Benghazi looms large

Libya Attack hurts Obama

It seems that the attack in Libya is complicating President Obama’s reelection bid.  It appears to be a two-fer for the Romney campaign as it shows a weakness in the president’s foreign policy and is developing into a first rate scandal.

Obama’s chickens are coming home to roost

Talk about chickens coming home to roost.  Talk about the Mother ofAll Fiascos.  It's the revenge of Osama bin Laden from the bottom of the ocean, and the message is plain: al-Qaeda is very much alive, and America is a paper tiger.

The Middle East is beginning to fall apart -- Iran just sent a spy drone over Israel's sensitive defense installations, and the IDF waited hours to react; Turkey forced down a Syrian arms plane, and al-Qaeda's Al Zawahiri openly assaulted the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in a six-hour attack, working through al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM), while the glorious Libyan friends did nothing as our ambassador was being raped and murdered.  The guards called for help, and nobody responded.  A police car fled the scene.  The other ten cop cars requested by the consulate never showed up.

Another bad sign for Obama

It appears the crowds at Romney events aresurging. 

Romney Ad Strategy

Ad purchases in the presidential race doubled or in some cases tripled last week in swing states such as Colorado, Florida, Iowa and Virginia, tracking data show. The surge is being driven by Romney and well-funded allies, who decided against running more ads earlier in the campaign in favor of a big bang at the end.

It appears after letting Obama spend 28% more on ads from the convention through September, Romney has opened his campaign wallet and is flooding the market with his ads.  And it appears to be working as the polls show him surging.

Romney now leads in Florida and New Hampshire

It appears the Democrats attack on Romney/Ryan Medicare proposal isn’t working as they lead among Florida’s over 50 population by 54-42.  I’m thinking that SCOTUS’s decision to not strike down Obamacare is turning out to be a benefit for the Republicans.  

Hispanics in Florida abandoning Obama

It appears part of the reason Romney is moving ahead in Florida is a shift in Hispanic support. 

In September Obama led among Hispanic voters 52%-43%.  In October Romney leads 46%-44%.  There are 2 million Hispanic voters in Florida so this amounts to a switch of 220,000 voters.  

Will it be a blowout?

A lot of talk has been bandied about over the so-called Bradley Effect, the theory that a number of California voters said they were going to vote for Tom Bradley — the longtime Los Angeles mayor — for governor of that state in a 1982 election because he was African-American, but really voted for his opponent who won.

This theory has been debunked and, frankly, I have no idea of its veracity. More importantly, however, I believe it is passé. Fewer than ever are interested in the color of Obama’s skin (well, maybe Al Sharpton and his claque) or — for that matter — in Mitt Romney’s religion. We have far, far more pressing issues in front of us at this moment.

For that reason, I think the number who vote for Romney/Ryan and then tell no one (at least in the short run) will be significant, so significant that this election may explode and be closer to a blowout than anyone, save a few, had expected.

Everyone says this will be a close election.  I don’t think so.  History shows us that the economy that we have will insure that Obama won’t get a second term and it won’t be close.  Romney will win by at least as much as Obama won by in 2008.

How Liberal’s think

Just for fun, I Googled the words "Selfish Republicans."  The query returned 4,240,000 hits.  They weren't pretty.  Evidently, a major GOP goal is to impose selfishness on the American people.  I learned that we favor the rich and the powerful.  Worse, we are trying to starve everyone. We are soulless, vicious, and degraded.  I had no idea we were this bad.

I know we like to keep our money away from the IRS.  I got that.  We don't like to be taxed.  We are fanatics about that.  We all know the mantra -- government bad, private sector good.  But why does that make us selfish?  Why does that make us soulless?  Why does it make us want to starve little children?  In fact, a similar simple Google search would show that red states give more to charities than blue ones.

Then, the other day, I am listening to Rush, and he says, "Liberals think taxes are charity!" -- and suddenly it all makes sense.  Liberals think that by attacking taxes, we are attacking charitable giving.  When we try to cut taxes, they see us trying to cut charity payments.  When we say, "Read my lips: no new taxes!," liberals hear "read my lips, no new charities!"  They think we are sticking it to the kids by not paying the IRS!

Inside the Liberal Mind

Mike Gallagher has recently written a new book, 50 Things Liberals Love to Hate.  This book is both humorous and informative, written by someone who has been a radio talk show host for over thirty years.  Included in his rundown are Walmart, steakhouses, McDonalds, flag pins, football, the Second Amendment, success, freeways, the military, and the Founding Fathers.  American Thinker interviewed Gallagher about this year's election and his book.

What was very interesting was Gallagher’s take on Liberal’s hatred for success.  It seems particularly timely and revealing realizing the absolute hatred the left has for Mitt Romney.

