2014’s victim #22 has a small consolation – at least the police admit the motive this time…

PENNSYLVANIA – Police are on the hunt for a group of teenagers who allegedly planned a videotaped attack on a homeless man and then posted the recording on Facebook. Pure evil” is how Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood described the beating. “There was absolutely no reason to do it, other than being mean and evil,” he said.

According to Chitwood, surveillance video from a nearby bank shows four teenage boys sitting at the Aronimink Trolley Stop at Burmont Road and Morgan Avenue in Upper Darby back on June 11.
“You can see that they’re planning something in the surveillance video,” Chitwood said. “You see all four of them get up and go through the doorway that leads inside the building where the victim is seated, doing nothing and minding his own business.” (more…)

VP/Kerry/Hagel/Holder/McDonough/Rice/Podesta/Power/Eggleston/Clapper/Brennan/Dempsey/Winnefeld/Blinken/Monaco/Rhodes/McGurk/Beecroft

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2014

• Vice President Joe Biden
• Sec. of State John Kerry
• Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel
• Attorney General Eric Holder
• Chief of Staff Denis “fixer” McDonough
• Senior White House Foreign Policy Advisor Susan Rice
• Senior Advisor to the President John “skippy” Podesta  (representing Hillary Clinton’s interests)
• UN Ambassador Samantha Power
• White House Chief Legal Counsel Neil Eggleston
• Direction of National Security James Clapper
• Director of CIA John Brennan
• Chairman of Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey
• Vice-Chair Joint Chiefs Admiral James Winnefeld
• National Security Advisor Tony Blinkin
• Asst. To the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco
• White House Communications Director Ben Rhodes
• Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Iraq and Afghanistan, National  Security Council Brett McGurk
• U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Robert Stephen Beecroft

That's the list of who was in POTUS's Iraq options meeting tonight.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 17, 2014

WASHINGTON, June 16 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama told Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country’s embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country.

“This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat,” Obama said in a letter to lawmakers. “This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed.”   The president said he was notifying Congress under the War Powers Resolution (read more)

I guess Donilon, McDonough, Blinkin and Rhodes don’t have as much political confidence as they did with the Libyan R2P fiasco.  Then again, I’ve never been able to figure out the filter they use for application of the “Responsibility To Protect” doctrine…. 

Remember what we shared before? CLICK HERE

Sometimes you just have to shake your head:

U.S. and Iran hold “very brief discussions” about Iraq and ISIS threat, State Department spokeswoman tells CNN. http://t.co/vE9Sr9IDMn

— CNN International (@cnni) June 16, 2014

State Official emphatic that US won't engage in military coordination or strategic determinations with Iran about Iraq’s future.

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) June 16, 2014

To round up the basic positioning taking place within the U.S. administration vis-a-vi Iraq, it’s useful to look at similarly minded influential ideologues in and out of the current administration.   Once you understand the mindset of the fellow travelers you can predict what the White House will do.

We start with Mike Morell, and his current position.

All Politics All The Time – Mike Morell was the CIA interim replacement for General Petraeus after Benghazi (and the affair that took Petraeus out of the picture with the help of FBI [Eric Holder]).   Morell is a like-minded fellow traveler to Clinton/Obama and currently under Clinton employ while working for CBS.  Morell was the sympathetic receipient of WH Communication Director Ben Rhodes evolutionary talking points around Benghazi and defender of all things Hillary during Senate Hearings.

Remember too – as you watch this – Morell’s Benghazi cohort, Ben Rhodes, is the brother to current CBS News President, David Rhodes.   In addition to his Clinton employment, David Rhodes (CBS) employs Morell as a Senior Security Analyst:

So there, we essentially have the framework outlined this morning for the current White House position.

So, is that indeed the message the day delivers? (more…)

Treepers, it’s important to remember the reality faced within the IRS scandal.  It is a painful reality, but one that must be faced.

The Democrats have no concerns with the IRS being used as a tool to crush the grassroots Tea Party, that’s a no brainer. However, it’s also important to remember, as we have continued to outline, there is no basis to think the GOP has any more of an issue with it than the Democrats.

The entire political establishment, who thrive on the status quo, are at risk from grassroots efforts to disrupt their place -and control- at the trough. Pat Caddell outlined this accurately before (watch this video):

The establishment class have goals coordinated by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Tom Donahue. ObamaCare, Amnesty and Common Core are all part of their goals.

(more…)

Interesting to see a liberally leaning outlet allow this op-ed… 

(New York Observer) As Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has written, prosecutorial misconduct has become “an epidemic.” And evidence has come to light that our president, the nation’s chief law enforcement official, seeks his counsel from the worst.

If ever a picture was worth a thousand words, it is a recently released White House photo of President Obama and his muses—if one only knew the truth behind those muses whispering in the President’s ear as they strategized in the aftermath of the Benghazi tragedy.

To understand the (politely-put) “lack of transparency” from the White House, the enormous politicization of the Department of Justice, the release of Taliban leaders from Guantanamo, refusal to cooperate with congressional investigations, the IRS’s harassment of political opponents, and the cover-up of Benghazi, read on.

President Obama’s right-hand woman Kathryn Ruemmler, conveniently seated to his right, was his longest serving White House Counsel and remains one of his closest and most trusted advisors. (more…)

Recent Mississippi Polling pdf

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Y’all already know the topic of this captured moment.  However, in case anyone needs a reminder (more…)