Another look at John Brennan's Q&A at that 2010 NYU Speech

"I'd like to think that everybody is born into this world with a certain amount of innocence to them and unfortunately, sometimes as they go through life, forces of evil will bring them down a certain path." - John Brennan, February 13, 2010.

In light of John Brennan's nomination to be Barack Obama's CIA Director, coupled with a charge that he secretly converted to Islam, renewed attention has been brought to a speech he gave at New York University (NYU) on February 13, 2010 and deservedly so. But how about the lengthier Q and A that took place afterward?

If, as former FBI Agent John Guandolo alleges via access to firsthand accounts, that John Brennan converted to Islam while in Saudi Arabia and is now working against the interests of his own country, the aforementioned statement - made by Brennan during the Q and A session of his New York University speech - is a case study in projection.

The claim that Barack Obama's nominee for CIA Director converted to Islam while in Saudi Arabia notwithstanding, it is important that his record be vetted. We know the "adversarial press" would rather be adversarial toward those of us who want that vetting to happen, which means the job necessarily falls to citizen journalists.

The video of the Q and A is at the bottom of this post but here are some especially telling moments...

2:57 - The second questioner identifies himself as Omar Shahin, Public Relations Director for Islamic Relief and the chairman of the North American Imam's Federation. This was the same Omar Shahin who was one of the six imams in the "flying imams" case in Minneapolis back in 2006. He was the spokesman for the group. During that incident, a concerned passenger handed a note to a flight attendant after observing suspicious behavior. Based on Shahin's associations, that passenger was rightly concerned. CAIR quickly came to Shahin's defense.

In fact, some might remember that the incident took place two weeks after the 2006 midterm elections, during which it became apparent that the very Muslim-friendly Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) would become the chairman of the House Judiciary. Suspicions were raised that the entire incident was to make profiling a top issue during Conyers' tenure as chairman.

Here is a short interview excerpt from 12/1/06 between CNBC's Larry Kudlow and IPT's Steve Emerson during which Shahin's involvement in what was likely a staged publicity event, was discussed:



As for the concerns about Shahin, they are well-founded. Check out what Discover the Networks has reported about him:

The President of North American Imams Federation (NAIF) is Omar Shahin. Before NAIF’s founding in 2004, Shahin was the imam and President of the Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), a mosque that represented one of Al-Qaeda’s main hubs in America, prior to the ‘93 attack.  One of Shahin’s predecessors at the mosque was Wael Hamza Julaidan, a former colleague of Osama bin Laden and bin Laden’s mentor, Abdullah Azzam.  Shahin, himself, has admitted to once supporting bin Laden.

Throughout his time with and after leaving ICT, Shahin was involved in terror financing organizations.  He was the Arizona Coordinator for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), and was a representative for KindHearts, two charities shut down by the US government because of their links to Hamas.

Wael Hamza Julaidan was the head of Rabita Trust, the same Rabita Trust that was founded by Abdullah Omar Naseef. That would be the same Abdullah Omar Naseef who founded the Institute for Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA). That would be the same IMMA where Huma Abedin worked for more than a decade. Julaidan is widely recognized as an al-Qaeda founder - and he was Shahin's predecessor at a mosque in Tucson.

That's not all. How about Shahin's work with Islamic Relief? Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA), the group for which Shahin identified himself as Directing Public Relations is a division of Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), which has provided direct support to Hamas.

Shahin is tied to an al-Qaeda founder; he worked for the Holy Land Foundation, which was found guilty of financing terrorists; he heads a Muslim Brotherhood group - NAIF; and he works for Islamic Relief, which supported Hamas

In short, why on earth was Shahin given access to John Brennan's speech? The man is connected to the Muslim Brotherhood at nearly every turn and through multiple organizations.

How about a couple of the others in attendance? Sitting right up front - on the left hand side of your screen, sits Ingrid Mattson. She was the President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), a Muslim Brotherhood front-group, until Mohamed Magid took over in 2011. Mattson wasn't only in attendance; she introduced Brennan that day and said that it was Brennan himself who "requested to meet with us." Brennan requested to meet with them? Can you imagine Brennan feeling this comfortable in a meeting with conservative groups concerned about his coziness with individuals with irrefutable ties to the Muslim Brotherhood?

