Fallen soldier's mother: Obama ad disgusting, insensitive, out-of-touch

The parents of fallen Navy SEAL, Aaron Carson Vaughn, who was killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan last year, expressed outrage over an Obama [election] campaign ad in which former President Bill Clinton says about the Navy SEALs' raid on Bin Laden's compound: "Look [Obama] knew what would happen. Suppose the Navy SEALs had gone in there and it hadn't been Bin Laden, suppose they'd been captured and killed, the downside would have been HORRIBLE for HIM [for OBAMA]."

Aaron Vaughn's mother, Karen, barely able to hold back her tears, had this to say about Obama:

When you lose a child, there is nothing like it in the world. And one thing that you realize immediately is that your life will never be the same.

You take 30 years of your life and you just pretend it didn't exist. That's what it's like trying to deal with the loss of a child. And THAT man has the audacity to put his stamp of approval on an ad where Bill Clinton says 'just imagine what the downside would have been for OBAMA had the SEALs in the Bin Laden raid been captured or killed'.

How out of touch can a human being be..., it would be so audacious to even think it, really audacious to speak it out loud. But he's so out of touch with his insanity, he doesn't even realize he made that an ad for the nation to look at - that disgusting insensitivity to the families who've lost warriors on the battlefield. But we're supposed to be concerned as a nation about what the downside would have been for HIM. How out of touch, how completely out of touch.

Bear in mind that this is the same Obama who, in 2007, voted against funding the troops in Iraq, a move that was harshly criticized by then-Senator Joe Biden as harmful to the troops who need the funds to provide the necessary armor and supplies to protect them.

Yes, Obama is out of touch, insensitive, audacious and an extremely uncaring and apathetic [and pathetic] individual. In Obama's world, Politics and political ambition override all other matters, including matters of life-and-death.

Mitt Romney: Obama promised to slow the rise of the oceans & heal the planet, my promise is to help you and your family - Video

Speaking at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, told the crowd:

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet [laughter]. My promise is to help you and your family."

Mitt Romney: No apology tour for me; less flexibility & more backbone on missile defense, Iran - Video

Speaking at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Republican Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, stated as follows:

"I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour; President Obama began with an apology tour. America, he said, had dictated to other nations. No, Mr. President, America has freed other nations from dictators...

"Every American is less secure today because [Obama] has failed to slow Iran's nuclear threat. In his first TV interview as president, he said we should talk to Iran; we're still talking, and Iran's centrifuges are still spinning."

Mr. Romney went on to criticize Mr. Obama over a statement he made, in May, to then-outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev saying that he will have "more flexibility" to deal with contentious issues like missile defense after the U.S. presidential election [Obama was unaware that the microphones were picking up what was meant to be a confidential statement]. Mr. Romney said as follows:

"But [Obama] is eager to give Russia's President Putin the flexibility he desires, after the election. Under my administration, our friends will see more loyalty, and Mr. Putin will see a little less flexibility and more backbone."

Obama told Medvedev in May: "On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved, but it's important [that Vladimir Putin] give me space. This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility."

"I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir," Mr. Medvedev said, referring to Vladimir Putin, who had just won an election to succeed Mr. Medvedev.

Video clip of Mr. Romney's remarks and Obama's statement to Medvedev, below:

Paul Ryan: Obama created unprecedented debt, he's done NOTHING to curtail spending sprees

Speaking at the Republican convention on Wednesday, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, noted that President Obama has managed to "add more debt than any other President before him, and more than all the troubled governments of Europe combined."

"One President, one term, $5 trillion in new debt", said Ryan.

The Republican Vice Presidential candidate added that, despite all of this, the President has done "NOTHING" to reverse this bad habit, but instead has opted to continue his reckless spending sprees."They have no answer to this simple reality," said Ryan. "We need to stop spending money we don't have!"

Paul Ryan: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different than the last four?

Speaking at the Republican convention Wednesday, Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Paul Ryan, asked a question that was reminiscent of a question posed by the late Ronald Reagan during his debate, in 1980, with former President Jimmy Carter:

"Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work," said Ryan. "23 million people [are] unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can't find the work they studied for, or any work at all. So here's the question: Without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?"

