Obama & pot

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WASHINGTON.- El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, opinó que fumar marihuana no es más peligroso que beber alcohol, pero reparó que de todas maneras es "una mala idea". Además, apoyó la legalización, aunque consideró que no es "la panacea".

"Como se ha documentado ampliamente, fumé marihuana de chico y lo considero un mal hábito y un vicio, no muy distinto a los cigarrillos que fumé de joven y durante buena parte de mi vida adulta", dijo en una entrevista a la revista New Yorker publicada ayer, que será difundida íntegramente en la edición del 27 de enero.

"No creo que [la marihuana] sea más peligrosa que el alcohol", agregó el presidente, que dijo que la ve menos peligrosa "en cuanto a su impacto en el consumidor individual".

"No es algo que anime a hacer y ya les he dicho a mis hijas [Sasha y Malia] que es una mala idea, una pérdida de tiempo, no muy saludable", señaló.

Asimismo, Obama denunció la desproporción en el arresto de jóvenes afroamericanos y latinos por cargos de posesión de marihuana.

"Los niños de clase media no van a prisión por fumar marihuana, pero los niños pobres sí. Y los niños afroamericanos y los niños latinos tienen más probabilidades de ser pobres y son menos propensos a disponer de recursos y apoyos como para evitar penas excesivamente duras", denunció.

"No deberíamos llevar a prisión mucho tiempo a jóvenes o consumidores individuales por algo que probablemente han hecho también los que escriben las leyes", completó.

Obama apoyó además la reciente legalización de la marihuana en los estados de Colorado y Washington. "Para una sociedad es importante evitar una situación en la que gran parte de la población haya en un momento determinado violado la ley y sólo una pequeña porción de ella sea castigada", consideró.

Pese a defender las nuevas medidas en esos estados, señaló que "aquellos que afirman que legalizar la marihuana es la panacea y que ello va a resolver todos los problemas sociales, probablemente exageran".

El uso de la marihuana con fines medicinales ha sido autorizado en 19 estados de Estados Unidos.

O'Reilly: President Obama and race

'I'VE GOT A PEN': Obama's executive actions rankle Congress

foxnews

By Mike Emanuel

With his newly announced overhaul of National Security Agency surveillance activities, President Obama has once again hit a nerve with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. 

The president, as he often does when facing a nettlesome problem, used his executive powers to implement changes. In his address on Friday, Obama said he's approved a "new presidential directive for our signals intelligence activities both at home and abroad." 

The directive, Obama said, would strengthen oversight of intelligence and ensure trade and investment relationships are taken into account when spying. The president also went on to order a transition away from the bulk data collection program in its current form -- and restrict the ability of analysts to access that database during the transition. 

Some House Democrats said executive actions alone were not enough. 

"It is now time for Congress to take the next step by enacting legislation to appropriately limit these programs," Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., said in a statement, adding that Congress must "trust but codify" when it comes to the president's promises. 

"Executive Branch overreach in the name of national security did not start -- and will not end -- with this administration," New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler said in a written statement. "The balance of powers enumerated in the Constitution must be respected for generations to come, regardless of who occupies the White House." 

But Republican lawmakers, who long have warned about the White House circumventing Congress, said this is only the tip of the iceberg -- citing the Affordable Care Act as the battleground for executive actions. 

"In high school government class, we were told that it is the Executive Branch that enforces the law, but it is Congress, the legislative branch, that enacts the law," Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran told Fox News. 

"Here we have an administration that one more time, without consulting Congress, without legislative changes, is altering their signature piece of legislation, ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act," Moran said. 

Lawmakers point to the delay of the so-called employer mandate -- implemented unilaterally last year -- and other changes. Some are trying to use the power of Congress to stop the president from "overreaching." 

Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., has proposed a resolution, called the Stop This Overreaching Presidency (STOP), that would authorize the House to challenge multiple presidential workarounds in court. "If it passes a majority of the House, it will start the lawsuit," Rice told Fox News. 

Obama signaled at a recent Cabinet meeting, though, that more executive actions are likely ahead. 

"I've got a pen and I've got a phone -- and I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward," Obama said. He suggested he could use his phone to try and bring people together. 

