News/Politics 4-27-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Open Thread.

First some good news, but only for your taste buds, not your diet. 😦

From GMA/Yahoo

“The bankrupt assets of Hostess Brands, Inc., the company responsible for Twinkies, Ho Ho’s, Sno Balls and Ding Dongs, are being put back to work by a buyout firm. What’s not being put back to work are the former Hostess unionized employees.”

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The idea of the US military being used to aid Al-Qaeda in Syria really bothers me. But that’s the idea being pushed. From RT.com

“The White House says that United States President Barack Obama may approve of using military force against the Syrian government.

Early afternoon on Friday, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that the administration has a number of options in regards to handling reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons, and those routes include but are not exclusive to using military force.”

Pelosi is pushing it too. From TheHill

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that it was time  for the United States to “take it to the next step” in Syria in response to  possible chemical weapons use, although she said that did not include putting “troops on the ground.”

“I myself think that we have tolerated for too long all of the assaults on  the Syrian people made by its own government,” Pelosi told reporters. “I think  we have to take it to the next step. That does not mean troops on the  ground.””

Syria has become the go to place for jihadists looking to fight. From RT.com

“War-torn Syria is now “number one” destination for jihadists who could then return to Europe experienced “in weapons and explosives” to carry out terror attacks, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague warns.

As the violent military conflict rages on, the threat to Western countries from Syria-grown extremists is rising; and the risk that it may breed a new generation of battle-hardened militants is “growing the longer the fighting in Syria continues,” Hague said in his speech Thursday at the Royal United Services Institute.”

Here’s 4 of the bad arguments being used to argue the case for arming them. From RealClearWorld

“Slowly but steadily, the United States (scratch that, Washington, DC) is talking itself into a deeper involvement in Syria’s civil war. There are already reports indicating that the U.S. is taking an active hand in determining which Syrian rebel groups will receive shipments of weapons purchased by Gulf allies.  The CIA has reportedly been training “secular” fighters in Jordan to send into the fray.

All the while, the Obama administration has been goaded ever-deeper by a series of dubious arguments about U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war. Four, in particular, have surfaced frequently.”

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Meanwhile, Obama’s speech to Planned Parenthood was a first. It was also quite disgusting to watch. He’d like Planned Parenthood to help him push ObamaCare. From Politico

“President Obama asked Planned Parenthood and its supporters to play a key role in informing Americans of the details of the Affordable Care Act as he addressed the group Friday.

“I’m here to … ask for your help, because we need to get the word out,” he said in Washington during a speech rescheduled from Thursday night, when he chose to spend extra time with victims of the West, Texas, explosion. “We need you to tell your patients, your friends, your neighbors, your family members what the health care law means for them.”

It was about as controversial as Obama got in the speech — the first to the group by a sitting U.S. president — as he avoided talking about the Kermit Gosnell trial or a recent ruling on the morning-after pill.”

Gee, I wonder why? 🙄

From TheDailyCaller

“President Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to deliver a speech  to Planned Parenthood on Friday.

The organization is America’s leading abortion provider.

During a speech at the Planned Parenthood National Conference in Washington,  Obama told the room of about 1,000 attendees that the organization is here to  stay, despite efforts by Republicans to strip the group of federal funding.”

He ended the speech with “God Bless Planned Parenthood.” He also told the adoring crowd at the start that they were “making him blush.” Classless and clueless. He should be embarrassed. If he’s gonna blush, it should be from shame.

And yes, there’s video, from WeaselZippers

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The NY Times has done something I’d never thought I would see. They said Andrew Breitbart was right about the Pigford Settlement to minority farmers all along. From HotAir

“It’s rare to get this kind of vindication, so let’s enjoy it in memory of Andrew Breitbart for as long as possible.  For more than two years, Andrew and Lee Stranahan have investigated the Pigford settlement and the fraudulent claims that not only have cost taxpayers billions, but have left the original black farmers who sued the USDA over discrimination in the lurch.  Today the New York Times reports what Andrew and Lee have been saying all along — that the Pigford settlement was a political hack job by Tom Vilsack’s Department of Agriculture, and that it’s a magnet for fraud (via Twitchy):”

“Career litigators, who had successfully defended the Agriculture Department all the way to the Supreme Court, were aghast:

The payouts pitted Mr. Vilsack and other political appointees against career lawyers and agency officials, who argued that the legal risks did not justify the costs.

Beyond that, they said it was legally questionable to sidestep Congress and compensate the Hispanic and female farmers out of a special Treasury Department account, known as the Judgment Fund. The fund is restricted to payments of court-approved judgments and settlements, as well as to out-of-court settlements in cases where the government faces imminent litigation that it could lose. Some officials argued that tapping the fund for the farmers set a bad precedent, since most had arguably never contemplated suing and might not have won if they had.”

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And lastly, an interesting read from Pat Buchanan over at CNS News called “The Dark Side of Diversity”

“”I do not know the method of drawing up an indictment against a whole people,” said Edmund Burke of the rebellious Americans.

The  same holds true of Islam, the majority faith of 49 nations from Morocco  to Indonesia, a religion that 1.6 billion people profess.

Yet, some assertions appear true.

Islam  is growing in militancy and intolerance, evolving again into a fighting  faith, and spreading not only through proselytizing, but violence.”

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