The Weekly Standard has some excellent analysis of a VERY insightful interview given by President Obama to  Jeff Goldberg of Bloomberg Media. 

The Full Obama foreign policy interview is HERE.  (A must read for those who tackle understanding of what motivates the current administration at the core.)  

Weekly Standard – On the eve of the Netanyahu visit to Washington, President Obama gave a lengthy interview to Jeffrey Goldberg that shows a chief executive who has learned next to nothing about the world in his five years in office.

First, kudos to Goldberg: he pressed Obama repeatedly, challenging vague formulations and seeking clarity. Goldberg pushed Obama hard, especially on Iran and Syria.

Obama isn’t good off the cuff, especially when challenged; he is far better with a prepared speech. And what emerged is an awful portrait of the president and his conception of the world.

Take Syria. Here’s what Obama said: (more…)

The truly Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan knew that summits with Gorbachev were the one way he could directly telegraph a message to the walled-off Soviet public. After all, even Soviet TV was obliged to cover these events.

The partners’ first handshake took place outside a 120-year-old Geneva chateau. Reagan arrived first and burst out the door, bounding down the steps without his coat on a cold day, as Gorbachev’s limo pulled up. Gorbachev, bundled in a gray overcoat, looking very much like the guest, was greeted by a dapper Reagan, 20 years his senior.

To top it off, Reagan put his arm under Gorbachev’s, as if he were aiding him up the stairs. All this was captured live on Soviet TV, and it was the first step in reshaping the view of Reagan in the eyes of the Soviet public.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan smiles as he talks to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev outside the villa Fleur D’Eau at Versoix near Geneva, Switzerland, November 19, 1985

In the U.S., Reagan’s talk of the sinister nature of Communism was often dismissed as the rhetoric of a right-wing ideologue. In Moscow, policymakers believed he meant business. The Communist Party newspapers (of course, back then all of them were party newspapers) whipped themselves into a frenzy with invective about the 40th U.S. President.

He was portrayed as a wild “cowboy,” a “shameless liar,” and “a rabid militarist” who employed the “slogans and methods of Hitler.” Cartoons depicted him waving a Stetson as he gleefully sat atop a ballistic missile. He may have called them the Evil Empire, but in the Soviet view, Reagan was evil incarnate. (more…)

As reported by Ed Driscoll at PJ Media,apparently the transition of American leadership from the John Wayne/Malboro Man prototype of sturdy masculinity has now morphed to ….. Pyjama Beta Boy Petulance.

“…Imagine you’re a backroom boffin in Vladimir Putin’s Russia assigned to monitor all of the news media out of the West that references Russia and your boss. Imagine the chuckle you know Putin’s going to get when you show him the following screen capture from CNN…”

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Note:  the following is an opinion piece, protected under the rights afforded by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.  Offended Obot trolls will not be let out of the basement to “comment”.  That is all.

Just when you thought the domestic battle for “hearts and minds” couldn’t get any more perverse, in steps “helper Monkey” Hollywood to drag us down into the sewer, reaching a new low in cultural marxism.

There has been an ongoing psyops war waged by the Obama Administration and its sycophants against the U.S. military.

Traditionally, the U.S. military has always enjoyed high approval ratings from the American public at large – they support the military in funding; in its non-combat humanitarian missions as diplomatic outreach (such as the US Navy Hospital Ships, USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy); and are, for the most part, proud of the work that the US military does in defending freedom and the highest ideals of “America” –

individual liberty, peace, free trade, domestic stability among the many hallmarks of the “shining city on the hill”.  In very few other countries, do so many citizens have direct experience – having served, themselves – or a first degree relative connection to someone who has served in the armed forces. (more…)

Confirmation Hearings Have Consequences:

(Left) Director of National Intelligence James Clapper  –  (Right)  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel

(left) Director of CIA John Brennan – (Right) Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey

The four men above are the players who give the daily National Security Briefing to President Obama. (more…)

For those not paying too close attention.   

Day #1 – A limp-wristed commentary from the White House;  Stompy then went directly to a DNC fundraiser to kick off “Happy Hour” – Russia moves troops into Crimea, secures airport, takes Ukraine parliamentary building and sends in dozens of helicopters and fighter jets.

Day #2 – Obama skips National Security briefing, Samantha Power delivers U.S. comments at emergency U.N. Security Council Meeting, Susan Rice gives Stompy the cliff notes. – Russia’s Parliament votes to allow full military engagement and moves approximately 50,000 troops into Ukraine.

And now comes the proverbial strongly worded White House letter where Stompy outlines that Putin has broken the rules:

WHITE HOUSE – President Obama spoke for 90 minutes this afternoon with President Putin of Russia about the situation in Ukraine. President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia’s clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law, including Russia’s obligations under the UN Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and which is inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act. The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory. (more…)

As first reported by the Army Times, a US Army Pfc (Private, First Class) posted an Instagram “selfie” (“sheffeynation”) of herself hiding in her car during the sounding of “Retreat” to avoid standing at attention, saluting and rendering honors to the American flag as the colors are lowered for the day.

To quote Ms. Tariqka Sheffey:

“This is me laying back in my car hiding so I don’t have to salute the 1700 flag, KEEP ALL YOUR ‘THATS SO DISRESPECTFUL/HOWRUDE/ETC.’ COMMENTS TO YOURSELF cuz, right now, IDGAFFFF.”

(more…)

https://twitter.com/SalenaZitoTrib/statuses/439526062390001664

UPDATE:  Less than an hour after delivering a mortally flaccid and limp wristed denouncement of Russia invading Ukraine’s Crimea, Dear Leader shows up at DNC fundraiser to announce HAPPY HOUR.

(more…)

RT @NoahCRothman: CNN: U.S. confirms that Russian troops are present in Ukrainian Crimea.

— Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) February 28, 2014

Putin: rolling into Ukraine. Obama: running in circles through the White House with Biden.

— John Hayward (@Cobretata) February 28, 2014

YESTERDAY – CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, informed network anchor Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that there was no indication that Russian forces were planning to intervene militarily in Ukraine. Less than 24-hours later, Russian forces militarily intervened in Ukraine.

“Some are concerned we might be on the eve of another Cold War,” Blitzer fretted. “What, if anything, would stop Vladimir Putin from getting involved?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any notion that he is actually going to do so,” Amanpour insisted.

“The U.S. right now says it only sees Russia’s military exercises ‘within the normal range,’” she continued. “It does not see any of the kind of massive planning that Russia would have to do in terms of planning, and logistics, and securing air, and land, and rail, and road corridors to incur into Ukraine.”

TODAY –  Reports indicate that Russian paramilitary forces under Moscow’s control occupied airports in the autonomous Ukrainian Republic of Crimea overnight on Friday, less than 12 hours after Amanpour made this declaration. This preliminary occupation turned out to be a prelude to Russian forces exploding out of the Russian naval base at Sevastopol and taking control of the regional capital just 80 kilometers to the Northeast. (more…)

(AP) – Ukraine’s fugitive president surfaced on Thursday in Moscow, where he was said to have been seen at an opulent five-star hotel and a Kremlin country retreat once favored by the late Boris Yeltsin.

Viktor Yanukovych reportedly was granted protection in Russia, but he has not received a warm reception. Although Russia still considers him the legitimate president of Ukraine, the Kremlin has treated him cautiously and portrayed him as a coward who betrayed those who stood by him. (more…)