"Well let me tell you, he may have a pen and telephone, but we have the Constitution," Rice countered.

U.S. Seven Devastating Economic Facts

breitbart

By Wynton Hall 

U.S. economic conditions in 2014 continue to languish, as millions of Americans remain jobless. Seven economic facts underscore America’s increasingly dire economic outlook.

1. A Record 91.8 Million Americans Are No Longer in the Workforce

The latest Labor Department figures reveal that a record 91.8 million Americans are no longer in the U.S. labor force. To be included in the Labor Department's calculations for this statistic, a person must be 16 years or older, a civilian, not in an institution (such as prison), and someone who has not looked for a job in the last four weeks.

Minorities have been hit especially hard. As Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research noted to PBS, last month’s jobs report also saw “the lowest rate of labor force participation among African-American men since we have kept that count. So that was really striking.”

According to the U.S. Census, 317 million people live in the United States.

2. Since Jan. 2009, the Number of Jobless Working-Age Americans Has Risen 9.6 Million People

As Michael Snyder notes:

The number of working age Americans that do not have a job has increased by nearly 10 million since Barack Obama first entered the White House. In January 2009, the number of "officially unemployed" workers plus the number of Americans "not in the labor force" was sitting at a grand total of 92.6 million. Today, that number has risen to 102.2 million. That means that the number of working age Americans that are not working has grown by close to 10 million since Barack Obama first took office.

3.  47.4 Million Americans Now Rely on Food Stamps

The Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program, says that 47,415,895 Americans – roughly one out of every six Americans – now receives food stamps. Indeed, for the last fifteen consecutive months, the number of individuals has consistently stayed above 47 million, a first in U.S. history.

Food stamp enrollments, which are considered an indicator of economic distress, have skyrocketed in recent years as the Obama administration has loosened eligibility requirements and aggressively promoted enrollments. In January 2009, 31.9 million people received food stamps.

4. A Record 10.98 Million Americans Now Receive Disability Checks

Social Security data reveal that a record 10,988,269 Americans now receive a monthly check for an average $1,146.43. Several recent studies and investigations have revealed that the nation’s disability program is rife with fraud and abuse.

When health care for disabled workers is included, U.S. taxpayers now spend $260 billion a year funding the disability program – a figure that exceeds the amount spent on food stamps and welfare combined.

5.  Nearly One in Three Americans Fell into Poverty Between 2009-2011

A new Census Bureau report released last week found that 31.6% of Americans fell beneath the federal poverty line for at least two months between 2009 to 2011, a 4.5% increase over the 2005 to 2007 period.

6.  42% of Americans Believe Themselves Worse Off Financially than a Year Ago

Gallup on Wednesday released its latest “Mood of the Nation” poll that found that 42% of Americans say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, a number that has grown over the last two years.

7. U.S. Debt Now Stands at over $17.3 Trillion

America’s federal debt explosion continues unabated. In Jan. 2009, the national debt was $10.626 trillion. Today, America’s national debt stands at over $17,300,000,000,000.

Robert Gates addresses claims made in 'Duty'

O'Reilly: Big government and you

Iran Celebrates American 'Surrender'; Obama Says 'Give Peace a Chance'

breitbart

By Joel B. Pollak 

Our relationship w/ the world is based on Iranian nation's interests. In #Geneva agreement world powers surrendered to Iranian nation's will
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) enero 14, 2014

Iran's "moderate" president, Hassan Rouhani, tweeted this morning that "world powers," including the U.S., had "surrendered" to the "Iranian nation's will" in confirming a six-month interim nuclear deal that will allow the Iranian regime to continue its advanced centrifuge program and develop a new nuclear facility at Arak. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, implored Americans to "give peace a chance" with the Iran deal.

Though the Obama administration claims that the interim deal--which includes a secret side deal--will lead Iran to give up any ambitions of becoming a nuclear power, the regime has publicly declared that the agreement reached in Geneva last November is the first step in removing all sanctions, and that it virtually recognizes Iran's "right" to enrich uranium. All agree that it contradicts a decade of UN Security Council resolutions banning such enrichment.

