Reagan: Soviet Union is run by nice guys; it's just failing

Yes, the headline is intended to prove a point and not to be taken literally. When Ronald Reagan was president, he referred to the Soviet Union as an 'evil empire' and said his strategy for dealing with them was simple: 'We win, they lose'. At summits like Reykjavik, the mainstream media was apoplectic when it reported on the palpably visible conflict that existed between Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Like a mother whose inclination is to chastise her husband for wanting to sufficiently discipline a disrespectful child, the media sought to blame Reagan instead of Gorbachev for the tension that existed between the two men.

Thankfully, Reagan didn't worry about what the media said or thought about him too much, especially when it came to dealing with the Soviets. Tough talk was backed up with tough action.

Fast forward to 2012 and an article at POLITICO that reports on an interview the liberal news site had with Mitt Romney. The presumptive Republican nominee is apparently going to continue the meme that says Barack Obama is a 'nice guy' but a 'failed president'.

Via POLITICO:

Ohio — Mitt Romney conceded President Barack Obama has succeeded in making him a less likable person, but he offered a defiant retort to those hoping he will open up this week: “I am who I am.”

Romney quoted that Popeye line three times in a 30-minute interview with POLITICO about his leadership style and philosophy, swatting away advice from Republicans to focus on connecting with voters in a more emotional, human way at this convention. Instead, he vowed to keep his emphasis — in the campaign and any administration to follow — on a relentlessly goal-driven, business-minded approach that has shaped his life so far.

“I know there are some people who do a very good job acting and pretend they’re something they’re not,” Romney said. “You get what you see. I am who I am.”

To press the point, he said the GOP would even try to turn Obama’s still-high personal favorability rankings back on him at its convention this week, by making the simple case to voters: nice guy, failed president.

Ok, so a base that is screaming for red meat is being told it will have to settle for tofu injected with Red Dye #5. Or, to continue with the parent / child metaphor, little Johnny is being forced to eat more liver instead of getting dessert, despite eating more than his share of liver.

Some might call it a stretch to compare a presidential election in the United States with a battle of wits between Reagan and Gorbachev but consider that Obama is steeped in Soviet-style Marxist ideology, beginning with the mentoring of Communist Party USA (CPUSA) member and Soviet agent Frank Marshall Davis, then continuing on with the likes of Marxist Bill Ayers and Marxist Jeremiah Wright.

The Republican base / Tea Party instinctively knows this; it also knows that Obama's gloves are off and Romney is hoping that by keeping his on, that the Obama campaign will eventually relent or suffer the self-inflicted consequences of its own wickedness. In fact, the Romney campaign seems to be doubling down on this by attempting to showcase Mitt's 'tender side'.

Furthermore, the choir that Romney will be preaching to is tired of lies, whether bald-faced or politically strategic; they want truth and the truth about Obama is that he is, at minimum, a socialist and at maximum, something much worse. Romney's base not only knows that Obama is not a nice guy, they see him for what he is - very dangerous for the future of their country. Calling him a 'nice guy' is more than just a little bit de-energizing. It's a lie.

Compare Reagan's meetings with Gorbachev to Obama's now infamous meeting with current Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In it, Obama was caught off-mic telling his Russian counterpart something that should send chills down the spine of every American voter:



Calling Obama a nice guy is an insult to the intelligence of Romney's base.

Perhaps a few Rocky IV clips at the Convention would be in order. Then again, that wouldn't be "nice".

Is there a Chechnya Spring coming?

As if the world needed to worry about another extremist Islamic hot spot, we might have one and it's in Russia's back yard. The Chechen rebels are known to be among the most savage of Jihadists on the globe. They were behind the Beslan school massacre in 2004. In 2006, Russia ultimately killed the Chechen leader behind it - Shamil Basayev in 2006.

Russian forces eventually suppressed Chechnya's Islamic uprising and put a man named Ramzan Kadyrov in power there to maintain control of the country while remaining in Russia's good graces for doing so. Kadyrov, a Chechen Muslim, was basically faced with two choices. Support the rebels and be on the wrong side of a Russian victory or run the country on Russia's behalf and reap the benefits. He chose the latter course but may be getting a little bolder these days.

Via Washington Times:

Chechnya's government is openly approving of families that kill female relatives who violate their sense of honor, as this Russian republic embraces a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam after decades of religious suppression under Soviet rule.

In the past five years, the bodies of dozens of young Chechen women have been found dumped in woods, abandoned in alleys and left along roads in the capital, Grozny, and neighboring villages.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov publicly announced that the dead women had “loose morals” and were rightfully shot by male relatives. He went on to describe women as the property of their husbands, and said their main role is to bear children.

“If a woman runs around and if a man runs around with her, both of them should be killed,” said Mr. Kadyrov, who often has stated his goal of making Chechnya “more Islamic than the Islamists.”

