Red Line for Syria; Green Light for Iran: The Obama Foreign Policy?

President Obama drew a red line in the sand two years ago if the Syrian regime used weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Syria crossed that line at least twice, such that it could no longer be ignored by an often-blind Administration (cf. Benghazi). President Obama also said the Assad Regime must fall, but, unlike Libya, did not even supply air support to the rebels. Sand is slippery. The President then threatened to actually take military action against the Assad Regime, but soon weaseled out. His recent foreign policy consisted of National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who was duped by the Benghazi Talking Points, threatening Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai that the United States will pull its troops out of Afghanistan in 2014 if Karzai does not sign the recently agreed to agreement. Karzai would love to see the Americans leave. Threatening to do what your opponent wishes you to do is a stupid form of negotiation. Iran’s President Khamenei calls the United States the Great Satan and that Israel is a “rabid dog.” He wants to wipe the Zionist country off the map. We want to appease. The Obama Administration therefore entered into an interim agreement whereby the effective sanctions against Iran will be relaxed in exchange for the Iranian government temporarily slowing down uranium production from 10,000 centrifuges. The United Nations voted that sanctions should not be lifted unless Iran ceased all uranium production. Remind me the next time President Obama says we should follow the UN. President Obama made no attempt to secure the freedom of the American citizens held prisoner by the Iranian regime. The four page document is full of “creative ambiguity.” Munich betrayed the Czechs, but did not cause World War II. Hitler was hell bent on conquest, lebensraum and the Holocaust. Geneva betrayed the Israelis and Saudis, and may well bring Armageddon to the Mid East. Pity the poor Democrats. The ObamaCare disaster has alerted them that the President is not a brilliant politician, but a Pied Piper of electoral defeat, as in 2010. They are caught between party loyalty, loyalty to Israel, and their reelections. Here are the statements of world and American leaders. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it an “historic mistake.” New York Senator Charles Schumer said the “deal doesn’t seem proportional …. Iran simply freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions.” Secretary of State John Kerry affirmed “We have no illusions.” The United States is entering negotiations “with eyes absolutely wide open.” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, generally regarded as a dim bulb, said the deal poses minimal risk to the United States. Iran poses a major risk to our soldiers in the Mid East, a grave risk when placed on a ballistic missile aimed at the United States, and an apocalyptic threat to Israel. The Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, proclaimed the agreement recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium. Saudi Arabia has been eerily silent. They believe actions speak stronger than words. A successful foreign policy consists of knowing the difference between allies and enemies. President Obama understands the difference. He disses our friends and trusts our enemies. Our most steadfast ally in the international stage is England. Israel is our strongest ally in the slippery Mid East. Egypt was a strong ally until the “Arab Spring.” One of President Obama’s first acts was to insult Great Britain, followed by expressing his contempt and loathing for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He forced Egypt’s pro-Western President Hassan Mubarak out of office, and has since managed to antagonize both the military regime and the Islamists in Egypt. President Obama has the DNA of the true left, the DNA of William Ayres, ingrained into his psyche. The extreme left wingnut view of America is that the United States has been wrong in the world, an international bully. Therefore, we need forgiveness from our foes and recognize that our former friends are our true enemies. One rumor is that the Obama Administration is now in secret talks with Hezbollah. Prior to his reelection, President Obama made it clear to Russian President Medvedev on March 26, 2012 that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with contentious issues. He made clear to French President Sarkozy his contempt for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. President Obama won reelection. He is free. He is a liberated man. He no longer needs to worry about the Jewish vote, or contributions. He can follow his true instincts. Dump Israel and make peace with the mullahs on their terms.