Yeah, me neither.

Another individual present during Brennan's speech is Salam Al-Marayati, who is seated in the front row, directly in front of Brennan. On the day of the 9/11/01 attacks, al-Marayati appeared on a Los Angeles radio station and said that Israel should be placed on the suspect list relative to the attacks and refuses to call Hezbollah a terrorist group. IPT reported that Al-Marayati said the U.S. Government "betrayed us" when it refused to unfreeze the assets of the Holy Land Foundation. Four years later, HLF was found guilty on more than 100 counts of financing terrorism.

Remember, the claim by Guandolo was that Brennan was turned by the Muslim Brotherhood and made to convert to Islam. If that's true, would the people in attendance - coupled with Brennan's high comfort level there - not lend a bit more credence to the claim? On top of that, we have the new book that alleges Brennan was involved in shipping weapons from Libya to the Syrian rebels via Turkey while then CIA Director David Petraeus and Christopher Stevens were kept in the dark. Again, support for the Syrian rebels is support for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Who allegedly 'turned' Brennan again?

Here are some of the noteworthy moments in the video of the Q and A with Brennan found in the video at the bottom of this post...

5:45 - "I was very concerned after the attack in Fort Hood as well as the December 25th attack, that all of a sudden there were people who went back into this fearful position, that lashed out, not thinking through what was reasonable and appropriate."

Gee, It's been well over three years since that attack and Nidal Malik Hasan has waged jihad successfully from his prison cell while still not being convicted despite countless witnesses who saw him murder 14 and injure 32 as he shouted 'Allahu Akbar'. That sounds like a case for Islamophobia.

29:20 - "I consider myself a citizen of the world."

38:30 - A man in the audience begins his question by saying that he has a twenty one year-old son and that "every time he passes through an airport security line, he's pulled aside and frisked."

Really? Every time your son goes through an airport, he's frisked? Why hasn't CAIR filed a lawsuit about this?

48:00 - "The world is not black and white, it's not divided into good and evil."

Interesting theory, considering his company that day.

58:38 - "I'm exceeding my welcome here but I could do this all day." - Brennan commenting about going past his time allotment. Again, can anyone see the Tea Party getting this much time with Brennan? Shortly thereafter, Brennan calls on a man who identifies himself as Assad Aktar (sp?), president of the Congressional Muslim Staff Association (CMSA). Mr. Aktar bemoans the "Unindicted co-conspirator" label. This is an obvious reference to the Holy Land Foundation trial and the label that has been subsequently applied to groups like CAIR and ISNA successfully.

CMSA has quite a questionable record relative to judgement. Check out some of the individuals - via Fox News - who the group has invited to lead Friday prayers: Anwar al-Awlaki, the alleged inspiration for the Fort Hood massacre as well as other terrorist attacks; Tariq Ramadan, the grandson of the Muslim Brotherhood's founder; Nihad Awad, Executive Director of CAIR and supporter of Hamas; and none other than MPAC's Salam Al-Marayati.

Perhaps most alarming about that is the fact that the head of the CMSA has a problem with identifying Muslim Brotherhood groups in America as such. It makes one wonder how influential Muslim Staffers are and what the group's true allegiances are. This ability to influence politics in Washington, D.C. is precisely one of the reasons why the Muslim Students Association (MSA) - a Muslim Brotherhood group - is in existence.

Here's the full Q and A video with John Brennan on 2/13/10:

The entire 1957 Dwight Eisenhower speech at Dedication of Washington, D.C. mosque

This is a bit of a continuation from a previous post about the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. that included then Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicating the mosque on June 28, 1957. A re-dedication ceremony in 2007 included a speech by Republican President George W. Bush.

With a h/t to Creeping Sharia, the transcript of Eisenhower's entire speech is below, though the original link no longer works.

