It’s Friday, August 9th, 2013…but before we begin, two headlines which beg the question inquiring minds would love to hear the MSM pose:

Al Qaeda Yemen Branch Plot Prompted U.S. Alert

 

White House Says Obama Still Wants To Release Gitmo Prisoners Back To Yemen

 

Instead, they’re asking about anything and everything which might aid in deflecting the public’s attention away from this dimwitted dilettante’s mushrooming scandals, mishandling of the economy and amateurish foreign policy.

Now, here’s The Gouge!

First up, another terror-related…er,…”workplace violence”-related item, as we present Hope ‘n Change‘s thoughts on the only economics The Obamao appears to understand:

Prophet and Loss Statement

 

In an opening statement at his military trial, Fort Hood terrorist Nidal Hassan – who is presenting his own defense – said that he is a “mujahideen,” and that “the evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter. The dead bodies will show that war is an ugly thing.”

In response, the prosecution said “no further evidence,” after which a firing squad composed of recovering Fort Hood survivors stood, took aim with their rifles, then blew Hassan into the land of imaginary virgins.

Just kidding, of course. Although the scenario above makes perfect sense to Hope n’ Change, the reality is that the trial is expected to take at least a month, and perhaps several months – during which time Hassan will denigrate the United States, our military, Fort Hood, and his multiple victims (some of whom he’s actually calling to the stand), while praising radical, militant Islam and the glories of executing his fellow soldiers in the name of Allah. (All to the greater glory of The Anointed One!)

One thing is certain: that blood flowed in no small part because this president has made it clear that he won’t tolerate “discrimination” against Muslims, including those who print business cards that say “Soldier of Allah,” and who give Powerpoint presentations describing the way they’ll behead infidels and pour boiling oil down their throats.

Put another way, Benghazi was only the tip of the iceberg: Obama has already given the “stand down” order for our military to protect itself from the Nidal Hassan’s of this world.

Perhaps another trial is in order to find out why.

And we can name any number of senior political and military “leaders”, past and present, who deserve to be in the dock with him.

In a related item, courtesy of Balls Cotton, Conservative Report Online offers up what is unquestionably a potential…

Benghazi Bombshell: Valerie Jarrett, Commander in Chief

 

Confidential sources close to Conservative Report have confirmed that Valerie Jarrett was the key decision-maker for the administration, the night of the Benghazi terrorist attack on 9/11/2012. The chronology of the evening of 9/11 are as follows:

At approximately 5 PM Washington time, reports came in through secure-channels that Special Mission Benghazi was under attack. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey summoned the President,and briefed him on the crisis, face to face.

Subsequent to that brief meeting, President Obama proceeded to the White House to dine in his living quarters.

After supper, Barack Obama had a telephone conference scheduled with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior Advisor to the President, Valerie Jarrett was present for that conference, which was held due to problems the President was having with the perception of him snubbing Netanyahu in previous, formal encounters.

The telephone call between Obama and Netanyahu carried on for a full two-hours, creating the appearance of respect between the two world leaders.

As that meeting drew to a close, Ms. Jarrett, who is also the Assistant to the President for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, went from the living quarters to the White House Situation Room, where the attack in Benghazi was being monitored by Dempsey, Panetta and other top-ranking officials.

Whether she was instructed by the President to go there, or if she went of her own volition, is only known by the President and herself.

A critical question that needed to be answered, and the sole military-order that could have launched offensive-actions, neutralizing the Ansar al Sharia terrorists attacks on the Mission (the purpose of which is detailed here) and its subsequent attacks on the adjacent CIA Annex, was the issuance of “Cross Border Authority”, an order that can only be issued by the Commander in Chief, himself.

As was reported earlier by Conservative Report, Cross Border Authority was denied.

Two revelations are deeply troubling:

First, it is reported that an Army Special Forces team was present with an AC-130U Spooky (also known as a Spectre Gunship) on the tarmac at the airport in Tripoli, Libya. The Spooky is a technologically sophisticated, tactical aircraft, operated by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command.

