Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Our Watcher's Council Nominations -Sending A Message Edition

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Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

Non-Council Submissions


Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees

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It's time once again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for the award of the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations!

Here are this weeks' nominees....

 
Baby Parts Merchants Planned Parenthood !

 The Noisy Room: My nomination this week goes to Planned Parenthood for their condom encounter with Carly Fiorina. Planned Parenthood and Code Pink descended on Carly Fiorina in Iowa and screamed insults and profanities at her. Then they hurled condoms at Carly. Classy. Bonus… one of the morons protesting was dressed up as a birth control pill dispenser. Drolly chic, n’est–ce pas? Quite a feat being a clown and a genocidal butcher at the same time, but these radicals pull it off. Paging Stephen King. They were furious that Fiorina spoke out against them in the last debate. Carly handled the encounter with class and decorum. She was impressive in handling these asshats. Hope she didn’t keep a souvenir. She informed at least one protester that she was a cancer survivor and cared about women’s rights as well. She also pointed out that tax payers fund Planned Parenthood, who in turn fund the Democrats. It’s a political shell game. Why, yes it is.

All Planned Parenthood and the commies from CodePink know is talking points and propaganda. They are demanding their right to butcher the unborn. Imagine that – genocidal maniacs have rights too. The cold hard facts of what Planned Parenthood does in their horror chambers are clear cut and out there for all to see – literally. It would have been nice if Fiorina had turned around and called them the psychotic butchers they are. I know I would have. Small blessings… at least the condoms were still in their packages. This was at a tailgate party before a Hawkeyes game. These losers were shouting, “Layoffs, lies, no surprise, Carly fumbles for these Hawkeyes!” Seriously? That’s the best these brainless twits can come up with? Points to Fiorina though for the following… at one point, one woman asked Fiorina why she doesn’t support women’s health care… Fiorina responded, “Oh, I support your health care. I don’t support the butchering of babies.” You go girl! For being moonbat crazy, genocidally murderous and just plain gross, Planned Parenthood should get the golden statuette for being the pink weasels they are.


 
WGN TV's Production Department!

Puma By Design : My nominee for Weasel of the Week are the boneheads in the production department at WGN-TV, Chicago who chose for last week’s news story on Yom Kippur that horrible image of the yellow Star of David that Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust.

According to the first news report I saw, once an editor pointed the offense of using the illustration, WGN-TV immediate issued an apology on social media. However, according to the Telegraph.co.uk, WGN, stated that “the image came from its image bank, and they ‘failed to recognise that the image was an offensive Nazi symbol.’”

The next day, WGN issued an on-air apology, “Last night we ran a story to recognize Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Regrettably, we failed to recognize that the artwork we chose to accompany the story contained an offensive symbol. This was an unfortunate mistake. Ignorance is not an excuse.”

While ignorance is no excuse, the production department, the journalists and those working behind the scenes should have immediately noticed the error before the news story went live.

Finally, who will be held accountable? Oh my bad, NO ONE. Yet if it were a Black person, Muslim or a member of the Gay Gestapo, head(s) would have rolled and a lawsuit pending by now.

 Well, there it is. What a despicable group of  Weasels...ANY OF THEM COULD WIN! Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Monday, September 28, 2015

Forum:What Is Your Reaction To John Boehner's Resignation?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: What Is Your Reaction To John Boehner's Resignation?

Virginia Right!: I won't shed a tear.

The Noisy Room : Yipee! And good riddance. I'm partying and doing a snoopy dance. The only thing I cringe over, is who will take his place? They will try and shove Kevin McCarthy on us.

 The Razor : It takes a big man to cry.It takes a bigger man to laugh at that man.

JoshuaPundit : Oh dear, why now? Why not five or six years ago?

I think what's going on here is pretty obvious to me at least. Boehner didn't actually 'resign,'  but with elections not far away, the GOP establishment is finally getting a clue about how deeply angry GOP voters are at them for their betrayal of what they were elected to do,  And Boehner was an easy sacrifice, especially since the votes were there to oust him. The fact that there's a well paid position working on Jeb Bush's campaign greased and ready for him tells the rest of the story.

McConnell may be next to get the axe.

The GOP establishment will try to put one of their own in charge who lacks Boehner's baggage, and Kevin McCarthy is said to have the inside track. I doubt he will make it unless he makes some solid commitments to House conservatives. We'll see...

 Don Surber : I met him around 2005 when he was Education chairman. He was smooth and in command. Future speaker. He was part of teh Gang of Seven as a rookie congressman, and co-authored the Contract With America.

This is a sad end. It was time.

The Independent Sentinel : He ran the House like a dictator so all I have to say is Hasta La Vista baby!

Maggie's Notebook : Interesting to think that the Speaker doesn't have to be a Congressman. It ca be a civilian. Never has been, but it could be. I can't wait for Boehner to be gone, but if ANY part of this leadership is elected, I don't think much will change.The entire leadership needs to go.

Nice Deb: Somebody mentioned Tom Coburn, the former Senator from Oklahoma who recently retired as a possible candidate. He was the most conservative member of the Senate, but not a bomb-thrower and was widely respected. Not that it will happen, but it's nice to dream (while Kevin McCarthy is shoved down our throats.)

 Bookworm Room : Let me begin with the fact that Progressives on my Facebook thread are shattered that the man they view as the least awful Republican has left the House and are already having nightmares about the inevitable Tea Party fanatic who will replace him. Here are slightly edited quotes (to preserve the author's privacy) highlighting their horror:

Progressive #1: "The Tea Party is made up of hate-filled ultra conservative religious fanatics and domestic terrorists. They were a Trojan Horse the GOP thought it could control in the fight against Democrats, but they simply split the GOP. It serves the GOP right but damages America."

Progressive #2: "The most fanatic right wingers kicked him out, and I can't imagine who will be the next Speaker, so it's scary. This is very bad for the Republican Party."

When it comes to Progressives, with a few exceptions, I operate on the Groucho Marx principle: Whatever you're for, I'm against it. Their shock and fear over Boehner's departure is a strong indication that his departure is a good thing. Reviewing Republican responses doesn't change my mind.

Among Republicans, there are pragmatists who say that, given Obama’s refusal to work with a Republican Congress, there was little Boehner could do, so he shouldn't be the scapegoat for the GOP's weakness and Obama's strength. More ideologically committed people say that the least that Boehner could have done was to be a spokesman for conservative ideas — such as pointing out that it is Obama who is flouting the majority of Americans through his refusal to accommodate any legislation that doesn’t match his minority political view.

I happen to agree with the latter view. I therefore believe that Boehner’s right to leave. The only people whom he made happy were those on the Left who gloried in his failure either to carry through legislation or to be a spokesman for conservative ideas.

