Jeb Bush: Obama Should Take a Three-Month Vacation

In an exclusive interview with NewsMax, former Florida governor Jeb Bush said that President Obama can help the economy to recover by taking a three-month vacation. He also warned Republicans to avoid complacency, since Obama still has a fighting chance of winning a second term. “If the Republicans break up in our disparate parts, rather than focus on the bigger, broader concerns of the American people, I could see that the president could get re-elected,” Bush said.

The former governor of Florida also said that the popularity of his older brother, former President George W. Bush, is rising again in part due to the inevitable comparison with President Obama. The former president has been on a national tour promoting his book Decision Points.

It's Deja Vu All Over Again

William A. Jacobsen at Legal Insurrection has this to say about the latest WikiLeaks dump:

There have been many comparisons of Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter, focused on the economy. But the continuing leak of documents by WikiLeaks has become for Obama what the Iranian hostage crisis was to Carter.

The WikiLeaks folks trot the globe with impunity and funnel documents to the press at will, for the purpose of damaging U.S. relations with other countries, our war efforts, and our intelligence capability. And we do almost nothing about it....

Jet Planes Don't Take Off This Way, Says Retired General

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon Tuesday said it was trying to determine if a missile was launched Monday off the coast of Southern California and who might have launched it.

The piece below is a studied response to the Washington D.C. response by Brigadier Gen. (Ret.) USAF Jim Cash. His resume listing is at the end of his response.

Sliding silently under the mud, muck and fog of national politics, is a current event that makes Bill Clinton's excursion into the world of elderly sex look tame in comparison. This time the nation's national security is truly threatened in my opinion, and it involves not only a weak President with limited problem-solving ability, but leadership at the highest levels in the Pentagon as well. The American people would do well to demand a full investigation by an unbiased group, and let the chips fall where they may. I am referring to the "missile shot" taken of California coast recently, and the lame response by NORAD, the Pentagon and the White House itself.

First, in hope of adding some creditability to my assessment of what really happened just off the coast of Los Angeles let me convey a bit of my background which can be checked easily by going to Google and typing in my name. An Air Force biography will appear.

During the late eighties I was assigned to NORAD, as a Command Director initially and later as the assistant Director of Operations for NORAD. The NORAD operation was located inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. Twenty four hours a day a team of approximately 150 highly trained individuals, lead by a Brigadier General, monitored one of the most sophisticated computer systems in the world. This system was fed data from many different sensors that were able to detect missile shots from any point on the globe. All this data was taken into consideration when making the "assessment" as whether or not North America and/or Canada were threatened by such a launch. If the launch was assessed as a true threat, the President was contacted immediately by NORAD through a military individual always close to the President who carried what we called, "the football", a black brief case with release codes for our nuclear forces. I know the system well, as for near three years I led one of those teams.

In addition, for over 25 years, I flew US Air Force fighters to include the F-106, F-4, F-15, F-16, and commanded an F-15 Squadron and an F-16 Wing. The sole purpose of the F-106 assignment was to maintain an ability to become airborne in minutes to intercept inbound bombers posing a threat to the US mainland. Untold hours were spent studying and being tested on visually identifying an air-to-air threat to include its type and threat potential. I understand the difference in an aircraft contrail and a missile launch contrail.

In my opinion there is absolutely no doubt that what was captured on video off the coast of California was a missile launch, was clearly observed by NORAD, assessed by a four-star General in minutes, and passed to the President immediately. That is the way the system works, and heads fall if there is a failure. This is one of the most important tenets of National Defense and its sole purpose of protecting the American people. Even the smallest failure in this system gets intense scrutiny at the highest level.

Now, the question that still must be answered is why NORAD's muted response was simply that North America was not threatened, and later our government approved the lame excuse that the picture recorded was simply an aircraft leaving a contrail. This decision was made far above the four-star level, and because the system in place demands it, was made by the President himself.

There are many possible answers to the question why. Normally, when a situation of this nature occurs the decision makers in Washington feel it would create panic among the mere mortals who go to work every day. To avoid shocking the population the truth is shaded, or sometimes just kept quite in hope it will just go away. I would say to our government officials who disregard the intelligence of the American people, be careful. The people are awakening, and their trust in our government is fading. This level of decision making will hasten that process.

In my opinion we must question the timing of this shot across our bow. The President was abroad being diplomatic, which means trying to placate China which is becoming overly concerned with our handling a totally out of control deficient in spending. They do not want our debt to them be paid in cheapened US dollars, and it appears that our current plan is to do just that. China is devoting a major portion of their GDP to defense spending, and what better time to show the US that they can slip a missile equipped submarine through the South Pacific undetected right up to one of our largest cities, than right now. And, the Chinese have the guts to do it.