In the 1980 Presidential debate, President Reagan, asked the following question in his closing argument [statement]:

"Next Tuesday is election day. Next Tuesday, all of you will go the polls, will stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision it might be well if you ask yourself are you better off than you were four years ago? Is it easier for you to go and buy things in the stores than it was four years ago?... And if you answer all of those questions, 'yes', why then I think your choice is very obvious as to who you'll vote for. If you don't agree, if you don't think that this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have."

In a February 2009 interview, President Obama was asked the following question about his stimulus program; his reckless government spending spree:

"At some point will you say, 'wait a minute, we've spent this amount of money, we're not seeing results, we've got to change course dramatically'?"

Obama replied that, "I will be held accountable. I've got four years. If I don't have this done in three years, then this is going to be a one-term proposition."

Video clip of Paul Ryan at the GOP convention, Ronald Reagan at the 1980 debate and Barack Obama in the February 2009 interview, below:

Narcissism: Obama pays tribute to Neil Armstrong by posting a photo of himself

This photo was posted on President Obama's official Tumblr page as a tribute to the recently deceased NASA astronaut, Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. No photos of Mr. Armstrong were posted on the President's Tumblr page, just the photo above.

Narcissism, indeed. h/t - Jim Treacher

Aside from the narcissism, it is also interesting to note that President Obama, in 2010, canceled the Constellation and Moon program that was launched in 2004 by President George W. Bush, which resulted in the loss of 14,000 jobs. And yet, there he is - in the photo - with the moon hovering above him.

Related video: Obama's allies say he's arrogant, aloof, out-of-touch, self-centered

Afghan soldier kills 2 U.S. soldiers, Taliban beheads 17 civilians

From the AP:

Insurgents attacked a large party in a Taliban-controlled area of southern Afghanistan [in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province] and beheaded 17 people, officials said on Monday...

In other violence, two American soldiers were shot and killed by one of their Afghan colleagues in the east, military officials said. Afghan officials [claimed the killings were] accidental... NATO would not comment on the question of whether the killings were intentional or accidental...

A spokesman for the Afghan army claimed that Afghan soldier fell and accidentally discharged his weapon. But the AP, in a separate report, notes that "a U.S. Defense Department official said the Afghan soldier fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Americans, and that this seemed to indicate that it was an intentional act. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because an investigation is under way, said he was unaware of any indications that the shooting was accidental."

U.S. Marines have battled the Taliban for years in Musa Qala [the aforementioned district where the 17 civilians were beheaded], but the insurgent group still wields in significant power in the area as international forces across the country draw down and hand over control to Afghan forces. Helmand province, where Musa Qala is located, is one of the areas seeing the largest reduction in U.S. troops...

The Ap, in a separate report, notes: "Helmand was the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's surge, when he ordered 33,000 additional U.S troops to Afghanistan to help the military with a counterinsurgency plan. That plan hoped to turn the tide in Helmand and neighboring Kandahar and establish the governmental institutions that would allow the Afghan government to take control of the Taliban heartland.

"Two years later, however, Helmand is still so lawless that Afghan government officials couldn't even go to the Taliban-controlled town where the beheadings were reported. Many Afghans in the south, the Taliban's birthplace and the home of the country's Pashtun speaking population, are leery of a government that many consider to be corrupt and ineffective. The problem is compounded by a rapid reduction in American and international aid, which fueled most of the growth in the south in recent years."

Many Afghans and international observers have expressed concerns that the Taliban will try to re-impose strict Islamic justice as international forces withdraw. Under the Taliban, all music and film was banned as un-Islamic...

As the drawdown progresses, there has been a surge in attacks by Afghan forces against their international allies...

Insider attacks have been a problem for the U.S.-led military coalition for years, but it has exploded recently into a crisis. There have been at least 33 such attacks so far this year, killing 42 coalition members, mostly Americans. Last year there were 21 attacks, killing 35; and in 2010 there were 11 attacks with 20 deaths. The latest killings brought the number of Americans killed by allied forces this month to 12.

Does Obama needs a do-over? A reinvention? His Allies say he's aloof, out-of-touch, self-centered

President Obama is arrogant, aloof, distant, out-of-touch, self-centered, narcissistic and cold, according to his mainstream media allies, former and current administration officials, at least one former staffer and a former Democratic lawmaker [who expressed his views on Obama while he was still in Congress]. Which raises the question: If the President's close acquaintances and staunch defenders perceive him this way, how does everyone else perceive him?

