The NY Times discovers that the anti-war President of the anti-war party prefers diplomacy over war:
Obama Signals a Shift From Military Might to Diplomacy
By MARK LANDLER
WASHINGTON — The weekend ended with the first tangible sign of a nuclear deal with Iran, after more than three decades of hostility. Then on Monday came the announcement that a conference will convene in January to try to broker an end to the civil war in Syria.
The success of either negotiation, both long sought by President Obama, is hardly assured — in fact the odds may be against them. But the two nearly simultaneous developments were vivid statements that diplomacy, the venerable but often-unsatisfying art of compromise, has once again become the centerpiece of American foreign policy.
What is missing is the sense of an actual strategy beyond 'give talk a chance'. For example, Syria is being propped up by Iran, so the linkage of those two announcements is not a shock. However...
But some of the crucial dealings have occurred in the shadows. In March, administration officials said, Mr. Obama authorized a small team of senior officials from the White House and the State Department to travel secretly to Oman, the Arab sultanate, where they met face to face with Iranian officials to explore the possibility of a nuclear deal.
The cloak-and-dagger was necessary, the officials said, because it allowed the United States and Iran to discuss the outlines of a nuclear deal without fear that details would leak out. Cutting out others eliminated the competing agendas that come with the six negotiating partners engaged in the formal Geneva talks.
So we have been having secret talks with Iran since March. But what about the US 'red line' dealings with Syria during that time frame? It might have been obvious to a blind man that bombing Iran's client while negotiating with Iran was not likely to boost Iranian moderates or marginalize Iranian hard-liners. Yet Obama persisted in blustering, ultimately without conviction, about attacking Syria. Why - to demonstrate to the Iranians that our threats were hollow and the Russians were the real players in the Middle East?
Baffling.
FREQUENTLY UNASKED QUESTIONS: How does a US-Iranian detente impact the two former powers with interests in the outome? I refer of course to Turkey and Hillary.
Letting the Europeans know through the papers that they were just in a pantomime in Geneva while Obama's people held the real negotiations must be part of that smart diplomacy.
How long until we can get back to the other kind?
Posted by: bgates | November 26, 2013 at 01:32 PM
Turkey will be eaten on Thursday, Hillary gets to run against Obama / Kerry ineptitude compared to her untried foreign fail strategy.
Posted by: henry | November 26, 2013 at 01:32 PM
Blessed are the cheese makers.
Posted by: MarkO | November 26, 2013 at 01:33 PM
If we had justifiably hung Kerry for sedition 40 years ago, we might be better off now.
Posted by: lyle | November 26, 2013 at 02:01 PM
'might be ' = WOULD
Posted by: NK | November 26, 2013 at 02:09 PM
U.S. Flies B-52s in Contested Airspace, Defying China
Officials said the United States military would continue to assert its right to fly through what it regards as international airspace after a recent Chinese claim to an “air defense identification zone.”
Posted by: whodat | November 26, 2013 at 02:16 PM
Or that turkey, Hillary.
Woke up at 6 to snow. Immediately panicked, woke up my niece and got her on the road by 7. Arrived in Philly a while ago. I swear I need to get out more, I'm like a 90 year old woman who drives 80. Oh and other then a little rain, the weather is fine.
Marlene, my best wishes to your s-i-L.
Solent, we miss you. Hope you are having a great birthday!
Posted by: Jane on Ipad hi there NSA | November 26, 2013 at 02:17 PM
As a conservative I'm tickled to see that the NYT is consistent after all these years-- they loved the Munich Accords as well. Brit Conservatives who condemned Munich appeasement as feckless and a disaster were called warmongrs by the NYT. When Chamberlain returned from Munich, one such conservative MP made this observation in the House of Commons about tossing the Czechs overboard:
"You had the choice between dishonor and war. You chose dishonor... and now you shall have war."
We will have the Mullahs' war at the time of their choosing. Many innocents will die.
Posted by: NK | November 26, 2013 at 02:17 PM
The real go-between here is the Sultan. Oman is not a member of OPEC and has been diddling with BRICS.
I believe the threat to Petrodollar is the primary motivator for this deal.
Posted by: Sooner from Sumer. | November 26, 2013 at 02:22 PM
More of that "smart diplomacy" ...