Obama has threatened to veto new sanctions currently under consideration by Congress as a risk to the nuclear deal, even though the sanctions would not take effect until after the interim deal is over, and are designed to act as a deterrent against Iranian efforts to cheat on the agreement. The sanctions enjoy bipartisan support, though most support comes from Republicans: it enjoys 59 co-sponsors in the Senate, near a veto-proof majority.

Fraternal Order of Police: Obama DOJ Nominee Is Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal Supporter

HereNewsComes

breitbart

By Brandon Darby 

President Barack Obama has drawn harsh criticism from law enforcement representatives by nominating Debo Adegbile to head the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division as Assistant U.S. Attorney General. 

The 330,000-member Fraternal Order of Police slammed the nomination, referring to Adegbile as a volunteer supporter and defender of convicted Black Panther and cop-killer Wesley Cook—better known as Mumia Abu-Jamal, the world’s most notorious unrepentant cop-killer.

Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury penned a January 6, 2014 letter to the President that reads:

Debo Adegbile/ www.latimes.com

As word of this nomination spreads through the law enforcement community, reactions range from anger to incredulity. Under this nominee’s leadership, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People volunteered their services to represent Wesley Cook, better known to the world as Mumia Abu-Jamal — our country’s most notorious cop-killer. There is no disputing that Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner was murdered by this thug. His just sentence — death — was undone by your nominee and others like him who turned the justice system on its head with unfounded and unproven allegations of racism.

The Fraternal Order of Police did not stop there. Its scathing critique of President Obama’s nominee and its effort to defend the honor of slain police offer Daniel Faulkner continued:

We are aware of the tried and true shield behind which activists of Adegbile’s ilk are wont to hide — that everyone is entitled to a defense; but surely you would agree that a defense should not be based on falsely disparaging and savaging the good name and reputation of a lifeless police officer. Certainly any legal scholar can see the injustice and absence of ethics in this cynical race-baiting approach to our legal system.

The Fraternal Order of Police also claimed in its letter to President Obama that he did not consult any known law enforcement organization about his decision to nominate Adegbile as an assistant U.S. attorney general.

The widow of slain Officer Daniel Faulkner operates a website as part of her fight to defend the honor of her husband. Multiple witnesses from the hospital where Cook was treated after he killed the young Officer Faulkner, both white and black, testified in court that Cook stated, “I shot the motherf**ker and I hope the motherf**ker dies.”

O'Reilly: President Obama and war

Former Pentagon chief Gates dings Obama’s leadership, Biden’s foreign policy chops

nbcpolitics

By Carrie Dann, NBC News

The former defense secretary who served under both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush has less than glowing praise for America’s top two elected officials.
In a new memoir, “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,” former Pentagon chief Robert Gates writes that Obama lacked commitment to the decisions he made about his strategy in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
“As I sat there, I thought: The president doesn’t trust his commander, can’t stand Karzai, doesn’t believe in his own strategy and doesn’t consider the war to be his,” Gates writes in the new book. “For him, it’s all about getting out.”
He also writes that the White House's national security staff lacked experience and tended towards  "micromanagement of military matters."
His words for Vice President Joe Biden are even more harsh, the paper reports.
“I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” Gates wrote of Biden, whom he also described as a “man of integrity.”
Before becoming vice president, Biden served as the longtime head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
While critical of Biden, Gates appears to favor former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The NYT writes that Gates has “especially high praise” for Clinton.
The Washington Post adds, however, that Gates says both Clinton and Obama admitted to basing their opposition to the 2007  "surge" in Iraq in part on political considerations.
"Hillary told the president that her opposition to the [2007] surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary. . . . The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying," Gates writes, according to the Post.
Both Clinton and Biden are considered possible contenders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama’s Half-Brother Reveals What the President Did the First Time They Met in Kenya and Talked About ‘Heroes of Western Culture’

President Barack Obama with half-brother Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo and his wife. (Image: Mark Obama Ndesanjo Foundation Ltd.)

Sharona Schwartz

President Obama’s half-brother told an Israeli newspaper that when he first met Barack, he was struck by his sibling’s rejection of Western culture.

“I remember that my impression at the first meeting was that Barack thought that I was too white, and I thought that he was too black,” Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo told Maariv. “He was an American citizen on a journey in search of his African roots, while I was a resident of Kenya seeking to find his white roots.”

