Is The U.S. At War With ISIS Or Just Counterterrorism Operations?

By William Teach September 13, 2014 – 6:50 am

The administration that can’t shoot straight now says it’s a war

(Fox News) The White House and Pentagon acknowledged Friday that the U.S. “is at war” with the Islamic State — contradicting Secretary of State John Kerry and others who a day earlier refused to use that term, prompting criticism from lawmakers that the administration was downplaying the conflict.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby used almost identical language when pressed by reporters Friday whether or not the expanded military operation against the terrorist group is in fact a war.

“In the same way that the United States is at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates … the United States is at war with ISIL,” Earnest said.

Kirby said “this is not the Iraq War” from a decade ago, “but make no mistake — we know we are at war with ISIL in the same way we are at war and continue to be at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates.”

The comments are a sharp turnaround from how Kerry described the military operation on Thursday. In interviews with CNN and CBS News, Kerry described it as a “very significant” and “major counterterrorism operation.” He told CBS News that “war is the wrong terminology.”

His spokeswoman, Marie Harf, also said she would not “refer to our efforts” as part of the “war on terrorism.”

Earnest said Thursday that it wasn’t a war, contradicting himself Friday. Susan Rice, US National Security Advisor, says it’s not a war, but long term counterterrorism operations. Obama never said we were at war during his prime time campaign ISIS speech. Which is it, war or counterterrorism? Good questions. Another one is why is an administration that was truly amazing during the last two presidential campaigns so horrible at messaging while in office? Noah Rothman might have the answer

If you thought the threat posed by the Islamic State was a national security matter, as most of the nation does, you would be incorrect. It is, in fact, a domestic political matter. That is clearly how the White House views it. There is no other way to explain their inane vacillation and incomprehensibly fluid position on what the response to the threat posed by ISIS should be.

At the end of the day, the best thing for the administration will be too competently go after ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups. Let the military and paramilitary forces loose. Don’t micromanage. Americans are concerned about the threat. Lead. Won’t happen.

What time do we get the Tweet about Obama being on the golf course?

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Surprise: Conservatives Happier Than Liberals According To Study

By William Teach September 12, 2014 – 4:49 pm

This comes to us via one of my favorite liberals, Alan Colmes

A study by the American Psychological Association shows that conservatives are happier individuals than liberals, but liberal countries have more satisfied citizens.

“Liberal governments tend to do more to shield citizens against certain hardships, such as unemployment and poverty, which can make people feel happier overall,” Dr. Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn, a psychologist at Rutgers University and the study’s lead author, said in a written statement. “On the other hand, conservatives rate their well-being higher than liberals because conservatives more readily support and rationalize the status quo, thus, believing that socioeconomic hardships are a result of individual shortcomings.

Of course, one problem with the study is that these are European liberals and conservatives, and, particularly for EU conservatives, there is a vast difference between them and US conservatives.

Regardless, our takeaway is that liberals are only satisfied when Big Daddy Government is there to take care of them.

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If All You See…

By William Teach September 12, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…is a world flooded because Someone Else refused to give up their fossil fueled travel, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a quicky post on a British police investigation in the ice bucket challenge.

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What Is Burger King’s All Black Cheeseburger Trying To Tell Us?

By William Teach September 12, 2014 – 11:18 am

That’s the big question Salon’s Lindsay Abram delves into

Burger King’s black cheeseburger may be trying to tell us something
A bizarre fast food item with a message, maybe

Burger King Japan is (re)introducing its pitch-black cheeseburger, which is like a regular cheeseburger, if you were to dip the bun and cheese into tar. To be technically accurate, it’s not tar but squid ink and bamboo charcoal that give the menu item its signature look.

I don’t want to read too much into it, but doesn’t it sort of remind you of this?:

Since this is Salon, you’re probably saying “raaaaacism”. Alas, nope.

That’s graphics legend Milton Glaser’s new logo for our (not technically) dying planet, which is supposed to symbolize Earth as it’s overtaken by a haze of black — pollution, perhaps, or oil, or maybe just death. Again, not to give too much credit to Burger King, but given what we know about the link between the consumption of red meat and climate change, it’s not a bad attempt at sending a similar message. Also, meat is murder and fast food will kill you.

It’s so simple! The burger is all about Hotcoldwetdry! And meat is murder!

The cheeseburger, called the Kuro Burger in Japan, the only place it is sold, is actually infused with squid ink and blackened with bamboo charcoal. Something for Japanese pallets.

