Jon Stewart Grills Susan Rice on Obama Admin’s Alleged Mismanagement of Benghazi Terror Attack
[TheBlaze.com]
Questions continue to swirl surrounding the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Among the most confounding factors were inaccurate comments made by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice in the wake of the assault. The embattled administration official appeared last night on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” to discuss the government’s handling of the crisis.
During the exchange, the host challenged Rice on some of the confusing and contradictory information that emerged in the wake of the terror attack. The ambassador also issued some tough words for those who still believe the Obama administration is hiding key information.
Stewart wasted no time launching into his questioning. Almost as soon as Rice sat down, he asked the ambassador why she was selected to speak out on Sunday morning shows and pondered why someone else more appropriate (i.e. Hillary Clinton or another official) wasn’t chosen. The ambassador gave this long-winded answer:
“I’ve spent many-a-Sunday doing the Sunday shows. In this case, Secretary Clinton, who had been asked originally to do it, felt that she didn’t want to, couldn’t do it that week, having been through quite an intense week with the loss of our colleagues in Benghazi, the violence against our embassies all over the Arab and Muslim world and then — also that Friday having to join President Obama in greeting the families of our fallen colleagues and bringing their bodies back.”
Occupiers Arrested With Weapons, Bomb Making Materials
[Breitbart.com]
December 31, 2012
NY Post: The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend — a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist — have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.
Morgan Gliedman — who is nine-months pregnant — and her baby daddy, Aaron Greene, 31, also had instructions on making bombs, including a stack of papers with a cover sheet titled, “The Terrorist Encyclopedia,’’ sources told The Post yesterday. People who know Greene say his political views are “extreme,” the sources said. Morgan Gliedman, daughter of Realtor Susyn Schops Gliedman and prominent doctor Paul Gliedman, was busted at this building with her OWS boyfriend. Cops found the stash in the couple’s West Ninth Street home Saturday when they went there to look for Gliedman, 27, who was wanted for alleged credit-card theft.
A detective discovered a plastic container with seven grams of a white chemical powder called HMTD, which is so powerful, cops evacuated several nearby buildings. Police also found a flare launcher, which is a commercial replica of a grenade launcher; a modified 12 gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun; ammo; and nine high-capacity rifle magazines, the sources said. Cops also allegedly uncovered papers about creating homemade booby traps, improvised submachine guns, and various handwritten notebooks containing chemical formulas. The couple’s arrest Saturday was a sharp turn from their privileged backgrounds.
EXCLUSIVE — Soros-Backed Attack Dog Expands War on Fox
[Breitbart.com]
by Capitol Confidential 21 Dec 2012, 7:31 AM PDT
“Gabe Sherman is Jayson Blair on steroids.” That’s one tough assessment of Gabriel Sherman, the over-eager reporter and from-a-great-distance biographer of Roger Ailes. Who said it? A well-placed source close to Fox News. And the source makes a very strong case.
Jayson Blair, of course, was the serially dishonest reporter for The New York Times who was fired, finally, in 2003.
Today, in the opinion of many, Sherman is following in Blair’s disastrous and disgraced footsteps. On December 17, under the headline, “Rupert Murdoch Wants Stricter Gun Laws After Newtown, But Fox News Doesn’t Get the Memo,” Sherman falsely claimed that Fox News had put out an “edict” against discussions of gun control in the wake of the Newtown, CT shooting. The next day, Sherman’s claim was knocked down here at Breitbart.com, among other news outfits.
Now, having been nailed for his incorrect story, Sherman is currently scrambling to save his reputation by enlisting his Fox-phobic allies in the MSM.
Evil Comes Calling
[American Spectator]
By Matt Purple on 12.18.12 @ 6:09AM
Searching for answers after Newtown and finding little.
It’s been three days since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., and America is still in a daze.
We see it everywhere. At coffee shops, people sit at tables, talking uncomfortably, stifling tears. At malls, shoppers meander while the Christmas music drifting from the speakers sounds flippant, even mocking. At Sunday mass, burly men dab their eyes during the homily.
We’ve endured a string of shootings lately, from the movie theater in Aurora to the mall in Clackamas. But this one hit harder, bringing a collective grief and loss that hasn’t been felt in America since 9/11. News anchors keep telling us that Newtown is the second worst school shooting in our history, after the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. But really, it’s the worst. Most of those killed were children, six- and seven-year-olds, shot three to 11 times with a semiautomatic rifle. The scene was the most disturbing that Connecticut’s veteran medical examiner had ever seen.