The VP Debate

Biden's performance was beyond bizarre -- it was unworldly. I'm not a druggie but I don't think a bad trip on acid could have been more unsettling. The moderator, Martha Raddatz, was equally as dreadful. I had to keep rechecking the scorecard to remind myself who it was that had actually signed up to debate Ryan. 

I thought Ryan played it very well, despite what you're hearing in the mainstream media and from many on our side. Sure, Ryan could have interrupted Biden's insane ravings with the truth -- but then why bother? 

Biden enlightens the world

To hear Mr. Biden tell it, the Obama Administration now has a new red line on Iran. The mullahs can enrich as much uranium as they wish as long as they "don't have something to put it in." This isn't the red line Israel's Bibi Netanyahu had in mind during his recent speech before the United Nations. Nor are Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others looking for proof of an Iranian ICBM before they decide to go nuclear themselves. Iran becomes a regional nuclear power when it demonstrates its ability to get the bomb at almost a moment's notice, which is when it has developed enough fuel for it.

The Veep made a spirited case as well for doing nothing in Syria—no "no fly" zones, direct arms supplies to the rebels, or any U.S. political lead in an intervention. "If, in fact, it blows up and the wrong people gain control, it's going to have impact on the entire region, causing potentially regional wars," he said of Syria. News stories suggest this is happening already without any U.S. involvement, as the Syrian war pulls in Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey. 

Mr. Biden appeared to preview another Obama policy shift on Afghanistan. With a 2014 deadline to transition the security lead to the Kabul government, the discussion will shift to how large the American military footprint will be afterward—with up to 30,000 U.S. troops left behind to ensure the Taliban don't overrun Kabul again. 

But Mr. Biden said something different: "We are leaving in 2014, period, and in the process we're going to be saving over the next 10 years another $800 billion." He added that Afghan forces are ready to defend the country themselves and lead the fight in the difficult east, another piece of intelligence that's news to us.

Either these are a bunch of gaffes by the VP, or Obama needs to explain the changes in our foreign policy.  We are leaving in 2014 period made for a great sound bite, but lousy policy. 

Clint Eastwood’s perceptive speech at the RNC

Clint didn’t just predict Obama’s behavior at the first debate (an empty chair), but also mentioned Joe Biden’s performance at the VP debate.  Clint said: 

Just kind of a grin with a body behind it.

Politicizing Benghazi

'The entire reason that this has become the political topic it is is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan."

So said Stephanie Cutter, President Obama's deputy campaign manager, speaking on CNN about an armed attack on the 9/11 anniversary that left a U.S. Consulate a smoking ruin and killed four diplomatic staff, including the first American ambassador to be murdered in a third of a century.

To discuss this event is apparently to "politicize" it and to distract from the real issues the American people are concerned about. For example, Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki, speaking on board Air Force One on Thursday:

"There's only one candidate in this race who is going to continue to fight for Big Bird and Elmo, and he is riding on this plane."

More blame and childish crying about the other side being “unfair.”  Obama is reduced to this.  Mark Steyn is devastating in this column.

The debate approaches

AAA HMS Obama

What we know about Obama and what we don’t know about Romney

We know what Mr.Obama is and what he stands for:

(1) He is for apologizing to the rest of the world for our freedoms of speech and for our power and prosperity.

(2) He is an indolent President who has not even submitted a budget for three and a half years;

(3) He loathes the oil and gas sector of the society.

(4) He wants to make as much of the country as possible dependent on the federal teat.

(5) He unequivocally believes in unilateral nuclear disarmament.

Univision breaks story on Fast and Furious

Although Democrats seem to think they own the Hispanic vote, Univision, the Spanish Network first actually did a thorough interview with President Obama and now has broken a story on Fast and Furious which the MSM seems to treat as radioactive.

Obama and the Truth:  Strangers in the night?

President Obama has a habit and that habit is failing to tell the truth.  But he has gotten by with it all of his life and it now is just who he is.

In another article, Hugh Hewitt gives you the “tells” of when Obama is about to dissemble the truth.  The first tell is a pattern of "ahs" and "uhmms" which are as embarrassing as they are revealing.

What did Obama do when America was attacked by terrorists?

This is a powerful ad.

Is Sweden a Socialist Success Story?

From 1980 through 1997, Sweden's government spent more than all other advanced economies as a fraction of GDP.  It peaked at 68% of GDP in 1993, an all-time record for advanced economies.

And how did that "socialism" work for Sweden?  Its economy grew only 1.4% per year from 1980 to 1993, when the U.S. was growing 3.0% per year.  And over those last five years, 1988-1993, it stopped growing altogether -- 0% growth.  It fell farther behind the U.S: from 81% as rich to 72% as rich.  Its debt grew to 70% of GDP.

