Brief for Monday, October 12, 2009 - Editions

Brief

Monday, October 12, 2009

The Foundation

"[L]et them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it." --Thomas Jefferson

A Nobel but worthless prize

Political Futures

"This year's awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama can only hasten the decline in prestige of an award that has already gone to people like Yasser Arafat, UN General Secretary Kofi Annan (who presided over the Iraqi oil-for-food scam) and the fabulist Guatemalan activist Rigoberta Menchu. For this year's Nobel, the deadline was February 1, barely ten days after Mr. Obama had assumed the presidency. Though the Nobel committee of five Norwegian politicians presumably considered the evidence over the summer, it's fair to say their award represents little more than wishful thinking that Mr. Obama's diplomatic efforts will ultimately bear fruit. Other U.S. Presidents have won Nobels, but for actual accomplishments. Teddy Roosevelt helped broker a peace treaty between Russia and Japan. Woodrow Wilson worked to build a lasting peace after the end of World War I, however unsuccessful that effort later proved. Even Jimmy Carter won the Peace Prize in 2002 after more than two decades of humanitarian efforts as a former president. The Nobel Committee is said often to make its final decision at its last meeting just before the announcement. If so, President Obama has gotten a consolation prize for the failure of the U.S. to secure the 2016 Olympics. But that won't take away the sense that his award has more to do with political correctness than the realities of peace. Reading the Nobel Committee's explanation of its decision, President Obama appears to have won this year's prize because he's not his predecessor, George W. Bush." --Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund

Culture

"It is absurd and it is embarrassing. It would even be infuriating if it were not such a declaration of emptiness. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has embarrassed itself and cheapened a great award that had real meaning. It was a good thing, the Nobel Peace Prize. Every year the giving of it was a matter of note throughout the world, almost a matter of state. It was serious. It mattered that it was given to a woman like Mother Teresa in 1979. ... Her life was heroic, epic, and when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize, it was as if the world were saying, 'You are the best we have. You are living a life that should be emulated.' ... Some Peace Prizes have been more roughly political, or had a political edge, and were of course debatable. ... It was always absurd that Ronald Reagan, whose political project led to the end of the gulag and the fall of the Berlin Wall, and who gambled his personal standing in the world for a system that would protect the common man from annihilation in a nuclear missile attack, could not win it. But nobody wept over it, and for one reason: because everyone, every sentient adult who cared to know about such things, knew that the Nobel Peace Prize is, when awarded to a political figure, a great and prestigious award given by liberals to liberals. NCNA -- no conservatives need apply. This is the way of the world, and so what? Life isn't for prizes. Yet even within that context, the giving of the peace prize to President Obama is absurd. He doesn't have a body of work; he's a young man; he's been president less than nine months. He hopes to accomplish much, and so far -- nine months! -- has accomplished little. Is this a life of heroic self-denial, of the sacrifice of self for something greater, of huge and historic consequence, of sustained vision? No it's not. Is this a life marked by a vivid and calculable contribution to the peace of the world? No, it's not. This is an award for not being George W. Bush. This is an award for not making the world nervous. This is an award for sharing the basic political sentiments and assumptions of the members of the committee. It is for what Barack Obama may do, not what he has done. He hasn't done anything. In one mindless stroke, the committee has rendered the Nobel Peace Prize a laughingstock." --columnist Peggy Noonan

Opinion in Brief

"The whole business of a bunch of Scandinavian worthies doling out the profits of a long-gone dynamite maker's fortune has always smacked of the worst sort of self-satisfied plutocratic worthiness. But this takes the biscuit. President Obama remains the barely man of world politics, barely a senator now barely a president, yet in the land of the Euro-weenies (copyright PJ O'Rourke) the great and the good remain in his thrall. To reward him for a blank results sheet, to inflate him when he has no achievements to his name, makes a mockery of what, let's face it, is an already fairly discredited process (remember Rigoberta Menchu in 1992? Ha!). That's not the point. What this does is accelerate the elevation of President Obama to a comedy confection, which he does not deserve, and gives his critics yet another bat to whack him with. Shame on the Norwegians." --London's Daily Telegraph chief political commentator Benedict Brogan

Insight

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small, complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd." --French historian Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