Important in my opinion is that once again the leader of this nation chose to disguise the truth and keep the American people in the dark on an issue that constitutes a major threat to the entire population of the United States of America. This is no longer a threat to only our military thousands of miles from the homeland. This is a show of force sending a signal that downtown USA is now capably of being hit by an undetected submarine and at any time. It may very well be the beginning of the real power struggle between the United States and China. If so, I predict the next phase will be China's demand for the US to cease support of Taiwan, and so it goes.

President Obama is getting in over his head once again on this one. Hiding the severity of issues we face with China to include this possible signal of strength is a terrible mistake. It is happening at a time that our Secretary of Defense, under the guidance of the President, is literally gutting our military forces. We have seen it already when the F-22 buy was cut from over 600 aircraft to 187, and research and development for follow on systems severely reduced. This is but one of hundreds of examples of military reductions. I fear that this could be another reason for this cover-up. If the American people fully realized the severity of the threat they might demand restoring our military to face the growing threat from China and Russia, as opposed to the massive domestic spending that we have witnessed over the past two years.

So, where does this leave us? Again, the people must decide and place pressure on the government to insure that our National Security remains intact. Military strength prevents war. Military weakness invites not only war, but also a lack of deterrence for intervention and bullying on many fronts.

If there was ever a time for the people to look closely at the national leadership and demand honesty and integrity, it is now. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue. At issue is electing those who have the ability to make proper decisions for our country, and will do so with no regard to their own personal gain. It is time to elect a President and a Congress who will put country above self, and defend this great nation against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and above all be honest with the people who honored them with election to high office.

Jim Cash

Brig. Gen., USAF, Ret.

BG Cash's resume may be viewed at the link below:

http://www.americandailyreview.com/authors/2009/1/30/brigadier-general-jim-cash-usaf-ret.html

Leslie Nielsen Dead at 84

It is our sad duty to report the following FOX News story: Actor Leslie Nielsen, who brought Lt. Drebin and other characters to life, passed away in his sleep at a hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, FL at around 5:30 p.m. today.

Where's the Outrage?

Doug Ross @ Journal dares to present photographic evidence of Hamas atrocities in Gaza that the legacy media will not (contents of a disturbing nature).

The Touchy-Feely TSA: Four Cartoons

U.S. Only the 8th Most Obese Country

Global Post has a list of most obese countries, and the overwhelming majority are countries or regions where obesity is a status symbol, indicating that one is prosperous and well taken care of. Statistics are from the World Health Organization.

1. Nauru - 95%
2. Micronesia - 92%
3. Tonga - 92%
4. Cook Islands - 92%
5. Niue - 84%
6. Samoa - 83%
7. Palau - 81%
8. United States - 79%
9. Kiribati - 77%
10. Dominica - 76%

Honorable mentions: Kuwait, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Egypt, Greece, Belarus, and the United Kingdom.

First the IRS Came for the Zionist Organizations...

Ben Smith of Politico.com, hardly a hotbed of conservatism, brings up this ominous turn of events:

"A Pennsylvania Jewish group that has claimed the Internal Revenue Service is targeting pro-Israel groups introduced in federal court today a letter from an IRS agent to another, unnamed organization that tax experts said was likely outside the usual or appropriate scope of an IRS inquiry.

"'Does your organization support the existence of the land of Israel?' IRS agent Tracy Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week's court filing, as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt status. 'Describe your organization's religious belief sytem toward the land of Israel....'"

Lisa Benson Sums Up the Korean Crisis in One Cartoon

Stephen F. Hayes in the Weekly Standard does a good job of summing up our diplomatic dilemmas in his article "The Sixty Years War."

The Blessing of Gratitude

Robin of Berkeley, a recovering liberal and frequent contributer to American Thinker, has discovered the advantages of approaching the Thanksgiving holiday with an attitude of gratitude.

Don't Be Deceived by Tofukey!

This just in from Creative Minority Report:

Save the Tofurkey!!!

Vegetarians around the planet were horrified to learn today that the popular Thanksgiving dish for vegetarians called Tofurkey doesn't actually derive from the vegetarian bean curd known as Tofu but from a very small and extraordinarily cute endangered species called the Tofurkey.

This is the first photo of a Tofurkey taken at a farm in Rhode Island just moments before it was skinned, torn limb from limb, had its eyes removed while still alive, and was finally dipped in boiling oil.