Laura Rambeau Lee,Right Reason : Recent polls show that a sizable majority of Republican voters are extremely unhappy with Speaker Boehner and Senator Mitch McConnell for not being strong voices for conservative principles. Despite being delivered majorities in the House and Senate they have been weak and ineffective in their ability to rein in a lawless President Obama.

Riding the wave of a Tea Party success in getting out the vote in 2010 and winning a Republican majority in the House, John Boehner convinced conservatives he would work to undo Obamacare and champion conservative policies. His promises were successful in winning the Speaker position. Since then, he has done nothing to keep his promises to undo the damage our country has suffered under the Obama presidency.

The question is, has he removed himself from the office to protect the establishment GOP in the upcoming 2016 elections, or has he come to the realization… perhaps after meeting the pope… that he is on the wrong side of what is right for America? One thing is certain; he did not have the fortitude or conviction to do what needs to be done to correct the disastrous course we are on as a country. Hopefully the new speaker will be a true conservative and not one of the establishment GOP the party continues to push on the American people.

The Glittering Eye :I think that Speaker Boehner did about as well as could have been expected under the circumstances and the opprobrium heaped upon him by Tea Party conservatives has been largely undeserved.

I also think that the odds are about 3:2 that a long string of disappointments is continuing for the Freedom Caucus and their supporters. Boehner's successor won't be a Freedom Caucus member. It's more likely to be Kevin McCarthy of the California 23rd district and he will prove very similar to Boehner. There will continue to be compromises they despise in the name of continuing to govern.

The eventual Republican presidential candidate whoever he or she may be will not be nearly confrontational enough to suit them. They'll object strenuously to some of the positions he or she takes.

The key problem is as it has always been. You can't take the White House with Tea Party voters alone. There is no hidden groundswell of support just waiting for a candidate conservative enough.

Well, there you have it.

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?



Friday, September 25, 2015

The House Loses Its Boehner



John Boehner has announced that he is resigning from his position as Speaker of the House and will be giving up his seat at the end of October.

Good riddance to once of the worst leaders of the GOP caucus ever,someone who allowed an imperial presidency to run rampant under his watch. He, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are directly responsible for the disaffection of Republicans today.

Boehner was weak when strength was needed, vengeful when unity was needed in his caucus and ineffectual when strategy was called for. He was one of the most unpopular Speakers in living memory.

At the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit, which was taking place just a few blocks from the Capitol, many jumped to their feet and cheered when Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, announced that Mr. Boehner was resigning.

And that's really the heart of the matter. The GOP's leaders are finally beginning to understand how angry their base is about their blatant betrayal of the peple whom voted them in.

Don't be surprised if McConnell is the next to go.


House Republicans are now meeting to find a new Speaker. Reportedly, Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader is the top candidate for the job and more acceptable to the GOP's conservative caucus.

We'll see.

The Council Has Spoken...Our Watcher's Council Results!!

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke


"Good courage in a bad affair is half of the evil overcome." - Titus Maccius Plautus


"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them, and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall therefore erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs." -General Sir Charles Napier, explaining to Hindus that the custom of suttee was no longer to be tolerated, 1849.


"Afghanistan is easy to march into, but hard to march out of." - Alexander The Great



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This week's winning essay, Afghani Boys Screaming In The Night: US Soldiers Told To Stand Down And Not Stop Rape is pretty much about what the title implies it is..a no holds barred indictment of what evil the Obama Administration has ordered our troops to ignore and how it has punished those who refused to turn their heads. Here's a slice:


The last thing Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father in 2012, was that he could hear young boys screaming in the night as they were raped, but they had been told to stand down. They were not to interfere because it was part of the Afghani culture. Since when are orders given to ignore blatantly deviant, vicious acts? Why are soldiers being told to just pretend atrocities are not happening on their watch? This takes evil to a whole new level and the officers who are commanding their men to do nothing and turn a blind eye are almost as guilty as the beasts who are raping these children. This is what has become of our military command under Barack Obama.

Buckley could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought onto the base from his bunk and was forbidden to stop it. They were just one floor beneath him. “At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”

Buckley could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought onto the base from his bunk and was forbidden to stop it. They were just one floor beneath him. “At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.”

This policy of pretending child rape is not occurring all around these men probably contributed to the murder of Lance Corporal Buckley. He was gunned down on his base in 2012 by one of the “Tea Boys” that was servicing an Afghan police commander there in more ways than one. He came onto the base with a large contingent of these servant boys in tow. The commander’s name was Sarwar Jan.

Jan had a very bad track record. One that included corruption, supporting the Taliban and child abduction. I’m sure child molestation was left off that record for PC reasons. Two Marine officers in 2010 got him arrested, but just two years later, he was back with another unit and on Buckley’s post, Forward Operating Base Delhi, in Helmand Province.

One of the officers who had turned Jan in back in 2010 was Maj. Jason Brezler. He wrote an email to Marine officers warning them about Jan and he attached pertinent information to back that up. He was never listened to. Two weeks later, one of the boys with Jan, who was about 17, picked up a rifle and killed Buckley and two other Marines. Buckley’s father believes his murder was connected to the ongoing sexual abuse there on the base. Those that had complained about it were targets.

Only one person was punished in the whole tragic affair… Major Brezler who sent out the warning in the first place. One of the Marine Corps lawyers said that the information about the police commander’s penchant for abusing boys might be classified. The Marine Corps has now initiated proceedings to discharge Major Brezler.

The pervert commander has now taken a higher-ranking police command in that province. He and his family are adept liars and claim he never raped anyone and had nothing to do with the murder of those Marines. His word was taken over the word of Marines by officers. The scuttlebutt in the province is that he still has a tremendous appetite for children and sexual abuse.

What does it say about our military and our nation when we let demons like this commit unspeakable acts against children and we let them operate with impunity? What does it say about us when we let them bring child sex slaves onto our military bases to sodomize these boys in the middle of the night and our warriors are commanded to ignore the screams? Yes, massive sexual abuse of children is considered ‘normal’ in Islamic culture. That doesn’t make it right. If they were into child sacrifice, would we be forced to just watch that as well? What about beheadings and crucifixions? If these beasts aren’t having their way with some defenseless goat, they are out trolling for children. The young boys are a sign of power and wealth to these men. They feel their perverted debauchery is a perk of their position in life. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally “boy play.” How sick is that? Any pervert caught raping a child should be executed on the spot.

Our Marines are told to stand down because we are working with the Afghan forces and we don’t want to offend them. I don’t give a rat’s ass whether they are ‘offended’ or not. Our soldiers are finding this practice very hard to stomach. I’m sure many have the sincere urge to beat the pedophiles into a bloody pulp. Our military is knowingly promoting these ‘boy lovers’ and arming them. They are making them commanders of villages where they can take the most beautiful children as their sex slaves. All with the help and blessing of the US military command.