Government

"A pattern has emerged. Liberal citizens and politicians during the Bush years were permitted to speak out against the Iraq war, root for an American defeat, and cheer with the news of each dead American, and they were labeled patriots. An American speaks out against Obama's socialist policies and he is labeled anti-American. A liberal is able to chant anti-Bush slogans and compare him to Hitler and he is exercising his right to free speech. An American questions Obama's judgment both domestically and on the international stage and he is called a racist. I have attempted to point out to liberal friends and family that if they simply took the vast majority of offensive statements, policies, or actions of Obama over the past nine months and imagined them emanating from Bush, they would see the hypocrisy in their stance -- to no avail. They are content to sit back and watch this administration gut the Constitution, usurp power wherever it can find it, ignore the intent of the founders of this country and the successes of the free market economy which helped lead us to the position of the only world's superpower. But they will wake up in a few years to find that their children are not safe from harm's way, their grandchildren will be working off the enormous debt incurred by this government and will never achieve the economic success of their grandparents, and when they need medical care, they will be waiting in line like the Europeans and Canadians who used to turn to the US in times of emergency. Yet they will have their civil rights, for as long as Bush is not the one authorizing the wiretapping of their cell phones, all is good. Another bottle of champagne anyone?" --columnist Lauri Regan

Re: The Left

"[Liberals lie that] America's lower life expectancy compared to countries with socialist health care proves that their medical systems are superior. President Obama has too much intellectual pride to make such a specious argument, so instead we have to keep hearing it from his half-wit supporters. These Democrats are all over the map on where precisely Americans place in the life-expectancy rankings. We're 24th, according to Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Barbara Boxer; 42nd, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell; 35th, according to Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson; and 47th, according to Rep. Dennis Kucinich. So the U.S. may have less of a 'life expectancy' problem than a 'Democratic math competency' problem." --columnist Ann Coulter

The Gipper

"This democracy of ours which sometimes we've treated so lightly, is more than ever a comfortable cloak, so let us not tear it asunder, for no man knows once it is destroyed where or when he will find its protective warmth again." --Ronald Reagan

Liberty

"The White House insists that the president is hard at work on what to do about Afghanistan, and whether to send more troops to fuel a 'surge' like the surge that prevented a collapse of the West's attempt to rescue Iraq from barbarism and restore a fragile semblance of civilization. The brave young Americans put in harm's way in that godforsaken corner of the world often feel abandoned in a hopeless cause, so the president should feel the pressure to act, and quickly. But the problem is 'multilayered,' his spokesman says. Translated into real English, that means 'he hasn't yet figured out which layer of public opinion to appease, and which layer to disappoint.' He'll do something as soon as he figures out which disappointed layer would squeak loudest and scream longest." --Washington Times editor emeritus Wesley Pruden

For the Record

"On March 27, flanked by his secretaries of defense and state, the president said this: 'Today I'm announcing a comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.' He then outlined a civilian-military counterinsurgency campaign to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan. ... The general in charge was then relieved and replaced with Obama's own choice, Stanley McChrystal. And it's McChrystal who submitted the request for the 40,000 troops, a request upon which the commander in chief promptly gagged. The White House began leaking an alternate strategy, apparently proposed (invented?) by Vice President Biden, for achieving immaculate victory with arm's-length use of cruise missiles, Predator drones and special ops. The irony is that no one knows more about this kind of warfare than Gen. McChrystal. He was in charge of exactly this kind of 'counterterrorism' in Iraq for nearly five years, killing thousands of bad guys in hugely successful under-the-radar operations. When the world's expert on this type of counterterrorism warfare recommends precisely the opposite strategy -- 'counterinsurgency,' meaning a heavy-footprint, population-protecting troop surge -- you have the most convincing of cases against counterterrorism by the man who most knows its potential and its limits. And McChrystal was emphatic in his recommendation: To go any other way than counterinsurgency would lose the war. Yet his commander in chief, young Hamlet, frets, demurs, agonizes. His domestic advisers, led by Rahm Emanuel, tell him if he goes for victory, he'll become LBJ, the domestic visionary destroyed by a foreign war. His vice president holds out the chimera of painless counterterrorism success. Against Emanuel and Biden stand Gen. David Petraeus, the world's foremost expert on counterinsurgency (he saved Iraq with it), and Stanley McChrystal, the world's foremost expert on counterterrorism. Whose recommendation on how to fight would you rely on?" --columnist Charles Krauthammer

Reader Comments

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United States Navy Birthday

On Oct. 13, 1775, the U.S. Navy was born when the Continental Congress authorized the arming of two sailing vessels with 80 men and 10 carriage guns in order to intercept British supply and munitions transports. The Declaration of Independence came nine months later, followed by the creation of the Department of the Navy in 1798. Today, our Navy is the most powerful in the world. We at The Patriot offer our thanks to all our sailors for a job well done and wish you a Happy 234th Birthday! God bless you and your families.

Please visit the Patriot Shop for a great selection of items bearing the Navy's insignia.

Also, while The Patriot Post's Operation Shield of Strength has distributed more than 350,000 Shields of Strength dog tags to military forces in rotating deployment overseas, we are still receiving requests from military chaplains. If you are able to support OpSoS and can help provide Shields of Strength to ground forces on the frontlines with Jihadistan, please link to The Patriot's Operation Shield of Strength.