Not sure on which thread to post:
It’s a “massive downgrade of U.S.-Vatican ties,” said former U.S. Ambassador James Nicholson in the National Catholic Reporter. “It’s turning this embassy into a stepchild of the embassy to Italy. The Holy See is a pivot point for international affairs and a major listening post for the United States, and … [it’s] an insult to American Catholics and to the Vatican.”
Mr. Nicholson — whose views were echoed by former envoys Francis Rooney, Mary Ann Glendon, Raymond Flynn and Thomas Melady — also called the justification for closing the existing facility a “smokescreen,” Breitbart reported.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/obamas-call-close-holy-see-embassy-slap-face-catho/
Posted by: Sandy 1 2 3 Daze | November 26, 2013 at 02:23 PM
A simple parish priest/missionary priest:
Because of a shortage of active-duty priests, contractors work at about 50 bases worldwide, he said.
Leonard was just a few days into the assignment when the shutdown kicked in. A sign on the chapel door informed him all Catholic services, including religious education, would be indefinitely suspended.
He offered to work without pay, but the Navy refused.
"I was incredulous," Leonard said. "It was a slap in the face to all our Catholic service men and women. This is a very important part of their lives."
He contacted the Archdiocese for the Military, which put him in contact with the Thomas More Law Center.
Within days, Leonard had become the face of the resistance. Through the lawsuit, he hopes to have contract priests recognized as essential personnel or force the military to allow clergy members to volunteer during shutdowns.
Anything less, he said, amounts to tyranny.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/26/obamas-call-close-holy-see-embassy-slap-face-catho/
Posted by: Sandy 1 2 3 Daze | November 26, 2013 at 02:37 PM
The Hill will have MSM in her corner no matter what happens. If in 2016 404's foreign policy cannot be spun as anything other than a failure, the MSM meme will be the steady hand of The Hill will be needed. If MSM can spin 404's foreign policy as somewhat effective, the spin will be that The Hill laid the groundwork.
The real turkey here is MSM.
Posted by: Thomas Collins | November 26, 2013 at 02:38 PM
Resist Tyranny.
Resist Tyranny.
RESIST TYRANNY.
RESIST TYRANNY.
How many ways to say...
Posted by: Sandy 1 2 3 Daze | November 26, 2013 at 02:42 PM
Delicious: Dems fear they will lose the Senate. From National Journal.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/democrats-fear-obamacare-will-cost-them-the-senate-20131126
Posted by: Porchlight | November 26, 2013 at 02:46 PM
Mmmm. Tasty poll Porch. I just got Walker's book for a nice weekend dessert.
Posted by: henry | November 26, 2013 at 02:50 PM
SoYlent - not Solent. Sheesh,
Posted by: Jane on Ipad hi there NSA | November 26, 2013 at 02:56 PM
If we had justifiably hung Kerry for sedition 40 years ago, we might be better off now.
His face looks like that happened.
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 26, 2013 at 02:59 PM
Good point, CH.
Posted by: lyle | November 26, 2013 at 03:06 PM
I was trying to download James' latest Dream book when I discovered Charles Krautheimmer's book on my Kindle/IPad. That was an unexplained and very nice surprise.
Posted by: Jane on Ipad hi there NSA | November 26, 2013 at 03:13 PM
Wherever you are, Soylent, have a great birthday!
I wonder how Pelosi, Biden, Kerry, Sebelius, and other "Catholics" in the Democratic Party will react to this bastard's decision.
The man is sort of like a bull in a china shop lately. Now I understand his trip to California. It's one of the few places in the country where a majority of people won't throw rocks at his motorcade.
Posted by: matt | November 26, 2013 at 03:13 PM
I always have heard those remarks attributed to Churchill, NK.
Posted by: Danube on iPad | November 26, 2013 at 03:34 PM
Exeunt Alec Baldwin and Lara Logan.
Posted by: Danube on iPad | November 26, 2013 at 03:39 PM
Apologies if this has been posted. No apologies for linking to this great writer.
http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-future-that-never-comes.html
Posted by: lyle | November 26, 2013 at 03:39 PM
Exeunt, DoT? Salve magister!
Posted by: Beasts of England | November 26, 2013 at 03:52 PM
"These are the types of numbers that wave elections are made of."
Porchlight,
There has to be a slight shift from "The President is an incompetent liar." to "All Democrats are incompetent liars." in order to generate a wave greater than '10. It's very possible but it requires a slight shift away from BOzo and a heavier focus on his legislative enablers.
