Video: Thin Skinned Obama blasts Bush at Naval Academy Graduation and fails to take responsibility for his own decisions or lack of them

Sometimes it appears that Obama is still fighting the presidential election campaign of 2008. He loses no opportunity to snipe at the previous Bush administration. He seems to forget that he is already in power for five months. It is now time for him to take responsibility for decisions which he makes. Obama's spending plans will triple the national debt which he inherited from Bush. Obama and the Democrat controlled Congress have avoided the hard decisions on public expenditure.
His speech at the Naval Academy Graduation in Annapolis contains the following:

"When America strays from our values, it not only undermines the rule of law, it alienates us from our allies, it energizes our adversaries and it endangers our national security and the lives of our troops."

Here Obama is hammering his predecessor as usual. Perhaps he might care to define what he means by values. He has a selective approach to the term. He has strayed from American values with his support for the Culture of Death. He is a pro abortion extremist. Tripling the national debt is certainly not in accord with American values. It is Voodoo economics. Increasing the influenece of the State is at odds with the beliefs of most Americans who are certainly not Socialists.

Obama plans to trample on the Freedom of Conscience of Doctors and Nurses who refuse to participate in abortions

On January 20th 2009 The Bush administration introduced a federal rule that allows doctors and nurses to decline to perform abortions for moral or religious reasons. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare workers can refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable. Without the policy, doctors, nurses and others could be forced to participate in abortions or to dispense the abortifacient morning after pill, even if to do so would violate their core beliefs. This was a major step forward in the fight to protect the life of the unborn.
Unfortunately Barack Obama-who is a pro abortion extremist-has decided to rescind a policy that protects the conscience and rights of American health care workers. On February 27th 2009 the proposal to rescind the Bush rule was quietly put forward by the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department.
The following appears in the Susan B Anthony List and emphasizes the gravity of the situation:

I recently received an e-mail from Mary, health care worker and SBA List member, in Virginia, who told me,
“I can assure you that my colleagues and myself will leave the profession rather than be forced to participate in such activities...I will not go against the beliefs I have lived my entire life following. Our country already has a critical shortage of nurses, doctors, and technicians to care for the growing population who require experienced, dedicated workers to provide the extremely difficult and highly technical procedures available. We have to take an oath to 'do no harm' before we receive our license to work. I honor my promises, no matter the cost to me personally."

A petition against Obama's proposals may be signed here. Obama is prepared to trample on the rights of the unborn and healthcare workers to fulfil his culture of death agenda. Has the man no regard to the Fifth Commandment?

Bin Laden urges Muslims to launch a holy war (jihad) to stop the Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip and Taunts the US

A Call for Jihad to Stop the Aggression against Gaza", was posted on websites on Wednesday.
Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a message- perfectly timed to coincide with the Obama inauguration and the Israeli offensive in Gaza- urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state. The use of the term Crusader-Zionist alliance will further ignite tensions between Christians and Muslims and is geared to inflame Muslim passions to even greater heights. The following are some of the key points of the message purporting to come from bin Laden.

"Our brothers in Palestine, you have suffered a lot.... the Muslims sympathise with you in what they see and hear. We, the mujahideen, sympathise with you also..We are with you and we will not let you down. Our fate is tied to yours in fighting the Crusader-Zionist coalition, in fighting until victory or martyrdom.
There is only one strong way to bring the return of Al-Aqsa and Palestine, and that is jihad in the path of God (a reference to the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem). The duty is to urge people to jihad and to enlist the youth into jihad brigades....Muslim nation, you are capable of defeating the Zionist entity with your popular capabilities and your great hidden strength — without the support of (Arab) leaders and despite the fact that most of (the leaders) stand in the barracks of the Crusader-Zionist alliance.

God has bestowed us with the patience to continue the path of jihad for another seven years, and seven and seven years..The question is, can America continue its war with us for several more decades to come? Reports and evidence would suggest otherwise.."

President Bush, the message said, was leaving his successor with a "heavy inheritance." Referring to Barack Obama the speaker said: "If he withdraws from the war, it is a military defeat. If he continues, he drowns in economic crisis." Here bin Laden is taunting the US.

George W Bush Achievements that will stand the test of time

Much has been written of George W Bush's alleged failures. Perhaps it is time to look at some of his achievements.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States federal law that was originally proposed by President George W Bush on January 23, 2001. Congress based its legislation on the Presidents proposals. It was the most sweeping reform of federal education policy in a generation. The legislation, which closely followed the President's agenda to improve America's public schools, passed Congress with overwhelming bipartisan majorities and signed into law on January 8, 2002.