(NOTE: 100 percent of the proceeds from these donations are applied to military requests for Shields. We at The Patriot are both honored and humbled to donate our services and personnel to fill these orders. If you are among our military readers and would like us to find an OpSoS sponsor for your battalion, please e-mail us at sos@patriotpost.us.)

The Last Word

"I can't agree with my colleagues here on CONTENTIONS that a) Barack Obama should reject the Nobel Peace Prize or b) be embarrassed by it. The Nobel Committee chose him wisely because he does, in fact, represent the organization's highest ideals. He is an American president queasy about the projection of American power. He is an American president who rejects the notion of American exceptionalism. He is an American president eagerly in pursuit of legitimacy to be granted him not by those who voted for him but by those who do not cast a vote and who chafe at American leadership. It is his devout wish that America become one of many nations, influencing the world indirectly or not influencing it at all, rather than "the indispensable nation," as Madeleine Albright characterized it. He is the encapsulation, the representative, the wish fulfillment, the very embodiment, of the multilateralist impulse. He is, almost literally, a dream come true for the sorts of people who treasure and value the Nobel Peace Prize. It's the most obvious choice, once you think about it, since Michael Moore won an Oscar for Bowling for Columbine." --columnist John Podhoretz

Comments

H. D. Schmidt

Would Mr. Fund be willing to explain to the reader of the Patriot, whose fault it is/was that present true National Debt now stands at over 53 trillion dollars and what was the cause? This was before Mr. Obama took office, right? By the way, I voted for Ron Paul, in as much as he was truly the voice of the Founding Fatehrs indeed, presented to America indeed by very God Almigthy, the same God that inspired those young brave man so long ago, to produce an new emancipation from America itslef, as it is presently as the most abusive Empire on the road to hell. It is actually not me saying so, but the very Founding Fathers from their graves, right?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:32:49 AM

Buzz

I too, have become tired of Townhall due to the pop-ups, nonsensical ads, ad nauseum. I've always relied more on The Post anyway. Keep up the good fight.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:36:07 AM

Kukee American

As someone who likes Cracker Jacks, I am offended that you would display this Un-Nobel Prize in conjunction with a Craker Jack Box an emblem that has meant so much in my past.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:38:49 AM

Barbara Espinosa

John,

Your are correct he is in the good company of like minded socialist.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:39:01 AM

Paul M. Markarian

I do believe Mr. Obama deserves some type of award.

How about the new face of a Jack in the Box.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:45:56 AM

Desotobul

Concerning Townhall ....

I read both Townhall and Patriot Post material. Let us not nitpick our allies in a time of war. Congrats on a job well done.

Desotobul

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:53:55 AM

Ellen

How long does it take for the president to listen to the military and act? He has never served in the military -- knows nothing about "strategy" and is spinning his wheels while Americans are dying. Suddenly the violence in Iraq has accelerated while the president tries for the Olympics, tries to sell us a bad health program, etc. He appointed McCrystal -- now ignores his pleas. If he spent as much time governing as he spends on television, we might have a chance to remain the country we all love. On the other hand -- maybe he should stay on television and leave the governing to someone who knows what he is doing. He is not the Messiah nor the "second coming." He is an appeaser and thinking people fear for the future of our beloved country while he and his teleprompter tour the world trashing our great nation. Never hear the word "we" -- it it always "I".

Posted October 12, 2009 at 11:55:58 AM

Basil Briguglio Jr

People are wrong when they say that obama hasn't accomplished anything. He has all but officially overturned the Constitution, severely weakened the United States, and put American citizens in danger. That is prize-worthy to the Global Snobs. If there ever is another attack where thousands of Americans die, they'll probably give him another one.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:00:18 PM

Stan

The Patriot Post is a beacon in a world become dark with narcissistic and socialist "leaders". Keep up the good work for the good of our republic. Live free or die. Ex-Navy Vietnam vet. Stan

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:06:51 PM

Jack Fisher

How about this as a solution to the war in Afghanistan: step up pressure on the Taliban with the recommended troop surge, enter negotiations with Afghanistan and Pakistan to cecede portions of their country to Taliban/Pushtun tribal control (basically the area that consists to the mountainous region between these two countries) with the ultimatum to the Taliban that if they hand over the list of Al-Queda felons names we present to them and the guarantee that the American troops will withdrawn totally from there (and Iraq if you want) as soon as the last Al-Queda operative is loaded in the paddy wagon, and they in turn will have their own God-forsaken county to rule by Shari law however they want. Emphasize that our war is with the Al-Queda and any who will harbor them. Give them up as Bush declared (he actually only wanted one at the time, Bin Laden)and the Taliban can have their soverignty in a country of their own with their original "family" roots, the Pushtun.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:07:23 PM

Roy Moses

Either John Podhoretz is kidding or he's been dipping into mind-altering substances.

