Illinois Review

Di Leo: Overheard in a Conference Room in Havana…

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By John F. Di Leo - 

The following transcript could not be authenticated. It was broadcast from a wiretap accidentally placed in a conference room in Havana, but with the generally low quality of the antiquated electronics available in Cuba, some of the audio was muffled… and there’s always the little matter of questionable translations from the Spanish… but here is what we have, submitted for your consideration without any warranty whatsoever...

Lead Voice #1: Let’s get to work, men. I meet with the Great Satan tomorrow.

Underling Voice A: You’re dying, boss?

Lead Voice #1: No, you idiot, I mean the president of the United States! (Who took this fool off my prisoner list and let him back in the politburo, anyway?)…  We need to work out our final list of demands to allow them to reopen an embassy here.

Underling Voice B: We should probably start with reparations, sir.

Lead Voice #1: REPARATIONS???  I’m not paying reparations! We confiscated those billions of dollars worth of land and businesses and accounts over fifty years ago! The statute of limitations is long past!

Underling Voice B: Sorry, sir, I didn’t mean that… although technically, umm… there isn’t really any statute of limitations on nationalization of another country’s property… anyway…  the thing is, maybe we could get the USA to pay us reparations.

Lead Voice #1: Interesting… keep talking…

O'Brien: Barack Obama - America's Andreas Lubitz

By Teri O'Brien - 

No doubt when he got on Germanwings Flight 9295 on Monday, March 22, 2015, soon-to-be mass murderer, co-pilot and former flight attendant Andreas Lubitz appeared perfectly normal. He was probably friendly and polite, greeting his co-workers and passengers, never letting on that within an hour of takeoff, everyone on that flight would be dead, after the plane slammed into the side of a mountain.

Mr. Lubitz boarded that flight with what prosecutors say with an "intent to destroy," something that he concealed from his victims until it was too late. In a similar fashion, Barack Obama deceived an unsuspecting public about his long-held plans for payback for the country that he had learned from childhood was irredeemably racist, imperialistic and fatally flawed since its founding, the United States of America.

Di Leo: Confessions of an American Extremist

By John F. Di Leo - 

I cannot tell a lie: I am an extremist.

As an amateur actor, I have certain beliefs that I hold dear. I detest drama and tragedy; I really only like comedy, both musical and non-musical. I believe the stage is for laughter and song, for tap dances and pratfalls. I won’t spend my money buying tickets to see a sad show, and I certainly don’t like to waste eight weeks of my life rehearsing to perform in one.  Many would call these views extreme.

As a trade compliance manager, I have spent my career – my “day job,” if you will – trying my best to help importers and exporters obey the often complex laws of domestic and international trade. From Country of Origin marking regulations to Free Trade Agreement qualification tests, I have been accused of worrying too much, of being too cautious, of insisting on accuracy in Customs documentation with too much rigidity. But I stand with Founding Fathers George Washington and Alexander Hamilton in advocating ever-stronger international commerce, proudly championing both imports and exports in line with Jack Kennedy’s adage, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” But an errant shipment must be stopped and fixed rather than be allowed to cross an ocean mis-marked, undeclared, or undervalued. Some would call this rigidity in support of the law "extreme."

Di Leo: Under Sky or Minaret, Everything Old Is New Again

Reflections on the War on Terror, a century into it.

By John F. Di Leo - 

There are as many truisms in war as there are in peace.  Favorites include “The generals are always fighting the last war,” “There is nothing new under the sun,” “An army marches on its stomach.”

All are true, to an extent, and can be applied to the study of any war, including the current one.

But it’s also worth considering one of the great lies of all time, always cited, rarely true: “But This Time Is Different!”

We say it to our parents when we hope for an exception at home; we say it to our bosses when we miss a deadline at work. And politicians certainly say it every time a policy fails. But is this time really, truly different? Or are we just focusing on the slightest bit of variance and stretching it, in hope of making essentially the very same thing look different enough to evade blame for indecision or error?

DiLeo: Blaming America First, from Ninety Miles Away

By John F. Di Leo - 

Since The Resident’s unexpected and unethical decision to unilaterally discard a half-century of history and reopen diplomatic relations with the Castro brothers’ prison colony known as Cuba, a particularly destructive claim has resurfaced, one that merits careful analysis and rejection.

