God Bless The People Of Moore, Oklahoma

My heart is saddened by the news out of Moore, Oklahoma.  Not only did so many people die but many of them were children, trapped in a school where they should have been safe.  I don’t fault the school, or the staff, or any person for the children’s demise.  In an F5 tornado, or even a strong F4, there are very few safe places to be.  Unless they’re under ground, brick, concrete and steel are no match for winds of 200+ miles per hour.  The elementary school where the children died demonstrated that very well.

During my years in Puerto Rico and Miami I experienced numerous hurricanes; some with devastating force.  But I can tell you very easily I’d rather live through a hurricane than a tornado any day.  With modern weather prediction technology, with few exceptions they can predict how strong it will be, where it will hit and what we can expect.  I even got to the point where I could look at the animated radar, the air circulation, the high and low pressure systems and pretty accurately predict where the storm would go.  It became a hobby.

Tornadoes are completely unpredictable – except for the fact that they can look at weather radar and predict that there could be a tornado in a specific area.  The predictions have become somewhat better but they are still just predictions, not accurate forecasts.

Tornadoes come down from the clouds when they decide to.  They stay on the ground as long as they want to and dissipate when they’re ready.  Hurricanes at least are predictable, not only their path but how and when they will most likely dissipate due to changing conditions, terrain, etc.  Give me the hurricane any time.

As a father who has lost a child, I can also feel empathy for the parents who are grieving for their children tonight. It’s difficult enough to lose a child who has been sick and isn’t expected to survive.  To lose a child suddenly, particularly to a traumatic event, with no warning and no preparation is far worse. 

I also feel for the first responders who had to go and find everyone they could who was still alive, transport them to area hospitals, and then go back and look for the dead.  Sometimes people don’t realize that first responders have to deal with death almost daily.  As a former paramedic in the Air Force, I can tell you that dealing with death on a regular basis can make you cold hearted.  One can easily get to the point where life or death doesn’t matter as much as whether or not you did everything correctly.  It’s easy to forget that the victims you’re working on are people, with families and lives of their own.  It can make you cold.  That’s one of the reasons I didn’t pursue a career as a paramedic when I left the Air Force.

May God bless the victims and the families of the victims in Oklahoma.  They are living a hell on Earth.  They need prayer and intervention – and people who have not been so hardened by tragedy that they don’t much care anymore. 

 

 

 

Jay Carney: These Are Not The Scandals You're Looking For...

Apparently, if you’re a member of the Obama administration, all you have to do to rid yourselves of a scandal (or three) is tell the American people the scandals don’t exist. 

The White House, and the more hard core liberal media, is doing just that.  Just when some of the mainstream media has begun seeing the President as a human being who actually can screw up and they’re actually reporting negative things about him, the White House is telling us that the scandals surrounding Benghazi, the IRS and the Associated Press aren’t real.  It’s rather like an old Jedi mind trick…  “These are not the droids you’re looking for.”

The other day White House Press Secretary Jay Carney went on Piers Morgan’s show and for the first time in a while Morgan was actually asking intelligent and serious questions.  In an interview that must have caught Carney by surprise (he was in friendly territory, afterall), the Press Secretary found himself being questioned about how the Administration could restore Americans’ “faith” in the president.

“You’re concocting scandals that don’t exist,” Carney said.                                        

Really?  Scandals that don’t exist?  Even the Democrats are outraged about the IRS scandal.  And the media is in an uproar over the seizure of AP’s phone records.  The only one neither the Democrats nor the mainstream media seem to care about is Benghazi, which I find revolting.  Four Americans died, the administration – from the President to Hillary to Leon Panetta – screwed up royally and they want us all to simply pretend it didn’t happen.  In a morning briefing last week Carney said “Benghazi was a long time ago.”  I wonder how the families of the dead and the surviving victims feel about that statement…?

