“Bengay …Stronger than Pain.”  The White House is desperately trying to reduce the pain from the Benghazi fiasco.  They just released a letter to congress in the latest attempt to explain how our Commander in Chief handled this crisis.

The following link from ABC News provides a copy of that letter:

http://abcnews.go.com/images/Politics/2013.2.14_Letter%20from%20the%20White%20House%20Counsel.pdf

What a valentine!  The White House is trying to pretend that the Accountability Review Board (“ARB”) was convened by Hillary Clinton “immediately” after the attack.  The panel was not convened until September 20^th, 2012, so the definition of immediately apparently meant within 9 days.

The White House asserts that an “intense response” was directed by the President, but then they describe this as 13 meetings of interagency Principals and Deputies within a week of the attack.  But there is no record of President Obama contacting anyone, including Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, Martin E. Dempsey or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at any time during the night of September 11^th, 2012.  Both Panetta and Dempsey testified that they had no contact with anyone from the White House during this time period.

The letter, written by Kathryn R. Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, has some obvious word parsing.  She says that “Secretary Clinton called Libyan President Magariaf on behalf of the President on the evening of September 11, 2012.”  Note that she does not say that President Obama asked her to make that call.  Actually, he could not possibly have asked her to do make that call or do anything else because he didn’t even talk to her on that night.

Hillary Clinton released the following statement on the night of September 11, 2012:

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/09/197628.htm

I condemn in the strongest terms the attack on our mission in Benghazi today. As we work to secure our personnel and facilities, we have confirmed that one of our State Department officers was killed. We are heartbroken by this terrible loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and those who have suffered in this attack.

This evening, I called Libyan President Magariaf to coordinate additional support to protect Americans in Libya. President Magariaf expressed his condemnation and condolences and pledged his government’s full cooperation.

Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.

In light of the events of today, the United States government is working with partner countries around the world to protect our personnel, our missions, and American citizens worldwide.

At least SHE was paying attention.

It is significant that the White House felt enough political pressure that they needed to release this letter.  It is incredible that more than 5 months after the incident this is the best answer they can provide.  If they had a better answer, we would have heard it long ago.  I am sure the White House is desperately hoping this Benghazi Bengay will cover up the pain, but I wouldn’t bet on it.  It is increasingly obvious that President Obama was missing in action and the White House is working overtime to try and prevent anyone from disclosing where he was and what he was doing.

On the evening of September 11, 2012 the rest of us were watching our television screens in horror, as our embassies were under siege all over the Middle East.  This was before we even knew that a U.S. Ambassador had been killed.  At a minimum this was a situation that had enormous political implications for the President of the United States who was running for re-election.  Yet, no one in the White House is willing to tell us where Obama was during this time.  Perhaps the real question is not:  “what did the President know and when did he know it,” but rather, “where was the President and why was he there?” 

The answer must be pretty important because the White House is moving heaven and earth to try and prevent anyone from answering.

TDM

At 10:30 p.m. on September 11, 2012, Mitt Romney issued a statement saying the following:

“It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

He was immediately hammered in the Press for an error of fact and an error of judgment.  Even some senior Republicans ripped him a new one.  This, in the minds of the main stream media, was clear evidence that Mitt Romney was not ready for prime time.  But, at least Romney was paying attention.  That was more than we can say for either President Obama or Hillary Clinton.

Secretary of State Leon Panetta testified that Barack Obama was totally uninvolved in responding to this attack.  This was confirmed by General Dempsey.  According to Panetta, he met with Obama at a 5:00 p.m. prescheduled meeting and spent 20 minutes talking about the American Embassy that was surrounded in Egypt and “the situation that was just unfolding in Benghazi.”  That is the sum total of Barack Obama’s involvement.

Panetta said that on the night of 9/11 he did not communicate with a single person at the White House.  NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON!  He also said he had no contact with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“In between 9:42 p.m., Benghazi time, when the first attacks started, and 5:15 am, when Mr. Doherty and Mr. Woods lost their lives, what conversations did either of you have with Secretary Clinton?”

