Anti-Israel Samantha Power Is Back

A few months ago about the anti-semite, Samantha Power, that stepped down from Barack Obama’s campaign, only after Hillary got mad that she called her a monster, I predicted then that she would be back once Obama won… Well she is, she is on the transition team, soon I suspect will also be given an administration post… He job right now is to help Hillary build her team… Monsters Inc… This is very disturbing news as Powers has already advocated the US invade Israel on behalf of the Palestinians… The Clinton’s were overly friendly with Arafat and his terrorist ilk… Not good news for Israel or peace in the Middle East…

Why on earth would Barack bring back a member of his team that was forced to leave in the first place. That is not part of the healing process, it shows that he did anything to win the election and now that it is over and he won, he will do whatever he wants.

More Change You Can Believe In!

A former adviser to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign who once called Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a “monster” is now working on the transition team for the agency that Clinton may lead.

State Department officials said Friday that Samantha Power is among foreign policy experts the president-elect’s office selected to help the incoming administration prepare for Clinton’s anticipated nomination as secretary of state.

The Obama transition team’s Web site includes Power’s name as one of 14 members of the “Agency Review Team” for the State Department.

During the Democratic primary campaign, Power called Clinton “a monster” in an interview. She then resigned, calling her remarks inexcusable and contradictory to her admiration for Clinton.

Liberal Left’s Wrath Unleased On Obama

The “progressive” liberals are getting really pissed off at Obama… His promises of change have become a memory of the past as far as his appointments go… He has transformed himself what his campaign slammed John McCain for being… More of the same… Bowers is correct though, Democrats can’t run the military… However I would expand that to national security as well.

Obama does not know how to handle the job of President and is setting himself up with insiders to mask his inexperience. The majority of his picks so far are nothing more than the Clinton Administration, which is very grave considering they were a major contributing factor to today’s economic crisis…

Change You Can Believe In!

More than a month before he takes the oath of office, President-elect Barack Obama already is testing the loyalty of his liberal base.

On Monday, he is expected to announce his national security team, which will include Robert Gates as his defense secretary, a carry-over from the Bush administration, and retired Gen. Jim Jones, who supported John McCain for president, as his national security adviser.

Liberal blogger Chris Bowers of The Open Left says the message sent by the selection of Gates undermines Democrats.

“The message would be clear,” he writes in his blog. “Even Democrats agree that Democrats can’t run the military.”

Obama’s outspoken opposition to the Iraq war before he became a U.S. senator was one of the reasons he was embraced early in the presidential race by the anti-war faction of the Democratic Party’s base, so his apparent decision to keep a Bush adviser as defense secretary for at least a year has raised some eyebrows within that faction.

Bowers, a member of the Pennsylvania state Democratic committee, argues that Gates provided support and cover for practices from waterboarding to the use of psychotropic drugs on terror detainees. The blogger isn’t as negative toward Jones but still called it “very disappointing.”

“It is just so very frustrating,” Bowers writes. “It seems like the only place progressives are making any gains is in the House. We are being entirely left out of Obama’s major appointments so far. I guess everyone gets to play in Obama’s administration, except progressives.”

Democratic blogger Brent Budowsky, who served as a congressional assistant in the 1970s and 1980s, said he would have preferred to see Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska or former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia get the nod for defense secretary.

Budowsky said he fears that Obama’s national security team will steer him toward a longer military commitment than the one he made on the campaign trail.

“It is unfortunate that on an issue so momentous as who runs the Pentagon at time of war, the views that were stated in the campaign, and supported so deeply by the base of the Democratic Party and the new voters and small donors who were the heart of the Obama campaign, are sacrificed so quickly, for Bob Gates,” he writes in his blog.

GOP strategist Dave Winston told FOX News that some pushback was to be expected.

“The base is clearly going to say, where are you headed in terms of this policy?” Winston said. “And I think it will cause him some headaches with the base, although for the overall country, I think they will see it quite favorably.”

Democratic consultant Bob Beckel told FOX News that objections from liberals over Obama’s Cabinet selections isn’t all bad.

“Not so sure, from Obama’s standpoint, it’s bad politically,” he said. “It helps him in his negotiation with Congress.”

Obama’s national security team also will include several former members of Bill Clinton’s administration, eliciting some complaints about recycling people from the Clinton White House. And Obama is expected to pick Hillary Clinton to be his pick for secretary of state.