“The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights,” said Dan Quinn, a former Special Forces captain who beat up an American-backed militia commander for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave. “But we were putting people into power who would do things that were worse than the Taliban did — that was something village elders voiced to me.”

The policy of keeping silent and turning a blind eye as these Afghani war lords and commanders rape and abuse children is being scrutinized. It should never have existed and speaks to a very disturbing tendency in our military under the current command to justify evil acts to accomplish a desired goal. If they’ll allow this to happen to innocent children, what do you think they would do to Americans? Captain Quinn and others are facing disciplinary proceedings, sometimes ruin, for doing something about these egregious crimes by our so-called Afghan allies. They did the right thing and are now being punished for it.



More at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was the one and only Mark Steyn with Get Lost, You Palace-Guard Creeps submitted by The Noisy Room. It's an absolutely wonderful screed aimed at what passes for our media that you just have to read.

Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Our Weasel Of The Week!!




Yes, once again, It's time to present this week's statuette of shame, The Golden Weasel!!

Every Tuesday, the Council nominates some of the slimiest, most despicable characters in public life for some deed of evil, cowardice or corruption they’ve performed. Then we vote to single out one particular Weasel for special mention, to whom we award the statuette of shame, our special, 100% plastic Golden Weasel. This week's nominees were particularly slimy and despicable, but the votes are in and we have our winner...the envelope please...

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 Major General Kenneth Dahl


JoshuaPundit:I found it difficult whom to nominate for this one, as it's really shared between Terrence Russell,an official with the Pentagon’s Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, attorney Eugene Fidell,and Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, the senior officer who carried out an investigation of Bowe Bergdahl's desertion case. They're all doing their best, no doubt at the Obama Administration's orders to get Bergdahl off with a slap on the wrist. But I'm going with Dahl because even as an Obama promoted General, he ought to know better and have some sense of honor.

The new narrative? The Washington Post plays the despicable lachrimae. You see, poor Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was fed up with the mission in Afghanistan and of course, his leaders. So he decided, just as a harmless protest to desert his post and go AWOL.


Looking to make a stand, Bergdahl hatched a plan: He would run away from his platoon’s tiny outpost in Paktika province late on June 29, 2009. He would stay away from the Army a day, maybe two, and then reappear about 19 miles away at a larger installation and demand to air his grievances with a general.

And then of course, poor Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and 'subjected to brutal captivity' according to General Dahl. Of course, we don't know that and neither does General Dahl. He only knows what Bergdahl told him, and Bowe Bergdahl has proven again and again to be a serial liar.

Not that it matters but this new story directly contradicts the note Bergdahl left for his unit saying  he was deserting. " leaving to start a new life." It also ignores  the 2010 Pentagon report that declared unequivocally that he deserted    and  the Taliban's account that he was intoxicated when they picked him up. Bergdahl's original BS, that he was captured while lagging behind on patrol was such flagrant nonsense that he dropped it fairly quickly.

Meanwhile. Our Dear Leader released five dangerous Taliban commanders for this creep, and the word is out to get Bergdahl off, even though six far better men died trying to find him.

General Dahl knows that very well. But he has apparently decided to click his heels, salute and follow orders.


General Dahl is obviously just another symbol of what President Barack Hussein Obama is doing to 'recreate' what's left of our Army. After all, the general owes this president his promotion, so who cares what this does to the rank and file's moral./ Who care's really about the families of the men who died trying to find this deserter,  or the casualties suffered from the activities of the five top Taliban commanders the president released to bring him back? Bergdahl getting justly punished for what he did embarrasses the regime politically, so the Pentagon has it's orders to pull out all the stops, paint Bergdahl as a victim and get him off with a slap on the wrist.


I sent General Dahl's Golden Weasel to his office, together with a short citation showing what he got it for. He can put this with the rest of his military awards.


 Well, there it is.

Check back next Tuesday to see who next week's nominees for Weasel of the Week are!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum, and remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Our Watcher's Council Nominations - Enrichment Edition

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As it turns out, yes, the Iranians are self inspecting their nuclear sites...not the IAEA.

And there's more to come...the Iranians are demanding more concessions, and the Obama regime and the EU appear anxious to comply.

'Enrichment' indeed.

Welcome to the Watcher's Council, a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.

So, let's see what we have for you this week....

Council Submissions

Non-Council Submissions


Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter..'cause we're cool like that!And don't forget to tune in Friday for the results!

The Real Story Behind Putin And Netanyahu's Moscow Meeting - Updated

 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, September21, 2015 (courtesy Israeli embassy in Russia)

The recent meeting between Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu and Russian leader Vladimir Putin has sparked the usual nonsense in the media, usually complemented by analysis from 'experts' in academia or a former security head or two - usually affiliated with the Leftist Labor party - long out of the loop.

Here's an outline on what actually went down, according to one of my notorious Little Birdies.

The Israelis actually welcome, in a sense, the new Russian base in Syria. They see it as a stabilizing force, and they also know that Russia is chiefly interested in preserving their ally Assad and their Mediterranean access via the Syrian port of Tartous.

Israel's chief concerns are the possible build up of a new terrorist front in the Golan Heights now that Iran has all that cash courtesy of President Obama, avoiding any clashes with Russian personnel now deployed in Syria and stopping any weapons shipments going to Hezbollah. The Israelis already understand that the Russian alliance with Iran means that Russia is going to be little or no help in dealing with Iran's nuclear threat.

Contrary to what you may be reading elsewhere, Russia did not request nor did Israel agree to any formal limits on its ability to intervene in Syria to stop weapons shipments to Hezbollah or terrorist attacks on the Golan. What Israeli chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gady Eisenkot and his Russian equivalent Gen. Valery Gerasimov agreed on was the establishment of a hotline between the Russian and Israeli general staffs.

This will connect the offices of Gerasimov’s deputy, Gen. Nikolay Bogdanovsky in Moscow and Eisenkot’s deputy, Gen. Yair Golan, in Tel Aviv. It is designed to facilitate communications and clarify things during or after Russian or Israeli military operations in Syria and to avoid any unnecessary clashes between the two military forces.

Israel has a similar setup with American forces in the region to facilitate military cooperation. Since Russia is by now the dominant source of non-native boots on the ground in the region, such an arrangement only makes sense.

Other possible topics for discussion likely involved an Israeli request that the Russians not introduce certain advanced weapons systems into the area. Israel had a similar deal with Putin in the past after successful Israeli strikes on Syrian bases storing arms bound for Hezbollah. That arrangement  exploded after Putin found out that President Obama had secretly moved 1,800 US troops to the Jordan border with Syria while the two of them were supposedly working on a diplomatic solution to Syria and the EU ended an arms embargo on the rebels in what was obviously a co-ordinated move.