Bill O’Reilly says the AP phone records aren’t a scandal until more information becomes public.  As he often does, he’s giving the Holder Justice Department the benefit of the doubt.  Sorry Bill – I must disagree.  It’s definitely a scandal for how it was done and the fact that Eric Holder and the President deny any knowledge of it. I don’t believe either of them.  The investigation is concerning a national security leak and for Holder and Obama to deny knowledge of the investigation is more evidence they believe Americans are stupid.

In other news, the woman who was in charge of the IRS department caught targeting conservative groups, Israeli groups, Hispanic conservative groups, pro-life groups, etc., has been given a promotion.  Sarah Hall Marshall has been appointed as the head of the department that will control Obamacare.  One cannot help but wonder two things…  should she be fired for the targeting of conservative groups (or even prosecuted) and will conservatives be in danger of being denied medical care based on their political beliefs?  Don’t scoff.  No one thought the IRS was targeting certain groups either…  except the groups themselves.  And they were told they were wrong.

All in all it’s been a long, difficult week for the Obama administration.  It’s tough sometimes when people demand the truth and accountability – especially when you wish all the problems would just go away.  Keep working on that Jedi mind trick, Jay.  Maybe you’ll get some people to believe you.

 

 

Chris Matthews - Is The Tingle Finally Gone?

It seems MSNBC's Chris Matthews isn't quite as enamored with President Obama as he used to be.  Just the other day, Mr. "I get a tingle up my leg every time he speaks" actually criticized the President concerning the various scandals in Washington recently.

“This President’s responsible for the federal government. He’s responsible even if he didn’t do anything wrong,” said Matthews on the Morning Joe. “He keeps acting like the only problem he’s got — the only real problem he has, viscerally — is the talking points in Benghazi because that gets to Susan Rice, people close to him, and Michelle.”

Matthews said President Obama needs someone to handle the day-to-day affairs of the White House to deal handle problems like the administration has seen over the last several days. He cited the lack of this leadership as a “real problem.”

“He is in charge of the entire executive branch. He is the boss. He needs a COO, someone who will carry out that authority every minute of the day through the weekend,” he continued. “He doesn’t want to do that. He doesn’t want to be chief executive, because he doesn’t want a chief operating officer. It’s the way he’s run the White House from the beginning — personally — and it’s a real problem. And now he’s getting blamed for things he knows nothing about, because he knows nothing about them because he doesn’t want to know about them. He doesn’t want to run the United States government. And that has been the problem.”

Matthews noted President Obama didn’t express any anger about the IRS story during his press conference earlier this week. Instead, President Obama only got angry when he was discussing Benghazi.

“Why isn’t he angry — really angry — about what happened with the IRS?” Matthews asked. “Look at him at that press conference. The only time he got really angry was when it was on Benghazi and the talking points, because that gets to him and his friends. And the problem is he’s chief executive, it comes down to that and everyone of these problems.”

“This is perfect. It’s gonna help save Mitch McConnell, it’s gonna help Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, help Cuccinelli,” he lamented. “Anyone who is on that anti-government right that always says the government screws up in the end, they’re out to get you, now has their case for next November.”

Matthews blasted the administration and the excuses that have been given by the White House in the mounting scandals, pointing to the IRS and the Justice Department’s targeting of the Associated Press specifically.

“This is why it’s important to voters, when you go in the voting booth, you only get one vote. You pick Romney or Obama,” he noted. “When you pick Obama, you want to know the steering wheel that you just turned to the left a little bit, you want that to matter. That means you want that president you voted for to run things. That’s the only power you have as a citizen. Pick the person you want to run things, and then they run them.”

“For anybody to run around in Washington and say ‘We don’t run the IRS,’ or ‘We can’t control the Justice Department,’ and ‘I’m recusing myself,’ they say ‘The steering wheel doesn’t control the car anymore.’ The person says ‘I want the person I voted for to be in charge. The only power I have, and you’re telling me I don’t have it?’ Because you don’t have it. And that is going to really bug people, especially people that care about government doing a good job.”