Brian Terry family sues officials over Fast and Furious
[Politico.com]
PHOENIX — The family of a slain Border Patrol agent has sued federal officials over the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation.
Agent Brian Terry was mortally wounded on Dec. 14, 2010, in a firefight north of the Arizona-Mexico border between border agents and five men who had sneaked into the country to rob marijuana smugglers.
Two assault rifles acquired by a straw buyer for the gun smuggling ring targeted in the “Fast and Furious” operation were found in the aftermath of the shootout near Nogales.
Federal authorities conducting “Fast and Furious” have faced tough criticism for allowing suspected straw gun buyers for the ring to walk away from gun shops in Arizona with weapons, rather than arrest them and seize weapons.
The investigation was launched in 2009 to catch trafficking kingpins, but agents lost track of about 1,400 of the more than 2,000 weapons involved.
(more…)
Extortion call, somber visit bring nightmare home for parents of Marine jailed in Mexico [UPDATE: Hammer was released before Christmas]
[FNC]
By Joseph J. Kolb
Published December 13, 2012
Jon Hammar Jr. has been held in Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison since August.
The father of a U.S. Marine jailed in Mexico after being caught with his grandfather’s antique shotgun heard the fear in his son’s voice and felt helpless.
The phone call came at midnight from Mexico’s notorious CEDES prison, where Jon Hammar, Jr. has been held since August. The caller demanded $1,800, then put Hammar on to drive the point home.
“They’re serious, Dad,” Jon Hammar, Sr. heard his son say. “I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”
“They’re serious, Dad. I’ll pay you back; they are going to kill me.”
- Jon Hammar, Jr., speaking by phone from a Mexican jail
NY Observer: Quran ads debut in NY “Pamela Geller is at it again”
[AtlasShrugs.com]
Posted: December 07, 2012
The quran ads are coming to New York on the 17th, and be glad of it. The NY Observer tries to incite anger and hate towards the message. But it is the calls for jihad, genocide and violence in the quran that are the real incitement to hate.
‘New Anti-Islam Ads to Debut This Month, Now With 25% More MTA Disclaimer” NY Observer, December 6, 2012
Pamela Geller is at it again.The outspoken blogger and Executive Director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative has just purchased a slew of advertising space in several subway stations and on numerous Metro-North platforms in order to display her newest anti-Islam message.
Her latest ads, shared exclusively with The Observer, will feature a panorama of the sky the moment the World Trade Center burst into flames in 2001, accompanied by a quote from the Quran that reads “Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers.”
NYT: Arms Shipments ‘Secretly’ Approved by Obama Ended Up in Hands of Islamic Militants
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on December 5, 2012 at 10:10pm by
Jason Howerton
Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 11, (Credit: AP)
The Obama administration “secretly” approved arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, however, U.S. officials quickly became concerned as evidence suggested Qatar was handing the weapons over to Islamic militants, The New York Times reports, citing a number of United States officials and foreign diplomats.
There is no evidence available that suggests the U.S.-approved weapons were involved in the deadly terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, which left four Americans dead on Sept. 11. But the revelation is sure to ignite speculation.
More from The New York Times:
But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government. The experience in Libya has taken on new urgency as the administration considers whether to play a direct role in arming rebels in Syria, where weapons are flowing in from other countries.
Egypt’s president sets date for constitution vote
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published December 01, 2012
Dec. 1, 2012: Supporters of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi rally in front of Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. (AP)
CAIRO – Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi called Saturday for a referendum in two weeks on a contentious draft constitution, setting a date for another milestone in the country’s transition to democracy. Widespread disputes over the charter and Morsi’s recent seizure of near absolute power have marred the process and thrown the country into turmoil.
As has been the case in nearly two years since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, what should have been a cause for national celebration turned into dueling protest between opponents and supporters of how the transition has been managed– largely divided along Islamist and secular lines.
More than 100,000 Morsi supporters organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and ultraconservative Salafi groups took to the streets of Cairo and other cities a day after a massive opposition demonstration against his recent decrees giving him immunity from judicial oversight and the charter that was rushed through an assembly packed with allies.
The presidency has been locked in a tug of war with the powerful judiciary and secular and Christian activists since Morsi granted himself far-reaching powers on Nov. 22 in a bid to pre-empt an expected decision by the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday to dissolve the constitutional panel, as it had done the Islamist-led parliament earlier this year.
