Ruled By Choir Boys and Girls. The Wink, Wink Whitewash, Not Whitewater, E Mail! Obama And The Re-Set Button Movie!

Humiliating Israel did not bring peace nor will getting rid of Netanyahu for favoring friends.

If every politician, Israeli or otherwise, were dismissed for doing favors and receiving free cigars the world would be ruled by choir boys.

Corruption is bad and even a little leads to more but at some point we also need to accept the fact that doing favors is life. I am reminded of the prose by the English author, Lamb, who wrote satiric " The Burning of The Roast Pig."  He writes about the burning down of a home to roast a pig.

Meanwhile, thanks Obama. (See 1 below.)
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This was sent to me by a dear friend, fellow tennis partner and memo reader.  I thought it was interesting and am passing it along. (See 2 below.)
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The more the Congressional Intelligence Committee investigating the involvement of those in "The Russian Collusion" matter and the more unmasking of e mails occurs the more likely it will result in Obama being involved.  The best evidence, to date, is the e mail between Obama and Rice covering themselves with a "wink, wink" whitewash, not Whitewater,  e mail.

What is also interesting is the more you haul bureaucrats before Congress to testify the more they cannot talk because government operatives cover themselves by classifying everything so it cannot be revealed.

Obama promised us he would have the most open administration. remember?  Just another lie.

One day some movie producer will make a comedy called "Obama and The Re-set Button!"

And

I did not write this but I tend to agree.  Not a good Valentine  Card. (See 3 below)
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Dick
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1) Flush with pallets of cash from Obama, Iran is taking aim at Israel

Lee Kuan Yew, the great statesman of Singapore, once warned the U.S. that if Iran gets a nuclear bomb, “It will travel.”

Something like that is happening.

It's not very visible in the news, but based on Saturday's deliberate Iranian drone attack on Israel, and the subsequent Israeli retaliation, it's obvious that Iran is gearing up to start a war with Israel.

The New York Times reports:

JERUSALEM — Israel clashed with Syrian and Iranian military forces on Saturday in a series of audacious cross-border strikes that could mark a dangerous new phase in Syria’s long civil war.

The confrontations, which threaten to draw Israel more directly into the conflict, began before dawn when Israel intercepted what it said was an Iranian drone that had penetrated its airspace from Syria. The Israeli military then attacked what it called the command-and-control center from which Iran had launched the drone, at a Syrian air base near Palmyra.

On its way back from the mission, one of Israel’s F-16 fighter jets crashed in northern Israel after coming under heavy Syrian antiaircraft fire. It is believed to be the first Israeli plane lost under enemy fire in decades.

That prompted a broad wave of Israeli strikes against a dozen Syrian and Iranian targets in Syrian territory. The Israeli military said it hit eight Syrian targets, including three aerial defense batteries, and four Iranian positions that it described as “part of Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria.”

The events, including Israel’s direct engagement with Iranian forces, threatened to intensify the crisis in Syria and showed the extent to which the country has become a battlefield between Israel and Iran, bitter foes in the region.

So Israel beat the crap out of the hostile invaders and the Times seems to be surprised at this.

What's really surprising is the lack of scrutiny of what started this incident in the first place: That Iran launched a deliberate military strike with an attack drone inside Israel and nobody seems to be alarmed about it? Mullahs will be mullahs, is that it?

Here is the sequence of events, according to astute Iran/Israel observer, Omri Ceren, on Twitter:

Omri Ceren @omriceren

Took the Israelis less than 3 hours to assess that an F-16 had been downed, pluck out a dozen Iranian and Syrian targets from their target bank, & dispatch warplanes to wipe out the targets.

What we're seeing is an act of war. Imagine the reaction if Mexico deliberately did this to us. (Mexico does do this sort of thing, but it's by accident, and leads to nothing). A drone strike is a prelude to much bigger strikes, much the same way a mini-stroke is a warning of a much larger stroke coming ahead. It can't be ignored.

And that demands scrutiny as to why in this era of low oil prices, angry mass protests over the economy, and global sanctions, Iran's mullahs seem to have so much money to throw around for starting new wars.

Scroll back to 2016. President Obama touted his Iran Deal, Ben Rhodes defended it, and cash from the U.S., previously locked in from sanctions since the 1970s. rolled off the pallets into the happy hands of the mullahs: first a $400 million shovel-out and then $1.3 billion more. Money in that amount can easily be invested to multiply it, and if nothing else, can be spent to upgrade military capabilities. 

As Ceren observes:

The Israelis say the military drone used by Iran in last night's attack was highly sophisticated and emulated Western technology. Somehow in the last few years the Iranians got the breathing room, resources, and knowledge to build and deploy these things.

Already we know the Obama-approved cash went to Iran's acts of war against Saudi Arabia, through its financing of the Houthi rebels on its southern flank in Yemen. That drove Saudi Arabia to seek help from its militarily competent northern neighbor, Israel.

Now we are seeing Iran get itself into a two-front war, initiating it with these fresh, and direct, attacks on Israel, which it knows will be answered. Out in Syria, there actually was Israeli contact with the mullah troops as the retaliation began. Incredibly, the media seems to be reporting this as Israel's fault, rather than Iran's, and ignoring that Israel's retaliation is the act of a nation defending itself.

Ceren observes:

To read global headlines – including the headlines from America's top dailies – the Israelis attacked Iranian assets in Syria for no reason & then got shot down.

What we are seeing here is the Iran Deal in action. The Obama cash gave Iran's mullahs a new battery for launching attacks abroad, well beyond terror and into warfare as it seeks to expand its global reach, and it didn't take long to “travel.” 