In short, government spending in Sweden had the effect that free-market types always predict: slow growth and high debt.  Government spending does not stimulate; it stifles, and it sticks our kids with the bill.

Where have all the Manufacturing jobs gone?

They’ve gone unfilled. 

The consultant company Deloitte surveyed the industry and found 600,000 perfectly good jobs going unfilled because of a lack of "soft skills."

BTW, soft skills include getting people who can pass a drug test. 

Harvard educated Killer sentenced to life without parole

A Harvard educated professor at the University of Alabama who killed three colleagues and who the MSM tried to associate with the Tea Party has been sentenced to life without parole for these killings.  Rather than a Tea Party member, Amy Bishop was described lifelong liberal who was obsessed with President Obama. 

DNC spokesperson predicts Romney will win Denver Debate

"Mitt Romney has had a lot more time to debate, the president has not debated in the past four years in terms, of a campaign debate. I think the president will hold his own, but he's not known for sound bites. And these are 60 second, 90 second responses."

Not to mention Obama won’t have his teleprompter there.  

They are also trying to inoculate the President’s performance raving about how good Romney is in debates as well as indicating

The Problem with Polls

If, as even left-wing think tanks agree, Democratic voter registration is in decline, why are pollsters assuming that the electorate will largely resemble the messianic “hope and change” outpouring that elected Barack Obama? And if they are wrong about the turnout model, does that mean their forecasts showing the president cruising to re-election are also incorrect?

Ohio is not alone. An August study by the left-leaning think tank Third Way showed that the Democratic voter registration decline in eight key swing states outnumbered the Republican decline by a 10-to-one ratio. In Florida, Democratic registration is down 4.9 percent, in Iowa down 9.5 percent. And in New Hampshire, it’s down 19.7 percent.

So the polling models have a greater percentage of Democrats in them while the number of Democrats is declining.  Go figure.

Hugo Chavez endorses Obama

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gave a surprise endorsement to Barack Obama on Sunday - and said the U.S. leader no doubt felt the same. "I hope this doesn't harm Obama, but if I was from the United States, I'd vote for Obama."  When he said the US leader no doubt felt the same, he was saying Obama would endorse him (Chavez) as well.  This makes two endorsements from Communists (or former communists) as Vladimir Putin also endorsed Obama.

Ten Questions Obama should answer at the Debate

I found these questions to be excellent.  Here’s an example of just one of them.

Can you today guarantee that Iran will not have acquired a nuclear weapon by the time you finish a second term in office?

Economist pick Romney

Nine of 17 top economists surveyed by CNNMoney picked Romney when asked who's election would help the economy grow more. Only three picked Obama. 

But the remaining five made no pick, with several suggesting neither would provide much of a lift to the sagging economy. 

"Obama doesn't really understand business and Romney doesn't really understand how to govern. So pick your poison," said Gary Rosenberger of EconoPlay, one of those surveyed who refused to give a pick.

Obama’s foreign policy coming apart

It was just a few weeks ago at the Democratic national convention that Obama confidently declared that “al Qaeda is on the path to defeat and Osama bin Laden is dead.” And yet, on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, al Qaeda struck again against our lightly guarded consulate in Benghazi, where ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered — an attack, it now turns out, the United States had ample reason to suspect was coming.

Especially bothersome were the Egyptians chanting that there are 1 billion Osamas.  We may soon be asking, “who lost North Africa.”

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s cameraman seeks political asylum

Another embarrassment for the Iranians as Hassan Gol Khanban, who was part of the 140-person entourage that accompanied the Iranian president to New York, has announced via his New York City-based lawyer, Paul O'Dwyer, that he is seeking asylum in the U.S.

Is Soros panicking?

It appears George Soros is spending big time trying to keep Mitt Romney from beat Barack Obama in November. 

The Libertarian Case for Mitt Romney

We have a younger Obama on tape, saying that welfare recipients and “the working poor” are a “majority coalition.” And don’t fool yourself into thinking that by “welfare recipients” he just means the huddled masses getting their “Obama bucks” and food stamp billions and disability checks. Under Obama, Wall Street is a welfare queen, too. So is our banking system. Half our domestic auto industry is on the take, too. Obama has gutted work requirements for individual welfare recipients, and gutted the profit requirement for big business and big banking and big finance.

The masses won’t give up their checks, and the crony capitalists won’t suffer any competition. The squeeze is on, and you’re in the middle of it. That’s the Permanent Progressive Majority.

This squeeze fundamentally transforms what America means, and what it means to be an American — from citizen to subject. It took a century to take us this far along the Progressive path to a Technocratic State of high-tech feudalism, but we’re almost at the end of the line. Another four years is probably all that’s needed to get there.