But Beckel says Obama needs experience from the last Democratic White House.

“If he went to a Democratic administration before that, he’d have to go to the nursing home,” he said.

FOX News’ Wendell Goler contributed to this report.

Mumbai India Under Seige By Terrorists – With Video – Update

Over 80 dead and over 200 wounded so far. Terrible. The Oberoi and Taj Mahal Hotels have been taken over by terrorists as well as Cama Hospital. Several large explosions from inside. This is a very coordinated attack.

Other Locations of attacks:

• Vile Parle
• Santa Cruz
• Leopold Cafe
• Nariman House
• CST
• Colama
• Albless Hospital
• GT Hospital

A  Muslim terrorist group called Deccan Mujahideen has taken claim for the attacks. This is a fairly unknown group.

The terrorists are targeting American and British citizens.

This is on the heals of todays Homeland Security warning of a possible NYC subway attack…

Gunmen rampaged through a series of targets in the Indian city of Mumbai killing indiscriminately and taking hostages at two luxury hotels.

    

A wounded man is carried from the attacked rail station.

more photos »

Mumbai police spokesman Satish Katsa said gunmen have taken over the Taj Mahal Hotel and Hotel Oberoi, and were holding hostages on multiple floors.

Flames and smoke poured from the Taj early Thursday, and several explosions were heard at the building.

At the Oberoi the military reportedly entered the building and a large explosion was heard shortly afterwards.

Another hostage situation was unfolding at Cama Hospital, CNN’s sister network in India, CNN-IBN reported.

Earlier, A.N. Roy, the police chief of Maharashtra state, said there were ongoing battles at the two five-star hotels. iReport.com: Are you there?

One witness told local reporters that gunmen tried to find people with U.S. or British passports and took about 15 of them hostage.

Andrew Stevens, a CNN anchor who was staying at the Taj with a CNN crew, estimated about half the hotel’s guests were Westerners.  Watch flames pour from the Taj Mahal Hotel »

British businessman Alan Jones told CNN.com how he was about to get out of an elevator in the Oberoi when another guest was shot.

“A bullet hit one of the Japanese men in the back of the leg. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.” Read Alan Jones’ story

IBN, quoting police sources, reported hostages were taken at the both hotels.

Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades hit nine sites including the hotels, a cafe, a hospital and a train station in coordinated attacks, police say.

A police spokesman said 87 people had been killed and 185 wounded. Among the dead were nine suspected terrorists, police said.

Among the dead is the head of the Maharashtra state’s anti-terror squad, who apparently died in the violent aftermath of the attacks rather than being a target for the killers.

Two suspected militants were gunned down and nine suspects had been arrested, Gagrani said. Three people were detained for questioning from one of the hotels, he added.  Watch the chaos as gunmen hit numerous targets »

Sajjad Karim, associated with a group of European lawmakers attending an upcoming EU-India summit, told The Associated Press that he was in the main lobby of the Taj Mahal Hotel when “there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside.”

As he tried to get away, he told the AP: “Another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us. … I just turned and ran in the opposite direction.”

Video showed scenes of chaos, with people crowding Mumbai’s streets, some helping others who appeared to be wounded.  Watch scenes of destruction »

The attacks began about 2230 local time (1700 GMT) and more than two hours later witnesses were reporting new explosions and gunfire.

A group called Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility, IBN reported, but analysts told CNN that may be a front name to throw investigators off who was really behind the attacks.

The targets include businesses frequented by international visitors in the city which is India’s financial center.

A local journalist told CNN he had seen evidence of an attack at the city’s domestic airport, which is on the outskirts of the Mumbai.

IBN reported explosions at a gas station and inside a taxi on a dockside road.

Attacks were carried out at the Taj and Oberoi hotels, the popular Café Leopold, and Cama Hospital, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station.

Sourav Mishra, a Reuters.com reporter, was with friends at the Cafe Leopold when gunmen opened fire.

International hotlines

U.S.: 1 888 407 4747

“I heard some gunshots … Something hit me. I ran away and fell on the road. Then somebody picked me up. I have injuries below my shoulder,” Mishra said from a hospital bed he was sharing with three other people.

