It is really like a Western movie. After 15 years of bad sheriffs (Bush and Obama) have brought danger to their doorstep, the wimps of Western Europe will turn to Putin.
Of course if you don’t like Putin, you can rely on the “4 or 5” US trained Syrian rebels who are fighting ISIS. US Congressional hearings on foreign policy and our military are hilarious.
Sheer speculation here because I have no facts, just observations, on which to make my opinions. But:
I suspect Obama is Shia, he is opposed to the Sunni ISIS (ISIL to him), but he expects Iran and Iraq to do the fighting.
We will see how things develop.
President Obama just found out how many good anti-ISIS fighters $500 million buys: five, at most.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, who leads the U.S. military’s Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday there are only four or five Syrian fighters left out of 54 who were trained as part of a U.S. program.
Another 100-120 fighters will be trained in the program’s three remaining classes, NBC News reported Wednesday
“In a stunning show of political indecorum, Obama has invited a series of individuals who publicly flout Catholic teaching, including a pro-abortion religious sister, a transgender woman and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, along with at least two Catholic gay activists.”
“One of the invitees, retired Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, made history by becoming the first openly gay episcopal bishop in 2003 and subsequently the first to divorce his gay partner in 2014, after having previously separated from his wife of 14 years. He has attended a number of religious events with the Obama administration, offering a prayer at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and taking part in the 2014 National Prayer Breakfast.
Mateo Williamson, a cross-dressing woman and former co-chairman of the Transgender Caucus for Dignity USA, has also received an invitation to the White House for Pope Francis’ visit. Williamson says that though she now thinks of herself as a man, she continues to be attracted to males. “Today I identify as a gay man and before that was difficult to understand because I thought that in order to be transgender, in order to be a transgender male that I had to be attracted to females but I never have throughout my entire life.””
“Another White House invitee for the Pope’s visit, Sister Simone Campbell, is the pro-abortion executive director of the social justice lobby NETWORK. Campbell fought against the U.S. bishops when Obama’s Affordable Care Act was originally being debated, in an attempt to undermine their abortion and conscience concerns.”
“An intermediary for several of the invitations to greet the Pope was Vivian Taylor, a 30-year-old male transvestite who acted as Executive Director of Integrity USA, a homosexual and transgender activist wing of the Episcopal Church, until last March.
“A few months ago I received an invitation from the White House to attend the reception for Pope Francis,” Taylor told CNS News. “I was told I could bring several friends with me,” adding that he is “glad we can bring some LGBT representation to the event.””
…. There’s no religious test for office, and there shouldn’t be. My Baptist ancestors were willing to make alliances with the heretical Thomas Jefferson because he believed in religious liberty. It didn’t matter that they never would have let him teach Sunday school.
We should not demand to see the long-form certificate for Mr. Trump’s second birth. We should, though, ask about his personal character and fitness for office. His personal morality is clear, not because of tabloid exposés but because of his own boasts. His attitude toward women is that of a Bronze Age warlord. He tells us in one of his books that he revels in the fact that he gets to sleep with some of the “top women in the world.” He has divorced two wives (so far) for other women.
This should not be surprising to social conservatives in a culture shaped by pornographic understandings of the meaning of love and sex. What is surprising is that some self-identified evangelicals are telling pollsters they’re for Mr. Trump. Worse, some social conservative leaders are praising Mr. Trump for “telling it like it is.” …
________________________________________
” The Internal Revenue Service revoked the nonprofit status of the veterans benefit organization that hosted and sold tickets to a foreign policy speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump aboard a retired U.S. battleship, The Associated Press has learned. The group’s endorsement of Trump at the event also could raise legal problems under campaign finance laws.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions from the AP about whether it was aware that the IRS had revoked the nonprofit status of the Veterans for a Strong America, which sold tickets to Trump’s event for up to $1,000 as a fundraiser. The IRS issued its decision Aug. 10, citing the group’s failure to file any tax returns for three consecutive years, according to IRS records reviewed by the AP.
The group’s chairman, Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the organization was appealing the IRS decision. He would not provide AP with copies of any tax returns, which would show how much money the group has collected over the years and how it spends its money. By law, such records are supposed to be available to the general public for inspection.
