Now the President feels he needs to cap our salaries. He will decide what is an adequate salary not the marketplace. Look folks, do you still have any doubts that this man is against free markets and allowing us to run our lives the way we see fit? The article below should help you along the road to understanding that what we have in our beloved White House is an anti-American values President.
Freedom: In voicing his feelings Wednesday about earned wealth, President Obama shone a bright light into the thought recesses of the far left. And what a dark and ugly place it can be.
During a two-day swing through Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, the president went off teleprompter and blundered into another Joe the Plumber moment, that unguarded instant during the 2008 campaign in which he told a potential small-business owner that he planned to spread the wealth around.
"Now, what we're doing, I want to be clear, we're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned," Obama said in Quincy, Ill. "I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money."
Remarks prepared for the occasion reportedly don't include the president's thoughts about how much money he'd let Americans make. But without the help of a teleprompter to carefully steer him away from his gut feelings, he wandered into a Marxist bramble.
It takes a certain kind of person to think he or she has — or should have — the moral authority to cap other people's incomes. Especially when that person and his wife somehow made $5.5 million in the first year of his presidency, a job that pays $400,000 a year.
In a free society, it's not the president or any other government official or branch that decides when someone has "made enough money," even if liberties are being lost in that free society...READ "Obama's Salary Cap" at IBD.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
The ObamaCare Future
Like any other country that has socialized medicine - this one will deliver poor quality care to Americans. Socialism is socialism everywhere it is practiced. You can't turn a rat into a thorough-bred even if you are the annointed one.
President Barack Obama's health care bill aims to achieve universal coverage while at the same time reducing costs. In reality, this contradictory strategy will ensure that Americans enjoy less health care, of poorer quality, and from fewer doctors.
And while the full effects of ObamaCare might not be felt until Tax Day 2014, the promise of free health care to millions of Americans will begin to prove hollow long before then...
...America's primary care system is already under stress. Low reimbursement rates, bureaucratic paperwork and long hours are driving family physicians out of medicine and pushing new doctors into specialized practices. Half a century ago, one in two doctors practiced general medicine. Today, 7 in 10 specialize.
And the gap is growing. A mere 1 in 12 medical-school graduates now head to family medicine. In 2009, the American Academy of Family Physicians warned that we'd be short 40,000 family doctors in a decade, if present trends continued. Today, medical schools produce one primary care doctor for every two who are needed.
ObamaCare will add strain to an already burdened system. The new bill seeks to increase the load on family doctors while holding the line on costs by putting price controls on government insurance plans. In due course, price controls on private plans will be inevitable.
...The combination of increased coverage and emphasis on primary care, experts say, will increase demand for primary care docs by as much as 29%, or 44,000 doctors, over the next 15 years.
But just as demand is increasing, doctors are making plans to exit. A 2009 survey by medical recruiters Merritt Hawkins found that 10% of respondents were planning to leave medicine within three years.
Another poll of physicians conducted in 2009 by Investor's Business Daily found that 45% of doctors would consider early retirement if ObamaCare passed. Read "Sign of Times with Obamacare: 'The Doctor is Out Permanently'".
President Barack Obama's health care bill aims to achieve universal coverage while at the same time reducing costs. In reality, this contradictory strategy will ensure that Americans enjoy less health care, of poorer quality, and from fewer doctors.
And while the full effects of ObamaCare might not be felt until Tax Day 2014, the promise of free health care to millions of Americans will begin to prove hollow long before then...
...America's primary care system is already under stress. Low reimbursement rates, bureaucratic paperwork and long hours are driving family physicians out of medicine and pushing new doctors into specialized practices. Half a century ago, one in two doctors practiced general medicine. Today, 7 in 10 specialize.
And the gap is growing. A mere 1 in 12 medical-school graduates now head to family medicine. In 2009, the American Academy of Family Physicians warned that we'd be short 40,000 family doctors in a decade, if present trends continued. Today, medical schools produce one primary care doctor for every two who are needed.
ObamaCare will add strain to an already burdened system. The new bill seeks to increase the load on family doctors while holding the line on costs by putting price controls on government insurance plans. In due course, price controls on private plans will be inevitable.
...The combination of increased coverage and emphasis on primary care, experts say, will increase demand for primary care docs by as much as 29%, or 44,000 doctors, over the next 15 years.