In today’s Chechnya, alcohol is all but banned, Islamic dress codes are enforced and polygamous marriages are supported by the government.

No doubt, as Kadyrov looks around and sees the Arab Spring give rise to the Muslim Brotherhood, he may more emboldened to push an Islamic agenda. Perhaps he's banking on Russia having bigger fish to fry in Syria.

h/t Weasel Zippers

Video: Obama's 'Hot mic' incident with Russia's Medvedev

While in South Korea, President Barack Obama was caught on a 'hot mic' asking outgoing Russian President Dimitri Medvedev to give him some "space" until after the "election," that he'll have "more flexibility" then. In this CBS news report, Bill Plante says the administration had to concede that Obama said what he said. That may actually be the most surprising aspect to all of this, especially considering Jay Carney's incessant attempts to spin other obvious facts.



Here is video from Obama from 2008 in which he pledged a world "without nuclear weapons." Of course, there is no possible way he is naive enough to believe that if the United States disarms, everyone else will too. Assuming he's not that naive, why would he disarm the United States while other nations continue to build more?

After all, Russia has a storied history of being honest, right?



Of course, I continue to get back to Mitt Romney's electability. As I have maintained for some time now, the liberal media WANTS Romney to be the Republican nominee for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is his religion.

The Republican Party candidates in 2012 have all been thoroughly vetted from practically every angle with one exception. Romney's religion has gotten a pass. That is not by accident. If he is the nominee, the media will destroy him over it and the inability for Republicans who support him to see it boggles the mind. The mainstream media is chomping at the bit to do to Romney what it did not do to Obama over the latter's ties to Jeremiah Wright - and it will probably work.

Now John McCain wants to Arm Syrian Rebels

Seriously, Senator John McCain is proving to be very dangerous to his country. He continues to say and do things that feed right into the Muslim Brotherhood's hands. It is truly amazing to watch. Despite video of the Syrian rebels with al-Qaeda flags behind them, McCain - along with RINO Lindsey Graham - want to provide them support in the form of weapons.

Via The Hill:

Two prominent Republican U.S. senators urged that the United States arm opposition forces in Syria Sunday as the government of Bashar al-Assad continued a bloody crackdown on the protests that have engulfed the nation.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who both serve on the Senate Armed Services committee, argued that arming rebel fighters in the country could help beat back a Syrian government with close ties to Iran.

“Breaking Syria apart from Iran could be as important to containing a nuclear Iran as sanctions,” Graham said at a press conference in Kabul, according to the New York Times. “If the Syrian regime is replaced with another form of government that doesn’t tie its future to the Iranians, the world is a better place.”

What these two buffoons don't seem to understand is that if Syria falls into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood, the situation there would be much worse. Arming the rebels is the worst possible thing we could do. Not only does it help a Muslim Brotherhood that is growing increasingly powerful but it also angers Iran. I'm all for being tough with Iran but getting in the middle of a dog fight and siding with the bigger of the two dogs is the quintessential lose / lose scenario.

“I believe there are ways to get weapons to the opposition without direct United States involvement,” McCain said. “The Iranians and the Russians are providing Bashar Assad with weapons. People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves.”

“So I am not only not opposed, but I am in favor of weapons being obtained by the opposition,” McCain added.

Not sure why McCain in particular is so thick-headed but for some reason, America's leaders are simply out to lunch when it comes to the Muslim Brotherhood. Remember James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, saying this last year?

This was either perjury or a level of incompetence so severe, he should have been fired.

Is Alex Jones a Russian Propaganda Agent?

I have long maintained that there is something not right with Alex Jones. Everything is a conspiracy and nothing can be taken at face value. Well, the real conspiracy may actually involve Jones himself. Cliff Kincaid has already made a strong case against Jones. Now this.

Via the American Thinker:

Following the largest anti-Kremlin protests since the alleged collapse of communism, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States of orchestrating the activities of the Russian dissident movement.  In televised remarks on December 8, the former KGB colonel accused Hillary Clinton and the United States government of funding the protests and suggested that the Western powers sent a "signal" to their undercover agents to begin active measures against the country.

"They heard this signal and with the support of the U.S. State Department began their active work," said the KGB man.  "The [U.S.] secretary of state was quick to evaluate the elections, saying that they are unfair and unjust, even before she received materials from the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) observers."  He went on to remind the world that Russia is a nuclear power, and he also claimed that the U.S. was "shaking" things up to show the world who is boss in world affairs.