Israeli envoy meets with Egyptian officials about ceasefire with Hamas
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published November 18, 2012
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – An Israeli envoy held talks with Egyptian officials Sunday on a ceasefire in his country’s offensive on Gaza as Israel widened the range of its targets, striking more than a dozen homes of Hamas militants and two media officials. Seven civilians were killed, including five children, in the conflict’s highest one-day civilian toll yet, according to security officials and witnesses.
Upon arrival at Cairo’s international airport, the Israeli official was whisked away directly from the tarmac and taken to talks with Egyptian authorities, Egyptian security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. They did not identify the Israeli official.
Egypt has been leading international efforts to broker a truce since Israel launched its offensive five days earlier aimed at stopping Gaza rocket attacks. But Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers remain far apart on any terms.
Thank you to our defenders of freedom
[HumanEvents.com]
November 12, 2012
By: Debbie Lee
It is with great respect, admiration and deep understanding that I write this letter to honor each and every Veteran that has served or is serving our blessed Country! I understand and appreciate all who have given so much for me, so that I could enjoy my daily freedoms.
I was able to sleep well in the safety of my bed last night, because you served.
I was able to pray before my meal this morning in a public place without fearing arrest, because you gave.
I am able to freely speak my mind and voice my opinion without fear of retaliation against me or my family, because you cared.
I am able to stand up for what I believe in and not have a Dictators thoughts and opinions forced down my throat, because you stood up to the call to defend.
I am free to worship the one true God who created me in His image, because you were selfless in your actions.
To each one of you I speak from the bottom of my heart when I say Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are my heroes and I want to remember and honor you this Veterans Day. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of the sacrifices you and your families have given!
What laser capability did Benghazi team have?
[FoxNews.com]
By Jennifer Griffin
CWN Posted: November 06, 2012
Has Libya attack become ‘politicized’?
Senior retired military officer wants answers on…
Sources who have debriefed the team that was at the CIA annex the night of the attack in Benghazi say that the CIA operators from the Global Response Staff, or GRS, were equipped with Mark 48 machine guns and had two types of laser capability. Each weapon had both a “passive” as well as a “visible” laser that could be used against the Libyan attackers.
The presence of laser capability on the roof of the CIA annex confirms what Fox News sources that night in Benghazi originally said, which is that they had laser capability and for 5 hours and 15 minutes were wondering where the usual overhead air support was, especially since, according to this source, they radioed from the annex beginning as early as midnight asking for it.
The presence of lasers raises more questions about why air support was not sent to Benghazi even protectively once it became clear that the fighting had followed the CIA rescue team back to the annex.
U.S. military officials say they “thought the fighting was over” after the team left the consulate and that there was a lull in the fighting.
Final NPR Poll: Romney Leads By One, Up Big With Independents
[Townhall.com]
Political Editor, Townhall.com
October 30, 2012 01:07 PM EST
__________________________________
National polling is going to be tough to come by over the next few days, as pollsters will struggle to get remotely accurate samples from much of the Eastern seaboard. Indeed, Gallup and a few other firms are suspending their tracking polls until the mess is cleared up. For what it’s worth, Rasmussen’s tracker still has Obama locked in at 47 percent, with Romney ahead by two. The Republican maintains a six-point advantage on the economy, and for the first time, fewer than 50 percent of voters think Obama will win re-election. Meanwhile, NPR has released its final national poll of the cycle, taken before the megastorm swamped the Northeast. Its topline result is Romney 48, Obama 47 — but all other signs point to a more sizable Romney lead. Let’s examine a few of the telling data points:
(1) Sample - The poll surveys 370 Democrats, 306 Republicans and 309 Independents, for a D/R/I of 37/31/31 (D+6). After weighting, the sample is D+4. Obama has a statistically insignificant lead in the “swing states” sub-section, which has a much larger margin of error, and clocks in at D+9. For reasons explained here and here, both partisan splits seem unlikely to reflect this year’s electorate — to say nothing of this.
(2) Enthusiasm - Republicans are more likely than Democrats to rate this election as a “9″ or “10″ in terms of importance, suggesting an intensity gap. Republicans outpace Democrats on the “10″ scale by ten points (76/66). Eighty percent of GOP voters responded with either a 9 or 10, while 72 percent of Democrats did the same.
(3) Independents - Right track/wrong track: 30/64. Obama job approval/disapproval: 42/54, and 39/60 on the economy. On the head-to-head among indies, it’s Romney 51, Obama 39 — a twelve point lead for the GOP ticket.
‘Politics of insult’ alive and well despite Obama’s 2008 lament
[FoxNews.com]
Published October 29, 2012
Four years ago, then-candidate Barack Obama decried what he described as [childish lies and] “the politics of insult.”
