimized by increased taxes, high unemployment and a national debt the size of Michael Moore's appetite . . . and all for a health care system that most Americans and the medical industry oppose. Merry Christmas.

Bribing Democrats To Support ObamaCare

If ObamaCare is so wonderful, why are Obama, Reid and Pelosi trying to bribe their own party to shove this thing through?

Of course, not even every Democrat can stomach this prostitution of our future. Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) recently told the National Review Online that Obama and Pelosi won't buy him off. As reported by NRO:

Stupak tells us that he’s disappointed that Democratic leaders have offered him legislative favors in exchange for supporting Obamacare. “This shouldn’t be a bill where you use hush money,” says Stupak. “This isn’t an appropriations bill where you try to get the best projects for your state.”“In the House, we need to bring equity back into the process,” says Stupak. “We need to cut out those sweetheart deals.” If the deals in question are not removed, Stupak will vote against the bill. In the meantime, he says, “my reservations are growing.”

Other things that are growing due to Chicago-style politics in the White House: our national debt, our national insecurity and bile in the stomachs of every American who is actually paying attention.

Senator Jim DeMint Challenges The Democrats Health Care Tyranny

At first this may seem a bit like watching the hair on your legs grow, but it is critical. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) uncovers a late addition to the ObamaCare bill that would require a "super majority" to repeal the Death Panels (aka, "Independent Medicare Advisory Boards") section of the bill. Like a skilled lawyer, DeMint demonstrates that the Democrats are simply trying set up within this bill rules that would ignore current Senate rules.

Sooo, Still think ObamaCare isn't about government power? With these people it's about authoritative tyranny and "screw the laws." 200+ years of legislative operation . . . and this is a first.




Take a moment to contact your Senator about this travesty and let them know that we know what they're up to.

And drop an note of thanks to Sen. Jim DeMint.

ObamaCare Gives Law The Finger

In yet another unbelievable stroke of villiany, Harry Ried and his Senate lackeys have added one more troubling section to Obamacare, one that would prevent the Senate from repealing the Death Panels (or, as Obama calls them, "the Independent Medicare Advisory Boards") section of the legislation unless there was a super majority to do so (in other words, making them all but permanent).

Section 3403 of Senator Harry Reid’s amendment requires that “it shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection . . . Notwithstanding rule XV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, a committee amendment described in subparagraph (A) may include matter not within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Finance if that matter is relevant to a proposal contained in the bill submitted under subsection (c)(3)."

This means that Reid wants to set up a rule to ignore Senate rules. Still think this Bill isn't about government control.

Time Magazine's Person of the Year: Bernanke . . . Seriously

Not to be outdone by a Nobel Prize committee that just gave a peace prize to somebody who has done less for peace than Yogi Bear, Time Magazine has given its 2009 Person of the Year award to Ben Bernanke, the current chairman of the Federal Reserve. According to the rag:

He [Bernanke] knows that the economy is awful, that 10% unemployment is much too high, that Wall Street bankers are greedy ingrates, that Main Street still hurts . . . But Bernanke also knows the economy would be much, much worse if the Fed had not taken such extreme measures to stop the panic. There's a vast difference between 10% and 25% unemployment

So, their decision is based on two pillars of indefensible but unchallengeable liberal logic: the rich suck and the economy is bad, but it could be worse (apparently oblivious to the fact that unemployment under Bernarke's watch rose over 3%). It follows the same thought train as "let's saint Ted Bundy, he killed 30+, but at his age he could have killed as many as 50 and didn't."

Many of us believe the economy would have had a faster turnaround if left alone, that it is the extreme measures that heightened the crisis, but that economic philosophy wouldn't work for Obama apologists like Time who are trying everything within their power to justify the events of his destructive presidency.

The Snow Job In Copenhagen

The "summit to save the world" (aka, the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen) featured a number of noteworthy factoids like . . .