All too quick to wave the Kremlin banner, Alex Jones' Prison Planet has released a flurry of articles supporting Putin's charges by attempting to link the protests with the alleged nefarious involvement of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).  Strategically, they have begun focusing their attention on prominent Russian blogger and attorney Alexey Navalny, whom they accuse of being the prime orchestrator of the over 50,000-strong Russian street protests against fraudulent election returns.  Prison Planet writers have linked him with an activist group known as Democratic Alternate (DA!), which they describe as a "[NED] fund recipient, meaning that Alexey Navalny is an agent of US-funded sedition and willfully hiding it from his followers."

And, of course, when Jones' followers don't like someone, what do they call them? You got it, Neocon.

The NED itself, according to Prison Planet writers, is run by "Neo-Conservative, corporate-fascists who have signed PNAC documents declaring their intentions of acheiving [sic] and maintaining a century of global hegemony." The NED, they say, receives its funding from the U.S. government and operates around the world inspiring U.S.-controlled revolutions such as the "Arab Spring." Of course, behind it all are the nefarious NWO masters, who, among other things, also used the CIA to create al-Qaeda to carry out false-flag attacks against the United States (so goes the Alex Jones thesis).

The damning piece ends thusly:

We must consider the benefits our friends in the Kremlin receive from the promotion of Alex Jones-type conspiracy theories.  The creation of a Faux Right-Wing movement can help Russian/Chinese goals in many ways.  It can spread communist propaganda while at the same time fronting itself as anti-communist; it can train individuals to be reflexively anti-American throughout every tragedy, constantly ready and willing to blame the American government for everything that goes wrong; it further ideologically disarms the United States, making it unable to resist Russian/Chinese objectives; and, best of all, it further spreads a climate of fear, envy, hate, and distrust in a country already torn apart between "left" and "right."  It is high time we pointed a spotlight on the real provocateurs and propagandists in this country.

Be sure to read it all. 

What's Driving those Russian Protests?

Tens of thousands of Russian citizens are protesting against Vladimir Putin, demanding both fair elections and his removal from office. On the surface, these sound like righteous protests. But are they? Some of the protesters are likening themselves to the OWS and former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev is siding with the protesters on the issue of Putin stepping down.

Nonetheless, if this many people are protesting rigged elections, it can't be all bad.

According to The Independent, 100,000 protesters weathered the cold to join in the protests:

The rally on Moscow's Sakharov Avenue on Saturday was the fourth and by far the biggest of the mass demonstrations provoked by the parliamentary vote held on 4 December. The ruling United Russia party, led by the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, held on to a slim majority in parliament in those elections, but the results have been tainted by claims of wholesale fraud.

The demonstrators stood for hours in sub-zero weather on Saturday listening to a line-up of speakers as diverse as the crowd itself, including TV celebrities, writers, musicians, politicians, scientists and a jailed dissident whose video message was broadcast on a giant screen beside the stage.

"The people are waking up," said Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front opposition group who was arrested on the day of the elections as he heading to a rally. "The people have stopped putting up with this humiliating regime."

First of all, I'd feel much more comfortable saying Russian government is far more corrupt than American government if it was ten years ago but it's still worse. Second, Mr. Udaltsov's claim that the people are "waking up," already puts them in front of OWS, whose members like to channel zombies. Third, Russian protesters are standing up against their government; OWS wants more of it.

In short, if these protesters in Russia are carrying the spirit of the Bolsheviks, they'd be better off just packing up and going home because they'll get far worse than what they have; that revolution gave them Lenin. Then again, OWS might just be closer to the early 20th Century Bolsheviks than are these early 21st Century Russian protesters. It's simply too hard to tell how the situation in Russia will shake out but if the participants were smart, they'd distance themselves from Gorbachev right now.

The movements don't seem to have all that much in common when you look at the granular detail but OWS may have helped to inspire protests in Russia, which would be a good thing if they're protesting Vladimir Putin's continued reign.

Perhaps the Russian establishment is partly to blame as its propaganda arm - Russia Today - has been promoting OWS, for reasons that likely involve the damage it's doing to the US.

It'd be poetic justice if that backfired on them.

h/t Drudge

1988 Video: Ron Paul on Morton Downey, Jr. Show

Very interesting exchange between a younger Ron Paul, Morton Downey, Jr. and a raucous audience. The subject? Legalizing drugs. If you were a fan of Downey, it's noteworthy that he thought Paul was a nut job. Also taking that view was Lisa Sliwa of the Guardian Angels. Paul gets quite animated here as well.

Downey delivers some priceless lines (no pun intended) too. At one point, Paul adamantly demands for someone to explain why there were no drug laws in the 19th century. Downey, in essence, says for the same reason there weren't seat belt laws.

Right before going into a commercial break, Downey says someone needs to call the cops because there's 200 lbs. of dope on his stage.

