Mr. Obama, "You can't fool all of the people all of the time"

"If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem." __Abraham Lincoln. ~~~~~ One year ago President Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election, but a new poll has found that a rematch today of the 2012 election would favor Romney. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll of 1,006 adults conducted November 14-17, 49% would vote for Romney compared to 45% voting for Obama, a reverse of Romney's 4-point popular vote loss in 2012. This poll reflects just how much support the President has lost as a result of the Obamacare debacle that has undermined public confidence in both the President personally and the viability of the new healthcare law. The survey indicates that Obama's biggest loss of support comes from women, the young, the less-educated, the poor, and among liberals. In 2012, the President beat Romney among women voters by 11%, but if the election were held today, he would lead by only 1%. Young voter support for Obama has dropped from 18% to 2% since last year, while those with less than a college degree who gave him a lead of 4% have slipped to a deficit of 9%. Most surprising is that liberal support for the President has dropped to 59% from 75%, with 20% now saying they would vote for Romney if the election were held today. The Washington Post, trying to salvage something for the President, pointed out that the survey findings cannot tell the entire story because of other factors that affect the outcome of an election, such as margin of error in polling and the fact that the Electoral College - not the popular vote - elects the president. But, the last time the Electoral College overturned the pooular vote was in 1876, so we can discount this Post argunent. Thus, according to the survey analysis, an 8% swing in the popular vote toward Romney would have given him an additional 125 electoral votes, allowing him to win the race by 331 to 207, or virtually the same margin as Obama's 332 - 206 win. ~~~~~ Dear readers, President Obama is finally paying with the American public for his combination of non-existent management skills, refusal to accept expert help, and the almost complete centralization of the federal executive function in a White House that lacks the experience and political skills needed to work properly. While this amateur President and his insider friends managed to slip through the net in his first term by blaming each of their missteps on President Bush, Obamacare finally caught them up in their gross incompetence. We can only hope that American voters will remember this in 2014 and vote for Republican congress members and senators who will be able to reduce to a minimum the continuing damage being done to America by Barack Obama - from Fast and Furious to Benghazi, the Middle East and the IRS and NSA scandals. ~~~~~ As Honest Abe also said : "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and you can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."

Lincoln's Immortal Call to Honor and Defend Freedom

Today, Americans gathered at Gettysburg Battlefield in the small wooded town in southcentral Pennsylvania to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, a 272-word masterpiece of the English language. But, more than that, President Lincoln touched the hearts and souls of every American, then and forever after. He called them to honor their Constitution, to honor their war dead, to honor the task assigned to them by God - of supporting, defending and holding sacred the freedom and liberty given to them, and to all people, by God through the Founders, and to protect forever the democratic principles enshrined in American political institutions. The Lincoln Gettysburg Address defies attempts to dissect and explain it. It defies time. It defies efforts to make it irrelevant. As long as men and women seek freedom and are willing to defend it and fight to create and keep it, Lincoln's words will tower over them as the blessing sent from God by means of the tall, lanky and fiercely American man who saved them from their baser selves. Here it is. Take heart from it in these troubling and divisive times. America will survive for as long as her children can remember, understand and defend his words. ~~~~~ "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."___Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863.

