It’s Monday, June 24th, 2013…but before we begin, submitted for your perusal, two short video clips shot by our youngest son Travis as he headed out late Saturday night to meet some friends:

Travis ended up taking the sweet little thing about 60′ into the woods where he’d heard its presumed mother snorting and stamping.  When he came back by on his way home around 0230 Sunday morning, the fawn was gone, presumably with its mother; but as Morbid Bill Meisen mentioned…

…maybe not!

Regardless, here’s The Gouge!

First up, courtesy of Jeff Foutch and the WaPo, a brilliant piece by George Will, who puts into proper perspective the precipitous plunge of an Administration once thought unsinkable: 

Obama hits a wall in Berlin

 

The question of whether Barack Obama’s second term will be a failure was answered in the affirmative before his Berlin debacle, which has recast the question, which now is: Will this term be silly, even scary in its detachment from reality?

Before Berlin, Obama set his steep downward trajectory by squandering the most precious post-election months on gun-control futilities and by a subsequent storm of scandals that have made his unvarying project — ever bigger, more expansive, more intrusive and more coercive government — more repulsive. Then came Wednesday’s pratfall in Berlin.

There he vowed energetic measures against global warming (“the global threat of our time”). The 16-year pause of this warming was not predicted by, and is not explained by, the climate models for which, in his strange understanding of respect for science, he has forsworn skepticism.

Regarding another threat, he spoke an almost meaningless sentence that is an exquisite example of why his rhetoric cannot withstand close reading: “We may strike blows against terrorist networks, but if we ignore the instability and intolerance that fuels extremism, our own freedom will eventually be endangered.” So, “instability and intolerance” are to blame for terrorism? Instability where? Intolerance of what by whom “fuels” terrorists? Terrorism is a tactic of destabilization. Intolerance is, for terrorists, a virtue.

It is axiomatic: Arms control is impossible until it is unimportant. This is because arms control is an arena of competition in which nations negotiate only those limits that advance their interests. Nevertheless, Obama trotted out another golden oldie in Berlin when he vowed to resuscitate the cadaver of nuclear arms control with Russia. As though Russia’s arsenal is a pressing problem. And as though there is reason to think President Vladimir Putin, who calls the Soviet Union’s collapse “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” is interested in reducing the arsenal that is the basis of his otherwise Third World country’s claim to great-power status.

Shifting his strange focus from Russia’s nuclear weapons, Obama said “we can . . . reject the nuclear weaponization that North Korea and Iran may be seeking.” Were Obama given to saying such stuff off the cuff, this would be a good reason for handcuffing him to a teleprompter. But, amazingly, such stuff is put on his teleprompter and, even more amazing, he reads it aloud.

Neither the people who wrote those words nor he who spoke them can be taken seriously. North Korea and Iran may be seeking nuclear weapons? North Korea may have such weapons. Evidently Obama still entertains doubts that Iran is seeking them.

In Northern Ireland before going to Berlin, Obama sat next to Putin, whose demeanor and body language when he is in Obama’s presence radiate disdain. There Obama said: “With respect to Syria, we do have differing perspectives on the problem, but we share an interest in reducing the violence.” Differing perspectives?

Obama wants to reduce the violence by coaxing Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who is winning the war, to attend a conference at which he negotiates the surrender of his power. Putin wants to reduce the violence by helping — with lavish materiel assistance and by preventing diplomacy that interferes — Assad complete the destruction of his enemies.

Napoleon said: “If you start to take Vienna — take Vienna.” Douglas MacArthur said that all military disasters can be explained by two words: “Too late.” Regarding Syria, Obama is tentative and, if he insists on the folly of intervening, tardy. He is giving Putin a golden opportunity to humiliate the nation responsible for the “catastrophe.” In a contest between a dilettante and a dictator, bet on the latter.

Obama’s vanity is a wonder of the world that never loses its power to astonish, but really: Is everyone in his orbit too lost in raptures of admiration to warn him against delivering a speech soggy with banalities and bromides in a city that remembers John Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” and Ronald Reagan’s “Tear down this wall”? With German Chancellor Angela Merkel sitting nearby, Obama began his Berlin speech: “As I’ve said, Angela and I don’t exactly look like previous German and American leaders.” He has indeed said that, too, before, at least about himself. It was mildly amusing in Berlin in 2008, but hardly a Noel Coward-like witticism worth recycling.

His look is just not that interesting. And after being pointless in Berlin, neither is he, other than for the surrealism of his second term.

In a related item, Victor Davis Hanson, writing at Townhall.com, chronicles the most accute consequence of Team Tick-Tock’s criminally-corrupt conduct:

When Untruth Undermines Democracy

 

Truth is the lifeblood of democracy. Without honesty, the foundations of consensual government crumble.

If the Internal Revenue Service acts unlawfully, our voluntary system of citizens computing their own taxes implodes. Yet Lois Lerner, one of the IRS’s top officials, would not answer simple questions about her agency’s conduct during congressional testimony, instead pleading the Fifth Amendment. Any taxpayer who tried that with an IRS auditor would end up fined and in court.