It operates under the overall Special Operations Command stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, which is reportedly in charge of all military special operations units, including: Army Special Forces, Navy SEALS, Rangers and certain Marine units, as well as the USAF AC-130Us, and “stealth Blackhawks,” used in the Bin Laden raid.

The AC-130U Spooky is equipped with weapons that sync with laser-designators, like those that Woods, Doherty and Ubben had on that lonely rooftop above the CIA Annex. The laser-designator was used to “paint” the mortar targets during the attack, subsequently claiming the lives of Woods and Doherty, and leaving Ubben without a leg. Had the AC-130U been on station, over the CIA Annex in Benghazi, moments before the mortar rounds were fired, instead of “awaiting further instructions,” the entire outcome of the Benghazi fiasco would have been different.

Add to that, a team of Green Berets on the ground to secure and/or evacuate the Annex, and the outcome would have been two SEALS still alive, and a mess of dead terrorists.

The second, and most troubling aspect of the refusal to issue Cross Border Authority is, who issued the refusal. Rather than the President, the Commander In Chief, making critical decisions, granting or denying the authority to initiate offensive-actions in support of our valiant fighting men, the decision not to take action was made by a person, to whom the people did not elect, nor did the Congress have confirmation power over. The military-order, not to initiate action, saving our men in Benghazi, was issued by the President’s Advisor, Valerie Jarrett.

And this is a “phony” scandal?

Hey, what could go wrong?!? After all, this woman’s only real-world achievements highlights consist of being fired by the City of Chicago in connection with certain financial improprieties, hiring Michelle Robinson and introducing The First Marxists to the Chicago political elite.

As The Daily Caller queried well over a year ago:

Who is Valerie Jarrett?

 

“…Despite her lack of international experience and background in economics and fiscal policy, she is in many ways the de facto president. Against the advice of more seasoned advisers, Jarrett steers the president toward decisions that make our economy less robust and our nation less safe.”

“…In part, her influence stems from the fact that Jarrett is the president’s trusted watchdog. She protects the vainglorious and thin-skinned Obama from critics and complainers who might deflate his ego. No one gets past Jarrett and sees the president if they have a grievance, or a chip on their shoulder, or even an incompatible point of view. That goes for such high-profile supporters as Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy, who have been largely frozen out of the White House because Jarrett believes they would use the opportunity of a meeting with Obama to push their own competing agenda.”

Those with knowledge of Nazi Germany will recognize Jarrett’s playing the role of another sycophantic sidekick whose utter inexperience and obsession with power helped lead their country to ruin:

Martin Bormann.  Then again, at least Bormann had the trains running on time.

Next up, this week’s edition of “Where’s Obama?!?”, as we wonder when the nation’s first permanently AWOL President’s going to weigh in on real racial animus:

There’s no question why The Obamao’s AWOL on this one; after all, the facts don’t fit the Dimocratic narrative.  But the bus driver?  Ten’ll get you twenty had he actively intervened, and perchance injured one of the little angels (all of whom would have subsequently been portrayed looking like the son Obama never had), he’d have been slandered, sued and sacked.  Not to mention these three Trayvons might well have kicked his arse as well.

Meanwhile, the Socialist engineering which enables such conduct continues unabated:

Obama administration using housing department to compel diversity in neighborhoods

 

In a move some claim is tantamount to social engineering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is imposing a new rule that would allow the feds to track diversity in America’s neighborhoods and then push policies to change those it deems discriminatory. The policy is called, “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing.” It will require HUD to gather data on segregation and discrimination in every single neighborhood and try to remedy it.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan unveiled the federal rule at the NAACP convention in July. “Unfortunately, in too many of our hardest hit communities, no matter how hard a child or her parents work, the life chances of that child, even her lifespan, is determined by the zip code she grows up in. This is simply wrong,” he said. Data from this discrimination database would be used with zoning laws, housing finance policy, infrastructure planning and transportation to alleviate alleged discrimination and segregation.

Specifics of the proposed rule are lacking. Now published in the Federal Register and undergoing a 60-day comment period, the rule, “does not prescribe or enforce specific” policies.

