So what happened to the “buzzwords” of the 2008 election campaign season? You know words like Change and Transparency. I guess they don’t apply anymore. Bold Emphasis is mine. 

 
QUESTION: “Finally, we have not had a chance to ask President Obama any questions since this crisis began. There have been at least a couple of occasions that could have been open to the press that weren’t. Can you explain why we haven’t been able to talk to him?”

ROBERT GIBBS, WH: “Ben, I think you will get a chance likely to talk to the president later in the week when [Canadian] Prime Minister Harper is here. We have had a couple of occasions that have been still photographers only. Those were part of the coverage plans that had been in place for a bit now in terms of those events. I will say this, Ben. I think we have, like you all, watched a series of rapidly-moving events — you’ve heard from the president in what’s happened in Egypt. We will continue to keep you up-to-date as best as we can on what goes on, knowing quite honestly that some things in foreign policy have to be done away from TV cameras. Those are the types of direct and frank talks that the president had last night with President Mubarak.”

Hmm I remember when President Bush used to catch hell from the LEFT when he did the same things sometimes, out of necessity. Personally I am sure in this situation with President Obama it was warranted for not having cameras there also. However when you got into office as being the guy who was all for open-ness and have done things like making our interrogation techniques public information to show how “open” this administration is, then I am going to call you on it. 

Read the story and see the video at http://realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/02/02/gibbs_some_things_have_to_be_done_away_from_television_cameras.html

Kabul Bank, Afghanistan’s largest bank, may have “lost” up to $900 million, through fraud and mismanagement. Though the Afghan government vows to keep the bank afloat, the money to do that will have to be drawn from an already strained budget. Officials fear that word of the magnitude of this loss could start a run on all banks, solvent or not. Such a run would destroy the banking system of the country and cause Western investors to question the wisdom of pouring in more money.

How do you lose $900 million? Afghan businessmen and investors believe much of the money has been pocketed by an elite group of privileged, and those with political ties to President Hamid Karzi’s government (New York Times, 2011, para 7).

The Kabul Bank is also the pipeline through which the United States military pays Afghan security forces. Now, the military paymasters must find other banks to process the $800 million payroll. This incompetent and fraudulent mishandling of such sums will not go unnoticed. The International Monetary Fund has not yet renewed its aid program to Afghanistan. The program expired last September, and it remains to be seen if the IMF will continue their aid, or will simply cut their losses and move on.

If you have a different opinion or comment please post it here or email me at [email protected]. To learn more about The Frontlines, and how you can support our veterans, please visit http://www.thefrontlines.com. “Fronts Change. Memories Don’t.”

Thank you.

Very respectfully,

The “Warrant”

http://www.thefrontlines.com

References

The New York Times (2010). Losses at Afghan Bank Could Be $900 Million. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/world/asia/31kabul.html?_r=1

Why, oh why is the President doing this, www.rte.ie/news/2009/0713/afghanistan.html as it has no purpose or need.

Barack Obama has asked officials to investigate reports of an attempt to block investigation of a mass execution of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan……According to the reports, the move was an attempt to hush up the killing of up to 2,000 prisoners in 2001 because it was carried out by General Abdul Rashid Dostam, an Afghan warlord then on the CIA’s payroll.

This happened eight years ago. Eight years ago Obama was a Illinois State Senator, and now he wants to spend money and resources to investigate suspected war crimes by an Afghan warlord. An Afghan, against Afghans in Afghanistan. Yes Dostam did receive some money from the CIA for support against the Taliban, but that does not make the CIA or the US at fault for what is suspected of happening.

If you read the book “Ghost Wars” you will see that our agency personnel paid many leaders in the Northern Alliance and even gave some weapons and technologies to help them with our fight to get rid of the Taliban.

Look at our history and you will see that we had Manuel Noriega and even Osama Bin Laden on our CIA payroll. Does that mean that we are to blame because Bin Laden attacked the US and killed 3,000 people?

The Afghan people treat their own people like crap. I have said it before and I will say it again. The difference between Abu Ghraib and Afghanistan is that the Afghans would have put those wires to a power source and electrocuted those prisoners and not just scare them like the US soldiers did.

Launching this investigation to appease some third party, ultra-liberal, bleeding-heart group called Physicians for Human Rights and go back eight years to second guess the unsung heroes of our intelligence agencies serves no positive purpose. Nothing good can come from it and a lot of bad can come from it. Our country is losing brave warriors in the intelligence community every week because of the hostile work environment that they now work under.