“I remember that when I spoke with him about the heroes of Western culture he rolled his eyes impatiently. My feeling was that, here is an American who in many ways is trying to be a local Kenyan youth. This is something I tried to flee my entire life,” Ndesandjo said of the brothers’ first meeting in Kenya, which Obama described in his 1995 best-selling memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”

In his memoir, Obama also described the first meeting with his brother: “I don’t feel much of an attachment [to Kenya]. Just another poor African country,” Obama quoted Ndesandjo saying. He went on to say, “You think that somehow I’m cut off from my roots … Well, you’re right.”

As reported on TheBlaze last month, Ndesandjo has said he wants to “set the record straight” about some of the details presented in Obama’s memoir.

The siblings have met since that first meeting in Kenya, including in 2007 before then-candidate Obama’s debate with rival Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“I came to visit him in Texas, and it was one of the happiest moments of my life. He entered the room where I was waiting for him, looked at me and said, ‘Mark, what happened to your afro?’ And I asked: ‘What happened to your afro?’ He said: ‘I cut my hair.’ It was a real moment, very natural, as if for a moment we returned to being two brothers,” Ndesandjo recounted.

Keep reading on TheBlaze.com >>

Obama Channeling Pope Francis to Sell Wealth Redistribution

breitbart

By Robert Wilde 

President Obama is using Pope Francis to foster wealth redistribution ideas in his speeches on the importance of reducing the gap between rich and poor.

Now that the President’s message of “Hope and Change” has drastically soured over his last few years in office, Obama is hoping the popular pontiff’s vitality will rub off on him. Michael Peppard, a professor of politics and the papacy at Fordham University, posits, "I think Obama probably wants to tap into some of the energy, and tap into some of it for his own message."

Obama quoted Francis in a recent speech on fiscal policy this month: "How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses 2 points?" Although the President has tangled with the Catholic Church on a variety of issues, most notably the contraceptive provisions in the Affordable Care Act, Obama now sees the Pope as an ally. 

Larry Snyder, President of Catholic Charities, is distrustful of Obama embedding Francis’s words into his political speeches. "The danger I see in it is that the pope is not a politician," he cautioned. "When the pope speaks, there's a consistent teaching. And the danger would be other people pick and choose, 'I like this, but I don't like that.'”

Obama has employed a “pick and choose approach” when it comes to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Expressing values antithetical to the teachings of the Catholic Church, the President has announced his approval for gay marriage and is an advocate of abortion. However, Obama views Pope Francis as like-minded when it comes to social issues of immigration or increasing funding for welfare programs. In December, Obama told MSNBC that Francis was an "extraordinarily thoughtful and soulful messenger of peace and justice."

Arguing that their religious freedom is being violated, U.S. Bishops have criticized the President and Obamacare for mandating that Catholic institutions include a contraceptive provision in the healthcare plans that they offer to their employees. This point of contention is a serious problem in improving the White House’s relationship with the Church.

President Obama's Top 10 Constitutional Violations of 2013

By Ilya Shapiro
One of Barack Obama’s chief accomplishments has been to return the Constitution to a central place in our public discourse. Unfortunately, the president fomented this upswing in civic interest not by talking up the constitutional aspects of his policy agenda, but by blatantly violating the strictures of our founding document. Read at cato >>

Santa Obama Gives Pay Raise to Federal Workers

By Ben Shapiro

Just in time for Christmas, President Obama signed an executive order on Monday giving a 1 percent pay raise for federal employees. The raise follows a four year hiatus from salary increases for federal workers, although most federal employees have apparently seen their pay increase via promotion or performance. The first increased paycheck will kick in on January 1.

Read more on Breitbart >>

Lo peor esta por venir

atrancalimpia

Por Andrés Pascual

El filibusterismo oficial y comprobable que ha resultado en la ejecución socio-político-económica del país por la tenaza diseñada por los “interesados” para Obama, es el precedente que está sentando lo peor: Estados Unidos frente el bombardeo futuro de gente como este tipo, a partir de su falsa y engañosa política mesiánica, camouflage del “anticristo del siglo XXI", no más incapaces, no más mentirosos, no más antiamericanos, que sería imposible, sino iguales y se dice todo.