For decades now, the Left has spouted a peculiar claim – that Cuba is poor because of our 54-year-long embargo against the communist country.  If the reader has compassion for the suffering denizens of that miserable island, this has to be a strong argument, but it’s wrong – utterly without merit, in fact – for several critical reasons.

The claim can be dismissed easily with the first and most obvious comparison:  Haiti and the Dominican Republic are also on a nearby island with the same weather, the same shoreline, the same convenience or inconvenience to other nations, the same potential for agricultural, tourist, industrial and commercial growth; the U.S. has no embargo against them. 

O'Brien: How George W. Bush Took it To the NORKS

By Teri O'Brien - 

If anything captures the state of a hobbled, declining America under President Payback, it is this headline from Friday's Wall Street Journal story about the cyber-terrorist attack by the North Koreans on Sony Pictures: "U.S. Struggles for Response to Hack." The story goes on to quote another hack, Obama spokes imbecile, the inappropriately named Josh Earnest, saying that the Regime is seeking a "proportional" response.  

History has shown that the Obama administration has a very twisted and skewed view of proportionality. Five Islamofascist terrorists for 1 deserter. Three citizens of a brutally repressive regime that harbors American fugitives who killed Americans, one of the three convicted of attempted murder, in exchange for an American hostage whose crime was trying to help the Cuban people get on the internet. A junk-science based "climate change" agreement with China, in which the U.S. agrees to strangle its economy by reducing its carbon emissions by at least 26% from 2005 levels, and the Chinese agree to a "target" of getting 20% of its energy from renewable sources by around 2030, maybe, if they feel like it. China builds one coal burning power plant a month, while Obama's war on coal has destroyed jobs and economic growth in some of the poorest regions of America. Just one month after this "historic" agreement, we learn about the North Korea cyber attack, an event that could not have been accomplished without the assistance of the Chinese. 

Di Leo: Shaking Hands with the Devil, from Ninety Miles Away

By John F. Di Leo - 

A long time ago, on an island not too far away, a pair of brothers was ejected from a good Jesuit school. The one was reportedly a better student, the other less impressive, but together, they preferred other things – politics, rabblerousing, war.

When the brothers grew up, they fell in with a bad crowd – the worst of crowds, in fact. Far across the oceans, Chinese communists were consolidating their power, Soviet communists were drawing an iron curtain down the center of Europe, Korean communists were settling in for the long haul in Pyongyang, Vietnamese communists were revolting against the French in Hanoi. 

And of all the things to do in the world of the 1950s – from music to manufacturing, from Wall Street to Madison Avenue, from acting to travel – the Western economies were booming; it was a great time to be alive – of all the choices they had in the Western world, these two brothers looked instead all the way to those distant communist hellholes, and said, yes, that’s the life they wanted for themselves.

O'Brien: Will Barack Office Poison Create a GOP Wave Election, and Does it Matter?

By Teri O'Brien -

Will the GOP take the Senate? Polls strongly suggest that on Tuesday, Election Day 2014 (and by "Election Day," I mean our current mess of a system consisting of early voting, voting by mail, and casting a ballot when you stream a movie from Netflix or buy the "Bagel of the Day" at Dunkin' Doughnuts) will bring a bloodbath for the democrats, brought on by the collective realization by millions that they have been played for suckers by the most successful race hustling con artist in American's history, Barack Hussein Obama? Desperate members of the Jackass Party are resorting to ridiculous measures, including attempting to shame their base into voting by threatening to tell their neighbors that they didn't vote, a tactic that seems to be working about as well as everything else they've tried.

So, get the popcorn ready, and look forward to jubilation on Tuesday, but be under no illusions. Even if the GOP does take the Senate, which is essential, what will change? Are we forgetting that Sen. Mitch McConnell has had three or four different positions on whether the GOP will push for a repeal of Obamacare? Don't get me wrong: the evil reanimated cadaver currently serving as Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, must go, and if we have to elect some RINO's to make that happen—and make no mistake, establishment Republicans like McConnell are no conservatives—so be it. What say you? Will the GOP win big? Does it matter? Do you care, or are you suffering from end-stage politics fatigue, preferring to ponder whether Mama June will survive the current scandal involving her TV show? Let me know in the comments.