But one critic says it smacks of utopian idealism. “This is just the latest of a series of attempts by HUD to social engineer the American people,” said Ed Pinto, of the American Enterprise Institute. “It started with public housing and urban renewal, which failed spectacularly back in the 50’s and 60’s. They tried it again in the 90’s when they wanted to transform house finance, do away with down payments, and the result was millions of foreclosures and financial collapse.”

After all, why stop when this, like practically every other Progressive program, worked so well…

…the first two times it was tried!

Here’s the juice: it comes down to diversity for thee, not…

…for me!  Which is why he chooses to vacation only where the ethnic component of the local citizenry approaches Joe Biden’s IQ.

Turning to the Sequestration Section, as Military Times reports, it’s amazing how much havoc can be blamed on a lousy across-the-board cut of less than 5%:

Navy to scrap submarine Miami

Repairs too costly under sequestration

In a move that will sadden and anger many submariners, the Navy has concluded the cost to repair the nuclear attack submarine Miami, severely damaged last year by an arsonist, is more than it can afford in an era where repair and maintenance funds are being slashed by mandated budget cuts. (And we wouldn’t want to see submariners angry!)

“The decision to inactivate Miami is a difficult one, taken after hard analysis and not made lightly,” Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, the Navy’s director of undersea warfare at the Pentagon, said in a statement released Tuesday evening. “We will lose the five deployments that Miami would have provided over the remaining ten years of her planned service life, but in exchange for avoiding the cost of repairs, we will open up funds to support other vital maintenance efforts, improving the wholeness and readiness of the fleet.”

The Navy last year estimated that repairs to the Los Angeles-class submarine would cost at least $450 million, and at least $94 million has been spent to plan the repair work. But after what a Navy official termed a “comprehensive damage assessment” conducted over the past year, the estimated repair costs have risen dramatically.

…The Miami was devastated by a fire that broke out late in the work day on May 23, 2012, while the submarine was in drydock at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine. Casey James Fury, 24, a civilian painter and sand blaster at the shipyard, was arrested after a three-week investigation and charged with arson. On Nov. 8 he pleaded guilty to the May 23 fire, and to a smaller fire set outside the submarine on June 16. He was sentenced on March 14 to more than 17 years in federal prison. He set the May 23 fire, he told authorities, because he was having an anxiety attack, wanted to leave work and had already used up his sick leave.

…Although many observers thought the damage would be fatal to the submarine, the Navy was determined to repair the ship. Privately, officials declared their resolve not to let an arsonist destroy a sophisticated and powerful warship.

How ’bout directing that steely resolve towards more effective employee evaluations and background checks?!?

As an aside, this reminds us of the time one of the enlisted men in VF-124 saw work as interfering with his participation in an intramural basketball game.  Petty Officer Einstein quickly determined if he blew the $300K+ canopy off an F-14A sitting in the hangar, he could call it a day and make the game.

He was half right…which is, incidentally, more than we can say of The Dear Misleader!

And in the Environmental Moment, the WSJ‘s Kimberly Strassel details Team Tick-Tock’s latest exercise in Environazi-inspired corporate cronyism:

Washington’s Latest Special Favor

Of the nation’s 143 refineries, one was exempted from the EPA’s ethanol mandate. Why?

 

For a glimpse at the secret, special-favors factory that Washington has become under President Obama, check out this week’s big news out of the Environmental Protection Agency. Or rather, look beyond the headlines to the corporate handout hidden within.

The big news was that the EPA issued—finally—its infamous annual quota for renewable fuels. That mandate tells the nation’s refineries how much renewable fuel (ethanol) must be blended annually into gasoline, a quota that is becoming a pernicious driver of gas prices. The EPA was supposed to release the 2013 quota last November but decided to leave the industry in panicked uncertainty until now.

The 89-page rule is dull reading, until you get to page 11. Tucked on that page is one short sentence, which reads: “EPA has approved a single small refinery/small refiner exemption for 2013, so an adjustment has been made to the standards to account for this exemption.” In English: Of the nation’s 143 refineries, one (and only one) lucky player somehow had the pull to win itself a free pass from this government burden. Not only that, the rest of the industry gets to pick up its slack.