Resulta que no llega por ningún lado el refuerzo de la decencia, la moral y los principios conservadores y la impresion de que este tipo de ciudadano desapareció o lo tienen en túneles bajo tierra a ver qué hacen con él ES UNA REALIDAD DEMOLEDORA.

Los datos sobre la “comunidá” que arribó este año reflejan que la continuación de la la vista gorda define la importancia del castrismo para Obama: por cada elemento que agarran "mojado", permiten que lleguen 200 "con los pies secos". Sin embargo, la noticia será 8 que capturaron en el mar y deportarán para “partir corazones”.

Este detalle no fuera preocupante si la mayoría no se constituyera en parte de la 5ta columna castro-obamista, a partir del apoyo al resquebrajamiento moral del partido demócrata, siempre consecuente con cualquier actitud que golpee a la Unión.

Para la “la comunidá” solo hay una posición política: la que apoye su condición de “emigrantes económicos” sin exigencias de compromiso patriótico, que no les interesa, válido a través del decreto que los autorice a viajar (único objetivo visible), a disfrutar el intercambio, a enviar lo que tengan sin importarles que el salidero económico sin regulaciones empobrece a la ciudad y al país...

Como cualquier ilegal, no tienen en cuenta la realidad económica americana para correr el riesgo de "lanzarse"; ni les interesa si hay o no trabajo, tampoco traen en la agenda aprender ingles, a fin de cuentas “esto es Carraguao” o el Fanguito o Tepito y a “joder la pava y a los pavitos, que vivir del welfare, del fraude y otros "demases" no exige mucho esfuerzo.

Definitivamete, las frases más antiamericanas de la historia son “este es un país de emigrantes” y “el sueño americano”; la primera, sin ninguna razón lógica ni realista para convertirla en significación ética hoy, fue un estandarte de americanos patriotas que, en su momento, no se percataron de que le servirían el arma soberbia al enemigo público 1 de este país: la emigración ilegal, que ha logrado espacios tan significativos por el asalto al poder de comunistas encubiertos como mantener en jaque la política americana con la oficialización de exigencias de reforma migratoria.

La situación no se le escapó de las manos a “los americanos”, sino la dejaron escapar antipatriotas, la “azoraron” los peores engendros de nadie sabe quiénes jamás nacidos aquí...

Sencillamente, la estimulan con objetivo político electoral como primer paso “compañeros” en la lucha contra el capitalismo representado por Estados Unidos.

La conspiración nace en el partido demócrata americano con apoyo de los seculares del Diablo en ultramar.

La situación se ha tornado hiperpeligrosa una vez que lograron imponerle el sello contribuyente para “lo que se avecina” al Vaticano, que eligió, para contentar y reforzar un poder no tan secreto, a un PAPA de la categoría comunista envuelto en papel liberal o reformador.

En ese orden de cosas, hasta la palabra “ilegales” han prohibido en los medios por gestiones de otra “luchadora por esos delincuentes”, jueza en la Corte Suprema, sustituyéndola “indocumentados”; a fin de imponer, como si fuera un derecho, a quienes entraron sin autorización, les falta una firma y a imponer el relajo “como Pedro por su casa”, que es en lo que buscan convertir el “paso de la frontera”.

Con el 90 % del andamiaje mediático en control de los comunistas encubiertos que favorecen todas las medidas contribuyentes a destruir el poder de Estados Unidos, con el Partido Republicano contra la pared, rehén de la circunstancia “ilegales, homosexuales, negros...”, nadie sabe cuánto de malo le espera por las concesiones oportunistas de pusilánimes y traidores.

Razones suficientes para fruncir el ceño cada vez que alguien le desee “felices fiestas...”, porque hasta “christmas” es un delito decir, y un ¿próspero? AÑO NUEVO.

The Top 5 Imploded Leftist Myths of 2013

breitbart

By Ben Shapiro*

www.sodahead.com

2013 was a year of myths falling apart. The myth of President Obama – a myth in which Obama was a messianic figure descending to bequeath health care, equality, and brotherhood on mankind – imploded. The myth of an America embracing the leftist social agenda collapsed. And the greatest myth of all – the myth that America is ready to become Europe – crumbled to ash.