Prediction: Post-election Barry will be even more lawless and radical than he has been this year. The new focus of his "remaking" of America will be amnesty, to dramatically alter the demographics of this country for decades to come.

Starkehaus: Ebola as a weapon

Nurse Kaci Hickox took a quarantine selfie

By Irene Starkehaus - 

Kaci Hickox is a nurse with degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and the Johns Hopkins University. She spent time in West Africa helping and caring for Ebola patients while working with Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone. When she returned to the U.S. last Friday, she was forced into quarantine at a New Jersey hospital. She has tested negative for Ebola and has exhibited no symptoms, but she was placed in confinement anyway because Ebola has a 21 day incubation period.

Hickox is now examining possible litigation against the State of New Jersey for having infringed upon her civil liberties because she was detained against her will. Her lawyer…let me rephrase that…one of her multiple lawyers summed up Hickox's position in this way:

"She's a very good person who did very good work and deserves to be honored, not detained, for it."

Doctors Without Borders…for a little background on Médecins Sans Frontières, fifty years ago, a group of French physicians were employed by what is now known as the International Committee of the Red Cross and Crescent Societies and broke away to form an independent movement with its mission to provide timely emergency medical relief free of the administrative and legal restrictions imposed upon the ICRC .

O'Brien: Will Obama Let Ebola-infected foreigners come to U.S for treatment?

Photo Credit: European Commission DG ECHO.  

By Teri O'Brien - 

Here's what we know about Barack Obama:

• He refused to seal Southern border, and even put out bids in January for escorts for the Unaccompanied Children in January. 
• The minors arrived along with Enterovirus D-68, which hasn't been seen in this country since 1962, and which has killed six American children so far.
• He has refused to stop flights from West Africa, although I predict that's not going to last. They'll make a PR show of some restrictions, but it won't matter (read on).
• His Regime loosened restrictions on travelers from West Africa after Ebola began raging there.

The appointment of notorious Democrat bagman and operative Ron Klain as the "Ebola coordinator" when there is already a federal employee, Dr. Nicole Lurie, with actual credentials employed by the government and in office, makes one thing crystal clear: that is, the Obama administration views this Ebola outbreak as the mother of all exploitable crises. Mr. Klain is there to make sure that oodles of taxpayer dollars are shoveled into the pockets of cronies, that that the border is left wide open, and that the Regime's actual plans and actions are covered up.

Di Leo: Reflections on the Question of Scottish Independence

By John F. Di Leo - 

As we reflect on the historic vote in Scotland this week (all votes seem to be “historic” these days, don’t they? Might have more to do with news network ratings than actual history), we Americans find ourselves rather conflicted.

On the one hand, we cheer for the idea of independence, a race memory of sorts that dates back to our own War for Independence over 230 years ago. We feel a special affinity for all members of the British Empire; we speak the same language, share the same customs, even enjoy many of the same television shows. Their heroes are our heroes, from James Bond in the Cold War to The Doctor in the Time War. 

Even if our bloodline doesn’t reach to England itself – I’m more Irish, Italian, German and Austrian, myself, than the meager drops of Scottish and English blood I have, generations back – this shared history causes us all to watch the Scottish independence debate with a fraternal feeling. We like both sides, and root for both sides, as Anglophiles and as one-time members of that great Empire ourselves.

O'Brien: 9/11 Anniversary and Obama's "Manageable" Middle East disaster

By Teri O'Brien - 

Thursday is September 11, the two-year anniversary of the attack on the Benghazi compound, and the 13th anniversary of the murder of nearly 3000 people on American soil by our determined Islamofascist enemy, so it seems like a good time to revisit the effects of Barack Obama's "lead from behind" strategy.

Are you aware that there was another ISIS beheading yesterday? Do you know what's going on in Libya, Obama's template for "how the international community is supposed to work?"