I believe the '14 state legislative races are likely to be the biggest election story and I wouldn't be surprised to see GOP majority control in 32 states. I also will not be surprised to see GOP Senate pickups in Michigan and Oregon.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 26, 2013 at 03:54 PM
and other random thoughts from Thomas Sowell
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 03:54 PM
Those who want to “spread the wealth” almost invariably seek to concentrate the power. It happens too often, and in too many different countries around the world, to be a coincidence. Which is more dangerous, inequalities of wealth or concentrations of power?
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 04:00 PM
Writing about the Habsburg Empire, distinguished British historian Paul Johnson said, “Every reform created more problems than it solved.” That was not peculiar to the Habsburg Empire. The same could be said of modern welfare states, and especially our own ObamaCare.
Because many of us make mistakes that can have bad consequences, some intellectuals believe that it is the role of government to intervene and make some of our decisions for us. From what galaxy government is going to hire creatures who do not make mistakes is a question they leave unanswered.
One of the reasons it has taken so long for some people to finally see through Barack Obama is that people do not like to admit, even to themselves, that they have been played for fools by a slick-talking politician.
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 04:01 PM
Good points SD.
Hope so, Rick. The state leges will be crucial battlefields going forward.
Posted by: Porchlight | November 26, 2013 at 04:05 PM
New ObamaCare website operational deadline Dec. 1.
Wonder how that'll work out.
Posted by: Army of Davids | November 26, 2013 at 04:06 PM
True. And the dems are all set to nominate another incompetent liar in '16.
Posted by: lyle | November 26, 2013 at 04:09 PM
" Which is more dangerous, inequalities of wealth or concentrations of power?'
If they were of equal intensity, they are about the same. Inequality breeds desperation; concentrated power breeds arrogance. Both lead to the same result.
Posted by: Sooner from Sumer. | November 26, 2013 at 04:11 PM
Abject poverty breeds desperation. Inequality breeds envy.
Posted by: Buckeye | November 26, 2013 at 04:16 PM
Obama is anti-Catholic . That is why we have the current "war on Christmas. It is why he will not utter the words "under God." He thinks he is a god and above reproach.
HB. To Soylent! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Closing the Vatcan Embassy does not surprise me.Clarice is right. Obama is on a tear because his Health Plan is going belly-up along with many prog dreams. Alinsky rules are exploding in his face and people don't much like him anymore.
Posted by: maryrose | November 26, 2013 at 04:17 PM
Every negotiator--Iranian or otherwise--wants to negotiate while the other side is weak. You get more that way. And the dick in the oval office is limp these days.
Posted by: Comanche Voter | November 26, 2013 at 04:19 PM
We've all seen this before, but it's still madness...
http://www.aol.com/article/2013/11/25/spoils-of-war-police-getting-leftover-iraq-trucks/20775486/?icid=maing-grid7|maing14|dl2|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D410713
I especially like this quote:
"It's armored. It's heavy. It's intimidating. And it's free," said Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple, among five county sheriff's departments and three other police agencies in New York that have taken delivery of an MRAP.
Because that's exactly the goal of local civillian police forces drawn from the very communities they serve - intimidation.
And aside from everything else that's awful about this program, the idea that it's "free" is rank stupidity.
The refitting of the vehicles for police use alone (the article quotes it at $70,000) would pay the salary for an officer for a year. There's also training to properly use the vehicle (I imagine that driving one safely isn't quite the same as getting behind the wheel of a plain old patrol car), ongoing maintenance (can't be cheap) and fuel (gas prices at 5 MPG add up fast).
Ugh.
Posted by: James D. | November 26, 2013 at 04:19 PM
--Inequality breeds desperation; concentrated power breeds arrogance. Both lead to the same result.--
Absurd.
The former leads to incentives, the latter leads to tyranny.
Inequality of wealth in a free market breeds upward mobility and a desire and an ability to be upwardly mobile.
Unfortunately, there always exist everywhere demagogues who seek to limit or prevent upward mobility through government dependence and, not coincidentally, also seek to concentrate power.
In our country they are known as Democrats...or worse.
Posted by: Ignatz | November 26, 2013 at 04:27 PM
In our country they are known as
Democratstraitors..FIFY.Then again, perhaps it is the same thing stated differently.