India has suffered a number of attacks in recent years, including a string of bombs that ripped through packed Mumbai commuter trains and platforms during rush hour in July 2006. About 209 people were killed in that attack.

Last July, a series of synchronized bomb blasts in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad left 49 dead and more than 100 wounded, police said.

But Paresh Parihar, a businessman in Mumbai, described Wednesday’s attacks as unlike anything he had seen.

“They really don’t fear for their lives or any other activity that could put them in danger,” he told CNN. “This is really a very unusual situation.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said: “We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks.”

The U.S. has opened a telephone hotline for citizens concerned about family or friends who may be visiting or living Mumbai. 

Kenyan Ambassador To The US, Peter Ogego – Acknowledges Barack Was Born In Kenya

According to Debbie Schlussel, during an interview between WRIF and Kenyan Ambassador to the US, Peter Ogego, he admitted that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. Schlussel provides a link to another video speech to compare voices… Why won’t the Supreme Court and Congress address this issue? This is our Constitution that is in danger here. First his own grandmother says she was at his birth in a Kenyan hospital and now this. The Supreme Court and Congress as well as President Bush need to investigate this issue as is their duty to protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States. If the allegations are false, fine, but they should not be ignored.

To listen to the audio clip click the first link below and click the Play Now link – Go to 12 minutes 30 seconds and listen carefully.

Change You Can Believe In!

My friends Mark Fellhauer, Mike Wolters, and Mike Clark of Detroit’s “Mike in the Morning” show on WRIF-FM spoke with the Kenyan Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Ogego and got him to admit, matter-of-factly, that Barack Hussein Obama was, indeed, born in Kenya. He also says they plan to mark his birthplace there. This is not a fake call. These guys don’t do those. (The interview is almost 20 minutes, but the admission starts at 12:30 into the interview.) You can compare Ogego’s voice with this video of a speech he made to verify that it is, indeed, him.

Kenyan Ambassador to U.S. Peter Ogego: Yup, Obama Was Born in KenyaAlthough I listen to their show most mornings, thanks to KFAQ Tulsa morning radio host Pat Campbell (on whose show I frequently appear, including this morning) for the alert. Thanks also to Bob McCarty, who also sent the tip and wrote about it.

Holy Land Foundation Members Guilty Of Providing Over $12 Million To Hamas

Finally some good news on the fight against terror. The Holy Land Foundation and five of its workers have been found guilty of funneling at least $12 million to Hamas. Now our government needs to look into CAIR’s connections to the Holy Land Foundation and start working a case there.

Just in from DMN. Counting down until CAIR Islamophobia cries begin. In 3, 2, 1…

A jury on Monday determined that the Holy Land Foundation and five men who worked with the Muslim charity were guilty of three dozen counts related to the illegal funneling of at least $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

The unanimous verdicts are a complete victory for the government, which streamlined its case and worked hard to carefully educate jurors on the complex, massive evidence presented in the trial.

The prosecution victory is also a major one for the lame duck administration of President George Bush, whose efforts at fighting terrorism financing in court have been troubled, even though the flow of funds seems to be effectively shut down.

It was the second trial where the government attempted to convict the men and the now defunct Richardson-based Holy Land Foundation itself. It took the jury eight days of deliberations to reach its decisions — less than half the time it took jurors to deadlock end up with an almost complete mistrial last year on the first go-around.

“My dad is not a criminal!” sobbed one courtroom observer after the verdicts were read. “He’s a human!”

Before he read the verdict, the judge had ordered all observers to remain civil and respect the proceedings.

By 3 p.m. Monday, jurors had been sent back to the jury room to determine if Holy Land assets should be forfeited to the government because of several convictions on money laundering charges related to the case.

Every Breath You Take – Ben Bernanke Style

This is a few years old, but applies to today’s economic situation we are in.

Al-Zawahri Calls Obama A House Negro

Al Qaeda does not think much about Barack Obama as the new president. It seems they feel he is a token president or as al-Zawahri said a “abeed al-beit” or “house negro, which puts him in with al-Zawahri’s opinon of Colin Powell and Conoleezza Rice and is a direct opposite of Malcolm X.

Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri insulted Barack Obama in the terror group’s first reaction to his election, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, that Obama is “the direct opposite of honorable black Americans” like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.

Al-Zawahri also called Obama—along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice—”house negroes.”

Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term “abeed al-beit,” which literally translates as “house slaves.” But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as “house negroes.”

The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters’ house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.

The 11-minute 23-second video features the audio message by al-Zawahri, who appears only in a still image, along with other images, including one of Obama wearing a Jewish skullcap as he meets with Jewish leaders. In his speech, al-Zawahri refers to a Nov. 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, meaning the video was made after that date.

Al-Zawahri said Obama’s election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others.

“America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always,” the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said.

He said Obama’s plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist.

“Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them,” he said.

Al-Zawahri did not threaten specific attacks, but warned Obama that he was “facing a Jihadi (holy war) awakening and renaissance which is shaking the pillars of the entire Islamic world; and this is the fact which you and your government and country refuse to recognize and pretend not to see.”

He said Obama’s victory showed Americans acknowledged that President George W. Bush’s policies were a failure and that the result was an “admission of defeat in Iraq.”

But Obama’s professions of support for Israel during the election campaign “confirmed to the Ummah (Islamic world) that you have chosen a stance of hostility to Islam and Muslims,” al-Zawahri said. 

 

Obama Supporters: A League Of Their Own

Easing Expectations Of Obama’s Promise Of A Lobbyist Free Administration

Obama promised an administration free of lobbyist influence, however he is not living up to those words based on his selections so far. Now I was surpised to see Campbell Brown reporting this. Then I thought about why she would be reporting this and it dawned on me, the media is trying to “ease” the expectations of an Obama presidency. They are doing nothing more than making it palatable to the public in stages so when Obama does take the post, the burden of living up to his promises would be eased, which if you remember was one of the things his camp was trying to do in the last weeks of the campaign. This is nothing more than a sympathy criticism, with the aim of making the people understand how hard it is for Obama to do the things he campaigned on and not to expect him to…

More Change You Can Believe In!

I want you to hear something President-elect Barack Obama said just about a year ago:

“I am running to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over. They have not funded my campaign. They won’t work in my White House.”

Just this weekend The New York times published a list of names — a rather long list of names of people — who are working on Obama’s transition team or who have accepted jobs in his White House who are either former lobbyists or who have close ties to lobbyists.

The Times reports that some of those people were lobbying as recently as this year. 

 Watch Campbell Brown’s commentary »

Now, the Obama team is quick to point out that their rules and restrictions on lobbying ties are far stricter than any previous administration.

And the Obama folks concede that eliminating anyone in Washington who had ever lobbied Congress or who has a family member who lobbied Congress would be foolish.

And it’s true, you could argue the reality of Washington and our government is that lobbyists are often the most informed people on a given issue.

But we certainly never heard Obama articulate it quite that way when he was candidate Obama. What he said then was:

“That’s what happens when lobbyists set the agenda and that’s why they won’t drown out your voices anymore when I am president of the United States of America.”

And that is a promise that he may already be struggling to keep.

Soros Behind Obama Think Tank – Gets Podesta Hook Into Team Obama

Soros kept a low profile during this past election, unlike prior elections where he vowed to take down George Bush… He used his money to fund the Center for American Progress tank, which was started and run by John Podesta, one of the three leaders of Obama’s transition team. In addition to Podesta there are another 10 members of CAP who are part of Obama’s transition team.

Sort of makes you how much money Soros was able to funnel into Obama’s campaign. Maybe some of those under $250 donations…

CAP sounds more like a let’s see what the public thinks and then we will create our team around what seems popular. While the liberals will say that is how you get in touch with the people, it is not how policy should be formed. Policy should first be formed based on what is best for the country. The contrast of the Heritage Foundation is that the Heritage has its policies and tries to promote them to the public. CAP wants to use popularity to appeal to the masses and placate them. Yes it is important for the President to work for the people, yet it is important for the President to make the hard decisions that the people may not like, but is best for everyone. It is similar to being a parent, you have to make decision that your child will not agree with, but is in their best interest.

That is the reason we elect a our leaders in the first place, to make the decisions we either cannot make or there is no 100% agreement on, so our leaders make the choice for us.

Barack may have proven what many felt all along, that people like Soros and Barack can buy the Presidency of the United States.

Three blocks from the White House, on the 10th floor of a sleek glass building, young workers pound at computers, with giant flat-screen TVs overhead. It has the look and feel of a high-tech startup.