The President clearly needs a major do-over, reinvention and repackaging. Problem is, even if he were to reinvent his persona, he can not possibly reinvent his disastrous first term in office, nor can he repackage his failed policies; it's a hopeless cause....

The President might as well hand over the baton to Mitt Romney, who is clearly more qualified for the job.

Relinquishing the Presidency to Mr. Romney is clearly the patriotic thing to do; it is the right thing to do.

What's more, by passing over the baton to Mr. Romney, Mr. Obama will prove to the world that he is gradually transforming, and reinventing, himself into a selfless and caring individual.

256 people killed in Iraq so far this month, 325, last month

A series of attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed ten people, including three soldiers and two policemen, the AFP reported.

256 people have been killed in attacks across the country so far this month, according to an AFP tally. In July, 325 people were killed, the highest monthly death toll in almost two years.

The horrific violence over the last couple of months comes on the heels of a statement, last month, by the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, warning that the militant network had embarked on a new offensive and was returning to strongholds from which it was driven from while the American military was there. He also threatened the U.S.: "You will see them [al Qaeda terrorists] at the heart of your country, since our war against you has just started," he said.

President Obama strongly opposed a plan to leave behind a residual U.S. force in Iraq after the U.S. troop withdrawal ended in December. Many Iraqi's, however, have expressed concern that without a residual U.S. military presense in Iraq, the security gains made in recent years could evaporate.

Nevertheless, despite the re-emergence of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the recent spike in violence across the country, President Obama continues to brag on the campaign stump about his inept and disastrous Iraq policy.

Arne Duncan & Mitt Romney vs. Barack Obama on smaller class sizes in schools - VIDEO

The Obama campaign is lashing out at Mitt Romney for suggesting that smaller class sizes are not crucial to improving student performance.

The criticism of Romney comes despite the fact that Barack Obama's Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, has expressed a similar point of view as Romney.

Obama Campaign vastly outspends Romney Campaign; but Obama Complains - Las Vegas, Nevada, campaign event

Speaking at various campaign events over the last couple of months, including two campaign events in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada on Tuesday, President Obama complained about Mitt Romney and his excessive campaign expenditures [on ads etc.].

But ironically, Obama's campaign expenditures, thus far, have completely dwarfed Romney's.

Another irony: President Obama has casually omitted the fact that he had set the record for campaign expenditures during the 2008 campaign, spending more money than any candidate in U.S. history.

Obama & Dems mum on abortionist's racist comments

Dr. Ashutosh “Ron” Virmani, a Charlotte obstetrician-gynecologist, who also performs abortions for a Preferred Women’s Health Center in Charlotte NC., recently referred to African American babies as "ugly black babies". Dr. Virmani has been a frequent donor to the DNC, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and several Democratic candidates.

African American pro-life activists are now asking the question: Where is the outrage from the NAACP, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? Why haven't they spoken out about these abhorrent remarks?

I would also ask the same question of President Obama.

Mr. Obama purports to be a voice for African Americans, a voice for the minority, but apparently when an abortionist/DNC donor utters racist remarks, Obama's voice, and his outrage, are nowhere to be found.

Obama will lash out at pro-life conservatives because they are depriving fetuses of their freedom, namely, their right to be aborted, but he will not utter a word of protest against a racist, abortionist, loyal DNC donor.

"Don't put it on the taxpayer, "Dr. Virmani recently told pro-life activists. "I don’t wish to pay for the baby with my money. Let me see you adopt one of those ugly black babies... Take them off the taxpayer's money."

Records show the Charlotte-based Virmani has given several donations since 2000 to the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, as well as $1,000 to John Kerry in 2004 and $250 to Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Historically, Democrats have an embarrassing record on civil rights: the party opposed civil rights for African Americans, including uniform opposition in Congress to the 14th amendment granting blacks civil rights. The party is also the sole founding party of the Ku Klux Klan: the 1915 Klan propaganda film The Birth of a Nation was described by its director as intended “to revolutionize northern sentiment by a presentation of history that would transform every man in my audience into a good Democrat!”

In September of last year, black pastor and civil rights activist Rev. Wayne Perryman filed a lawsuit against President Obama and the DNC in U.S. District Court for its history of racism against blacks, which he notes has never elicited an apology.

“Any organization that has such a racist history and receives 97% of the African American vote (after doing all they could to deny blacks the right to vote), should willingly apologize without being forced do so through a lawsuit,” said Perryman. The activist said he was “convinced that Democrats will only apologize if the media, or the courts (with public pressure) will force them to do so.”

