(PJ Tatler) Here’s a question I’ll bet nobody ever asked Jay Carney at a White House press briefing: Why does Michelle Obama’s mother live at the White House at taxpayer expense?
(If someone has asked, please send link for me to stand corrected.)
Remember it was all the way back on February 19th when Obama promised to take action if Vladimir Putin “stepped over the line” and used military action in Crimea. Russia has not only used military action, it has annexed Crimea. So today:
WASHINGTON DC – President Barack Obama today imposed sanctions on seven top Russian government officials and four others from Ukraine and warned Russia will face more penalties if it doesn’t pull back from Crimea.
“Continued Russian military intervention in Ukraine will only deepen Russia’s diplomatic isolation and exact a greater toll on the Russian economy,” Obama said at the White House. The U.S. can “calibrate our response” based on whether Russia chooses “to escalate or to de-escalate the situation.”
The U.S. actions, which mark the broadest use of sanctions on Russia since the end of the Cold War, were made in concert with the 28-member European Union, which imposed its own set of penalties. The U.S. also included a ban on travel visas.
Obama left the door open for diplomacy, saying Russia must pull its forces back to their bases in Crimea, accept international monitors and open discussions with the government in Kiev. (read more)
WASHINGTON DC – American personnel on the ground in Benghazi the night of the 2012 terror attack are outraged after learning that the CIA’s inspector general never conducted an investigation into what happened — despite two CIA workers being killed in the attack and despite at least two complaints being filed by CIA employees.
Former Ambassador Chris Stevens, another State official and two ex-Navy SEALs working for the CIA were killed in that attack.
Many in the agency were told, or were under the impression, that an investigation was in the works, but that is not the case.
One person close to the issue told Fox News: “They should be doing an investigation to see what the chief of base in Benghazi and station chief in Tripoli did that night. If they did, they’d find out there were some major mistakes.” (more…)
The issue at hand is essentially the CIA covertly monitoring the Senate Intelligence Committee as the Senate investigated the CIA. The problem stems from an obvious oversight issue where the CIA takes illegal action to monitor the Senate as they investigate.
However, there’s something more within the behavior of the people involved. Dianne Feinstein is clearly outlining the CIA is violating the law. As a consequence the CIA claim to be following instructions from the Obama administration and the White House. That alone represents a big issue – However, the way CIA Director John Brennan is responding to the charges against his office are, well, somewhat troubling.
Brennan is acting, and speaking, as if he is untouchable. It’s almost like he has a card up his sleeve; an unspoken leverage. And when you think about how Brennan got to his CIA post, and his relationship with President Obama, alarm bells begin to ring.
Please forgive me for connecting the dots but I’m not going in this rabbit hole alone 😉
Remember, it was Brennan’s security firm who broke into the State Department passport files of Candidate Obama in 2008. Watching him now respond to Feinstein one would take away he indeed holds a lever that allows him to feel “untouchable“.
WASHINGTON DC – The head of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday sharply accused the CIA of violating federal law and undermining the constitutional principle of congressional oversight as she detailed publicly for the first time how the agency secretly removed documents from computers used by her panel to investigate a controversial interrogation program.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said that the situation amounted to attempted intimidation of congressional investigators, adding: “I am not taking it lightly.”
She confirmed that an internal agency investigation of the action has been referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. And she said that the CIA appears to have violated the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as various federal laws and a presidential executive order that prevents the agency from conducting domestic searches and surveillance. (more…)
(Washington Examiner) – The Obama administration announced Wednesday that it would allow insurers to keep until October 2016 health plans that do not meet Obamacare regulations, pushing back another Affordable Care Act deadline well past November’s midterms.
Facing the prospect of another wave of cancellation notices this fall, the administration took even further action to mitigate the blowback from President Obama’s broken promise that all Americans could keep their health care plans under Obamacare.
The Department of Health and Human Services had already given insurers the option of continuing those plans facing cancellation through 2014, and on Wednesday said those policies could remain in effect an additional two years. (more…)
The Weekly Standard has some excellent analysis of a VERY insightful interview given by President Obama to Jeff Goldberg of Bloomberg Media.
The Full Obama foreign policy interview is HERE. (A must read for those who tackle understanding of what motivates the current administration at the core.)
Weekly Standard – On the eve of the Netanyahu visit to Washington, President Obama gave a lengthy interview to Jeffrey Goldberg that shows a chief executive who has learned next to nothing about the world in his five years in office.
First, kudos to Goldberg: he pressed Obama repeatedly, challenging vague formulations and seeking clarity. Goldberg pushed Obama hard, especially on Iran and Syria.
Obama isn’t good off the cuff, especially when challenged; he is far better with a prepared speech. And what emerged is an awful portrait of the president and his conception of the world.
Take Syria. Here’s what Obama said: (more…)
Day #1 – A limp-wristed commentary from the White House; Stompy then went directly to a DNC fundraiser to kick off “Happy Hour” – Russia moves troops into Crimea, secures airport, takes Ukraine parliamentary building and sends in dozens of helicopters and fighter jets.
Day #2 – Obama skips National Security briefing, Samantha Power delivers U.S. comments at emergency U.N. Security Council Meeting, Susan Rice gives Stompy the cliff notes. – Russia’s Parliament votes to allow full military engagement and moves approximately 50,000 troops into Ukraine.
And now comes the proverbial strongly worded White House letter where Stompy outlines that Putin has broken the rules:
WHITE HOUSE – President Obama spoke for 90 minutes this afternoon with President Putin of Russia about the situation in Ukraine. President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law, including Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and which is inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act. The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory. (more…)
We can’t let this little far-left hypocrisy escape attention.
Ideological far-left Democrats are the most racist of all self-identified political types.
In 2012 Spike Lee tweeted out what he thought was the address of George Zimmerman.
The message within his objective was to harass and threaten the life of George Zimmerman around the premise the shooting of Trayvon Martin was racially motivated.
The address was wrong, and an elderly couple was terrorized by far-left “Occupy Wall Street” types and their Black Grievance counterparts. Fearing for their lives the family was forced to move out. Spike Lee settled a lawsuit and gave the victimized family money to compensate for the terror he created.
Recently Spike Lee stepped into the controversial race mix yet again only this time he demanded that white New Yorkers move out of black neighborhoods.
Hiding the manipulation behind the REAL Trayvon Martin Story takes a confluence of associated interests. Considering THIS and especially considering THIS….
Just imagine how much political damage could immediately present itself if this story was covered by investigative journalism ?
(Associated Press) The large, mostly African-American and Hispanic crowd was dotted with dignitaries, among them black and Hispanic members of Congress, NBA great Earvin “Magic” Johnson, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Also present were the parents of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, two black Florida teenagers killed in separate shootings. (link)
(Miami Herald) – Joining the president at the White House was Rep. Frederica S. Wilson, D-Miami, Mami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and Dr. Theron Clark, administrator 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a program founded by the congresswoman to mentor at-risk boys in Miami-Dade schools. Obama cited the program in his remarks. (more…)
Keith Judd, the convict who ran for President, became somewhat of a celebrity after almost beating Obama in the 2012 West Virginia Democratic Primary. What wasn’t reported, however, was that after Obama won the presidential election, Judd filed a series of lawsuits detailing how Obama was illegally placed on the 2012 presidential ballot. One lawsuit, filed on May 9, 2013, is scheduled to be heard before a federal court in the next few months. (continue reading)