But just as demand is increasing, doctors are making plans to exit. A 2009 survey by medical recruiters Merritt Hawkins found that 10% of respondents were planning to leave medicine within three years.
Another poll of physicians conducted in 2009 by Investor's Business Daily found that 45% of doctors would consider early retirement if ObamaCare passed. Read "Sign of Times with Obamacare: 'The Doctor is Out Permanently'".
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Now It's a Takeover of Our Financial Sector? When Will The Destruction Of Our Economy End?
Misgovernance: Barely a month after the 2,600-page health care bill became law, Congress has teed up another landmark piece of legislation: a 1,600-page financial overhaul. So what's the big hurry?
As with the health care measure, no one seems to know exactly what's in this massive new bill. And what we have seen leaves a lot to be desired.
Legislation that radically changes the way we conduct our daily lives is usually subject to long deliberation and thorough debate before a decision is reached. But not in this Congress.
The financial reform that Sen. Chris Dodd has put forward contains little if any input from opposition Republicans. With their 59-41 majority in the Senate, Dodd and his Democrat colleagues are convinced they no longer need to compromise.
In his speech on financial reform last Thursday in New York, President Obama made his case and invited Americans to "debate" it. But that very day, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to the surprise of nearly everyone, announced there could be a vote on Dodd's bill as early as Monday. Read: "Why No Debate" at IBD.
As with the health care measure, no one seems to know exactly what's in this massive new bill. And what we have seen leaves a lot to be desired.
Legislation that radically changes the way we conduct our daily lives is usually subject to long deliberation and thorough debate before a decision is reached. But not in this Congress.
The financial reform that Sen. Chris Dodd has put forward contains little if any input from opposition Republicans. With their 59-41 majority in the Senate, Dodd and his Democrat colleagues are convinced they no longer need to compromise.
In his speech on financial reform last Thursday in New York, President Obama made his case and invited Americans to "debate" it. But that very day, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to the surprise of nearly everyone, announced there could be a vote on Dodd's bill as early as Monday. Read: "Why No Debate" at IBD.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
An Iranian Missile Strike in US by 2015?
While Obama and minions are trying to figure out how they can separate us from our money and turn our economy into a third world nation Iran is building nukes and they are not for North Korea or Russia. They are intended for America. It is without question that Obama's stance and demeanor, words and actions have emboldened thugs like Ahmadinejad. We the people must wake up and see this existential threat for what it is. Obama must do his principle job! The job we voted him to do! It's NOT to meddle in our economy and take us down the road to the poor house. IT IS TO PROTECT AMERICAN LIVES AND PROPERTY!
...If only we were working as hard to defend ourselves as they are to destroy us.
In any discussion of the Iranian nuclear threat, the assumption is always that Tehran's target is Israel. Iran's quite mad president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has pledged to wipe Israel off the map as part of his grand scheme to usher in the age of the 12th Imam. Tehran may have a bigger fish that it wants to fry, namely us.
"With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could probably develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States by 2015," said the 12-page Defense Department report, released Monday, on the "Military Power of Iran," a copy of which Reuters obtained.
There is no shortage of such assistance. A recent report by the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center said production of medium-range missiles remains one of Tehran's "highest priorities" and that China, North Korea and Russia are all helping
Iran produce such missiles.
Iran has long worked with North Korea, particularly on intercontinental ballistic missiles... Iran's cooperation with North Korea began in the 1980s…
A country capable of orbiting a satellite is capable of putting a warhead anywhere on this planet. We forget that such a missile wouldn't have to be accurate. A single nuclear warhead detonated over the American heartland would emit an electromagnetic pulse that would fry our technological infrastructure and catapult America and its economy back to the 18th century.
Iran has long been testing the in-flight detonation of its Shahab series over the Caspian Sea. Such tests would make no sense unless the Iranians were planning for the day when an Iranian missile with a nuke would detonate high over an Iowa cornfield and devastate the American nation...READ at IBD "Tehran's Other Target: America 2015"
...If only we were working as hard to defend ourselves as they are to destroy us.
