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Chaos in Egypt Stirs Warning of a Collapse

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CAIRO — As three Egyptian cities defied President Mohamed Morsi’s attempt to quell the anarchy spreading through their streets, the nation’s top general warned Tuesday that the state itself was in danger of collapse if the feuding civilian leaders could not agree on a solution to restore order.

Thousands of residents poured into the streets of the three cities, protesting a 9 p.m. curfew with another night of chants against Mr. Morsi and assaults on the police.

The president appeared powerless to stop them: he had already granted the police extralegal powers to enforce the curfew and then called out the army as well. His allies in the Muslim Brotherhood and their opposition also proved ineffectual in the face of the crisis, each retreating to their corners, pointing fingers of blame.

The general’s warning punctuated a rash of violent protests across the country that has dramatized the near-collapse of the government’s authority. With the city of Port Said proclaiming its nominal independence, protesters demanded the resignation of Mr. Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, while people across the country appeared convinced that taking to the streets in protests was the only means to get redress for their grievances.

Just five months after Egypt’s president assumed power from the military, the cascading crisis revealed the depth of the distrust for the central government left by decades of autocracy, two years of convoluted transition and his own acknowledged missteps in facing the opposition. With cities in open rebellion and the police unable to tame crowds, the very fabric of society appears to be coming undone.

Read more from this story HERE.

ObamaLeaks in the White House

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After highly classified details of a U.S. cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program were made public, President Obama went to the White House press room to denounce those who suggested the leaks were coming from his top national security aides. “The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive [and] it is wrong,” the president declared.

Well, the Federal Bureau of Investigation may disagree. The Post broke the news Sunday that the FBI has launched an “aggressive” investigation into “current and former senior officials suspected of involvement” in the leak that Obama personally ordered cyberattacks on the Iranian nuclear program using a computer virus called Stuxnet. The New York Times story which first revealed the details of the cyberattack on Iran’s nuclear program cited as sources “members of the president’s national security team who were in the [Situation Room]” and even quoted the president asking during a top secret meeting: “Should we shut this thing down?” Only Obama’s most trusted national security advisers would have been present when he uttered those words.

Now several members of that inner circle are receiving promotions. Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough has just been named the new White House chief of staff. And John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism adviser, has been nominated to be next director of the CIA. With the investigation reaching the top echelons of the administration, it is time for the White House to come clean and tell the American people which of Obama’s senior advisers is under investigation. There are no confirmation hearings for the chief of staff post, but Brennan will soon appear before the Senate on Feb. 7 for his confirmation hearings. If confirmed, he will be responsible for protecting our nation’s secrets. Congress has a right to know what he knows — and if he is being questioned by the FBI in the leak probe.

And the Stuxnet inquiry is only the beginning. The Justice Department is also investigating the disclosure of the role played by a double agent, recruited in London by British intelligence, in breaking up a new underwear bomb plot in Yemen. How far up the chain of command has that investigation gone? And how about the disclosure of classified details of the CIA drone campaign, including the fact that Obama personally selects the names on a terrorist “kill list”? Or leak to the New York Times of classified details of yet another covert operation in which “C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government”? Or the revelation last summer that the U.S. was considering launching secret joint U.S.-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan against the Haqqani network? Or the disclosure of classified operational details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden — which prompted then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to visit Obama National Security Adviser Tom Donilon in the West Wing and advise the White House to “Shut the [expletive] up”?

Read more from this story HERE.

Senate Approves Kerry For Secretary of State

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The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed President Obama’s choice of five-term Sen. John Kerry to be secretary of state, with Republicans and Democrats praising him as the ideal successor to Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The vote Tuesday was 94-3. One senator — Kerry — voted present and accepted congratulations from colleagues on the Senate floor. The roll call came just hours after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the man who has led the panel for the past four years.

Kerry could be sworn in as early as Wednesday. A welcoming ceremony is planned at the State Department on Monday.

Obama tapped Kerry, 69, the son of a diplomat, decorated Vietnam veteran and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, to succeed Clinton, who is stepping down after four years. The Massachusetts Democrat, who had pined for the job but was passed over in 2009, has served as Obama’s unofficial envoy, smoothing fractious ties with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Sen. Kerry will need no introduction to the world’s political and military leaders and will begin Day One fully conversant not only with the intricacies of U.S. foreign policy, but able to act on a multitude of international stages,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who will succeed Kerry as committee chairman.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mass Media Silent As Federal Government Prepares for War With the People?!?

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photo credit: muffetLast September, in “The government’s war at home,” St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner looked at some ominous developments that seem to indicate preparation on the government’s part for domestic warfare. The enemy? Oh, the usual suspects in these times of fear mongering about “right-wing violence”–“anti-federalists,” “Tea Party insurgents,” militias, etc.

The newest “enemy” (theoretically, of course–at the moment), according to authorities in Ohio, is “Second Amendment activists,” who are so angry about federal “gun control” laws that they use chemical, biological and radiological weapons against . . . someone–who that would be is not very clear.

