Monthly Archives: August 2013

Prez Cuts Off Own Balls

And maybe the balls of future presidents…

With his announcement that he won’t do missile strikes in Syria in response to Assad’s use of chemical weapons without going to Congress for approval, President Obama is now effectively neutured for the rest of his term in both domestic and foreign policy.  If he can’t take this teeny, tiny step — which is not going to war with Syria — then he can’t do anything militarily without going to Congress.  He was already stymied on domestic stuff because of the filibuster in the Senate and the crazies in the House, and now he’s basically given up as Commander in Chief.  The Constitution calls for one Commander in Chief, not 536.

Whether or not we should intervene in Syria’s civil war is another question entirely.  This was simply Obama telling Assad that he was welcome to continue his civil war with impunity, he just couldn’t use chemical weapons.  This was about enforcing an almost hundred-year-old, broad international consensus against the use of chemical weapons.

As for the American people being war weary, look, using our military power comes with the territory of being an American, which most of you seem to enjoy.  If you don’t like it, there’s lots of places to cross the Canadian border.  Which maybe explains Ted Cruz’s attitude, since that’s where he’s from.  I myself would like to leave Afghanistan tomorrow, but I’m weary (and wary) of Hamid Karzai, which is not at all the same as being war weary.  But again, this isn’t about starting a new war, this isn’t at all analogous to sending 150,000 troops into Iraq.  This is the military equivalent of a “cup of coffee” in baseball.

So now he’s helped the Rand Paul-Ted Cruz wing of the GOP.  So now they’re laughing at us in Moscow, Damascus, and Tehran.

And how does he think he’s going to win this vote? If he’s counting on the “hawkish” Republicans, fuhgeddaboudit.  They’ll tell their constituents they voted no because the President didn’t want to do enough against Assad.  See McCain, John and Graham, Lindsey.   Plus losing the votes of those on the left and the libertarian right who don’t want to do anything against Assad.

You lost me today, Barry.  From now on, you’re only someone that I used to love.

Setting the Stage for U. S. Missile Strikes

Secretary of State John Kerry says Assad definitely used chemical weapons:

“What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality.  Let me be clear: The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard it is inexcusable, and despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured, it is undeniable. The meaning of this attack goes beyond the conflict in Syria itself. That conflict has already brought so much terrible suffering. This is about the large-scale indiscriminate use of weapons that the civilized world long ago decided must never be used at all.”

How They Would Have Killed Diana

The Express interviewed a retired British Special Forces soldier, Bob Stirling, as to how Princess Diana might have been assassinated by the SAS.

From “How rogue SAS would murder Princess Diana”:

“Using specially trained handlers, covert reconnaissance and a laser light to force Diana’s chauffeur-driven limousine off the road, the rogue death squad could not only have successfully completed their deadly mission, but made it look like a road accident.

“‘We are taught that a target is at its most vulnerable when in transit,’ Bob said.  ‘In this instance it was know the target used a Mercedes to travel around Paris.’

“‘The car was the weak spot in their security, and the driver, Henri Paul, was the weak spot in the car because driver error is difficult to disprove, whereas mechanical tampering may be discovered later.’

“The operation would have begun with a period of surveillance. ‘It would not be difficult, as their field operators would be assumed to be paparazzi,’ he said.  ‘The car would be tagged with an electronic tracer and its movements monitored so that regularly used routes could be found and reconnoitred.’

“He said that along these routes several places would be selected ‘where the car would be driving quickly into a bend or where leaving the road would meet a solid obstacle such as a concrete pillar.’

“A separate team would have studied the driver’s habits.

“‘During the preparation phase a method would be discovered by which someone, probably a female operator, could add extra alcohol to the driver’s usual drink.’

“To ensure the car was traveling fast enough to be deadly, a ‘pressure car’ could be used to fluster the driver, who could be expected to react impulsively under the influence of alcohol.  Evidence from the inquest showed the car was traveling at 62 mph, twice the speed limit, when it entered the Pont de l’Alma tunnel.

“Traces of paint and debris indicated there had been a collision between the car and another vehicle, thought to be a white Fiat Uno which has never been traced.

“‘The coup de grace would have been the laser,’ added Bob. 

“‘A motorcycle would be the most reliable means and the least likely to be discovered,’ said Bob.  ‘On the day, the target vehicle was harassed by paparazzi motorcycles.  A motorcycle with two people on it might appear to be paparazzi.’

“‘It could pass the target car just before one of the selected killing areas and the passenger could attract the target driver’s attention with a false brake light, then blind him with a laser built into a camera as they approached a suitable spot.  There were reports of bright flashes from the the time of the event.'”

 

Trump Blames Obama for His Greedy Fraud

Donald Trump runs three-day scams seminars called the Trump Entrepreneur Institute where suckers pay up to $35,000 (!) thinking they are going to learn his secrets, become super rich, and plaster their names all over luxury buildings chock full of gold-plated fixtures.  The thing used to be called Trump University, until the New York State Education Department pointed out that he didn’t exactly meet the requirements for a university (or even a community college!).

Anyway, his waste-of-money “classes” generated a lot of consumer complaints and civil lawsuits.  For example, folks who thought they were going to meet Trump himself and learn at the master’s knee were a tad disappointed to have their photo taken with a cardboard image of the Donald.

So now the Attorney General of New York, Eric Schneiderman, is suing Trump for fraud in state court, seeking $40 million in restitution for those who claim they didn’t get what Trump promised.

But Trump of course can’t accept that his greed has caught up with him, and he went on Fox and Friends (where else?) this morning, claiming that President Obama is behind the lawsuit.

Yes, with all that’s going on in Syria and Egypt, the President is very busy plotting against Donald Trump.

New Book Says Diana Was Murdered

From an Express article about Alan Power’s book, The Princess Diana Conspiracy:

“The 300-page book alleges she was murdered on the orders of Buckingham Palace because she was about to release a dynamite dossier chronicling Prince Charles’s sordid sex secrets.

“Mr. Power claims she was killed by an elite team of SAS agents and MI6 operatives codenamed The Increment, acting on orders from the Palace.

“Mr. Power says the hit on Diana was carried out by a team of crack troops on motorbikes posing as paparazzi who forced her Mercedes to crash into the concrete pillars of the Pont de l’Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997.”

This Is Weird

The U. S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Neil McBride, is resigning as of 9/13.  McBride is leading the high-profile investigation of  GOP Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen over their receipt of gifts and loans from snake oil salesman Jonnie Williams, whose company, Star Scientific, the McDonnells helped promote.

Williams has been cooperating in the investigation in return for not getting in trouble himself for his latest scam, a tobacco-based health supplement (great oxymoron).  Williams has been in trouble with the law before for previous shady companies.  You’d think McDonnell or one of his aides might have done a quick Google before getting in bed with this guy, but either they didn’t know his history or didn’t care because of the $.

McDonnell and his wife have separate lawyers (which is very interesting in itself), and those lawyers met with prosecutors this week.  It’s believed that a decision on prosecution will come soon.

McDonnell should resign, not McBride.