Conservative Rumblings

I guess this is just an example of how Obama’s foreign policy of “extending an open hand to a closed fist” has worked out so well. North Korea is shaking in their boots, BHO. Good job with taking a hard line on these guys; they wouldn’t even THINK to do something crazy like, oh, I don’t know, restart their nuclear production.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has restarted its nuclear facilities to harvest weapons-grade plutonium, an official said Saturday, just hours after the U.N. imposed new sanctions on the communist state for its recent rocket launch.

The move is a key step away from a 2007 disarmament deal — signed after a 2006 nuclear test — that called for North Korea to disable its nuclear facilities in exchange for much-needed energy aid and other concessions.

“The reprocessing of spent fuel rods from the pilot atomic power plant has begun,” the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Harvesting weapons-grade plutonium “will contribute to bolstering the nuclear deterrence for self-defense in every way to cope with the increasing military threats from the hostile forces,” he said.

So we let them fire off missiles with nary a consequence (well, I guess we shook our finger at them and told them they were very bad). Now, they are restarting weapons-grade plutonium production.

Weapons-grade nuclear material AND missiles. Come on, Obama. I know you’re an idiot but that’s easy math right there! Since our response to the missile launch was an impotent finger-shaking, I can only guess the statement coming out of D.C. regarding the nuclear production:

“Let me be clear. This action makes me sad. I am ever-so-disappointed with North Korea. Please don’t make me sad. Let’s just be nice to each other! Please don’t build nukes, Kim Jong-Il! Let’s have a group hug!”

I hereby issue a preemptive apology to all our allies that get nuked by North Korea. The sissy in the Oval Office is not representative of our population; he just had more money and an entire media industry in the tank for him. Please forgive the grave error our country has made.

Remember, Chavez is the guy who called Bush the devil and already insulted Obama (called him an “ignoramus). Now, Obama is shaking hands with him and giving him the time of day. He’s an evil dictator, mind you. We should be declaring war on him, not shaking his hand.

Should we be surprised? No. Obama has already showed subservience to Islam by bowing to the Saudi king, allowed North Korea to launch missiles unfettered and is relaxing all our relations with Castro. As Newt said tonight, Obama is a shallow administration following shallow policies…it’s going to be a Carter-esque dictator-friendly regime.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - President Obama made the first move to greet Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, but it was the acerbic and anti-American leader who beat Obama to the punch on the World Wide Web.

In a clear indication Chavez sought to leverage his brief encounter with Obama at the opening ceremonies of the fifth Summit of the Americas here, Chavez’s government Web site almost immediately posted a photo of the two leaders and a government-approved commentary in Spanish that read as follows:

“Before the Inaugural session of the 5th Summit of the Americas, the President of the United States approached President Chavez to greet him. They both drew their hands in a historic handshake after many years of tension under the Bush administration, when relations between Washington and Caracas had deteriorated. President Chavez expressed to Obama his desire for changes in the relations between the two countries. Eight years ago I greeted President Bush with this same hand. I’d like to be your friend.”

Relations deteriorated for a good reason. Namely, the fact that Chavez is an evil dictator who abuses his own people. Obama is now rewarding his belligerence.

I really don’t blame them. Iran is looking to wipe them out within seconds of getting their nuclear weapons online, so they really don’t have a choice but to defend themselves.

Unfortunately, it’s probably going to start WWIII.

The Israeli military is preparing itself to launch a massive aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities within days of being given the go-ahead by its new government, the Times of London reported.

Among the steps taken to ready Israeli forces for what would be a risky raid requiring pinpoint aerial strikes are the acquisition of three Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC) aircraft and regional missions to simulate the attack.

Two nationwide civil defence drills will help to prepare the public for the retaliation that Israel could face.

“Israel wants to know that if its forces were given the green light they could strike at Iran in a matter of days, even hours. They are making preparations on every level for this eventuality. The message to Iran is that the threat is not just words,” one senior defense official told the Times.

My support for Israel unwavering. God be with you all.

THAT’S the way to do it, boys!

Arlington, Va. — Captain Richard Phillips is now safe and healthy aboard the USS Boxer after Navy Seals launched a rescue attempt that ended when snipers killed three pirates in three shots, all direct hits to the head.

Vice Admiral William Gortney, Commander of Navy’s 5th Fleet, told journalists at the Pentagon Sunday evening a decision was made to take the shots after the pirates were spotted pointing an AK-47 into the back of Captain Phillips.

As soon as the shots were fired, Navy Seals “scurried down” a tow line attached to the lifeboat, and were the first to get to Phillips. They surveyed the scene and found three dead pirates. Phillips was alive, although tied up.

Three snipers…three pirates…three headshots. Freaking awesome.

Hopefully this serves as a warning. If you mess with the bull, you’ll get the horns.

We may have a totally naive wuss in office, but our military is still the toughest fighting force on the planet and they will stop at nothing to protect American lives. Thank you for your service, ladies and gentlemen.

It took them this long just to vote to “condemn” North Korea? I condemned them within 10 minutes…it takes these idiots a week to do it?