Later, the conversation turned toward the Soviet Union. Paul espoused a hands-off policy with them. Three years later, the Soviet Union fell. Proof  positive that Paul's foreign policy views are wrong.



h/t Daily Caller

Russian News Anchor Fired for Giving Obama the Middle Finger

Remember that Russian news anchorette, Tatyana Limanova, who flipped viewers 'the bird' right after uttering Barack Obama's name? She's been fired; yet another victim of the Obama economy apparently.

Unfortunately, it appears she was actually using the gesture to communicate to studio technicians who were trying to get her to mess up her lines. Thinking she was off-camera as footage was being run over her voice, she was a split second too soon and appeared to communicate sentiment shared with about 40% of Americans.

It appears this situation is a lose/lose for Limanova. By not flipping Obama the finger, she lost the support of a lot of Americans. By flipping the finger right after saying Obama's name, she lost the support of her employer.

Via the Telegraph:

Sources close to the channel had previously tried to defuse the row by claiming that the newsreader had believed she was off camera at the time and merely providing a voice-over for a report. She had raised her middle finger as a jokey retort to studio technicians who had been trying to put her off her stride, they said.

Here is the video.

Chechen Islamist Leader Calling for War with Russia

In World War II, the United States allied with the country it would be at war with for decades as soon as the war was over. An alliance with the Soviet Union was one of necessity in order to defeat the Nazis. As the Islamic world unites, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that a similar alliance might take place again.

Russia is seeing a rise of the Chechen Muslim threat and Doku Umarov is declaring Jihad on Russia.

Via the AFP:

The Chechen Islamist rebel leader who is Russia's most wanted man has issued an appeal for recruits for a "total war" against the Russian state, in a new video message posted on Thursday.

"A total war is in progress, fight the enemy where ever you can," Doku Umarov said standing alongside two other militants in a snow-covered forest in a video posted on militant website hunafa.com.

Russia is not the only country with an Islamist problem. China has to deal with the Uygurs.

As the Muslim Brotherhood consolidates power and the Islamic world becomes stronger and more emboldened, might we see an alliance between U.S., Russia, and China one day?

h/t Weasel Zippers

Russian Tourists Killed at Ski Resort by Islamists

This is the same region that was in the news some three years ago when Russia invaded Georgia to its south. The area is home to the Caucasus Mountain range, which recently became home to several ski resorts. This mountain range is also home to important strategic and historic significance. It could be a target of Islamists for both reasons. It's also a region not far from Turkey, which is just a bit to the southwest. Yet another example of victims who thought that acquiescence might save their lives but were wrong.

Via the Telegraph:

"Two people in masks armed with automatic guns in a foreign-made car forced the minibus onto the hard shoulder, asked about passengers, then opened fire on the vehicle and fled from the scene," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

All six people in the vehicle were from the Moscow region. Three died on the spot and two were taken to hospital, it said.

A message on Islamist website Islamdin.com, hosted by the militant group Caucasus Emirate, said the tourists were killed by "mujahideens" because they "came into the zone of war".

On November 28, 1941 Adolf Hitler met with Islam's Grand Mufti of Jerusalem - Hajj Amin al-Husseini - to discuss the terms of their alliance. The minutes from that meeting can be read HERE.

In that meeting, Hitler pledged to Husseini that Germany would publicly align with the Arab Muslim world once it conquered Russia and opened the Caucasus mountain range to the south. That never happened because of weather and Russian resistance.

Here is the relevant portions of those minutes:

Germany was now engaged in very severe battles to force the gateway to the northern Caucasus region. The difficulties were mainly with regard to maintaining the supply, which was most difficult as a result of the destruction of railroads and highways as well as the oncoming winter. If at such a moment, the Fuhrer were to raise the problem of Syria in a declaration, those elements in France which were under de Gaulle's influence would receive new strength. They would interpret the Fuhrer's declaration as an intention to break up France's colonial empire and appeal to their fellow countrymen that they should rather make common cause with the English to try to save what still could be saved. A German declaration regarding Syria would in France be understood to refer to the French colonies in general, and that would at the present time create new troubles in western Europe, which means that a portion of the German armed forces would be immobilized in the west and no longer be available for the campaign in the east.

Then, a little bit later, this:

The moment that Germany's tank divisions and air squadrons had made their appearance south of the Caucasus, the public appeal requested by the Grand Mufti could go out to the Arab world.

Make no mistake, the Islamists are terrorizing the Caucasus mountain range for a reason.

Read the meeting minutes.

Ruh Roh: Is Iran in Danger of Chernobyl-like Disaster?

Last year, it was learned that a computer worm with the moniker 'Stuxnet' had penetrated Iran's nuclear control system computers. At the time, it was dubbed a stroke of genius because it appeared Israel had found a way to delay Iran's nuclear program, putting it back a few months. As time has passed, it looks like Stuxnet may have been far more strategically brilliant than initially thought. It may have the capability of inflicting a Chernobyl-like disaster inside Iran before Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs decide to launch their first salvo.

