HALF-FULL REPORT 06/20/14

ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) attacked Iraq’s largest oil refinery, prompting fears oil prices may soon roughly double.  It isn’t clear at this writing who controls the Baji refinery near Tikrit, 130 miles north of Baghdad, but the terrorists don’t need to occupy the refinery to disrupt production.

Tikrit was Saddam Hussein’s home town. ISIS also has seized control of the al Muthanna chemical weapons facility near there where, the CIA says, stockpiles of mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun are stored in sealed bunkers. Chemical weapons are lousy terror weapons, so this development isn’t as frightening as some think. But it isn’t good.

ISIS released another bloody video of the execution of prisoners. Its near term goal is a "vast war inside Islam," says Lawrence Wright, author of a Pulitzer Prize winning book on al Qaida. Its long term goal, he said, is extermination of Shia Muslims.

ISIS is flush with cash and weapons, some of which may have been supplied by the Obama administration. It is more powerful than al Qaida ever was. As a practical matter, the nation of Iraq no longer exists. Iraqi leaders feel abandoned.

President Barack Hussein Obama held a news conference yesterday (6/19) to give the appearance of action without actually doing anything, and to absolve himself of blame.

He’ll send Secretary of State John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East to "give us a better understanding of what ISIL is doing," the president said. I think we can get a pretty good understanding from watching their videos.

He’ll send 300 troops to "assess how we can best train, advise, and support Iraqi security forces going forward."

The U.S. is ready for "targeted and precise military action," the president said, "if and when the situation on the ground requires it." But American forces "will not be returning to combat."

I’ll be fascinated to learn what "targeted and precise military action" can be conducted without combat. A parade?

Iraqi President Nouri al Maliki is to blame, not he, for the lack of a residual force of American troops to stiffen the spines of the Iraqi military, Mr. Obama said.

Didn’t you brag about pulling out all U.S. troops during your re-election campaign, asked Scott Wilson of the Washington Post. Charles Krauthammer and Dexter Filkins remind Mr. Obama of what he should have done to get a Status of Forces Agreement, but didn’t do.

Iran can play a "constructive role" in stabilizing Iraq, the president said. David Petraeus, who was his CIA Director, doesn’t think so. Neither does Michael Morell, who was Petraeus’ deputy at CIA. Nor does any other grownup with an IQ above room temperature.

* * * *

Lois Lerner’s hard drive crashed, erasing all of her emails from January, 2009 to April 2011 – coincidentally, the very time the IRS began targeting Tea Party groups – the IRS told Congressional investigators. And not just hers. An IT professional gives six reasons why this is "simply not feasible.

Remember the 18 1/2 minute gap on the Nixon tapes? This is a 27 month gap.

Ms. Lerner sent to the FBI discs containing 1.1 million pages of data on conservative groups, which was big time illegal. This is worse than Watergate, said Dan Henninger of the Wall Street Journal.

Many in the "mainstream" media don’t buy "the dog ate my homework" story.

"Do you believe in the Easter Bunny?" asked CNN’s John King.

It’s time for a special prosecutor, said Ron Fournier of the National Journal.

* * * *

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he faces a "long recovery." Another account from a soldier wounded while searching for him appeared in an unlikely source.

Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, a former Army Ranger who served in Afghanistan, smacked down the White House for its anonymous smears of the soldiers who served with Bergdahl.

The Army has appointed MajGen. Kenneth Dahl to investigate the "facts and circumstances surrounding the disappearance and capture of Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl."  Wouldn’t it have been better to do this before swapping five Taliban leaders for him? 

Who may no longer be in Qatar. One, Mohammed Fazl, played a key role in al Qaida’s preparations for 9/11. Zero has released another dozen terrorist detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan.

* * * *

The VA has retaliated against whistleblowers for years, the New York Times reported Monday (6/16).  The Office of Special Counsel, an independent agency set up to protect whistleblowers, is investigating 37 cases of retaliation.

The FBI has opened a criminal investigation. Officials at VA headquarters in Washington ordered the head of the VA medical center in Pittsburgh to lie to them about the waiting list there, charged Reps. Tim Murphy, R-Pa and Mike Doyle, D-Pa. The Pittsburgh VA director has been put on administrative leave.

 "The problem is not just waiting lists," a fed up vet told Michelle Malkin. "It is utter fraudulent expenditure of enormous budgets, not on veterans, but on overpaid lazy, surly civilian employees that often make it clear that a) they do not like veterans and b) that the veteran is actually a nuisance."

But Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson said firing VA officials who’ve broken the law, or even just withholding their bonuses, is "a bunch of crap."

* * * *

The administration finally arrested Ahmed Abu Khattala, thought to be the leader of the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, into custody Tuesday (6/17). He hadn’t been hiding. He should have been sent to Gitmo, Republicans say.

Dana Milbank is panicking about what might turn up in the Benghazi investigation, his ugly smear Tuesday of a panel discussion at the Heritage Foundation indicates.

* * * *

At least 4 million of the 8 million Obamacare applications are flawed, says the House Energy & Commerce Committee. More than 1.6 million applications have "income inconsistencies;" 1.4 million have citizenship and immigration problems. HHS is informing up to 2.2 million who think they’re eligible for subsidies that they may not be. HHS already has paid out $4.7 billion in subsidies.

* * * *

Children from Central America flood across the border, at a rate of 35,000 a month. They think U.S. law has been changed to allow them to stay. That’s absolutely not true. The Border Patrol is overwhelmed.