In any discussion of the Iranian nuclear threat, the assumption is always that Tehran's target is Israel. Iran's quite mad president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has pledged to wipe Israel off the map as part of his grand scheme to usher in the age of the 12th Imam. Tehran may have a bigger fish that it wants to fry, namely us.
"With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could probably develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States by 2015," said the 12-page Defense Department report, released Monday, on the "Military Power of Iran," a copy of which Reuters obtained.
There is no shortage of such assistance. A recent report by the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center said production of medium-range missiles remains one of Tehran's "highest priorities" and that China, North Korea and Russia are all helping
Iran produce such missiles.
Iran has long worked with North Korea, particularly on intercontinental ballistic missiles... Iran's cooperation with North Korea began in the 1980s…
A country capable of orbiting a satellite is capable of putting a warhead anywhere on this planet. We forget that such a missile wouldn't have to be accurate. A single nuclear warhead detonated over the American heartland would emit an electromagnetic pulse that would fry our technological infrastructure and catapult America and its economy back to the 18th century.
Iran has long been testing the in-flight detonation of its Shahab series over the Caspian Sea. Such tests would make no sense unless the Iranians were planning for the day when an Iranian missile with a nuke would detonate high over an Iowa cornfield and devastate the American nation...READ at IBD "Tehran's Other Target: America 2015"
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
"A Republic If You Can Keep It"
In 1787 as the Constitutional Convention was closing, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what type of government we would have with our new Constitution. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
No one can deny that what occurred at that most famous of conventions was the birth of perhaps the most astounding idea in human history-truly the most radical in history.
And we were the inheritors of that idea. But have we "kept it"? That is the question of the moment and my assessment is that that is what we are fighting for today. Surely one must thank Obama for putting the stakes so high - for crystallizing that we as Americans have been derelict in our duty to preserve our republic as our Founding Fathers envisioned it: Small government and many liberties for the people.
It's time for each of us who love America to stand up and defend the idea of America - that is Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a government that is strictly circumscribed by the Constitution. Let's do it. It can be done - we just have to put our mind to the task of taking back our Republic.
No one can deny that what occurred at that most famous of conventions was the birth of perhaps the most astounding idea in human history-truly the most radical in history.
And we were the inheritors of that idea. But have we "kept it"? That is the question of the moment and my assessment is that that is what we are fighting for today. Surely one must thank Obama for putting the stakes so high - for crystallizing that we as Americans have been derelict in our duty to preserve our republic as our Founding Fathers envisioned it: Small government and many liberties for the people.
It's time for each of us who love America to stand up and defend the idea of America - that is Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness with a government that is strictly circumscribed by the Constitution. Let's do it. It can be done - we just have to put our mind to the task of taking back our Republic.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Obama Will Continue To Tax Us Till Our Dying Breath
I seem to remember that our forefathers fought the British for excessive taxation by the King. It seems so quaint - their taxation problems compared to ours. It's time to lower taxes on the portion of Americans who have to carry the burden of runaway government and it's time for government to curtail its heavy handed intervention in our economy. Leave us ALONE!
...A recent Rasmussen survey reported that 66% of Americans believe the nation is over-taxed. There's a reason. Under President Barack Obama taxes are going up—a lot.
House Ways and Means Committee Republicans have issued a summary of the 25 tax increases signed into law by Mr. Obama so far. They total $670 billion over the next 10 years, including 14 tax hikes (including an annual tax on every insurance policy and an annual tax on brand-name drugs) that break Mr. Obama's solemn 2008 campaign pledge never to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year.
Many of these taxes are part of the ObamaCare monstrosity. New levies on investment, drugs, medical devices and insurance policies eventually will hit ordinary Americans, and the public knows it. A late March Fox News poll asked, "If major health care reform legislation is passed, do you think your taxes will increase, decrease or stay about the same?" Seventy-five percent think their taxes will increase.
Tax concerns will hurt congressional Democrats. In rural areas, their opposition to repeal of the death tax antagonizes farmers and ranchers. Then there are America's 32 million small-business owners, who feel put upon by the administration's tax everyone-and-everything philosophy.
