'WE'RE OUT OF MONEY'

(Compiler's note: Mr. Obama finally admits what the American people have already figured out. Does anyone remember the recent "Tea Parties" across this nation?)

In a sobering holiday interview with C-SPAN, President Obama boldly told Americans: "We are out of money."

C-SPAN host Steve Scully broke from a meek Washington press corps with probing questions for the new president.

SCULLY: You know the numbers, $1.7 trillion debt, a national deficit of $11 trillion. At what point do we run out of money?

OBAMA: Well, we are out of money now. We are operating in deep deficits, not caused by any decisions we've made on health care so far. This is a consequence of the crisis that we've seen and in fact our failure to make some good decisions on health care over the last several decades.

So we've got a short-term problem, which is we had to spend a lot of money to salvage our financial system, we had to deal with the auto companies, a huge recession which drains tax revenue at the same time it's putting more pressure on governments to provide unemployment insurance or make sure that food stamps are available for people who have been laid off.

So we have a short-term problem and we also have a long-term problem. The short-term problem is dwarfed by the long-term problem. And the long-term problem is Medicaid and Medicare. If we don't reduce long-term health care inflation substantially, we can't get control of the deficit.

So, one option is just to do nothing. We say, well, it's too expensive for us to make some short-term investments in health care. We can't afford it. We've got this big deficit. Let's just keep the health care system that we've got now.

Along that trajectory, we will see health care cost as an overall share of our federal spending grow and grow and grow and grow until essentially it consumes everything...

SCULLY: When you see GM though as “Government Motors,” you're reaction?

OBAMA: Well, you know – look we are trying to help an auto industry that is going through a combination of bad decision making over many years and an unprecedented crisis or at least a crisis we haven't seen since the 1930's. And you know the economy is going to bounce back and we want to get out of the business of helping auto companies as quickly as we can. I have got more enough to do without that. In the same way that I want to get out of the business of helping banks, but we have to make some strategic decisions about strategic industries...

SCULLY: States like California in desperate financial situation, will you be forced to bail out the states?

OBAMA: No. I think that what you're seeing in states is that anytime you got a severe recession like this, as I said before, their demands on services are higher. So, they are sending more money out. At the same time, they're bringing less tax revenue in. And that's a painful adjustment, ..what we're going end up seeing is lot of states making very difficult choices there.

SCULLY: William Howard Taft served on the court after his presidency, would you have any interest in being on the Supreme Court?

OBAMA: You know, I am not sure that I could get through Senate confirmation...

Developing...

Intelligence Transformation: Meeting New Challenges in the Middle East and Beyond

Lt. Gen. (Ret.) James R. Clapper, Jr., undersecretary of defense for intelligence, addressed a Washington Institute Policy Forum on May 19, 2009 as part of an ongoing counterterrorism lecture series sponsored by the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.

The following is an excerpt from Mr. Clapper's address. Download a complete transcript of his remarks (PDF).

"We have, you know, a lot of challenges in . . . both Afghanistan and Pakistan. I was there about six weeks ago . . . it was a real interesting and very useful tour for me, since we did a heavy focus on special operations capabilities and locations. . . . The whole political arrangement there, the terrain, the size of the country, the very undeveloped infrastructure, lines of communication, makes for a very challenging, very daunting environmental situation. . . . My own view is that this is . . . built for a classic counterinsurgency kind of thing. I think we're going to win this on a village-by-village, valley-by-valley basis. And there's . . . potential for success, depending on how we manage the whole spectrum of special operations -- not just taking out high-value individuals or high-value targets, but sort of the nation-building thing, providing security locally in Afghanistan. . . . The old saw about all politics being local really applies."

Download a complete transcript of Mr. Clapper's remarks (PDF).

Pakistan: Troops battle Taliban in main Swat town

SLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistani security forces have entered the main town in a northwestern Taliban stronghold, engaging in fierce street battles Saturday as they tried to wrench the Swat Valley from militants, the army said.

Capturing Mingora town is critical to Pakistani efforts to regain the valley and prevent it from being a safe haven for insurgents who threaten the nuclear-armed Muslim nation's stability. It also could prove a major test for a military more geared toward conventional warfare on plains than bloody urban warfare.....