“You don’t deserve a bunch of name-calling,” he told a Virginia crowd in the summer of 2008. “You don’t deserve a bunch of mudslinging.”
But lately, there have been more than a few insults flying on the 2012 campaign trail. Whether it’s with cute turns of phrase like “Romnesia” or more serious invective, the president’s campaign has gotten increasingly aggressive over the last few weeks in its denunciation of Mitt Romney.
The tone likely reflects the polls, which have been tightening ever since the Republican nominee’s opening debate performance. Whatever the reason, it’s evident that the “politics of insult” have not faded.
The following were overheard on the 2012 campaign trail:
“Bullsh–ter”
The president took a rip at Romney after a recent interview with Rolling Stone. In the article, published over the weekend, writer and historian Douglas Brinkley said that editor Eric Bates told the president that when he asked his six-year-old daughter if she wanted to say anything to Obama, she said: “Tell him: You can do it.”
‘Treason’ and Possible ‘Prison’: Beck Breaks Down Obama’s ‘Lying’ on Libya in Fiery Segment
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on October 24, 2012 at 12:33pm by
Erica Ritz
(Photo: TheBlaze TV)
Glenn Beck took to his radio show Wednesday morning for a fiery denouncement of the administration’s handling of the crisis in Libya.
“This president is lying to you about Benghazi in such [a] spectacular fashion that I believe people will go to prison. This is impeachable. The president might go to prison for this one,” he said. “What’s happening in Benghazi is so far beyond lying, it is staggering.”
While politicians are known for twisting words into half truths, Beck added that has never seen an administration persist in such a boldfaced lie when American lives are at stake, or seen a media so content to let it slide.
CIA’s Hayden: Romney Right On Iran
[Newsmax.com]
By Jim Meyers and John Bachman
October 23, 2012
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden tells Newsmax that Mitt Romney was right — and President Obama wrong — when the GOP candidate said during the Monday debate that a nuclear Iran and not a terrorist attack was the biggest threat to America’s national security.
The retired 4-star Air Force General also says he is “not very hopeful” that negotiations with the Iranians will dissuade them from developing nuclear weapons. And he predicts that a President Romney would “review” Obama’s exemption of some of Iran’s major trading partners from imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
La Boca Grande [The Big Mouth]
American [Spectator.org]
Political Hay
By George Neumayr on 10.23.12 @ 6:10AM
Obama talks big [boca/mouth] in the final debate in Florida.
Barack Obama came to the last presidential debate ready for a fight. But he didn’t get one. Romney seemed more interested in talking to moderator Bob Schieffer than engaging Obama in a scuffle.
That relaxed strategy didn’t hurt Romney very much. At worst, the debate was a draw, which will only serve to seal the tightness of the race.
Though Romney kept stepping back from his punches, Obama didn’t tire of throwing them. Apparently Romney not only kills his sacked employees’ wives he also takes glee in outsourcing jobs to China and (in a new line of attack from Obama) invests in an Iranian company. Obama was unloading all the opposition research that he couldn’t cram into the previous debates.
Which Obama Debate Gaffe Does Krauthammer Think Might ‘Cost the President Dearly’
[TheBlaze.com]
- Posted on October 19, 2012 by
Jason Howerton
HEMPSTEAD, NY – OCTOBER 16: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (L) listens as U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question during a town hall style debate at Hofstra University October 16, 2012 in Hempstead, New York. During the second of three presidential debates, the candidates fielded questions from audience members on a wide variety of issues. (Credit: Getty Images)
While many scored Tuesday night’s contentious presidential debate as a draw, or as a narrow victory for one of the candidates, Washington post columnist Charles Krauthammer thinks President Barack Obama made a gaffe — and a big one. One that will cost him dearly in the final debate on Monday.
In his Thursday column in the Washington Post, Krauthammer predicts this line from the president will come back to haunt him:
“And the suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.”
American Crossroads Ad Appeals to Women’s Brains and Pocketbooks, Not “Ladyparts”
[Townhall.com]
October 17, 2012 02:49 PM EST
Political Editor, Townhall.com
Rattled by recent polling showing Mitt Romney drawing roughly even with President Obama among female voters, Democrats are making yet another hard play over “ladyparts.” American Crossroads is answering back with an ad blitz of their own, also targeting women. It seems conservatives view women as more than just uteruses. Weird, right?