Be sure and check out what fellow ETT (Deebow) said about this over at  Blackfive, www.blackfive.net/main/2009/07/this-is-why.html

What Deebow talks about is something I have talked about in several interviews and on You Served Radio. It is their country and all we could do (even as Embedded Trainers) was to turn our back and hope they did not kill the prisoners that Afghan forces had control of. It is their country, it is their people, it is their law. Afghanistan, nor the forces of Afghanistan are signers of the Geneva Convention and we (the US) are in no position to try and enforce it.

Come on Mr. President, haven’t you seen yet that. Trying to apologize to the world and making amends with everyone does not help our country, does not make it stronger. They see you and us as a big wimp. That is what this message says to the world….that we are big wussie walking down the street waiting to get bullied and pay for for the wounds on someone’s fist from beating us in the head.

I was at my local watering hole recently chatting with a friend of mine about politics. Being peripherally involved in the Nashville music scene, over the years I’ve become friends with many people who are actually able to make a living in music or are relatives of country music legends. This particular friend falls into the latter category. When I first met him, he was in appearance the embodiment of Jesus: tall and trim, long dark hair and accompanying long bushy beard. In short, he looked like your prototypical hippie. In this guy’s case, however, the old adage about books and their covers applied. He turned out to be moderately conservative. He also likes to play Devil’s Advocate, which those who don’t know him well take for liberalism. Over the six or so years that I’ve known him, he has continually surprised me with the conservative tone of his views, and usually backed those views with clear, concise logic.

In early November of last year, my friend was, like many in the country, on the fence. Originally a supporter of Huckabee and/or Romney, he simply was not a big fan of McCain. As a result he began to parse the arguments of each camp during the run up to the election. Then he voted. He didn’t tell me how he voted for a long time, and even when he did, he didn’t tell me why…until I ran into him the other day and we started quaffing beers.

“Man, Obama’s really got me worried.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I voted for him because I thought he would improve foreign relations. I didn’t really see any difference in him and McCain on anything else. Now, I think I made a mistake. I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”

I refrained, with great effort, from making a smart-assed remark at this point.

I did not, however, manage to restrain myself from releasing a small chortle.

Time and time again, when the topic of national security or foreign policy arose during this last Presidential election, the left always came with the argument that the world hates us because of Bush. Those of us with no axe to grind with GWB knew that those in the world that hate us hate us because we are Americans. They hate us because of our standard of living, because we tolerate others, because the rest of the world looks to us for guidance and help in times of trouble and not to them. Who the President of the United States is makes no difference. What. So. Ever.

So now I find myself wondering just how many of you who voted for His Wonderfulness did so based in part or in whole on the projections of the rest of the world suddenly loving America? And are you cringing now?

I’m not going to take the time to detail how The Great O has managed to embarrass himself and this nation in the international arena. Instead, let’s look ahead.

The Daily Mail is speculating that the Norks will launch another Taepo-Dong 2 missile. On the Fourth of July. Aimed at Hawaii. That sounds like to me like they want to make a statement. And what response are we getting from the Tingling Leg Administration?

SECDEF Gates sends the THAADS to Hawaii and we’re shadowing a ship that may be moving nuke materials. Looks good on the face. On the other hand, our buddies Gates and Obama want to cut the permanent missile defense capability in Alaska. Take that, Sarah Palin! What happens following the current hand-wringer with North Korea? Oh, we’ll take the THAADS out of Hawaii (since there is no longer a threat and it’s an eyesore) and our northern approaches will be less capable than they could have been. Because, hey, the rest of the world loves Obama, so they’ll give us two weeks warning before they launch on us, right?

Another event that the world is watching intently is the aftermath of the elections in Iran. The Obama approach?

*crickets chirping*

And lastly (for now), the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian saga. Jimmy Carter I wants Hamas taken off of the terrorist list. Hopefully Jimmy Carter II has figured out to ignore Jimmy Carter I. At least he hasn’t sent him to Iran for negotiations yet…

Thank goodness the rest of the world suddenly loves us now that Obama is in office.

The following is a Guest Blog Entry from Country Singer

So I’m sitting here in my living room, watching the news, reading a few blogs. I’ve been threatening to submit again, and after a few weeks of allowing ideas to grow in my mind, here we go.
I’ve been trying to discern the policy stances of the current administration, but so far, I’ve been unable to. The only hard stand that I can see being made is on the firm policy that this nation will become socialist come hell or high tea party. Otherwise, it would appear that everything has been driven by BHO’s immense ego and his public image. And that scares the crap out of me. It should scare the crap out of libs, too.
Here’s why:
GWB was much maligned when it came to the war in Iraq. We heard all the cries from the freaks on the kook-fringe left about how Bush was only doing this because he was a loose cannon cowboy, or that it was to avenge the assassination plot against his father. We also heard that it was due to his ego. OK, we’ll use that for the sake of this argument. Ego.
Along comes the Messiah, Obama Christ in the flesh. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to do anything right. At least, not without a teleprompter. The downside here is that some people aren’t afraid to call him out. His ego has got to be taking hits. Let’s qualify that a little bit, shall we? Some of these things he has or is taking hits on. He should be on others.

