► Show Top 10 Hot Links

Posts Tagged ‘Watergate’

Nixon, Obama and Bob Woodward

by Mojambo ( 131 Comments › )
Filed under Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, History, Libya, Media, Patriotism, Republican Party at March 4th, 2013 - 7:00 am

Memo to Roger Ailes:  More Pat Caddell’s and less Karl Rove. Nixon was called an Imperial President by Kennedy court historian Arthur Schlesinger, yet Barack Obama can give the Kennedy’s lessons in royalty.  Another thing, for whatever their faults  JFK and Nixon were patriots. Obama not so much.

by Patrick Caddell

It is not without a bit of irony that, in the 40 years since the explosion of the Watergate story, Bob Woodward would again be under attack from the White House for trying to tell the truth. But this time the attack is coming from a Democrat.

While Barack Obama may not share the Nixon pedigree, he and his White House are the closest thing to the Nixon regime of any that we have seen since then — both in the extent of their paranoia and their willingness to suppress the truth and push the boundaries of law.

In my lifetime, in over 40 years in national politics, Mr. Obama is the only president who comes close to rivaling Richard Nixon for fundamental disingenuousness.

[…….]

As the youngest person on Nixon’s enemies list in 1972, I am particularly sensitive to a White House where they have utter disregard for trampling on dissent and on the rights of individuals.

Since Benghazi, when I raised the alarm about a media that was not only willing to blatantly support one political party or one political a candidate but for the first time seemed willing to suppress or ignore the facts and truth as related to a disaster of American foreign policy, my fear has been that we are now on a slippery slope. Almost everything since then has helped to realize that fear. Chuck Hagel, the sequester, Mr. Obama’s speeches — all of these have revealed a mainstream press that has absolutely decided to wear its bias openly as outriders of the Obama administration.  [………]

What this Woodward, White House sequester battle highlights is the crisis in our democracy. Not so much for what it says about Mr. Obama and his administration but for what it says about the establishment press and all the members of my own party.

During Watergate, there were a number of Republicans who were willing to stand against the president of their party in defense of the United States of America.

Sadly, as as Democrat, I must confess, that today there is no Democratic Senator or member of the House who appears to be willing to publicly put the country ahead of Barack Obama’s White House.

[……..]

During the Chuck Hagel confirmation fight, it was revealed that to this day, neither the public nor the Congress know the names of those who were evacuated out of Benghazi.  [……..]

The White House’s excuse, that this information cannot be revealed because of an FBI investigation, is eerily and frighteningly similar to Nixon telling H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman to “turn off” the Watergate investigation as it threatened national security.

Sadly, it now appears that Director Mueller and the FBI are willing to serve, once again, as an instrument of cover up for an administration — this time following a tragedy in which 4 Americans are now dead.

As much as I have always admired Bob Woodward and admire now him in the sequester fight and for his willingness to take on the White House, I cannot refrain from expressing my disappointment that this man, who did such a service for the country 40 years ago, has essentially taken himself off the boards of the Benghazi fiasco. I wish that if Woodward were to get in a fight, he would do it on an issue that really matters to the safety of the United States.

Read the rest –  Obama is the closest thing to Nixon we’ve seen  in 40 years.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Barack Obama, Cult of Obama, Democratic Party, History, Libya, Media, Patriotism, Republican Party | 131 Comments »

On the 100th anniversary of his birth, an examination of Richard Nixon’s political legacy

by Mojambo ( 346 Comments › )
Filed under Conservatism, History, Republican Party at January 10th, 2013 - 8:00 pm

Richard E. Nixon (yes I know his middle name was “Milhous”, I am using the “E” the way Archie Bunker used to refer to him as “Richard E. Nixon”) in addition to being a creep, was one of the worst presidents we ever had. Nixon was no conservative, in fact he was the last of the New Deal presidents. Nixon set the blueprint that people such as Bush 41, Bush 43, McCain, and Romney followed – tossing out red meat meaningless rhetoric to the “base” all the while governing (or as in the case of McCain and Romney) as a Republican progressive. Mr. Tobin points out that just because the Left hates you, does not necessarily mean that you are a conservative. LBJ would concur if he were alive as would George W. Bush. Mr. Tobin also makes a very interesting point that Nixon’s detente with the U.S.S.R. enabled the Soviet expansion of the 1970’s and  probably allowed the Soviet  Union  to survive longer then it should have. Nixon’s most favorable foreign policy decision was his resupply of Israel during the Yom Kippur War – an action to which all freedom loving peoples should be forever grateful. As we note the 100th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s birth (January 9), we need to reflect on the deeper legacy of the influence of Richard Nixon in today’s Republican Party.

by Jonathan S. Tobin

For many people, Richard Nixon’s centennial is yet another excuse for trotting out Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and reliving one of the great triumphs of 20th century liberalism. Richard Nixon was the bête noire of a generation of Democrats and the process by which he received what they believed were his just deserts seemed to vindicate every epithet that had ever been thrown at a man who first came to the country’s attention as a dedicated opponent of Communism. As Politico notes, unlike other former presidents who have their fans, the tribe of Nixonians is pretty small. That’s because Republicans as well as Democrats associate him primarily with Watergate, rendering any good or bad done during a long political career to the margins of history.

