ET Williams

The Doctor of Common Sense

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American Flag Has Obama’s Face On It

 

I Am King (Give Caesar Worship)

 

TAVARES — A flag depicting an image of President Barack Obama was taken down from Lake County Democratic Party headquarters today after several veterans complained it was a “desecration.”

A short confrontation at the Democratic office ended when party chairwoman Nancy Hurlbert took down the controversial flag, which had been flying under an American flag on the same flagpole.

“It’s a cult of personality to show his face, like Stalin or Mao,” said John Masterjohn, a former Marine and retired schoolteacher from Leesburg. “It’s despicable. They don’t realize how sick they are.”

But Hurlbert said it was the first time that anyone had complained about the flag, which was given as a gift and had been flying for several months without any response from the public.

“I was surprised,” she said after taking down the flag. “No one had called us. We have a phone.”

The controversial flag has an image of Obama in the blue section where the stars are normally located. A similar flag was available for sale on eBay for $12.95.

Altering an American flag doesn’t constitute a crime, said Jim Lake, an adjunct professor at the Stetson University College of Law in Tampa.

“For good reason, these folks want to encourage respect for the flag, and while such an alteration may be considered disrespectful, the federal government doesn’t allow penalties against those who disrespect the flag,” Lake said.

The federal flag code carries no criminal penalties.

“It’s just standards on how civilians might use the flag,” he said.

Time and again, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that people who burn and intentionally desecrate the flag are protected under the First Amendment right of free speech, he said.

Local veterans organized the protest after Don Van Beck, executive director of the Veterans Memorial at Fountain Park in Leesburg shared photos of the flag with others.

By 4 p.m., about half a dozen veterans arrived at the party office, where Van Beck asked Hurlbert to remove the flag, telling her that it was in violation of federal flag code. He gave her a POW/MIA flag to fly in its place.

Hurlbert promised to research the issue but didn’t take the Obama flag down immediately, prompting Van Beck to declare that they would take the flag down for her.

“No, you will not. This is private property,” Hurlbert declared.

The veterans lingered on the property, discussing whether they would take it down or wait for a response. Masterjohn pointed out that they would be trespassing and risking arrest. Another person repeated the old adage, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

The group had decided that they would take further action in a couple of days if nothing was done.

Then, Hurlbert came out and took down the flag, saying she had researched the matter. She didn’t take the POW flag offered as a replacement.

“We’re proud of our president and we didn’t realize it was in violation,” she said. “I am the chair and I take responsibility for this.”

That satisfied the veterans, including Van Beck, who believes the Obama flag wouldn’t fall under the First Amendment right of free speech.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this but you do not desecrate the American flag,” he said.

 http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-barack-obama-flag-face-20120313,0,6097169.story

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A U.S. Soldier May Have Killed Afghan Civilians

US Soldier in Afghanistan

Let’s Wait To See If The Soldier Was Provoked! The Afghani’s always give their people the benefit of the doubt, so we should do the same.

U.S. officials have briefed President Obama about an alleged
shooting of civilians by a U.S. service member in Afghanistan as worries grow
the incident could trigger more violence and fuel a push to abandon the
war-worn country.

“We are deeply concerned by the initial reports of this
incident, and are monitoring the situation closely,” White House Deputy
Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Sunday, after one service member was detained
by his unit following an alleged shooting of as many as 16 Afghan civilians in
two neighboring villages.

According to a government representative for southern Afghanistan and a member of the delegation that went to investigate the incident, a U.S. service member
stationed at a U.S. base in the southern Kandahar province walked off the base
around 3 a.m. local time and walked into three homes and started shooting. He
then returned to his base where he was arrested.

NATO officials apologized for the shootings but did not confirm that anyone was killed,
referring instead to reports of deaths.

“I wish to convey my profound regrets and dismay at the actions apparently taken by one coalition member in Kandahar province, said a statement from Lt. Gen. Adrian
Bradshaw, the deputy commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan.