Under Obama's brilliant leadership, we intervened to dispatch wacko dictator Mohamar Gaddafi. How's that working out? Don't worry about the threat of our determined, vicious, murderous enemy. Focus on the "war on women," and racism in local police departments like the one in Ferguson, MO, the current hobby horse of the worst attorney general in America history, Eric Holder.

WHO are you…Understanding the danger of global governance

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

Another American missionary doctor working in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola. In Sierra Leone, infected bodies of Ebola victims are reportedly piling up in the streets making it difficult for local health workers to contain the spread of this disease. The World Health Organization has just confirmed that the newly-identified cases of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo are not the same genetic strain currently circulating in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria and warns that the world is losing the battle against the fledgling Ebola epidemic. As you know, it's a virus and viruses adapt… better than the WHO does as a matter of fact.

Depending on the news source, there have been either 200 deaths from Ebola annually since the early '70s or this number has been grossly underreported and could reach over 12,000 this year. So it follows that the WHO not only struggles to contain this deadly pathogen, it also struggles with basic reporting best practices.

With all this in mind, the World Health Organization finds itself in the middle of its annual pandemic hysteria drive, and like good little lambs, we react to the mania because we have no real information and a whole lot of fear mongering in the media to fuel the great fund-raising appeal for the greater good of world health. The growing prominence of the WHO in the battle against everything from Ebola to HIV to the flu to polio coupled with slapdash results should have Americans asking ourselves, "Who exactly is the WHO and how did this agency become so central to our perception of illness and disease?"

O'Brien: Nixon, Watergate, Vietnam - Lessons from History We Ignore at Our Peril

By Teri O'Brien - 

In any rational universe, with an informed citizenry, Barack Hussein Obama would never have been elected to any important public office, and certainly not re-elected. His relentless and aggressive lawlessness, since that re-election, which was all too predictable, certainly rises to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors," and there is not doubt that that same informed citizenry, would have demanded that he be impeached and removed from office.

Should the G.O.P. impeach him?  Why don't they? The truth is that the democrats are lying about impeachment to raise campaign cash, very successfully. Forty years ago, another U.S. president faced an actual threat of impeachment.

What was the Watergate scandal really all about? What does it have to do with another event, which occurred 50 years ago, and prolonged our involvement in what the Lame Stream Media dubbed with the cliché "quagmire," the Vietnam War? As stunning as this assertion may be, I am here to tell you that the current media narrative about Watergate is a fairy tale. Find out what really happened.

Starkehaus: On immigration, are right and moral the same thing?

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

Round and round we go. Day after day conservatives ask: what exactly is the right thing to do with regard to the multiple thousands of minors and not-so-minors who are crossing our southern border illegally on the promise of a better life or at very least a better clientele. Circular arguments that pound against the resolve of a historically charitable people shred consciences to a pulp as waves of undocumented, unvaccinated, unaccompanied children cross over illegally to be contained…detained in a macabre limbo of wistful hope that their parents will soon rendezvous and make things whole again. What is the best thing to do – for them and for our own children?

There's so much noise coming from all directions about this humanitarian crisis – most of that clatter includes a stern remonstration to Americans against enforcing our much maligned immigration laws…it's for the children after all.

And we expect such criticism to come from the Democrats who are so hell-bent on turning Texas blue that they are willing to disregard anything even remotely resembling law for achievement of their long-term electoral objectives. Like their European brethren, any means to the goal of socialist supremacy shall be regarded as justified and necessary. Clearly, there are no rules in love, war or socialism. To the Left, our border crisis is just another form of guerrilla warfare in name of fundamental transformation.

Di Leo: On Treaties and Alliances, in a World in Tumult

By John F. Di Leo - 

On July 7, 1798, the Federalist administration of John Adams rescinded our treaties with France, sparking the Quasi-War with France, which began two days later, on July 9... and the Jeffersonians went ballistic. How DARE we break our treaties with the French, that great ally who helped us win our independence from England?

Viewed on its own, without context, it does indeed sound outrageous, doesn’t it? What ingrates we would be, if we break our treaties with our greatest ally, so soon after they helped us so much. The Jeffersonians – known then as the Republicans, then later, the Democratic-Republicans, until they finally settled on the name Democrats, decades later – were generally unrepentant Francophiles, while the Federalists were generally Anglophiles. Normally, such generalizing, over two centuries later, could be dismissed as “historians going overboard to make it easy for us,” but in this case, the distinction is accurate, and helps explain the events of the day.