Just because somebody puts a person's name on an award doesn't automatically make it deserved -- Michael Moore or Al Gore or Yasser Arafat, for example.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:09:24 PM

Alan Cerny

I Love the new website. I couldn't agree more with John Podhoretz and have been basically saying the same thing to all my friends over the weekend since the announcement was made. Lastley, as a Retired Navy Senior Chief, I appreciate the mention of the Navy's Birthday and the well wishes to me and all of my Shipmates.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:13:09 PM

Joe Clem

Now that the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded on the basis of potential rather than achievement, I propose that all school children that enter the 1st grade immediately be awarded a high school deploma, a college degree, or an advanced degrees in their chosen profession. Why should we wait to see if students can actually become proficient and skillful in their life endeavors? Let's just give our students all the awards and deplomas up front so they can immediately bask in their rewards. Let's also give them immediate salaries commensurate with their awards and deplomas. This proposal should work as well as anything else that's being done in Washington or Oslo.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:14:47 PM

Bob McKune

Editor: It is beyond my comprehension why Republicans continue to attack Obama for the single reason that he is not up for reelection in 2010. It would seem more effective and expedient to attack the Democratic leadership. ie: Pelosi, Reid, Schumer, Frank, et al. They are both visible and vulnerable, witness their popularity ratings. Let's win Congress back and worry about 2012 in 2012.

Bob McKune

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:23:39 PM

Spiff

I have often dreamed of flying with the birds and soaring amongst the clouds, but when I wake up, my feet are solidly planted on this earth. I find reality course at times but it is what it is. Not an award getter...

Spiff

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:26:51 PM

Leon

With respect to President Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, I think the appropriate comment is given in the scriptures: to wit Galations 6:3,

"For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:27:26 PM

Sam

So Obama the pipsqueak accepted the Nobel Peace Prize. What else could we expect from one with his many phantom accomplishments. The world is laughing at him, but his afterglow is so intense he can't hear it.

There is anothe dimension to this farce. Will the pipsqueak now seriously make war on terrorism, Taliban and Al Queda when the ink on the prize is still drying? Will he treasure the now worthless prize more than the lives of the young men and women he sends to fight under suicidal rules of engagement? It won't be long before we find out.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:30:44 PM

Beverly Hall

What about Obama's Purple Heart Award for all the wounds he MIGHT have received if he had gone into the military?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:31:34 PM

joan racywolski

I felt safe at night going to bed with Bush as president, but for sure not with Obama, we are a open target right now, and our poor troups are getting killed for nothing. He can take his nobel prize and give it to someone who deserves it.

Joan

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:34:57 PM

Mary McLemore

Obama is not searching for a new strategy on Afghanistan, but for a plan -- ANY plan -- which will allow him to escape blame for failure, yet claim credit for success. What a disgrace that our military lacks the commander-in-chief which it deserves.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:37:20 PM

Janet Thomas

It's always heart-warming to read your policies and the values for which you advocate. I respect your thoughts for the military for my extended family has served since World War 1 (father on a USN battleship), brother on a small USN ship leading the troop transports to D-Day Normandy beaches,brother an Air Force pilot in Korea, & husband, naval aviator with Korea & 3 Vietnam cruises..11 air medals & 2 Bronze Stars. All for the freedoms for Americans. Keep up your good words & work for the next generation. Thank you.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:44:36 PM

David Hill-

The handing out of a Nobel Peace Prize to an unqualified recipient, becomes a situation of which we have no control of or even influence, we were not asked nor never will be, but the very act merely mirrors the mindset of the givers. With that said the situation isn't worth fussing over, the real world knows the truth and is laughing and crying simultaneously. So sad.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:44:54 PM

John L. Hiltzheimer

I couldn't agree LESS, after reading John Podhoretz's DIATRIBE on why OBAMA got the Nobel "WAR" prize!! This "prize" was an ultimate insult to this nation, and those other nominees, from those Scandinavians that supposedly had a very unnerving agenda to push forward. Shame on them, & shame on anyone who says President Obama deserves the Peace Prize!!

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:46:08 PM

Janet Thomas

Sincere thanks for all you do,

Posted October 12, 2009 at 12:46:09 PM

Tom

The Nobel committee was confused. When President Obama referred to some people getting all "wee-weed up" he was making reference to people wetting their pants. Therefore, the Nobel Committee should have given the Piss Prize instead of the Peace Prize.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:03:14 PM

Sharon

I really appreciate receiving your facts about what is going on with our country. As a disabled widow, I am unable to financially contribute to a cause to help save us; I can only hope and pray that Americans will come to their senses. I do believe the majority of our citizens are God-fearing and law-abiding decent people who are aghast at where we are headed. Therefore, I encourage everyone to please pray that we will be rescued from the evil-thinkers established in our government.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:08:33 PM