“The man who authored the book: The Audacity of Hope, now has the ‘audacity’ to refuse to apologize for his political party and their racist institutions, that took the lives of millions of his own people,” he said.

Incidentally, in 2010, President Obama eulogized the late Democratic Senator, Robert Byrd, despite the fact that Mr. Byrd had once been a former klansman. Byrd endorsed Obama's candidacy in 2008 and Obama, in his eulogy, returned the favor by heaping effusive praise on the late senator, adding that although Byrd had a history of racism, he had changed over the years.

In a 2001 interview with Fox News, the "changed" Sen. Byrd, said that, "There are [also] white niggers, I've seen a lot of white niggers in my time, if you want to use that word, but we just need to work together to make our country better..."

Nevertheless, "white nigger" comments aside, Mr. Byrd was a staunch critic of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq, and he found a kindred spirit and political ally in Barack Obama. Hence, Obama received Byrd's endorsement in 2008, and the former klansman received Obama's endorsement during a 2010 eulogy.

Obama, liar, Tony Rezko, felon

President Obama uttered at least two lies to the White House press corps on Monday:

Lie 1) "If you look at the overall trajectory of our campaign and the ads that I've approved and are produced by my campaign, you'll see that we point out sharp differences between the candidates, but we don't go out of bounds."

No need to regurgitate the scurrilous and vicious attack ads aired by the Obama campaign against Mitt Romney. Anybody who's seen the ads knows full well that the Obama campaign went completely out of bounds, to say the least. And, contrary to the President's claims, it wasn't only the Obama PAC's that produced these despicable ads; the Obama campaign produced similar vile and detestable ads. But sadly, the White House press corps will never, ever call Obama out on his lies.

Lie 2) The President also falsely asserted that "nobody" in his campaign "had ever accused Mr. Romney of being a felon."

However, as the RNC noted, Obama's deputy campaign manager, Stephanie Cutter, spoke to reporters in July and accused Mitt Romney of committing a "felony, or... misrepresenting his position... to the American people."

In truth, it is Mr. Obama, who is craftily misrepresenting the facts to the American people. Apparently all those years that Obama spent in the company of convicted FELON, Tony Rezko, has had a detrimental effect on him: The shady house purchase; the letter that Obama wrote to [Chicago] city officials urging them to provide huge subsidies to assist Rezko in developing his low-income apartments, which soon deteriorated to the point where they were no longer inhabitable; the $250,000 Rezko donated to Obama's political campaigns - perhaps all of this has had an adverse effect on Obama. Or, more likely, Obama was not the least bit affected by Mr. Rezko, but rather he gravitated toward Mr. Rezko and other crooked and loathsome individuals because - as everybody knows - "Birds of a feather flock together".

It should also be noted that last week, members of the White House press corps - a predominantly Liberal group of reporters - complained that Obama hasn’t formally taken questions from them in more than two months. But ironically, on the rare occasions that the President actually speaks to the press pool reporters, they refuse to rebut him and to call him out on his lies. Which raises the following questions: Why would these reporters whine about a lack of communication with Obama, when they are unwilling to have a back and forth discussion with him and are disinclined to refute his lies? Could it be that all they really desire is an opportunity to share the limelight with the President and to appear on camera with him?

Update: The aforementioned questions boggled my mind yesterday after I had heard the President's press conference, but I'm in good company; Rush Limbaugh made a similar observation today:

"Now, notice, folks, what prompted Obama to hold a so-called impromptu news conference. The Akin comment. Obama hasn't talked to the press other than People magazine or George Clooney or Entertainment Tonight in two months. The Akin comment prompts Obama to go to White House pressroom for 22 minutes. Not the unemployment rate. Not China's threats to Japan or Iran's threats to Israel. Not economic misery. Not the future of America. No, Akin. Todd Akin is what prompted Barack Obama to summon the courage and the fortitude to go face his slavish White House press corps.

"Why in the world be afraid of your stenographers? But Barack Obama is acting scared to death of his own press corps, and they are essentially his stenographers... The press corps does whatever Obama wants. When you see the press corps whining and moaning that Obama hadn't come and spoken, it's not because they're trying to learn anything. It's not because they want news to be made. It's they want their buddy to come talk to 'em. They want to be validated. They're loving Obama. They love themselves some Obama. They're doing everything they can to get Obama and Biden reelected. They want some love back. They want Obama to come tell 'em how much he loves 'em and how much he appreciates 'em."