Not to worry though.  The next day Matthews said that people who oppose Obama are racists and that at least 20% of them (those who oppose Obama) are white supremacists.  Now that's the Chris Matthews we know and love. 

I gotta ask, Chris - is the tingle gone or just waning...?

HHS Secretary Just Can't Seem To Follow The Law....

It appears Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius may have violated federal law once again in the performance of her official duties.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) has suggested that Sebelius may have broken the law by seeking donations from health industry officials to help promote the implementation of Obamacare.

"Secretary Sebelius’s fundraising for and coordinating with private entities helping to implement the new health care law may be illegal, should cease immediately and should be fully investigated by Congress," Alexander said. "Such private fundraising circumvents the constitutional requirement that only Congress may appropriate funds."

Said criticism follows a Washington Post report detailing Sebelius’ appeals to insurance companies. The Post reported:

“Over the past three months, Sebelius has made multiple phone calls to health industry executives, community organizations and church groups and asked that they contribute whatever they can to nonprofit groups that are working to enroll uninsured Americans and increase awareness of the law, according to an HHS official and an industry person familiar with the secretary’s activities. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk openly about private discussions.  Many of Sebelius’s calls have gone to current supporters of Enroll America, the most prominent nonprofit group working on the health care law’s implementation, an HHS official said.”

If, in fact, Sebelius’s actions are illegal it will be the second time she has been accused of violating federal law while working in her official capacity.

In February of 2012, Sebelius violated federal law by using her Cabinet position to campaign for President Obama, federal investigators said last year.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said Sebelius violated federal law in a February speech where she made "extemporaneous partisan remarks."

Sebelius voiced her support for President Obama and other Democrats during an speech at a Human Rights Campaign event in Charlotte, N.C., in direct violation of the Hatch Act.  The Hatch Act prohibits public officials from campaigning in their official capacities.  Sebelius strayed from her prepared remarks to rally support for Obama.

Not surprisingly, after the OSC cited Sebelius for violating the Hatch Act, her office reclassified the trip from “official” to “political” and she repaid the government for her expenses.  She then wrote a letter to the OSC saying they were pushing a “minor incident” too far. 

"I believe that you should have concluded that any violation was corrected when the event was reclassified as political," she wrote. "I believe that you should have concluded that the consequence of my going 'off script' at an official event was to change the nature of my appearance for cost reimbursement purposes only."

So apparently when you’re on “Team Obama”, if you break the law you simply reclassify your actions and all is forgiven.  After all - they're just minor little laws.  Must be nice to be in Obama’s cabinet….

The final disposition of the incident was left to the President so we all know what happened from there – nothing.  Sebelius is still the HHS Secretary and is still seemingly violating the law.  Maybe this time something will be done….?

Nah.

The Benghazi Cover-up - According to Glen

Following the successful raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, President Obama began touting his success in fighting terrorism and saying that “Al Qaeda has been decimated.”  He basically told the American people that we didn’t have to worry too much about Al Qaeda anymore. 

Then, on September 11, 2012, the President’s worst nightmare came true.  An Al Qaeda backed terrorist group systematically attacked the U.S. Consulate and the attached CIA annex, killing our Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.  Whether in complete disbelief, the paralysis of fear, or simple incompetence in the face of difficult decisions, the Obama administration did nothing.  In fact, it has been stated by many witnesses that various military teams were told to stand down rather than to respond to the seven hour long attack. 

Testimony by the so-called “whistleblowers” was that Hillary Clinton denied the normal, required security levels at the consulate even after they were repeatedly requested.  Gregory Hicks, then second in command in Libya, testified that he called the State Department directly when the attack began to inform Clinton of what was happening – a terrorist attack.

The Obama administration’s lack of response to the attack suddenly became a campaign concern.  An attack by a “decimated” Al Qaeda could hurt his chances of being re-elected.  Talking points memos submitted to the White House from the CIA described the attacks as terrorist attacks yet, when the White House issued a statement the next day all references to Al Qaeda and terrorism had been scrubbed from the narrative. 

