Quick Hits II

1. President Obama's September,2009 speech to the UN General Assembly included this: "It is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 - more than at any point in human history - the interests of nations and peoples are shared."

News item: "Islamists looted and burned a Protestant church in Algeria." They also "set fire to a pile of Bibles and religious textbooks, and desecrated Christian crosses."

News item: "Nine churches have also been recently burned down amid violence against the country's (Malaysia) Christian minority." (News items from the 1/11/10 Jerusalem Post online.)

Everybody see those "shared interests?"

2. Obama, in 4/09, when asked if he believes in American exceptionalism: "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." So, Mr. President, after you reduce the size of our military and take away our nukes, and do all you can to negate American values, who would you like to see take America's place in the world? The U.N.? Russia? China? Iran? The islamofascists?

3. Jimmy Carter recently, with great publicity, "apologized" to the Jewish community for any offense caused by his remarks about Israel. Except, on the same day as his apology, he opined in the London Guardian that the terrorist organization Hamas should be recognized as a legitimate organization. The same Hamas that routinely calls for the destruction of Israel. So Carter remains an anti-semite. Or maybe it's just a coincidence that his "apology" comes at a time when his grandson may be running for state senate in Dekalb County, Georgia - which has a "substantial Jewish population." (From the 12/25/09 Jewish Press.)

4. Global cooling continues. Britain was in its "longest cold spell in nearly 30 years." In France "snow piled up from Normandy to Marseilles on the Mediterranean shore." Norway had its "lowest temperatures in more than two decades." (From the 1/8/10 Verizon News online.) And in Florida, USA, temperatures there broke 80 year old records for low temperatures. (From Fox News, 1/11/10.)

5. Dems are calling it quits. Senators Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Byron Dorgan (No. Dak.) will not be running for re-election. In the November, 2009 elections, two significant gubernatorial races went to the Republicans. Chris Christie won in N.J. and Bob McDonnell won in Virginia. Now, we have an election on Tuesday for the Senate seat in Massachusetts that became vacant upon the death of Ted Kennedy. A seat held by the dems/Kennedys for decades. But democrat state Attorney General Martha Coakley has been slipping in the polls to republican state Senator Scott Brown. Obama plans on making a last minute trip to Mass. to help bolster Coakley. Hopefully, it will be with the same ineffectiveness that he brought to the N.J. and Virginia races.

6. As previously discussed here, Iran has been given deadlines with regards to their nuclear program. October, 2009. December 31, 2009. So the U.S. is now working with Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany to try to come up with some new sanctions. The U.N. Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran. I wonder how many more sets of sanctions it will take until Iran finally has a nuke. Am I missing something here?

7. Israel had to cancel plans to send a delegation of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) officers to Britain. Like other European countries, Britain has a "universal jurisdiction law" allowing them to decide cases in which Britain has no actual interest. Israeli civilian leaders have also had to avoid even diplomatic visits to Britain for fear of arrest. All this because of alleged war crimes committed by Israel in defending itself against Hamas rocket and missile attacks.

And for those who may think the above has no effect on the U.S., think again. Unlike President Bush, the Obama administration is pushing to get the U.S. to sign on to the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court. Secretary Clinton expressed her "great regret but it is a fact we are not yet a signatory" to the Rome Statute. This, of course, would subject U.S. military personnel - and civilian leaders - to the jurisdiction of that court.

Given our President's lack of enthusiasm for "American exceptionalism," it should be no surprise that he would be willing to give up American autonomy and sovereignty to international organizations. As John Bolton discusses in the January, 2010 issue of Commentary, Obama is the first "post-American" president.

8. From George Mitchell, Obama's Middle East Czar, explaining why the U.S. may have to punish Israel and withhold loan guarantees: "We think the way to approach this is to try to persuade the parties what is in their self-interest." (From the 1/15/10Jewish Press.)

This sounds strangely similar to Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, democratic Congress member from Florida. On Fox, she was asked why the democrats are pushing a health care bill the American people do not want. She felt it was her job, as part of the leadership, to explain to the American people why the health care bill is good for them.

Given the extreme arrogance of the "elite" in D.C. - Obama, et. al. - anyone doubt that the dems will attempt to rush through their health care plan if Scott Brown wins and the dems no longer have a filibuster-proof Senate?

Or maybe they can set up re-programming camps for those of us who have not accepted the party line and just do not know what is in our best interest.