“One of our soldiers is reported to have killed and injured a number of civilians in
villages adjacent to his base. I cannot explain the motivation behind such
callous acts, but they were in no way part of authorized ISAF military
activity,” he said, using the abbreviation for NATO’s International
Security Assistance Force.

Reports are conflicting as to the number dead as Afghan villagers showed to press
photographers bodies covered in blankets as well as burned. Nine children and
three women are said to be among the dead. It was unclear how or why the bodies
were burned.

The incident comes after some very tense weeks in which
riots raged over the accidental improper disposal of Korans that had been
defaced by Afghan detainees.

The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John R. Allen, issued a statement saying that he is “absolutely dedicated to making sure that anyone who is found to have
committed wrongdoing is held fully accountable.”

The head of the ISAF added that he was “shocked and saddened to hear” about the incident and offered his “profound regret and deepest condolences to the victims
and their families.”

“I pledge to all the noble people of Afghanistan my commitment to a rapid and thorough
investigation,” Allen said, adding that the U.S. will maintain custody of
the service member, provide medical care to injured Afghans and “cooperate
fully with local Afghan authorities as we ascertain all the facts.”

“This deeply appalling incident in no way represents the values of ISAF and coalition troops or the abiding respect we feel for the Afghan people. Nor does it impugn or
diminish the spirit of cooperation and partnership we have worked so hard to
foster with the Afghan National Security Forces,” he added.

A senior defense official added that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was “deeply
saddened” to hear about the incident and is “closely monitoring
reports out of Afghanistan.”

The U.S. embassy in Kabul tweeted videotaped condolences in the primary languages of Pashto and Dari. It also warned Americans in the country to beware of the “risk of anti-American feelings and protests in coming days, especially in eastern and southern provinces.”

 

“U.S. citizens in Afghanistan should remain vigilant and avoid areas where Westerners congregate. Avoid large public gatherings or demonstrations. Past demonstrations in Afghanistan have escalated into violent attacks on Western targets of opportunity.

“Do not discuss travel plans or other personal matters with strangers, or in public. Be alert and aware of your surroundings, and always travel with mobile phones or
appropriate communication equipment,” the warning reads.

The alleged shootings are likely to spark more violence after a calm returned following the Koran burnings of last month. That accidental incident led to more than a week of
rioting, which resulted in 30 people dead, including six U.S. service members
who were killed by their Afghan colleagues.

The killing of U.S. service members by Afghan forces had already been a major concern in Afghanistan, where since May 2007, 46 “green on blue” attacks — or Afghan National Security Forces attacks on allied service members — has reportedly resulted in 76 NATO soldiers killed and an undisclosed number wounded.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the attacks an “assassination” and angrily
demanded an explanation. Karzai said he spoke with a 15-year-old boy named
Rafiullah who was shot in the leg during the incident. The boy described how an
American soldier entered his house in the middle of the night, woke up his
family and began shooting them.

“This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be
forgiven,” Karzai said in a statement that is sure to incite more
violence.

As violence erupts, U.S. officials have debated a faster exit strategy from Afghanistan, which is supposed to be left to fend for itself by 2014. In anticipation of that departure,
the U.S. and Afghan governments signed a memorandum of understanding recently
about the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan control — a key step toward
an eventual strategic partnership to govern U.S. forces in the country.

Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the alleged incident cannot be explained “except to extend your deepest sympathy to those victims and see that justice is done.”

But, he added, that the U.S. is in Afghanistan because that’s where the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, originated.

“If Afghanistan dissolved into a situation where the Taliban were able to take over or a chaotic situation, it could easily return to an al Qaeda base for attacks on the United States of America. That is still our goal, as it was the day we went in,” McCain said.