As Ceren observes:

Only took 2 years after Iran deal implementation for Iran to start openly staging attacks on Israeli territory. Entirely predictable – and potentially catastrophic – result of flooding Iran with billions in resources and incentivizing powers to turn blind eye to its aggression.

Even the Russians in the region are spooked, calling for some kind of calm, which suggests they think the status quo is shifting.

Iran's cash from the Obama-brokered Iran deal is now bringing Israel a war. Incredibly, the Obamatons and the foreign policy establishment continue to defend the bad deal. The rest of us look on in horror at the idiocy of giving billions to the mullahs.

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2)

INTERESTING FACTS In the 1400’s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'  ------------ --------- --------- --------- ----  Many years ago in  Scotland , a new game was invented... It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only....Ladies Forbidden'....and thus, the word GOLF entered into the English language. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---- The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma  Flintstone. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ----  Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S.  Treasury.  ------------ -- ------------ --------- --------  Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ----  Coca-Cola was originally green. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---- It is impossible to lick your elbow. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---- The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:  Alaska  ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this....) ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  The percentage of  North America that is wilderness: 38%  ----------- --------- --------- --------- ---------  The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:  $ 16,400  ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  The average number of people airborne over the U.S.. in any given hour:  61,000 ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair... ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer.  ------------ ------------ --------- --------- ---------  The San Francisco  Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.  ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David  Hearts - Charlemagne  Clubs -Alexander, the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle.  If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed onAugust 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.  ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession  ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  Q... If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'? A. One thousand  ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common? A. All were invented by women. ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?  A. Father's Day ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.  When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase...'Goodnight , sleep tight' ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.  ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.' It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'  ------------ --------- --------- --------- ---------  Many years ago in  England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.  ----------- --------- --------- --------- ---------  At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow! ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The  phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid  Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the  ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae.  The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm.. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by  istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2018 when...  1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave. 2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.  3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.  4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.  5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.  6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.  7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen 8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first  20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.  10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee  11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile.)  12 You're reading this and nodding and laughing.  13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.   14. You are too busy to notice there was no No. 9 on this list.  15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a No. 9 on this list +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3)

Jeff Bergner: The vanishing Obama presidency 

·        By Jeff Bergner     The Virginian-Pilot       

ONE YEAR AGO, Barack Obama’s presidency came to an end. His election as the nation’s first black president was a major accomplishment for him and for the nation. Time will never erase that achievement. 

But as time passes, this may be just about his only lasting political accomplishment; his legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives are disappearing rapidly. On domestic policy:

• Energy: The Keystone XL Pipeline has been approved. The Dakota Access Pipeline has been approved and is operational. U.S. energy production is up, and gas prices are down. Deep Obama administration reductions in offshore drilling leases are in the process of being reversed.

• Education: The Obama Education Department’s Title IX “guidance” to colleges and universities mandating how to treat sexual assault cases has been rescinded. Numerous Education Department programs begun in the Obama administration are being terminated.

• Environment: The Obama EPA’s Clean Power Plan to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant, the implementation of which was already blocked by the Supreme Court, has been rescinded.

• Labor: The Obama-controlled National Labor Relations Board rule treating franchise chains as single employers for the purpose of collective bargaining has been repealed.

• National parks: Obama’s vast additions to U.S. national monuments in Utah have been rescinded.

• Internet: Net neutrality has been repealed.

• Immigration: The Obama executive order on Deferred Action Against Parents of Americans, which was blocked by a federa l court, has been rescinded. His executive order on Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals has been rescinded, awaiting potential congressional action.

• Health care: Obamacare has been significantly modified by regulations to allow new, less costly forms of health insurance and by the repeal of the individual mandate. Additional regulatory changes are coming this year. As the health exchanges continue to shrink, the principal impact of Obamacare will be the expansion of Medicaid enrollment.

• Consumer protection: The structure of the Obama-era Consumer Financial Protection Agency has been ruled unconstitutional by the District of Columbia Circuit Court because it is unanswerable to any elected government official. The CFPB is facing additional legal and legislative challenges.

• Economy: The economic recovery beginning in 2009 produced historically slow economic growth, a declining labor participation rate, stagnant wages and increasing food stamp usage. Today’s economy is growing more rapidly, the labor participation rate is up, wages are beginning to rise, and food stamp usage is down.

On foreign policy:

• Military: Reductions in military spending and U.S. troop levels are being reversed.

• ISIS: Changes to the Obama rules of engagement for using military force led to the rapid defeat of ISIS.

• Environment: The United States has announced its intent to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.

• Trade: The United States declined to join the Trans-Pacific Trade Partnership.

• Iran nuclear deal: The president has declined to certify the Iran nuclear agreement, which the Obama administration negotiated, setting the stage for withdrawal or modification.

• Syria: The president has used military force to enforce Obama’s “red line” against Syria’s use of chemical weapons.

• Ukraine: U.S. policy toward Ukraine is changing; the U.S. will now send lethal weapons to assist Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression.

• Cuba: Obama’s opening to Cuba has been put on hold.

• Israel: The United States and Israel have restored their historically close relationship.

• Egypt: The flirtation with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has been replaced by U.S. support for Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Overall, with the exception of a shrinking Obamacare and the CFPB, no significant initiative of the Obama administration remains in place. The near doubling of the federal debt during his eight-year presidency — from $10 trillion to $19 trillion — seems like a very high price to pay for such ephemeral results.

The Obama presidency is vanishing before our eyes. In only 12 short months, the legacy of Obama’s presidency is best captured by the motto of a well-known disaster restoration company: “like it never even happened.”

Jeff Bergner served in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. He lives in Norfolk.

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