Illinois Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 - Valley Meats LLC, a Coal Valley, Ill., establishment is recalling approximately 95,898 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Click on the title above to see the brands being recalled.

The News From White House TV

(Compiler's note: All this occurs beyond the eyes and questions of those pesky reporters. Long live the free press -- what is left of it.)

from the Riehl World View

There are countries with no independent, objective news coverage. Political news is actually reported only by the state. America isn't supposed to be one of them. This Obama guy must have an incredibly fragile ego. All the signs are there.

Now we know why: Obama White House officials decided to do their own media report on the visit, complete with cuts, interviews, and chyrons identifying who's speaking.

Also, just like a network, they have their own little logo!

Cute!

It's perfectly fine, of course, for the White House to put out its own version of events -- but is it right to do so by preventing actual reporters from covering something? (Even something like a pickup basketball game).

Do Obama White House officials think their media coverage isn't flattering enough?

He's so afraid of bad press coverage, he reacts angrily at the mere hint of it. In keeping with that, we're learning how he strains to control the news. Inside, this is a very weak man, rather unsure of himself and uncomfortable with the world outside, no matter what image he tries to project.

He's all image because he needs to be. Only what's crafted, or overly managed is acceptable. Whatever really is inside, he doesn't want to reveal to the world.

When men that weak are given a lot of power, it rarely if ever is a good thing. If the press ever turns on Obama, the fall-out will be incredible.

But the only way to genuinely reveal this man for what he is, is to take him on. Eventually he'll crumble like a house of cards. Unfortunately, most Republicans are so politically insecure in their own right, they aren't stepping up.

That has to change. Hopefully more of them will begin to take a page from former VP Cheney, instead of Stuart Smalley. One can hope.

Obama in Bush Clothing

(Compiler's note: A must read editorial and presentation of the facts.)

By Charles Krauthammer

....If hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue, then the flip-flops on previously denounced anti-terror measures are the homage that Barack Obama pays to George Bush. Within 125 days, Obama has adopted with only minor modifications huge swaths of the entire, allegedly lawless Bush program.

The latest flip-flop is the restoration of military tribunals. During the 2008 campaign, Obama denounced them repeatedly, calling them an "enormous failure." Obama suspended them upon his swearing-in. Now they're back.....

....Observers of all political stripes are stunned by how much of the Bush national security agenda is being adopted by this new Democratic government. Victor Davis Hanson (National Review) offers a partial list: "The Patriot Act, wiretaps, e-mail intercepts, military tribunals, Predator drone attacks, Iraq (i.e., slowing the withdrawal), Afghanistan (i.e., the surge) -- and now Guantanamo."

Jack Goldsmith (The New Republic) adds: rendition -- turning over terrorists seized abroad to foreign countries; state secrets -- claiming them in court to quash legal proceedings on rendition and other erstwhile barbarisms; and the denial of habeas corpus -- to detainees in Afghanistan's Bagram prison, indistinguishable logically and morally from Guantanamo.

....There is something much larger at play -- an undeniable, irresistible national interest that, in the end, beyond the cheap politics, asserts itself. The urgencies and necessities of the actual post-9/11 world, as opposed to the fanciful world of the opposition politician, present a rather narrow range of acceptable alternatives.

Among them: reviving the tradition of military tribunals, used historically by George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Winfield Scott, Abraham Lincoln, Arthur MacArthur and Franklin Roosevelt. And inventing Guantanamo -- accessible, secure, offshore and nicely symbolic (the tradition of island exile for those outside the pale of civilization is a venerable one) -- a quite brilliant choice for the placement of terrorists, some of whom, the Bush administration immediately understood, would have to be detained without trial in a war that could be endless.

The genius of democracy is that the rotation of power forces the opposition to come to its senses when it takes over. When the new guys, brought to power by popular will, then adopt the policies of the old guys, a national consensus is forged and a new legitimacy established.

That's happening before our eyes. The Bush policies in the war on terror won't have to await vindication by historians. Obama is doing it day by day. His denials mean nothing. Look at his deeds.

Patriot Act Likely Helped Thwart NYC Terror Plot, Security Experts Say

.... Legal experts say security measures enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks likely assisted federal agents in foiling the plot.