Panjawi, the town where the alleged shootings occurred, is inside a rural Taliban stronghold, and is just south of the birthplace of the militant group’s senior leaders, including chief Mullah Omar. Panjawi is a launching point for attacks on neighboring Kandahar city and is a key to securing the province, one of the most difficult battlegrounds in the country.

The Taliban issued a statement on an insurgent website expressing concern for the villagers.

“The so-called American peacekeepers have once again quenched their thirst with the blood of innocent Afghan civilians in Kandahar province,” said the statement.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/11/us-offers-condolences-as-us-service-member-investigated-for-alleged-killing/

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Obama "Personally Lobbied" Senate Democrats to Kill Keystone

 

Support This Black Man

 

Obama gives the Middle Finger To The American People on High Gas Prices

President Barack Obama, seeking to head off an election-year
showdown over energy policy, has been calling wavering Senate Democrats to
lobby against a Republican measure that would force approval of the Keystone XL
oil pipeline from Canada, according to a Democratic aide.  Ahead of a vote expected as soon as today,
the president has made personal appeals to Democrats from Midwestern states,
where many of the jobs would be created by building TransCanada Corp.’s pipeline
from Canada’s oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, according to the
aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

 

 

Just as a refresher: The Keystone pipeline would have
exploited increased oil production from a friendly nation and created 20,000 US
jobs.  Good thing high gas prices and
chronic unemployment aren’t plaguing the country these days, or else this
double kowtow to hardcore greenies might have rankled a lot of Americans.  The most galling element of Obama’s extremist
stand is his White House’s insistence that he really wants to approve the
pipeline — honest! — it’s just that these darned Republicans keep
“rushing” the process and ruining everything.  Never mind the fact that Keystone has already
been subjected to three years’ worth of studies, and was given the green light
for production.  (If only this White
House had been this cautious about Solyndra, which involved piles of taxpayer
money, unlike this pipeline). Ultimately, Senate Democrats were forced to
filibuster a bill in the chamber they control because their own members were
splintering off to side with the GOP.
Eleven Dems broke off and stood with a united Republican caucus to break
the filibuster, but fell four votes short.
One brave, brave Democrat — “moderate” Sen. Mark Warner of
Virginia — said he supported the pipeline, but voted against it because of the
Republicans, or something:

 

Sen Mark Warner (D-VA) on Senate floor says supports
Keystone XL Pipeline but will oppose GOP amendment pushing its construction.

 

 

There’s an Obamaesque profile in courage, if ever there was
one.  In light of the political
storylines of the last few weeks, I simply must ask: Why must these Democrats
continue to wage this War On Jobs?  (For
two excellent responses to Democrats’ insidious “war on women”
nonsense, read Michelle Malkin and Jonah Goldberg).

(1) We already know
that Obamacare is enduringly unpopular and that HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
hasn’t a clue as to whether the law is already breaking its chief promoter’s
promises left and right (spoiler: it is).
Now we also know exactly how dearly a vote in favor of the president’s
signature “accomplishment” ended up costing members of his party at
the ballot box in 2010:

Consistent with the
earlier research, we found that those House Democrats who voted in favor of ACA
ran around six points behind those Democrats who voted against it in the 2010 midterms.
We conducted thousands of simulations and found that, in the majority of
simulations, Democrats retained at least 25 additional seats if they had all
voted against ACA. That’s enough for them to have held the majority.

Gosh, I wonder why a
majority of Americans consider this presidency a failure?  Panic pander time.

(2) As this president
continues to scratch his tax “fairness” itch by pushing the so-called
Buffett Rule, a major Buffett enterprise continues to battle the Treasury
Department over unpaid taxes.  Why won’t
they happily pony up their “fair share”?

(3) Watch Sen. Lamar
Alexander deconstruct Attorney General Holder on his boss’ non-recess
“recess” appointment kick, which may be just getting started:

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/03/10/war_on_jobs_obama_personally_lobbied_senate_democrats_to_kill_keystone

 

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Pakistan Is Tuff on Illegal Aliens, Charging Osama’s Wives

Can You Feel The love from The Religion of Peace

 

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Pakistani authorities have started legal proceedings against the widows of former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for allegedly entering Pakistan illegally and alleged forgery, Pakistan’s interior minister told reporters Thursday.

