The Apologizer In Chief

Barack Hussein Obama’s European adventure provides shocking proof that he has been transformed from a mostly harmless Chicago community organizer and political pawn into an incredibly dangerous President of the United States, who is ashamed of his country and awed by leaders and figureheads of lesser nations.

He is running around the world as our new Apologizer in Chief. Of course, his counterparts and, especially, his enemies are eating it up.

On the other side of the world, the little puppet dictator in North Korea who does whatever China wants him to do, Kim Jong-il, carries out a nuclear missile test launch. Clearly this provocative act was timed to coincide with Obama’s high profile European appearances.

The launch occurs as Obama is sleeping in Prague, but he did not seem to have shaken off the cobwebs later when, predictably, calling for a United Nations resolution denouncing North Korea. Yep, good one, Barry. That UN threat thing always works.

In Ankara, Turkey, today, Obama says the United States “is not and never will be at war with Islam” and goes on to praise contributions by the Islamic culture within U.S. society. When did anyone suggest we, the U.S. military, are at war with Islam? He misses the point, just as so many Europeans nations now awash if not drowning in Islamic multiculturalism miss the point.

If the United States wishes to preserve its Judeo-Christian culture, it must resist the tide of Islam because it is indeed a tide, not a ripple, not a mere bonanza for mosque builders here at home. But we also must be stringent in demanding of peaceful Islamic nations that they take full responsibility for reigning in and some day eliminating radical factions that manipulate Islam as justification for mass murder of Americans and others. We are NOT in this together. These radical killers are their people, not ours.

In Strasbourg, France, last week, Obama apologized for times when America has “shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” If this is not a wake up call for core values Americans then I guess Obama needs to write his next apologist Tele-Prompter speech across the face of a sledge hammer.

The French are the last people on earth who need to be reminded that the bravery of Americans has saved tens of millions of people from certain devastation. If our zero tolerance toward the suppression of liberty is misperceived as swaggering arrogance, so be it. But the President of the United States, at least any legitimate President, does not stand upon French soil and apologize — for anything. Once again, Obama is spitting in the faces (or on the corpses) of our military men and women, and the proud veterans, the Greatest Generation, who came before them.

By the way, check the news wires in the next few days and see which country steps in first to assist Italy in providing relief to victims of Monday’s earthquake. It won’t be France. (Oops, too late, this just in. The U.S. already has cut the first relief check).

Our humiliation knows no end. Every moment Obama is loose on foreign soil a nail is driven into the coffin, threatening America’s well deserved stature as a global superpower.

Last week at the G20 Summit in London, B. Hussein Obama, the PRESIDENT OF THE FRICKIN’ UNITED STATES BOWED TO KING OF SAUDI ARABIA. Bowed. It appears he also kissed King Abdullah’s hand while he was down there, robe sniffing. I am surprised Obama didn’t ask the King to turn around for a second bow. From whence does this instinct come? I think we know. Take away a few oil fields and King A. might as well be Mr. T.

And, finally, Obama had this to say about his Hemispheric Homey, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (who you’ll never see as an answer on Wheel of Fortune unless they dramatically expand the studio).

“I love this guy,” Obama said at the G20 event as they made like frat boys in front of cameras. “He’s the most popular politician on Earth.”

Mr. Popularity earlier in the week, however, did not score points in the diplomacy, taste and racism categories. His comments about the cause of the global economic crisis were largely downplayed by the mainstream left wingers in the mass media at the G20 Summit. Naturally.

“This crisis was caused by the irrational behavior of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate they know nothing,” Lula da Silva said in a press conference. (Clinging to guns and religion while batting their baby blues, he forgot to add).

Heckuva job, Silvy. Heckuva job. I just wonder how President Obama stifled a bow when he ran into you later.

Good business?

So I go to the gym on Monday, one that I have been a member of for more than 2 1/2 years. I enter, the woman behind the counter swipes my card and returns it to me. As I turn to leave, she casually mentions that my payment did not go through last month. I have automatic debit set up at the gym, so I hand over my credit card and it is quickly determined my current card has a new expiration that the gym does not have on file. The woman behind the desk amends my account and charges me $70 to make my account current.

I say, "The monthly fee is $65, did it go up $5?" 

"No," she says, "The credit card company charges us when we put through a charge that comes back, so we charge you."

I sign the charge, go work out and on my way out of the gym, I stop at the counter and say to the same woman, "Is it in my contract that I have to pay the $5? Because, if it isn't I want a refund." She calls her supervisor and after a brief conversation, tells me it is in my contract that I must pay $15, but they are only charging me $5.

I say to her "I'd like to cancel my gym membership." She picks up the phone again and this time a membership specialist comes to the front desk. She looks up my account on the computer and asks me to verify my name and I do. She then takes a piece of paper out of the drawer and asks me to sign it which I do and informs me that my membership will be terminated at the end of April.

"Great" I say. And walked out of the gym and back to work.

Take a Bow, Barry

In an incredible breach of protocol, President Obama bowed before King Abdullah of Saudi Ruled Arabia upon greeting him at the G20 Summit last week. It is inappropriate for anyone who is not a subject of a monarch (especially a fellow head of state) to greet that monarch with a bow. Miss Manner Book Of Etiquette advises, “One does not bow or curtsy to a foreign monarch because the gesture symbolizes recognition of her power over her subjects.” Additionally, it is not even required that a monarch’s own subjects bow before him or her. In answering the question about the proper behavior upon meeting the Queen, subjects are told by the official website of The British Monarchy that, “The simple answer is that there are no obligatory codes of behavior – just courtesy. However, many people wish to observe the traditional forms of greeting. For men this is a neck bow (from the head only) whilst women do a small curtsy. Other people prefer simple to shake hands in the usual way.”