My Thanks on Thanksgiving

To God for my incredible wife, the partner in my life, and our two wonderful sons To the Pilgrims and Puritans, Squanto, the Wampanoags and the American turkey To the settlers, mountain men, 49ers, grubstakers, land grantees, cowboys, and wildcatters who conquered the American wilderness To the citizen soldiers, the Minute Men, Militia, Continental Army, National Guard, Reserves and Active Duty who won our freedom and then fought to maintain it To the American people who finally realize the falsity of President Obama, which even the media can no longer gloss over To President Reagan who revived America from the Carter Malaise To President George W. Bush who brought security to the United States after 9/11 To our Founding Fathers who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights To Fr. Stephen A Privett, S.J. and Mary Sue Coleman, who are retiring after long successful runs as Presidents of the University of San Francisco and Michigan respectively To Ohio Northern University, which started my academic career, Dean Howard I. Kalodner and Western New England College which saved my career, and President James A. Doti for letting me part of the incredible academic growth of Chapman University To the thousands of students over 41 ½ years who have made teaching a labor of love rather than just a job To Rupert Murdock, Roger Ailes and Fox News for an alternative presentation of the news To the builders of America: John Jacob Astor The Cabots and Lowells Thomas A. Edison, George Westinghouse and Alexander Graham Bell J. P. Morgan, Amedeo Pietro Giannini, Walter Wriston, Charles Merrill,Vharles Schwarb Henry J. Kaiser, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, Henry George Steinbrenner, II. Commodore Vanderbilt, James J. Hill, Theodore Judah, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, Colis P. Huntington and Leland Stanford. John D. Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, H.L. Hunt, Joseph N. Pew, John Paul Getty, Leon Hess and Howard Hughes The Wright Brothers, William Boeing, Allen & Malcolm Loughead, John Northrup, Igor Sikorsky, Kelly Johnson and Simon Ramo Friedrich Weyerhauser George Huntington Hartford, R. H. Macy, Frank W. Woolworth and Sam Walton Madam C. W. Walker and Robert L. Johnson. Frederick Terman, William Hewlett, David Packard and Arnold C. Beckman. Robert Gordon Sproul and Clark Kerr Thomas Watson and Steve Jobs. Charles F. Dolan and John Malone Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, Charles Kettering, Frank Seiberling, Harvey Firestone, Cyrus McCormick, Sr., John Deere R. H. Macy, F. W. Woolworth, Sam Walton Phil Knight Robert Moses, William Mulholland, Griffith Griffith, John McLaren and Michael O’Shaughnessy. Conrad Hilton, J. Willard Marriott, the Pritzkers, and Kemmon Wilson James I. Irvine, George Argyros, William Levitt, Del E. Webb, Edward J. De Bartolo, Sr., Captain Richard King Herbert Henry Dow, Eleuthere Irenee du Pont, and Samuel Curtis Johnson, Sr. Meyer Guggenheim George Halas, Walt Disney Ray Kroc, Dave Thomas, Carl Karcher, Sr. To Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Cesar Chavez & Delores Huerta

Where Were You 50 Years Ago on November 22?

Where Were You Fifty Years Ago? Where were you The Day the Music Died? Where were you the day the President died? Where were you on the day that a telegenic, charismatic, youthful, but ineffectual, President, was assassinated? Where were you the day the New Frontier became the Great Society? Where were you the day that changed America? Where were you on the day that that the Presidency passed to a President, who could enact tax cuts and civil rights legislation? Where were you on the day that unleashed America’s greatest social change since the Great Depression? Where were you on the day Camelot died, but remained frozen in time? Where were you on the day America lost its post-Depression, post-World War II spirit of invincibility? Where were you on the day that the Democratic Party turned left? Where were you the day that liberals slimed Dallas and the Dallas oil barons with the assassination of President Kennedy? Where were you on the day that unleashed conspiracy theories on the United States? Where were you on the day that guaranteed the Vietnam War? Where were you on the day Pierre Salinger told his USF classmate that it would be great for American morale for the NFL to play its Sunday games? Where were you on the day the Dallas Police Force was not up the job? Where were you on the day when the afternoon teacher said: “I don’t care what the Supreme Court said. We need to pray?” Questions, questions, questions? We were going into gym when told the President was shot and then received the fatal news when gym was over.