The widows are in the custody of Pakistani authorities, Minister Rehman Malik said.

Last year, Pakistan told U.S. officials that three wives of bin Laden, who was killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces last year, were living in the country.

Malik said two of bin Laden’s widows have been detained. The status of the third widow, who authorities reported last year was also residing in Pakistan, was not immediately clear Thursday.

“Their entry into Pakistan was illegal,” Malik said. “They also did not inform the authorities that they were living here.

“And there were many other incidents where deception and forgery was committed,” Malik told reporters.

The widows have already been presented in court and are now in custody, the minister added.

“The most important thing is that the women are kept in a proper manner, and keeping this in mind they have been kept in a proper house which has been declared a sub-jail,” Malik said.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency initiated the proceedings against the widows three days ago.

“They can have their own lawyers, and they will have the whole liberty to defend themselves in the court,” Malik said.

The children of the widows aren’t included in the proceedings and are free to live the country, he explained.

“There is no case on the children. Only the adult family members, who knew the law and who abetted Osama, have had a case registered against them,” Malik said.

“A five-bedroom house has been given to them, so the children feel they are in their own home and have been given every type of facility, food and shelter, as though it were their own home,” he added.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/08/world/meast/pakistan-bin-laden-widows/index.html?eref=rss_world

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A Great Man Andrew Breitbart dies

Andrew Breitbart dies and Liberal Show their true color

Andrew Breitbart dies and Liberal Show their true color

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office said it is awaiting
the results of toxicology tests before releasing an official cause of death for
conservative author and activist Andrew Breitbart, who died unexpectedly
Thursday at age 43.

A source familiar with the investigation told The Times the
tests are routine in a death of someone so young.

An autopsy was
completed Friday, and the tests are expected to take several weeks.

“It’s standard procedure,” coroner’s spokesman
Craig Harvey told Reuters. “We have a very young man who died suddenly and
unexpectedly, so we want to make sure we cover all the bases.”

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
the case was still under investigation, said officials are working on the
assumption that Breitbart died of natural causes. A witness saw him collapse
while walking near his home and said that he had no external injuries, the
source said. Paramedics rushed Breitbart to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center,
where doctors pronounced him dead.

“It looks like a heart attack, but no one knows until
“an autopsy is done, Breitbart’s father-in-law, actor Orson Bean, told The
Times.

“He was walking near the house somewhere…. He was
taken by paramedics to UCLA, and they couldn’t revive him,” Bean said.
“We’re devastated. I loved him like a son.”

Breitbart is survived by his wife, Susannah; four children;
his parents; and a sister. The family has not announced memorial arrangements.

Sources said officials will also try to determine whether
Breitbart had any underlying health problems that could have contributed to his
death, a common tack in such cases.

Breitbart was a Hollywood-criticizing,
mainstream-media-loathing conservative and shot to stardom with two stories in
recent years: breaking the story over sexually charged tweets by former Rep.
Anthony Weiner of New York, a scandal that led to his resignation; and posting
a video of Shirley Sherrod, an employee of the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
in which she appeared to make racially charged comments, leading to her firing
and then a subsequent apology by the Obama administration when it was later revealed
that the video had been heavily edited and her comments portrayed out of
context.

Sherrod released a statement saying: “My prayers go out
to Mr. Breitbart’s family as they cope during this very difficult time. I do
not intend to make any further comments.”

Breitbart spent his early professional years helping to edit
the Drudge Report and later helped launch the Huffington Post. In 2005, he
started his news aggregation site Breitbart.com, which was designed to counter
what he described as the “bully media cabal” that he said ignores
stories at odds with prevailing liberal orthodoxy. His goal, he often said, was
to “destroy the institutional left.”