“We disagree with the IRS determination letter,” Arends told the AP in an interview. He appeared alongside Trump on Tuesday night on the ship.
Regardless of its legal status as a nonprofit, Veterans for a Strong America’s endorsement of Trump on the deck of the USS Iowa may also raise campaign finance questions. Under federal law, corporations are restricted to donating $2,700 either in cash or in-kind contributions to a campaign. But the event, which Veterans for a Strong America paid for, involved 850 attendees, putting the cost at roughly $11,000.”
AJ, I think Obama is trying to go out with an in-your-face “So there!” year. Or at least that how it appears … What a disaster the past 7 years have been, so much worse than I would have imagined even after he was re-elected (shockingly) in ’12 (when I naively thought, well, how much worse can it get? We’ll just ride it out for 4 years …)
He’s never tried to work with “the other side of the aisle.” He only seems interested in lecturing and insulting those who disagree with him. He’s really quite an unlikable figure.
Well, if the group hasn’t filed taxes in 3 years, there should be some repercussions. But pulling it’s tax exempt status for hosting a political candidate and giving him money? Most unions do that, don’t they?
…… Chris Christie was strong and effective throughout. He showed a sense of humor, too. Like several others, he closed strongly. I will be surprised if he doesn’t get a bump from tonight’s show.
Ted Cruz is terrific in this format. But there is something about him that some people really, really don’t like. I am not sure that any display of brilliance can overcome that sentiment. …
Marco Rubio was shut out for the first half hour plus of the debate, but when he finally got some air time he did extremely well ….
……………… Donald Trump came across poorly, sometimes appearing to be a Democrat who forgot that he was talking to an audience of Republicans. …..
Carly Fiorina was terrific. She won several exchanges with other candidates, and destroyed Trump with regard to his insulting her appearance. Her rise will continue, and should. Her final answer on putting a woman on the $10 bill was a classic. Her closing was astonishingly good…..
Ben Carson was Ben Carson. He is a brilliant, accomplished gentleman, but a novice on the political scene. People like him, and they should, but I think he is more likely to be a cabinet officer than a president. ….
……… Bottom line: despite everything, a bad beginning and some food-fight interludes, tonight was a win not for any one candidate, but a big win for the Republican Party. Rarely has so much talent, so much vigor, so much diversity, been on display.
____________________________________________________
And I agree that Cruz is just not a very likable guy, and that makes a big difference.
I have a (Republican) friend who actually winced when she asked me a while back, “You’re not for Ted Cruz, are you?”
As our own Kim put it on FB: “There is something about the way Ted Cruz looks that makes me not trust him”
He just strikes me as too hard-edged, harsh, with no (visible) compassion, he’s what they used to call a “rock-ribbed conservative. A little too much for me I guess.
Don’t know what it is, but he really just doesn’t personally connect well, I’m afraid.
Donna, I know very little about any of the candidates – Trump, for instance, I first saw occasionally on clips of ‘The Apprentice’ when I was flipping through TV channels, and I didn’t know the full scope of his celebrity until he pulled his ‘birther’ stunt. But I did watch that speech Ted Cruz gave to the Arab Christian gathering about a year ago, and his arrogant pushing of his Israel agenda, to the point of insult, shocked me (it is even more shocking now, in light of how those Christians are being treated by ISIS). You were all rightly upset by that World article about the current administration refusing to single out the Assyrian Christians for help. In light of how Cruz treated that gathering, one wonders would he insist that the Assyrian Christians voice support for Israel in order to receive refuge were he president? Besides, I’m half expecting Trump to pull the birther card on Cruz, since Cruz was born outside the U.S. 😉
Although President Obama does seem to side with Muslims over Christians (maybe I could omit the “seem” in this sentence), there are a few things that go against believing he is a Muslim himself: his support for abortion, women’s rights, homosexuality, & same-sex marriage.
There is something about Ted Cruz that I cannot like. After I made that post another friend posted that “Ted Cruz sounds like a cross between Ross Perot & the Rev. Jim Baker”. THAT explained it. He reminds me of those 80’s and 90’s televangestists. That expression on his face that is such false sincerity and empathy. I can’t trust him.
This is what I posted on a friend’s FB and meant to put on my own but didn’t have the time.