Here, then, are the top five imploded myths of the last year:

The 2012 election gave President Obama a mandate to cram through his signature program. In the aftermath of President Obama’s re-election, members of both the administration and the media trumpeted that Obama had received his long-sought mandate. Obamacare, Americans were told, was the law of the land. It could not be changed; it could not be stopped. Obamacare would be implemented, the country would rejoice, and Republicans would mourn the day they ever opposed the anointed one.

Then the Obamacare rollout proceeded to run off the rails in catastrophic fashion. With Obama’s re-election won, the media no longer felt the obligation to cover up Obamacare’s disastrous crippling of the health care system. Suddenly, Obama’s statements about keeping your health insurance plan became the “lie of the year” rather than a mere “half-truth.” Suddenly, Obama’s brilliant team of implementers, headed by the Chief Implementer himself, became a group of half-wits stumbling around attempting to put back together millions of lines of broken code.

That didn’t mean that the media started covering Obamacare in fair fashion. The media turned Senator Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) plan to fund the entire government except for Obamacare into obstructionism, while Obama’s bullheaded insistence on pushing forward a failing rollout was hailed as strength. World War II veterans barred from their memorials by President Obama out of pure vindictiveness were portrayed by Jon Stewart as buffoons.

Nonetheless, the overall impression of the Obama mandate is that it no longer exists, if it ever did.

Americans hate social conservatism. The 2012 election, we were told, was a referendum on the Republican “war on women.” If Republicans had avoided the stumbling blocks of same-sex marriage and abortion, they would have put Mitt Romney in the White House.

2013 proved how wrong that notion was.

The left attempted to turn late-term abortion advocate Wendy Davis into a national hero; instead, her quixotic quest to become governor of Texas is stumbling badly. When the left attempted to turn Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson into a homophobic bully, Americans finally fought back and let the left know that citing the Bible isn’t homophobia or bullying. Conservatives can learn from 2012, and they have: abortion should be discussed in terms of the extremism of the left, and same-sex marriage must be discussed in the context of religious freedom.

Racial divisions have been palliated thanks to President Obama. President Obama’s media supporters suggested that his lack of support in 2012 was due in large part to a rising tide of racism. In the aftermath of his re-election, Americans were once again treated to the idea that America’s changing demographics and its black president meant that the emerging American minorities-majority would usher in an era of racial tolerance.

With the controversy over the “knockout game,” the media’s disgusting perversion of the Trayvon Martin case, and the consistent drumbeat from the left that all opposition to the leftist agenda was race-based, it’s now clear that racial friction in the political sphere is increasing, not decreasing. That’s how the left wants it.

New models will save the leftist media. When the Huffington Post was sold to AOL for $315 million, the media announced a new age of ventures that would bring the old media into a gleamingly profitable world. When Jeff Bezos of Amazon bought the Washington Post, we were told the same thing. When John Henry of the Boston Red Sox bought the Boston Globe, we were told the same thing.

These ventures have all changed hands, but none have stumbled on a true formula for success in the non-print world.

Meanwhile, in television, MSNBC grew to surpass CNN, but is now struggling to find a new audience; CNN is withering; Fox News continues to dominate.

The reality for the left media is that they have two problems to solve: first, a problem of content; second, a problem of profit model. They can’t solve the second without the first. Unfortunately, they continue to look at business strategies rather than coverage strategies. And that’s a formula for continued failure.

Americans are ready to become Europe. President Obama’s biggest advocates believe that Americans are ready to embrace his vision for the United States: a less muscular America on the world stage, an America with a more controlling executive branch and less conflict in the legislative branch, an America in which the government takes care of us, be we Pajama Boys or Julias.

In 2013, that vision for America was put to bed. President Obama’s Iran deal, the greatest sign of his vision for a scaled-down America, is wildly unpopular. His incessant attempts to rewrite his own healthcare law have contributed to his plummeting popularity. And as for the notion that Americans want government to take care of us, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we would prefer the government to leave us the hell alone.