After the September 11 attacks Bush beefed up security. The US removed the Taliban from power and shut down the terrorist training camps and liberated more than 25 million Afghans. The Bush administration has kept the US free of terrorist attacks since 9/11. This is no mean achievement.

The Bush administration introduced major initiatives to tackle aids and malaria.

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history. When the President launched this initiative in 2003, approximately 50,000 people in all of sub-Saharan Africa were receiving anti-retroviral treatment.
Ahead of schedule, the United States has fulfilled the President's commitment to support treatment for two million people. As of September 30, 2008, PEPFAR supported life-saving antiretroviral treatment for more than 2.1 million men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS around the world, including more than 2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
As of September 30, 2008, nearly 9.7 million people affected by HIV/AIDS in PEPFAR's focus countries had received compassionate care, including nearly 4 million orphans and vulnerable children. Globally, the United States is supporting care for more than 10.1 million people, including more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children.
Nearly 240,000 babies have been born HIV-free due to the support of the American people for programs to prevent mothers from passing the virus on to their children.
In July, President Bush signed into law H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act. This legislation will expand access to lifesaving antiretroviral drugs, prevent millions of new HIV infections, and provide compassionate care to millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS. Under this legislation, the next phase of the American people's generous commitment to those suffering from HIV/AIDS will support:
Treatment for at least 3 million people;
Prevention of 12 million new infections; and
Care for 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
Faith-based and community organizations are important partners in the implementation of PEPFAR, the President's Malaria Initiative, and other U.S.-funded efforts. President Bush's Faith-based and Community Initiative empowers these organizations so that they can help create an effective, multi-sectoral response to need. Faith-based and community organizations are uniquely positioned to promote HIV/AIDS stigma-reduction and prevention messages and provide counseling and testing, home care, clinical services, and antiretroviral treatment, particularly in some of the hardest-to-reach communities. Last year, 87 percent of PEPFAR partners were indigenous organizations, and nearly a quarter were faith-based. More details here

Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: George W. Bush signed legislation that entitled 41.7 million disabled and elderly beneficiaries of Medicare to new coverage of prescription drugs.

President Bush took a strong pro-life stance. He signed the ban on partial-birth abortions. President Bush also signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. This ensures that unborn children who survive botched abortions receive proper medical care instead of being left to die or purposefully killed after birth. He has nominated pro-life judges. Bush refused to sign FOCA.

Somali fighters threaten to impose Islamic rule on the US,Russia and Japan

Al Jazeera carries a blood curdling threat from Somali Islamic fighters to carry the fight to the US,Russia and Japan and to impose Islamic rule on these countries once they have defeated their enemies in Somalia. This threat from Al-Shabab must be a cause of grave concern not alone to Western intelligence services but also to Russsia which has got 20 million Moslems living within its boundaries. The US has designated al-Shabab as a foreign terrorist organization. It is believed to have close links to al Qaeda. A number of senior officials in this group have trained with al Qaeda.

An armed group battling Ethiopian forces in Somalia has told Al Jazeera it will take its fight beyond the country once it defeats its rivals....In Marka, just 90km from the capital Mogadishu, Ibrahim Almaqdis, one of the fighters, told Al Jazeera: "We wish to tell Bush and our opponents our real intentions.

"We will establish Islamic rule from Alaska and Chile to South Africa, Japan, Russia, the Solomon Islands and all the way to Iceland, be warned, we are coming."Abu Mansoor said that al-Shabab's ranks had been bolstered by foreign fighters and urged others to join, saying that a core principle of the group was that all Muslims are citizens of Somalia."Many have already died fighting our cause and many others are here with us," he said.
"We shall welcome any Muslim from any part of the world who wants to join us. We will allow him to wed our daughters and share our farms.........."

US More Than Doubles Emergency Cholera Aid to Zimbabwe (Bush African Policy Enlightened)

VOA reports that The Bush administration is more than doubling emergency U.S. aid to Zimbabwe to combat the cholera epidemic. The US blames on the government of President Robert Mugabe for the crisis.

The Bush administration is coupling its announcement of more aid to Zimbabwe with an escalation of its criticism of Mr. Mugabe, who it accuses of transforming Zimbabwe into a failed state.At a State Department news conference, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Henrietta Fore, said the United States is committing another $6.2 million in emergency aid to battle the cholera outbreak, on top of $4.6 million already provided. Fore said the cholera epidemic cannot be separated from the economic crisis in Zimbabwe stemming from years of misrule by Mr. Mugabe and the political stalemate stemming from this year's disputed elections.