Time for the traitors to feel some ehh, what is the correct term??
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 04:36 PM
From what I understand, last night after 9:19 no one could access the website and received a "hash reference" message. If so, that portends a code problem, most likely Java Script Perl error and a data base array issue. Most likely at the typepad server location.
Or the typepad engineers could have been doing on-line active software maintenance due to all the complaints.
Seems to have been fixed by morning EST.
Posted by: Jack is Back! | November 26, 2013 at 04:37 PM
From lyle's link to Sultan Knish:
Obama is no longer the future. He can't be. Not on his second term. The smart money is no longer on books explaining why he succeeds, but books explaining what went wrong. The old genius has to make way for the next genius who will make the same exact mistakes, but offer a little more variety.
The game could have gone on a little longer, if only Obama hadn't made the mistake of actually assuming that he could deliver, if he hadn't been so taken by the applause of the crowd and the outcome of the rigged matches, that he actually tried to wrestle one of the slabs of muscle for real.
Modern genius is an intangible thing. It isn't the brilliant poem or the moving sonata. It's the idea of genius. The distilled abstraction of change. The shiny flash of the magician's powder. A change in appearance that startles and excites. Vague promises of an amazing future soon to come. That is true of our politics and our dot com economics.
The future arrived some time ago. We are living now in the post-future of the present where everything is momentarily amazing, but nothing endures, where last week's blockbuster is already forgotten and last year's genius is sheepishly fondling his framed magazine covers and the hit songs never go away, until they're gone, and then they're gone for good.
Obama is an empty construct of what the future was supposed to be; young charismatic, post-racial, post-partisan and solution-oriented. Now he's already becoming old and outdated, a future that was, a future that might have been, a poster on an aging Occupier's wall, a fading magazine cover, another progressive dead end for a movement always dreaming of a tomorrow that never comes.
Read it all, as they say.
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 04:42 PM
The finale of the Sultan Knish essay at lyle's 3:39 link:
"Obama is an empty construct of what the future was supposed to be; young charismatic, post-racial, post-partisan and solution-oriented. Now he's already becoming old and outdated, a future that was, a future that might have been, a poster on an aging Occupier's wall, a fading magazine cover, another progressive dead end for a movement always dreaming of a tomorrow that never comes."
Amen!
Posted by: Jack is Back! | November 26, 2013 at 04:44 PM
Sandy and I - riding the same wave, except he was in the curl as I was starting the slide:)
Posted by: Jack is Back! | November 26, 2013 at 04:47 PM
"Both lead to the same result."
Inane.
Posted by: Danube on iPad | November 26, 2013 at 04:54 PM
The Pope is pushing an agenda :) (inane and absurd)
"In his first encyclical released on Tuesday, Pope Francis laid out a broad mission statement which restated the church's opposition to abortion but also emphasized what it can do for the poor and oppressed trapped in a world of growing income inequality.
"It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new," the pontiff wrote in the 85-page document. "Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the 'exploited' but the outcast, the 'leftovers'.
The pope also denounced "trickle-down" theories of economics promoted by many conservatives and politicians who espouse an unregulated free market.
"In this context, some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world," he said. "This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."
Posted by: Sooner from Sumer. | November 26, 2013 at 04:56 PM
They Knew All Along! CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson: Gov’t Knew All Along Millions Would Lose Employer-Based Insurance
Posted by: Steve | November 26, 2013 at 04:58 PM
They Knew All Along! CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson: Gov’t Knew All Along Millions Would Lose Employer-Based Insurance
http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/11/they-knew-all-along-cbss-sharyl.html
Posted by: Steve | November 26, 2013 at 04:59 PM
Again, because this is outrageous...
Reagan, Thatcher and Pope JPII, the USA and two strong allies working together bring down the menace of the latter part of the 20th Century, the Soviet Union, and this BASTARD, who cannot even say "under God" as part of the Gettysburg Address, decides to close the Embassy with the Vatican.
Are you kidding me? Really?
MarkO has it right:
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 04:59 PM
Iran Strongly Rejects Text of Geneva Agreement Released by White House
Inconceivable !
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 05:08 PM
Great:
"Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) left the door open to another presidential run during a Monday panel in New Hampshire. Asked whether he ever thinks about running again — Huntsman dropped out of the 2012 Republican primary after finishing third in New Hampshire — he suggested he hadn´t ruled out the option. He closed a long response to the question, posed at Saint Anselm College, by saying: 'Which is a long way of saying that I love public service.'"
