A Democratic Congressman calls for more gun control in light of the Connecticut shooting:
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents portions of New York City, said he
was encouraged by Mr. Obama’s statement on Friday afternoon that the
mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 young children, requires
“meaningful action” by Congress, but hopes those words turn into
concrete legislation. “These incidents, these horrible, horrible incidents … are happening
more and more frequently. And they will continue to happen more and more
frequently until someone with the bully pulpit, and that means the
president, takes leadership and pushes Congress,” Mr. Nadler said during
an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” with Ed Schultz. Mr. Nadler was asked whether the Newtown tragedy could be the turning
point in many Democrats’ longstanding struggle to enact stronger gun
laws. “I think we will be there if the president exploits it, and otherwise we’ll go on to the next” incident, Mr. Nadler said.
A baby girl was among seven people
killed Tuesday by suspected Islamist separatists, police said, as a
nearly 9-year-old insurgency in southern Thailand that has killed
thousands of people shows no signs of letting up. Five people were killed and another four wounded in a drive-by
shooting at a tea shop in Narathiwat province's Ra-ngae district, said
local police chief Col. Jiradej Prasawang. The dead included
11-month-old Efahni Samoh, while the wounded included a 10-month-old
boy, Muhammad Yaena. Jiradej said the shop may have been targeted by the gunmen, who were
firing AK-47 assault rifles, because the owner is a village official.
Officials and teachers, as representatives of the state, are prime
targets for the insurgents, whose terror tactics are also thought to be
aimed at scaring Buddhist residents fleeing the region. In a separate incident, five attackers shot dead a principal and a
teacher at a school in neighbouring Pattani province's Mayo district
before stealing a pickup truck as they fled, said Mayo police chief Col.
Kong-art Suwannakham. The total number of school personnel killed in
such attacks is now 157, according to the regional teachers association. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the three Muslim-dominated
southernmost provinces of Buddhist-dominated Thailand since an Islamist
insurgency erupted in January 2004.
A Cairo court sentenced an atheist from a Christian
family on Wednesday to three years in prison for insulting religion, firing up fears about the future of freedom of expression
here just as Egyptians prepare to vote on an Islamist-backed draft
constitution denounced by secular groups as failing to protect such
rights. The convicted man, Albert Saber, is expected to be released on bail
of about $167 pending an appeal. An open and avowed atheist, Mr. Saber,
27, was initially accused of circulating links to an offensive online
video lampooning the Prophet Muhammad that set off protests across the
Muslim world in September. Mr. Saber has denied promoting the video, and
he is being charged for other statements critical of Islam and
Christianity that police investigators found on his computer. Open
profession of atheism is almost unheard-of in Egypt and is widely
considered an affront to society as a whole. Although blasphemy was a criminal offense under former President
Hosni Mubarak before Egypt’s revolution as well, Mr. Saber’s case has
raised special alarm because it comes against the backdrop of the
sometimes violent battle over Egypt’s draft constitution, which elevates the crime of insulting religion to the level of the charter itself
A generation comes of age: A video posted on social networks shows a
group of Palestinian kids in Gaza simulating the firing of mortar shells
at Israeli communities. Four kids are seen walking in a line along a fence meant to simulate
the Gaza border fence. One child is carrying a pipe and another is
holding what is meant to serve as a launching pad. Two other kids equipped with toy rifles serve as guards protecting the two "launchers." The video then shows the group preparing for the "rocket launch" and
then quickly assembling their gear and escaping the scene. The children
appear to be taking the exercise very seriously and putting great effort
into doing everything according to protocol. Viewers who watched the video posted comments that praised the group.
"These will be the future Palestinian leaders," one web-surfer wrote.
Another remarked that "Hamas is a school that reaches martyrdom, courage
and sacrifice."...
During Tuesday's mass demonstrations that attracted an estimated
10,000 to the Capitol lawn, protesters of the right-to-work law the
Legislature was passing and voting on tore down a tent rented by the
Michigan chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Witnesses and Internet
videos show protesters, some wearing union clothes, using knives or box
cutters to cut the tent's ropes. Clint Tarver, owner of Clint's Hot Dog Cart, said he was trapped
inside as the tent came down and damaged about $400 in catering
equipment. Tarver's hot dog cart, which is usually parked outside
Lansing City Hall along Capitol Avenue, was not on the Capitol grounds
during the incident. [...] Tarver, who had to crawl out of the collapsed tent on his knees, was overwhelmed Wednesday by the outpouring of support. "I had no idea so many people cared about 'the hot dog guy,'" Tarver said. Tarver, who is black, said the protesters called him an "Uncle
Tom" and the n-word for working for Americans for Prosperity, a
conservative group supporting the right-to-work law.