But wait a minute…they just “condemned” North Korea? What kind of deterrent is that? Are we hoping Kim Jong-Il gets his feelings hurt? That’s the WORST we can do to a country trying to start WWIII?

This underscores the sheer uselessness of the U.N. as an organization. They can’t do ANYTHING. Does anyone honestly thinks that a bunch of U.N. lackeys shaking their collective fingers at Pyongyang is going to have any effect whatsoever?

And Obama feels that we need to CEDE AUTHORITY to this useless body? Yeah, OK. That sounds like a great national security decision.

UNITED NATIONS — Key Security Council nations reached agreement Saturday on a statement that would condemn North Korea’s rocket launch and toughen U.N. sanctions against the reclusive communist nation.

The five permanent veto-wielding members — the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France — and Japan reached agreement after Tokyo backed down from a demand that the Security Council adopt a new resolution, the strongest response the U.N.’s most powerful body can give.

They distributed the text of the proposed presidential statement to the nine other council members, who must now consult their capitals. Libya’s deputy U.N. ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said he expects the council to meet again Monday.

A presidential statement is considered a weaker reaction by the council, and while the U.S. insists it is legally binding, others do not.

Nonetheless, the current draft contains stronger language and demands than many observers predicted.
The statement “condemns” North Korea’s April 5 launch, without specifying whether it was a missile or a satellite. It makes clear that the launch was a violation of a Security Council resolution, adopted after the North conducted a nuclear test in 2006, which bans any missile tests by the country.

Legally binding? Since when do rogue, terrorist states care about legalities?

As if the crazy tree-huggers needed more encouragement, now Obama’s new science czar (you know, one of those crazy radicals that he just “appointed” with no oversight) wants to start looking at weather control devices to “engineer” the earth’s weather.

Sounds like a great plan; let’s take a bunch of bad science from anti-capitalism leftists who want to use false information to implement caps on businesses and then mess with a cyclical change in the earth’s atmosphere by utilizing technology that we have no CLUE what effect it will have. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

The president’s new science adviser said Wednesday that global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth’s air.

John Holdren told The Associated Press in his first interview since being confirmed last month that the idea of geoengineering the climate is being discussed. One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect the sun’s rays. Holdren said such an experimental measure would only be used as a last resort.

Wait, we want to POLLUTE the air? Hasn’t the Left been going berserk to stop us from polluting the air, going as far as suggesting massive caps on businesses and individuals to stop us from polluting, but it’s ok if Obama pollutes it intentionally.

Yeah, ok; liberal doublespeak at its finest.

This is beyond stupid (I say this a lot about BHO’s idiotic plans, it seems). Putting Obama’s socialist administration in charge of “engineering” the atmosphere is like asking a blind man to paint the boundary lines on a eight-lane super highway. The end result is not going to be pretty and it probably going to lead to a lot of hurt people.

Ok, that’s not exactly what he said…but it was close enough…

See, there used to be this sort of unwritten rule that you don’t attack the previous President, out of respect for the position. However, since Obama and his ilk have no respect for the Constitution, the country, the Founding Fathers, citizens, law or integrity…it’s really no surprise they have no respect for the former Presidents either.

Joe Biden is trying to strengthen his tough-guy image, I think. But he’s let his pathological liar streak get the best of him. This really shouldn’t be a surprise, given his history.

Former Bush adviser Karl Rove, in a FOX News interview, called Joe Biden a “liar” over the vice president’s claim this week of having privately castigated former President George W. Bush.

Rove was the latest former Bush aides to challenging the veracity of Biden’s story and an earlier episode in which Biden claims to have similarly rebuked Bush, who said he doesn’t remember the incidents.

“It didn’t happen,” Rove, a FOX News contributor, said in an interview scheduled to air on “On the Record” at 10 p.m. EDT. “I hate to say this, but he’s a serial exaggerator. If I was being unkind, I would say liar, but it is a habit he ought to drop.”

And it wasn’t just Karl Rove:

“I never recall Biden saying any of that,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said after reviewing detailed notes of Bush’s White House meetings with Biden, which include numerous direct quotes from Biden. “I find it odd that he said he met with him alone all the time. I don’t think that’s true.”

Fleischer said that whenever Bush met with Sen. Biden, the meeting also included a congressional counterpart so as to not “antagonize” the House.

Rove went even further.

“With all due respect to the vice president, these are the kind of things you can get away with if you are a United States senator or a backbencher in the U.S. House of Representatives,” he said. “You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the vice president of the United States.”

That’s the best point to be made out of all of this: this is the SITTING VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA…and he’s flat-out making stuff up to make himself sound cool. (More from Politico here.)

What an administration; an inept, incompetent socialist as President, pathological liar as VP, cabinet full of tax-cheats and a porn apologist and Sharia Law supporter in the Justice Department. Did I suddenly wake up in the Soviet Union?

Fox News, AP and CBS are reporting that the 20-man American crew has regained control of their vessel after it was hijacked by Somali pirates.