The Patriot Act -- signed into law by President Bush in October 2001 -- expanded wiretap authority to allow greater use of "roving wiretaps." The provision permits the FBI to wiretap any telephone a suspected terrorist may be using without having to obtain court approval.

Intelligence experts say that measure enables law enforcement to monitor conversations among multiple terror suspects more quickly and efficiently, because terrorists are known to discontinue their phones lines or change cell phones frequently. .....

McCarthy and Whelan on the Harold Koh Nomination: Bad News for Sovereignty, Security

FamilySecurityMatters.org recently took part in a conference call about President Obama’s nomination of Harold Koh to serve as legal advisor to the State Department. Co-sponsored by the Coalition to Preserve American Sovereignty, the Heritage Foundation, Center for Security Policy, RedState.com, Hugh Hewitt and Michelle Malkin, the call featured Andrew McCarthy and Ed Whelan, both of whom have written extensively about Koh’s nomination and what it means for both American sovereignty and security.......

What Are We Stimulating?

I was in Vermont the other day and made the mistake of picking up the local paper. Impressively, it contained a quarter-page ad, a rare sight these days. The rest of the page was made up by in-house promotions for the advertising department’s special offer on yard-sale announcements, etc. But the one real advertisement was from something called SEVCA. SEVCA is a “non-profit agency,” just like the New York Times, General Motors, and the State of California. And it stands for “South-Eastern Vermont Community Action.”....

State prisons are major breeding ground for Islamic radicalization Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/22/2009-05-22_radicals

.... At least two of the suspects, James Cromitie and Onta Williams, entered the system as Baptists and were paroled as Muslims.

The concern about prisons incubating jihadists has been heightened in the debate over releasing Guantanamo terror suspects to facilities across the U.S.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/22/2009-05-22_radicals_often_born_in_state_prison.html#ixzz0GKiCsdQW&B....

FBI watching Somali Muslims in D.C.

By Paul Sperry

....the Baileys Crossroads area of Northern Virginia – about 10 miles from the capital – was a critical focus of security investigations in advance of the presidential inauguration in January.

Investigators say a troubling number of the area's Somali men hold "militant" anti-American views and sympathize with al-Qaida. They typically work as taxi drivers, gathering at local coffeehouses during their breaks, as well as at a nearby mosque tied to 9/11.

Worshipers pray outside Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va.

Dar al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., which assisted at least two of the al-Qaida hijackers, has a large representation of Somali immigrants. Investigators say a former Dar al-Hijrah imam is now working with al-Qaida to arm and recruit fighters – including Americans – for the holy war in Somalia.

"Somalis were the hot topic during the inauguration, and they still are," said a senior investigator assigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Washington. "They're very militant, and they're all over that area."

Authorities estimate the Washington area is home to about 6,000 Somalis, most of whom are Muslim.....

Home: No place for Bible study (San Diego) County demands pastor obtain $10,000 permit to host friends

.... Broyles confirmed the county official followed through on his threat. The pastor and his wife received a written warning ordering the couple to "cease/stop religious assembly on parcel or obtain a major use permit."

"The Western Center for Law and Policy is troubled by this draconian move to suppress home Bible studies," said the law center in a statement. "If the current trends in our nation continue, churches may be forced underground. If that happens, believers will once again be forced to meet in homes. If homes are already closed by the government to assembly and worship, where then will Christians meet?" ....

Report: Nearly 1000 foreign jihadists in Somalia, including American and British nationals

from Jihadwatch

.... Of course, if there were not broad acceptance of Sharia in letter and in principle across Somalia, the jihadists -- styling themselves as bearers of "law and order" -- would not have gotten as far as they have.

A smaller number have military skills, financing and weaponry. “We understand that these fighters are providing training to the extremist insurgents and are helping to mobilise funding and source weapons, the level of which we have never seen before,” Nicolas Bwakira, the head of the African Union (AU) Somalia mission, said.

Intelligence sources said that foreign jihadis from Britain and elsewhere had joined an alliance of al-Shabaab factions and Hizb al-Islam extremists that have coalesced around Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys. The Sheikh, who is wanted as a terrorist by the US, returned from exile in April to take on the fragile Administration of Mr Ahmed.