Yesterday, Gov. Rick Perry outlined initiatives to strengthen the
state’s ban on abortions, including promoting legislation to stop
abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
He was joined by Senator-elect Donna Campbell and pro-life groups at the Source Pregnancy Center in Houston.
“Over the last decade, Texas has taken extraordinary steps to protect
the lives of the unborn, but when 80,000 lives continue to be lost to
abortion each year in our state, we know our work is far from over,”
Gov. Perry said. “In Texas, the Legislature meets for only 140 days
every other year. As supporters of life, we have an obligation to make
sure that every one of those days counts when it comes to protecting our
most vulnerable citizens.”
Ten states have already recognized the need to protect unborn children
who are capable of feeling pain. The governor also outlined measures to
strengthen standards of care for women seeking abortions, including
requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges
at a hospital, and requiring abortion clinics to be licensed as
ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs).
“It’s time to acknowledge 21st century medicine and technology with
21st century legislation. We need to protect the tiniest and weakest of
Texans, our children, both born and unborn,” Senator-elect Campbell
said. “In addition, we should champion women’s health by holding
facilities and physicians that perform abortions to the same standards
as ambulatory surgery centers and physicians. Our duty is to protect the
general welfare of Texans, and I will work everyday to keep Texas
strong and healthy.”
“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation
process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most
pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a letter
to President Obama, saying she’s saddened by the partisan politics
surrounding her prospects.
“That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country…Therefore, I
respectfully request that you no longer consider my candidacy at this
time,” she wrote in the letter obtained by NBC News.
Four European Union member states reportedly opposed an official condemnation of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal’s incitement-filled speech last weekend, leading to harsh responses from Israeli leaders that Europe was being one-sided.
According to an Israel Radio report Wednesday, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Ireland pressured European foreign ministers to condemn Israel solely for its E1 settlement construction plan at a meeting of the body’s foreign council Monday.
In the end, the statement included a brief rebuke of Hamas’s call for Israel’s destruction, after an 11th-hour intervention by Germany and the Czech Republic, Israel Radio reported.
Instability in Egypt, where a newly-elected Islamic government
teeters over an angry population, isn't enough to stop the U.S. from
sending more than 20 F-16 fighter jets, as part of a $1 billion foreign
aid package.
The first four jets are to be delivered to Egypt beginning Jan. 22, a
source at the naval air base in Fort Worth, where the planes have been
undergoing testing, told FoxNews.com. The North African nation already
has a fleet of more than 200 of the planes and the latest shipment
merely fulfills an order placed two years ago. But given the uncertainty
in Cairo, some critics wonder if it is wise to be sending more top gun
planes.
“Should an overreaction [by Egypt] spiral into a broader conflict
between Egypt and Israel, such a scenario would put U.S. officials in an
embarrassing position of having supplied massive amounts of military
hardware … to both belligerents,” said Malou Innocent, a foreign policy
analyst at the Cato Institute. “Given Washington's fiscal woes, American
taxpayers should no longer be Egypt’s major arms supplier.”
The U.S. government ordered and paid for the
fighter jets for Egypt's military as part of foreign aid for Egypt back
in 2010, when Hosni Mubarak ruled. The fighter jets were supposed to be
delivered in 2013, and delivery will go ahead as scheduled even though
Hosni Mubarak has been removed from power and replaced by Mohamed Morsi,
who led the Muslim Brotherhood before becoming Egypt's president.
Morsi was democratically elected, but last month attempted to seize dictatorial powers for himself. After widespread protests and violence in Egypt's capital of Cairo, Morsi backed off from his power grab. But he is pushing through a controversial new constitution for Egypt that
would more strictly enforce Islamic Shariah law, and only recently said
he reserves the right to have the military arrest protesters without
charges.
"The Morsi-led Muslim Brotherhood government has not proven to be a
partner for democracy as they had promised, given the recent attempted
power grab," a senior Republican congressional aide told FoxNews.com.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, recently criticized U.S. military aid to Egypt:
“The Obama administration wants to simply throw money at an Egyptian
government that the president cannot even clearly state is an ally of
the United States,” Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said.
The $213 million order, which is paid for by U.S. taxpayers and is
part of Egypt's foreign aid package from America, had to be approved by
lawmakers in Washington.While the basic F-16 has been a military
workhorse for top air forces for more than 25 years, the cockpit
electronics are constantly updated and the models Egypt is getting are
the best defense contractor Lockheed Martin makes.
Anyways, I talked to Governor Mitch Daniels about this
issue about a week ago at a Buckley event at Yale, and he had some
interesting thoughts. “I hope that people will be consistent,” he told
me, referring to conservatives who support states’ rights. “I believe
that federalism is, first and foremost, a protection of liberty. And I
would just hope that people who say they believe that would be
consistent.”
