On the heels of a criticism I made of Sarah Palin, I must acknowledge that her response to critics of her North Korea slip-of-the-tongue was brilliant—and done in record time, with annotation, calling attention to Barack Obama’s much worse mistakes. It almost makes me take back my suggestion she’s not presidential material. Almost.
For those who are unaware, she was on Glenn Beck radio the other day and accidentally mixed up North and South Korea, correcting herself, let it be noted, 8-seconds later. Anticipating the anti-Palin media industry going after her she immediately issued a statement that was both exquisitely ironic and devastating—listing all the times The Dear Leader has goofed the facts in speeches….annotating them with audio-visual links capturing him delivering the errors in his own voice. Brilliant. Then she wove a narrative with all of them hooked together: savvy, brilliant again, devastating again plus witty to-boot.
The list of Obama goofs include his reference as a candidate that he had visited 57 states with one more to go…making 58 states in the Union…his offhand statement that the U. S. was formed 20 centuries ago…the FBI’s hundred days which he described at a Department of Justice ceremony which baffled everybody…his praise of the great value of ObamaCare which will bring greater inefficiencies to our health care system…his reference to countries like Europe...his exhortation to fight the rise of privacy…his solemn statement that Israel is a strong friend of Israel’s…and his deep discussion of medical treatment citing that it is important that an asthmatic get quick recourse to a breathalyzer or an inhalator. I mean not a breathalyzer ah, I don’t know what the term is in Austrian[sic] for that.
Now we know why Obama chooses to use the Teleprompter.
Treason is the Name for It. One of the first items of business in the next Congress should be legislation mandating that those trucking in dissemination of private governmental documents affecting national security be indicted for treason and tried swiftly with the invariable and non-negotiable punishment of execution. The Tea Party movement should adopt this resolution and insist upon it.
In prison now is one Pfc. Bradley Manning who dished up an earlier batch of secrets to Wiki-Leak. Manning, acting out of a muddled misgiving because when he was in school bullies taunted him because he was gay, faces 50 years of confinement. Since the cables endanger this country and can destroy its effectiveness with its allies, Manning should be regarded as a war criminal and executed.
The great mistake happened during the Vietnam War where Daniel Ellsberg, a guilt-ridden RAND employee married to the rich heiress of the Marx toy company fortune, has been allowed to tout his treason under the pretense as a man of honor for illegally leaking The Pentagon Papers.
Through machinations of jurisprudence Ellsberg is free and is busily receiving academic honors from the Left. Moreover a film documentary has been produced lauding him as a hero and shown…where else?....on taxpayer-supported public television. He should have been given a sentence he richly deserves—guilty of treason followed by prompt execution. An international court of justice should apply the same indictment on the recklessly morally defective Julian Assange the Australian who merchandises the theft of confidential information for Wiki-Leaks. If that can’t or won’t happen someone or group will conceive of alternate ways to deal with this international outlaw.
Wow, it's so sad that so many (but certainly not all) of the self proclaimed "pro life" people see no problem in judging when the life of others should end. I also had a treasured Benedictine college education and though not as well read (and,I would guess, not as intelligent) I find it so hard to understand the anger and intolerance seething from you. I'll have to admit I enjoyed you much more in the old Bruce and Cliff Kelly radio days.
ReplyDeleteStay well.
Jim Morley
Tom, while I agree with your anger at these revelations and don’t believe Mr. Assange’s protests that what he is doing is for the public good and to clean up capitalism, I am more angry at those who allowed this to happen. What kind of security have we in place when a Pfc with access to very confidential information is allowed to come and go with Read/Write CDs and memory sticks…?
ReplyDeleteYou may recall back about 30+ years ago there was a major theft at a large Chicago bank (1st Chicago, if I recall…). It was over $1 million - an inside job - done over a holiday weekend. Some months later a number of us from my bank (where I had responsibility for our vault area at the time…) visited 1st Chicago to see how they had dealt with the security breach. We were impressed.
Men working in the area were not allowed to wear jackets. Women had to use small transparent purses made of clear plastic. Everyone - the manager included - had to pass through security each time they came into or left the area, even on coffee or lunch breaks. While it appeared draconian at the time I couldn’t blame the bank for the measures. It had been a major embarrassment, not to mention the monetary loss (a $1 million was still a lot of money back then!).
Can we expect and do we have any confidence that the Government or the military will now institute similar – and preferably more stringent - security procedures?
Newt Gingrich said on Fox News Sunday today that Assange was an enemy combatant.
ReplyDeleteWhich implies that if captured he could be held in Gitmo, or "rendered" (if "rendition" is still our policy).