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POPSAn Open Letter "Every day, LGBT Americans face discrimination and are being denied their constitutional rights. There is no one in public life who could, and based on your stated principles and promises should, do more to move America forward toward becoming a country in which LGBT people are respected and treated as fully equal under our Constitution and laws. We ask for your leadership and voice. When you lead, we will back you with every bit of heart and determination we can muster."
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POPSFrom the Brits: " Do Something" Even our "European allies" see it. Obama is weak and indecisive. Our enemies are also noticing. Note they are surging in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The death of our troops from the day Gen McChristal requested more troops, are solely the fault of Obama's dithering. But then, he is not really dithering. This trojan horse, borm a muslim in a muslim country, groomed and educated with muslim money, and then stealthily placed and financially supported by our enemies, is in place to destroy us. Obama will do everything he can to destroy Amerrica financially, and militarily. Now that he has access to our national secrets, watch for the covers of our clandestine agents to be blown, one by one.
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POPSNewsflash! Independents Not All Moderates! Wow! Not surprisingly, David Brooks,"Tool for the mainstream meme-ology" pushes the old notion that all independents are moderates, the swing vote. John Zogby (Co-authored by Zeljka Buturovic, PhD) writes in Huffington Post.................lays out numbers showing otherwise.
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POPSTime to walk away from Israeli-Palestinian conflict? FTA: "We should stop feeling as though we have to apologize for our friendship with Israel, or pretend that the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors didn’t create their own misery through a series of wars against Israel which they lost. Let the Palestinians and the Israelis tend to their own interests, and we should tend to our own as well. When the Palestinians figure out that we are not interested in beating our heads against the wall by dealing with terrorists uninterested in actual negotiations, then perhaps they’ll produce effective leadership with more interest in coexistence rather than annihilation." I think I agree.
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POPSWe Need To Do Better For Our Military Much of the study focused on 4th Brigade, home unit to most of the violent crime suspects. 4th Brigade was compared head-to-head with 3rd Brigade, which recently returned from Iraq. The 4th Brigade, now in Afghanistan, has suffered a higher casualty rate than other units its size in two deployments, the Army found, losing lives at a rate more than eight times that of 3rd Brigade. Along with the deaths came intense combat that took a mental toll on troops, the Army found. Soldiers in 4th Brigade were more likely than other soldiers to suffer mental illness. The study also found, though, that soldiers feel their careers can be damaged by seeking mental health help and too often feel that enlisted leaders don't support troops with mental illness. Read the entire article here: http://www.gazette.com/articles/soldiers-58520-report-army.html
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POPSObama and The Democrats Want You to Know They Had a Good Week
During his campaign, in effect, Mr Obama promised to be the constraint: to oversee Congress and guide it with a moderating hand. That was the difference he promised to make. There were always going to be limits to what he could do, but his failure so far even to try has been total. He has let nearly every agenda be set by the Democrats’ left-leaning congressional leadership. This comes in a country in which 40 per cent of voters call themselves conservatives, 36 per cent moderates and 20 per cent liberals. Voters are confused and concerned about the policies coming forward " above all by their mounting cost " but he has made little effort to explain or reassure, let alone influence. He has chosen to act as cheerleader for whatever congressional Democrats cook up. On healthcare, Mr Obama stood aside during months of chaotic haggling in Congress. By the summer, unsurprisingly, voters opposed to reform outnumbered voters in favour " again, above all, expressing worries . . .
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POPSTragedy at Ft. Hood An American with a brain AND common sense along with a resume and experience. He dares to speak the truth. Excellent article. FTA: "There should not be some 30 Islamic terrorist training camps in America that has nothing to do with First Amendment, Freedom of Religion. The Saudis are not our friends and any American political figure who believes such is delusional."
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POPS Bush Bad Most important, the American people will quickly lose faith in a war that they conclude their Commander in Chief is ambivalent about fighting. Reports of puzzled commanders and troops in the field are already multiplying as they wonder why they’re risking death by IED if Mr. Obama isn’t sure about the mission. AP, apparently getting it: “Karzai’s election increases pressure on Obama.” It’s getting bad when even the AP wants to know what gives with the “marathon deliberations.” GOP’s Boehner actually gets in the first and only opinion on those deliberations in this AP article … “The White House has no further pretext for delaying the decision on giving Gen. McChrystal the resources he needs” … a highlighting which I can assure you, based on long experience reading between AP’s lines, is not insignificant.
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POPSHope-n-Change Futures Are Down Across The Board When asked about Obama’s policy agenda, in November 2008 the responses split 43/45 (Liberal/Moderate) while recently the split was 54/34 (Liberal/Moderate). These are just a couple of highlights of the questions and I encourage you to check out the interactive data for the suprising shifts in the publics attitudes, especially the priorities and the policy expectations. But based on the results it’s becoming clearer that the public perception of Obama 1 year ago is vastly different from the President the public has come to know. In fact, to use the formula of the President himself, the public thinking is, “This is not the Obama we thought we elected.” >>Read more http://powip.com/2009/10/hope-n-change-futures-are-down-across-the-board/
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POPSLipstick on a Pig Nancy also babbled something about how any taxpayer money being used to pay for the public option would be repaid and how the public option would drive down costs. Because, you see, government is famous for paying taxes back to us and decreasing the cost of stuff. It’s what they’re known for. Wasserman-Schultz said that Pelosi plans to “go and test drive” the new term “competitive option” when she heads back to DC. Goody!!! I’m sure all of us feeble-brained Americans will fall for it, and think it’s a brand spanking new plan. Ya gotta love our leadership’s faith in us!