This is far worse that I imagined.  We had a Secretary of Defense who didn’t bother to discuss the siege of a U.S. Consulate and a missing U.S. Ambassador with either the White House or the State Department.  It is impossible to justify this.  The only possible excuse available to Pannetta would be if both the White House and the Secretary of State told him they didn’t want to be bothered!

But, in spite of this gross negligence admitted by Panetta, the White House definitely knew something bad was going down.  Mitt Romney issued his statement at 10:30 p.m. and the White House issued the following rebuke within minutes:

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

They may not have cared about people dying, but they sure cared about the political fallout!

This is an admission that the Obama campaign already knew about the death of one of our diplomatic officers.   Of course they knew.  It was all over the news.  Hillary Clinton also knew what was going on, because she issued the following statement later than night:

“Some have sought to justify this vicious behavior as a response to inflammatory material posted on the Internet,” Clinton said. “The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation. But let me be clear: There is never any justification for violent acts of this kind.”

Nice Hillary.  DID YOU EVER CONSIDER PICKING UP THE PHONE TO SEE IF YOUR AMBASSADOR WAS STILL ALIVE!

While Hillary and Barack fiddled, Benghazi was literally on fire.  Neither of them cared enough to make a single phone call.  NOT ONE SINGLE PHONE CALL.   No one on the entire White House staff made that call.  There is no evidence that anyone in the State Department made that call either.  Hillary Clinton definitely did not make that call.

Remember that famous add when Hillary Clinton asked who you wanted answering the phone during a crisis?  Well, perhaps the question is whether or not either of them would even bother answering the phone?

This is beyond outrageous.  I cannot imagine another U.S. President who would have responded this way.  Even Jimmy Carter would have been asking questions.  He would have probably mucked up the response, but at least he would have been asking questions. This is unforgiveable.

Then, in the ultimate case of hutzpah, Obama and Clinton put on a great show of remorse when they met the bodies of the dead Americans as they arrived back on U.S. soil.  The main stream media lapped this up like honey laced with Jack Daniels:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/obama-libya-remains-chris-stevens_n_1884567.html

Always in the background, campaign politics gave way to a sense of sheer loss. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s voice broke as she spoke before the president, and she appeared to be fighting tears as she listened to him.

What crap!  If either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton gave a damn about those poor unfortunate souls in Benghazi they would have paid at least some attention on the night of September 11.

Who knows what else they are covering up?  It is really hard to imagine anything worse than this.  This should be the top news story on every station in the country and the only acceptable response is outrage.  While we were watching in horror, neither the President of the United States or the Secretary of State cared enough to make a single phone call.  Obama was resting up for a quick campaign trip to Las Vegas.  We do not know what was so important to Hillary Clinton.

If the main stream media ignores this, then they have ceased to be worth saving.  As for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton it is unforgiveable.

TDM

BLANKET AMNESIA

The Obamacare tsunami is on the way.  It will hit sooner than you can imagine and the damage will be vast and undeniable.  Democrats are about to learn that it is far easier to pass really stupid and irresponsible legislation than it is to implement it.  Three years ago Democrats were celebrating the passage of Obamacare.  I predict that by the end of this year Democrats will start to develop a severe case of blanket amnesia.  It may be harder to find a Democrat who admits to supporting Obamacare that it is to find one who admits supporting the Iraq war.

The first wave has already started to hit shore.  Health insurance carriers are increasing rates by astronomical amounts.  This is so obvious that even the New York Times noticed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/business/despite-new-health-law-some-see-sharp-rise-in-premiums.html?pagewanted=all

Obamacare was supposed to lower costs.  What happened to that?  Some extremely naïve liberals probably still believe that savings will miraculously appear in the future, but they are hopelessly delusional.    Democrats will try to solve the problem, as they always do, by trying to prevent insurance carriers from increasing rates.  But that never works.  Ultimately, you can’t force insurance companies to operate at a loss.

Because of community rating, younger people will be the first to feel the impact.  They will be seeing huge increases, with some estimates as high as 50%.  The following article from Forbes explains the problem:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sallypipes/2013/01/07/obamacare-guarantees-higher-health-insurance-premiums-3000-higher/

This will put individual health care plans into a death spiral.  More and more young people will go uninsured.  They already think they are immortal.  The problem will be aggravated by the Obamacare requirement that health care plans must insure everyone, without regard to pre-existing conditions, starting in 2014.  That sounds great, until people start waiting until they are sick before buying health insurance.  Raising rates will not solve the problem, because if rates are increased more healthy people will drop out of the system.