Sharon

This isn't meant to be displayed; I just need to ask if my Patriot Post can be forwarded to my family and friends. I am earnestly trying to get them to subscribe but some people are just slow about action. Thank you if you can answer.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:10:56 PM

Dan Stone

Could I get a little help please? I think there's something wrong with my spell check. I googled the nobull peace prize and all I got was a blank screen.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:20:31 PM

Ralph

Would you please, find out, and then tell us where John Podhoretz buys his 'cool-aide' products. I think I need some.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:36:22 PM

Everett

John, did you just wake-up from a drunken binge?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:37:48 PM

Neil Burroughs

I have taken the time to write you on several occasions. My perspective is only an iteration of your own, I know, but it is a slightly different viewpoint. I guess I haven't sung your praises enough to get into print, as it seems everything that does get published has in common. Perhaps you could edit down my pithy remarks to something usable. I realise that I'm just a former Air Force officer who, thanks to the nitwits in Washington, has been out of work for over ten months. I also realise that I , therefore, have lots of time on my hands to comment. You, on the other hand, need to get over yourselves and publish the thoughts of the common man. That is what this is all about, right? Come on, guys, LETS ROLL!!

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:38:29 PM

Everett

Basil, thousands of Americans are dying. They are being killed fighting a war with little to no support by our current so called Dimocratic government that is doing more to support our foes than they are support our troops. Shame on them and all thier yellow-belly supporters.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 1:49:44 PM

Sturat

Henry Ford summed up the Obama - Nobel situation long ago:

You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:09:09 PM

Buck

Hi Guys, I do enjoy reading the Patroit and the comment section. I was beginng to think I was the only one that gets upset seeing the direction Our beloved Country is heading.

This morning I had the pleasure of hearing the praises of obama in that NJ school. I got to thinking, and composed a little song for our kids to sing in Southern schools. I would like to think what you think. Here goes:

mmm mmm mmm

We Honor Robert E Lee,

for standing up for Southern kids like me.

mmm mmm mmm

Hooray for Robert E Lee,

who left the Federal Gov.,

to protect his family.

mmm mmm mmm

Our Hero, Robert E Lee,

who both North and South thought were Great,

because he faught and believed in indiviual States.

mmm mmm mmm

YES

Do you honestly think that would be permitted ?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:11:51 PM

RDarling

That last bit had to come from an idiot. Until I see a birth certificate that proves Obama is a citizen of this country I will think of him as a fraud and nothing more, and if one comes along now I will not believe it, we have all been had.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:17:28 PM

John Eastus

"He is, almost literally, a dream come true for the sorts of people who treasure and value the Nobel Peace Prize. It's the most obvious choice, once you think about it, since Michael Moore won an Oscar for Bowling for Columbine." --columnist John" Podhoretz

If you change the dream to nightmare I agree.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:23:19 PM

Thomas N.

Just as joke provoking was the Nobel Prize to Obama, the recent decision to pay Afghan troops and fighters more than the Taliban is an even more a morose comedic action on Obama's part..

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:27:23 PM

Eileen Lane

I do not think this site is "better than Townhall". I do find it interesting and informative, but I find many sites like this with just a slight bent that is different and I enjoy, agree with those on the "right" in the main, and this is one of those good sites. There can never be too many and one site should not be critical of another with the same goals.

Thanks for your points of view.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:37:32 PM

Mary McLemore

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:41:54 PM

Shorty Feldbush

I always read the wonderful information you send and marvel at the depth of research and your factual presentation. It is stimulating and informative. It does the job of stirring all Patriots to move from the position of "silent majority" toward becoming active. What seems to be missing is the methodology and direction of our concerted action. Lets have a focal point. A personification of the movement back to individual liberty, constitutional limits on both the government and the judiciary along with the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and other traditional American values. With both political parties ignoring this call for a radical change in how our government is being run, what other option seems optimum for those who want to make an impact? Where does one go to harness what seems to be a positive momentum toward restoring our faith in the Founding Fathers and their proven formula for greatness?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:44:23 PM

Mark Boone

Was that a joke, John Podhoretz... because I laughed out loud! If it wasn't, then you are at least in the runoff for most misguided, brainwashed mealmouth I've heard in some time. There must be something you are good at; please drop your pen and start doing it immediately.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 2:47:50 PM

Larry

It has occurred to me that the reason Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize is that the left here and abroad knowing he is a narcissist and wanting to make sure he continues his policies have assured his place in history lest he waffle in his policies while thinking about his legacy. It wouldn't surprise me if he won it next year as well.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 3:07:14 PM

Mary Alexander

I have a question, not a comment, and I'd really like an answer. This past week was the anniversary of Spiro Agnew's disgrace due to his criminal tax evasion. How does the dollar amount of his crime compare to Charlie Rangel's?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 3:08:15 PM