Much is being made of Russian S-300 missile systems, but  the last time Putin shipped S-300s into the Middle East, the Russian Ship Arctic Sea was mysteriously hijacked en route to Iran, the S-300s were removed and disappeared and it was Israel's Mossad who told the Russians where they could find their ship, which had been boarded by a mysterious group of men posing as narcotics agents off the coast of Sweden some days earlier.
The Israelis have obviously had their hands on these for some time and figured out how to deal with them. And the Russian SAMS guarding Syria's nuclear site they set up in connivance with North Korea didn't have much effect on Israel's planes either, you'll recall.

Putin will likely continue to sell arms to Syria and Iran for transfer to Hezbollah, but will turn a blind eye on Israeli interdiction of those shipments as long as he gets paid and there are no major Russian casualties. He may also have agreed to avoid introducing certain weapons systems into the region like the Kornet missiles as part of this new understanding.

Netanyahu was quoted in the Times of Israel as saying that he told Putin in “no uncertain terms” that Israel will not tolerate Tehran’s efforts to arm Israel’s enemies in the region, and that Jerusalem has taken and will continue to take action against any such attempts. “This is our right and also our duty. There were no objections to our rights and to what I said. On the contrary: there was readiness to make sure that whatever Russia’s intentions for Syria, Russia will not be a partner in extreme actions by Iran against us.”

Putin responded by saying that the Syrian army was too bogged down in its own civil war to deal with fighting against Israel.

“All of Russia’s actions in the region will always be very responsible,” Putin said. “We are aware of the shelling against Israel and we condemn all such shelling. I know that these shellings are carried out by internal elements. In regard to Syria, we know that the Syrian army is in a situation such that it is incapable of opening a new front. Our main goal is to defend the Syrian state. However, I understand your concern.”

Putin tends to keep his agreements. We'll see how this one works out.

UPDATE: As Russian leader Vladimir Putin essentially blames the Obama Regime for the chaos in the Middle East (not without reason in my opinion I might add) there's some interesting speculation going on about what the Russian forces are actually up to.

According to the Daily Beast, Russian drones and planes are concentrating on Western Syria, particularly in areas a long way from where ISIS is just now.

This is yet another sign that Russia's key mission has far less to do with fighting terrorism and far more to do with supporting combat operations designed to keep Bashar al Assad in power. ISIS no longer has any presence in Idlib province or Latakia since more moderate rebels expelled them. Instead, the Russian deployment to the area comes at a time when more moderate opponents to the Assad regime are making military gains in northwestern Syria.


Now, what could the Russians be scoping out? These guys:



These gentlemen belong to Jaish al-Fatah, or the Army of Conquest. This group of moderate rebels, as the article calls them are being funded trained and armed by the Obama Administration and Turkey just like ISIS was when they were part of the Free Syrian Army, only this time it's Saudi Arabia taking the part of Qatar as a major funder. This is a picture taken in Idlib. Guess whom most of these moderate rebels are affiliated with?

Why,Ahrar ash-Sham, an officially designated terrorist group and our old friends the al-Qaeda offshoot al-Nusrah, of course. Jaish al-Fatah has taken over large chunks of Idlib province, including the provincial capitol.

It appears that the Russians are actually preparing to take out some Islamist jihadis while bolstering their ally, Assad.

Who's The Real Carly Fiorina?

Carly Fiorina terrifies me

This is an article I've been working on for a while, and the timing seems more than  appropriate.

 I did a fair amount of research on Ms. Fiorina when she ran for the Senate in California and got beat like a mule by the likes of Barbara Boxer, an incumbent with approval ratings in the low 40's. Carly Fiorina has an interesting history.

Thanks to a well delivered monologue comparing Iran to planned parenthood and several rehearsed zingers directed at Donald Trump, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is getting a lot of kudos from various pundits and the RINO establishment as the antidote to Donald Trump's popularity, since Jeb Bush obviously isn't up to the job.

Trump, of course, was the main target of the event anyway, and Ms. Fiorina's performance and the amount of time she was given lends credence to rumors that she was given the assignment of taking out Trump to prove her bonifides as the new GOP establishment hope.

I found this Iran screed particularly interesting, in which she described the first two things she would do as president:

On day one in the Oval Office, I will make two phone calls, the first to my good friend to Bibi Netanyahu to reassure him we will stand with the state of Israel."

"The second, to the supreme leader, to tell him that unless and until he opens every military and every nuclear facility to real anytime, anywhere inspections by our people, not his, we, the United States of America, will make it as difficult as possible and move money around the global financial system."


It was a nice applause line, but it makes me wonder what kind of reality we're talking about.President Barack Hussein Obama did everything short of offering Iran's Supreme Leader the Ayatollah Khamenei some of America's nukes and the beer concession at Yankee Stadium as an incentive to get Khamenei to speak to him directly, and he failed.The idea that Khamenei is going to suddenly take a direct call from an American president, let alone a woman is ludicrous. That's especially true after her ridiculous remark at another point in the debate that she would cease talking to Russia's Vladimir Putin, who at least is a rational actor.

The bit about moving money around is curious too. Did she mean making it difficult for Iran to move money around? Assuming that's what she meant, the obvious follow up question is, 'and then what?'

The sort of sanction President George W. Bush put on any countries or financial institutions harboring or doing business with al-Qaeda to prohibit them from using the US banking system worked very well, and reduced them to relying on the snail's pace of the hawallah money changer network. It would have been massively effective had Barack Hussein Obama seen fit to use it. He didn't, and at this point with the EU and other countries literally fist fighting among themselves to do business with Iran, it's iffy whether it would work as well now, especially since this president has beefed up their foreign currency reserves by $150 billion plus. So 'and then what?' applies, and that's especially rele4vant when it comes to Carly Fiorina.

What's her record with Iran?

For instance, while she was head of HP from 1999 to 2005, the company made millions selling Iran high tech equipment using a distributor they lined up to side step American restrictions on trade with the Islamic Republic. It's difficult to believe she didn't know about this as CEO, especially since the distributor openly advertised its connections with HP and issued a press release saying sales topped $100 million and that "the seeds of the Redington/Hewlett-Packard relationship were sowed six years ago for one market - Iran."

CEO Fiorina also bragged to stockholders about how Middle East sales were defying global trends, and HP maintained a huge sales office in Dubai free-trade zones notorious for winking at U.S. law and selling American goods to Iran. And while HP may have stayed in the gray zone regarding the letter of the laws on US sanctions, there's no question that the spirit of the law was cheerfully ignored while she was CEO.