Process of elimination
Trump has to go. He really didn’t say anything of substance.
Cruz was off putting tonight with his pandering to the camera and that smug look on his face. There is something there – I can’t put my finger on it- I can’t like him.
Bush has to go for the same reason I don’t want Hillary. Been there done that. Next.
Christie I don’t like because I have felt like he was the ordained by the media one.
I really liked Carly Fiorina. She stood up to everyone. There is something Thatcheresque about her.
I liked the guy from Ohio. The problem is I can’t remember his name
I want to like Ben Carson but I don’t think he is tough enough.
Rand Paul makes a lot of sense. I like him
But likability as a person is always important in getting elected. It’s not only what someone believes (though that’s the core), but it’s the leadership quality of being able to inspire and articulate winsomely & connect with people. Reagan had it. I see it in some of these candidates. But definitely not in Cruz or Paul.
Then you have someone like Trump who, in his better moments, can make people laugh and feel connected — but whose character leaves a lot to be desired & whose core beliefs are a mishmash at best, often quite liberal or not particularly principled.
Wandering Views 
Meet the new leader of the West:
It is really like a Western movie. After 15 years of bad sheriffs (Bush and Obama) have brought danger to their doorstep, the wimps of Western Europe will turn to Putin.
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Of course if you don’t like Putin, you can rely on the “4 or 5” US trained Syrian rebels who are fighting ISIS. US Congressional hearings on foreign policy and our military are hilarious.
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😦
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Cheer up, Chas! With 2 or 3 more and an Elmer Bernstein musical score, we could have “The Magnificent Seven”.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-austin-us-trained-syrian-rebels-fighting-isis/story?id=33802596
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Sheer speculation here because I have no facts, just observations, on which to make my opinions. But:
I suspect Obama is Shia, he is opposed to the Sunni ISIS (ISIL to him), but he expects Iran and Iraq to do the fighting.
We will see how things develop.
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From Drudge:
President Obama just found out how many good anti-ISIS fighters $500 million buys: five, at most.
Gen. Lloyd Austin, who leads the U.S. military’s Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday there are only four or five Syrian fighters left out of 54 who were trained as part of a U.S. program.
Another 100-120 fighters will be trained in the program’s three remaining classes, NBC News reported Wednesday
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/obamas-syrian-fighter-plan-implodes/#ygkkX51HDQd9laRj.99
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A new low, even for this pathetic excuse for a leader. What a scumbag move.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/16/white-house-invites-trio-catholic-dissenters-greet-pope-francis/
“In a stunning show of political indecorum, Obama has invited a series of individuals who publicly flout Catholic teaching, including a pro-abortion religious sister, a transgender woman and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, along with at least two Catholic gay activists.”
“One of the invitees, retired Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, made history by becoming the first openly gay episcopal bishop in 2003 and subsequently the first to divorce his gay partner in 2014, after having previously separated from his wife of 14 years. He has attended a number of religious events with the Obama administration, offering a prayer at President Obama’s inauguration in 2009 and taking part in the 2014 National Prayer Breakfast.
Mateo Williamson, a cross-dressing woman and former co-chairman of the Transgender Caucus for Dignity USA, has also received an invitation to the White House for Pope Francis’ visit. Williamson says that though she now thinks of herself as a man, she continues to be attracted to males. “Today I identify as a gay man and before that was difficult to understand because I thought that in order to be transgender, in order to be a transgender male that I had to be attracted to females but I never have throughout my entire life.””
“Another White House invitee for the Pope’s visit, Sister Simone Campbell, is the pro-abortion executive director of the social justice lobby NETWORK. Campbell fought against the U.S. bishops when Obama’s Affordable Care Act was originally being debated, in an attempt to undermine their abortion and conscience concerns.”
“An intermediary for several of the invitations to greet the Pope was Vivian Taylor, a 30-year-old male transvestite who acted as Executive Director of Integrity USA, a homosexual and transgender activist wing of the Episcopal Church, until last March.
“A few months ago I received an invitation from the White House to attend the reception for Pope Francis,” Taylor told CNS News. “I was told I could bring several friends with me,” adding that he is “glad we can bring some LGBT representation to the event.””