Bob Geigle

Well. Given the fact that the President was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he did not have to accept it. He knows he has accoplished nothing tangible. Just hope for the world I guess. It shows his egocentric persanality very much. An honorable person would not have accepted. So much for Honor. I fear for our Countries direction. I am sure our Founding Fathers are not pleased as I am not. Those who continue to believe in this man would be very wise to re-think their thoughts.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 3:17:39 PM

W. Bach

I find it interesting yet puzzling that in every column you must reprint "old" quotes from Ronald Reagan. Is this because he is the only Republican that had anything worthwhile to say or worth reprinting in the past 20 years? Does this point out that we have not had a true leader in the party or country for the past 20+ years? What does this say for the parties future? Not much I'm afraid.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 3:20:55 PM

Hollis

Obama should have rejected the Nobel Peace prize and be embarrassed by it but alas, we all know that would never happen. He is to stuck on himself, pompous and full of egotistical pride. The only good thing out of all this is the prize went to an American...but is Obama REALLY an American? No one has received more and done less than this president. I put this right up there with Gore winning the award over that dear woman who just recently died at the age of 98 who helped save the Jewish children by smuggling through the business she owned. This woman risked her life and had her arms and legs broken in retaliation. Gore winning the award was a travesty and Obama winning this award is utterly despicable!

Posted October 12, 2009 at 3:54:45 PM

Michael V Caputo Jr

We should not be shocked by the ridiculousness of awarding the Nobel Peace prize to the undeserving puppets such as Arafat, Annan, Menchu and B. Obama when it is done in a world saturated with awards most of which do little but exalt the mediocre among the truly awful.This is another indicator of how low the worlds principles and values have sunk on their way to the murky depths of the human cesspool.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 4:24:24 PM

Franklin

If the public could see who nominated BO it would probably become clear that this "prize" was bought and paid for and gives him the needed credibility to seek out his international ties to our old enemies and to be added to the list of anti-American Marxists.

Now that he has the award that tells the people that he's the international prez, he can more freely advanced his non nationalistic agenda overseas without question.

Has anyone noticed his affinity to not only touching base with his "brother" Hugo Chavez, but to reach Cuba and all the more powerful Communist countries above? What is this Socialist President selling? Could it be America, as we know it?

Franklin

Posted October 12, 2009 at 5:01:44 PM

J Neely

America is fast becoming a nation of sheepole. Following a shephard who has no vision, no idea of where he is going, a shephard who is morally bankrupt. I will not follow him even if I am a country of one.

Jim Neely

Posted October 12, 2009 at 5:44:33 PM

B. Lee Pemberton

I sincerely hope I never see anything else authored by Podhoretz, praising someone such as Obama who is a liar, an impostor, and who knows what else. Please do not foul another part of your great publication with lunatic praises of a man who has harmed America more in a short length of time than all the people who have come in contact with America since its settlement!

Posted October 12, 2009 at 6:32:36 PM

Harry Truman

To those who don't "get" John Podhoretz;you need to get more liver as you are irony-deficient as John was simply saying that according to the standards or lack thereof, Obama was the perfect choice for the Noble Committee. A powerful president who is shy about using that power, the Commander-in-Chief

who won't use the armed forces and would rather be one of a hundred than be the first one of that hundred.An award for peace should be for someone who actually accomplishes peace than someone who just dreams and speechifies about it.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 7:37:19 PM

Harry Truman

Posted October 12, 2009 at 8:00:15 PM

EdWare

Gore and Obama awarded the Nobel Prize. Next must be Ted Kennedy beautified to Saint Blowhard, patron of limousine liberals and ambitious Socialists.

Pass the Crackerjacks, I'm feeling lucky!

Posted October 12, 2009 at 8:13:18 PM

Robert G.S. Plant

Thank you for the accolade of "Happy Birthday, USN"

Thank you John(USMC,Ret); "Well Said!"

Thank you Patriot Post; Sunshine in the daily ink keeps me hopefull, and active in pursuing the same interest!

And thank you God for the wisdom of the Founders, the courage of the Patriots, and the restoration of this Republic to what it is intended to be.

SCPO,USN, Retired (WWII, Korea, RVN)

Posted October 12, 2009 at 8:13:55 PM

Harry Truman

Dear Mr. Bach,

Sorry if you don't "get" the fuss about Reagan, but it is because he is the Gold Standard for Conservatives.Maybe we should give the Founders Quotes a rest because they are"old"?

Perhaps there is someone else that is more in line with your beliefs?

I was "cool for school" back in the 80's and thought that Reagan was the war-monger "everyone" said he was.As I was still a Flamin' Liberal til 1993, I am sorry that I missed out and will always read what he had to say.Sad to say, there will only be one Ronald Reagan, but there is always the chance for another, eh?