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Employer Health Plan Deductibles Jumped Almost 50% Since 2009

By William Teach September 12, 2014 – 7:15 am

Remember, Obamacare was supposed to bend the curve down and save everyone money

(USA Today) A report out today puts numbers behind what hit many workers when they signed up for health insurance during open enrollment last year: deductible shock.

Premiums for employer-paid insurance are up 3% this year, but deductibles are up nearly 50% since 2009, the report by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows.

The average deductible this year is $1,217, up from $826 five years ago. Nearly 20% of workers overall have to pay at least $2,000 before their insurance kicks in, while workers at firms with 199 or fewer employees are feeling the pain of out-of-pocket costs even more: A third of these employees at small companies pay at least $2,000 deductibles. (snip)

Deductibles will keep going up as companies try to keep their own health care costs down by raising the amount of cost-sharing workers have to bear, says Gary Claxton, a Kaiser Family Foundation vice president who co-authored the annual study.

And, one of the things causing costs to go up is the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, commonly known as Obamacare. And as people actually use the insurance willy nilly, it will drive up costs, which will drive up premiums and deductibles.

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Senate Democrats Still Whining About Having To Debate Bills They Authored

By William Teach September 12, 2014 – 7:04 am

Their entire agenda is about forcing votes to look good for the mid-terms, rather than dealing with legislation which actually helps Americans. And most media outlets covering the story go with a headline blaming the GOP for blocking the constitutional amendment

(Politico) Senate Republicans unanimously rejected a constitutional amendment sought by Democrats that would allow Congress to regulate campaign finance reform.

The measure failed to clear a 60-vote threshold on Thursday afternoon, 54-42.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) quickly moved to hammer Republicans and tie them to Charles and David Koch, billionaire brothers who back national conservative political operations.

This is what Reid and the Democrats wanted for the first vote, as in, they wanted it to fail in order to whine at Republicans. Being forced to actually debate the legislation was not what they wanted.

Grassley and two dozen other Senate Republicans voted to advance the bill to blunt Democrats’ plans to hold a second round of campaign-flavored Democratic votes on proposals aimed at raising the minimum wage, overturning the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision, chipping away at gender pay disparities and reforming the student loan system.

The Senate has only a few more days in session — and Democratic aides said it will be difficult for the chamber to get to all the Fair Shot Agenda votes they hoped to hold this month, given Republican votes to advance the constitutional amendment Monday and the pay-equity bill on Wednesday, both of which consumed days of debate time. The next Senate vote is on Monday to end debate on the pay-equity bill — which will likely fail.

Perhaps the Democrat controlled Senate should take up pressing legislation first, instead of playing political games. They could certainly take up the hundreds of economic bills sent over from the House. But, they’ve decided on a course of forcing votes on hyper-partisan legislation which they know will never pass simply for campaign optics.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Democrats’ top message man, said voters will not forget Republicans’ rejection of an amendment that Democrats argue would get “dark money” out of politics and broadly drives GOP policies.

Sure they will. Most have no idea what it is. Most voters are disengaged and certainly know more about the celebrity hacking case than what’s going on in Washington.

https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/510381046010245120

According to Open Secrets, 73% of his individual contributions have come from Large Individual Contributions for 2009-2014. He’s received almost $4 million from PACs. And $708k from lobbyists. Plus all the money from lawyers/law firms, securities and investments. Tweet him and let him know that he should not take money from all these folks.

Democrat whining about tax inversions is a big fail, too.

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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Guess Who’s Listed As Partners For Upcoming Climate Change Rally In NYC?

By William Teach September 11, 2014 – 6:20 pm

I know you’ll be really, really, really surprised (via Climate Depot)

Official ‘Partners of People’s Climate March in NYC:

Then, of course, there are lots of SEIU and 350.batsh*t insane chapters, Code Pink, the far far left Common Dreams, two chapters of Muslim Brotherhood linked CAIR, the insane World Can’t Wait, Teamsters, Women In Islam, MoveOn.org, and a whole raft of far left groups. Good thing all these fossil fuel hating groups are taking fossil fueled trips to NYC, eh?

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If All You See…

By William Teach September 11, 2014 – 1:00 pm

…are the colors of the USA, you might just be a Patriot (yes, this is changed up for Patriot’s Day)

The blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a question for PBO.

