Obama administration: We're "clear-eyed" about Iran, we were "clear-eyed" about Benghazi threat

President Obama explained his decision to reach out to Iran's new President, Hassan Rouhani. "It is our preference to resolve these issues [concerning nuclear weapons] diplomatically," Mr. Obama told reporters on Monday. "But," he added, "we enter into these negotiations very clear-eyed."

Likewise, Hillary Clinton told lawmakers, earlier this year, during a congressional hearing on Benghazi: "We were clear-eyed about the threats and the dangers as they were developing in Eastern Libya, and in Benghazi [in the months prior to the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate]."

It goes without saying that Hillary's comments raised eyebrows.

One man's ObamaCare nightmare!

From Fox News:

Andy and Amy Mangione of Louisville, Ky. and their two boys are just the kind of people who should be helped by ObamaCare. But they recently got a nasty surprise in the mail... from [their] insurance carrier. (The letter said), "your action required, benefit changes, act now."...

It had stunning news. Insurance for the Mangiones and their two boys,which they bought on the individual market, was going to almost triple in 2014 --- from $333 a month to $965.

The insurance carrier made it clear the increase was in order to be compliant with the new health care law.

"This isn't a Cadillac plan, this isn't even a silver plan," Andy Mangione said, referring to higher levels of coverage under ObamaCare.

"This is a high deductible plan where I'm assuming a lot of risk for my health insurance for my family. And nothing has changed, our boys are healthy-- they're young --my wife is healthy. I'm healthy, nothing in our medical history has changed to warrant a tripling of our premiums.

"Well I'm the one that does the budget,” said his wife. "Eventually I've got that coming down the pike that I gotta figure out what we're gonna cut what we're gonna do, to afford a $1,000 a month premium."

Their insurance company, Humana, declined to comment, but the notice to the Mangiones carried this paragraph:

"If your policy premium increased, you should know this isn't unique to Humana -- premium increases generally will occur industry-wide.

"Increases aren't based on your individual claims or changes in health status," it continued. "Many other factors go in to your premium including: ACA compliance, including the addition of new essential health benefits."

ACA, of course, is the abbreviation for the President's new law, the Affordable Care Act -- which for the Mangiones will be anything but affordable because the law adds a new tax on every insurance policy and requires a list of additional benefits the Mangiones didn’t want to pay for.

Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for American Health Insurance Plans, which represents insurers,explained that "for people who currently choose to purchase a high deductible, low premium policy that's more affordable for them, they are now being required to add all these new benefits to their policy.

That," he says, "is also going to add to the cost of their health insurance premiums."...

Syria: Kerry, Lavrov, the Translator [translation], :"Hello?", "Hello?" - Assad and Obama - Geneva

Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, held a joint press conference in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday before sitting down to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. Mr. Lavrov concluded the press conference with a few final remarks. But Mr. Kerry said that he had lost some of the translation. When Kerry asked the translator to repeat the end of Lavrov's remarks, he did not receive an immediate response. "Hello?" Mr. Kerry said to the translator. "Hello?" the translator replied.

Mr. Lavrov then interjected and reassured Mr. Kerry that, "It was OK, John, don't worry."

Yep, nothing to worry about, John, everything is going to be hunky dory, dandy, just fine......

Obama falsely maligns George W. Bush in Syria address

During his address to the nation on Tuesday to explain his bumbling and incoherent policy on Syria, President Obama once again chose to engage in his favorite diversion tactic and his preferred pastime: falsely maligning his predecessor.

Mr. Obama suggested that George W. Bush went to war in Afghanistan, and Iraq, without congressional authorization. In truth, unlike Mr. Obama, who circumvented congress when he took military action in Libya, and nearly bypassed congress on Syria - while failing to garner significant global support for his actions - Mr. Bush received overwhelming congressional approval and formed a large international coalition to join the U.S. in its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But sadly, Obama obsessively spends every waking hour falsely maligning Mr. Bush in the hope that this will distract the American people and divert their attention from the failed Obama Presidency. [Hello Benghazi!]

Afghanistan: At least four killed, 120 civilians injured in Taliban attack on Afghan National Directorate of Security headquarters

At least four Afghan intelligence officers were killed and 120 civilians were injured Sunday in a suicide bomb attack and an ensuing gun battle between Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces at the compound of the National Directorate for Security (NDS) [the Afghan intelligence headquarters] in Maidan Shahr, the capital of Wardak province in Afghanistan.

While U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan wind down operations and hand over security responsibility to the Afghan security forces, in accordance with President Obama's exit strategy, the first half of 2013 has seen a 23 percent increase in Afghan civilian casualties compared to the same period last year, according to a U.N. report.

Related post, January 13, 2013: With Obama's 2014 deadline approaching, Afghans fleeing their homeland