Families, especially in the suburbs, are pressed by rising property, sales and state income taxes in addition to the federal tax increases. And don't forget the 53 million investors whose battered accounts are only now recovering. There's a new 3.8% surtax on certain kinds of investment income for high earners, but it is not indexed for inflation, so it will bite an increasing number of people over time... Read "Why Republicans are Winning On The Tax Issue" at WSJ
...A recent Rasmussen survey reported that 66% of Americans believe the nation is over-taxed. There's a reason. Under President Barack Obama taxes are going up—a lot.
House Ways and Means Committee Republicans have issued a summary of the 25 tax increases signed into law by Mr. Obama so far. They total $670 billion over the next 10 years, including 14 tax hikes (including an annual tax on every insurance policy and an annual tax on brand-name drugs) that break Mr. Obama's solemn 2008 campaign pledge never to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year.
Many of these taxes are part of the ObamaCare monstrosity. New levies on investment, drugs, medical devices and insurance policies eventually will hit ordinary Americans, and the public knows it. A late March Fox News poll asked, "If major health care reform legislation is passed, do you think your taxes will increase, decrease or stay about the same?" Seventy-five percent think their taxes will increase.
Tax concerns will hurt congressional Democrats. In rural areas, their opposition to repeal of the death tax antagonizes farmers and ranchers. Then there are America's 32 million small-business owners, who feel put upon by the administration's tax everyone-and-everything philosophy.
Families, especially in the suburbs, are pressed by rising property, sales and state income taxes in addition to the federal tax increases. And don't forget the 53 million investors whose battered accounts are only now recovering. There's a new 3.8% surtax on certain kinds of investment income for high earners, but it is not indexed for inflation, so it will bite an increasing number of people over time... Read "Why Republicans are Winning On The Tax Issue" at WSJ
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Toyota's Problem Is NOT For The Government To Solve - It Properly Belongs In the Free Market Arena
The fact that our government is intervening now in every aspect of our daily lives should be a major cause for concern for every American who is dedicated to individual freedom and rights. An excellent article at WashingtonExaminer.com explains how the government intervenes in affairs it has no business in interfering with - private enterprise. Posturing and meddling by politicians and pressure groups is not the American way and results in only group warfare and a degradation of everyone's freedom. We must get the government out of our private enterprise system - let the Market determine consequences and rewards NOT government.
...But pressure groups are only a symptom. The cause is the government’s power to intervene in the market to pick winners and losers. In the auto industry alone, the government controls everything from whom car companies can hire (unionized employees) to what kind of vehicles they must build (hybrids).
And elsewhere it decides which businesses are “too big to fail,” which industries “deserve” massive subsidies, and which unproven technologies warrant billions of taxpayer “investment.” That’s a recipe for pressure group warfare.
This is not what Madison and Jefferson had in mind. Their vision was of a strictly limited government, which would perform one basic function, guard individual rights. Its role was to protect the individual’s rights to life, liberty, and property from infringement by thugs and frauds, while otherwise leaving people free to produce and trade in a free market.
In the original American system, it’s the job of the market to pick winners and losers, and the job of the courts, not Congress, to arbitrate disputes, such as that between Toyota and drivers harmed in accidents.
The truth is Toyota’s troubles should not be a political issue. On a free market, Toyota would have to address the real or alleged problems with its cars and work to restore its reputation with consumers, or suffer the consequences.
And if the company were proved in a court of law to be guilty of negligence, it would be held accountable. In any case, there would be no need for the circus now taking place, with all its sordid political posturing and favor-trading.
So here’s a proposal. Make Washington come up with a plan to disentangle government from the economy. It might even start with a congressional investigation. (Read the article by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins - What's Really Driving the Toyota Controversy?)
...But pressure groups are only a symptom. The cause is the government’s power to intervene in the market to pick winners and losers. In the auto industry alone, the government controls everything from whom car companies can hire (unionized employees) to what kind of vehicles they must build (hybrids).
And elsewhere it decides which businesses are “too big to fail,” which industries “deserve” massive subsidies, and which unproven technologies warrant billions of taxpayer “investment.” That’s a recipe for pressure group warfare.
This is not what Madison and Jefferson had in mind. Their vision was of a strictly limited government, which would perform one basic function, guard individual rights. Its role was to protect the individual’s rights to life, liberty, and property from infringement by thugs and frauds, while otherwise leaving people free to produce and trade in a free market.