Posted October 12, 2009 at 8:17:04 PM

BENJAMIN DAILEY

URGENT ACTION - Senate Finance Committee voting on Health Care Bill tomorrow - Get out a message - Ben Dailey

Posted October 12, 2009 at 9:03:29 PM

Milton Schick

In Government: "A pattern has emerged...by columnist Lauri Regan (Monday's Brief 12 Oct 2009), I sincerely believe Liberals have a defect in their DNA that short-circuits their ability to perform logical thinking. I know individuals who have plenty of smarts and brains, but when it comes to Liberal issues, they simply can't wrap their minds around the data and derive a logical answer. It's absolutely astounding. These people should know better, but they just can't get it. The only time I've ever seen a Liberal suddenly get it is when their life is one the line, and suddenly they get "religion," just like there are no atheists in foxholes. I don't have an answer, but one needs to be found, pronto.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 9:28:14 PM

Lois Baker Jung

I have learned a lot from your posts - they make sense! Recently I found this quote by Theodore Roosevelt made in Abilene KS May 2/1903: "There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility." So succinct today and at every level.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 10:06:35 PM

Howard Doty

I have a BS in Industrial Management and an MBA; however, I am a redneck at heart. So my comment relative to Mr. Podhoretz commentary relative to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to the Big 'O' is simply: BS

Posted October 12, 2009 at 10:25:39 PM

Keith Cook

Any remaining vestige of legitimacy the Nobel Peace Prize committee had vanished in 2007 when they chose Al Gore over Irena Sendler. Their 2009 pick of Barack Obama merely confirms what they have time and again made obvious, that committee members are far more intent on validating and promulgating their political and social views than encouraging and rewarding men and women like Sendler who truly deserve such an award.

Posted October 12, 2009 at 10:37:52 PM

Michael Joe Thannisch

While health care is an important factor in life expectancy, if is not the only one. Diet is one of those factors, and many countries with the hgihest life expectancy rate eat lots of fish. One studies indicates wealthy countries have higher life expectancies because in general wealthy people do no participate as much in high risk behaviours such a smoking, over drinking. Today the more wealthy tend to be thinner as well.

On an aside, the state with the highest survival rate after heart attacks. Washington State because everyone who passes high school has to have CPR before graduating. (That really is a good idea)

Posted October 13, 2009 at 12:35:41 AM

StuRat

Health Care Question:

If the Administration and the Congressional Democrats are so certain that there is half a Trillion dollars to be saved by cleaning up fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare/Medicaid, what are they waiting for? Do they need a health care reform bill to pass before they start looking? How much have they found so far this year? Certainly not the $50 Billion that they will need to find every six months to remain "deficit neutral". Why aren't they cleaning it up now if they know it's there? Where will the funding come from if they can't clean it up? We know what the track record has been for 60 years now. Add another 50 million entitlement recipients and voila, lower premiums, higher quality care, and lower costs. Right.

I've got some old lottery tickets for sale if you believe that.

Posted October 13, 2009 at 12:45:04 AM

m hughes

I'm hoping by now that those who commented negatively in regards to Mr. Podhoretz's piece have come to realize that his point was that based on the ridiculous standards of the "international community," Obama was the only choice. I suppose sometimes it is difficult to tell that the tongue is indeed in the cheek when one can see neither the tongue nor the cheek. It helps to read the whole quote rather than just the last sentence.

Posted October 13, 2009 at 2:12:35 AM

Prof. Toivo F. Kent

While Gen. McChrystal is put on hold, Obama rushes forward with new orders to implement policy for the military to do away with "don't ask/ don't tell". Now gays will be openly serving in a war against fanatically religious foes. though most troops may not have a problem with this and in this country we may have a "Cosmopolitan tolerance" this is truly a propaganda tool guaranteed to become an obstacle in Afghanistan and other Muslim Countries we need as allies. While serving as a Paratrooper in a poor, somewhat backward Muslim country where people lived in mud houses as they have for centuries, where the only electricity in the village was the minaret where prayers are blared five times a day, un-veiled women are an abomination worthy of death, I saw the reality that is a 6th-century people. how do you think we can work to gain cooperation with tribal leaders needed for counter-insurgency? Do we really need to make the case for the Taliban and Al Qaida that we are the quasi-Christian immoral infidels they say we are? Do you think we can promote these values to potential Allies allowing our troops on their soil? This isn't about the suitability, patriotism or the morality of gays, but the life and death reality that comes with fighting a war in the Middleast. Russia lost, there as godless infidels, we may be considered something worse.

Posted October 13, 2009 at 4:57:29 AM

Ken

By awarding the Peace prize to Pres. Obama, the Nobel committee has destroyed the last shred of honor and importance for their prizes. I suggest that their next step could be to open a new category--the Nobel prize for best Chicken Noodle Casserole!