• A record low cold front
• The use of 1,200 limos by the earth friendly attendees
• A promise by Hillary Clinton that America would give away $100 billion
• A menu that included scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges
• A squadron of 140 private jets
• A lecture from Michael Moore and Sean Penn's pal Hugo Chavez explaining that “Capitalism is the road to hell”
• And another hollow speech from Barack Obama

The Global Warming crowd has had a bad couple of weeks when you consider that their top scientists were caught fudging figures and their top proponent, Al Gore, was caught outright lying, and this summit in Copenhagen didn't help. What was intended to be a call to awareness became and overt show of hypocrisy by those present. And the speakers . . . well, their speeches furthered showed that this gathering was less about science than an attempt to redistribute America's wealth -- a wealth that only exists for the tax payers in this country because of that dirty word for liberals the world over: "capitalism."

Even "The One" couldn't save the summit's day according to The Guardian:

"Obama, who had been skittish about coming to Copenhagen at all unless it could be cast as a foreign policy success, looked visibly frustrated as he appeared before world leaders . . . The lacklustre speech proved a huge frustration to a summit that had been looking to Obama"

Apparently even the Obama's teleprompter is having trouble buying the whole global warming thing these days.

Climate Data Reconstruction

Iowahawk has a great post about the reconstruction of climate data that was revealed by some carbon footprint loving hackers. It's long, but after a close read you too will be able to create a hooey hockey stick that looks a little like this:


And after an even closer read, you'll want to use a hockey stick a little like this:



The post places the climategate controversy in context and is a worthwhile read for anybody interested in whether or not they can turn in their parkas for speedos.

Read the entire post here:
Fables of the Reconstruction (Or, How to Make Your Own Hockey Stick)

Sarah Palin Jokes At The Gridiron Dinner

Sarah Palin's book tour continued as she delivered her 11-minute speech at the Washington Gridiron Club's annual Winter Dinne. She was joined by the less-than-electric Barney Frank, but there is little doubt that it was the popular Palin's presence that pushed the events attendance to about double its average.

Palin's homespun humor often confuses the media elite, but I suspect they caught some of the shots she delivered.

When pointing out that her book did not have an index, preventing journalists from searching there for their names, she provided one on the spot: "A: Alaska, media not understanding it, page 1-432. B: Biased, Page 1-432."

She even took a shot at McCain, referencing her former running mate with, “The view is so much better inside the bus than under the bus."

And the current administration was not left out. “If the election had turned out differently, I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book, 'Going Rogaine.'” (for those of you living through CNN, Palin's book is called "Going Rogue.")

But, since the best jokes are always rooted in reality, my favorite was her dig at Obama. She said that as she was looking at a magazine cover of Obama and Chinese president Hu Jinato during an airplane flight when the passenger next to her said "Hu's the Communist." Palin added, "I thought he was asking a question."

Angelina Jolie Calls Barack Obama A Socialist

Khaki Elephant fav Angelina Jolie has finally (if temporarily) broken the tabloid tongue wags of "Brangelina" with a recent US Weekly article where the actress is credited with dissing "The One."

According to the report,

"She hates him [Obama]," a source close to the U.N. goodwill ambassador, 34, tells the new issue of Us Weekly . . . "She's into education and rehabilitation and thinks Obama is all about welfare and handouts. She thinks Obama is really a socialist in disguise," adds the source.

Now, I'm a fan of Jolie's work and if I were Brad Pitt, beyond always walking around in speedos with a wink, I would without a doubt tap Jolie over Aniston, but I have to admit that I couldn't care less about her politics. I don't care what Hollywood lefties like Sean Penn, David Letterman or Alec Baldwin have to say about world affairs because they have no idea what they're talking about. If they want to drop some wisdom about drug rehab then I'll bow to their expertise, but please don't ask me to listen to their input on economic policy or the military. I feel the same way about celebrities when they agree with me.

So don't expect The Khaki Elephant to spend time talking about Jolie's insight concerning Obamunism . . .unless it is shamelessly used as an excuse to post a saucy picture of her.

Mo' Zo . . . A Rant On Obama