Yet there is more to his legacy than the tapes and the break-in. The more one thinks about his record as president the less there is to like. That’s because the 37th president is someone who teaches us that character is a fungible quality in politics. The lack of it not only allows a president to violate the law and to misuse his power. It also can lead to the abandonment of principle with regard to political issues. Though there is always the temptation for conservatives to take up the cudgels for anyone liberals hate (a factor that helped Nixon retain the loyalty of many Republicans during his career) he also ought to be remembered as an example of a Republican who betrays the voters in a vain attempt to gain popularity. [……..]

Evaluating Nixon’s presidency is hard work for anyone who wants to talk about anything but Watergate. But as much as Nixon provided liberals with a target, it should also be remembered that he gave conservatives an example to avoid too. That’s because Nixon’s principle domestic achievements as president were important milestones in the descent of America into the malaise of big government liberalism.

While his creation of the Environmental Protection Agency is most often cited as an interesting historical irony, it was just one of many excursions into the creation of the superstate that conservatives of our own day are struggling to cut back. Nixon’s willingness to use his war powers was seen as an “imperial presidency” by his liberal opponents, but the same tendency led him to breach every principle of conservative governance to impose wage and price controls on the economy. […….]

[……]  His trip to China and the establishment of ties with Beijing are rightly praised as a bold stroke that discomfited the Soviets. But the abandonment of his anti-Communist roots was not limited to that initiative. It was Nixon’s championing of détente with Moscow that kept the evil empire alive for longer that it should have. It was also primarily responsible for the dark decade of Soviet expansionism and proxy wars around the globe that followed. Far from being a foreign policy genius, as some would have it, his cynical realpolitik approach did as much damage to the world as his liberal economic schemes did at home.

Nixon isn’t the only example of a Republican who abandoned conservative ideas when he got personal control of the federal leviathan. But there is no better example of the consequences of such folly. Nixon’s presidency will always be seen as a tragic failure because of his resignation in disgrace. But even if we leave that aside, his presidency ought to remain a toxic example for future generations of conservatives.

Read the rest – The Lessons of Nixonian Politics

Tags: , ,
Posted in Conservatism, History, Republican Party | 346 Comments »

Big Peace Follows the Money: Who’s Funding the VMI Jihadi Sellout?

by 1389AD ( 134 Comments › )
Filed under Academia, CAIR, China, Christianity, Education, History, Islam, Islamic Invasion, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Middle East, Military, Multiculturalism, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Correctness, Tranzis at February 9th, 2011 - 11:30 am

Here’s the problem. The once-venerable Virginia Military Academy has announced that they plan to host an event in honor of the brutal Muslim conquest and occupation of Spain in 711 AD. Rodan and I recently blogged about this in VMI Whitewashes Islamic Occupation of Spain.

Yes, General Stonewall Jackson once taught there. Undoubtedly, General Jackson, as a stalwart Christian, would be outraged if he were to learn that his former place of employment is now inviting our Muslim enemies to influence and mislead the youths who are destined to become America’s military officers.

Now, thanks to the detective work of Andrew Breitbart’s war and military reporting site, Big Peace, we can carry out the advice that “Deep Throat” gave in All the President’s Men; namely, “Follow the money.” It’s all about foreign funding for programs that expose future US military officers to enemy propaganda.

VMI Islamic Conference Grant and the Middle East Funding Connection

Posted by Christine Brim Feb. 7, 2011 at 11:10 am

Let’s follow the money trail behind Virginia Military Institute’s plans to host a “celebration” commemoration of the Islamic conquest of Spain.

VMI Barracks

Previously, Patrick Poole exposed the planned March 23-25 “celebration” entitled “711 AD – 2011: East Meets West” organized by the Virginia Military Institute’s (VMI) Center for Leadership and Ethics. Then he exposed the VMI cover-up, showing that in response to public criticism, the VMI had already changed its language regarding the event on its website. Originally the event was to “celebrate” the 1300thanniversary of “Tariq ibn Ziyad’s crossing of the Straits of Gibraltar” – in fact ushering in nearly eight centuries of oppressive Islamic rule in Spain – while the new version uses the word “commemoration” instead of “celebrate”.

That’s “commemoration” from the Latin commemorationem, meaning “to call to mind.”

So commemorate this: let’s call to mind the money trail behind the conference, and follow it to a much bigger set of questions for VMI and their funders discovered in an interesting little program at the Department of Defense, whose primary administrators and advisers are the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Politburo of Communist China. And the trail gets even more interesting after that.

It all starts with the grant for the conference.