Spendthrift-in-Chief spent more, on his campaign, than he brought in last month

From the AP

President Barack Obama and Democrats have spent more than they brought in last month during the presidential campaign...

Mr. Obama expanded his campaign operations and purchased millions of dollars in television advertising...

The president's campaign spent about $59 million in July, much of it on advertising and paid staff. That's compared with about $49.2 million in total receipts during the same period.

By contrast, Romney's campaign reported $40.3 million in July revenues and spending $32.7 million.

Just like for Mr. Obama, a bulk of those expenses went to advertising purchases, although only about $15.5 million by comparison. Romney had fewer than half the number of paid staffers as the president, or about 320.

Sadly, the President does not have the authority to levy a brand new tax on the American people to help fund his excessive campaign expenditures, as is the case with his tax-funded government spending sprees. [Spend, spend, spend, tax, tax, tax...] Instead, the President is relying on the typical Obama gimmickry to haul in his campaign cash: 1) Asking his supporters to redistribute their birthday, wedding and anniversary gifts to his re-election campaign. 2) Offering donors a chance to join the First Couple on their "next date night"; a chance to experience the same euphoria that Barack and Michelle felt the first time they ate lunch together.

If all else fails, there is always the third option.

However, it should be noted, that while the national debt has risen nearly $5 trillion due to Obama's reckless government spending sprees, the President's campaign is nonetheless debt free, as he has amassed plenty of campaign cash over the past couple of years, and thus the "Big Spender" has managed to garner more campaign cash than he has spent. [What's more, the President did not have to spend any money on a primary campaign.] Nevertheless, in the month of July, Obama was true to form, spending more than he brought in; he is, afterall, the Spendthrift-in-Chief.

P.S. Obama hauled in almost $9 million more than Mitt Romney in the month of July. He also outspent Romney by more than $26 million.

More than 80 people killed in Iraq on Thursday, over 270 wounded, Obama gloats

More than 80 people were killed in Iraq Thursday in a spate of shootings and bombings that Iraqi officials said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, CNN reported. More than 270 people were wounded in the attacks.

An Iraqi military post, a police checkpoint and a police station were also targeted in the attacks leaving 10 Iraqi soldiers and 6 police officers dead.

Iraqi authorities blamed al Qaeda for the attacks.

So far, this month, 198 people have been killed in attacks across the country, according to the AFP. 325 Iraqis were killed in similar attacks in July, according to CNN.

Last month, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq warned that the militant network had embarked on a new offensive and was returning to strongholds from which it was driven from while the American military was there. He also threatened the U.S.: "You will see them [al Qaeda terrorists] at the heart of your country, since our war against you has just started," he said.

Last year, President Obama adamantly opposed a plan to leave behind a residual U.S. force in Iraq after the U.S. troop withdrawal ended in December. However, many Iraqi's have expressed fears that without a residual U.S. military presense in Iraq, the security gains made in recent years could fall by the wayside.

"The country [Iraq] is still in need [of U.S.] intelligence and military capabilities," Mohammed Salam, a Sunni government employee in Baghdad, said last month [AP]. "The Iraqi government should have kept some several thousands of U.S. troops in order to help Iraq forces maintain a reasonable level of security."

Nevertheless, despite the resurgence of Al Qaeda and the recent surge of violence across the country, President Obama has been gloating on the campaign stump about his disastrous Iraq policy.

Par for the course........

DC gunman: "I don't like your (right-wing) politics!"

The man charged Thursday in the shooting of a building manager at the Washington headquarters of the Family Research Council, told the manager "I don't like your politics" before wounding him, according to an affidavit filed in the case on Thursday.

The Family Research Council, a conservative think tank, is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion. The DC gunman, Floyd Corkins, had recently been volunteering at a Washington gay and lesbian community center.

Mr. Corkins was carrying 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches in his backpack, along with a 9mm handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition, when he entered the building.

Surveillance video showed Corkins pulling out a gun from his backpack and shooting the building manager, Leo Johnson, in the arm. Mr. Johnson, who also doubles as a security guard, wrestled the gun from Corkins and subdued him.

Johnson was unarmed at the time of the shooting and he was not wearing a uniform.

It wasn't immediately clear what the gunman intended to do with the 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches.