The problem is worse for individual plans, but employer sponsored plans are going up too.  Employers are already working reduce the impact of these costs by either reducing the number of people insured or increasing employee contributions.  This is why you have been hearing about companies switching from full-time employees to part-time employees.  Obamacare, which promised to reduce the number of uninsured, will instead do the exact opposite.  There will be more people uninsured than before.

The Supreme Court dealt a death blow to Obamacare last summer.  The court ruled that requiring someone to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional.  The law was upheld as a tax and only if the tax is not prohibitive.  If the tax is raised, it will no longer be constitutional.

Perhaps some delusional liberals think this is great, because it will result in a single payer health care system run by the government.  But the problem is that the government doesn’t have any money.  Every government program costs more than private sector alternatives.  Why would healthcare be any different?  If we continue on this path, Amtrak, the Post Office, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will all look wonderful in comparison.  I think there will be bi-partisan support in congress for the health insurance industry to come up with a solution because they will be totally out of money and out of ideas.  The loudest voices calling for repeal of Obamacare may come from Democrats.

In a delicious irony, unions will also have a major problem.  Obamacare eliminates caps on medical benefits and prescription drugs and it requires plans to insure children until age 26.  That will result in much higher costs for union sponsored health plan.  Here’s the rub.  Individuals can’t get the subsidy to buy health care insurance if they have access to union sponsored insurance.  Non-union employees will pay less for health care than union employees, because the government subsidizes the rates.   This means that in some cases, joining a union means you get a smaller paycheck.  Unions have just figured this out, and they are already screaming for change.  I doubt that Republicans will consider this a top priority.

This is going to be really bad and it is coming at warp speed.  Even the fawning main stream media can only cover up the stench of Obamacare for just so long.

TDM

I did not comment on the nomination of John Kerry to be Secretary of State because it was pretty obvious that he would sail through the confirmation hearings.  United States Senators are famous for protecting members of the club from both parties.   I wished they would have asked a couple of Vietnam Veterans for their opinion.  I certainly know how this vet feels about it.

I would never dismiss John Kerry’s military service.  He may have exaggerated things to get himself a medal, but anyone who served on those swift boats deserves due credit.  But, unfortunately, there is much more to the story.  John Kerry went on to become the spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans against the War and his actions were beyond despicable.  He testified in front of congress and told bald-faced lies about those who served in Vietnam.  He literally accused us of routinely doing things that would be considered war crimes.  None of it was true.  It was this testimony that launched John Kerry on his political career.  It should have launched him on a one way ticket to someplace else.

In addition, John Kerry tried to negotiate a peace settlement with the Viet Cong while we were still at war.  Negotiating with the enemy during a time of war used to be called treason.  Now it is called training to be Secretary of State under Barack Obama.

It has also been confirmed, by the FBI, that John Kerry attended a meeting of the Vietnam Veterans against the War where the assassination of U.S. Senators opposed to the war was discussed.  Kerry denied attending this meeting, but declassified FBI documents verify his attendance.

None of these issues were even brought up during his confirmation hearing.  Apparently no one, including John McCain thought any of it mattered.  It matters to me.  The nomination of John Kerry is just another in a long list of slaps in the face of every Vietnam Vet.   I hope Senator McCain is proud.

TDM

The big difference between liberals and conservatives is what they want to regulate.  Liberals want to regulate almost everything.  Conservatives want to limit regulations to things that really matter.

Liberals want to regulate McDonald’s happy meals.  They want to regulate the food served in school cafeterias.  They want to regulate the size of soda cups in New York.  In San Francisco, they even want to regulate the use of paper bags.  Business owners in San Francisco have to charge customers for using a paper bag.  If you can define a problem, a liberal can come with a regulation.  Liberals want to regulate everything, with only two important exceptions.