For a man who prides himself on his intelligence and his preparedness, the President should have known better than to do a deep waist bow before a dictator of a repressive regime. Where was the Chief of Protocol from the White House or the State Department? Shouldn’t he have been prepared for this encounter? Even my 7 year old knows that Mr. Obama’s behavior was inappropriate. Upon seeing the attached video, he asked, “Why would Barack Obama bow to a king? That’s crazy.” And indeed it is.

The press has been absent in covering this faux pas. Remember the big deal about President Bush holding hands with the Saudi King at his Texas ranch, the press tried to spin that into President Bush being too chummy with the House of Saud. But holding hands does not show subservience. A bow from the waist does. Are we to infer from his actions, therefore, that the current occupant of the Oval Office is subservient to the hereditary ruler of a regime that subjugates women? I think not, but the President will be better served if he really is prepared for his meetings that are in full view of the world.

In addition to being another instant of bias press coverage in favor of President Obama, the reason that the deep bow is important is because it plays into the narrative (I loving using that term because it is a favorite of our friends on the left) that Mr. Obama is weak on Islamist extremists. In only just two and a half months in office, this is another in a long line of actions that lead to the conclusion that the President is weak on the War on Terror. Among them are:

o His apology for our conduct of the War on Terror during his first network TV interview to the English language Arab network, Al Arabiya;

o The prohibition of the use of the phrase “War on Terror”;

o The prohibition of the use of the phrase “Terrorist Attack” in favor of the phrase “Man made disasters (ask the families of the 9/11 victims if their loved ones died in a terrorist attack or a man made disaster – I’d bet they’d say terrorist attack);

o The closing of Guantanamo Bay;

o The freeing of the mastermind of the attack on the USS Cole;

o The announced goal of negotiating with “moderate” Taliban;

o The sending of $900,000,000 to the Palestinians;

o Continuing to insist that we should talk to the Mullahs in Iran;

o Allowing the imposition of Sharia law in the Swat Valley in Pakistan;

o Announcing a date certain for our withdrawal from Iraq; and

o Halting military tribunals for those that sane people refer to as enemy combatants.

During the presidential campaign I repeatedly told some of my fellow conservatives that Barack Obama is not a secret Muslim, because he is not and that such false allegations undermined the legitimate arguments against his then candidacy. Unfortunately, however, for some reason, President Obama is not so secretly excessively solicitous to Islamist extremists.

Unionization for Thee, Not For Me

NYT Editorial
December 28, 2008

The measure (EFCA) is vital legislation and should not be postponed. Even modest increases in the share of the unionized labor force push wages upward, because nonunion workplaces must keep up with unionized ones that collectively bargain for increases. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay.

Times threatens to shut down Boston Globe
April 4, 2009

The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut down The Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions agree to $20 million in concessions, the Globe reported on its Web site. Executives from the Times Co. and Globe met Thursday with union leaders to demand pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees for some veteran employees, the Globe reported, citing union leaders.

Commentary unnecessary. . . .

Russian Behavior is Adrift

In just over two months in office, President Obama has developed an incredibly bad habit - constant criticism of his predecessor. His almost daily cheap shots at President Bush are beneath the office that he holds. Once in office, President Reagan never did this to President Carter, despite having plenty of reason to. President Bush never did this, despite President Clinton fiddling for eight years while Rome burned (ie, Al Qaeda turning itself into an effective international terrorist organization with the means to attack the United States, while Bill Clinton ignored it).

Yesterday, however, this criticism turned from infantile behavior to factually incorrect. During his meeting with Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, President Obama said "What we've seen over the last several year is drift in the US - Russian relationship". The President said this as if the United States and Russia were equally at fault for this "drift".

The facts simply don't support this analysis. It was Russia that invaded a pro-Western democracy. At first, candidate Obama refused to condemn the Russian aggression against its democratic neighbor. It was candidate Obama who draw a moral equivalency between Russian behavior and Georgian behavior. Mr. Obama only became critical of the Russian actions after Sen. McCain made it known that he condemned the Russian invasion.

Next, it was Russia that spent the past two years threatening to cut off the natural gas supplies of its neighbors and our European allies. At a time of increasing energy uncertainty, it does not seem that such threats would have a calming affect on international relations.

Then, this past February, it was Russia that paid a two billion dollar bribe to the government of Kyrgyzstan in order for that government to deny our military the continued use of their airbase at Manas. The denial of the use of this base will significantly hamper our war effort in Afghanistan. This base was critical to our resupply of our troops in Afghanistan.

Of course, it is Russia that refuses to help us with our efforts to end the Iranian nuclear program. In fact,they have been doing just the opposite - helping Iran with its nuclear program. The Russians had been assisting the Iranians with the construction of a now completed, Russian designed, nuclear reactor.

Also, it is Russia that has increased its military activities. The Russians sent war ships to make nice with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. The Russians threatened to deploy missiles within range of our NATO allies

For the President to think that he can change Russian behavior by sending his Secretary of State to visit with Russian officials and present them with a prop "reset button" is nothing short of naive. It is not the actions of the United States that have been adrift. It is, one again, the behavior of our old Cold War foe that has caused the strain in our relationship. As the current steward of our history, it would behove Mr. Obama to understand it. Oh well, at least he didn't tell us that he looked into the eyes of Mr. Medvedev and saw his soul.