US Crew Tosses Pirates Overboard, Retakes Ship

CBS News Pentagon Correspondent David Martin reports the crew of the Maersk Alabama has overpowered the pirates, threw three of them overboard, and took one of the men into custody, according to military sources. The 20 American crewmembers are reportedly back in control of the ship

THAT’S AMERICAN RESOLVE RIGHT THERE, BABY! YEAH!!!! If you mess with us, you are going to pay a price!

More from the AP:

“The crew is back in control of the ship,” a U.S. official said at midday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record. “It’s reported that one pirate is on board under crew control — the other three were trying to flee,” the official said. The status of the other pirates was unknown, the official said, but they were reported to “be in the water.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official says the crew of an American-flagged vessel hijacked off the coast of Somalia has retaken control of the ship and has one pirate in custody.

The official said the status of the other pirates is unknown but they were reported to “be in the water.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

The ship was captured by pirates near the coast of Somalia, in what is believed to be the first hostage-taking of American sailors in 200 years.

BBC:

The US crew of a ship hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia has retaken control of the vessel, according to Pentagon sources.

Unnamed US defence officials said one pirate had been captured by the crew of the Danish-owned Maersk Alabama, which was seized earlier in the Indian Ocean.

The status of the other pirates was unknown, but officials said they were “in the water”.

That’s what you guys get for attacking an American ship! Want to go for round 2???

Apparently, separation of church and state is something for liberals to scream and complain about when children are allowed to pray in school, but when the government wants to create a “faith advisory board” to “reach out to religious groups,” it’s hailed as “progress.”

Most likely, however, liberals love it because of the radical progressives that Obama is adding to his roster. Newest among them, pope-basher and gay marriage supporter Harry Knox.

President Barack Obama has named to the federal government’s faith-based initiative a gay-rights activist who, last month, described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as “discredited leaders” because of their opposition to same-sex marriage.

Harry Knox, who is a newly appointed member of Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group.

Interesting. So someone who insults the single largest religion in the country and then advocates policies contrary to the majority of Christians in the country is ideally qualified to ‘reach out to religious groups?’ This is ridiculous.

Another double standard I just thought of…liberals freak out about amendments banning gay marriage, but I’ll bet laws FOR gay marriage will meet with little resistance, especially if they are backed by this monstrous group of immoral religion twisters.

Conservatives have already expressed concern that Obama’s faith-based advisory council is heavy with liberal activists, such as the Rev. Jim Wallis, the Rev. Otis Moss Jr. and Rabbi David N. Saperstein, among other left-leaning clergy on the council who have advocated for more social spending, less restrictive immigration policies and more environmental regulations. Some council members have been avid supporters of abortion rights, gay marriage, and keeping a strict separation of church and state.

“It is expanded to go beyond faith-based organizations, which is a complete 180 of its original intent,” Tom McClusky, vice president of Family Research Council’s FRC-Alert, told CNSNews.com. “The numbers on the council are – as expected – much more heavily leaning liberals who are not as concerned about the right to practice one’s own faith when accepting federal dollars.”

How can you claim a “strict separation of church and state” when you are creating a “faith based board” run by the government to advise on religious issues?

For now, it’s “advise.” But, that’s only two steps away from “regulate,” which seems to be a favorite word of this administration.

(hat tip: Townhall.com)

Sorry, but I disagree with that assessment. North Korea has blatantly defied every stupidly and incompetently leveled “international sanction” by launching their missiles, and they have faced ZERO repercussions for it. Obama handed them a victory by forfeit.

We have the biggest wuss in the history of U.S. presidents sitting in the Oval Office fretting over his new dog and apologizing to every other country for all of the supposed ‘evil and arrogant actions’ we’ve done over the years; I highly doubt he’s going to change his mind in the next couple days and suddenly “get tough.”

Obama’s inept foreign policy of “extending a hand to those that have a clenched fist” is going to cost us American lives. He is far too naive to be dealing with rogue states on a national stage.

We should be blown that rocket up on the pad.

The failure so far of the U.N. Security Council or other international organization to respond to a weekend rocket launch by North Korea does not signal a “win” for the rogue nation, the State Department said Monday.

Spokesman Robert Wood said the international community is working closely on a coordinated response, and the severity of the violation only puts North Korea farther out on a limb by itself.

“This kind of action only further isolates the North and the fact that the Security Council is taking a shoe up demonstrates how important it is that we deal with this matter and the need for it to be dealt with and so I would reject any characterization that the North — that this is some kind of a win for the North — it’s not,” he said.

The United States has so far decided to rely on the U.N. Security Council to dole out an appropriate response to North Korea’s launching of the rocket, which crossed over Japanese airspace.

Oh, well, the international community is working on a coordinated response. I’m sure that’ll accomplish a lot. Since when has it become necessary for us to look to the “international community” before we decide on a response to a provocative terrorist state threatening to start WWIII?

The last sentence there is the scariest. We are well on our way to completely outsourcing our foreign policy decisions to an international body that is incapable of running itself, much less the whole world. And we’re going to let them dictate how WE respond? I don’t think so.