He continued to say that regardless of his personal opinion on
decriminalization, states should be able to make their own choices on
the issue.
“Without endorsing what they [Colorado and Washington] did, I think
they had, under our system, a right to do it,” he said. “A lot of the
worst problems we’ve got in this country, and some of the worst
divisions we have, came when the right of citizens in community and in
polities, like their state, had those rights usurped by the federal
government. And having disagreed with it when it happened on other
occasions, I sure wouldn’t call for it here.”
David Sigale, an attorney who represented the Second
Amendment Foundation in the lawsuit, called the decision by the appeals
court in Chicago “historic.” “What we are most pleased about is how the court has recognized that
the Second Amendment is just as, if not at times more, important in
public as it is in the home,” he said. “The right of self-defense
doesn’t end at your front door.” In the opinion, Posner wrote that “Twenty-first century Illinois has
no hostile Indians. But a Chicagoan is a good deal more likely to be
attacked on a sidewalk in a rough neighborhood than in his apartment on
the 35th floor of the Park Tower.”
"The Supreme Court has decided that the amendment confers a right to bear arms for self-defense, which is as important outside the home as inside." - Judge Richard Posner for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last
year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that
Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants,
according to United States officials and foreign diplomats. No evidence has emerged linking the weapons provided by the Qataris
during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi to the attack that
killed four Americans at the United States diplomatic compound in
Benghazi, Libya, in September. But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was
worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan
militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons
and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing
them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi
government.
Egypt’s President Mohamed Mursi, facing street protests
over his attempts to push through a new constitution, will soon
authorise the armed forces to help police keep order, the state-run
newspaper al-Ahram reported on Saturday. The daily said the cabinet had approved a legal measure under which
the armed forces would help “maintain security and protect vital state
institutions” and would be given powers of arrest, but did not say when
it would be issued.
Egypt’s military has warned of ‘disastrous consequences’
if the political crisis gripping the country is not resolved through
dialogue. The military said in a statement read on state TV on Saturday that
serious dialogue is the “best and only” way to overcome the nation’s
deepening political dispute.
Since Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi increased his power and drafted a Shariah Islamist Constitution, the response of the White House has been silence and inaction. This followed leading the lavish praise for a Gaza cease-fire, which Morsi used as cover for his move. Obama finally, at long last, for the first time since the power-grab called Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. Did he criticize the Muslim Brotherhood's declaration of sweeping powers? Did he tell Morsi that the Egyptian radical Islamic Con
stitution just drafted raises serious concerns with the United States? Did he mention any aid potentially at stake? Did he reprimand Morsi for using the international praise, led by the U.S., as a cover to announce his consolidation of power? Of course not. "The president emphasized that all political leaders in Egypt should make clear to their supporters that violence is unacceptable," the White House said in a statement. Because the U.S. should be just as worried about Mohammed El-Baradei as Mohammed Morsi? There was no unique emphasis on the misconduct, the marauding gangs raping women, the lack of trustworthiness, the radicalism, of the Muslim Brotherhood and its leader in particular. Not even mild criticism. I am certain Morsi is laughing in his palace, which he was forced to flee by protesters, but has since returned to once now guarded by tanks provided by the United States of America. Compare this phone call with Morsi with the New York Times report on September 24, 2012 about Obama's call to Hosni Mubarak:
President Hosni Mubarak did not even wait for President Obama’s words to be translated before he shot back. “You don’t understand
this part of the world,” the Egyptian leader broke in. “You’re young.”
Mr. Obama, during a tense telephone call the evening of Feb. 1, 2011,
had just told Mr. Mubarak that his speech, broadcast to hundreds of
thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo, had not gone far
enough. Mr. Mubarak had to step down, the president said. Minutes later,
a grim Mr. Obama appeared before hastily summoned cameras in the Grand
Foyer of the White House. The end of Mr. Mubarak’s 30-year rule, Mr.
Obama said, “must begin now.” With those words, Mr. Obama upended three
decades of American relations with its most stalwart ally in the Arab
world, putting the weight of the United States squarely on the side of
the Arab street. It was a risky move by the American president, flying
in the face of advice from elders on his staff at the State Department
and at the Pentagon, who had spent decades nursing the autocratic — but
staunchly pro-American — Egyptian government.