Certainly their worries make sense.  Seven weeks from the election the President didn’t want anyone to believe he wasn’t being exactly honest about Al Qaeda.  Fortunately for the President, a public protest erupted in Cairo, Egypt on September 10^th because of an anti-Islamic Youtube video that had been produced in the United States.  The protesters targeted the embassy in Cairo, vandalizing the outside and eventually climbing the walls and replacing the American flag with the flag of – you guessed it, Al Qaeda.  What a perfect thing to use as a distraction from the truth in Benghazi.

And so, on the morning of September 12^th, the official White House statement was that the attack on the consulate in Benghazi was a spontaneous event stemming from protests over the video.  It was perfect….  except that it didn’t contain a shred of truth.  The President, Jay Carney and Secretary Clinton spent the rest of the week pushing the video story.  The President even used it in his Rose Garden speech concerning the attack.  They attempted to pass it off as truth.

Five days after the attack, our ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, went on five separate Sunday morning news talk shows with the story of the video.  She denied the attacks were the responsibility of terrorists but merely spontaneous riots in response to the video.

Two weeks following the attacks, President Obama went before the United Nations and again professed it to be the result of a video.  All of these people knew the truth yet they all continued the mantra in order to maintain the faith of the Obama voters.  According to White House transcripts, President Barack Obama described al Qaeda as having been “decimated,” “on the path to defeat,” or some other variation at least 32 times after the attack, between September 11^th and November 1^st, 2012. 

Hillary Clinton appointed two people from the State Department to investigate the incident.  They decided the response to the incident was appropriate and that no one had done anything wrong.  They failed to interview Secretary Clinton because, in the words of one investigator, she had already stated she did nothing wrong.  The investigation was a complete waste of time.

Fortunately for the American people (but not so much for the President), news organizations not loyal to the President (OK… Fox) not only didn’t believe him but continued to investigate the incident.  Republican lawmakers also investigated it and held hearings in an effort to discover the truth.  During her Congressional testimony, when asked whether the attack was spontaneous or terrorism, Secretary Clinton uttered her now infamous phrase “What difference, at this point, does it make?”  In a typical effort to protect Obama and herself, the Secretary tried to negate the importance of what happened and hide the fact that they were still covering up the incident as much as possible.

Now, eight months after the incident, and though the President and Jay Carney still deny it, we now know the attack was an Al Qaeda based attack, the administration knew it by the next morning and everything they said about the video was a fabrication.  The President is on the defensive because he can’t admit lying to the American people but everyone with any common sense at all (and with their eyes and ears open) knows he lied and why.  Even members of the liberal mainstream media are talking about it and demanding answers. 

It’s not looking good for the President right now.  The liberal media has always been on his side and it seems they’re finally discovering what conservatives have known from the beginning – that Obama cannot be trusted and he’ll do or say whatever is necessary to maintain his Presidency.  Even as recently as yesterday he continued to deny the truth about a cover-up and ridiculed Republicans for even trying to find the truth, passing it off as simple partisan politics.  The families of the victims and the American public deserve the truth – even at Obama’s peril.  He claims his is the “most transparent administration in history.”  Well, Mr. President – time to put your job where your mouth is.

Obama Needs To Watch Some Re-runs - Of His Own Statements...

This morning during a press conference President Obama said that controversy over the Benghazi incident on September 11^th is “a sideshow.”  Obama denied any suggestion that there was a cover-up, questioning recent reports that showed a State Department official trying to water down the administration's initial story-line on what happened the night of Sept. 11.