"Over the years, Zimbabwe's health system has deteriorated, and infrastructure has collapsed. Poor water and sanitation systems, coupled with increasingly-inaccessible health and other services have caused the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe. This outbreak is a breakdown of Zimbabwe's government services, pure and simple," she said.The aid official said the new aid will focus on water, sanitation and hygiene programs and supplies, and that a team of U.S. disaster relief experts has been sent to Zimbabwe to coordinate the delivery of the assistance and assess further needs.Fore was joined at the press event by U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe James McGee, who is in Washington to receive a State Department Human Rights Week award for rights advocacy in Zimbabwe.McGee said the Zimbabwean president and cronies, who have rebuffed international calls for power-sharing with the opposition, are holding Zimbabwe hostage and said the once-prosperous country is rapidly deteriorating into what he termed failed state status...

President Bush has pursued an enlightened policy on Africa as the following report from USATODAY attests:

"The Bush administration has broadened and deepened U.S. policy towards Africa," said Melvin Foote, president and CEO of Constituency for Africa, a coalition of groups that work to improve conditions on the continent.
"I don't know if it got involved for all the right reasons, but once it got involved it realized this was a good thing to do," Foote said of the Bush administration's efforts to stabilize Africa's fledgling democracies and combat its daunting health problems.

AIDS a top priority

Most impressive of these efforts has been Bush's work to stop the spread of AIDS and treat its victims in sub-Saharan Africa, where there were 22 million people infected with HIV at the end of last year.
This year, Bush signed a bill that authorized up to $48 billion to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria — most of it to be spent in sub-Saharan Africa — from 2009 through 2013. Since 2003, the Bush administration has provided funding to increase the number of Africans receiving anti-retroviral drugs from 50,000 to about 1.4 million.......

Obamas plans to reverse Bush's policies on oil exploration a retrograde step

Barack Obama, the US president-elect, will use executive powers to reverse George Bush's policies on oil exploration in national parks- senior aide John Podesta has indicated. This is a retrograde step ,which is music to the ears of oil producing countries such as Venezuela and Iran. Once more the West can be held to ransom. This is economic madness as the US has huge untapped deposits of oil offshore and in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) Alaska.

Renewable energy will not plug the energy deficit which is gaining momentum. The net result for consumers is higher gas prices in the not too distant future. Perhaps Barack Obama would prefer a return to the horse and cart. Obama is on record as supporting higher oil and gas prices. Looks like he will be true to his word.

Russia, India and China intend to push ahead with economic development underpinned by a strong attachment to oil. Such countries are obviously not too concerned with the possible environmental consequences. The US economy will stagnate.

Whither the Republican Party-Obama victory a pyrrhic victory? Cosmetic politics wins the day

There is no denying the scale of Barrack Obamas victory in terms of Electoral College votes. However his share of the popular vote is 52%. It is hardly a wringing endorsement. McCain/Palin secured 46% in the teeth of an economic tsunami, which struck their campaign in September. In addition McCain /Palin had to fight against efforts to tie them to the unpopular Bush presidency. Sarah Palin was subjected to a vicious campaign by Democrats and their acolytes in the liberal media. Her appearance, her dress sense, her character, and her family were shredded in one of the ugliest witch-hunts ever witnessed in American politics. 70% of media coverage was favourable to Obama. CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC,MSNBC favoured Obama/Biden.

John McCain was painted by Democrats as out of touch. His age and health were called into question. Obama spent 600 million dollars to secure his election-a spending splurge unparalleled in US presidential history. The Obama campaign registered millions of Hispanics and African Americans. It pushed early voting to the limits.

Obama continuously emphasized a middle income tax cut. Each speech was peppered with references to change. All very nebulous, all very soothing. Music to the ears of young voters. And yet he barely broke 50%- driven by a favourable gale of political circumstances. The McCain/Palin performance is amazing in the teeth of such unfavourable circumstances.

The message is clear. The GOP is defeated but unbroken. The internal contradictions in Obama's policy positions will come back to haunt him. His promises of a middle income tax cuts cannot be fulfilled by rational economic means. Of course he can increase the deficit to fund tax cuts. Any such decision will court an economic catastrophe. He will of course increase capital gains and dividend taxes. Businesses face a tax hike. This is a recipe for disaster.
In addition he is beholden to workers in states such as Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania et al. He has promised to renegotiate NAFTA. He has promised increased protectionism. He has neatly conveyed the message to workers in old declining industries that he is their saviour. Such workers will soon become disillusioned as Obama’s promises fail to deliver.