A tofurkey farm is not a typical farm. The tofurkey is extraordinarily cute and very inexpensive to keep because they're fed exclusively by hugs and smiles. "That's all they need," said one tofurkey farmer. "And they've got these huge expressive eyes that melt your heart." It's those expressive eyes that make "slaughter season" very hard for tofurkey owners.

Most tofurkeys spend their days playing with balloons, blowing bubbles, and singing in high pitched angelic voices. "They don't speak English or nothing but sometimes just listenin' to 'em makes me think about puppies and angels," said one tofurkey owner.

The misunderstanding for vegetarians originated because of the similarities between the names Tofurkey and Tofu. One Tofurkey farmer said he never lied about where Tofurkey came from but he's glad to profit from the misunderstanding. "I think those wacky vegetarians just wanted to believe they were eating Tofu and I wasn't about to tell 'em no different."

He said that back when his "product" began doing brisk business he wondered why. "I know those little cute tofurkeys don't really taste so good so I wondered why so many people was eating 'em. But hey, who am I to complain?"

Vegans and vegetarians have been shocked and horrified at the discovery of this Tofurkey farm. "Every time I ate Tofurkey on Thanksgiving I felt so principled and better than everyone else," said one vegetarian. "I'm going to miss that feeling."

Words We Want to Hear: Why Conservatives Are Happier than Liberals

Dennis Prager has this to say in his latest column on Townhall.com:

According to polls -- Pew Research Center, the National Science Foundation -- and studies such as Professor Arthur Brooks' Gross National Happiness, conservative Americans are happier than liberal Americans.

Liberals respond this way: "If we're unhappier, it's because we are more upset than conservatives over the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves."

But common sense and data suggest other explanations.

For one thing, conservatives on the same socioeconomic level as liberals give more charity and volunteer more time than do liberals. And as regards the suffering of non-Americans, for at least a half-century, conservatives have been far more willing to sacrifice American treasure and American blood (often their own) for other nations' liberty....

U.S. Scientists Qualify for Liar's Club Award

Now that I got your attention, there's a disturbing new article that says that American scientists LEAD THE WORLD in number of inaccurate or fabricated research reports. Physorg.com has this notable quote:

"US scientists are significantly more likely to publish fake research than scientists from elsewhere, finds a trawl of officially withdrawn (retracted) studies, published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics."

Expendable

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- "A student at Jefferson Middle School is accused of offering to pay $100 to have someone kill his school bus driver, the driver told WXII on Friday.

"The threat was posted online, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools spokesman Theo Helm said, and the student was disciplined...."

What was his punishment for this death threat? A six-day suspension, since the intended target was only a bus driver.

Airports with Full-Body Scanners

CNN has a list of 69 airports with 400 full-body scanners, in time to inform the public during Thanksgiving week. Most of the major, high-volume airports seem to be covered.

Etched in Acid

John Hawkins of Right Wing News has compiled a list of 25 choice quotes by Ann Coulter. Here's a free sample:

"With their infernal racial set-asides, racial quotas, and race norming, liberals share many of the Klan's premises. The Klan sees the world in terms of race and ethnicity. So do liberals! Indeed, liberals and white supremacists are the only people left in America who are neurotically obsessed with race. Conservatives champion a color-blind society."

UPDATE: John Hawkins does it again, with 25 quotes by Jonah Goldberg, Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, Rush Limbaugh, Thomas Sowell, and others.

Summed Up in Four Words: "Don't Touch My Junk"

Charles Krauthammer comments on the latest controversy over intrusive body searches in the Washington Post (video included).

Russia Striving to Lead the World in Lavatories

World Toilet Summit, Moscow, Russia, November 2010

The Telegraph (U.K.) has this story:

"Russia must regain its pre-revolutionary status as the country with the best lavatories in the world, an official said on Wednesday, lamenting the current state of the country's lavatories." They have a lot of catching up to do, as they have neglected their toilets for decades.

A New Chapter in the Gold Standard of American Journalism - Chapter 11

ABC News reports that American Media, Inc. has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday. This firm publishes the National Enquirer, the Star, and Men's Fitness.

This drastic 60-day restructuring plan has won the approval of major investors and is designed to keep the enterprise alive. The recession, TMZ, and the Internet have cut into the tabloid and magazine business.

Is the Presidency Too Big for One Man, or Is Obama Too Small?

Newsweek has an article that attempts to cover up the shortcomings of the Obama administration by asserting that the institution of the presidency is responsible, rather than the chief executive himself.

UPDATE: Victor Davis Hanson's latest National Review column, "The George W. Bush Fixation," illustrates how blaming Bush-43 two years into one's own presidency is the same as being "stuck on stupid."