The Family Research Council spoke out last month in support of Dan Cathy, president of the Chick-fil-A chain, after Cathy made comments in support of traditional marriage.

"We are very much supportive of the family, the biblical definition of the family unit," said Cathy.

The left went berserk and attacked Mr. Cathy for making a seemingly benign statement in support of traditional marriage.

Obama: Actually, my mother-in-law has more charisma than Bo - Davenport, Iowa - campaign event

President Obama addressed a crowd of supporters at a campaign rally in Davenport, Iowa on Wednesday. The President, who was introduced to the audience by his wife, Michelle, said that the First Lady was a tough act to follow: "Because let's face it, on the charisma rankings in my household, you got her [Michelle]; the girls; Bo; and then my mother-in-law and then me" [laughter]... The President quickly added, "Actually my mother-in-law-is before Bo..."

Question: How is it even possible for Bo to have more charisma than the President?

See the video below for the answer......

Sean Hannity: Why is Obama turning a blind eye to his half-brother George Obama?

Fox News [and radio talk show] host, Sean Hannity, on Monday, discussed at length the dire situation of Barack Obama's half-brother, George Hussein Onyango Obama, who lives a life of extreme poverty in a hut on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. George Obama has not received any assistance from his brother [Barack].

When George Obama was asked why the President seems indifferent to his plight and why he isn't helping him, he brushed aside the question. When asked how the President's apathy towards him comports with recent declarations the President has made at various campaign events stating that, "we are our brother's keeper", George Obama replied, "Go ask him."

Obama: "I'm looking for a campaign contribution" - Boone, Iowa, campaign event

Speaking at a campaign event in Boone, Iowa on Monday, President Obama addressed a wealthy member of the audience. "I'm looking for a campaign contribution," he said.

The Obama campaign recently asked the President's supporters to forgo their birthday, wedding and anniversary gifts and to ask their friends to donate money to the Obama campaign in lieu of giving them the gifts.

Everything is hunky-dory in Afghanistan

From the AP:

Two Afghan soldiers tried to gun down a group of NATO troops outside a military base in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said. No international forces were killed, but one of the attackers was killed as NATO forces shot back.

It was the second apparent attack by Afghan forces on their international counterparts this week. On Tuesday, two gunmen wearing Afghan army uniforms killed a U.S. soldier and wounded two others in Paktia province...

So far this year, 27 coalition service members have been killed in 20 green-on-blue attacks, according to an Associated Press tally. [Other news sources have reported a higher number of green-on-blue casualties. ] That compares with 11 fatal [green-on-blue] attacks and 20 deaths the previous year.

In 2007 and 2008, there were a combined total of four [green-on-blue] attacks and four deaths.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan have escalated dramatically since President Obama took office, responsibility for the country's security - according to Obama's current plans - will be handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces by the middle of 2013. And all International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) troops will be withdrawn from combat operations by the end of 2014.

However, the Telegraph-UK offers up some additional cautionary notes:

[British] Military commanders have warned the [British] Prime Minister [David Cameron] that Afghanistan’s future could be jeopardised with al-Qaeda returning to the country if foreign troops are withdrawn too quickly.

British commanders believe that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), the Army and police, are not yet fully capable of taking over from international forces...

Mr Cameron has now been advised that there are significant fears over the quality and ability of Afghan troops, who are supposed to gradually take over control from ISAF (International Security and Assistance Force) soldiers next year.

Concerns over the ANA have been growing, and aired in public before. But the move to inform Mr Cameron of fears over the ANA’s performance shows just how seriously they are being taken at the highest level by the [British] military - and also that any move to speed up withdrawal would be resisted by senior officers...

One source said: “The Afghan Army is not going to be ready to take the lead in operations next year, that is certain..."...

One particular concern [out of many] is that there are desertions not just because soldiers are going home, but because they are changing sides to the Taliban, taking with them arms and expertise gained in training.

In the case of the cadre of 40 police who changed sides in Bagdis, in the north-west of Afghanistan, the whole unit had been created by a US initiative in 2010 during the peak of the war to help ISAF coalition and Afghan troops prevent the influence and spread of the insurgency...