Via the Daily Caller:

The virus, known as Stuxnet, has the ability to send centrifuges spinning out of control and temporarily crippled Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Some computer experts believe Stuxnet was work of Israel or the United States, two nations convinced that Iran wants to turn nuclear fuel into weapons-grade uranium.

Iran has acknowledged that the malware — malicious software designed to infiltrate computer systems — hit the laptops of technicians working at Bushehr, but has denied that the plant was affected or that Stuxnet was responsible for delays in the startup of the Russian-built reactor.

The Islamic Republic is reluctant to acknowledge setbacks to its nuclear activities, which it says are aimed at generating energy but are under U.N. sanctions because of concerns they could be channeled toward making weapons. Only after outside revelations that its enrichment program was temporarily disrupted late last year by the mysterious virus did Iranian officials acknowledge the incident.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s chief representative to the IAEA, cut short attempts by AP to seek comment on possible damage by Stuxnet at Bushehr.

But Rogozin, the Russian envoy, described how engineers at Bushehr “saw on their screens that the systems were functioning normally, when in fact they were running out of control,” conjuring up a frightening dimension to the potential fallout from the virus.

“The virus which is very toxic, very dangerous, could have had very serious implications,” Rogozin told reporters, adding it “could have led to a new Chernobyl.”

The threat of Stuxnet is being downplayed by its victims and those with a stake in furthering Iran's nuclear program. They may be right but if Israel is responsible for the virus and has demonstrated that it can not only disrupt Iran's computer systems, who's to say there won't be a far more effective Stuxnet II in the near future?

Iran's public stance that Stuxnet was a nothing more than a minor inconvenient blip is akin to a football player who knows he needs to bounce up off the turf quickly after a vicious hit in order to save face. The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle but I think it's safe to say that this virus did significant damage and you can bet that whoever was responsible is taking a hard look at how to improve it.

Read it all.

START, OBAMA, AND FRANK MARSHALL DAVIS

The passage of the recent START Treaty in the lame duck congress became news again after the Russian Duma insisted that the verbiage in the preamble was legally binding. That's important because it puts a limit on our missile defense. That verbiage was an alleged source of concern for the 13 Republican Senators who ultimately voted in favor of the Treaty after getting assurances from Obama that missile defense would not be subjected to the terms of the treaty. The Russians disagreed and the episode was billed as an embarrassment for the president.

That's the subject of my latest missive over at BIG PEACE:

When the Senate ratified the recent Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) during the lame duck session, the only reason it got the 67 needed votes was because thirteen Republican Senators believed Barack Obama when he assured them that language in the preamble linking the buildup of offensive nuclear weapons with missile defense systems would not inhibit missile defense because, well, it’s just the preamble and not legally binding.

Obama even sent a letter of reassurance to the Senate via Harry Reid. In it, he explained that there would be no restrictions on missile defense development. In hindsight, those 13 Republican Senators should have learned from Bart Stupak putting his faith in an Executive Order guaranteeing no federal funds would go toward abortions, in exchange for the votes of his dirty dozen.

Russia’s Duma almost immediately took issue with the notion that the preamble was not binding and is insisting that the verbiage in the preamble carries just as much weight as the verbiage throughout the rest of the treaty. The Russians are, in effect, making the assertion that the United States has agreed not to take steps to defend itself against nuclear attack – Obama is responsible for this lack of distinction.

Media attention – and conventional wisdom – has deemed this an embarrassing episode for President Obama but is it really? His meaningless Executive Order proved worthless but he got health care passed. He traded minor embarrassment for America’s health care albatross. If his word means nothing, why should he care about it? Besides, didn’t Stupak and his lemmings end up being disgraced more than Obama anyway?

If, in the case of Stupak, it was about a public blemish on the president in exchange for health care, what is it in the case of START? There is a public blemish but what is it in exchange for?

Frank Marshall Davis had access to Barack Obama as a child for several years. He was a member of the Communist Party USA, had a 600-page FBI file and loved Soviet Russia. Odds are good that he communicated at least some of his affinity for the Soviet Union to a young, impressionable Obama. In fact, Davis once wrote a poem entitled “Smash on, victory-eating Read Army.” It reads as follows:

“Show the marveling multitudes
Americans, British, all your allied brothers
How strong you are
How great you are
How your young tree of new unity
Planted twenty-five years ago
Bears today the golden fruit of victory!”

Who does the START treaty embarrass more, Obama or the thirteen Republican Senators who have been duped on a world stage after two years of a president who has quite the track record of duping?


At least in the case of Stupak, it was twelve Democrats. In the case of START, the blemish is on a baker’s dozen in the Republican party. That will dwarf any embarassment Obama may endure.