The Fatal Flaw With ObamaCare

ObamaCare is destined to fail. Not because Obama lied and millions paid, although they are. Not because ObamaCare is no longer an abstraction, but is now reality, no matter how grim the reality is. Not because the “Affordable Care Act” is unaffordable to millions, although it is. Not because the “affordability” cost to many is obtained through subsidies, which are unsustainable over time. Countries have met violent reactions when attempting to rein in food and fuel subsidies. Not because the true cost of healthcare will rise for most Americans, although it will. Not because of the rising premiums, which will force millions of “middle class” families to forego health insurance. The high premiums and high deductibles make ObamaCare unaffordable to Americans, the vats majority of Americans, not receiving the subsidies. Not because the increasing unavailability of doctors and hospitals. Not because the penalties for ignoring the individual mandate are easily evaded due to the lack of enforcement powers in the IRS Not because it will be a bureaucratic nightmare, which would make Kafka proud. The British Healthcare System is the largest employer in Western Europe. Not because of the cancelled policy holders, which will have to seek insurance elsewhere. ObamaCare will fail because it violates the fundamental ethos of America. America was founded on individual liberty - the individual, the citizen, the people. ObamaCare is the greatest loss of individual freedom in the history of America. It is a program of the elites forced upon an unwilling people. Today’s elites, like the Leninists of a century ago, know what’s best for the rest of us. The Leninist/elitist mentality failed in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Communist China, Cuba, Vietnam, and even with the Pilgrims. It will fail in the United States. It denies freedom of choice. It denies personal choice – the right to choose one’s coverage, one’s doctor’s, one’s hospital, one’s insurance. It is forcing upon us something “better” in their eyes, while often exempting themselves. They are depriving us of free will and determinism. The dictat of the elite in President Obama’s words was to remove people from their “sub-par” policies. In exchange for dropping the “sub-par” policies, a hypothetical 24 year old single gay male in San Francisco needs to have insurance for maternity care and pediatric dental care. The elites know what’s best for us in health insurance, in education (the “common core”), and food. America was founded on the belief in the Individual, not the belief in a monolithic central government that would provide for us cradle to grave, the Julia of the Obama reelection campaign. Power in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights was vested in the people and the states. The Federal Government was to be a government of limited powers. Chief Justice Roberts fundamentally transformed America in his twisted ObamaCare decision. ObamaCare will fail because it subordinates the individual to the state.

Today is the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address: Where is President Obama?

Edward Everett delivered the main address at Gettysburg 150 years ago. His two hours long horation was eclipsed by President Lincoln’s 272 words, 272 simple words expressing America in two minutes. The memorable Gettysburg Address, often memorized by school children. The Obama horations, memorized by none, not even the President. President Obama professes to admire President Lincoln. President Obama was twice sworn in on the Lincoln Bible. So where is the great orator of our day? He’s not at Gettysburg. President Lincoln freed the slaves. President Obama is the first African American President of the United States. Where is the President who delivers beautifully cadenced poetry? Is he on the golf course? They exist in Gettysburg and Camp David. Is he out campaigning, yet again? He claims to have one campaign left in him. Is he traveling on vacation? Camp David is only a few miles from Gettysburg. It’s a short drive in the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside. Is TOTUS broke? President Lincoln did not need a teleprompter. He spoke from the heart. President Lincoln handwrote his speeches, often toiling over the precise words to use. President Lincoln was a man of simple, basic values. President Lincoln, as was common in his times, was essentially self-educated, but widely read in the classics and history. President Obama spoke at the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s great “I Have a Dream Speech.” President Obama is strangely silent on the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. President Obama sent the Secretary of the Interior to Gettysburg. Who is the Secretary of the Interior? Presidents Lincoln and Obama came to Washington from Illinois. Is President Obama perchance paying a visit today to the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. or the Lincoln Monument in Springfield? Not that we know of. President Lincoln delivered a short speech, expressing American values. His magnificent phrases of the American government “of the people, by the people, for the people ” in a nation dedicated to the principle that “all men are created equal.” President Obama campaigned on class warfare. President Obama uttered “If you like your insurance plan, you can keep it. Period.” That’s the phrase defining the President today. President Obama’s orations are cadenced, but empty. His phrases “Audacity of Hope,” An economy built to last, ”Nation-building at home,” “We are the ones we have been waiting for,” and “Yes we can” were cribbed from others. His great campaign slogan “Hope and Change” is now “Hope for Change.” President Obama realizes, deep down, that he cannot overshadow President Lincoln. President Obama is apparently in the White House mulling over his falling polls and failing ObamaCare. Presidential advisor Dan Pfeiffer said the President was too busy with "that website thing." Maybe that's the problem. Is the President trying to write code? President Lincoln grew in office. President Obama is sowing a shrinking Presidency. President Lincoln was not governed by polls, but by America.