His big splash came
in 2009, when he posted an undercover video in which a pair of conservative activists
posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend asked employees of the community group
ACORN for help with a brothel that would house underage Salvadorans. ACORN was
embarrassed when some of its workers seemed too helpful; Congress responded by
defunding the organization.

Breitbart’s
mother-in-law, Alison Mills Bean, called him “one of the most genuine
people I’ve met in my life…. He always spoke the truth of his heart, and no
matter what people agreed or disagreed with him he never wavered.

“And he was loved by a lot of people,” she said.
“And I know a lot of people found fault with his points of view … but
everyone loved him. It is a great loss for everybody.”There was no
stopping Andrew Breitbart from fighting the good fight with every fiber of his
soul,” Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) said in Congress. “Goodbye
and God bless, Brother Andrew. You are loved and mourned and ever
remembered.”

Breitbart lived with
his family in Westwood. He had been adopted by moderately conservative Jewish
parents and attended two of L.A.’s most exclusive private schools — Carlthorp
and Brentwood.

His father, Gerald,
owned Fox and Hounds, a landmark Tudor-style Santa Monica restaurant that later
became the punk rock club Madame Wong’s West. His mother, Arlene, was an
executive at Bank of America in Beverly Hills and downtown L.A.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/andrew-breitbart-coroner-wants-to-cover-all-bases-in-death-probe.html

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Obama does not care about high Gas Prices, He Wants You to Drive Green Cars

 

 

“LOOK AT VIDEO BELOW”

Barack Obama Driving

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama says vehicle fuel
economy standards set under his administration and better cars built by a
resurgent U.S. auto industry will save money at the gas pump over the long
term, a counterpoint to Republican criticism of his energy policy.

In his weekly radio and online address Saturday, Obama said
Detroit automakers are on track to build cars that average nearly 55 miles per
gallon by 2025, doubling current mileage standards.

“That means folks will be able to fill up every two
weeks instead of every week, saving the typical family more than $8,000 at the
pump over time,” he said. “That’s a big deal, especially as families
are yet again feeling the pinch from rising gas prices.”

During the past several weeks, Obama has been eager to
appear aggressive in the face of rising gasoline prices even as he reminds
audiences that there is no simple, immediate solution that will reverse the
current spike in prices.

“What’s happening in Detroit will make a difference.
But it won’t solve everything,” Obama said. “There’s no silver bullet
for avoiding spikes in gas prices every year.”

 

By drawing attention to the auto industry, Obama looked to
highlight both his efforts to improve fuel efficiency as well as his role in
helping rescue General Motors and Chrysler. He also reiterated his call to end
oil and gas company tax breaks and government subsidies that average about $4
billion a year.

 

Rising oil prices have become a concern at the White House,
where Obama aides worry they could hurt an economic recovery that has been
improving and also harm the president’s re-election prospects.

 

Oil prices typical rise in the spring, but they have spiked
to heights unseen at this this time of year, hastened by increased tensions
over Iran’s nuclear program. Gasoline prices reached $3.74 a gallon on Friday,
a record at this point in the calendar but still shy of the high point of $4.11
hit in July 2008.

 

In Saturday’s Republican address, Rep. Doc Hastings of
Washington said a meeting this week among Obama and House and Senate leaders
from both parties “provided a glimmer of new hope that the president and
the Democratic-controlled Senate may finally act on some bipartisan energy
bills” already passed by the Republican-controlled House.

Still, Hastings, the chairman of the House Natural Resources
Committee, faulted Obama for not doing more to increase domestic oil and gas
production, for opposing drilling on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for
blocking a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline and for imposing regulations on energy
producers.

“The president, who campaigned on a promise to address
rising gas prices, now talks as if they’re largely beyond his control,”
Hastings said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120303/D9T9040O0.html