GEERT WILDERS SAYS JORDAN SHOULD BE PALESTINE

Dutch politician Geert Wilders continues to raise his game as others refuse to join him, apparently unable to read the tea leaves resulting from Wilders' huge gains in the recent June 9th elections in The Netherlands. Israel is almost constantly on defense against the collective arab world, which refers to Israel as occupied land. That occupied land belongs to the Palestinians and should be called 'Palestine' according to them. As a consequence, Israel is constantly trying to defend itself by having to explain why it should be called 'Israel'.

Enter Geert Wilders, who says Jordan should be re-named 'Palestine' and that Palestinians can move. Via Ynet:

"Jordan is Palestine," said Wilders, who heads the third-largest party in Holland. "Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland."

Wilders added that Israel deserved a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for Jerusalem in its name.

"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism," he said.

Predictably, Jordan didn't take kindly to Wilders' assertions, neither did the Saudis. The west is in desperate need of leaders like Wilders.

The phrase, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way" could not be more appropriate.

h/t to Free Republic

RAHM'S EXODUS FROM WHITE HOUSE EXPECTED BUT WHY?

On June 18th, POLITICO reported that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), ranking member of the House Oversight Committee on Government Reform is preparing to issue subpoenas to the White House regarding offers made to Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff should he become chairman of that committee after the November midterms. Issa is already planning to double his staff to aid in the effort. There is one man inside the Obama administration with indisputable connections to both offers - Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Two days later, the London Telegraph reported that Emanuel is expected to step down as Chief of Staff in the coming months:

Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.

Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he will serve only half the full four-year term.

Other reasons given were that Emanuel is mulling a Chicago mayoral run and wants to spend more time with his family - the latter sounds like the reasons given by NFL head coaches who are on the chopping block in an attempt to minimize controversy.

Another pay-to-play story that could involve Emanuel is playing out in a Chicago courtroom - the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial. Running concurrent with Issa's aggressive stance relative to what he'll do with subpoena power is the Blagojevich trial, which has been heating up in recent days. The prosecution has introduced some of the audio recordings of phone conversations that took place between Rod, his brother Rob, and Rod's one time Chief of Staff, Lon Monk. One of the things that becomes readily apparent while listening to the tapes is that pay-to-play politics was a way of life in Chicago when Blago was governor.

When Blago was arrested in December of 2008, Emanuel appeared to be quite involved. News reports indicated that Emanuel had conversations with Blago about Obama's vacant senate seat. At one point, Emanuel seemed to hide behind his kids with reporters and dropped out of sight for some time.

Click HERE for some compelling audio recordings between Rod, Rob, and Lon.

Now, NBC Chicago is reporting that Rahm traded favors with Blagojevich and the Associated Press has the emails:

Emanuel agreed to sign a letter to the Chicago Tribune supporting Blagojevich in the face of a scathing editorial by the newspaper that ridiculed the governor for self-promotion. Within hours, Emanuel's own staff asked for a favor of its own: The release of a delayed $2 million grant to a school in his district.

The 2006 discussion occured with Blagojevich's top aide, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, and doesn't appear to cross legal lines; Emanuel couldn't speed up the distribution of the funds. But it offers a peek at ties between two high-profile Illinois politicians — one now the president's right-hand man, the other facing years in prison if convicted of political corruption.

The very next paragraph explains what could end up being a PR hit for Emanuel and, by extension, the Obama administration...

Discussion of the exchange could come up at Blagojevich's corruption trial, currently under way in Chicago. Blagojevich, who is accused of plotting to profit by selling an appointment to Obama's former Senate seat, also tried later that year to use the school grant in an extortion attempt against Emanuel, according to federal prosecutors.

It's quite possible that Emanuel is sowing the seeds of egress from the White House so that if the Blago trial, coupled with the Sestak and Romanoff scandals, implicates him directly in the commission of crimes, he can say he was planning to leave anyway and any new accusations that arise will have nothing to do with his decision.

Emanuel's common thread with Sestak, Romanoff, and Blago....