More Lawyers Behaving Badly

When in doubt, blame the lawyers in movies and TV shows, unless they are devoured in outhouses by dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Enough lawyers screw up to give the rest of us a bad image. Here’s a few recent examples. John Bruster Loyd filed suit against Carnival Cruise Lines on behalf of his clients, Luke Cash and Ami Gallagher. The claim was that they were passengers on the Carnival cruise ship, Triumph, last February when it was stranded at sea without services and amenities. Their wedding had allegedly been scuttled because of the ship’s breakdown. The loving coupe had never been adrift at sea for a week because they were never passengers on the Triumph. They were on land when an engine fire cut off the ship’s power supply. So much for their “deplorable, unsafe, and unsanitary conditions!” Loyd’s response was that he made a mistake, and proceeded to file an amended complaint against the cruise line. The saying is that lawyers who represent themselves have a fool for a client. Divorce and custody disputes can bring out the worse in people, including lawyers. Daniel Evan Schorr of New York didn’t expect his 4 year old son’s reaction on the Tuesday visitation night. He wanted to take his son to the Corner Café on Third Avenue, but the child demanded his American right of McDonalds. The child threw a temper tantrum. Daniel responded by saying either any restaurant but McDonalds or no dinner. The child chose no dinner. Daniel’s action is unwise in the ongoing divorce and child custody proceedings. The soon-to-be ex Mrs. Schorr won bonus points with Junior by taking him to McDonalds, but that’s not how the McDonalds saga ended. A court appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Marilyn Schiller, filed a report saying Daniel was “wholly incapable of taking care of his son.” Schorr’s degrees from NYU and Oxford apparently did not provide him with wisdom. He has now filed a defamation suit against Dr. Schiller. A hearing is scheduled in December to determine if Daniel Schorr is a fit parent. Some lawyers are recidivist over-billers. Ney McDaniel, a contract lawyer for the Iowa public defender’s office, billed for more than 24 hours on 80 days. The state claims $178,000 in improper payments. Ben Swift, a court appointed attorney in Dayton, billed courts for indigent defense clients an average of nine hours per day, seven days a week for 365 straight days. Another cliché is that “The law is a jealous mistress,” but this one billed 29 hours for one day and over 20 hours for other days. It is theoretically possible to bill for 27 hours in one day by flying from the east coast to the west coast, but Ben was staying in Dayton. Tal Rappleyea of Kinderhook, New York represented several towns and Columbia County in New York. He billed the multiple clients 24.75 hours on June 14, 2010 and 26 hours on September 26, 2010. It may not be a record but he billed for 93.75 hours in one week in September. None of this though matched the antics of two married lawyers, Jill and Kent Easter, in Orange County, California. Kelli Peters was the PTO President and an-after hours volunteer at Playa Vista Elementary School. Jill was upset when Kelli was slow in bringing the Easter’s son to the front after school ended one afternoon in February 2010. They got into a verbal confrontation in which Jill said “I’ll get you” to Kelli. Kent, or was it Jill, drove to the Peters home early on February 16, 2011 and planted a bad of drugs in Kelli’s unlocked PT Cruiser. The plastic sandwich bag contained 40 Vicodin and Percocet pills, 17 grams of marijuana, and a marijuana pipe. He later phoned the police claiming he had seen Peters driving erratically in the school’s parking lot. Police detained Kelli for two hours, gave her a field sobriety check, and searched her house with her permission. They found no evidence that she used or possessed drugs, and did not arrest her. The investigating officer smelt a rat. The lawyers did it. Further investigation showed that the call was made from the Business Center at the Island Hotel Newport Beach, a few blocks from Kent’s office. Video cameras showed a man looking like Kent entering and leaving the business center. DNA from the Easters, but not the Peters, was found on the pills. Kent has admitted to making the phone call. The police also found plastic bags matching the planted bag in the Easter’s residence. Jill Easter pled guilty to one count of false imprisonment two weeks ago. Kent is currently on trial on the same charge. He’s been fired from his firm, and the once loving couple have separated. Both will lose their law licenses. Her degrees are from Berkeley and Boalt Hall; his from Stanford and UCLA Law School, proving once again that pedigree is no guarantee of intelligence. There may be no honor among thieves or married lawyers. Kent’s defense is that he was bullied by Jill; he lacks a backbone, or as we would say in the O.C. “cojones.” He claims to be the trusting husband of a dishonest wife, who also cheated on him. He also asserts Jill panted the drugs.