Mubarak
was right. Obama clearly does not understand that part of the world. Mubarak was warning Obama that dangerous forces would replace him. Yet Obama called for Mubarak to step down, against the advice of the "elders"
at the State Department and Pentagon. For what? To make way for the
Muslim Brotherhood. What is unfolding in very clear terms before our
eyes now is absolutely disgusting, and it's not terribly difficult to
notice either. In fact, the Washington Times reports that "for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government, more battle tanks and jet fighters are on their way from the United States." Frank Gaffney, a senior defense policymaker in the Reagan administration, has been warning about the rise of the Brotherhood as it relates to the U.S. He said: "My principal concern with the Obama administration’s approach to Egypt is they seem oblivious to the fact it is now in the hands of a regime that is deeply hostile to the United States and certainly poses an immediate threat, I believe, to our friends in Israel. Under those circumstances, it is alarming that they are continuing to arm Egypt in a way that can only exacerbate the threat.” As
for how to deal with Morsi, America should at the very least precondition foreign aid on various
contingencies (that run against a Shariah constitution and Muslim
Brotherhood power-grabs), steps Obama is overtly pressuring Congress not to take. Morsi should have been given a call
immediately upon his power-grab to exert pressure and for the President to play hardball. No competent leader would lead an international
chorus of high praise for the Muslim Brotherhood leader to begin with, and any competent leader would have criticized Morsi immediately for stepping out of line with the
power-grab. Obama should be in close contact with Mohammed
El-Baradei and getting his input, and so on. Pretty much take
everything Obama has done, and do the opposite, and you would have a more sane approach to the Muslim Brotherhood rise in Egypt. The
fact remains that the rockets stopped temporarily from Gaza, but a
Muslim-Brotherhood brokered and enforced cease fire is a joke. There is no reason to think Hamas is not being rearmed as we speak, there is
absolutely no reason to think that Morsi does not stand solidly behind Hamas. There is certainly no excuse for our having lavished him with
high praise, any non-deluded person would realize we needed to be more
circumspect and skeptical of this Muslim Brotherhood leader even in the
wake of the cease-fire. Was that Obama's mindset? No. "Mr.
Obama told aides he was impressed with the Egyptian leader’s pragmatic
confidence,” The New York Times reported after the Gaza ceasefire Nov.
21. “He sensed an engineer’s precision with surprisingly little
ideology." I sensed a delusional fool in the White House immediately upon seeing
that. And who was right? I was, of course. It is a fact that the U.S.
led the international praise of Morsi. It is a fact that the ink had
barely dried on the international paeans when Morsi declared that any
domestic challenge s to his decrees, laws and decisions were
"temporarily" banned. Coincidence? Of course not. He used the foolish
international songs of high praise, with the U.S. leading the choir, as a
cover for this Muslim Brotherhood President immediately announcing new
sweeping powers. What a fine demonstration of the Obama administration's
"smart power" diplomacy. Did Obama then try to not be taken for a
fool? Did he do anything to show his displeasure for how quickly after
that cease-fire, after U.S. and international praise, things began
deteriorating in Egypt itself? No he did not. He let the praise stand
alone, and let the deafening inexcusable silence and inaction follow. Practically everything Obama is doing and has done has been perfectly wrong. When
Tahrir square is filled to protest pro-Western Mubarak, we have no
choice but to call for him to step down. But apparently when Tahrir square is filled to protest
Islamist Morsi, we have no choice but to be silent. Obama must immensely
pressure Bibi, "harshly criticize" and "slam" him just this week, but the United States must respond with shameful silence and no consequences to Morsi. This
is exactly the kind of foreign policy Obama opponents were worried
about. We just did not know we would, unfortunately, see ourselves
proven correct so soon after the election. Morsi has even called for the Egyptian military to secure Cairo, and America remains silent. Obama's feckless and inept approach to the Islamist rise in Egypt is not going unnoticed. As David Ignatius wrote in the Washington Post:
"And
let’s be honest: The Obama administration has been Morsi’s main
enabler... Probably thinking he had America’s backing, Morsi overreached
on Nov. 22 by declaring that his presidential decrees were not subject
to judicial review. His followers claim
that he was trying to protect Egypt’s revolution from judges appointed
by Hosni Mubarak. But that rationale has worn thin as members of Morsi’s
government resigned in protest, thousands of demonstrators took the
streets and, ominously, Muslim Brotherhood supporters began
counterattacking with rocks, clubs and metal pipes. Through this
upheaval, the Obama administration has been oddly restrained... [I]t’s
crazy for Washington to appear to take sides against those who want a
liberal, tolerant Egypt and for those who favor sharia. Somehow, that’s
where the administration has ended up."
Already
as of November 25, immediately upon Morsi's initial power-grab, John McCain said on "Fox News Sunday": “To assume
this kind of power is unacceptable to the United States of America." The
senator warned that Egypt risks a “repeat of the Iranian experience in
the 1970s.” Mr. McCain, who is the
top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S.
should threaten to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Egypt unless
Mr. Morsi returns to a more democratic path. “This is not what the
United States and American taxpayers expect and our dollars will be
directly related to the progress towards democracy, which you promised
the people of Egypt, when your party and you were elected president,” he
said. Unfortunately we are not hearing this from where it is desperately needed: from the leader of the free world.
