Where Are My Keys?

I'm sure this Administration will respond with a hashtag campaign..

#NoBombersInOurBackyard

I'm sure that will take care of it.

Because this is the most important thing in the United States right now..

This was the biggest issue that you saw in all those ads leading up to the election right?  Net neutrality?  Wasn't that the number one thing on people's minds last Tuesday?

Good to see the President respond to his constituients.

I'm just curious about one thing - if the only to way to make sure the Internet remains "pure" is by letting the Feds control it, how come it hasn't been "polluted" already?  What's stopped "powerful interests" from already doing exactly what the President is telling us will happen if the FCC isn't in charge?

Good for you, Rush..

The radio giant threatens to sue the DCCC:

Radio host Rush Limbaugh has threatened to sue the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) for defamation, The Daily Caller has learned.

Limbaugh retained the services of lawyer Patty Glaser and demanded that the DCCC “preserve all records in anticipation of a lawsuit for defamation and interference” after the Democratic Party group led a campaign against Limbaugh based on out-of-context statements the host made about sexual assault. Limbaugh’s legal team delivered a letter to DCCC representatives Monday informing them of the legal threat. Limbaugh has also demanded a public retraction and apology.

The Limbaugh team is currently proceeding from the standpoint of litigating and has not yet made a decision as to whether the DCCC could make any concessions at this point to prevent the lawsuit.

The DCCC “has intentionally disseminated demonstrably false statements concerning Rush Limbaugh in a concerted effort to harm Mr. Limbaugh, and with reckless disregard for the resulting impact to small businesses across America that choose to advertise on his radio program” according to the GlaserWeil law firm’s letter to the DCCC, which was obtained by TheDC. “Mr. Limbaugh clearly, unambiguously, and emphatically condemned the notion that ‘no’ means ‘yes.’”

“Let’s be clear: Rush Limbaugh is advocating for the tolerance of rape” the DCCC stated in a September fundraising email after Limbaugh mocked Ohio State’s new mandatory sexual consent guidelines.

A Liberal hero suggest one "punch back twice as hard".  Limbaugh seems to be doing just that.  He has deep pockets, time, and what appears to be a winnable case, so why not file suit?

There's the added side bonus of the DCCC having to toss money that could otherwise be put to better use (maybe helping to find better candidates than the ones they offered up in the last election) than having to defend themselves.

A win-win for Republicans.

New York and New Jersey are more on the ball than the White House..

Both Governors showing more leadership than POTUS:

The patients with the highest level of possible exposure will be automatically quarantined for 21 days at a government-regulated facility. As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported, those patients include anyone having direct contact with a person infected with Ebola while in Liberia, Guinea, or Sierra Leone.

Those with a lower risk will be monitored for temperature and symptoms, Cuomo explained.

The New York and New Jersey health departments will determine their own specific procedures for hospitalization and quarantine, and will provide a daily recap to state officials on the status of screening, New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said at the news conference.

The new procedures already have been put into use at Newark Liberty International Airport.

On Friday, a health care worker landed at Newark after treating Ebola patients in West Africa, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at the news conference. A legal quarantine was issued for the woman, who was not a New Jersey resident and was set to go on to New York afterward.

“This woman, while her home residence is outside the area, said her next stop was going to be here in New York,” Christie said. “Governor Cuomo and I discussed it before we came out here, and a quarantine order will be issued.”

The woman will be quarantined in either New York or New Jersey, Christie said.

POTUS is sure lucky this guy isn't in the Senate anymore..

This guy was really pissed about how unprepared the USA was to deal with "bird flu", and took the Bush Administration to task for it:

The failure to prepare for emergencies can have devastating consequences. We learned that lesson the hard way after Hurricane Katrina. This nation must not be caught off-guard when faced with the prospect of an avian flu pandemic. The consequences are too high.

The flyways for migratory birds are well-established. We know that avian flu will likely hit the United States in a matter of time. With the regular flu season coming up shortly, conditions will be favorable for reassortment of the avian flu virus with the annual flu virus. Such reassortment could lead to a mutated virus that could be transmitted efficiently between humans, which is the last condition needed for pandemic flu.

The question is will we be ready when that happens? Let’s make sure that answer is yes. I urge my colleagues in the Senate and the House to push this Administration to take the action needed to prevent a catastrophe that we have not seen during our lifetimes.”

The current Ebola outbreak is significantly worse than H5N1 was.  Where is that young Senator now, to hold this Administration's feet to the fire?

"What would you do in the last hour of your life?"

 

Hey, Candidate Obama? How do you feel about Presidential vacations?

 

 

Oops.  Is there anything this guy hasn't lied about?

What's next?

The Corner points out that strategic bombing might not be the only action in Iraq:

Our commander-in-chief takes reluctant steps, with an ill-thought-out mission, not understanding that against a determined enemy, he is sending a signal of lack of resolve. 

Tactically, it is not possible for 10,000 refugees to straggle unprotected to a safe haven 30 miles (or more) away in Turkey or Kurdistan. So the hope (as opposed to a plan) must be that the jihadists allow the passage in order to avoid casualties from intermittent American air strikes.

Thus the president has set bargaining boundaries. That is, if ISIS does not do such-and-such (like attacking Irbil), we the U.S. will not attack them. 

By linking air strikes to one humanitarian gesture, the president has made it more difficult, if not impossible, for him later to say, “An Islamist fundamentalist state must be defeated, and America will bomb until that happens.” 

Remember when this happened under Bush?

Me either.

Something to look forward to..

ISIS now controls both dams (shoddily built), and can unleash a 65-foot "tidal wave" on Baghdad whenever they want (or, if they don't stay on the upkeep, when they don't want to!):

As of August 3 newswires report, recent fighting in north and central Iraq results in ISIS fighters taking full control of Iraq's biggest dam at Haditha unopposed by Kurdish fighters who have made a strategic retreat to Kurd territory after losing three towns, and an oilfield to ISIS fighters. The Haditha Dam serving Baghdad, like a smaller dam serving Mosul which fell to ISIS fighters in June, was as early as 2007 identified by the US Special Inspectorate General for Iraq Reconstruction, a Pentagon watchdog, as a critical installation for enemy insurgent attack. This Agency highlighted structural problems at the two earthfill dams, needing constant grouting and backfill to prevent collapse, and warned of the catastrophic possibilities if either of them fell to insurgents - then called Al Qaeda in Iraq. Both of these dams are now in the hands of ISIS.

Due to their construction method and need for constant upkeep, both dams are relatively easy to rupture using only low amounts of well-placed explosives. The Agency warned that total rupture of the Haditha Dam could cause a 65-foot-high tidal wave in Baghdad City.

ISIS now has two powerful bargaining chips in Iraq. Its frankly apocalyptic general theory of forcing its Grand Caliphate into being would be served by the total destruction of Baghdad if the city and el-Maliki's government do not submit. In no way avoiding the Apocalypse but welcoming it, the effects on Iraq's oil production and oil exports can be imagined. Comparable insurgency, civil riot and rebellion and destruction of government is under way in both Syria and Libya. The extreme fundamentalist Sunni ISIS movement makes no secret of 'the prize' being the overthrow of albeit-Sunni ruling families, called 'impious and heretical' in the GCC countries.

That would have an interesting effect on the price of oil, wouldn't it?

Thank goodness we have a leader in DC that keeps showing his "smart diplomacy" skills.