The administration has encouraged illegal border crossings, a top Border Patrol official said in an internal memo.

The crisis is a "direct consequence" of the Obama administration’s lawlessness, said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex, in a statement that in content and tone should serve as a model for how Republicans talk about illegal immigration. Another guy who knows what to say about it is Dr. Ben Carson.

* * * *

Dave Brat’s stunning upset of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va, "one of Wall Street’s most reliable benefactors in Congress," has Wall Street and Big Business sweating, said the New York Times.

"What has concerned many businesses with a stake in federal policy (i.e., crony capitalists) is a growing anger on the right from people who can sound more Occupy Wall Street than Tea Party," the Times said.

Which is nonsense. But what Dave Brat has to say about bailing out the big investment banks has resonance across the political spectrum.

Zero caters to the top one tenth of one percent. If the GOP can shed its image of being too close to big business, it has a great opportunity to rebrand as the party of the Middle Class, in particular of the blue collar worker, who feels no one speaks for him.

.* * * *

Liberals were thrilled to learn drug-addled psychopaths Jerad and Amanda Miller, who killed two Las Vegas police officers June 8, had a Gadsden flag.

"They draped one officer’s body in a swastika and a yellow "Don’t Tread on Me" flag that has been adopted as a symbol of the Tea Party," reported a very excited New York Times.

At long last, the elusive Tea Party killer had arrived.

Alas, their mellow has been harshed. Jerad and Amanda were Occupy Wall Streeters.

* * * *

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, was elected House Majority Leader yesterday (6/19). Rep. Steve Scalise, R-LA, was chosen to replace McCarthy as Whip. Vote totals weren’t announced, but both appear to have won easily.

The Legion of the Perpetually Aggrieved mourns the outcome. They should chill.

McCarthy isn’t as conservative as the man he defeated, but he has a 90.43 lifetime voting record; recruited most of the conservative candidates who took back the House in 2010; is the best liked Republican in the House, is lots better at doing majority leader stuff than is Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho.

Scalise heads the House Study Committee, the caucus of the most conservative Republicans. "He’s a genial fighter," says Quin Hillyer. "He will charge at his goals, and then not back off, like a bulldog."

Still, it would have been nice if Labrador had won. Who better to put the GOP’s best face forward on illegal immigration than a conservative Hispanic?  He was a class act in defeat, asking that the vote for McCarthy be made unanimous. Eric Cantor was classy in defeat too.

* * * *

Neither candidate in the runoff election in Mississippi next Tuesday (6/24) has been a class act. Incumbent Thad Cochran shouldn’t have run this time. He’s trolling for Democrat votes, which is illegal.

Chris McDaniel – who led in this poll and this poll — should win, but Dave Brat he isn’t. He’s said some controversial things that could bite him in November. We’re fortunate this is shaping up to be a wave election, otherwise Democrat Travis Childers could beat him.

* * * *

In Oklahoma’s primary Tuesday for Tom Coburn’s senate seat, I’m for T.W. Shannon, the dynamic young black who is Speaker of the state house. But Rep. Jim Lankford is a good guy, too.

You wouldn’t know that from ads attacking Lankford run by the Senate Conservatives Fund. He’s "sickened" and "disturbed" by them, said Doctor Tom, arguably the most conservative senator.

Giving to the SCF is like giving to the Democrat National Committee. Every nickel is spent to smear Republicans.

* * * *

Could the next Dave Brat be State Rep. Joe Carr?  Lamar Alexander is a legend in Tennessee, but he’s more liberal than a Republican senator from there ought to be. This poll suggests he may be vulnerable.

If Carr is as clear and succinct on the campaign trail as he is in his platform, I hear echoes of Dave Brat. He’s been hampered by lack of funds, but since Cantor went down, interest in Carr has "just exploded". The primary is Aug. 7.

John Fund thinks this gal is the next Dave Brat. Her primary is Tuesday.

* * * *

The New Republic let us know which Republican scares them most. This is why they’re so frightened. Another desperate ploy to stop him was launched yesterday.  Sleazy journalists report the charges, but not that several judges have already thrown them out.

* * * *

It was a bad week for PIAPS too. She said some stupid things on her book tour; got roughed up by Diane Sawyer, by NPR, even by Canadians. Reviews are harsh. Sales are bombing. Ratings for her appearances on cable shows "underwhelmed."

A tape of her defending a child rapist has surfaced. John Hayward thinks it will leave a mark.

Tom Bevan of Realclear Politics offers five reasons why Hillary won’t run.

* * * *

Ben Carson’s book, on the other hand, is number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

"After reading this book, I feel a social earthquake coming," said William Tucker. "Imagine if Jimmy Carter had gone on for another term wrecking the country. Imagine the Reagan backlash had been four more years in arriving. That’s where we are now. Things just can’t go as they are."

* * * *

When NBC Political Director Chuck Todd, whose nose usually is pressed tightly against Zero’s buttocks,

said this poll means that "essentially, the public is saying your presidency is over," we got our best indication yet the worm is turning for Zero (and the worms are turning on him).

Officials used to uncritical acceptance of their cover stories, however preposterous, have to dodge and weave tough questions. Some old friends are laughing at them. For an administration based entirely on smoke and mirrors, this is a disaster of Biblical proportions.

Many in the media would like to keep covering for Zero, but they can’t. Now that everything he’s touched is turning into excrement, the cost to journalists who tell us there is a pony in there somewhere is rising. The great unraveling has begun.

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