Ms. Fiorina's tough talk on Islam likewise doesn't jibe with her past. Here's part of a speech she made two weeks after 9/11 at an IT conference in Minneapolis Minnesota that was highlighted by al-Jazeera:

"There was once a civilization that was the greatest in the world.

"It was able to create a continental super-state that stretched from ocean to ocean, and from northern climes to tropics and deserts. Within its dominion lived hundreds of millions of people, of different creeds and ethnic origins.

"One of its languages became the universal language of much of the world, the bridge between the peoples of a hundred lands. Its armies were made up of people of many nationalities, and its military protection allowed a degree of peace and prosperity that had never been known. The reach of this civilization’s commerce extended from Latin America to China, and everywhere in between.

"And this civilization was driven more than anything, by invention. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration.

"Its writers created thousands of stories. Stories of courage, romance and magic. Its poets wrote of love, when others before them were too steeped in fear to think of such things.

"When other nations were afraid of ideas, this civilization thrived on them, and kept them alive. When censors threatened to wipe out knowledge from past civilizations, this civilization kept the knowledge alive, and passed it on to others.

"While modern Western civilization shares many of these traits, the civilization I’m talking about was the Islamic world from the year 800 to 1600, which included the Ottoman Empire and the courts of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo, and enlightened rulers like Suleiman the Magnificent.

"Although we are often unaware of our indebtedness to this other civilization, its gifts are very much a part of our heritage. The technology industry would not exist without the contributions of Arab mathematicians. Sufi poet-philosophers like Rumi challenged our notions of self and truth. Leaders like Suleiman contributed to our notions of tolerance and civic leadership."

"And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: It was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population–that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions."


Rather an interesting appraisal of the pillage and genocide of Islam's period of conquest and expansion, isn't it? Certainly I could tell her a few things about the 'tolerance' given to Christians, Jews and Hindus during that time. The Indian genocide alone is estimated at about 20 million under the 'tolerance' of Islamic conquest and rule. And that number could be low balling it.

As for meritocracy, given the large number of caliphs who were deposed by coups and assassinations...well, maybe there's a more accurate word for it.

The entire speech can be seen here.

Another interesting associate of Carly Fiorina that perhaps shed some light on her position on radical Islam is one Khalid al-Mansour, whose name regular readers of this site will recognize. The two have had a long term business and social relationship.

Carly Fiorina sat on the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum with al-Mansour, which has observer status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. The board,among other things, heavily champions 'sustainable development' and Agenda 21, both of which involve global socialism through global governance.

Fiorina also sits on other Boards with al-Mansour, such as the African Leadership Academy. They've been on friendly terms for some time.

Who is Khalid al-Mansour?

Al-Mansour, AKA Don Warden is one of the founding fathers of the Black Panther Party. He later converted to Islam and became the chief adviser to our old friend Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal.

Al-Waleed, some of you might recall, is one of the prime movers behind the Wahabi takeover of America's mosques and madrassahs through his funding of the Islamic Society Of North America(ISNA), was a major funder of the Al Qaeda charity al-Haramain and was the Saudi prince who's $10 million dollar donation to New York City after 9/11 was spurned by then mayor Rudy Giuliani after after the prince made a public comment that the U.S. relationship with Israel were responsible for the attack.

Khalid al-Mansour is a notorious racist and Jew hater, among his other attributes. It was he who became Barack Obama's mentor and recruited Percy Sutton, Malcolm X's lawyer and a Borough president in New York City to use his influence to get Barack Obama into Harvard.

Another of Khalid al-Mansour's close associates was the late Herbert Muhammed, Elijah Muhammed's son and later head of the Nation of Islam. There's a fair amount of evidence that al-Mansour was Barack Obama's direct connection to both the Panthers and the Nation of Islam, which is immensely influential in Chicago politics. Barack Obama not only attended but actually helped the Nation of Islam organize the Million Man March for Louis Farrakhan, one of the worst public exhibitions of anti-Semitism in American history.

I've never bought the whine so popular with the Left about 'guilt by association.' In most cases, people pick whom they associate with, just as Barack Obama picked Jeremiah Wright and Trinity United. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

Given her history of trading with Iran, her paeans to Islam and her long association with people like Khalid al-Mansour, a lot of the tough rhetoric we now hear from Carly Fiorina is highly suspect to say the least.

Let's move on to another of Ms. Fiorina's strong points, her career in business as head of Hewlett Packard.

The fact remains that her record was poor at best. While there have been some articles from the usual suspects attempting to show that HP's problems weren't her fault, the fact remains that while revenues doubled during her tenure, (mostly due to mergers) HP's net income stayed static during a period when the S&P 500 net income gained over 70%. A big reason for that is that she ran up HP's debt from $4.25 billion $6.75 billion  and its stock price fell by 50%, far beyond index declines  in the S&P 500 Information Technology Sector index and the NASDAQ.

Even worse was the way she led the company.

As soon as she arrived, she made changes to corporate culture at HP, changing it from a corporation that nurtured talent and innovation and had profit sharing for its workers into a place where the only thing that counted was her whims and the bottom line.

She fired thousands of American workers in order to off shore their jobs to places like India and China, and was a serial H1B program abuser, bringing in lower priced foreign workers to replace American workers of long standing and forcing them to train their replacements. It was Carly Fiorina in full Cruella DeVille mode who said, in 2004, “There is no job that is America’s God-given right anymore."

She demanded voluntary pay cuts, supposedly to prevent layoffs that were followed by the largest layoffs in HP’s history. In 2002, while Fiorina cut workers salaries by $130 million she collected $90 million for herself.Other CEO’s during the dot.com crisis took pay cuts. But Carly Fiorina took a 231% raise according to Executive Excess of 2003. 

Imagine how that's going to play with the 'economic inequality' crowd and with Americans out of work struggling to make ends meet. The attack ads practically write themselves.

Carly Fiorina was dramatically unpopular at HP, a company that used to be ranked at one of the highest in job satisfaction in America. Company productivity plummeted along with the morale of its workforce.

In the end, Hewlett-Packard was so anxious to get rid of her that they gave her a massive buyout of $42 million to get her to leave immediately. HP's stock rose more than 10% in a matter of hours once the news reached Wall Street she was history.

If you're wondering why no other major corporation has been banging on Carly Fiorina's door trying to hire her as CEO, now you know why.

Oh, and for a bit of icing on this rancid cake, let's look at Carly Fiorina's views on amnesty and illegal migration, shall we? She's aggressively for both.

Back in 2010, when she ran for senate she avidly announced how much she supported the DREAM Act, which became President Obama's wedge for his amnesty by executive order. In 2013, she led the cheering for the infamous Gang of Eight's farcical excuse for an 'immigration' bill. On Meet The Press, she said, “I applaud and salute the Gang of Eight`s proposal. Let`s move forward and vote on that.”