The President went on to say he called the incident a “terrorist attack” from the beginning (probably in reference to his mention of terrorism in the Rose Garden speech the next day – which has long since been debunked as a general statement on terrorism after he tried to use that statement in a debate against Mitt Romney.  Of course, that night he had help from the liberal debate mediator, Candy Crowley…)  and declared:  "If this was some effort on our part to try to downplay what had happened or tamp it down, that would be a pretty odd thing that three days later we end up putting out all the information," Obama said. "Who executes some sort of cover-up or effort to tamp things down for three days? So the whole thing defies logic."

Three days later they put out all the information?  Did I miss that?  Five days later, on Sunday, the 16^th, Susan Rice went on five different national television shows and said the attacks were in response to the anti-Islam video made by an Egyptian born Coptic Christian, after said video was overdubbed with different verbiage and broadcast on Youtube.   There was no mention of terrorists or Al Qaeda.

Two full weeks after the attack President Obama himself went to the United Nations and again reiterated that the video was somehow responsible for the attacks in Benghazi – knowing full well it wasn’t the case.  You put out all the information, Mr. President?  In what country and in what language?  It certainly wasn’t in English here in the USA!

The Obama administration and the left in general want Benghazi to go away so they keep trying to make it a non-issue.  They still deny they attempted to cover up their failures during the incident even e-mail evidence and witness testimony prove otherwise.  So why is this unimportant to many Americans and why do they knowingly continue to let the President get away with lying to them?  Or do they really have so much faith in Obama that what he does either doesn’t matter or they refuse to believe it?

Poor Jay Carney – I’m almost beginning to feel sorry for him.  Almost.  His entire job is to protect the President from his own screw-ups, lies and deceit.  Carney has told so many lies since Robert Gibbs resigned that I don’t think he even knows the truth anymore.

Mr. President – the country and the world now know the truth about Benghazi, from your failure to respond to threat information prior to the attack, to what actually happened that night, to your failure to respond to the actual situation and your continued lies since then.  Lying won’t work anymore and releasing a story about the IRS violating the Constitution on a Friday afternoon to distract Americans from Benghazi won’t work either.  

Oh, and Mr. President - if you truly don’t know the truth about Benghazi by now, might I suggest you read my blog on a regular basis?  I will keep you up to date on your failures…

Marine Amputees Visit And Encourage Boston Marathon Bombing Victims

I heard about something on television the other night that I hadn’t heard or read before and couldn’t help but wonder why I hadn’t heard it.

t sard it.

Apparently, a group of military amputees went to visit amputee victims of the Boston Marathon bombings in Boston area hospitals.

Soldiers from the “Semper Fi Fund,” a veterans group for injured military personnel, came to Boston to meet with about a dozen bombing victims and their families at four different hospitals. They told them about the importance of getting active as soon as possible and setting goals to aim for. The group said they are planning a return visit.

The Semper Fi Fund has raised $74 million over the last decade, and has now set up a Boston Marathon fund for those hurt in the blast. The group helps modify the environment of the injured to help them stay mobile and active, as well as providing support in getting prosthetics and services.

“It’s a small club.  Not a lot of people know what it’s like,” said B.J. Ganem, a former Marine who lost a leg in Iraq in 2004.

These wounded war veterans wanted to let the bombing victims know that their lives were not over simply because they, too, suffered traumatic amputations.  They went to encourage them and to push them toward recovery by being examples.  What an awesome thing to do.

Did I just miss this story?  Was it on national television before?  This is the type of human interest story that should have been widely publicized.  The fact that these war veterans took the time to go help a group of civilians who, like them, lost limbs in much the same way they did shows the character of the group.  The fact that it wasn’t widely publicized seems to show what - a lack of interest….?

God bless this group of wounded warriors and the new amputees they went to support.  I cannot imagine the changes they will have to go through because of it.  But the human spirit is hard to put down if your mind and heart are in the right places in life.  Hopefully they will all recover and live healthy, productive lives, despite their loss.  And even though the world is an evil place and there are evil people who care not for human life – I pray we can one day put an end to terrorism in the world.  The killing of the innocent masses for any specific cause is despicable.  And we, as a country, should always fight against it.