The GOP must fiercely oppose increased spending plans of Obama and the Socialist/Liberal Democrat controlled Congress. Republicans must go back to basics and defend taxpayers. They must virulently oppose pork barrel projects. Bailouts must cease. They must learn from the organizational efforts of Obama. Efforts must be made to win back Hispanic voters.
By 2010 Democrats will have controlled Congress for four years. The electorate will vent its spleen on the big spenders.
By 2012 it is likely that the Democrats will have controlled Congress for six years whilst a Democrat will have held the presidency for four years. Obama and his friends in Congress will have no place to hide.
The GOP has excellent presidential material coming through. Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal amongst others are likely to seek a presidential nomination.

Socks the Cat For President/3rd Party Write-In

Ingrid Betancourt Libertad Libertad (Freedom):Slideshow

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A chronicle of the 2322 days suffering endured with tremendous bravery by Ingrid Betancourt and which thank God ended on July 2nd. This slideshow has some exceptional pictures of Ingrid and her family and of the demonstrations and campaign seeking her release. (Cronica del ultraje que durante 2322 dias sufrio, con enorme valor nuestra compatriota Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio, y que gracias a Dios termino en Julio ).

Bush Imposes New Sanctions on Burma

According to VOA President Bush is imposing additional sanctions against Burma's government and wants China and India must do more to pressure Burma's military rulers......................
Mr. Bush sanctioned most of the top military commanders in Burma last month after at least ten people were killed when security forces opened fire on the largest demonstrations in decades.
The new measures freeze U.S. assets of another eleven members of the military government, tighten export controls to Burma, and allow the U.S. Treasury Department greater authority to sanction those responsible for human rights abuses and public corruption.
"Business as usual is unacceptable," said President Bush. "So I applaud the efforts of the European Union and nations like Australia that have announced targeted sanctions on the Burmese regime."
"I commend nations such as Japan that have curtailed their assistance in response to the atrocities. I appreciate nations such as Singapore, and the Philippines, and Indonesia who have spoken out against the atrocities," he added.
The European Union this week decided to impose an import embargo on timber, gems and precious metals from Burma..............................
Comment: President Bush who has shipped heavy criticism on the Iraq issue has certainly laid down a marker on Burma. For this he deserves much credit. Similarly pressure from the EU Japan and Australia is most welcome.

Unfortunately the irresponsible attitude of China, India and Russia undermines efforts to remove the junta. China has neutered the UN Security Council on this issue through a cynical use of the veto. It is time to reform the Security Council and remove China from permanent membership. After all he who pays the piper calls the tune. The largest contributors to the UN are the US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy in that order. The US contributes $423 million, Japan contributes $332 million but China only contributes $35 million. This miserable $35 million contribution is sufficient to render The UN powerless on Burma. No wonder the junta leaders are impervious to realism. Japan should replace China on the Security Council. It is time for the UN to ignore China.

Strangely there is a reluctance to threaten a boycott of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. It is now or never.

George Bush in surprise visit to Iraq

In a surprise move George Bush visited Iraq on Monday September 3rd, accompanied by his defence secretary, Robert Gates, his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, as well as the commander of America’s forces in Iraq, for a meeting with the country's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki.

While General Petraeus will will state that some progress has been made on the military front the warring Shia and Sunni factions are as far apart as ever. There is little prospect of a unified Shia and Sunni government evolving. This is the kernel of the problem. The Shia majority having long suffered at the hands of the minority Sunnis is in no mood to be too conciliatory. The situation appears hopeless. Partition is inevitable.

This visit may boost George Bushes popularity in the polls temporarily but the reality is that he must develop a coherent strategy for withdrawal of US troops. No fixed date for final withdrawal should be set. This would play into the hands of terrorists. The process of withdrawal must have begun prior the 2008 elections. It must be gradual and noticeable. Otherwise the GOP will suffer severe losses in the Congressional Elections and lose the Presidency in 2008.

The British have shown the way in Basra. A planned withdrawal is the only realistic approach. It is time for Iraqis to assume responsibility for their own affairs.

Bush administration crumbling???

It all started with Donald Rumsfeld's resignation on 8 November 2006. Since then it has been downhill all the way for the Bush administration.
The following month John Bolton, Bush’s ambassador to the UN, exited. He realised that his appointment would not be ratified by a Democratic Senate.
Tony Snow Bush's chief spokesman will go on September 3.

On August 13 Karl Rove, 56, announced he will be leaving the administration on 31 August.

Today Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced his resignation. At least 9 more front line people have departed since the 2006 mid term elections. The inner circle is wracked by feuding and infighting.

Bush must focus on a small number of key goals and seek to bring them to fruition. He has 17 months to wrack up achievements that will assure him of his place in history. The portents are not good.