This link, via Wayback Machine does work:

Remarks at Ceremonies Opening the Islamic Center
June 28, 1957

Mr. Ambassador, Dr. Bisar, Governors of the Islamic Center, and distinguished guests:

It is a privilege to take part in this ceremony of dedication.

Meeting with you now, in front of one of the newest and most beautiful buildings in Washington, it is fitting that we re-dedicate ourselves to the peaceful progress of all men under one God.

And I should like to assure you, my Islamic friends, that under the American Constitution, under American tradition, and in American hearts, this Center, this place of worship, is just as welcome as could be a similar edifice of any other religion. Indeed, America would fight with her whole strength for your right to have here your own church and worship according to your own conscience.

This concept is indeed a part of America, and without that concept we would be something else than what we are.

The countries which have sponsored and built this Islamic Center have for centuries contributed to the building of civilization. With their traditions of learning and rich culture, the countries of Islam have added much to the advancement of mankind. Inspired by a sense of brotherhood, common to our inner most beliefs, we can here together reaffirm our determination to secure the foundation of a just and lasting peace.

Our country has long enjoyed a strong bond of friendship with the Islamic nations and, like all healthy relationships, this relationship must be mutually beneficial.

Civilization owes to the Islamic world some of its most important tools and achievements. From fundamental discoveries in medicine to the highest planes of astronomy, the Muslim genius has added much to the culture of all peoples. That genius has been a wellspring of science, commerce and the arts, and has provided for all of us many lessons in courage and in hospitality.

This fruitful relationship between peoples, going far back into history, becomes more important each year. Today, thousands of Americans, both private individuals and governmental officials, live and work-and grow in understanding-among the peoples of Islam.

At the same time, in our country, many from the Muslim lands-students, businessmen and representatives of states-are enjoying the benefits of experience among the people of this country. From these many personal contacts, here and abroad, I firmly believe that there will be a broader understanding and a deeper respect for the worth of all men; and a stronger resolution to work together for the good of mankind.

As I stand beneath these graceful arches, surrounded on every side by friends from far and near, I am convinced that our common goals are both right and promising. Faithful to the demands of justice and of brotherhood, each working according to the lights of his own conscience, our world must advance along the paths of peace.

Guided by this hope, I consider it a great personal and official honor to open the Islamic Center, and I offer my congratulations to its sponsors and my best wishes to all who enter into its use.

Thank you very much.

When it comes to where we are as a nation today, Democrats are bad but Republicans are not blameless... by any means.

Video: another Racially charged Obama speech

Well, that didn't take long. After the Daily Caller released the 2007 video of Barack Obama's racially charged speech in Virginia, we have another one from 2002 surface. This is Obama at an MLK memorial service inside a church.

Via Patterico:

Video: Obama's Racially charged 2007 Speech

This video was billed as a bombshell that was released on Hannity's television show on October 2nd. It is from a June 5, 2007 speech that Barack Obama gave to a predominantly black audience that consisted of black ministers. Also in attendance was none other than Rev. Jeremiah Wright. At various points, Obama went off script. When he did, the unmasked community organizer was on full display.

In yet another instance of media bias, the transcript of the speech released by the media at the time only consisted of the prepared remarks, which equated to about one-fourth of the entire speech. No mention was made of Obama's off-script statements, which were quite incendiary. Now, the entire speech has been made available.

This is damning stuff for a a man who ran on a platform of healing in 2008.

Via the Daily Caller:

Saudi Grand Mufti reveals what Embassy attacks really all about

The U.S. Embassy attacks were not about a film; they were about an attack on one of the most basic rights guaranteed to Americans - the freedom to criticize with speech. It would appear that the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has all but confirmed that.

Via CNS News:

Six months after declaring that all churches in the Arabian peninsula should be destroyed, Saudi Arabia’s top cleric called at the weekend for a global ban on insults targeting all religious “prophets and messengers,” a category that, from a Muslim perspective, includes Jesus Christ.