Almost everything that IRS officials have reported about the agency’s unlawful targeting of conservative groups has proven false. IRS malfeasance was not limited only to the Cincinnati office, as alleged, but followed directives sent from higher-ups in Washington. Lerner confessed to the scandal only through a pre-planned public query by a planted questioner, designed to pre-empt an upcoming critical inspector general’s report. There is legitimate dispute over both the number and purpose of former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman’s visits to the White House and nearby executive office buildings, but he did his credibility no good by snidely remarking to Congress that he might also have visited for an Easter egg roll with his kids.

Attorney General Eric Holder – who’s already been held in contempt by the House for declining to turn over internal Justice Department documents for the “Fast and Furious” scandal — swore to Congress that he had no knowledge of any effort to go after individual reporters. But Holder had earlier done just that, signing off on a search warrant to monitor the communications of Fox reporter James Rosen. In other words, the attorney general of the United States under oath misled — or lied to — Congress.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was recently asked by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) whether the National Security Agency collected the phone and email records of millions of ordinary Americans. Clapper said that it did not. That, too, was an untruth. Clapper’s supporters argued that Wyden should not have asked such a sensitive question in public that threatened the secrecy of the program. But Clapper did not demur or request a closed session, instead finding it easier to deceive, later dubbing his response as the “least untruthful” answer possible.

Washington reporters and spin doctors argue whether newly appointed National Security Advisor Susan Rice knowingly lied when she wove a yarn about a single video-maker being responsible for spontaneous violence that led to the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi. Yet no one disputes that her televised fables — as well as those of both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — were untrue, and demonstrably so, at the time. Yet Rice was promoted, not censured, following her performance.

Last November, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked point-blank whether the administration had altered CIA-produced intelligence memos to fit the administration narrative of a spontaneous riot in Benghazi. Carney answered unequivocally that the administration had made only one stylistic change. That, too, was not accurate. In fact, there were at least 12 different drafts that reflected substantial ongoing changes by the administration of the original CIA talking points.

Former EPA Director Lisa Jackson created a fake email identity — “Richard Windsor” — to conduct official business off the record. But Jackson did not just stop with that ruse. She turned Richard Windsor into an entirely mythical persona, her own alter ego who supposedly took online tests and was given awards by the EPA — a veritable Jackson doppelganger who was certified as “a scholar of ethical behavior” by no less than the agency that the unethical Jackson oversaw.

Deception is now institutionalized in the Obama administration. It infects almost every corner of the U.S. government, eroding the trust necessary for the IRS, the Department of Justice, our security agencies, and the president’s official press communiqués — sabotaging the public trust required for democracy itself.

What went wrong with the Obama administration?

There is no longer a traditional adversarial media in Washington. Spouses and siblings of executives at the major television networks are embedded within the administration. Unlike with Watergate, the media now holds back, believing that any hard-hitting reporting of ongoing scandals would only weaken Obama, whose vision of America the vast majority of reporters share. But that understood exemption only encourages more lack of candor.

There is also utopian arrogance in Washington that justifies any means necessary to achieve exalted ends of supposed fairness and egalitarianism. If one has to lie to stop the Tea Party or Fox News, then it is not quite seen by this administration as a lie.

Barack Obama swept up an entire nation in 2008 with his hope-and-change promises of a new honesty and transparency. That dream is now in shambles, destroyed by the most untruthful cast since Richard Nixon, H.R. Haldeman, Ron Ziegler and John Dean left Washington in disgrace almost 40 years ago — after likewise subverting the very government they had pledged to serve.

Only B. Hussein could make Jimmy Carter look presidential…

…and Tricky Dick honest.

So what does a dissembling Socialist do when neck-deep in scandals at home and failed foreign policies abroad?  As today’s installment of the Environmental Moment details, equivocate…dissimulate…obfuscate; or…

Obama to Launch Major Global Warming Effort

 

But be prepared; when this latest bid at misdirection fails, he’ll only have one card left to play:

Then again, from Obama’s perspective, why not offer one more incredibly toxic cure for yet another imaginary illness?!?  After all, it’s not like he can make the economy any worse!

On second thought, we take that back:

Obama administration cuts back oil shale development

 

Controversy is heating up over an administration plan to drastically reduce the amount of federal lands available for oil shale development in the American West. The Bush administration had set aside 1.3 million acres for oil shale and tar sands development  in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The new Bureau of Land Management plan cuts that amount by two-thirds, down to 700,000 acres, a decision that has prompted industry outrage.

“What they basically did was make it so that nobody is going to want to spend money going after oil shale on federal government lands,” said Dan Kish, Senior Vice President of Institute for Energy Research.

Which is EXACTLY what…

…he wants!  Wake up, America…and smell the high price of gas!  After all, it’s not like Der Obamao’s ever gonna pay to fill up his tank!