In the original American system, it’s the job of the market to pick winners and losers, and the job of the courts, not Congress, to arbitrate disputes, such as that between Toyota and drivers harmed in accidents.
The truth is Toyota’s troubles should not be a political issue. On a free market, Toyota would have to address the real or alleged problems with its cars and work to restore its reputation with consumers, or suffer the consequences.
And if the company were proved in a court of law to be guilty of negligence, it would be held accountable. In any case, there would be no need for the circus now taking place, with all its sordid political posturing and favor-trading.
So here’s a proposal. Make Washington come up with a plan to disentangle government from the economy. It might even start with a congressional investigation. (Read the article by Yaron Brook and Don Watkins - What's Really Driving the Toyota Controversy?)
Thursday, April 15, 2010
America is Exceptional - Obama Must be Joking! Right?
Although our President is very obviously anti-American, we the people are not. This article shows why American exceptionalism is true and our President is wrong.
In yet another example of this administration's rejection of American exceptionalism, science adviser John Holdren says the U.S. can't be expected to always be on top. How uninspiring. How wrong.
A little more than a year ago, the president himself said much the same thing at a NATO conference. "I believe in American exceptionalism," Barack Obama said, "just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." In other words, America might think it's special, but so do other countries. And there's no reason to believe they're wrong. It's all relative.
...In no nation, however, have the people had the freedom we have. No other nation has ever worked so hard for justice, so long for equality and so earnestly for openness. No nation has ever been as welcoming to foreigners or as protective of dissenters. None has ever been as selfless and charitable.
Nowhere on this planet is upward mobility as unencumbered as it is here. Opportunity is woven tightly into the American fabric. From the world over, people arrive at our door wanting what we have. Many of them are dumbfounded when those of us who've been here since birth don't realize how fortunate we are.
America is indeed exceptional, and those who say it isn't are guilty of an ugly form of wishful thinking. (READ at IBD "America The Also-Ran")
In yet another example of this administration's rejection of American exceptionalism, science adviser John Holdren says the U.S. can't be expected to always be on top. How uninspiring. How wrong.
A little more than a year ago, the president himself said much the same thing at a NATO conference. "I believe in American exceptionalism," Barack Obama said, "just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." In other words, America might think it's special, but so do other countries. And there's no reason to believe they're wrong. It's all relative.
...In no nation, however, have the people had the freedom we have. No other nation has ever worked so hard for justice, so long for equality and so earnestly for openness. No nation has ever been as welcoming to foreigners or as protective of dissenters. None has ever been as selfless and charitable.
Nowhere on this planet is upward mobility as unencumbered as it is here. Opportunity is woven tightly into the American fabric. From the world over, people arrive at our door wanting what we have. Many of them are dumbfounded when those of us who've been here since birth don't realize how fortunate we are.
America is indeed exceptional, and those who say it isn't are guilty of an ugly form of wishful thinking. (READ at IBD "America The Also-Ran")
Nations That Persecute It's Rich Is a Nation That Will Fail
There has never been a nation on this earth that has prospered while its politicians persecuted and badmouthed the rich. Never. I don't know who wrote this but read it and pass it on.
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation.
You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Obama's Socialized Medicine Plan is Deserving of One Action: REPEAL
Maybe there is still hope that the Republicans will do the right thing: Repeal this monstrosity and anti-American piece of legislation - Obamacare. The American people do not want this!
The same day that President Obama signed health-care reform, Sen. Jim DeMint introduced legislation to repeal it. “This fight isn’t over yet,” vowed the South Carolina Republican. “The American people cherish their freedom and will defend it this November.” His bill, which has 14 other Senate co-sponsors, may seem quixotic; it obviously won’t pass anytime soon, and the GOP is divided on how exactly “repeal” would work. Yet the broader movement that DeMint has championed may play a significant role in the 2010 elections.
Back in mid-January, well before the House of Representatives approved Obamacare, the free-market Club for Growth (CFG) began asking federal lawmakers, candidates, and ordinary citizens to pledge their support for a repeal-and-replace strategy. As of Thursday afternoon, 67 incumbent House and Senate members had signed the CFG’s online “Repeal It” pledge, along with 287 official candidates. None of them are Democrats (no surprise there), but the Republican signatories include moderates and conservatives alike.