France and Israel Reject Obama's Amateurish Deal-making with Iran

The Jerusalem Post reported today that in the view of the Israeli government, it’s vocal objections to the proposed interim nuclear deal being considered by Iran and western powers is having a positive effect on the parameters of any future agreement. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who is currently in the United States to lobby pro-Israel supporters on the need for a more robust approach toward the Iranian regime, told Army Radio on Monday that “Israeli opposition to the nuclear agreement with Iran is beginning to bear fruit....We want a good deal.” Bennett said. “The state of Israel’s goal is to get to an agreement that dismantles Iran’s nuclear machine, and not a deal that simply pushes the pause button for a few months.” French President Francois Hollande, who is in Israel for a three-day visit, spoke before the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and was very much on Israel's side, affirming that France would not surrender to nuclear proliferation and would stand firm by its demands before consenting to an interim agreement. As French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who singlehandedly halted the US-Iran march toward a nuclear deal earlier this month in Geneva looked on, Hollande told the Knesset that France is not convinced that Teheran has "definitively renounced" its alleged nuclear weapons program, declaring : "I confirm here that we will maintain the sanctions as long as we are not certain that Iran has definitively and irreversibly renounced its military program to obtain nuclear weapons....France will not let Iran arm itself with nuclear weapons," the French President promised to general Knesset applause. Since arriving in Israel on Sunday, Hollande has constantly reassured Israel of France's determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Israel and the West have long accused Iran of engaging in a program to give it nuclear weapon capability, allegations denied by Teheran, which insists its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes. "Everything must be done to resolve this crisis," Hollande told the Knesset, saying the P5+1 group of world powers had made "credible and solid proposals" in negotiations with Iran in Geneva. Hollande was firm : "Now it is up to Iran to respond, not just with words nor with vague promises - no. By concrete and verifiable steps." Israel itself has vociferously criticized the proposed interim agreement, warning that it offers Iran the 'deal of the century.' "I'm concerned, gravely concerned, that this deal will go through and in one stroke of the pen it will reduce the sanctions on Iran - sanctions that took years to put in place - and in return for this, Iran gives practically nothing," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a joint news conference with Hollande on Sunday. Netanyahu had earlier made the same warning on a CNN Sunday news program telecast in the US. At a Jerusalem press conference, President Hollande spelled out precisely what conditions France would demand in any Iran nuclear deal : (1) all Iran’s nuclear installations be placed under international controls, (2) the suspension of all uranium enrichment to 20 percent, (3) the reduction of existing stockpiles of enriched uranium, and (4) a complete halt to the construction of the heavy water reactor at Arak. “These are four points fundamental for an agreement to be reached,” Hollande said. ~~~~~ As if to drive home Israeli determination to prevent Iran's acquiring a nuclear weapon, former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror said Sunday that Israel has the ability to strike Iran, and is willing to do so alone. Amidror, in a Financial Times interview clearly timed to send a message to the world, said Israel could halt Iran’s nuclear capability “for a very long time,” and that the air force has conducted “very long-range flights... all around the world” in preparation. “We are not the United States of America, of course,” Amidror said, “but we have enough to stop the Iranians for a very long time. We are not bluffing. We are very serious - preparing ourselves for the possibility that Israel will have to defend itself by itself.” Asked how Israel would respond if Hezbollah retaliated by firing missiles and rockets at Israel, Amidror said the government would be ready to “use ground forces to go into the urban centers and to deal with the people who are launching the rockets, and to destroy the rockets and launchers." Experts have said that the proposed agreement, if reneged on, would allow Iran to restart its progam and build a nuclear weapon in less than 6 months. However, if Israel took out Iranian facilities, it would require 3 years to rebuild them and make a nuclear weapon. ~~~~~ Meanwhile, in a move obviously meant as a sabre-rattle before this week's Geneva negotiations and to undercut the French stand in Jerusalem, Iran unveiled a new aircraft Monday that it says is the biggest drone it has yet developed, capable of staying aloft for up to 30 hours, according to Iran Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, who said the reconnaissance and combat drone Fotros has a range of 1,250 miles. That would cover much of the Middle East including Israel. "This drone is able to carry out reconnaissance missions and carry air-to-surface rockets for combat operations," the official IRNA news agency quoted Dehghan as saying. Iran claims that it managed to reverse-engineer the American RQ-170 Sentinel, which it seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern border with Afghanistan, and that it is capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft. The existence of the new drone cannot be independently confirmed, however, and experts say a picture of the alleged Fotros published by Iran's IRNA news agency on Monday looked similar to another Iranian drone unveiled last year. It wasn't immediately clear whether the Fotros was an entirely new model, or an upgraded version of the earlier Shahed-129, reported to have a similar range to the Fotros, but which can only stay aloft 24 hours. Dehghan called the new drone a key strategic addition to Iran's military capabilities, developed despite tough sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program : "Sanctions by enemies can't create an obstacle in the path of progress for our defense industries," IRNA quoted him as saying, in what was undoubtedly an effort to appease the Iranian hardliners opposed to any nuclear agreement. Iran's move to unveil the Fotros on Monday came just days before the reconvening of ongoing negotiations between the Iran and the international community aimed at ending a long-term standoff over the allegations of weapons development by means of a diplomatic breakthrough. ~~~~~ Dear readers, French President Hollande's remarks, made two days before the start of the next round of talks in Geneva aimed at rolling back Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, will add to the already-considerable difficulties faced by US President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry, who insist that France is united with the US in its effort to get an Iran nuclear deal. What is becoming clear is that France, and possibly the UK and Germany, are no longer willing to trust US President Obama to decide for them about Iranian good faith in the nuclear negotiation. They are independently seeking assurances that will protect Europe, along with Israel and other Middle East states, from possible Iranian treachery. As Benjamin Netanyahu said to America yesterday, when the Arab world and Israel agree on any issue, the world - and Barack Obama - should listen, because these countries live with and understand Iran and their insights are valuable. If Mr. Obama refuses to accept sage advice, one other thing seems clear. The US Congress has had enough of Obama's amateurism and will not let Iran slip through the net to become a member of the nuclear club.