On May 28th, courtesy of a White House legal memo, Emanuel was identified as the man inside the Obama White House who sent former President Bill Clinton to meet with Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) with an offer to drop out of the Senate primary with incumbent Arlen Specter.

In September of 2009, the Denver Post identified Deputy Chief of Staff and Emanuel right hand man, Jim Messina as the one who approached Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff (D-CO) with three job offers inside U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Messina is still Deputy Chief of Staff, which means Emanuel must have known about his dealings with Romanoff.

As the Blago trial continues to heat up - it's definitely starting to do so - look for more questions to arise about the relationship between Emanuel and Blagojevich. It could be that Emanuel's exit in several months is a trial balloon. If the Blago trial starts to shine a brighter spotlight on Emanuel, look for the latter to step down much sooner.

h/t to Blago Files

HAMAS CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY TO BE DEPORTED?

Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of a prominent leader of Hamas, the notorious Islamic terror organization. In 2007, Yousef converted to Christianity. He was also an undercover informant for Israeli intelligence. He gained media recognition for authoring a book chronicling his experiences. As someone who thoroughly and completely understands the mindset of America's enemies, one would think he would be an invaluable resource for the U.S. government.

So why is he going to be in front of a judge for a deportation hearing on June 30th?

Via the Wall Street Journal:

In 2007, Mr. Yousef came to the United States, where he converted to Christianity from Islam and applied for political asylum. The request was denied in February 2009, Mr. Yousef says, on grounds that he was potentially "a danger to the security of the United States" and had "engaged in terrorist activity." His case has automatically proceeded to the deportation stage, and on June 30 at 8 a.m. he will appear before Judge Rico Bartolomei in Homeland Security Immigration Court in San Diego.

The contents Yousef's book, "Son of Hamas" seems to be what DHS attorneys are focusing on as reason for wanting his deportation. They say it reveals that he provided support to violent groups. Due to the fact that Yousef would necessarily be viewed as a traitor and apostate by Hamas, his fate if returned to the West Bank would be unkind to say the least.

Mr. Yousef is a native of the West Bank, which is where he would presumably return if he is deported and where Hamas would immediately seek to kill him. Under the Convention Against Torture, the U.S. has an international treaty obligation not to return people to countries where their lives would be at risk. That concern stopped the return to China of the Uighers at Guantanamo, and rightly so. It would dishonor the U.S. to deport a convert in the war on terror because our immigration bureaucracy is too obtuse to make even life and death distinctions.

What's utterly amazing - beyond the fact that the United States would be giving up an incredible resource to murderous thugs - is who has been given permission to enter the United States.

Tariq Ramadan is the grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna. In 2004, he was banned from entering the United States because of his involvement with a group found to have been financing Hamas. In January, 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed papers (Pictured below - click on image to enlarge) allowing him re-entry.

Via the Global Muslim Brotherhood Report:

...the U.S. revoked Ramadan’s visas several times since 2004, initially giving no reasons but later saying it was based on a provision of the Patriot Act, and eventually stating that he supported terrorism based on 1,670 Swiss Francs ($1,946) the gave to the Swiss Association de Secours Palestinien (ASP) , an organization designated as terrorist by U.S for its support of Hamas.

Just to get this straight, a man once belonging to Hamas, converts to Christianity, renounces Islam, and provides intelligence to the Israelis. He then seeks asylum in the United States, providing Americans with information about her enemies in the form of a book that the DHS wants to use against him in arguments calling for his deportation.

Conversely, Ramadan has familial as well as ideological ties to a group - the Muslim Brotherhood - that seeks the overthrow of western civilization through slow, incremental means. Ramadan was found to have financially supported the enemy that Yousef wants to help the United States defeat. Not only has Yousef not renounced his ties to nefarious individuals and groups but he has close ties to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) as well as an association with Barack Obama's Islamic envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Rashad Hussain. Hussain and CAIR both have connections to groups associated with Hamas and by extension, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Read the WSJ article on Yousef.