- Appointees with tax-evasion problems that are evidently no problem for the administration, despite campaign promises. Policy/Ego hit.
- Wanting to go after corporate overseas taxes, in spite of the above. “Should be” Policy/ Ego hit. I’m not saying he shouldn’t go after tax cheats, but don’t tell us how wonderful you are for doing so after allowing the above to happen.
- Narco traffickers are thumbing their noses at him. Ego hit.
- The brilliant Air Force One/Manhattan photo op. Ego hit.
- Every time Joe Biden opens his mouth. Ego hit.
- Every time Janet Napolitano opens her mouth. Ego hit.
- Tea parties. Policy/Ego hit.
- Teleprompter failure and subsequent deer-in-the-headlights reaction. Ego hit.
- Reversal of campaign promises vis-à-vis troop withdrawals. Policy/Ego hit.
- Despite ass-kissing, Castro still hates us. Policy/Ego hit.
- Despite ass-kissing, Iranians still hate us. Policy/Ego hit.
- Despite ass-kissing, Chavez still hates us. Policy/Ego hit.
- Economy continues to tank. Policy/Ego hit.
- Gaffes with UK. Policy/Ego hit.
- Gaffes with Canada. Policy/Ego hit.
- Gaffes with Mexico. Policy/Ego hit.
- Wife and dog more popular with press. Ego hit.

I’m sure I could continue, but you get the idea. Here’s what bothers me: when do all the dings to BHO’s self-image force him to do something to prove his manhood and power? I don’t mean something like nationalizing the auto and banking industries. That’s part of his basic Socio/Communist ideology. My thinking is more along the lines of what happens if/when he suddenly realizes that people in this country are honestly and truly pissed off? What happens if/when there is another terrorist attack man-made disaster on U.S. soil? There’s no telling what he might do, because the man has a totalitarian I-AM-THE-MAN mind-set. Sooner or later, he’s going to want to flex his magazine cover muscles in an attempt to maintain that enormous ego. And all hell will break loose somewhere on the globe.

Good job there BHO in picking such a winner loser as Napolitano as your DHS. I can see that she is keeping up your tradition of pissing off our closest friends and allies. Nothing like coddling our corrupt and drug-infested neighbors to the south, and then accusing our friends to the north of providing the entry-way for the terrorists to perform the worst act ever on this country.

Friends, that by the way, are paying the 2nd largest price in Afghanistan via troop commitments, and blood of their countrymen.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/22/napolitano-riles-canadians-suggesting-terrorists-crossed-border/

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano riled Canadian officials this week by suggesting that the Sept. 11 hijackers entered the United States through Canada, even though the 9/11 Commission determined they came to the United States from overseas.

Well if the self-proclaimed “Reverend” Al Sharpton said it then it must be true. According to old Al, they are not Pirates in Somalia, they are “Voluntary Coast Guard”. I know you think I am telling a joke to make you laugh, but I am not. Just watch the video below to hear for yourself

If you let rookies and Amateurs in the the office of the President, then they show their true colors. The big O has no job being President as he has barely been a Senator or a leader in any other capacity. Since he has so little real-life experience, he has ended up surrounding himself with people who don’t understand the ways of the world, protocol, how to pay taxes, or even how to proof a press releases. This is what happens when you are an amateur and your surround yourself with amateurs:

DVDs that don’t play

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2009/03/07/obamas-british-gift-gaffe-not-reported-u-s-media

Crappy iPOds to a queen who has one already from her grandson

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/what-does-one-g.html

Placing your hand on the queen

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1888962,00.html

Bowing to a King of another country

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1518581,w-obama-saudi-king-bow040809.article

and now the most recent thing to come out this morning. Staffers of his that don’t proof their press releases.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/09/press.office.email/index.html

Not in Allah we trust, not in Buddha we trust, not in some higher-entity-being we trust and certainly not in Darwin we trust.

So what part of “This country was founded on Christian values” does this guy not understand? What F@#$@#$ planet is he from? You know, maybe he wasn’t born in the USofA because he apparently doesn’t know the history of this country.

Someone tell him to be quiet, or at least get him a new speech writer, because the teleprompter is telling him bad things to say.