In fact, he may be trading in minor embarrassment for something bigger…..again.

Includes hyperlinks over at Big Peace.

LETTERS PROVE ACLU FOUNDER SOUGHT HELP OF SOVIET COMMUNISTS

Anyone in their right mind has always known the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has been about harming the United States. Yes, that means Meathead from 'All in the Family' was aptly named by Archie Bunker. It appears there is now smoking gun proof that the ACLU was aided by Soviet communists in its early years thanks to the work of author Paul Kengor. The evidence relates specifically to a letter from 1931 that was signed by ACLU's founder and addressed to the Communist Party USA Chairman in which the former asked for the help of the latter (CLICK ON EACH PHOTO TO ENLARGE).

Via the Daily Caller:

Noted author Paul Kengor has unearthed declassified letters and other documents in the Soviet Comintern archives linking early leaders of the ACLU with the Communist Party.

Kengor found a May 23, 1931 letter in the archives signed by ACLU founder Roger Baldwin, written on ACLU stationery, to then American Communist Party Chairman William Z. Foster asking him to help ACLU Chairman Harry Ward with his then-upcoming trip to Stalin’s Russia.

The letter suggests Ward intended to visit the Soviet Union to find “evidence from Soviet Russia” that would undermine the capitalist profit motive.

The mask is definitely off. Anyone who has historically chosen to view the ACLU as simply misguided and not ill-intentioned has to now live in denial or wake up to the facts. The ACLU was founded by members who aggressively sought the help of Soviet Communists.

Read it all.

RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS TO U.S. ALIGNING WITH REPUBLICANS?

Russians who fled their native country for the United States apparently see too many similarities between the Democrat Party and the governing philosophy of the leaders they escaped from. A consequence seems to be that those immigrants are choosing to align with the Republican Party principles of smaller government and meritocracy, where those who work hardest and smartest get rewarded most. If only the Republican establishment would see it too....

Via SiLive:

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Many Russian immigrants to the "red borough" of Staten Island are flocking to the Republican Party, saying that the national Democrats' "socialistic" policies remind them too much of the top-down oligarchy they fled in their native land.

With many of the borough's Russian arrivees already owning businesses and active in civic organizations, their muscle could help the Island GOP solidify electoral gains made this year, when the party took back congressional and Assembly seats.

Businessman Arkadiy Fridman said that the newly formed Citizens Magazine Business Club, a confederation of more than 50 Russian-owned businesses here and in Brooklyn, has aligned itself with the Molinari Republican Club (MRC) in an effort to increase the Russian community's political and economic clout.

In light of the Arizona Law SB 1070 that Obama resents so much, wouldn't it be nice to know his thoughts on this little trend?

At the end of the article, a NY State Senator is quoted as dismissing the connection between the Democrat Party and Communism as 'absurd.' Someone needs to give her the list of 70 members of the U.S. congress who are registered Socialists.

h/t Weasel Zippers

WIKILEAKS: CABLES SHOW GEORGE W. BUSH WRONG ABOUT PUTIN

The inclination to say that the release of Wikileaks cables was 100% bad is misguided. Case in point is what has been revealed about Russia. Again, much of it is not surprising but it does prove what most of us suspected. An example might be the plane crash in Smolensk that killed the Polish president. Many, myself included, are suspicious of foul play but it's not proven.

In any event, the cables verify what many of us knew about Putin's Russia. Via The Guardian:

Russia is a corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy centred on the leadership of Vladimir Putin, in which officials, oligarchs and organised crime are bound together to create a "virtual mafia state", according to leaked secret diplomatic cables that provide a damning American assessment of its erstwhile rival superpower.

Arms trafficking, money laundering, personal enrichment, protection for gangsters, extortion and kickbacks, suitcases full of money and secret offshore bank accounts in Cyprus: the cables paint a bleak picture of a political system in which bribery alone totals an estimated $300bn a year, and in which it is often hard to distinguish between the activities of the government and organised crime.

Putin also didn't like him and his right-hand man Dimitri Medvedev being likened to the fictional superhero tandem of Batman and Robin:

He made clear he was not amused by a US diplomat's description of him as "Batman" and President Dmitry Medvedev as "Robin". "To be honest with you, we did not suspect that this [criticism] could be made with such arrogance, with such rudeness, and you know, so unethically," Putin remarked.

One of the cables also seemed to confirm that U.S. diplomats believed the death of Alexander Litvinenko, caused by a small dose of Polonium-210, may have been ordered by Putin.