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Moore on Trump:
____________________________________
…. There’s no religious test for office, and there shouldn’t be. My Baptist ancestors were willing to make alliances with the heretical Thomas Jefferson because he believed in religious liberty. It didn’t matter that they never would have let him teach Sunday school.
We should not demand to see the long-form certificate for Mr. Trump’s second birth. We should, though, ask about his personal character and fitness for office. His personal morality is clear, not because of tabloid exposés but because of his own boasts. His attitude toward women is that of a Bronze Age warlord. He tells us in one of his books that he revels in the fact that he gets to sleep with some of the “top women in the world.” He has divorced two wives (so far) for other women.
This should not be surprising to social conservatives in a culture shaped by pornographic understandings of the meaning of love and sex. What is surprising is that some self-identified evangelicals are telling pollsters they’re for Mr. Trump. Worse, some social conservative leaders are praising Mr. Trump for “telling it like it is.” …
________________________________________
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Well that didn’t take long…….
The IRS is once again being used to target the political enemies of the president and Democrats.
This time pulling the tax exempt status of a veterans group. Which one you ask…
The one that dared host Trump on the Iowa yesterday.
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/veterans-group-hosting-trump-on-battleship-lost-nonprofit-status-1.368519
” The Internal Revenue Service revoked the nonprofit status of the veterans benefit organization that hosted and sold tickets to a foreign policy speech by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump aboard a retired U.S. battleship, The Associated Press has learned. The group’s endorsement of Trump at the event also could raise legal problems under campaign finance laws.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions from the AP about whether it was aware that the IRS had revoked the nonprofit status of the Veterans for a Strong America, which sold tickets to Trump’s event for up to $1,000 as a fundraiser. The IRS issued its decision Aug. 10, citing the group’s failure to file any tax returns for three consecutive years, according to IRS records reviewed by the AP.
The group’s chairman, Joel Arends of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, said the organization was appealing the IRS decision. He would not provide AP with copies of any tax returns, which would show how much money the group has collected over the years and how it spends its money. By law, such records are supposed to be available to the general public for inspection.
“We disagree with the IRS determination letter,” Arends told the AP in an interview. He appeared alongside Trump on Tuesday night on the ship.
Regardless of its legal status as a nonprofit, Veterans for a Strong America’s endorsement of Trump on the deck of the USS Iowa may also raise campaign finance questions. Under federal law, corporations are restricted to donating $2,700 either in cash or in-kind contributions to a campaign. But the event, which Veterans for a Strong America paid for, involved 850 attendees, putting the cost at roughly $11,000.”
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AJ, I think Obama is trying to go out with an in-your-face “So there!” year. Or at least that how it appears … What a disaster the past 7 years have been, so much worse than I would have imagined even after he was re-elected (shockingly) in ’12 (when I naively thought, well, how much worse can it get? We’ll just ride it out for 4 years …)
He’s never tried to work with “the other side of the aisle.” He only seems interested in lecturing and insulting those who disagree with him. He’s really quite an unlikable figure.
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Yep, the veterans group hosting Trump … it’s caused a stir. Nonprofit or superPAC?
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And that’s going to be a mess for us to follow up on. Editor will be in a lovely mood. Ugh. Can I just go back to bed now?
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Well, if the group hasn’t filed taxes in 3 years, there should be some repercussions. But pulling it’s tax exempt status for hosting a political candidate and giving him money? Most unions do that, don’t they?
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http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/09/another-reason-to-like-marco.php
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And from the powerline blog’s post mortem:
_____________________________________
…… Chris Christie was strong and effective throughout. He showed a sense of humor, too. Like several others, he closed strongly. I will be surprised if he doesn’t get a bump from tonight’s show.
Ted Cruz is terrific in this format. But there is something about him that some people really, really don’t like. I am not sure that any display of brilliance can overcome that sentiment. …
Marco Rubio was shut out for the first half hour plus of the debate, but when he finally got some air time he did extremely well ….
……………… Donald Trump came across poorly, sometimes appearing to be a Democrat who forgot that he was talking to an audience of Republicans. …..
Carly Fiorina was terrific. She won several exchanges with other candidates, and destroyed Trump with regard to his insulting her appearance. Her rise will continue, and should. Her final answer on putting a woman on the $10 bill was a classic. Her closing was astonishingly good…..