Posted by: Danube on iPad | November 26, 2013 at 05:12 PM
test
Posted by: daddy | November 26, 2013 at 05:30 PM
"If you like your nukes, you can keep them." wasn't good enough for the Persians? What the hell did BOzo toss in as a sweetener?
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 26, 2013 at 05:30 PM
Francis' paradigm is shaped by Peron's statist social democratic model. He is also deeply influenced by Luke 14:25-33, the giving up all of your possessions passage, as well as the Church's preferential option for the poor. Camels and eyes of needles also come to mind.
He is speaking against the oligarchs and the crony capitalists and the corporate leaders who pursue profit at all cost.
Basically, it's in his job description.
Posted by: matt | November 26, 2013 at 05:30 PM
When he is weak, punish him. Rick, the Persians are enjoying their own version of schadenfreude.
Posted by: SD | November 26, 2013 at 05:32 PM
***What the hell did BOzo toss in as a sweetener?***
8 billion in unfrozen assets (so they can more fully fund their deployment to Syria).
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 05:43 PM
Uh oh:
Why do I suspect that enforcement will not be disinterested?
Posted by: DrJ | November 26, 2013 at 05:47 PM
DrJ-
It won't be, but then again, it is also where the money is and our betters know how to spend it.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 05:51 PM
Good Morning.
Interesting isn't it how politicians on the Right continually have their college transcripts leaked to the Press.
Yesterdays Sydney Morning Herald posts the Oxford transcripts of Aussie Prime Minister Tony Abbott, with just enough negative editorial comments to make sure that the average reader is supposed to come away with the impression that the new PM as a bit of a dummy: Tony Abbott's Oxford transcript released
---Tony Abbott was not the best student at Oxford University...
---The young Mr Abbott's academic transcript, obtained by journalist James West, reveals a student somewhere in the ruck...
---Mr Abbott did most poorly in...
---The future prime minister completed the course and was placed in the "second class"...
But then we get this:
Mr Abbott's contemporary, the Conservative British Prime Minister, David Cameron, emerged with a first-class degree. But former US president Bill Clinton, one of the most intellectually gifted leaders the modern world has seen, who also received a Rhodes scholarship, did not complete the course.
So Clinton is a genius who couldn't complete the course, but Abbott who did, was a bit of a dunce. At least that's the take away I get from reading the story. Down here in Oz BTW Abbott is getting hammered continually by the re-unified Left, on all Media channels, for not funding the nations School system to the degree the Left wants.
Anyone know if Bill Clinton's Oxford Transcript was ever released to the Public?
Posted by: daddy | November 26, 2013 at 05:55 PM
Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
CBS News' Lara Logan Taking Leave Of Absence Over Discredited ‘60 Minutes’ Benghazi Report
Was Logan sandbagged by someone regarding the story? I find it odd that the media is now reporting on reporters screw ups, working overtime to make it a fake scandal. However, the administration needs an example made of someone and I suppose she'll do.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 05:56 PM
DoT,St.Anselm is daughter's alma mater.There is an institute of politics which sponsors events.Huntsman is getting way ahead of NH primary season.UGH.
Future son-in-law's procedure went well. Two stents.Family history of CAD.
Posted by: marlene on Kindle | November 26, 2013 at 05:58 PM
Did Obama already unfreeze the $8B?
This just looks like the Iranians know a pansy boy when they screw one.
Posted by: peter | November 26, 2013 at 05:59 PM
Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving with those they love.
You all have my permission to go ahead and have that second piece of pie.
Posted by: Soylent Red | November 26, 2013 at 06:01 PM
Democratic free-market capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other institution or entity in human history, particularly including the Roman Catholic church. (Even Bono knows that.)
Meantime in the Vatican Pope Francis sits atop one of the most opulent aggregations of extravagant treasures ever assembled.
Posted by: Danube on iPad | November 26, 2013 at 06:03 PM
So, the one person who quasi-loses her job over Benghazi isn't any of the incompetents and fools who let our men be slaughtered and ignored their pleas for more security for months, nor is it the liars who told us the attack was the result of a video when they knew it was a planned terrorist attack as soon as it happened; it's a reporter.
That's accountability, Hillary style.