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Doom Delayed: We Now Have 20 Years Till Climate Disaster

By William Teach September 11, 2014 – 11:15 am

Yet another doom and gloom prognostication of future doom

(Grist) With every year that passes, we’re getting further away from averting a human-caused climate disaster. That’s the key message in this year’s “Low Carbon Economy Index,” a report released by the accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report highlights an “unmistakable trend.” The world’s major economies are increasingly failing to do what’s needed to to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels. That was the target agreed to by countries attending the United Nations’ 2009 climate summit; it represents an effort to avoid some of the most disastrous consequences of runaway warming, including food security threats, coastal inundation, extreme weather events, ecosystem shifts, and widespread species extinction.

Overall, PricewaterhouseCoopers paints a bleak picture of a world that’s rapidly running out of time; The required effort to curb global emissions will continue to grow each year. “The timeline is also unforgiving. The [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] and others have estimated that global emissions will need to peak around 2020 to meet a 2°C [3.6 degrees F] budget,” the report says. “This means that emissions from the developed economies need to be consistently falling, and emissions from major developing countries will also have to start declining from 2020 onwards.” G20 nations, for example, will need to cut their annual energy-related emissions by one-third by 2030, and by just over half by 2050. The pressure will be on the world’s governments to come up with a solution to this enormous challenge at the much-anticipated climate talks in Paris next year.

So, unless we completely destroy our economies, give up all our freedom and liberty to Centralized Government, and pay huge taxes, doom is locked in come 2034. Now, if only that darned warming would actually cooperate with Warmist predictions and computer models, we won’t have to add this to all the other failed Warmist predictions.

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Obama’s ISIS Speech Was A Hot Mess Of SCOAMFness*

By William Teach September 11, 2014 – 8:55 am

It started out well (transcript via Time)

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.

Then it degenerated in paragraph two

As Commander-in-Chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people. Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country. We took out Osama bin Laden and much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’ve targeted al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, and recently eliminated the top commander of its affiliate in Somalia. We’ve done so while bringing more than 140,000 American troops home from Iraq, and drawing down our forces in Afghanistan, where our combat mission will end later this year. Thanks to our military and counterterrorism professionals, America is safer.

That was all about chest thumping by Obama. Sounded like a campaign speech

Still, we continue to face a terrorist threat. We can’t erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today. And that’s why we must remain vigilant as threats emerge. At this moment, the greatest threats come from the Middle East and North Africa, where radical groups exploit grievances for their own gain. And one of those groups is ISIL — which calls itself the “Islamic State.”

OK, not bad. Then we immediately move into unbelievable stupidity

Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not “Islamic.” No religion condones the killing of innocents. And the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim. And ISIL is certainly not a state. It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border. It is recognized by no government, nor by the people it subjugates. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.

Alas, PBO, they are Muslims, and are following Muslim religious tenets as laid out in the Koran, per their reading of it. And ISIS/ISIL is attempting to create an Islamic caliphate.

Then there was some “meh, could have given a quick daytime speech” stuff, followed by leading from behind, we’re not in it alone, some shaking fist at that non-Islamic Islamic State stuff, followed by his supposed plan, which I guess was better than nothing. And then it goes off the rails

Our technology companies and universities are unmatched. Our manufacturing and auto industries are thriving. Energy independence is closer than it’s been in decades. For all the work that remains, our businesses are in the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history. Despite all the divisions and discord within our democracy, I see the grit and determination and common goodness of the American people every single day –- and that makes me more confident than ever about our country’s future.

Abroad, American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world. It is America that has the capacity and the will to mobilize the world against terrorists. It is America that has rallied the world against Russian aggression, and in support of the Ukrainian peoples’ right to determine their own destiny. It is America –- our scientists, our doctors, our know-how –- that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Ebola. It is America that helped remove and destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons so that they can’t pose a threat to the Syrian people or the world again. And it is America that is helping Muslim communities around the world not just in the fight against terrorism, but in the fight for opportunity, and tolerance, and a more hopeful future.

https://twitter.com/WilliamTeach/status/509872283587211265

More at Twitchy.

One thing I want to make clear: for the most part, I approve of Obama’s actions regarding the War On Terrorism. His words do not always match his actions, sadly, but his actions, such as drone striking the hell out of Jihadis, special opps groups, etc, around the Middle East and Northern Africa, as well as in Afghanistan, have been strong. I wish his speech had been.

*SCOAMF: Stuttering Clusterf*ck Of A Miserable Failure

Crossed at Right Wing News.

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