Saturday’s demand by Saudi grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh came on the same day that another of Sunni Islam’s most prominent figures, Egypt’s Al-Azhar University grand imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb, made a similar appeal.

Both men were reacting to an amateur video satirizing Mohammed, whose emergence on the Internet has been blamed for protests targeting American diplomatic missions across the Islamic world. According to wire services at least 12 deaths have been linked to the protests since Thursday, with deaths reported in Tunisia, Sudan, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt.

The two clerics’ calls are a new salvo in an unremitting campaign by Islamic political and religious leaders, spearheaded by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to pressure non-Muslims to treat Islam with deference.

It would seem that this Mufti has told us the reason for the attacks.

Video: Hillary Coughs into her hands, then shakes hands of others

This video is making the rounds on the internet because Hillary Clinton got choked up multiple times over the course of one minute and then cut her speech short. Not mentioned is the number of times she coughed into both of her hands before proceeding to shake the hands of others, who were all too happy to oblige Clinton.

"Please shake my hand, Mrs. Secretary. I don't have enough spit on it already."

Via Fox Nation:

Profiles in Courage and Fear: Scott Walker vs. John Boehner

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has weathered quite the storm and he's done so as a gubernatorial freshman who's actually been elected twice in his first term. When he won the first time, he did so while riding a wave of Tea Party support. He shockingly proceeded to do what most politicians do not; he did what he said he was going to do, despite an evil, Union-backed, Democratic Party attack machine's thuggish threats and behavior.

In less than one term as Governor, Scott Walker has all but changed the entire political landscape nationally, from one state. He did so with leadership; he's governed not out of fear or a need to get re-elected. He's governed based on the platform he ran on. Most important, he understands what's at stake and he is governing, logically, based on that understanding. When the union thugs came into town, Walker's fight or flight response was revealed; he chose to fight and it paid off. His state has now officially set the standard for other states. In essence, Wisconsin - behind a first term Governor - is leading the nation.

Contrast Walker with the most powerful Republican Party member - based on position - in the country right now. Speaker of the House John Boehner has been in Congress ever since being elected to it in 1990. He was there during the 1994 'Contract with America.' He knows what it's like to be swept into power by a conservative movement. Boehner was there when an angry conservative American base put the Republicans in the majority. He was also the Speaker in 2006, when a fiscally irresponsible Republican Congress got the boot.

Comparing the Governor of a state with the Speaker of the House may seem like comparing apples and oranges but it's not when you're comparing the ability to lead.

Whether it's the debt ceiling debate or the Fast and Furious scandal, Boehner has become part of an establishment whose members make decisions based nearly entirely on political calculations instead of on principle; it is an establishment whose members have each others' backs instead of the backs of their bosses - the voters. The result? As Speaker, Boehner has presided over a House of Representatives - which is ultimately responsible for how much taxpayer money is spent - that has watched the national debt increase under the 112th Congress more than in all of the previous 111 Congresses combined.

Meanwhile, Scott Walker is now reaping the benefits - in his very first term - of tough decisions. He is already touting a budget surplus.

Walker has fought the unions... and won.

Boehner too, is faced with an ominous fight that, at least to this point, he seems reticent to engage in. It is a fight against lawlessness, wickedness, and corruption; it is Watergate with murder; it is Fast and Furious; and it implicates the heads of several top agencies and departments. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and perhaps even the White House itself all have their hands in this cookie jar.

Boehner must know how deep the scandal goes but it has become increasingly apparent that he is the one who is holding back Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa from issuing the contempt citation to Eric Holder for the Attorney General's refusal to comply with a congressional subpoena. For months, Boehner attempted to portray himself as supportive of Issa's efforts and that rumors the Speaker was inhibiting those efforts were false.

We now know they were not.

During Walker's recall election victory speech, he spoke about future generations.  Here is the full quote (begins at the 1:30 mark):

...throughout our history... there have been men and women of courage who stood up and decided it was more important to look out for the future of their children and their grandchildren than their own political futures.