Litvinenko Case
---------------
6. (S) Fried commented that the short-term trend inside Russia was negative, noting increasing indications that the UK investigation into the murder of Litvinenko could well point to some sort of Russian involvement. MGM called attention to Chirac's statement encouraging the Russians to cooperate in the investigation. He wondered aloud who might have given the order, but speculated the murder probably involved a settling of accounts between services rather than occurring under direct order from the Kremlin. Fried, noting Putin's attention to detail, questioned whether rogue security elements could operate, in the UK no less, without Putin's knowledge. Describing the current atmosphere as strange, he described the Russians as increasingly self-confident, to the point of arrogance.

After the plane crash in Smolensk last April, I wrote about why Russia should have faced scrutiny.

h/t to Verum Serum

POLISH JOURNALIST POINTS TO RUSSIAN COVER-UP

I've said it before but it bears repeating when a report from a Polish journalist who chooses to remain anonymous for his own safety, echoes claims that Russia is not being transparent with respect to its investigation into the plane crash that killed the Polish president and 95 top government officials last April. A writer for Big Peace, who goes by the name Sun Tzu has published the report from the Polish journalist:

Via Big Peace:

On April 9th the plane crash killed Polish president Lech Kaczynski, his ministers, the Army’s highest commanders, members of Parliament and many other officials in Smolensk, Russia. President Kaczynski and his delegates flew to pay homage to 22,000 Polish officers murdered in Katyn forests near Smolensk by the Russians in the biggest still unpunished war crime.

The first president who offered his condolences to the Polish nation in the face of the death of their best leaders was Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. He took Poles, who were in a state of deep shock after the loss of their president and 95 high state officials, by surprise and in an hour after the catastrophe as he established himself as the leader of an investigative committee.

I've also said before that if this was an accident, it virtually defied astronomical odds when you factor in all of the tragically ironic coincidences that must have taken place. When doing so, those odds almost necessarily must be astronomically longer than odds that the crash was the result of foul play.

All that being said, there is one thing that would greatly silence the conspiracy theorists. That one thing would be complete transparency from Putin and friends. After reading this report in full, it becomes obvious that Russia is not being all that forthcoming with the evidence.

In my view, that alone gives credence to those who suspect foul play, especially when mathematical odds are factored into the equation.

Read it all.

REPORT: RUSSIA STONEWALLING PLANE CRASH INVESTIGATION

Forget conspiracy theories. I've long maintained that it doesn't apply when looking at the facts - and the odds. When a Polish plane carrying that country's president and 90+ senior officials, crashed on April 10th, the odds of it being an accident were likely longer than the odds of foul play. The reason President Lech Kaczynski was flying to Russia was to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacres, in which over 20,000 senior polish officials were killed at the hands of Stalin's NKVD, which was a pre-cursor to the KGB, an agency Vladimir Putin was - and is - very loyal to.

The date, the location, the deaths of polish leaders, Putin's tendency to deal harshly with political opponents, and his dislike for Kaczynski are tragically ironic, yes but what are the odds that such a disaster was an accidental coincidence? Are they longer than the odds it was intentional? When factoring in all of those things, I'd bet they are.

As I have long said, under that premise, Russia's willingness to cooperate with the investigation will either extinguish suspicion or raise more flags. Now we have a report from the Irish Times that Poland is getting impatient with Russia's stonewalling:

POLAND HAS accused Russia of failing to hand over crucial evidence relating to the plane crash that killed Polish president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other people in April.

“The Polish side will be waiting for information and explanations about the reasons hampering the Russian side in forwarding the appropriate documents,” Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said yesterday. “Now, when the probe is entering its final phase, our co-operation is worse than at the beginning,” he added.

Mr Kaczynski’s aircraft crashed as it tried to land at fog-bound Smolensk airport in western Russia. The president and his group – which included his wife and many of Poland’s senior political, military and financial figures – were travelling to a commemoration ceremony at Katyn, where Soviet forces massacred more than 20,000 Polish officers in 1940.

Jumping to conclusions that foul play was involved is not advised. However, Russia could have gone a long way in dissuading people from doing so by being - shall I say it - transparent.

Read it all.

Click HERE for my April 10th post.

EXPLOSIVE: THIS IS WHY SPY SCANDAL IS IMPORTANT

With countless stories in the news these days, the Russian spy scandal never really got much of my attention. It was played down in the media and made to look like these were low level players that didn't rise to the level necessary to warrant national concern. However, Cliff Kincaid of America's Survival has been writing about some very interesting aspects to the story that most don't know about. There's of course the matter of the United States coughing up 10 captured spies in return for 4 but what about how quickly the whole story - and spies - virtually disappeared?

Interestingly, there were apparently rather lucrative business deals in the works between the U.S. and Russia as well as individuals within the Obama administration who were targets of the espionage: Via USA Survival:

It is certainly the case that a continuing spy scandal threatened to undermine U.S.-Russia business “opportunities” and “cooperation.” It is also true that there is evidence that the Russian agents targeted the Obama Administration and former Clinton Administration officials.