However, it should also be noted that despite these reservations, and despite assertions from the leaders of the Senate and House intelligence committees [Senator Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike Rogers] - upon returning from from a recent fact-finding trip to Afghanistan - that the Taliban is even stronger now than it was before Mr. Obama ordered the U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan [in 2009], the President has proclaimed on numerous occasions that the Taliban's momentum has been blunted and that the Taliban is weaker. And he would never utter a falsehood to the American people - certainly not in an election year........

Obama attack ads against Mitt Romney getting lower and lower by the day

The onslaught of vicious and negative attack ads targeting Mitt Romney appear to be reaching new lows each and every day.

The latest attack ad blames the death of a woman - who succumbed to an illness - on Mr. Romney. The heinous and abhorrent ad, unbefitting of even the lowest of the low, is based upon outright and shameful lies. But sadly, the Obama campaign continues to propagate and to support these venomous and despicable lies.

Apparently, all tactics are legit, no matter how loathsome and despicable they are, as long as they enable the President to retain his throne.

Jay Carney: I have not seen the ad, if you ask me tomorrow, I'll assess it, I won't assess it, I'll be evasive

White House Press briefing - August 7, 2012 - CNN White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, asks WH Press Secretary Jay Carney about a newly released attack ad that blames Mitt Romney for the death of a woman who had succumbed to an illness. The ad is low and despicable; it is also based on outright and deliberate lies.

Carney: I have not seen the ad... I can't comment on that when I haven't seen it.

Keilar: Will you look at it and then let me know?

Carney: By all means, ask me tomorrow. I said, I'm simply saying that I have not seen this, so how could I possibly assess it without seeing it?

Keilar: But you can -- will you assess it later?

Carney: If you ask me tomorrow, sure.

CNN White House correspondent, Brianna Keilar, appearing on CNN [August 7, 2012] after the press briefing, had this to say:

I followed up with Carney after the briefing and he told me that he may look at the ad, but if I ask about it, "my assessment will be 'I have no assessment'." This is kind of a case of a Super PAC being able to do the dirty work and the campaign and the candidate, and in this case the White House, trying to keep its hands clean.

White House Press briefing - August 8, 2012:

Q: Jay, I wanted to follow up on a question from the briefing yesterday. You said you’d get back to us [today] on your assessment of the ad and whether it was appropriate.

Jay Carney: Well, I’ll simply say that I haven’t seen the ad but I have read about it... I still haven’t seen the ad. I’ve read about it.

REWIND and REVIEW - August 7, 2012:

Keilar: Will you assess it later?

Carney: If you ask me tomorrow, sure.

Brianna Keilar, appearing on CNN [August 7, 2012] after the press briefing:

"I followed up with Carney after the briefing and he told me that he may look at the ad, but if I ask about it, "my assessment will be 'I have no assessment'." This is kind of a case of a Super PAC being able to do the dirty work and the campaign and the candidate, and in this case the White House, trying to keep its hands clean."

White House Press briefing - August 8, 2012:

Q: Jay, I wanted to follow up on a question from the briefing yesterday. You said you’d get back to us [today] on your assessment of the ad and whether it was appropriate.

Jay Carney: Well, I’ll simply say that I haven’t seen the ad but I have read about it... I still haven’t seen the ad. I’ve read about it.

Obama denying Americans the same preventive health care he receives

President Obama - Campaign event - Denver, Colorado - August 8, 2012:

"Now, let me tell you something, Denver..., I don’t think politicians should control the care that you get. I think there's one person to make these decisions on health care, and that is you. You should make that decision...

"Mr. Romney... says he’s the candidate of freedom. But freedom is the chance, the opportunity to determine for yourself the care that you need, when you need it...

"You know, my own mom would have been 70 years old this year. And my sister and I lost her... when she was just 52 years old... And I often think about what might have happened if a doctor had caught her [disease] sooner...

"Nobody should be able to tell their daughters or sons that the decisions they can and cannot make for themselves are constrained because of some politicians in Washington..."

From the American Spectator:

President Obama... has been availing himself of medical tests his HHS apparatchiks won't approve for payment if Medicare patients receive them.

In his routine physicals, for example, he has taken advantage of a state-of the art test... commonly known as a virtual colonoscopy (CTC)] [in which] the patient [is not exposed to] the potential risks associated with traditional colonoscopy... A good call by Obama and his doctors. Unfortunately for Medicare patients, his HHS apparatchiks have decreed that Medicare patients will not enjoy the same quality of care.