Don't just pay attention to what he says but also the way he says it.



Contrast that with John Boehner's most recent victory speech. It came on November 3, 2010. With the gift of hindsight, it's easier to see that the emotion Boehner seemed to be exhibiting most was fear. As Speaker, he has not sufficiently led and on election night, 2010 his fight or flight response was revealed.



About one month after that speech, Boehner spoke with Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes and again, spoke words similar to those of Walker, excerpted above. He spoke of wanting to preserve the American dream for our children and grandchildren. Again, however, it's how he says it that is most revealing.

Boehner's fight or flight response is shown to be the opposite of Walker's.

Farrakhan vs. Nugent: which one got a visit from Secret Service?

One of these two men was paid a visit by the Secret Service because of things he said. Before telling you who it is - yes, you probably already know - have a look at what both men said within hours of each other at two separate events.






If you guessed Ted Nugent, you'd be right.

Via Detroit Free Press:

Nugent, 63, confirmed in a statement that “two fine, professional Secret Service agents” came to see him Thursday in Oklahoma, where he was scheduled to play Ardmore’s 2 Frogs Grill that night.

By his account, all parties concluded “that I have never made any threats of violence towards anyone. . . I thanked them for their service, we shook hands and went about our business.”

“The issue has been resolved,” Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary told us. The agency, he said, “does not anticipate any further action.”

Granted, Nugent used a graphic metaphor but it WAS a metaphor. Conversely, it's not clear that Farrakhan was speaking metaphorically or literally.

Video: Swiss Politician on Growth of Islam: 'Are we insane?!'

This guy's name is Oskar Freysinger and he's a Swiss member of Parliament. This is a righteous rant against the growth of Islam in Europe you won't want to miss. He gets to the heart of the problem quite quickly and continues to nail it. Based on the translation of his speech, it sounds like he was speaking in Berlin to a very receptive crowd. Nonetheless, it was an extremely impassioned speech on the dangers of catering to Islam. Western civilization has been trying to appease her enemies and it has failed miserably. We can only hope that one day, one of our members of Congress speaks from the floor like this.



Via Shoebat

Audio: White House Continues to Look Foolish with Hoffa Responses

Yesterday, it was DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and White House press secretary Jay Carney who looked completely and utterly foolish when it came to their refusal to denounce the words of Teamsters president James Hoffa, Jr. In the context of standards Democrats and the White House themselves set in the wake of the Giffords shooting, their refusal to denounce Hoffa's comments actually sets a new standard for hypocrisy. Here is White House communications director Daniel Pfeiffer giving it the old college try with WMAL radio in Washington, D.C.

Like Wasserman-Schultz and Carney, Pfeiffer falls flat on his face.



h/t RCP

Video: Jay Carney Asked about Hoffa's Comments, Looks Foolish

Perhaps nothing so demonstrably illustrates the disparity between Barack Obama's words in the wake of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting than his silence in response to the words of Teamsters president James Hoffa, Jr. at a Labor Day rally in Detroit. Not only did Obama have kind words for Hoffa on the same stage but in the hours and days after Hoffa exhorted the crowd to 'take these son of a bit***s out,' the president and the DNC Chair have both remained silent on the issue. This prompted ABC's Jake Tapper to ask White House press secretary Jay Carney about the double standard. As a result, Carney looks patently foolish and Tapper was obviously agitated.

Wow.



h/t Weasel Zippers

Videos: DNC Chair on Civil Discourse Then and Now

The tale of two Debbie Wasserman Schultzes. First up, in the days after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot, the current DNC Chair went on the air with far left ideologue Tavis Smiley and said that it was time for the president to have a 'conversation about civility.' It was a politicized statement because Giffords was a Democrat. This was right in the midst of an absurd left wing narrative that said the likes of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh were responsible.



Now, fast forward to one day after James Hoffa exhorted a union crowd to view themselves as Obama's 'army' and 'take these son of a bit***s out.' When asked direct questions about the DNC's reaction to Hoffa's comments, Wasserman-Schultz refused to answer.

