The Patriot Post Chronicle 3-23-2011

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The Patriot Post Chronicle 3-23-2011
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Foundation

"It need not be observed that there are pretended as well as just causes of war." --John Jay

Editorial Exegesis

"The expectation of the world's lone superpower in a major military operation is 'stalemate.' Welcome to the era of the Obama 'smart war.' Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen has been warning that he is unclear of the 'endgame,' as the Daily Telegraph describes it, in Libya. The outcome of Operation Odyssey Dawn is 'very uncertain' and could end up as a stalemate that keeps Col. Moammar Gadhafi in power. Appearing Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mullen said U.S. force will mean that Gadhafi is 'going to have to make some choices about his own future.' Sounds like we're sending Dr. Phil over to Tripoli to give the longtime tyrant some tough love. ... The president says our military operations were 'authorized' by the U.N. Security Council and the Arab League. He didn't give the U.S. Congress -- the Constitution's authorizers -- even one of those bows he likes to perform in the presence of foreign gentry. Is one of the purposes of Operation Odyssey Dawn to illustrate the New Multilateralism -- i.e., a Change-We-Can-Believe-In U.S. foreign policy in which we never shoot until the U.N. Security Council gives permission? ... Libya seems to be 'a war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics,' as Obama said of Iraq. We've seen that passion on the covers of tabloid newspapers with Navy-released photos of Tomahawk cruise missiles and headlines like 'Take That!' As for the politics, it certainly would be convenient for the president to be able play the hawk as the 2012 election approaches." --Investor's Business Daily1

Upright

"At once presumptuous and flippant, President Obama used a Saturday audio recording from Brazil to inform Americans he had authorized a third war -- a war in which America's role is unclear and the stated objectives are muddled. Setting aside the wisdom of the intervention, Obama's entry into Libya's civil war is troubling on at least five counts. First is the legal and constitutional question. Second is the manner of Obama's announcement. Third is the complete disregard for public opinion and lack of debate. Fourth is the unclear role the United States will play in this coalition. Fifth is the lack of a clear endgame. Compounding all these problems is the lack of trust created by Obama's record of deception." --columnist Timothy P. Carney

"So in the eleventh hour we have decided to bomb Libya. What is the mission? What are our objectives? The public is in the dark. Barely anyone has mentioned how Congress hasn't debated or authorized any of this. Secretary of State Clinton is reportedly furious with the administration's dithering. Vice President Biden, the purported foreign policy expert, is missing in action. And President Obama is away touring South America. The whole scene is very strange and a bit surreal. We have stumbled into war and it feels as though the intervention is both belated and haphazardly rushed at the same time." --columnist N. M. Guariglia

"Hourly cost of whatever it is we're doing in Libya: about $4 million. Total cost of building one mile of border fence, as undertaken by our horribly inefficient, bloated, largely incompetent federal government: about $2 million. So, every 30 minutes we're in Libya is one mile of border fence we could have built: Assuming the mission is accomplished in each case, which investment would make us safer?" --columnist Kevin D. Williamson

"If it weren't so sad, this story from the Washington Times would be too funny. It seems that money from President Obama's $862,000,000,000 'stimulus' bill of two years ago has been spent to upgrade the Wilmington, Del., AMTRAK station. Vice President Biden lobbied personally, we read, to get the funding for the station he has famously used ever since he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. Now, AMTRAK, grateful for his support, has all on its own initiative decided to name the spruced-up station the Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. AMTRAK station. Well, we all wanted to know who would replace the late, beloved Robert Byrd of West Virginia as the king of pork. Now we know." --columnist Ken Blackwell

"In the past, obstacles, even failures, have been viewed by Americans as an opportunity to excel, as a chance to overcome and to gain the advantage by learning from mistakes and making a better product or service. ... What the nation lacks is a leader capable of summoning the nation's abilities. So far, all we seem to be getting is the thin gruel of defeatism that urges us to abandon hope, because the problems are just too hard. I, for one, am sick of it. We are a great people, capable of great sacrifices and great accomplishments. If only President Obama would believe it too." --columnist Lurita Doan

The Demo-gogues

What leadership: "[It's] very easy to square our military actions and our stated policies [on Moammar Gadhafi's regime]. ... We can't simply stand by with empty words. We have to take some sort of action." --Barack Obama, who until following the UN on air strikes basically stood by with empty words

"With respect to initiating this [Libya military] action while I was abroad, keep in mind that we were working on very short timeframes, and we had done all the work, and it was just a matter of seeing how Gadhafi would react to the warning that I issued on Friday. He, despite words to the contrary, was continuing to act aggressively towards his civilians. ... But, when it comes to our military action, we are doing so in support of UN Security [Council] resolution 1973, that specifically talks about humanitarian efforts, and we are going to make sure that we stick to that mandate." --Barack Obama

"Never let a good crisis go to waste": "Well, we're in Libya because of oil. And I think both Japan and the nuclear technology and Libya and this dependence that we have upon imported oil have both once again highlighted the need for the United States to have a renewable energy agenda going forward." --congressman Ed Markey (D-MA)

Tooting his own horn: "We have made extraordinary progress over these last two years. When you look back at the track record of work that we've done over the last two years, I think it's fair to say the promise we made to the American people has been kept, that we have delivered in change that we can believe in. ... There are times where Michelle reminds me that I volunteered for this job. Because she looks at me and I looked tired. But I'm telling you, I am having an extraordinary time, because there aren't many moments in our lives where we know that we're making a difference. And this is one of those moments." --Barack Obama

"When a woman got raped, blame her because she was wearing a skirt too short, she looked the wrong way or she wasn't home in time to make the dinner. We've gotten by that. But it's amazing how these Republicans, the right wing of this party -- whose philosophy threw us into this God-awful hole we're in, gave us the tremendous deficit we've inherited -- that they're now using, now attempting to use, the very economic condition they have created to blame the victim -- whether it's organized labor or ordinary middle-class working men and women. It's bizarre. It's bizarre." --Joe Biden

"The only people who have the capacity -- organizational capacity and muscle -- to keep, as they say, the barbarians from the gate, is organized labor. And make no mistake about it, the guys on the other team get it. They know if they cripple labor, the gate is open, man. The gate is wide open. And we know that too."--Joe Biden

Insight

"The unions might be good for the people who are in the unions but it doesn't do a thing for the people who are unemployed. Because the union keeps down the number of jobs, it doesn't do a thing for them." --economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

"An economist is a man that can tell you ... what can happen under any given condition, and his guess is liable to be as good as anybody else's too." --American humorist Will Rogers (1879-1935)