Posted by: Ignatz | November 26, 2013 at 06:03 PM
Bleeding from a flexible behind...
Posted by: Frau Goldberg | November 26, 2013 at 06:03 PM
The administration is considering it and may have taken steps to do so in Europe. So now North Korea and Iran can play bad cop worse cop...this is going to be a f'nin disaster over the next couple of years.
daddy-
no word on the transcript. with the media reprtoing it...why shouldn't we trust them he's a genius.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 06:04 PM
Soylent! Where have you been?
Posted by: centralcal | November 26, 2013 at 06:04 PM
...and I'm not sure what the "discredited" part was...good job media on getting the first draft of history.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 06:08 PM
marlene-such good news.
soylent-happy birthday wherever you are!!
NK-safe trip. Don't forget to report in on Americans look for a place to have turkey on Thursday.
We were in Venice right after the 2002 election and I was looking for a paper to describe all the details and other Americans doing the same turned into a political discussion with people from all over the US sharing what tidbits they had heard as we all stood around right off St Marks Square.
It is my fondest hope that we will emerge from all the current disasters with a fair greater appreciation for what made this unique country so unprecedentedly great.
Posted by: rse | November 26, 2013 at 06:08 PM
Happy Birthday Soylent.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 06:09 PM
Hey, Soylent, thanks for stopping by. Happy Birthday.
That's accountability, Hillary style.
Yes, Iggy, and a big reason a reporter like Logan was vulnerable to being sandbagged like this was because the administration has been lying and stonewalling over Benghazi since day one.
Posted by: jimmyk | November 26, 2013 at 06:15 PM
Happy Birthday, Soylent. Good to hear your voice!
Posted by: MaryD | November 26, 2013 at 06:16 PM
...and I'm not sure what the "discredited" part was...good job media on getting the first draft of history.
I'm not either; it seemed from what I read that, if anything, she was overly nonjudgemental on who screwed up. Somehow I don't think that was the problem...
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 26, 2013 at 06:19 PM
Blessed are the cheese makers.
What's so special about the cheese makers?
BTW,
My co-worker passes on this story about jabbering with a Qantas pilot who flies the A380 a couple nights back, wherein he learned the nickname for that huge new jet:
"How do you like flying it?" my guy asks him.
"It's got it's problem, mate", he replies, "especially on the maintenance side of the house."
They continue on a bit and then he says this:
Qantas guy: "Do you know what we call the A380?"
My guy: "No."
Qantas guy: "We call it the Sarah Jessica Parker."
My guy: "The Sarah Jessica Parker?"
Qantas guy: "Yeah. It's got a big nose, it's not good looking, and it's high maintenance."
Apparently general hilarity ensued after that:)
Wish I'd have been there so I could have found out what happened to the letter U that ought to be following the letter Q, in the word Qantas.
Posted by: daddy | November 26, 2013 at 06:19 PM
The seizures of Catholic Church assets across Europe amounts to the largest appropriation of property in history.
What is left is small parcels of real estate, much of it in use just like Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Jewish, or Muslim places of worship under the same laws in the countries where they are located.
2,000 years of history and the heartfelt desire to glorify God tends to build up some assets. Most of these are in the form of religious objects and art, which are priceless.
The Church today is not the all powerful, wealthy institution it was by any stretch.
Posted by: matt | November 26, 2013 at 06:22 PM
And the dems are all set to nominate another incompetent liar in '16.
Damn right, Lyle. The first thing she'd be met with by a Republican party with a killer instinct are TV ads cataloging her numerous lies, named as such.
Personally, I'd follow up with her hysterical shrieking about dissenting and Benghazi, and her many dishonest statements disowning her AUMF vote, quoting her on the danger of Iraq WMDs dating back to the Clinton administration.
She can be Alinskied, but the gloves would have to come off the white toga crowd. I don't believe they have it in them.
Posted by: Extraneus | November 26, 2013 at 06:24 PM
The White House confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon on Monday that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out, meaning that Iran is not yet beholden to a six month freeze its nuclear activities.
DOOM!!!!
I recall the Clinton Administration lying about their NK deals too.
Something is afoot.
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 06:25 PM
She can be Alinskied, but the gloves would have to come off the white toga crowd. I don't believe they have it in them.
They're dusting off their copies of Amy Vanderbilt and Emily Post now.