Via Fox Nation:



h/t GWP

White House Stance on Hoffa's Speech: No Comment

Community Organizers can equivocate and bask in the black lights (race-baiter alert) of plausible deniability but sooner or later, a Community Organizer who becomes President of the United States will have to come out into the sunlight. Consider Barack Obama's non-reaction to Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. calling on a crowd of leftists to 'take these son of a bit***s out' as the quintessential example. When asked to renounce Hoffa's comments, which were said in Detroit during a rally at which Obama himself spoke, the administration declined. This can be nothing other than tacit approval.

Via ABC News:

Despite President Obama’s repeated claims to change the tone in Washington, the White House had no comment this afternoon after Teamsters Union leader James Hoffa, speaking at an event before President Obama, said of Tea Party activists that, come November, Democrats should “take these sons of bitches out.”

Warming up the crowd before President Obama’s Labor Day speech in Detroit this afternoon, Hoffa warned the largely union crowd that the Tea Party was waging a “war on workers.”

“We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They’ve got a war, they got a war with us and there’s only going to be one winner. It’s going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We’re going to win that war,” Hoffa told thousands of workers gathered for the annual event organized by the Detroit Labor Council.

“President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march…Everybody here’s got a vote…Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong,” he concluded.

h/t to Weasel Zippers for providing a nice juxtaposition via Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama himself when allegedly heated rhetoric prompted them both to call for civility. First, here's Pelosi in 2009:



Here's the now silent president back in January of 2011 at the Tucson memorial for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords:



h/t GWP

Video: Biden Calls Tea Party 'Barbarians'

Attempts on the part of the White House to deny that Joe Biden called the Tea Party 'terrorists' were weak because of the number of independent reports to the contrary. This video basically confirms Biden did say it. First, in Detroit with Obama, Jimmy Hoffa Jr. tells a union crowd that they are Barack Obama's 'army' and that they need to 'take these son of a bit***s out.' Then, on the same day, while in Cincinnati, Vice President Joe Biden tells a similar crowd that they are involved in a 'war' and that the 'barbarians are at the gate.' By 'barbarians,' Biden was referring to the Tea Party. The speeches of Hoffa and Biden were so similar in tone that one can only conclude that the tone and message were both sanctioned by the White House; there's only one guy higher on the totem pole than Biden, which leads to another question.

Why has Obama been so conspicuously silent when it comes to the extreme rhetoric from both his party and his administration? Answer: he's endorsing it. The good news? These guys are losing.

Via Hapblog:

Video: Sarah Palin's Iowa Speech with the MediaIte Spin

The MediaIte website has done a good job of being a reasonable leftwing site. As far as the left goes, they do a good job over there when it comes to attempts at objectivity. However, Frances Martel's commentary about Sarah Palin's speech in Indianola, Iowa yesterday clearly showed the bias. One of the commenters predictably twisted Palin's words to paint her as a hypocrite when she said that she wasn't 'for sale,' unlike those crony capitalists. Not to worry though. Other commenters set Nacho_II straight.

Here is the pathetic line in Martel's commentary:

She (Palin) told the crowd that the President had “awakened a sleeping America,” and that while the nation was “about the lose the blessing of liberty and prosperity,” the “working people of this country… got up off the couch” (from which they were presumably working) to take back the country.

That's a ridiculous leap. Hey Francis, what do a lot of people do when they get home from work? Palin was clearly pointing out that instead of watching 'Dancing with the Stars,' people were getting involved. LAME, Frances. Lame.

Anyway, here's Palin's speech in two parts via MediaIte:

Part 1



Part 2

Audio: Rick Perry's New Orleans Speech

On his way to New Orleans, ostensibly to test the presidential stump, Texas Governor Rick Perry to bring an endless supply of red meat. If the goal was to send the crowd away with their euphoric fill, Perry seemed to deliver but how substantial is the substance of that speech? Like he did at a press conference on the eve of Tea Party mania in 2009, Perry set his sights firmly on the Federal government's overreach and disregard for the Constitution.