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POPS UN Signals Delay in Climate Change Treaty But he indicated that Copenhagen most likely won't produce a treaty, but instead will push governments as far as they can go on the content of an agreement. "The secretary-general believes that we must maintain the political momentum established by the 101 heads of state and government who attended the climate change summit and continue to aim for an ambitious, politically binding agreement in Copenhagen that would chart the way for future post-Copenhagen negotiations that lead to a legally binding global agreement," Pasztor said.
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POPSSo Rep. Grayson, Enjoy Your Fifteen Minutes, For You'll Soon Be Revealed As A Selfserving Hack
These brave people do this not because they have no other options, as Senator and noted idiot John F. Kerry has so condescendingly asserted. They do this because they love their country and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to help preserve it. Republicans and FOX News, unlike the Democrats and their enablers and fellow travellers in the old media, can truly appreciate the depth of this commitment and sacrifice, consequently, fight wars with the intent of winning them, so as not to sacrifice such courage and dedication in vain. They do this without specious and whining claims about “messes left by their predecessors”, or taking weeks to make a decision so as to be in line with however the alpha sheep have caused the winds to blow that particular week. In short, they believe in leadership, not self-aggrandizing speechifying into every open microphone about their troubles. Alan, put simply, you are a detestable human being and a small man.
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POPSSecret Obamacare Negotiations Behind Closed Doors Democracy does not begin and end on Election Day for the American people. Whether you are for or against Obamacare, we the people deserve an opportunity to read, digest and understand the most important health care legislation to be debated in the United States Senate in our lifetime. The American people relied upon the promise of the Obama Administration and the leadership in Congress to be open and transparent, therefore it is time to stop the closed door negotiations and allow the American people to participate in the democratic process. Author: Brian Darling http://blog.heritage.org/2009/10/19/secret-obamacare-negotiations-enter-day-6/
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POPSOct. 23,1983 Lebanese Terrorists Bomb the Marine Barracks in Beirut
. . with Syria. Although the United States had mounted two previous successful peacekeeping operations in Lebanon in 1958 and earlier in 1982 (to facilitate the evacuation of P.L.O. forces from Beirut that had been defeated by Israel), the ignominious end of the MNF intervention brought disastrous consequences. The failure of the peacekeeping mission led to renewed fighting between Lebanese factions and the ascendancy of Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria. Moreover, the Marine barracks bombing, which was the deadliest terrorist attack against Americans before the 9/11 attacks, later inspired Osama bin Laden, who viewed the United States as a “paper tiger” because of its rapid withdrawal of peacekeeping forces from Lebanon and Somalia after suffering casualties. Al Qaeda members were later dispatched to Hezbollah training camps in Lebanon, according to the 9/11 Commission Report (p. 68). Posted October 23rd, 2009 in American Leadership.
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POPSThe hapless, clueless media "They wanted to know if O'Keefe, the 25-year-old mastermind of the operation, had been trained at the infamous Leadership Institute, a conservative political organization in Washington. It was as if his motivations were somehow the issue. "
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POPSWhat Barack Obama Inherited
He inherited the responsibility to continue the philosophy and the tradition of a country founded on Judeo-Christian morals, ethics, and principles. He inherited the Constitution of the United States. He did not claim the right to remake it, to rewrite it, to change it. He swore to uphold it. And he's in the process of wreaking as much damage to the Constitution as he can get away with, with nominations like Sonia Sotomayor, as he is wreaking damage to the US economy. Barack Obama did not inherit a mess. He leads a mess. He inherited the United States of America, where anything is possible. And greatness has been delivered to the world time after time in the form of private sector inventions, innovations, advancements in products that improve people's lives for over 200 years. He inherited a country of individuals energized by their liberty and strengthened by their character. Barack Obama inherited the leadership of the greatest collection of human beings in the history . . .
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POPSSearching For Consensus on Afghanistan
share the same strategic interests and that the return to power of the Taliban would automatically mean a new sanctuary for al-Qaeda. Is that a myth? Here is Barack Obama on March 27, 2009, announcing his first new strategy for Afghanistan: "And if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban - or allows al Qaeda to go unchallenged - that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can." He added: The return in force of al Qaeda terrorists who would accompany the core Taliban leadership would cast Afghanistan under the shadow of perpetual violence. Later in the Post article, the reporters quote a "senior Obama official" comparing Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Eight months ago, if you had asked people which was worse, everybody would have said Pakistan is worse and Afghanistan is in good shape." Afghanistan was in good shape? 2008 was the deadliest year for American troops there. Nobody paying any attention
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POPSWho, What, How of Pakistan's Taliban Not the easiest read but a good introduction of how the Taliban in Pakistan extended and maintained control and a way to understand why many are eager to see them gone.