...The language for candidates reads as follows: “I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Senate, to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.” (Read at National Review Online "Pledging to Repeal").
The same day that President Obama signed health-care reform, Sen. Jim DeMint introduced legislation to repeal it. “This fight isn’t over yet,” vowed the South Carolina Republican. “The American people cherish their freedom and will defend it this November.” His bill, which has 14 other Senate co-sponsors, may seem quixotic; it obviously won’t pass anytime soon, and the GOP is divided on how exactly “repeal” would work. Yet the broader movement that DeMint has championed may play a significant role in the 2010 elections.
Back in mid-January, well before the House of Representatives approved Obamacare, the free-market Club for Growth (CFG) began asking federal lawmakers, candidates, and ordinary citizens to pledge their support for a repeal-and-replace strategy. As of Thursday afternoon, 67 incumbent House and Senate members had signed the CFG’s online “Repeal It” pledge, along with 287 official candidates. None of them are Democrats (no surprise there), but the Republican signatories include moderates and conservatives alike.
...The language for candidates reads as follows: “I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state upon my election to the U.S. House of Representatives/U.S. Senate, to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.” (Read at National Review Online "Pledging to Repeal").
Monday, April 05, 2010
The Allies and Friends of America are Now to Be Dissed
Obama and Hillary turn on our friends and coddle up to dictators, middle Eastern thugs out to build a nuclear bomb and invite to our White House all sorts of leftists and socialists. What's going on? Here is another report to depress you by Charles Krauthammer.
What is it like to be a foreign ally of Barack Obama's America?
If you're a Brit, your head is spinning. It's not just the personal slights to Prime Minister Gordon Brown — the ridiculous 25-DVD gift, the five refusals before Brown was granted a one-on-one with The One.
Nor is it just the symbolism of Obama returning the Churchill bust that was in the Oval Office. Query: If it absolutely had to be out of Obama's sight, could it not have been housed somewhere else on U.S. soil rather than ostentatiously repatriated?
Perhaps it was the State Department official who last year denied there even was a special relationship between the U.S. and Britain, a relationship cultivated by every U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt.
And then there was Hillary Clinton's astonishing, nearly unreported (in the U.S.) performance in Argentina last month. She called for Britain to negotiate with Argentina over the Falklands.
For those who know no history — or who believe it began on Jan. 20, 2009 — and therefore don't know why this was an out-of-the-blue slap at Britain, here's the back story:
In 1982, Argentina's military junta invaded the (British) Falkland Islands. The generals thought the British, having long lost their taste for foreign lands, would let it pass. Besides, the Falklands have uncountably more sheep than people. They underestimated Margaret Thatcher (the Argentines, that is, not the sheep). She was not about to permit the conquest of a people whose political allegiance and ethnic ties are to Britain. She dispatched the navy. Britannia took it back. READ AT IBD "Administration Not Interested In Old Friends".
What is it like to be a foreign ally of Barack Obama's America?
If you're a Brit, your head is spinning. It's not just the personal slights to Prime Minister Gordon Brown — the ridiculous 25-DVD gift, the five refusals before Brown was granted a one-on-one with The One.
Nor is it just the symbolism of Obama returning the Churchill bust that was in the Oval Office. Query: If it absolutely had to be out of Obama's sight, could it not have been housed somewhere else on U.S. soil rather than ostentatiously repatriated?
Perhaps it was the State Department official who last year denied there even was a special relationship between the U.S. and Britain, a relationship cultivated by every U.S. president since Franklin Roosevelt.
And then there was Hillary Clinton's astonishing, nearly unreported (in the U.S.) performance in Argentina last month. She called for Britain to negotiate with Argentina over the Falklands.
For those who know no history — or who believe it began on Jan. 20, 2009 — and therefore don't know why this was an out-of-the-blue slap at Britain, here's the back story:
In 1982, Argentina's military junta invaded the (British) Falkland Islands. The generals thought the British, having long lost their taste for foreign lands, would let it pass. Besides, the Falklands have uncountably more sheep than people. They underestimated Margaret Thatcher (the Argentines, that is, not the sheep). She was not about to permit the conquest of a people whose political allegiance and ethnic ties are to Britain. She dispatched the navy. Britannia took it back. READ AT IBD "Administration Not Interested In Old Friends".
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