The Collapse of Democratic Movements in Syria and Libya Is the Result of US - UN Negligence

The tragic events in the Philippines have riveted the world for the past week and I hope we are all doing whatever we can to help the 2 million Philippinos displaced by the worst typhoon ever to make landfall. But, this fully warranted media focus has masked two important stories coming out of Syria and Libya. ~~~~~ Some of us have been watching with dismay as Bashar al-Assad gradually regains control over rebel-held territory in Syria. Al-Assad forces have captured rebel strongholds in both the north and in areas around Damascus, where al-Assad has made the most of his Lebanese Hezbollah ally, capturing five towns since October 11. The latest to fall to al-Assad was Hejeira, which army troops swept through Wednesday. And in the north, al-Assad forces outside the country's largest city, Aleppo, have reinforced the regime's position. The more the government advances, the easier it is to dismiss the weak and divided opposition's demands in the critically important city of Aleppo, where rebels have fought the regime since mid-2012. Al-Assad forces have retaken a military base near the Aleppo airport, a large war prize. Momentum around Aleppo is now favoring al-Assad. His army's advances around rebel strongholds have slowed the rebel effort to retain the north. In addition, rebel infighting, with al-Qaida-linked jihadists taking over more moderate rebel brigades, has left hundreds dead on both sides of the rebel units. And both moderate rebel groups and jihadists have undertaken a brutal side conflict with Syria's Kurdish minority, which has a large presence in the northeast and Aleppo province. While rebel infighting has sidetracked their resources and undermined their effort to oust al-Assad, rebels also have been frustrated by US President Obama's decision to seek a diplomatic path to disarming Damascus of its chemical weapons. Many had harbored hopes that even limited American military intervention would arrive and help tip the scales in the rebels' favor. Supplies of weapons and gear from neighboring Turkey has also slowed to a trickle, rebels say, as Ankara has grown increasingly concerned about the increasingly prominent role of Islamic extremists in the rebel effort. ~~~~~ And in Libya, renewed fighting has broken out between rival Libyan militias around the capital, Tripoli, after at least 43 people died and 500 were wounded in Friday clashes. The latest violence is in Tajoura, the suburb where local militiamen are confronting fighters arriving from Misrata. Friday's clashes occurred when civilian protesters were fired on as they marched on the Misrata militia headquarters to demand that it leave Tripoli. Today, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan confirmed that fresh fighting had occurred in Tajoura. He urged all sides to "exercise maximum restraint,...No forces from outside Tripoli should attempt to enter the city....The coming hours and days will be decisive for the history of Libya and the success of the revolution." BBC's Rana Jawad reported from Tripoli that Tajoura is seen as the gateway to the capital and said the latest fighting was sparked when an armed convoy from Misrata entered it in an apparent attempt to make its way to the center of Tripoli. Jawad said armed groups halted the convoy, which retreated 15km (9 miles) away, but that live rounds were still being exchanged. Government-linked militias have set up checkpoints across the capital in tightened security for the funerals of many of those killed on Friday as thousands filled Tripoli streets where the coffins were being carried overhead. The Washington Post reported that the clashes serve to underscore Libya’s deteriorating security two years after Libyan dictator Moammar Qaddafi’s death, as bands of former rebels have morphed into well-armed militias which increasingly vie for power in Libya. The central government is weak and divided. Some ministers and lawmakers are suspected of having links to the militias, which control enormous stockpiles of heavy weapons and have recruited thousands of young men. Efforts to absorb the militias into a national army and police force have not succeeded. Instead, the militias threaten to use force in order to intimidate politicians, government officials and each other, even pushing through legislation. Recently, the militias shut down oil infrastructure to pressure the state into meeting their demands. More than 30 people died in the eastern city of Benghazi in June when one powerful government-sponsored militia, the Libya Shield 1, clashed with armed protesters and another state-sponsored group, the Libyan special forces. Benghazi was also the scene of the attack on the US diplomatic mission on September 11, 2012, that left four people dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stephens, and sparked the first popular mass protests against the militias. ~~~~~ Dear readers, Syria and Libya are really two sides of the same coin. In Syria, the lack of US and western support for the original rebel cause has led to its infiltration by al-Qaida linked jihadists that threaten to overwhelm the moderate rebels and give al-Assad the upper hand in any eventual Geneva negotiation, if he even sees a reason to negotiate about the future of what is beginning to feel like the latest lost cause of Syrians wanting to be free of the vicious al-Assad family dictatorship. The other side of the coin is Libya, where the US and the UN thought that in eliminating Qaddafi and allowing elections to proceed their job was done. They abandoned Libya to its fate. Only the martyred Chris Stevens was left to try to provide the longterm support that was an afterthought for everyone but him. In both Syria and Libya - we could add Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon - democracy cannot begin to grow without a US-UN commitment to ongoing support. Killing Qaddafi and destroying chemical stockpiles is simply not enough. If the Middle East is to gain a stability based on people instead of dictators, the US and the West must stay engaged.