Her biggest donor? Jerry Perenchio, the former CEO of the Spanish language station Univision and finance director of John McCain's 2008 run, at $1.6 million. Most of the rest are Silicon Valley types chafing at the bit for more low wage H1B employees from overseas.

What Carly Fiorina is saying about amnesty and illegal migration isn't much different from what Hillary Clinton is saying. And given her fondness for tossing American workers off the payroll in exchange for lower wage migrants, rest assured that if Carly Fiorina were president, people who thought they elected a conservative on this and other issues would be in for a rude awakening.

And that's if she gets elected. If I'm able to find this much out with just a few searches, imagine what will happen when the Leftist press gets their teeth into this?

The bottom line is that she's Jeb Bush in a dress, but without his honesty and fiscal management skills as an executive. Frankly, if you like the idea of President Fiorina, you'd be better off voting for Jeb Bush.

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Our Weasel Of The Week Nominees!

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It's time once again for the Watcher's Council's 'Weasel Of The Week' nominations, where we pick our choices to compete for the award of the famed Golden Weasel to a public figure who particularly deserves to be slimed and mocked for his or her dastardly deeds during the week. Every Tuesday morning, tune in for the Weasel of the Week nominations!


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The Mainstream  Media!


The Noisy Room: My nominee this week is the mainstream media for attacking Trump, Carson and Cruz on the, "Is Obama a Muslim?" issue. Behold, the ultimate Freudian slip where Obama quoted his ‘Muslim faith.’ That was in 2008 and I would say that most Americans now believe Obama is actually a Muslim. It’s politically incorrect to say so, but there it is. In 2012, Ed Klein came forward and pointed out that the Reverend Jeremiah Wright said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having to renounce Islam. That is one of the cruxes of Liberation Theology. Drudge linked to the now infamous slip by Obama. The media claims to have examined every facet of the possibility of Obama being Muslim. Except they did not look at his Islamic roots or leanings – at all. Let me ask you this… what has Obama done that makes you think he isn’t a Muslim? Hmmm? It’s almost as if they are laying the groundwork for Obama to ‘come out of the closet’ as being a Muslim at some point, or having a sudden conversion. It was a trap laid for conservative Republicans who disappointed the MSM by telling the truth.



I want to quote my friend William Palumbo of the USA Transnational Report: “So what if Obama has a Muslim father, has a Muslim stepfather, has a Muslim first name, has a Muslim middle name, went to a Muslim school in Indonesia as a child, registered as a Muslim, often attended a mosque with his Muslim stepfather in Indonesia, had his Harvard tuition paid for by a Muslim, went out of his way to find Muslim roommates during college, has repeatedly funded the radical terrorist group the Muslim Brotherhood, has invited members of the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House, has Muslim Brotherhood members in his cabinet, was endorsed in 2008 by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, told the head of NASA to make “reaching out to the Muslim world” one of the space agency’s top priorities, went to the Middle East and told Muslim leaders that America isn’t a Christian nation, but a Muslim one, told a New York magazine that the Muslim call to prayer over a loudspeaker “is one of the prettiest sounds on Earth during sunset,” was listed as a Muslim on the registration form at a Catholic school in Hawaii [according to reporter Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune], refused to attend the Charlie Hebdo memorial because he once told the United Nations, “the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam,” tried to place the radical Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt’s Presidential Palace, handed five Taliban leaders over to the Taliban, removed sanctions against Iran’s radical Muslim government as he secretly negotiated with the Ayatollahs, and told George Stephanopoulos about his “Muslim faith.” All while deporting Syrian Christian refugees, while forcing the US to accept 10,000 more Muslim Syrian refugees, and he exclusively quotes the Koran during speeches too. Again, there’s no possible way that Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim.” At least the MSM is enhancing their weasel creds.


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MSNBC's Chuck Todd!

 Don Surber : Mustela MSNBCus and resident troll Chuck Todd for asking Doctor Ben Carson if a Muslim can be president. Donald Trump had the best answer: I thought we already did!



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Major General Kenneth Dahl


JoshuaPundit:I found it difficult whom to nominate for this one, as it's really shared between Terrence Russell,an official with the Pentagon’s Joint Personnel Recovery Agency, attorney Eugene Fidell,and Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl, the senior officer who carried out an investigation of Bowe Bergdahl's desertion case. They're all doing their best, no doubt at the Obama Administration's orders to get Bergdahl off with a slap on the wrist. But I'm going with Dahl because even as an Obama promoted General, he ought to know better and have some sense of honor.

The new narrative? The Washington Post plays the despicable lachrimae. You see, poor Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was fed up with the mission in Afghanistan and of course, his leaders. So he decided, just as a harmless protest to desert his post and go AWOL.

Looking to make a stand, Bergdahl hatched a plan: He would run away from his platoon’s tiny outpost in Paktika province late on June 29, 2009. He would stay away from the Army a day, maybe two, and then reappear about 19 miles away at a larger installation and demand to air his grievances with a general.

And then of course, poor Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban and 'subjected to brutal captivity' according to General Dahl. Of course, we don't know that and neither does General Dahl. He only knows what Bergdahl told him, and Bowe Bergdahl has proven again and again to be a serial liar.

Not that it matters but this new story directly contradicts the note Bergdahl left for his unit saying  he was deserting. " leaving to start a new life." It also ignores  the 2010 Pentagon report that declared unequivocally that he deserted    and  the Taliban's account that he was intoxicated when they picked him up. Bergdahl's original BS, that he was captured while lagging behind on patrol was such flagrant nonsense that he dropped it fairly quickly.

Meanwhile. Our Dear Leader released five dangerous Taliban commanders for this creep, and the word is out to get Bergdahl off, even though six far better men died trying to find him.

General Dahl knows that very well. But he has apparently decided to click his heels, salute and follow orders.



 Well, there it is. What a despicable group of  Weasels...ANY OF THEM COULD WIN! Check back Thursday to see which Weasel walks off with the statuette of shame!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum.

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Monday, September 21, 2015

Yes, The Iranians Are 'Self Inspecting' Their Sites - Not The IAEA



One of the main talking points proponents of the Iranian nuclear deal have repeated endlessly was the strict inspections and verification involved. Today, we have an excellent example of how that's going to work, courtesy of the AP.

The chief of the UN nuclear agency insisted Monday that a probe of a suspected nuclear weapons research site in Iran does meet strict agency standards, while acknowledging that Iranian experts provided samples from the site for analysis.

Such sampling is usually done by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s own experts. But IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told reporters that Iranians carried out that part of the probe at Parchin, where the agency suspects that explosive triggers for nuclear weapons might have been tested.