The first is abortion.  Liberals are opposed to any attempt to regulate abortion.  They feel so strongly about this that an underage girl can get an abortion without even notifying her parents.  The school nurse cannot give this girl an aspirin without the parents’ permission, but she can take her to an abortion clinic.  Can you imagine the outcry if someone suggested requiring a photo ID and a background check before having an abortion?

The second thing that liberals do not want to regulate is voting.  Liberals are opposed to voter ID.  They are even opposed to purging convicted felons and dead people from the voter database.  I wonder how gun dealers are going to run all those background checks without also requiring people to have a photo ID.

So, here’s the plan.  We will agree to no regulations with regard to the purchase of a gun that are more stringent that the requirements to vote or to have an abortion.  If you can vote, you can have a gun.  If you can have an abortion, you can have a gun.  It seems only fair.

TDM

The New York Times reported today that the record cold snap in California is definitive proof of global warming.  An arctic air mass is plunging across California reducing temperatures in parts of the San Joaquin Valley below 28 degrees.  Climatologists warn that this cold spell is the direct result of rapidly melting ice in the arctic.  There was so much unprecedented warm air over the arctic ocean that the cold air had to find someplace else to go.  It chose California.  While there are some misguided and naive people who think that record cold is inconsistent with global warming, real climate experts scoffed at the idea.  Just because the weather is getting colder is no proof that it is not getting warmer.

Several Hollywood celebrities decided to get in their electric vehicles and drive to Alaska in search of warmer weather.  Since the ice is rapidly melting up there, many of them brought along surf boards and kayaks to take advantage of the open water and spectacular scenery.  There are reports this morning that a large number of them were observed trapped on the Grapevine due to heavy snow.  They had to abandon their electric vehicles when the batteries failed due to cold weather.

The New York Times is also reporting that sometime later this spring, temperatures in California will warm up again, proving that global warming continues to be reality.

(The funniest thing about this:  “article” which I clearly wrote tongue in cheek, is that a lot of people thought this was based on a real New York Time article.  In anyone wonders why they need to layoff all those people, look no further.)

TDM

The difference between liberals and conservatives can be summed up in one object lesson.  I was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  It is a place noted for long and cold winters.  One of the games we played as children was to try and see who could walk the straightest line across a snow covered field.  Most of us would walk very carefully, trying to put each foot exactly in front of the other.  When we arrive at the other side of the field we were exhausted and were stunned to look back and see how much we had wobbled off course.  Some of the kids never made it all the way across the field, they just walked in circles.  But one kid, brighter than the rest of us, just picked out a tree at the other side of the field and walked straight toward it.  When he looked back, he had a nice straight line all the way across the field.  It also took him a lot less time and energy to cross that field.

Liberals are like the kids who tried to measure every step.  They think the secret to success is micro-managing every step along the way.  They pass numerous regulations telling us how to live every moment of our lives.  They even want to tell us what size soda to drink.  The only thing they don’t want to regulate is abortion.

Conservatives are like the kid who just focused on the tree on the other side of the field.  They have figured out that if you try to manage everything you manage nothing.  You just waste a lot of time and energy without making any real progress.  Conservatives believe that regulations should be reserved for things that really matter.

I think liberals would benefit from a visit to that snowy field in Upper Michigan.  But there would still be a problem.  Liberals don’t make decisions based on facts or actual results.  They would probably praise the kid who walked in circles, because he or she felt better doing it.  To liberals, success is over-rated.

TDM

Suppose you are a parent.  You discover your 5 year old son playing with a live hand grenade.  What would you do?  Would you rush in and try to take it away, risking a struggle that could set off the hand grenade?  I doubt it.  Most parents would try to bribe the child into handing them the hand grenade, as gently as possible.  They might even offer him some ice cream.  They would do whatever it takes, because they cannot risk having him set off the grenade.  When you are the adult it is your duty to protect your child against himself.  It is also your job to make sure the child doesn’t hurt anyone else.  Then, after the child was safe, and you make sure it never happens again.

Now imagine you are John Boehner.  The President of the United States is a child playing with the fiscal cliff hand grenade.  He is giggling and is prepared to blow up the nation’s economy as long as he can blame Republicans.  Speaker Boehner realizes that he is the only adult in the room.  So, he agrees to a plan to bribe the President into giving up the fiscal cliff grenade by increasing taxes on people earning more than $400k per year.  It is the least expensive bribe available.  The President jumps up and down in glee in celebration of his great victory and jets off to Hawaii to celebrate.