An exemption is no small privilege. Congress, in its limited wisdom (and fealty to corn farmers), passed legislation in 2007 requiring that the U.S. use of renewable fuels increase to 36 billion gallons annually by 2022. This year’s EPA quota is 16.5 billion gallons, and the requirements keep ratcheting up even though U.S. gasoline use is falling.

This matters because for refineries to stuff ballooning amounts of ethanol into a static gas pool, they must blend it at levels of more than 10%. Since the nation’s auto makers have declared they will void the warranties of cars using gas with more than 10% ethanol, refineries face lawsuits. Most have instead turned to buying federal renewable “credits” to make up for the ethanol they don’t blend.

As demand for these credits skyrockets, so has the price—jumping from a few pennies a gallon last year to close to $1 a gallon today. Oil refiner Valero has said the credits could raise its cost by a stunning $750 million this year, a hit that will be passed on to consumers. PBF Energy just told investors that its disappointing second-quarter earnings were rooted in the mandate, noting that the $200 million it expects to fork over for ethanol credits this year will exceed the salaries and wages that it pays to operate all three of its refineries.

Some refineries are lowering production simply to mitigate the credit costs. Others are beginning to export products to avoid the mandate. Both moves could tighten U.S. supplies and lead to higher prices at the pump. Most every refinery is hurt by this rule. So an exemption from today’s mandate is far more than a perk—it is a lifeline, an outright payday. Making this indulgence even more curious is that it is being issued by the Obama EPA, an agency that isn’t exactly known for doing favors for beastly carbon producers.

So who is the lucky dog? Who could make this happen? That’s the best part. The EPA won’t say. The agency not only refused to name the refinery in its rule, but also obscured certain numbers in the document to hide the beneficiary’s identity. An EPA press officer would not give me the name, citing “confidentiality restrictions.”

The agency did send me a 2011 document that shows it granted exemptions at that time to 13 small refineries. But that exemption applied only to 2011 and 2012—and the 13 refineries had been recommended by a public Department of Energy analysis, which laid out reasons for the exemptions. The EPA rule this week said this exemption had been granted under EPA’s authority to evaluate refineries on a “case by case” basis. The press officer said DOE was involved in the evaluation.

What was the actual process? It’s a worthy question, given that the refinery sector is no stranger to politics. As hard times have hit, politicians have become deeply involved in protecting their home-state refineries. Many are unionized, which raises the question of whether Big Labor engaged in an exemption request.

Dozens of small refineries are being crushed by the mandate, and a number have petitioned the EPA for exemptions. If “disproportionate economic hardship” is the agency’s standard, no doubt plenty would qualify. Yet only one got the nod. The rest of the industry is dying to know what is so special about this refinery, especially since the EPA is making every other refinery shoulder its burden.

The public should want to know too. Washington is rife with secret deals that reward select corporate players, and the numbers have only accelerated under this “most transparent” of administrations. If the process by which the EPA issued this exemption was aboveboard, it should have no problem divulging details. Until that time, the public might fairly assume funny business.

All as the price of gasoline continues to climb higher than…

…Obama.

On the Lighter Side…

Then there’s this from Balls Cotton:

Finally, in the Wide, Wild World of Sports, a brief bit of sanity as the…

NFL Plans To Crack Down On Excessive Celebrations This Season

 

The National Football League will reportedly be cracking down on excessive celebrations and taunting this upcoming season. Pro Football Talk reports that that referees working training camps have been warning players about celebrating too much.

The taunting rule is nothing new in the NFL, but what some critics have dubbed the “No Fun League,” officials will now go a step further to enforce the rule. The NFL rulebook states that a team will be penalized a loss of 15 yards if a player commits these acts: “sack dances; home run swing; incredible hulk; spiking the ball; spinning the ball; throwing or shoving the ball; pointing; pointing the ball; verbal taunting; military salute; standing over an opponent (prolonged and with provocation); or dancing.”

Sooo…in other words, all they want players to do is act like…adults?!?

Magoo