Next up, The New Media Journal reveals the lie behind the Gang of Eight’s immigration “reform”:

Israel Builds Sinai Border Fence; Illegal Crossings Drop 99.9%

 

“Uhhh…I need another drink!”

Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted the success of a new border fence that Israel built along its boundary with Egypt to stop illegal infiltrators. In a statement posted at his government website, Netanyahu reported that illegal crossings had declined 99.9%, from 2,000 per month to only two.

“The fence that we built in the south is achieving the result for which it was erected,” Netanyahu said. “As opposed to the over 2,000 infiltrators who entered Israel exactly one year ago and dispersed to various cities, in May 2013 exactly two infiltrators crossed the border and were detained. Now we need to focus on repatriating the illegal infiltrators who are here, and we will meet this task as well.”

The main, 144-mile section of the fence was completed in early 2013, according to a January report by the Wall Street Journal. It is sixteen feet high and includes “barbed wire, surveillance cameras and radar.” By comparison, the US-Mexico border is roughly 2,000 miles long, and only about a third is fenced off. The Israeli fence’s construction was accelerated due to security concerns in the years since Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak left power, leaving a vacuum eventually filled by a Muslim Brotherhood government.

Not that Marco Rubio could ever back such a fence; after all, it’s doubtful the Israelis got the infiltrators to pay for it.

And since we’re on the subject of the lies at the heart of the Senate’s disastrous immigration dodge, here’s two more you can add to the list.  First…

Repackaged Amnesty Bill Allows Napolitano to Nix Border Fence

 

Another loophole inserted into the new version of the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill allows Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (or any of her successors) to nix the construction of a required border security fence if she does not find it to be an “appropriate” use of resources…

…This could allow illegal aliens to be granted amnesty, or legalized “Registered Provisional Immigration (RPI)” status, once Secretary Napolitano submits a fencing (and border security) plan to Congress. However, this provision allows Napolitano to decide against building the fence after doing so, with no legal ramifications.

Second…

Corker Amendment Permanently Offers Citizenship to Those Overstaying Their Visas

 

So why have any border security or immigration restrictions whatsoever?!?

Just as public anxiety about the weak border security provisions in the Senate immigration bill was building, GOP Sen. Bob Corker stepped forward with an amendment to “fix” the problem. The result of his efforts, however, has been a “Christmas tree” measure, covering items far beyond border security. Breitbart News has learned exclusively that one provision of Corker’s amendment will allow workers who stay in the country past their visa will remain on the “path to citizenship.”

Even in the future, breaking the law won’t stop progress on what VP Joe Biden calls the “unfettered path” to citizenship.

Anyway you add it up, this bill makes no sense whatsoever for the average American; but it provides a veritable cornucopia of benefits to those sworn to act on our behalf…along with their corporate sponsors.

But if you don’t believe us, maybe you’ll heed the words of a once-rising star of the Republican Party uttered before he fell from the firmanent: 

On the Lighter Side…

And in the Entertainment Section, courtesy of George Lawlor, Chris Matthews demonstrates why he’s a complete stranger to the truth…even when the subject is fiction:

Chris Matthews gushes over ‘The Newsroom,’ fails to disclose he’s a paid contributor

 

As the Diceman said, “Are your names Neil and Bob, or is that just what you do?!?”

Actor Jeff Daniels, star of the HBO political drama series “The Newsroom,” appeared on Chris Matthews’ “Hardball” show on MSNBC on Thursday. During the interview, Matthews expressed his admiration for the Aaron Sorkin drama, in which Daniels plays anchor Will McAvoy. “It’s the most organic show I’ve ever watched, it seems to come out of itself every week, it seems to grow like a human being,” Matthews enthused. “That’s what makes it so unpredictable and so fascinating to people.”

The news host went on to praise the cast, including Emily Mortimer and Jane Fonda, before closing out that they keys to the show are “honesty” and giving audiences “something to take away.”

Matthews happily mentioned his son Thomas has an acting role on the show, but what he failed to disclose is that he is also a paid contributor. The Hollywood Reporter revealed this week that the MSNBC host, along with the likes of former CNN president Rick Kaplan and anchor Ashleigh Banfield, cash “Newsroom” checks.

“Matthews hilariously praised the show’s ‘honesty’ during his five-and-a-half minutes with Daniels, but never once did he admit that he is one of the 13 paid consultants working ‘to make season two as realistic as possible,'” said Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture at the Media Research Center. “Apparently, Matthews never heard that honesty is the best policy.”

Finally, we’ll call it a day with the Educated Idiots segment, aka, This Apple Didn’t Fall Far From the Tree, brought to us by Bill Meisen:

Chelsea Clinton Laments: My Great Grandmother Did Not Have Access to Planned Parenthood

 

If teeth…or butts…were brains, she’d have figured out the inherent flaw in here stupendously stupid statement before it ever passed her lips.

Magoo