But wait a minute! According to Amano, the samples were gathered "under established procedures" with the Iranians monitored by video and still cameras as they gathered the samples.

Who does he think was running the cameras and taking the pictures? It certainly wasn't the IAEA. With this sort of 'procedure' in place, Iranians don't even have to go to the trouble of doctoring photos and editing videos...or even actually taking photos and video at Parchin itself. They could be from anywhere, even from a mocked up 'Parchin' site. How would anyone know except the Iranians?

It gets better. Amano was taken to Parchin on what the Iranians termed 'a ceremonial tour' for one day. Even he acknowledged that there's been a cleanup:

Amano spoke a day after he was taken on what Iranian media described as a ceremonial tour of the military site. He told reporters in Vienna that he was able to enter a building that the agency had been observing via satellite and saw signs of “recent renovation work.”

He appeared to be referring to the building where the agency suspects that weapons experiments were conducted. The agency has frequently said that subsequent renovation work at and near the building could hamper the IAEA probe, a position Amano repeated on Monday.


Parchin, by the way, is where the IAEA suspected that Iran was working on nuclear triggers.

This is the sort of inspection and verification we've heard so much about from President Obama and his minions that America is basing its national security on.

The Iran deal is guaranteed to do one thing...to give  Iran all the time, money and space they need to obtain nuclear weapons, beef up their military and foment terrorism in the region.





Sunday, September 20, 2015

Forum: Can America Recover from Barack Obama?



Every week on Monday morning , the Council and our invited guests weigh in at the Watcher's Forum, short takes on a major issue of the day, the culture, or daily living. This week's question: Can America Recover from Barack Obama?

Don Surber : Yes. I have full faith in America, the Greatest Land Of All. We survived Ca'ta'


Greg,  Rhymes With Right: I'm not sure. Ask me after the election in November of 2016. If we have President Clinton, President Sanders, or President Trump taking office in 2017, then America is truly in decline. A strong leader on the right (or at least the center-right) might allow us the chance to recover from the damage done by Obama, just as Reagan undid the damage left in the wake of Jimmy Carter and his immediate predecessors.


Maggie's Notebook:Yes, if we elect a president brave enough to undo the lawlessness. To do this, every Cabinet member must be willing to clean house, and take care of the business of undoing the lawlessness. A president can't do it by himself/herself. Until we see the results of the 2016 elections, we cannot say we trust the voters to demand the Republic we inherited.


JoshuaPundit :  Most people whom know me consider me an optimist. But on this question, I'd have to say that it's up in the air. Two quotes come to mind. Rush Limbaugh famously said in March of 2012 that “I think that the country could survive four more years of Obama, but I don’t believe the country can survive in a country full of people who would re-elect him.”

That's a key point. Barack Hussein Obama is merely the embodiment, the steroid if you will of our current predicament.

At this point, not only the attitudes but the very electorate is being changed to accept the corruption of our every institution - the military,  our schools, our judiciary, our morals and of course, our Constitution.

Our children today aren't taught about the awesome greatness of our nation, its heroes and heroines and the amazing men and women whom built it, but that America is a racist, hateful,  'downright mean country'  that must pay sin offerings in perpetuity.And the country is being swamped by those whom consider themselves entitled to those offerings, just because.

The American people, whom once demanded at least a show of honesty and propriety from officeholders now simply shrug at the widespread dishonesty and lawlessness. Having been lied to again and again by those promising reform, seeing the well connected caught in wrongdoing get off free again and again, many of them have adopted an almost Soviet mindset and now simply try to keep the bureaucratzia at arms length and  scrounge what they can from the system.

America has changed. I can feel it.

Will we recover? Here's that second quote, from that student of American character, Sir Winston Churchill: "You can always depend on the American people to do the right thing - eventually."

Will we? And will the 'right thing' be a return to the principles of our Republic? We'll see. But I feel it in my bones that a reckoning is in store for America along the way.


The Right Planet: I suppose anything is possible. My concern is we have a couple of "lost generations" that seem to have forgotten, or choose not to learn, from the very bitter lessons of the past. I really hate making predictions. But I don't think this is going to end well. I just know too many people who are completely disengaged. And some of them are fine people. They're just disengaged. Comfort and ease trumps all. I'm afraid this just can't end well. I think it's going to get worse, much worse, before it gets better. Just my $.02. And on that cheery note, I'll yield the rest of my time.

The Glittering Eye : Of course. In the total scheme of things Barack Obama is small potatoes. America can survive him easily.

I'm not so sure we can survive the abandoning of traditional American values and beliefs. If we abandon teaching the Declaration of Independence, Ben Franklin, Parson Weems, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lincoln's Second Inaugural, and Walt Whitman because they're old dead white guys we may also lose the values of honesty, honor, decency, hard work, self-sufficiency, and self-determination that they advocated.


Laura Rambeau Lee,Right Reason : While President Obama has absolutely fast tracked the decline of America as we knew it, it would be foolish to blame everything that has happened on him alone, or that is has happened only since he became president. We must recall the events behind the rise of the Tea Party. Perhaps the average American was not aware at the time, but many people in the business knew of the imminent housing collapse due to continued lowering of underwriting guidelines which permitted people to qualify to purchase houses knowing full well they could not afford them. The wake-up call and what spurred the American people to rise up was TARP, the Troubled Assets Relief Program, which was passed in October 2008 under President George W. Bush. Although he and other Republicans said they warned of the problems with such lending practices they did not take any actions which might have stopped it.

That seven hundred billion dollar bank and auto industry bailout was what spurred everyday Americans to form grassroots groups to protest the confiscatory theft of our tax money and borrow on our future earnings to bail out banks, which in a true capitalist society should have gone bankrupt.

We have researched, studied, educated ourselves and shared information through the internet and social media with people all over the nation and across the globe. We have gone back to our founding fathers and sought to understand the ideas upon which our country was formed and determined to take America back from the progressives, socialists and Marxists in our government and in our country.

Many were awakened before he assumed office, and many more have realized we are losing our republic since he took office. We must realize when he is gone there will still be people and powers behind the scenes continuing the destruction, and not just those with a D after their name. America is exceptional and freedom is in our blood. America can and will recover from Barack Obama.

 Well, there you have it!

Make sure to tune in every Monday for the Watcher’s Forum. and every  Tuesday morning, when we reveal the weeks' nominees for Weasel of the Week!

And remember, every Wednesday, the Council has its weekly contest with the members nominating two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council. The votes are cast by the Council, and the results are posted on Friday morning.

It’s a weekly magazine of some of the best stuff written in the blogosphere, and you won’t want to miss it...or any of the other fantabulous Watcher's Council content.