This spot — which focuses on spending and debt — has $11 million behind it, and will air in swing states:
Rice Pins Faulty Libya Story on Intel
[FoxNews-Reuters-AP]
Published: October 16, 2012
US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice blames talking points from intelligence community as source of controversial account of Libya attacks, as lawmakers continue to press White House for a clearer explanation; and, in her first public comments on Libya since her controversial account days after the attack, blamed intelligence community talking points for the faulty narrative.
The light-on-details explanation Monday came as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took responsibility for any security failures leading up to the consulate attack last month.
But with the accounts coming as both presidential candidates head into a debate Tuesday night that will focus in part on foreign policy, neither appeared to settle mounting questions on the Hill about how the administration got the story so wrong.
Rice did not offer many details on the nature of the intelligence updates or whether they reflected a more nuanced version of events than the one she told the Sunday after the attack. In those interviews, Rice repeatedly claimed the deadly assault was a “spontaneous” reaction to protests over an anti-Islam film.
The administration later acknowledged it was a coordinated terror attack on the anniversary of 9/11.
White House reportedly preps strike team to take out terrorists tied to Libya attack
[FoxNews.com]
Associated Press
Published October 15, 2012
WASHINGTON – The White House has put special operations strike forces on standby and moved drones into the skies above Africa, ready to strike militant targets from Libya to Mali — if investigators can find the Al Qaeda-linked group responsible for the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Libya.
But officials say the administration, with weeks until the presidential election, is weighing whether the short-term payoff of exacting retribution on Al Qaeda is worth the risk that such strikes could elevate the group’s profile in the region, alienate governments the U.S. needs to fight it in the future and do little to slow the growing terror threat in North Africa.
Details on the administration’s position and on its search for a possible target were provided by three current and one former administration official, as well as an analyst who was approached by the White House for help. All four spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the high-level debates publicly.
The dilemma shows the tension of the White House’s need to demonstrate it is responding forcefully to Al Qaeda, balanced against its long-term plans to develop relationships and trust with local governments and build a permanent U.S. counterterrorist network in the region.
Vice President Joe Biden pledged in his debate last week with Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan to find those responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others.
Is the White House throwing Hillary under the bus on the Benghazi attack?
[HotAir.com]
posted at 4:44 pm on October 12, 2012 by Allahpundit
My guess is no, they wouldn’t dare, but the Daily Caller and Tom Maguire make a fair point. In the span of about 18 hours, we’ve had Biden and Carney each insist that blame for Benghazi’s security failures lies outside the White House. It’s State that’s responsible for protecting U.S. diplomats in the field, which means if the buck doesn’t stop with Obama here, then it must stop with you-know-who. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, as cabinet members are expected to take the heat for the president when something goes badly wrong. But in this case you-know-who has her eye on running in 2016 — possibly against (heh) Biden himself — and surely doesn’t want Benghazi staining the foreign policy credentials she’s worked hard to build.
Throw Bill Clinton, official Obama campaign surrogate, into the mix and we’ve got the makings of a nuclear clusterfark of ego, ass-covering, presidential ambition, and Clintonian drama. Edward Klein says the chain reaction is already in motion:
In fact, since the convention, Clinton and Obama have had a serious falling-out over two issues: the president’s preparation and lamentable performance in his debate with Mitt Romney, and the question of who should be assigned blame — Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — for the intelligence and security screw-up in Benghazi, Libya…
Romney to deliver foreign policy speech amid big questions on Libya, global economy
[FoxNews.com]
Published October 07, 2012
FILE: June 21, 2012: Mitt Romney campaigns in Orlando, Fla. (AP)
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is set to give a foreign policy speech Monday that will mark one of his final opportunities before Election Day to show his potential as a world leader — amid political turmoil in the Middle East and economic collapse in Europe.
Romney’s success on foreign policy has thus far have evolved towards good reviews. He has drawn widespread praise from conservatives and fellow Republicans for his full support of Israel’s quest to stop Iran from achieving nuclear capability.
Police Consolidation: The End of Local Law Enforcement?
[TheNewAmerican.com]
Tuesday, 25 September 2012 00:00
Written by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.
From Bergen, New Jersey, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Salt Lake City, Utah, the merging of law enforcement moves along, applauded by a coterie of city leaders and well-meaning citizens.
Nationwide, towns and cities are jumping on the consolidation bandwagon. According to the latest data, there are about 18,000 state and local law-enforcement agencies in the United States. Of those, more than 150 have undergone some level of consolidation.
Those pushing for the consolidation of police forces into regional or metropolitan agencies typically cite budget shortfalls as the best reason for closing down local forces and combining resources to form a consolidated force.
CWNews Posted Comments