Meanwhile, with retailers struggling to meet the demand for ammunition, and government agencies buying it up by the hundreds of millions of rounds (thus both further exacerbating private citizens’ difficulty in procuring ammo, and boosting these agencies’ own supplies to levels more than adequate to kill the entire citizenry), there are alarming indications that the military is further choking off citizens’ supply, by (illegally) destroying used cartridge brass that would otherwise be sold back to the civilian market and reloaded for inexpensive ammo.

Even far more chilling, if true, are allegations that the Obama administration has imposed a “litmus test” on senior military leaders, with an unwillingness to order troops to fire on American citizens being disqualifying for command. Stewart Rhodes, veteran paratrooper and founder of the Oath Keepers, told St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner that this claim, while deeply disturbing, is not in the least implausible:

“I find it very plausible. Frankly, I would be shocked if it were not happening. Now, I have no “smoking gun” confirmation of that, but let’s just say that it fits like a glove with all that we do know is fully confirmed.”

Read more from this story HERE.

The Stuff of Third World Tyrants

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President Barack Obama is not just a radical leftist; he is obviously so ensconced in his ideology that he believes — or wants you to believe — that anyone who opposes him must have sinister motives.

One of his recurring themes is that some Republicans would work with him but can’t do so for fear of reprisal from Grover Norquist on taxes, the National Rifle Association on guns, the conservative House caucus, radio talk show hosts and your garden-variety racists, who allegedly oppose Obama just for sport.

In mid-January, Obama accused the “gun lobby” of “ginning up” fears that the federal government would use the Newtown, Conn., shooting tragedy to seize America’s guns, saying, “It’s certainly good for business.” Is that how presidents should talk?

Obama suggested that GOP congressional opposition was based not on principle but on the fear that unless it resisted Obama’s gun-grabbing schemes, it would lose its precious NRA funding. As if the American public agrees with Obama on this issue any more than it did on Obamacare. As if Obama truly cares whether the American public agrees with him on this issue (other than as a means to an end) any more than he cared about the public’s view on Obamacare.

Indeed, this is either record-breaking myopia or sophisticated Orwellian deception. Few things are more palpable on the political scene today than the groundswell of grass-roots support for the right to own firearms under the Second Amendment. It is intrinsic to the American character.

Read more from this story HERE.

Sessions: Large-Scale Amnesty Likely to Add Trillions to Debt

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Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions voiced concerns over the bipartisan proposal for immigration reform introduced on Monday by eight senators, saying the plan will substantially increase the already sky-high national debt and criticizing the federal government for inadequately enforcing existing immigration laws.

“No one should expect the members of the Senate are just going to rubber stamp what a group who met decided,” Sessions said on the Senate floor.

While immigration system needs to be reformed, Sessions said, the country has been through this dance before.

The Alabama senator recalled the failed promise of enforcement following immigration reform in 1986, as well as the aborted attempts at immigration reform in 2006 and 2007.

The latter efforts, Sessions said, didn’t succeed “because it did not do what they said it would do. It did not end the illegality. It did not set forth a proper principle of immigration for America, [and] it did not sufficiently alter the nature of our immigration system to advance the national interest of the United States.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Government Scraps Position Dedicated to Closing Prison at Guantanamo

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The State Department office responsible for helping facilitate the relocation of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has been closed, The New York Times reports.

The paper reports that Daniel Fried, who served as the special envoy for Guantanamo Bay since the position’s inception in 2009, has been reassigned. He will not be replaced, and his duties will now be “assumed” by the State Department’s legal adviser, according to an internal personnel announcement.

Relocating detainees had been seen as a vital step in the president’s promise to close the prison, which was frequently and vociferously criticized by liberal activists before Obama’s election.

“I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that,” Obama told CBS’ Steve Kroft in November 2008.

Obama also signed an executive order shortly after taking office that declared the prison for suspected terrorists would be shuttered “no later” than January 2010.

Read more from this story HERE.

Mark Levin: Obama Isn’t Destroying the GOP, the Republican Establishment Is (+Audio)

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On Monday’s broadcast of Sean Hannity’s radio show, Mark Levin said the Republican Party is destroying itself from within.

“[I]s Obama destroying the Republican Party?” Levin said. “No, the Republican establishment is destroying the Republican Party.

The only reason they’re in the majority in the House is because of conservatives — conservatives across the country, the grassroots. They lost the Senate.

They like to point to two races, one in Missouri and one in Indiana. I can point to 10 races where there were liberal-to-moderate Republicans who lost, and of course they never mention that.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s Unbridled Hubris: “I Go Shooting All the Time,” “Football is Too Violent,” “Gays in Military Caused No Controversy”

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In an extraordinary interview just published yesterday in the New Republic, Obama makes a number of outlandish statements.

On the gun control issue, Obama apparently tries to establish some relevant personal experience, bragging that he goes “shooting all the time.”

To most, the idea of Obama with a gun is laughable. And a quick search of Google images unsurprisingly fails to produce a single picture of the President with a gun.

