Greater Evil: Water Boarding, or Death By Drone?

By John W. Lillpop


In his fairy- tale pursuit of being the “kinder, gentler” president, Barack Obama has offered illogical proposals concerning the closure of GITMO and abandonment of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, in particular the practice of “water boarding,” used with great effect to find Osama bin Laden and to develop intelligence for saving American lives.


However, in Obama’s muddled, liberal-infested mind, GITMO and water boarding simply irritate terrorists and suspected terrorists and ‘tarnish’ the US brand throughout the world.

Obama thus makes his case for taking the ‘moral high ground,’ as if giving the likes of KSM full Miranda rights and trying the heathen in New York City, like an American citizen, will assuage KSM’s lust for blood and dead Americans!
All of which must provide KSM and other Islamofascists with great amusement and merriment. Unfortunately, Obama’s Muslim pipe dream has no upside for saving American lives!

Obama has decided to wage war via the Drone, which frees him from the mess associated with going through Congress and all the annoyances of the US Constitution! Besides, he can target American citizens with drones, at least according to his corrupt DOJ!

The mind boggles at the hypocrisy and idiocy of our Commander-in-Chief.

And poses this urgent question:

Which is more evil, Mr. President: Water boarding or death by drone?

DOJ Says Obama Can Use Drones on American Citizens! Civil War Nigh?

　

By John W. Lillpop

It is really getting scary out there!

The latest insanity includes a Justice Department memo which alleges that it is legal for the government to use drones against American citizens!

That means that the same government that wants to take away YOUR guns would allow Obama to use drones against you!

Is there anything more frightening?

As reported at the reference, in part:

A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be "senior operational leaders" of al-Qaida or "an associated force" -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.

Michael Isikoff, national investigative correspondent for NBC News, talks with Rachel Maddow about a newly obtained, confidential Department of Justice white paper that hints at the details of a secret White House memo that explains the legal justifications for targeted drone strikes that kill Americans without trial in the name of national security.


"This is a chilling document," said Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, which is suing to obtain administration memos about the targeted killing of Americans. "Basically, it argues that the government has the right to carry out the extrajudicial killing of an American citizen. … It recognizes some limits on the authority it sets out, but the limits are elastic and vaguely defined, and it’s easy to see how they could be manipulated."

In particular, Jaffer said, the memo "redefines the word imminence in a way that deprives the word of its ordinary meaning."

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the white paper. The spokeswoman, Tracy Schmaler, instead pointed to public speeches by what she called a "parade" of administration officials, including Brennan, Holder, former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh and former Defense Department General Counsel Jeh Johnson that she said outlined the "legal framework" for such operations.

Pressure for turning over the Justice Department memos on targeted killings of Americans appears to be building on Capitol Hill amid signs that Brennan will be grilled on the subject at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday.

On Monday, a bipartisan group of 11 senators -- led by Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon — wrote a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to release all Justice Department memos on the subject. While accepting that "there will clearly be circumstances in which the president has the authority to use lethal force" against Americans who take up arms against the country, it said, "It is vitally important ... for Congress and the American public to have a full understanding of how the executive branch interprets the limits and boundaries of this authority."

　

The completeness of the administration’s public accounts of its legal arguments was also sharply criticized last month by U.S. Judge Colleen McMahon in response to a lawsuit brought by the New York Times and the ACLU seeking access to the Justice Department memos on drone strikes targeting Americans under the Freedom of Information Act. McMahon, describing herself as being caught in a "veritable Catch-22," said she was unable to order the release of the documents given "the thicket of laws and precedents that effectively allow the executive branch of our government to proclaim as perfectly lawful certain actions that seem on their face incompatible with our Constitution and laws while keeping the reasons for the conclusion a secret."

　

With all due respect to Barack Obama and Eric Holder, who in their right mind would trust either of these radicals to use deadly force against American citizens without being motivated by ideology and politics?  Obama's hatred and lust for revenge should frighten all!

Bottom Line: The moment fast approaches when "Lock and Load" may be the rallying cry of patriots!



　

Reference:

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/04/16843014-exclusive-justice-department-memo-reveals-legal-case-for-drone-strikes-on-americans?lite

While Obama Frets About Legal Ownership of Guns and Football, Iran Marches Toward Nuclear Weapon!

By John W. Lillpop



Just how does Barack Obama prioritize his policy objectives and executive branch policy actions?

Is there a Ouija board that the President can access from his teleprompter, or from the comfort of Air Force One?

Perhaps an old lady with a left-leaning crystal ball gives Obama spiritual advise after dusting, vacuuming, and cleaning the Oval Office?

Must be something weird like that because even the most deluded Obamamite cannot explain why Obama consistently works himself into a self-righteous lather about Americans who exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.

And the Obama who frets with nearly as much misguided concern over football injuries in the NFL.

Tragically, while Obama frets about the dangers of the US Constitution and pro football, the Islamic terrorist state of Iran drives closer and closer to having a nuclear weapon with which to bedevil and, perhaps annihilate, all of suffering humanity!

Mind you, a nuclear-armed Iran would be a real crisis worthy of presidential concern, especially given the threat that a nuclear Iran would pose to the Jewish state of Israel.

But perhaps that is why Obama is not taking Iran’s nuclear designs seriously? As the most anti-Semitic president in history, could it be that Obama is covertly rooting for Iran to join the Mushroom Brigade?