In 2008 VMI received a $665,000 grant from the Department of Defense http://www.vmi.edu/NewsCenter.aspx?id=22465 (h/t Patrick Poole) to “enhance its Arabic studies program and provide opportunities for cadets to study the language and culture abroad.” VMI was one of 8 schools to receive funding through the program, called at that time the “Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) Language and Culture Project.” According to VMI:

In addition, the grant will support a cross-cultural conference hosted by VMI that will focus on themes including literature, religion, history, language, politics, pedagogy and Islamic-Christian amity…

[…]
Next step on the money trail: the providers of that grant for the VMI conference, a little known Defense Department project now called Project GO for “Global Officers” (originally titled the Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) Language and Culture Project), started in 2007 as part of the Defense Department’s National Security Education Program (NSEP). Project GO (Global Officers) is the source for funding $665,000 of the new $200 million VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics, faculty and programs, the VMI organization sponsoring this conference.
[…]
However, the Defense Department’s NSEP program doesn’t actually administer Project GO (Global Officers) – that’s done instead by another entity, the private Institute of International Education (IIE). And now the money trail becomes interesting. Here’s how IIE is described at Project GO (Global Officers):

The Institute of International Education – The Institute of International Education (IIE) administers the Project GO Institutional Grants on behalf of the National Security Education Program. IIE is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building international goodwill through educational and cultural exchange among nations. By enabling more than 18,000 outstanding men and women each year to study, conduct research, receive practical training, or provide technical assistance outside their own countries, IIE fosters mutual understanding, builds global problem solving capabilities, and strengthens the international competence of U.S. citizens.

[…]
Let’s go to two advisory groups at the IIE, administrator of the grant for VMI’s conference: the International Counselors and the IIE New Leaders Group (NLG) .

First, those International Counselors– according to the IIE website, “Dedicated internationalists from all world regions provide advice and counsel to IIE’s senior management on topics related to their geographic areas and their global expertise.” The list of those “dedicated internationalists” includes Saudi Arabia’s Consul General, the Minister of Planning for Jordan, and (my favorite, a bit off topic but just too good not to mention in the context of “Project GO – Global Officers”) Li Yuanchao, Politburo Member of the 17th CPC Central Committee, Head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, Beijing China.

You bet they’re “dedicated internationalists.” And what a great group to have administering the primary language and culture programs for ROTC across the nation. What a great group to turn what used to be “United States Officers” into “Global Officers.”

But wait. There’s more. Meet the “New Leaders Group (NLG).” According to the IIE,

“The NLG serves as an idea generation engine for IIE and helps enable the Institute to increase its responsiveness to urgent global needs. By helping to harness and leverage the Institute’s resources and capabilities, the NLG will identify and address pressing global issues and make a meaningful impact upon the world we share.”

[…]
Why ask about that “leverage”? Look who’s on the list : “New Leaders” from just two countries: The New Leaders Group in the USA, and the New Leaders Group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In fact, one of the putative “United States” group members is Serra Kirdar-Meliti, Director of the Muthabara Foundation, a UAE entity dedicated to maximizing “the potential of Arab women.”

And under the UAE list, those veterans of leverage in all senses of the word, theMohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. (There are others and all are well-deserving of further research, but let’s just “commemorate” a few facts about the Maktoum empire.)

Second on the UAE section’s list is Samar Al-Shorafa, Manager of Project Development at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation. The Al-Maktoum family is the ruling dynasty of the United Arab Emirates. The Al-Maktoum family controls the government-owned Dubai Ports World Corporation which caused a major political uproar stateside in 2006 when it was set to take over port security at 22 seaports across the United States.

The Maktoums have also been active in funding Muslim Brotherhood front organizations in the United States, especially the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In 2002 the Al-Maktoum foundation provided $978,031.34 in the form of a Deed of Trust for CAIR’s (and here at Paul Sperry’s sperryfiles.com) Washington, D.C. headquarters. In 2006 UAE Minister of Finance Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoumendorsed a proposal to build a property in the United States to serve as an endowment for CAIR (h/t Adam Savit, editor at Cairobservatory.org )
[…]
Read it all.

Make yourself heard!

The superintendent of VMI is Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III.

Office Contact:
Lori Parrent, Secretary to Gen. Peay
Ph: (540) 464-7311
Fax: (540) 464-7660

201 Smith Hall
Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, VA 24450

Email the Office

In addition, I suggest that everyone who will be anywhere near Virginia Military Academy on March 23-25, 2011, should protest this event in person.

Originally posted on 1389 Blog.

Rodan Note:I called it, that there was a Saudi connection to this on me and 1389’s post!

Why the silence and why is a prestigious organization like VMI insulting a whole culture? Could they be receiving Saudi money?

I hope reports that Saudi Arabia has less oil than what is claimed. They are an evil nation that has brought nothing but misery to the world, the last 1400 years. Nothing good has come out of the Arabian peninsula and they cane at sand for all I care.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Academia, CAIR, China, Christianity, Education, History, Islam, Islamic Invasion, Leftist-Islamic Alliance, Middle East, Military, Multiculturalism, Muslim Brotherhood, Political Correctness, Tranzis | 134 Comments »