One would think that any activity that Obama engages in “all the time” – like golf – would result in at least one picture circulating through the public domain. And maybe, by the time you read this, one will appear. But compared to the thousands of pictures of his other “all the time” pastime of golf (or romancing his teleprompter), there’s no comparison.

But that’s not the only ridiculous statement from Obama on guns. This supposed constitutional scholar takes a page from the Slick Willie playbook that suggested Americans should only be able to own guns needed for duck hunting. Like most liberals, Obama intentionally ignores that troublesome Second Amendment, suggesting the real reason Americans are reacting angrily to his moves against gun ownership is because of their love of hunting:

…I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.

Part of being able to move [gun control] forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas. And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were ten, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family’s traditions, you can see why you’d be pretty protective of that.

For gun control advocates to move their agenda forward, Obama claims that they’ll “have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes.”

From there the interviewer takes the President to the US “culture of violence” and how it’s encouraged by football. Obama, not skipping a beat, takes the bait, suggesting that we must change football to make it less violent:

I’m a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I’d have to think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence. In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won’t have to examine our consciences quite as much.

The President continues to show his disconnect from Americans – particularly within the US Military – by stating that having practicing homosexuals in the armed forces has “caused almost no controversy. It’s been almost thoroughly embraced …”

Perhaps John Edwards was right, there really are two Americas; the corner of DC that Barack Hussein Obama occupies, and the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave where people actually have a nodding acquaintance with reality.

Letter to Obama: “We the People” Will Never Surrender our Guns

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Mr. Obama,

What part of ”SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED” do you not get? Actually you and your ilk know very well what that means, you just don’t like it. You’re trying to dupe ”We the People” out of our God given right to protect ourselves against your regime. Look in the mirror Mr. Obama. Do you see God?

The inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness includes the right of the people to bear arms. The founders of our great Constitution knew that folks like you would come along. Our Constitution which you declared ‘fundamentally flawed’ legally secured these rights many years ago. The right to bear arms is not up for debate. The Constitution, the ‘Law of the Land’, shall prevail and the 2nd amendment will stand regardless of your foolish attempt to ‘change’ it.

To control the narrative though, you and yours are using ‘distraction’ as a tactic to mask your true agenda. But not all of your ‘subjects’ will fall for your deception. There are two main distractions we’ve identified. One distraction misdirects us to the argument of which kinds of arms and accessories etc. we should be legally allowed, while the other one misdirects us to the ‘legal’ relationship between such things as the Supremacy clause, the Commerce clause, Congressional and Executive powers, Nullification, the 10th, 14th and 2nd amendments. These distractions define your ‘sleight of hand’. Here’s some bad news for you and yours, Mr. President, it won’t work. Your distractions are being recognized as such by increasing numbers of Americans every day. You won’t get away with disarming ‘We the People’!

It ‘s true that some unsuspecting citizens have taken the bait and are engaging in conversation about what may become socially acceptable limits on the 2nd amendment. We hear arguments about what kinds of firearms and magazine limitations your ‘subjects’ should be allowed under your regime. Some lawmakers are unable to resist these tactics and are proposing ‘feel good’ legislation which would only whittle away at our right to bear arms and assist you in achieving your ultimate goal. Your administration is nothing if it isn’t transparent. ‘We the people’ are drawing attention back to the real issue before us. Your administration is employing incrementalism and distraction in order to deny law abiding, American patriots our right to bear arms, any arms if you get your way!

In case you missed it earlier, the 2nd amendment is not up for debate. The Constitution did not ‘grant’ Americans the right to bear arms. It just ‘legally’ secured that right and only through due process can citizens be denied their legal rights. Your anti-Constitutional declarations, executive orders or any other legislative action contradicting the 2nd amendment will never fly!

You and yours are burning the very Constitution you promised to preserve, protect and defend. History will not look fondly upon a President who at every opportunity tested the will of the people. We Americans recognize and will defend our rights. You’ve managed to make this the critical issue of our time.

Remember when you said ”They cling to guns err religion err” as part of your lecture on how the bitter small town folks in the Midwest deal with hardship? There are plenty of Americans in and beyond the Midwest who understand why the 2nd amendment is so important. History shows that there have been many millions of innocent, unsuspecting citizens murdered by tyrants who successfully disarmed them. Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Castro are a few of the tyrants on that list. A question on the minds of many Americans is whether your name, Mr. Obama, will be added to that list.

The enumerated powers of Congress in article 1 of the Constitution do not include infringement of the 2nd amendment, and neither do the powers of the President. The Supremacy and Commerce clauses do not negate the right to bear arms, nor does the 10th amendment. It would be just as unconstitutional for a state to deprive its people of the right to bear arms as it would be for Congress or you to do so.

Millions of gun owning, law abiding citizens across America won’t allow you or anyone else to deprive them of their 2nd amendment right. ‘We the people’ recognize the great sacrifices of those who’ve defended our Constitution and will not let their sacrifices be in vain. We stand with the founders of the Constitution and shall retain our God given right to bear arms!

Sincerely,

‘We the People’