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 26, 2013 at 06:31 PM
Dot,
Your point regarding the Vatican and Pope Francis's encyclical?
It is amazing how many people, reporters, media et.al. interpret something they have never read. May I suggest you all read it completely before making blanket opinions on its content.
Plus do it in the jesuit tradition of "Ratio Studiorum". Thank you.
Posted by: Jack is Back! | November 26, 2013 at 06:32 PM
“I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration!”
-- The Honorable Liar, Hillary "Clinton"
Posted by: Extraneus | November 26, 2013 at 06:35 PM
A link to Dr J's 5:47 - http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304465604579222110598111076
Posted by: Janet - It's not cheating, it's allowed,...& it's free! | November 26, 2013 at 06:37 PM
Good news: Bloomberg’s gun-control group offering printable placemats for Thanksgiving dinner
Posted by: Extraneus | November 26, 2013 at 06:37 PM
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/26/good-news-bloombergs-gun-control-group-offering-printable-placemats-for-thanksgiving-dinner/
Posted by: Extraneus | November 26, 2013 at 06:38 PM
The president will show solidarity with his base this Thanksgiving by having the tax payers pay for his family's Thanksgiving dinner . Friday and Saturday he will not watch football and help with writing code for the Obamacare website .
Happy Thanksgiving JOM :)
Posted by: BB Key | November 26, 2013 at 06:38 PM
and who is Matt Walsh and why should I care? weren't those shitheads taken in by Obama at least once (as libertins, and probably not a few could rationalize a second vote).
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 06:38 PM
So this was the instance that prompted the no hash reference, if one looks at this panjamdrum like the 'THe Princess Bride' or Spinal Tap, with them insisting it's inconceivable, and she among others in the chorus, saying 'those words you are using'
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 06:38 PM
Well Welsh, has been occasionally on point, like when he pointed out the Saudi lobbies self interested opposition to the Iraq War, that was more then a decade ago, and other instances when he attacked the Huntress, that was a few years ago
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 06:41 PM
Alright, he's occasionally lucked on the right point, five years after we did;
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/reasons-matt-welch-challenges-msnbc-anchor-on-myth-that-obamas-a-great-communicator/
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 06:47 PM
well he does get some things
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/11/welch.palin.email/index.html
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 07:02 PM
Bang Zoom!
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/thank-you-ted-cruz-ads-set-to-run-during-thanksgiving-nfl-games/
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 26, 2013 at 07:03 PM
but I thought he had it all wrong?
Posted by: rich@gmu | November 26, 2013 at 07:05 PM
Sometimes your credibility as a reviewer overcomes partisan leanings. Soon to hit the remainder bins: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/books/review/tip-and-the-gipper-by-chris-matthews.html
Posted by: Captain Hate | November 26, 2013 at 07:09 PM
That was brutal, CH. And, though I haven't read the book, I have heard Matthews' bs on occasion so I strongly suspect it is accurate and more than fair.
Posted by: Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet | November 26, 2013 at 07:16 PM
Well Richard Allen, who was well connected and yet subsequently thrown down the gangplank, slattered him in the Journal as I recall, among other things his account of the assasination attempt.
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 07:20 PM
"I don't believe they have it in them."
Extraneous,
We need to start a whisper campaign sure to stimulate them to angry and vituperative action..
Psssst... Hilary Clinton is a Tea Partier... Pass it on.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | November 26, 2013 at 07:20 PM
I'm going to a lib relative for Tgiving. If they serve dinner on those placemats, they are going to hear an earful. The yams may start flying
Posted by: peter | November 26, 2013 at 07:21 PM
Check the fine print on the Acme contract;
http://moelane.com/2013/11/26/tweet-of-the-day-hahahahaha-oh-god-these-people-are-gormless-screwups-edition-obamacare/
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 07:22 PM
HB,, soy!
Posted by: peter | November 26, 2013 at 07:23 PM
Although they may have a surplus of gorm;
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 07:26 PM
I agree with Rich that the Benghazi/Logan story is odd.
Posted by: Janet - It's not cheating, it's allowed,...& it's free! | November 26, 2013 at 07:27 PM
Yes, this has turned out great, pass the yams;
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/11/26/ted-cruz-iran-hawk-this-geneva-deal-on-the-iranian-nuclear-program-is-a-disaster/
Posted by: narciso79 | November 26, 2013 at 07:31 PM