That doesn’t mean that Republicans are in the ascendance or that conservatism’s glory days are just around the corner. It does mean, however, that the cherished leftist visions of January 2009 are fading fast. And that’s good news for Americans who still believe in American freedoms and values.

---------------------


*Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.

Obama shook Raúl Castro's hand after SIX MONTHS of secret U.S.-Cuba talks, report claims

Confirmed: 'We're in talks' with Cuba on a wide range of issues, said Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes (L), shown with the president on Air Force One

dailymail

By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor 

The handshake seen 'round the water cooler was no fluke, it turns out.

When President Barack Obama approached the podium at Nelson Mandela's memorial service and made a beeline for a row of foreign leaders – stopping first to shake Cuban dictator Raúl Castro's hand – it came after representatives from the two historically antagonistic nations had already been in talks for six months.

'[B]ehind the scenes,' two Daily Beast national security reporters wrote on Tuesday, 'U.S. and Cuban officials have held midlevel discussions in Havana and Washington on a range of issues, including direct postal service, migration issues, disaster response, and search and rescue at sea.'

During the president's trip back from South Africa, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters on Air Force One that 'it's been quite some time since the Presidents of the United States and Cuba were even in the same place.'

But he acknowledged that 'we’re in talks on issues associated with migration that, again, I think allow for there to be greater connectivity particularly among Cuban Americans and Cuba.'

News that the two leaders' deputies have been meeting in secret comes after nearly five years of a foreign policy thaw between the U.S. and the communist island nation, and nearly two decades after Mandela himself suggested that the two countries re-evaluate their icy Caribbean staring match.

The Obama administration has already turned heads by lifting an earlier prohibition on family travel and money transfers to Cuba. But a hostage situation and the iron fist that Castro wields against pro-Democracy activists have largely kept the U.S. at arms' length.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice laid out a case for the softer approach on Dec. 4 during a speech during a Washington, D.C. human right summit.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2522263/Obama-shook-Ra-l-Castros-hand-SIX-MONTHS-secret-U-S-Cuba-talks-report-claims.html#ixzz2nW99fhkl

5 out of 6 “foreign dignitaries” listed on the official Mandela memorial service are known Marxists

Trevor Loudon's New Zeal Blog 

By: Cliff Kincaid*
Accuracy in Media

If President Obama’s handshake with Cuban dictator Raul Castro is news, Castro’s featured presence at the Nelson Mandela memorial service and what the South African government said about him are equally newsworthy. South Africa was described as “joined at the hip” to Cuba and in its debt for “liberation.”

Yet, this part of the memorial service has been carefully edited out of most of the “mainstream media” coverage of the event.

The service was organized and orchestrated by officers of the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party of South Africa which operates as a front for the South African Communist Party. Baleka Mbete, ANC chairperson, introduced Raul Castro’s speech by saying, “Comrades, we will now get an address from a tiny island—an island of people who liberated us, who fought for our liberation in Cuito Cuanavale—the people of Cuba.”

Cuito Cuanavale refers to the foreign intervention of thousands of Cuban military troops on behalf of communist Angolan government forces in Africa under the guidance of Soviet military officers during 1987 and 1988. This was a critical time when communist forces backed by the Soviet Union, Cuba and China were determined to crush the non-communist pro-freedom movement UNITA (The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola).

As part of his effort to turn the tide against communism in Africa and elsewhere, the “Reagan Doctrine,” President Ronald Reagan strongly supported UNITA and its leader, Jonas Savimbi.

In the end, the communists solidified control of Angola, assassinated Savimbi (shot 15 times, twice to the head and once to the throat), and then took over Namibia and South Africa as the white population—fearing extinction in the face of the onslaught—made deals with the communists.

Mandela, in commemorating the 20th anniversary of the battle in 2008, referred to it as “a turning point for the liberation of our continent and my people.” This helps explain why the Cuban regime is held in such high regard by the South African government. The ANC and SWAPO (the South West Africa People’s Organization) communists in Namibia greatly benefitted from the Cuban imperialistic intervention. Of course, Mandela’s communist movement also enjoyed the support of Libya and the PLO.