Texas Tribune has the AUDIO of the speech. Here's the video via Breitbart:



MSNBC has also reported on Perry's speech:

NEW ORLEANS -- Rick Perry delivered an unapologetically socially conservative speech before a friendly crowd here.

“We need to stop apologizing for celebrating life,” the Republican Texas governor bellowed at the Republican Leadership Conference in a finger-pointing, finger-wagging and, at times, bombastic, speech.

“Stop apologizing” for wanting to stem the tide of the “entitlement mindset,” he boasted.

“Our opponents on the left are never going to like us, so let’s stop trying to curry favor with them,” he said, before imploring the crowd to “stand up. Let’s speak with pride about our values. Let’s stop this American downward spiral.”

Perry can certainly talk the talk when he needs to but right now, the TSA anti-groping bill is in his hands during Texas' current special legislative session. The bill failed in the regular session when the State Senate backed down after the Feds threatened to make Texas a no-fly zone. In the special session, Perry will determine the bill's fate. If he puts the bill on the agenda, it will almost assuredly pass. If he doesn't he won't.

Words are nice but Perry's actions relative to this legislation will necessarily show us if he's willing to boldly hoist the Texas flag or wave the White flag in the face of federal oppression.

National Journal has more.

Video: Benjamin Netanyahu's AIPAC Speech

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on May 23rd, a couple days after Barack Obama spoke. Based on what we saw between the two on May 19th - when Obama called for Israel to return to 1967 lines and on May 20th, when Netanyahu told Obama very publicly inside the Oval Office such a notion is a non-starter, neither man is budging. Obama doubled down at AIPAC. In his speech, Netanyahu reiterated what he said in the Oval Office. It's long but worth watching.

Via Hapblog:

VIDEO: OBAMA LEAVES OUT 'CREATOR' WHEN RECITING DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

When I first saw this, I wondered if the long pause from Obama just before he should have said the words, 'our Creator' was because he was uncomfortable with them being on the teleprompter or because they were not on the teleprompter and he was debating whether to include them anyway. After all, he is supposed to be a Constitutional scholar. In either case, he knows how important those words are to the majority of Americans.

In light of the transcript of the speech, I think we have our answer. 'Our Creator' was not on the teleprompter and the pause can likely be attributed to the rising resentment Obama is feeling from the American people about how he continues to govern against them. I view that pause as a sign of shaken confidence. He's feeling the anger of the American people right now and knows that anger will manifest itself at the polls on November 2nd.

Here is Obama quoting the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Gala:

...over the centuries, what eventually bound us together --
what made us all Americans -- was not a matter of blood, it wasn’t a matter of birth.It was faith and fidelity to the shared values that we all hold so dear.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, endowed with certain inalienable rights: life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Now, the video. Take note of the pause.

Via HapBlog

VIDEO: OBAMA SAYS CRITICS TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE A DOG

Once again, this president demonstrates his immaturity. This time, while speaking at a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee, WI - also attended by the usual gaggle of union thugs. While talking about his critics - instead of what he's doing to get America out of the mess his policies have helped to create - he says they talk about him 'like a dog'. He admitted going off-script, which only serves to make those in charge of having the teleprompter on-hand increasingly more valuable.

He doesn't seem to know the difference between insults and accountability.

VIa HapBLog

VIDEO: FOX'S GRETCHEN CARLSON SMACKS DOWN GIBBS

Chalk another one up for the ladies having 'more manhood than the men' department. I have absolutely zero doubt that Gretchen Carlson had a few choice words about White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs after this exchange was over and she was off-camera. Can you just see Doocy and Kilmeade wincing prior to each Carlson comeback to Gibbs's blatant condescension and arrogance. Gibbs comes off as a cross between Nathan Thurm and an emotionally agitated spoiled child caught in a lie - which he was.

Carlson comes across as the mature adult unwilling to back down to that child. She is visibly disgusted by Gibbs and it's rather obvious.

This is awesome.



h/t to Free Republic