Speaker Boehner reports back to his caucus.  They ask him why he gave in to such childish behavior.  Boehner replies that saving the country is more important than winning a political battle.  But, Boehner also reports that he has learned his lesson.  He will never again try to negotiate with someone so childish and irresponsible.  Instead, he will just make sure the President never gets another fiscal cliff grenade.

So, while President Obama is playing golf and swimming in Hawaii, Republicans in congress are working on a plan to take away his power to hold the economy hostage.  That is the problem with people who behave childishly and irresponsibly.  Eventually, the adults figure out a way to regain control.

After Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamato realized that while he had won a great victory, he had not destroyed America’s ability to fight.  He is quoted as saying:  “I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled her with a terrible resolve.”

President Obama thinks he has destroyed the House of Representatives and stripped it of power.  He now thinks he can do whatever he wants.  But, I think his childish spiking of the football has only awakened a sleeping giant and he is about to deal with a very determined opponent.  Speaker Boehner remains in power today only because he was able to convince the House that he was ready, willing and able to fight back.

Any questions?

TDM

So, here’s the plan.  The incompetent fools in Washington, who created a huge mess, are reduced to gathering in a circle pointing fingers at each other.  There is no real fiscal cliff, just an artificial deadline developed by people who finally admitted that they are incapable of intelligent decision making without a life changing crisis to prod them into action.  So they tried to create their own life changing crisis, but botched that too, because this clearly wasn’t frightening enough to do the job.

The plan for the New Year is for the same clowns who brought us this nightmare to work feverishly into the night to figure out a way to fix the problems they created.  I am not overly optimistic about the process.

So here’s my plan.  Let sign a petition preventing the House or the Senate from passing any legislation for the next twelve months.  Let’s add a provision preventing President Obama from issuing any executive orders, unless we are attacked, for the next twelve months.  Finally, let’s give the Supreme Court a twelve month vacation.  If we can just prevent congress and the President from trying to fix problems themselves, I think we have a real shot.  My hunch is that the really smart people, none of whom live anywhere near Washington DC, will figure this out and get us back on track.

Ronald Reagan pointed this out in his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1981:

In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

This is just as true today as it was in 1981.

The link to the petition is below:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop12312012

TDM

TWAS THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

AND ALL THROUGH THE LAND

PEOPLE WERE WONDERING

WHERE WAS THE PLAN?

THE FISCAL CLIFF LOOMS

IT IS SO PLAIN TO SEE

BUT THAT DOESN’T MATTER

TO FOLKS FROM DC.

OBAMA WANTS TAXES

AND SPENDING GALORE

BUT HOUSE SPEAK BOEHNER

STILL CONTROLS THE FLOOR.

AND GOP MEMBERS

CAN’T TAKE IT NO MORE

SO THEY ROSE UP TOGETHER

AND WITH A LOUD ROAR

SAID LISTEN OBAMA

AND HARRY REID TOO

IF YOU WANT TO FIX THIS

HERE’S WHAT YOU MUST DO!

THERE’LL BE NO MORE TAXES

UNTIL SPENDING IS CUT

THE SOLUTION IS EASY

JUST GET OFF YOUR BUTT!

WHERE’S YOUR PLAN, MR PRESIDENT

WE’RE WAITING TO HEAR

YOU BETTER HAVE  SOMETHING

IT’S AMOST NEXT YEAR!

YOU CAN’T SPEND MORE MONEY

UNLESS WE AGREE

SO TALK ALL YOU WANT

BUT NO SPENDING YOU’LL SEE

THIS TIME OUR PARTY

WON’T PLAY YOUR GAME

THE PEOPLE WANT ANSWERS

THEY’LL KNOW WHO TO BLAME!

ITS TIME TO MAN UP

AND SHOW US YOUR STUFF

WE’RE TIRED OF THE NONSENSE

WE’VE HAD QUITE ENOUGH!

YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED

YOU ARE THE MAN

SO PLEASE, MR PRESIDENT

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?