After Raul Castro’s speech, during which he highlighted Mandela’s visit to Cuba to meet with and thank Fidel Castro, ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa said, “Thank you President Castro. We thank you for all the support and help that we continue to get from the people of Cuba during our years of struggle, and our countries continue to be joined at the hip in the areas of development…”

AIM noted in our column about current South African President Jacob Zuma that he traveled to Cuba in 2010 to receive the top Communist award from Raul Castro himself. Zuma also told a meeting of young communists in South Africa, “Work begins today in earnest to improve the quality of life of all our people and to build Cuban-style patriotism and internationalism within our ranks.”

Of the 6 “foreign dignitaries” listed on the official Mandela memorial service program as giving a tribute to Mandela, five are known Marxists: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (a former terrorist herself); Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao; Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba; Cuba’s Raul Castro; and of course President Obama. The other speaker was President Pranab Mukherjee of India, described as a “close friend” of Marxists in India who has “remained a friend” of the Communist Party of India during his political career and leadership in the United Progressive Alliance. Indeed, he has been labeled a “communist agent.” The Indian delegation to the memorial service included Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Earlier in the memorial service, Andrew Mlangeni, identified as a Mandela “family friend,” spoke on Mandela’s behalf. Now considered an “elder statesman” in the ANC, he had studied “military science” and “guerrilla theory” in China. The Stephen Ellis book, External Mission, confirms that Umkhonto we Sizwe, which became the military arm of the ANC, was launched by the South African Communist Party after negotiations with Chinese Communist mass murderer and dictator Mao Tse-tung. The cover of the book, which also reveals that the East German secret police trained the ANC’s security personnel, shows a photograph of Mao Tse-tung meeting with SACP leader Yusuf Dadoo, a Muslim Indian South African communist.

Mandela ran Umkhonto we Sizwe, which carried out violence and terrorism, and he went to prison as a result. He was never a “political prisoner.” He refused to renounce violence in order to be released early. He could have been hanged for his conviction for terrorism.

Although Mandela is being widely praised for his spirit of “forgiveness” and “reconciliation,” the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), led by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was never fully accepted as a legitimate partner and actor in South African politics by Mandela’s ANC. The IFP advocated the abolition of apartheid, or racial segregation, but refused to engage in violence and terrorism against innocent people. It also had an anti-communist orientation.

“The armed struggle, and Inkatha’s refusal to engage it, had driven a wedge between our organizations,” Buthelezi says. “Propaganda against me and Inkatha was rife and there were many attempts on my life.”

But the U.S. government under Obama is in complete support of the South African government and provides an estimated $500 million a year in foreign aid to the regime.

The United States ambassador to South Africa, former Democratic Party operative and radical organizer Patrick Gaspard, recently announced that American taxpayers would provide an additional $100,000 in U.S. government funding for the purpose of the “preservation of documents” relating to Mandela. The money was given to the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, the official home of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. This is the same group offering a poster featuring a quotation of Mandela under an image of communist murderer and Castro henchman Che Guevara.

In supporting South Africa, the U.S. is supporting Cuba. Obama’s handshake with Castro only confirms this fact.

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*Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: Obama-Castro Handshake WAS PLANNED

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Should President Obama Have Stopped to Shake Hands With Cuba's Raul Castro?

Fox News Insider

President Obama stopped to shake hands with Cuban President Raul Castro today at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service. Some are calling into question the handshake given the long history of distrust between the U.S. and Cuban governments.

Radio talk show host Michael Graham acknowledged that it’s the president’s job to deal with unpleasant people. However, he said, “I would say unless he’s going to talk about Alan Gross, the American who has been held there for four years, […] that would be something to chat about.

Fox News contributor Jehmu Greene countered, “It wasn’t a conversation; it wasn’t a diplomatic meeting. It was a handshake.”

On a day spent remembering a man who brought people together, Greene said we should ask ourselves, “What would Nelson Mandela do? […] We can’t also forget that there are so many families who have been separated by 90 miles of water.”

Bill Hemmer interjected, “There are a lot of those families who would tell you it’s the Castros who separated them.”

“It’s not that Cubans and Americans can’t get along,” Greene responded. “Our leadership has failed on this on both sides of the aisle. So if we can start with a handshake as a step in the right direction to maybe bring these families back together, I think that that’s a good thing.”

What do you think of the handshake?