Posted October 13, 2009 at 8:25:23 AM

B.R.Price

The Patriot Post is the best! I read it regularly and know I can depend on it to be factual. I see Mark Alexander as a true patriot, and there are so few left who are willing to speak out, I find him refreshing, and pray for him and The Patriot Post staff to have continued good health and hopefully good fortune, and increased readership. I recommend the post to all I know. You're the best, like Fox News is the best. Thanks.

B.R.Price

Posted October 13, 2009 at 2:07:11 PM

Mike McGinn

If I had a Nobel Prize sitting on my mantle, you can bet that it would now be boxed up and on itw way back to Norway...COD! I won't have to worry about that situation htough since, as Peggy Noonan says, "NCNA -- no conservatives need apply".

Posted October 13, 2009 at 3:02:02 PM

wbach

My dear Harry Truman, I DO get the fuss about Ronald Reagan, you obviously didn't "get" my point, the fact that the last republican worth quoting is Ronald Reagan. It is sad to say that neither Bush made any impact verbally that will ever be worth printing 20 years after. May I add on another note, John McCains comments of praise on Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize shows exactly why he didn't get elected and, I don't believe we'll ever see any unforgettable quotes by John MCain printed in this forum.

Posted October 13, 2009 at 3:52:34 PM

james Wright

So dumbing down the Nobel to put it on par with an Oscar is the right thing to do? I pray this was some effort at tongue in cheek, but it sure didn't come off very well.

Posted October 13, 2009 at 7:38:59 PM

robert morgan

we hope common sense has not become totally stricken from the RULING PARTY, but it seems unlikely ; VOTE FOR FREEDOM!

Posted October 13, 2009 at 8:02:02 PM

Stev

I'm a reluctant, resistant, conspiracy theorist, but I keep getting an uneasy feeling about the inordinate amount of attention being paid to President Obama individually.

Somehow, I keep visualizing a scene of a crowd concentrating on a dancing stooge on a stage...the spectators are all laughing and enjoying the spectacle of the one playing the fool. All the while, of course, pickpockets are circulating among them, picking their pockets and purses.

We're all watching the prancing fool.

Who's watching Emmanuel, Pelosi, Reid, and all the "czars"?

Posted October 13, 2009 at 9:32:25 PM

Bill

On the Nobel piece prize award, Peggy Noonan wrote, "what Barack Obama may do, not what he has done. He hasn't done anything."

Obviously, dear Peggy, your implication is nothing positive accomplished. On the negative side of the ledger he already stands head and shoulders above his predecessors having among other things inserted the federal government into private business, surreptitiously increased the powers of the Executive Branch by creating "czars" (where are those Bolsheviks when you need them) , turned time-honored bankruptcy law on it's head, made tours abroad proclaiming a U.S. "mea culpa", helped push the deficit to astronomical levels, and been at the helm as the unemployment rate, stable for ages, doubled. And, all this in just nine months.

Posted October 14, 2009 at 8:54:10 AM

Dave

Earlier this month, my wife and I visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, and one of the many sobering sights there was an inscription of one version of Pastor Martin Niemoeller's famous lament of his moral failings during the gathering Nazi storm in the 1930s:

"First [the Nazis] came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist -- so I said nothing. Then

they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat -- so I did nothing. Then came the

trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew -- so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."

In view of many recent news items, an update may be appropriate:

'First Obama came for the drug companies, but I sold no medicines -- so I said nothing. Then Obama

came for the insurance companies, but I sold no insurance -- so I did nothing. Then he came for Fox

News, but I am not a reporter -- so I remained silent. Then he came for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, but I am not a businessman -- so I did little. And then when Obama comes for me ....'

No, I am not one of the paranoids who believe Obama really stands ready to haul us off to gas chambers, but he is launching unprecedentedly ferocious attacks on every person and institution that dares to offer criticisms of him or his policies. The goal of these attacks is not to refute the critics' arguments, which would be entirely proper, but to delegitimize the critics themselves -- to drum them out of what should be considered legitimate members of America's pluralistic society, members with viewpoints that at least deserve a right to be heard.

It does not matter whether you or I are fond of those he has attacked to date. What matters is that when Obama's rhetorical guns do point in our direction, we will likely find that the influence of those who might have defended us will have been damaged or destroyed unless we speak out and act now.

Sincerely,

David C. Williams

8252 Raintree Dr. NE

Albuquerque, NM 87122-1333

Tel. (505)-797-9466

e-mail: davecwill@aol.com

Posted October 25, 2009 at 6:11:29 PM

Jermaine

I'm sure it is unfair but I uocldn't help but smile when I read this. Many Americans do seem insular [majority? I don't know], and don't seem very aware of what goes on outside their own state, never mind the country. Even some of those I met while in China seemed out of their depth. Which does make it a little unfair on those who do have broader horizons. As to why, I haven't a clue.These comments are based on my own observations, not much else.

Posted March 29, 2012 at 4:05:09 PM

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