And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter..’cause we’re cool like that, y'know?


Friday, September 18, 2015

The Council Has Spoken! Our Watcher's Council Results

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The Council has spoken, the votes have been cast, and the results are in for this week's Watcher's Council match up.

“I have a suspicion - and hear me out, 'cause this is a rough one - I have a suspicion that the definition of "crazy" in show business is a woman who keeps talking even after no one wants to f**k her anymore.
The only person I can think of that has escaped the "crazy" moniker is Betty White, which, obviously, is because people still want to have sex with her.”
- Tina Fey

"Men and boys are constantly portrayed as predatory, sexist, their sense of humour is vilified and their behaviour is regarded as unacceptable. Factor in the constant diet we are fed of men as perpetrators of rape, murder and domestic violence. Boys must wonder whether they will ever be able to do anything right. This must make it painfully difficult for young men and women to build up relations based on honesty, love and trust" - Belina Brown


"Here are young women with more opportunities, more liberties than almost any women in history and at that moment we tell them they’re short-changed silenced victims of a patriarchy? It’s defeatist and demoralising." - Christina Hoff Summers

“Beauty! Terrible Beauty!
A deathless Goddess-- so she strikes our eyes!”
- Homer


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This week's winning essay,Bookworm Room's Are these really “badass” defenses of women’s reproductive rights? is a fascinating deconstruction of some prevalent Femi8nist myths. Here's a slice:

Several ladies of the Leftist persuasion posted on their Facebook pages an article entitled “7 Badass Defenses Of Reproductive Rights To Explain Why A Woman Should Have The Right To Choose.” I looked at them and had my doubts about their badassery, so I thought I’d fisk the article just for a little Sunday afternoon fun.

As is often the case with fisking the Left, a short Leftist statement takes a lot of work to break down, because everything is flawed, from the facts through the underlying premise through the argument based on the erroneous facts and premise. The structure below is that I first quote the “badass” pro-abortion arguments and then counter with my own thoughts.

1. Male Lawmakers Sometimes Don’t Get It

"Who could forget Rep. Todd Akin’s cringeworthy “legitimate rape” comment back in 2012? Unfortunate as the statement was, it highlights a larger problem in the argument to restrict reproductive freedom: Men, who are often out-of-touch with the problems that women face, are more often in positions to make decisions than women. For instance, Tina Fey dropped this truth bomb in 2012 while speaking at the Center for Reproductive Rights Gala:

If I have to listen to one more gray-faced man with a two-dollar haircut explain to me what rape is, I’m gonna lose my mind.

Fey’s point of view drives home the point that too many people who make decisions about reproductive rights are out of touch with the actual impact that their decisions have."

Some male law makers are morons. So are some female lawmakers. The reality, though, is that we don’t insist that all women shut up because some are stupid. In our Bizarro World of sexism, though, the stereotype of an out-of-touch male is applied to all men, who are told that they should remain immured in the wood shop and no longer bother their female overlords (overladies?).

Moreover, this line of argument, which I see frequently on Leftie Facebook pages, denies that men have any interest in fetuses, babies, or children. In fact, men have two very strong interests: First, if the fetus/baby/child is a man’s, that man has the same interest in it as the mother, and that is true even though she is the vessel in which it is nurtured for the first 40 weeks from conception forward. In a moral world, the fact that so many fathers walk away from their children is a disgrace — and, one must say, an inevitable byproduct of a socialist government policy that, through welfare, makes father’s economically unnecessary, at least for those who were raised in and consider normal a fairly marginal economic existence. Fathers who express an interest in their biological child from conception onward should be praised, not told to shut up.

Imagine if this argument had been around in mid-19th century America. Famed white, free abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Henry Ward Beecher, or Harriet Beecher Stowe would have been shouted down before they even began their arguments about the morality of slavery: “You’re not qualified to speak about slavery because you’re not a slave. So shut up.” Morals are not tied to race, sex, or creed; they exist irrespective of those petty human dividers.

Second, men have just as great an interest as women in a healthy culture. To the extent that the Left’s sacrament of abortion is focused on death, not life, all members of our society have a say in the matter. I’ve long contended that the Left’s fetishistic obsession with abortion is a death cult. The videos showing abortion centers engaged in organ harvesting hasn’t changed my mind. Indeed, the whole thing is eerily reminiscent of other cultures that engaged in organ harvesting, allegedly for the greater good.

Every moral citizen, male or female or fluid or whatever, has a say in preventing our society from going Aztec.

"
2. Reproductive Freedom Is About Trust

Mark Ruffalo has become a strong supporter of reproductive rights and a particularly vocal male advocate because of his mother’s traumatic experience with an illegal abortion years ago. At a rally in Mississippi in 2013, he reminded us that to take away a woman’s reproductive rights is to take away her ability to make decisions for herself.

I actually trust the women I know. I trust them with their choices, I trust them with their bodies, and I trust them with their children. I trust that they are decent enough and wise enough and worthy enough to carry the right of abortion and not be forced to criminally exercise that right at the risk of death or jail time.

If this doesn’t make you want to throw up a “preach” emoji, I don’t know what will."

I misread that last sentence. I thought its comment on the Ruffalo post was “If this doesn’t make you want to throw up get a ‘peach’ emoji….” I wasn’t sure what the “peach emoji” reference, but I was actually on board with the “I want to throw up” concept. Re-reading it, though, I realize that the “badass” post’s author was applauding Ruffalo.

Full disclosure here: I can’t stand Mark Ruffalo as an actor. There’s something about him I find creepy, so hearing him go on about trusting women with their choices sounds smarmy, not supportive.

Once again, this “trust” argument is predicated on the fallacy that all women are wise. They’re not. Who can forget the woman who had a “selective pregnancy reduction” (i.e., aborted the overage resulting from her IVF procedure) so she wouldn’t have to shop at Costco? That decision showed a whole lot more class snobbery than wisdom.

I know a woman who had eight abortions before she tried, unsuccessfully, to become pregnant. Apparently after abortion Number 8, her body, Mother Nature, or God decided that she couldn’t be trusted with a baby.

In any event, the whole trust argument pretends that there isn’t another life involved here. What Ruffalo is arguing is that he trusts all women to be impartial arbiters capable of intelligently exercising the role of judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to the life they carry. Frankly, I don’t “trust” anyone to have that much responsibility, especially when there is self-interest at play.


Much more at the link.

In our non-Council category, the winner was Diana West with Strangers in Your Own Land submitted by The Right Planet.

It's a superb commentary on the so-called 'refugee' crisis.

Here are this week’s full results. Only Bookworm Room was unable to vote this week, but was not subject to the usual 2/3 vote penalty for not voting:

Council Winners


Non-Council Winners


See you next week!

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