Getting practically zero mention in the media has been the intent of the spies that were captured here in the United States and what they were actually doing. It turns out that nuclear weapons programs were of great interest:

Documents in the scandal demonstrate, as we have reported, that the Russian intelligence service, the SVR, was interested in penetrating “think tanks” with influence over U.S. foreign policy The SVR, the successor to the KGB, was especially interested in nuclear weapons-related information.

What we do know, based on public reports, is that one Russian agent had a job at Microsoft, another had been trying to cultivate a fundraiser for and friend of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and another had claimed contacts with a Clinton Administration official by the name of Leon Fuerth, who had been Vice President Al Gore’s top national security aide.

So we quickly found out that top Obama and Democratic Party officials had been targeted in this intelligence operation. Is this why the scandal had to go away?

The real meat of the story may just involve a delegation led by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in 2005. Bellona reported at the time that members of Lugar's delegation were detained in Russia for three hours before their plane was allowed to depart for the Ukraine. Permission to take off was only granted after every member showed their passports. One of the people in Lugar's delegation?

Barack Hussein Obama. This could actually mean that Russian authorities may be more familiar with Obama's passport than are U.S. Authorities. If there is anything untoward about the president's passport, it would seem the Russians would have a degree of leverage to get what they wanted - say, a 10-4 swap?

On a related note, Kincaid has been suspicious of political shock radio talker, Alex Jones for some time as have I but the facts continue to point to him being someone other than who he claims to be. Click HERE to see how Alex Jones responded to the spy scandal.

Read all of Kincaid's report.

REPORT: POLISH PLANE BROUGHT DOWN BY ARTIFICIAL FOG???

Talk about fodder for the conspiratorial mind. I'm not sure if this is being taken seriously but it seems to be coming from some top levels of government - two notions in particular. Notion #1 is that Polish officials are looking into the possibility that 'artificial fog' could have been manufactured and placed above the Smolensk airport before a Polish plane carrying that country's president and 90+ top officials, crashed on April 10th. Notion #2 is the possibility that the plane's controls may have been manipulated from the ground.

Uh, I think the possibility that there was foul play in this crash should absolutely remain on the table. As I've said before, the tragic irony and many macabre coincidences surrounding this crash definitely warrant consideration of that scenario. Russia's lack of complete transparency only fuels it.

But this struck me as an odd course of action.

Via the London Telegraph:

Poland reportedly wants access to US satellite photography that might cast new light on the weather conditions at the time of the crash, according to Gazeta Prawna, a Polish newspaper.

Prosecutors want help from American experts as to whether “there is a scientific and technical capacity to generate artificial fog”, the paper said.

Citing a source close to the investigation, the newspaper said the possibility that somebody may have created an artificial fog bank has now come under official analysis as Polish experts work to determine the causes of the tragedy.

The requests for U.S. Satellite imagery as well as exploring if the U.S. has any recordings of the cockpit recordings from NATO's Signals Monitoring Network seem very reasonable. Putting forth the suggestions that 'artificial fog' and remote control seem quite outlandish.

That said, this latest report should keep the story in the news.

Read it all.

REPORT: U.S. CONGRESSMAN WANTS INVESTIGATION INTO POLISH PLANE CRASH

The macabre coincidences surrounding the horrific plane crash of a Polish plane carrying that country's president and nearly 100 top officials were so numerous, the odds of this crash being an accident struck many - including myself - as being far longer than the odds of foul play. That is not to say it didn't happen that way; there was reportedly a dense fog and very low visibility. However, as I wrote back on April 10th, the ironic circumstances surrounding these deaths were simply too many to default to a position the crash was accidental.

Now a Polish website is reporting that U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) has drafted a resolution calling for an investigation into the crash:

It recalls the facts then existing, including that:

- Polish experts on security and aviation representatives of the Ministry denied access to the crash site.

- Polish investigators submitted only a copy of the record of registrars.

- Polish investigators not being provided the same black boxes .

- More than 50,000 Poles have signed the appeal for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry.

The proposal of Congressman Peter T. King was transferred for consideration by the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

As I wrote on the day of the crash, there are plenty of reasons to approach this accident with healthy skepticism. The one thing that would go a long way in assuaging that skepticism would be a word we've become very familiar with over the last two years - transparency. If the aforementioned report is correct, it would appear that transparency in Smolensk, Russia is not all that popular.

It would seem to me that the main objectives of an investigation are to establish the cause. If the cause was accidental, there would be no reason to be anything less than transparent. Once an investigation demonstrates foul play, it would again seem to me that suspects and motives are then explored. If it is true that the investigation is being hampered, an entirely new set of questions need to be raised. If accidental, there would be no need to hamper an investigation.

h/t to Free Republic