In 2009, the government's health care bureaucrats decided, "The evidence is inadequate to conclude that CT colonography is an appropriate screening test." Somehow, though, the evidence was convincing enough for the President's doctors to recommend it. And the chief medical officer of the ACS said at the time, "Virtual colonoscopy, or CT colonography, ought to be available as one of several options..." So, if it's good enough for the leader of the free world, why isn't it good enough for Medicare patients?....

Take a moment to consider that. The President of the United States, a public servant paid by the taxpayers, followed the advice of his taxpayer-paid doctors that he should have a taxpayer-paid CTC. Yet his health care commissars, also paid by taxpayers, have decreed that that it is too expensive to provide this very test to actual taxpayers when they retire and sign up for the Medicare program for which they have been paying all their working lives. This perverse system, it should be remembered, is not merely presided over but taken advantage of by a man who incessantly lectures these very taxpayers about "fairness."

[Similarly], Paul Hsieh, a practicing radiologist and proponent of free-market health care, recently reported more of the same in a Forbes column titled, "Is the President's Prostate Gland More Important Than Yours?" Writing that Obama chose to have a PSA test when he turned 50, Hsieh points out that others may not have that option once Obamacare is implemented: "ObamaCare empowers the government U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) to determine which preventive health services are medically appropriate."

Does the USPSTF sound familiar? It should. It's the bevy of Beltway bureaucrats who recommended restricting screening mammograms to women over age 50. The uproar caused by that proposal caused such a headache for the people trying to pass Obamacare that HHS Commissar Sebelius was eventually forced to partially walk it back. But this bureaucracy is still animated by an affinity for rationing. And, as Hsieh writes, this affinity isn't limited to preventive care for women: This year, the Task Force aroused controversy by giving a 'D' grade to routine PSA tests [and recommending against taking the tests.]

Which means that PSA tests will almost certainly not be covered by Obamacare.

"I don’t think politicians should control the care that you get. I think there's one person to make these decisions on health care, and that is you. You should make that decision...

"Freedom is the chance, the opportunity to determine for yourself the care that you need, when you need it..."
President Obama - August 8, 2012

Mitt Romney: It's time for Harry Reid to "put up or shut up"

Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, Wednesday asserted that Mitt Romney "didn't pay taxes for 10 years." Reid added, "Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain..."

On Thursday, Mr. Reid said that he was told by "an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for 10 years." Reid added, "People who make as much money as Mitt Romney have many tricks at their disposal to avoid paying taxes."

Mr. Reid took to the Senate floor Thursday and declared that, "The word's out that he (Romney) hasn't paid any taxes for 10 years."

In a radio interview with Sean Hannity on Thursday, Mr. Romney said it's time for "Harry to put up or shut up."

"Harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because, of course, that's totally and completely wrong," Romney said. "It's untrue, dishonest and inaccurate. So I'm looking forward to have Harry reveal his sources and we'll probably find out it's the White House."

Heh.....

Obama supporters sing 'happy birthday dear President' - Orlando Florida, Rollins College, campaign event

Obama supporters serenaded the president with a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' during a campaign event Wednesday at Rollins College in Orlando Florida. The President will turn 51 on Saturday.

Why does Obama need a teleprompter, or written notes, if he's repeating the same speeches?

From the Washington Examiner:

President Obama spoke to supporters in Florida this afternoon, but was careful to stick to his script, relying heavily on his teleprompters.

The president campaigned without teleprompters last month, when he made his controversial "you didn't build that" remark about business owners.

A campaign aide explained last week that Obama's slip up wouldn't change the campaign's teleprompter strategy.

“The attempts by the Romney campaign to make this into their rallying cry haven’t changed anything,” said a senior campaign official to the Hill, adding that Obama “has done events without a teleprompter since then.”

The Hill noted in mid July that, at recent campaign events, "Obama spoke to crowds... without his teleprompter, instead using written notes."

The Hill added that, "Team Obama thinks the switch, or partial switch — the president is not giving up the teleprompter entirely — will help him better connect with voters."

It is mindboggling, though, that Obama would even need a teleprompter, or written notes for that matter, while speaking at campaign events - since every speech is nearly identical, almost word for word.

Every 2 or 3 weeks, the President makes some changes to his speeches, but during a 2 or 3 week span - where he typically speaks at a couple of campaign events a day - he repeats the same exact themes, anecdotes, barbs etc., almost word for word.

Why in the world does he need a teleprompter, or written notes?