In many ways it is. The product is ideas.

Thanks in part to funding from benefactors such as billionaire George Soros, the Center for American Progress has become in just five years an intellectual wellspring for Democratic policy proposals, including many that are shaping the agenda of the new Obama administration.

Much as the Heritage Foundation provided intellectual heft for the Republican Party in the 1980s, CAP has been an incubator for liberal thought and helped build the platform that triumphed in the 2008 campaign.

“What CAP has done is recapture the role of ideas as an important political force, something the Republicans had been better at for 25 years,” said Walter Isaacson, president of the Aspen Institute, a non-partisan policy-research organization in Washington.

CAP’s president and founder, John Podesta, 59, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, is one of three people running the transition team for president-elect Barack Obama, 47. A squadron of CAP experts is working with them.

Some of the group’s recommendations already have been adopted by the president-elect.

Withdrawal of Troops

These include the center’s call for a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and a buildup of forces in Afghanistan, a plan for universal health coverage through employer plans and proposals to create purchasing pools that allow small businesses to spread the cost among a larger group of workers. Obama has endorsed much of a CAP plan to create “green jobs” linked to alleviating global climate change.

CAP also is advocating the creation of a “National Energy Council” headed by an official with the stature of the national security adviser and who would be charged with “transforming the energy base” of the U.S. In addition, CAP urges the creation of a White House “office of social entrepreneurship” to spur new ideas for addressing social problems.

To help promote its ideas, CAP employs 11 full-time bloggers who contribute to two Web sites, ThinkProgress and the Wonk Room; others prepare daily feeds for radio stations. The center’s policy briefings are standing-room only, packed with lobbyists, advocacy-group representatives and reporters looking for insights on where the Obama administration is headed.

`Premier Progressive’

“The center is the premier progressive think tank in Washington,” said Mark Green, head of the New Democracy Project, an urban-affairs institute in New York.

Just eight days after the Nov. 4 election, CAP released a 300,000-word volume called “Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President” that offers advice on issues such as economic revival and fixing the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Work on the book began almost a year ago.

CAP, which has 180 staffers and a $27 million budget, devotes as much as half of its resources to promoting its ideas through blogs, events, publications and media outreach.

The center’s future was far from certain in 2003, when wealthy donors such as Soros and film producer Stephen Bing gave $10 million or more to fill what they believed was an intellectual void in the Democratic Party and create a vehicle to produce an agenda for the party’s eventual return to power.

Heritage Foundation

Podesta modeled the center on the Heritage Foundation, which became the go-to policy-research organization in 1981 when newly elected President Ronald Reagan embraced its conservative ideas embodied in a book called “Mandate for Leadership.” Heritage was just seven years old.

CAP and Heritage have something else in common.

“Others strive to be objective, we don’t,” said Jennifer Palmieri, CAP’s vice president for communications.

Podesta likes to say, “we’re not a think tank, we’re an action tank,” said Dan Weiss, an environmental activist who joined CAP last year.

CAP isn’t the only Democratic-leaning research organization in Washington with enhanced cachet after Obama’s election.

The 92-year-old Brookings Institution, for example, has advisers in Obama’s inner circle, including economist Jason Furman and foreign-policy expert Susan Rice. Others are working either part-time or full-time in the Obama transition.

Podesta’s center isn’t even among the biggest or best- funded. Brookings has a staff of more than 400 and an annual budget of $48 million. Heritage has a staff of 200 and a budget of $60 million. The American Enterprise Institute, which has close ties to the administration of President George W. Bush, has about 140 staffers, including Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, and a budget of $28 million.

Influence

Yet CAP may be the most influential. In addition to Podesta, at least 10 other CAP experts are advising the incoming administration, including Melody Barnes, the center’s executive vice president for policy who co-chairs the agency-review working group and Cassandra Butts, the senior vice president for domestic policy, who is now a senior transition staffer.

“John understood that ideas have power in this town, and he brought in super-bright people whose ideas have become essential reading,” Isaacson said.

CAP’s successes offer a lesson for Republican-leaning groups, said James McGann, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia who tracks policy groups.

“They’ve shown that one has to constantly innovate and be responsible to an ever-changing demographics and electorate, and have policies that are responsive to that,” McGann said.