ThinkProgress, or not

While Bush was President, the news media spin was that Iran's nuke program was not a threat and the only true threat was Bush's war mongering. The wikeleaks document dump this week made clear that Arab governments recognized the threat, were not convinced by the spin that Iran had stopped nuclear development, and were even stronger supporters of military action to stop Iran that Bush was. Naturally, the left has to push back and here is ThinkProgress' spin:

So, how much substance is there to ThinkProgress' claim that Arabs urged restraint? Their first example is Syrian President Bashar Asad. ThinkProgress neglects to mention that Syria is a client state of Iran and Assad could not afford to say anything other the Iranian line. Their next example is Oman. I looked up Oman in Wikipedia and the that the government there is the government there because of "the intervention of Iranian Imperial ground forces." In other words, it is not really an independent state either.

ThinkProgress has an impact that is not limited by the weakness of its arguments. VerumSerum has shown how MSNBC can use it as a "credible source" and, thus, report ThinkProgress' articles as objective "news" instead of just left/liberal talking points.

PREVIOUSLY on Iran:
•Obama and the Iranian freedom protests
• Obama angers Iran
• Web censorship debate in Iran
• Al Qaeda breaks with Iran
•Iran, Venezuela, and international crime
• Bollinger's delusion and the madness of liberals
•Iran holds hostage 15 British sailors
•Liberals, denial, and Iranian nuclear ambitions
•Jimmy Carter's legacy: a radical Iran

Obama's don't-ask-don't-tell plan

Cynthia Yockey, at her Conservative Lesbian blog, explains Pres. Obama's game plan for "repealing" don't-ask-don't-tell in the military:

Obama does not play games he hasn’t rigged. The base he will never betray — the anti-gay black religious Left*, Muslims and illegal aliens — is comprised of groups that are nation-building: morality is just their cover story for destroying people who are not on board with making babies for them. ....

So I think Obama has rigged a crushing defeat for any attempt to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” and his homosexual patsies on the Left ... don’t see this betrayal coming. .... But this is classic Obama — make big promises and get homosexuals hopeful and gushing cash, then a few days or weeks later, crush them with actions that are the opposite of what was promised. Demonize the Right and repeat.

Hat tip: Instapundit

PREVIOUSLY on Pres. Obama and his strategies:
•"I want you to understand: this is not about me!"
•He lied!
•Obama: it's all about me!
•Obama's narcissism and the Chicago Olympics bid
•Obama promises to reduced deficit, or not
•Obama to rescue Reid
•8 lies in 2.5 minutes
•Security color codes updated for Obama
•7 Lies In Under 2 Minutes

The commander-in-chief is clueless

CBS "60 minutes" correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed Pres. Obama on Sunday:

KROFT: In your West Point speech, you seemed very analytical, detached, not emotional. The tone seemed to be, ‘I’ve studied this situation very hard. It’s a real mess. The options aren’t very good. But we need to go ahead and do this.’ There were no exhortations or promises of victory. Why? Why that tone?

OBAMA: You know, that was actually probably the most emotional speech that I’ve made, in terms of how I felt about it. Because I was looking out over a group of cadets, some of whom are going to be deployed in Afghanistan. And potentially some might not come back.

There is not a speech that I've made that hit me in the gut as much as that speech. And one of the mistakes that was made over the last eight years is for us to have a triumphant sense about war. There was a tendency to say, ‘We can go in. We can kick some tail. This is some glorious exercise.’ When in fact, this is a tough business.

The superficiality of this response is mind-boggling. He has reduced the difficult issue of denying Al Qaeda a sanctuary in the historically ungovernable country of Afghanistan down to clichés about "triumph" or "kicking tail." How could he have listened to seven years of Bush speeches on Afghanistan and reduced it all down to Bush just wanting a "glorious exercise"?

Democrats are always warning about repeating the mistakes of Vietnam. Yet, here is Obama in office and, by not providing the resources that the military says they need to succeed while also scheduling a defeat in advance, he is doing his best to guarantee a Vietnam-like debacle.

Metallica proud of its music's message to Gitmo terrorists

While other bands are currently in the news opposing Gitmo, remember that Metallica's lead vocalist had a different take on the meaning of the use of their music at Gitmo. From Revolver Magazine:

Metallica frontman James Hetfield recently told German-language TV network 3sat that part of him was proud the U.S. military chose the band’s music to torture prisoners at U.S. detention centers in Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay. “It’s strong; it’s music that’s powerful,” Hetfield says. “It represents something that they don’t like—maybe freedom, aggression… I don’t know… Freedom of speech."

It seems that the White House will have to expand its enemies list.

A further clarification of Obama's priorities

As illustrated by Michael Ramirez:
UPDATE: Chip Bok illustrates on the same theme:

This strange set of priorities has led to speculation that Pres. Obama's interest in the 2016 Olympics is driven by adviser Valerie Jarrett who, as a Chicago real estate owner/developer, had or, for all we know, might still have a financial interest in the properties in Chicago that could be used or developed for the Olympics. Her conflict of interest, whatever it is, was apparently enough that she had to obtain an "ethics waiver" for her work at the White House.

Video: Satellite hit claimed a success

It will be a while before all the data is evaluated but the initial report is that the hit was a success.
The satellite was traveling in orbit at a speed in the neighborhood of 17,000 miles per hour. The missile was traveling at a similar speed. It was only a few years ago, that liberals were proclaiming that such intercepts were impossible ("You can't hit a bullet with a bullet," they said). Now, research has made such feats feasible and, in a more few years of development, they will likely be routine.

When do deaths count?

A survey by the World Health Organization says that 151,000 Iraqis died in the three years after the US invasion. It is not yet clear how that number breaks down among deaths of terrorists in battle, deaths of victims of terror attacks, and deaths caused by the US. Liberals blame Bush for the deaths. For a contrasting view, consider UN Ambassador and later Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's reaction when questioned on Sixty Minutes about an estimate (also likely wildly inflated) of Iraqi deaths during the Clinton years:

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it.

Note that the claimed number was 500,000 deaths from sanctions and contrast that with the 151,000 estimated for the full invasion and liberation.

Missile defense is making progress

Japan successfully tests a mid-course missile-defense system:

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force successfully flight tested its first Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN)-built Standard Missile-3. The SM-3 Block IA missile engaged and destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile target more than 60 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Personnel at the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai launched the ballistic missile target while the crew of the Japanese destroyer JS KONGO (DDG-173) fired the intercepting missile. ....

Japan is working with Raytheon and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop and deploy the next-generation SM-3 Block IIA missile, which will provide a larger area of defense against more sophisticated threats.

SM-3 is being developed as part of the MDA's sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. The missiles will be deployed on Aegis cruisers and destroyers to defend against short-to-intermediate range ballistic missile threats in the midcourse phase of flight.

Separately, Israel has approved manufacture of a defense system against short-range rockets:

The Israeli security cabinet on Sunday gave the green light for the manufacture of a defence system capable of intercepting short-range rockets such as those fired by Gaza militants, army radio said.

The cabinet allocated 811 million shekels (207 million dollars, 144 million euros) towards the development and manufacture of the missile defence system, it said.

The system -- dubbed "The Iron Dome" -- will be developed by the Israeli arms firm Rafael and is expected to be operational within two years. The defence ministry first ordered its development in February.

In addition to being able to intercept the home-made rockets fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militant groups, it will also be able to shoot down Katyusha-type short-range rockets of the kind fired by Lebanon's Hezbollah militia during last year's 34-day war with Israel.

During that brief but bloody conflict, Hezbollah fired nearly 4,000 rockets into Israel, killing more than 40 civilians.