Ben Carson was Ben Carson. He is a brilliant, accomplished gentleman, but a novice on the political scene. People like him, and they should, but I think he is more likely to be a cabinet officer than a president. ….
……… Bottom line: despite everything, a bad beginning and some food-fight interludes, tonight was a win not for any one candidate, but a big win for the Republican Party. Rarely has so much talent, so much vigor, so much diversity, been on display.
____________________________________________________
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And I agree that Cruz is just not a very likable guy, and that makes a big difference.
I have a (Republican) friend who actually winced when she asked me a while back, “You’re not for Ted Cruz, are you?”
As our own Kim put it on FB: “There is something about the way Ted Cruz looks that makes me not trust him”
He just strikes me as too hard-edged, harsh, with no (visible) compassion, he’s what they used to call a “rock-ribbed conservative. A little too much for me I guess.
Don’t know what it is, but he really just doesn’t personally connect well, I’m afraid.
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Donna, I know very little about any of the candidates – Trump, for instance, I first saw occasionally on clips of ‘The Apprentice’ when I was flipping through TV channels, and I didn’t know the full scope of his celebrity until he pulled his ‘birther’ stunt. But I did watch that speech Ted Cruz gave to the Arab Christian gathering about a year ago, and his arrogant pushing of his Israel agenda, to the point of insult, shocked me (it is even more shocking now, in light of how those Christians are being treated by ISIS). You were all rightly upset by that World article about the current administration refusing to single out the Assyrian Christians for help. In light of how Cruz treated that gathering, one wonders would he insist that the Assyrian Christians voice support for Israel in order to receive refuge were he president? Besides, I’m half expecting Trump to pull the birther card on Cruz, since Cruz was born outside the U.S. 😉
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Although President Obama does seem to side with Muslims over Christians (maybe I could omit the “seem” in this sentence), there are a few things that go against believing he is a Muslim himself: his support for abortion, women’s rights, homosexuality, & same-sex marriage.
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I don’t think he’s muslim. I just think he’s a godless jerk who always sides with them. As do most liberals…
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There is something about Ted Cruz that I cannot like. After I made that post another friend posted that “Ted Cruz sounds like a cross between Ross Perot & the Rev. Jim Baker”. THAT explained it. He reminds me of those 80’s and 90’s televangestists. That expression on his face that is such false sincerity and empathy. I can’t trust him.
This is what I posted on a friend’s FB and meant to put on my own but didn’t have the time.
Process of elimination
Trump has to go. He really didn’t say anything of substance.
Cruz was off putting tonight with his pandering to the camera and that smug look on his face. There is something there – I can’t put my finger on it- I can’t like him.
Bush has to go for the same reason I don’t want Hillary. Been there done that. Next.
Christie I don’t like because I have felt like he was the ordained by the media one.
I really liked Carly Fiorina. She stood up to everyone. There is something Thatcheresque about her.
I liked the guy from Ohio. The problem is I can’t remember his name
I want to like Ben Carson but I don’t think he is tough enough.
Rand Paul makes a lot of sense. I like him
Huckabee. Well he is just so so to me.
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Anonymous (AJ?) – Some people are convinced he is Muslim. I don’t think he is, but he certainly seems to be favoring them.
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“Carly Fiorina was terrific. … Her final answer on putting a woman on the $10 bill was a classic.”
What was that answer?
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Listen for yourself. It was classic, I whole-heartedly agree with her.
http://nj1015.com/did-carly-fiorinas-10-bill-question-response-beat-the-boys/
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Good answer.
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Cruz is deeply despised by the left. That makes me think he is doing something right.
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But likability as a person is always important in getting elected. It’s not only what someone believes (though that’s the core), but it’s the leadership quality of being able to inspire and articulate winsomely & connect with people. Reagan had it. I see it in some of these candidates. But definitely not in Cruz or Paul.
Then you have someone like Trump who, in his better moments, can make people laugh and feel connected — but whose character leaves a lot to be desired & whose core beliefs are a mishmash at best, often quite liberal or not particularly principled.
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is there anywhere that I can read a transcript of the debate??
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or even listen to it without the video?
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