And might that be why Obama has nominated Chuck Hagel to run the Department of Defense? After all, Hagel is damn near as anti-Israel and pro-Iran as our befuddled prez!

Bob Menendez, Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee? Shameful, Disgraceful!

By John W. Lillpop


New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, life-long DEMOCRAT, has recently been approved to take over as Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee to replace John Kerry who takes over the Secretary of State post vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton.

As reported at Reference 1, Menendez is making other news as well, all of it bad, concerning his employment of an illegal alien in his Senate office and, even more news-worthy, his alleged ethics violations involving shady deals with big-money donors, and even more hideous, his rumored perversions with under age prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

The story from Reference 1:

John Kerry wiped away a tear Wednesday as he said farewell to Senate colleagues who had gathered in the chamber to wish him well as the next secretary of state.
But conspicuously absent was Sen. Robert Menendez, who a day earlier had been approved to replace Kerry as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the most coveted posts on Capitol Hill.

The achievement marked an improbable ascension by Menendez, 59, born to Cuban immigrants, raised in gritty Union City and practiced in the hurly-burly of Hudson County politics.

Yet the week hardly had the trappings of a political triumph.

The New Jersey Democrat is now accused by some critics of violating Senate rules for accepting two round-trip flights to the Dominican Republican in 2010 from a wealthy campaign donor, Salomon Melgen, an eye surgeon whose Florida offices were raided Tuesday night and again Wednesday by the FBI.

Menendez paid for the flights last month after a complaint was filed with the Senate Ethics Committee by a Republican New Jersey state lawmaker. He also faces anonymous and unsubstantiated accusations that he had sexual encounters with prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, at least one of whom was underage.

The senator has vehemently denied the claims, and a spokesman, Paul Brubaker, said Menendez “is accustomed to politically motivated false allegations.”

The events tarnished what should have been a shining moment for Menendez, who spent much of his week ducking reporters in back hallways of the Capitol.

The timing for him was “just horrific,” said Ralph Carter, a political science professor at Texas Christian University who is an expert on the role of Congress in foreign policy.

“Once scandal is out there that you misused powers in a way that might beholden you to certain political contributors, that’s damage,” Carter said. “He’s damaged. He may be fatally damaged. If this goes further and he actually becomes the target of a formal ethics investigation, I think he’s out as chair. He could be out of Congress.”

Last May, Joseph Bigica, a major supporter of Menendez, pleaded guilty to using straw donors to funnel nearly $100,000 in illegal contributions to the senator’s campaign, which was not accused of any wrongdoing. It acknowledged having received the donation, but said it had been a victim in the case.

A campaign official said they planned to give the money to charity.

Bigica, of Franklin Lakes, admitted that from April 2005 to May 2009 he had conspired to make the illegal contributions to the campaign committee of an unidentified candidate for federal office. Officials did not identify the candidate, but campaign finance records show the donations went to Menendez.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, put it this way: “In a court of law, it’s wrong for a defendant to be forced to prove his innocence. But in a court of public opinion, that’s precisely what happens. He’s going to have to prove his innocence. He can scream unfairness all he wants, but those are the rules of the political game."

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is not quite so vociferous in his support of the embattled Menendez, as reported at Reference 2:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has backed off his ardent defense of New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez amid the scandal crashing down on his colleague.

In an interview on ABC News’ This Week today, Reid admitted the existence of multiple investigations into Menendez and his connections to wealthy Democratic Party donor Dr. Salomon Melgen. Reid dropped his rhetoric attacking this reporter, and other outlets that have been investigating the Menendez scandal, since this reporter first published interviews in early November with two Dominican Republic prostitutes alleging they were under-paid to have sex with Menendez.

“I have confidence he did nothing wrong,” Reid said Sunday morning in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic Party and Bill Clinton strategist. “But that's what investigations are all about.”

As usual, Harry Reid equivocates like mush when accusations are made against a Democrat colleague.

If only Reid had been so circumspect last year before he went to the floor of the US Senate to spread unsubstantiated rumors about Republican Mitt Romney!



Reference 1 http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/robert_menendez_fbi_doctor_pro.html



Reference 2: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/02/03/Reid-retreats-from-Menendez-defense-as-ABC-News-follows-Breitbart-s-lead-That-s-what-investigations-are-all-about?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Economy In Contraction, Unemployment Up, Consumer Confidence Down: Still 'Headed in Right Direction, ' Mr. President?

By John W. Lillpop



As with most leftists, Barack Obama is quite skilled at denying truth until denial is no longer palatable; at which point our disingenuous Marxist blames Republicans, the economic doldrums in Europe, the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, any and everything else, except for his sorry self and his failed policies.

Obama’s convoluted grasp of reality has survived the new year intact, as evidenced by this week’s news low-lights:



* The US economy contracted during the last quarter of 2012;



* Unemployment resumed its upward march again in January, and



* Consumer confidence plunged.



Obama’s reaction was predictable:  He immediately blamed the GOP for trying to impose responsible spending limits on the out-of-control administration, AND he disbanded the Jobs council which was touted as proof of his 24/7 concern for the unemployed.

Yes, that same jobs council which Obama abandoned for most of 2012!

So Mr. Obama, do you still stand by your goofy declaration that America is “headed in the right direction?”


If so, one must ask, “Direction to what, sir? Greece?"