The New Cry: It's Not the President: It's the Insurance Companies

The ObamaCare War on Insurance Companies “When in doubt, demonize!” That is the Obama campaign strategy: “Fat cat bankers,” overpaid corporate execs, corporate execs, greedy oil companies, conventions in Las Vegas, and insurance companies have been his targets in the past. He has special animus for the Tea Party. President Obama is not cancelling insurance policies. He said you could keep your policy. The “grandfather clause” guaranteed it. He meant it. Noone forced the insurance companies to cancel policies. That is the Party Line. The public won’t understand that Kathleen Sebelius and Health and Human Services issued regulations three years ago that effectively nullified the grandfather clause. The effect of the regulationss was that the grandfather clause would be inapplicable if he insurer made any major modification since 2010. Such modifications could include increased co-pays or premiums or changes in coverage. Even a $5 increase in premiums would nullify the nullify the grandfather clause. The insurers warned the Obama Administration three years ago that they would have to cancel the policies. That was the plan of the Obama Administration. The insurance companies were implicit in the enactment of ObamaCare and the cancellation of the existing private health insurance policies. They were led to believe that ObamaCare would result in a flood of new customers that would result in higher profits. Existing policyholders would have to buy new policies at higher premiums and deductibles. That was their illusion. The Administration and insurers are truly shocked at the backlash of the 5% and their dependents now cut off of their policies, the “sub-standard,” policies they were satisfied with. The insurers now realize that their actuarial assumptions are wrong. Their costs through adverse selection will greatly exceed premiums. The good news for the largest health insurers, such as Aetna, CIGNA, and United HealthCare is that they wisely stayed out of most of the exchanges for individual policies. The insureds under the new plans will receive substantial premium increases next year at this time. A dozen insurance execs met with the President today. They could not be assuaged after the President double crossed them yesterday. He announced yesterday that he will allow the insurance companies to continue to issue existing policies even if they did not meet all the requirements of ObamaCare. He knows that the regulation and issuance of the policies is subject to the jurisdiction of state insurance regulators. An insurance company cannot unilaterally issue policies in a state. Neither the insurers nor regulators are amenable to reissue the cancelled policies, all 5 million to date. They would undoubtedly lose substantial sums of money in doing so, and then have to re-rescind them next year. They also know that the President lacks the right to ignore the mandatory provisions in the statute. Yet the President yesterday tried to shift the onus to the insurers for cancelling he existing private health insurance policies and their failure to reissue them. The President gave them permission, and they will not comply. Thus, it is the insurers’ fault – not his. The Congressional Democrats are echoing the President’s words like shrieking banshees. The President was conciliatory in requesting the insurers reopen the existing policies. It’s the insurers who will appear unreasonable. Noone likes them anyways; they will make the perfect patsies in the 2014 and 2016 elections.