U.S. Ground Troops going in to Libya?

Obama seems intent on losing his far left kook base lately. If the anti-war crowd was up in arms over air strikes, imagine what kind of frenzy boots on the ground in Libya would do to them. On top of that, the mission is so unclear that the side we're choosing to fight on is the worst of two very bad options. We've already learned that al-Qaeda (Muslim Brotherhood) has a distinct presence among the rebels. In some cases, it's leading the effort.

Make no mistake; the Muslim Brotherhood wants the rebels to remove Gadhafi from power. So, why on earth would we help further that goal?

Via CBS:

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - The United States may consider sending troops into Libya with a possible international ground force that could aid the rebels, according to the general who led the military mission until NATO took over.

Army Gen. Carter Ham also told lawmakers Thursday that added American participation would not be ideal, and ground troops could erode the international coalition and make it more difficult to get Arab support for operations in Libya.

Ham said the operation was largely stalemated now and was more likely to remain that way since America has transferred control to NATO.

He said NATO has done an effective job in an increasingly complex combat situation. But he noted that, in a new tactic, Muammar Qaddafi's forces are making airstrikes more difficult by staging military forces and vehicles near civilian areas such as schools and mosques.

The use of an international ground force is a possible plan to bolster rebels fighting forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Ham said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

Asked if the U.S. would provide troops, Ham said, "I suspect there might be some consideration of that. My personal view at this point would be that that's probably not the ideal circumstance, again for the regional reaction that having American boots on the ground would entail."

Adding insanity to an already insane situation is the fact that Obama has vowed to veto the bill that is supposed to continue funding the troops during the looming government shutdown.

War was not declared and congress was not consulted by Obama yet an escalation that involves U.S. ground troops supporting rebel forces laden with al-Qaeda, appears a distinct possibility. If ever actions dictated that Congress assert its authority, it's right now but the Democrats appear hell bent on martyring themselves through partisanship.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Wisconsin Unions have Defeat Snatched from Jaws of Victory

The April 5th election that would determine the balance of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court pitted Republican incumbent David Prosser against liberal activist JoAnne Kloppenburg showed Kloppenburg eeking out a 204 vote victory as of early April 7th. It amounted to a monumental - and likely fraudulent - victory for the public sector unions who were determined to get the legally passed collective bargaining law in Wisconsin rendered illegal in the courts. A Kloppenburg victory would practically guarantee it.

But wait... Suddenly Prosser was ahead by more than 7000 votes and declared the winner!

Via WTMJ:

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) -- A stunning discovery of votes in Wisconsin could give the state's hotly contested Supreme Court race to the conservative incumbent in an election largely seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's explosive union rights law.

Adding another twist, the county clerk who said she incorrectly entered vote totals in the race has faced criticism before for her handling of elections and previously worked for a state GOP caucus when it was controlled by the candidate who stands to benefit from Thursday's revelation.

The corrected totals gave Justice David Prosser a 7,500-vote lead over little-known liberal assistant state attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg, according to unofficial tallies. Before the announcement, it was assumed the race was headed for a recount. The difference between the two had fluctuated throughout the day Thursday as counties began verifying votes, but at one point was as close as 11.

Opponents of the law that takes away nearly all public employee collective bargaining rights had hoped a Kloppenburg victory would set the stage for the high court to strike it down.

Kloppenburg's campaign manager Melissa Mulliken demanded a full explanation of how the error occurred and said an open records requests for all relevant documents would be filed.

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said it was "human error" that resulted in more than 14,000 votes from her predominantly GOP county not being reported to The Associated Press on Tuesday. She said the most significant error occurred when she entered but did not save totals from the city of Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee.

"This is not a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found," Nickolaus said. "This is human error, which I apologize for."

You know, I'm not saying it happened but if this had been intentional, it'd be utter brilliance. Whenever there is an election that the left REALLY wants to win, ballots seem to magically appear in the trunks of cars and actually get counted. The union thugs monitor the election results all day long and when the elections are close, the left always seems to find just enough ballots to put their guy over the top - see Al Franken. If there was a way for the Republicans to beat the fraudulent thugs at their own game without corrupting the process, this would be it.

It'd be rather difficult at this stage for even the left to somehow produce 8000 ballots in which no votes were cast for Prosser.

Great story. In this allegory, Stanford represents Kloppenburg, Cal represents Prosser, and the trombone player represents public sector unions.



h/t Gateway Pundit

Europe's New Immigration Problem - Tunisians

Call it an unintended consequence of the uprisings in Northern Africa but the European Union is having to deal with it nonetheless. In Europe, being insensitive to the plight of immigrants who want to enter your country without assimilating is considered xenophobia. However, countries like Italy are quickly learning the difference between xenophobia and protecting your own sovereignty. It looks like migrants from Tunisia have flooded one of Italy's islands and when attempts by that country to place those migrants in other EU nation states, the doors are closed.

Oh, and according to the AFP, the European Union is 'failing' to solve Tunisia's economic problems.

Via AFP:

BRUSSELS — The European Union is failing to act fast enough to help Tunisia overcome economic hardship that has fuelled an exodus, and few states are willing to share the burden to ease the migratory flow, officials say.

Immigration is always a politically sensitive issue in Europe, but the flood of illegal migrants pouring into Italy's island of Lampedusa since Tunisia's January revolution has brought out a bunker mentality in the 27-nation European Union, officials lament.

"Right now it's 'every man for himself'... There is no spirit of cooperation," an EU official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The atmosphere is not good," the official said.

Italy has pleaded for help from the rest of the EU to cope with the arrival of some 22,000 migrants on its shores, many of them Tunisians seeking a better future in other nations such as France, Belgium or non-EU but wealthy Switzerland.

However, Italy's EU partners have shown little enthusiasm to take in migrants.

It would appear that the need to be 'sensitive' and accepting of 'multi-culturalism' is on a collision course with reality.

Read it all.