Once we review the context, we find that the tale of the Quasi-War with France is an excellent illustration of a common foreign policy mistake, and it holds important lessons for today. The tale begins long before 1798; in fact, we could argue it begins in the 1750s with the Seven Years War, known more commonly on this side of The Pond as the French and Indian War, or even earlier…

Starkehaus: Controversal exchange at Heritage Foundation event

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

The Heritage Foundation held a panel discussion on the Benghazi massacre that occurred in September of 2012. The purpose for the event was to ascertain how the U.S. government failed to protect U.S. citizens in its U.S. Embassy during a period of unrest. Saba Ahmed attended the conference and posed a question that was off topic regarding so-called Islamophobia and the panelists went about answering her question.

Particularly brilliant was Brigitte Gabriel who laid down some of the most simple and concise arguments regarding the accusations of bigotry that are occassionally thrown down by peaceful Muslims.

The MSM is doing their best to portray Ms. Gabriel's response as an over-the-top personal attack on Ms. Ahmed which it was not. Additionally, and I am quoting heavily from a good friend who took the time to dig into this matter further -

O'Brien: Is Sgt. Bergdahl a Hero or a Deserter?

By Teri O'Brien - 

Another day, another lawless act by the Obama regime, this time the release of five Gitmo detainees in exchange for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held in Afghanistan since June 30, 2009. Was Sgt. Bergdahl actually captured, or, as some strong evidence suggests, did he willingly walk away from duty? Does that matter?

Does it matter that, once again, Barack Obama violated a duly-enacted Congressional statute, which requires that he give 30 days notice to Congress prior to transferring prisoners from Gitmo. The One acknowledges that he broke the law, but says it doesn't matter because he issued a signing statement when he signed the law last year, declaring the notification unconstitutional. And he should know, of course, as a "former Constitutional law professor," right?

Di Leo: The Benghazi Inquiry, and the Difference an Investigation Makes

By John F. Di Leo - 

The Administration disapproves of the House Select Committee, chaired by Congressman Trey Gowdy, chartered to investigate the events surrounding the September 11, 2012 attacks on the United States mission (essentially a branch office, a sub-embassy) at Benghazi, Libya, in which the complex was attacked, robbed, and largely destroyed, and four US government employees were killed by Al Qaeda-connected militia.

Now, it is understandable that the Administration disapproves of such an investigation. They haven’t responded to the dozens of church bombings all over Africa in recent years… they haven’t responded to the thousands of Christians killed in the ongoing islamofascist attacks from West Africa to Sudan… they haven’t raised a murmur about the return of crucifixion as a Syrian terrorist technique. They don’t mind a millions abortions a year in their own country; why should we expect them to be concerned about four deaths abroad?  Perhaps our expectations of humanity from the current Administration really are too high.

But that doesn’t mean that we should disregard the issue. If the Administration – even the entire Democratic Party – doesn’t think the Benghazi attacks worth studying, perhaps we need to remind them what the events surrounding the attacks really were all about. Because, while those four lives were indeed important, and worthy of better treatment than this Administration gave them, under any measure, the fact is that Benghazi is also about many, many other things besides these four tragic deaths.

O'Brien: Why Benghazi Revelations Remind Me of Mad Men Star's Divorce

By Teri O'Brien - 

The recent exposure of "smoking gun" Benghazi emails remind me of what Mad Men's Elizabeth Moss said about her divorce from SNL alum Fred Armisen. 

These sorts of seemingly disjointed thoughts aren't unusual for someone who reads not only the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, National Review and of course, Illinois Review, but also the National Enquirer, The Smoking Gun and Gawker. I have said it for years, and I'll repeat it here. Conservatives cannot hide from the popular culture.

If the recent episode, this week's Lame Stream Media shiny object, involving a clown/reprobate NBA owner's mental detritus recorded by his semi-deformed "girlfriend," didn't serve as a reminder, it should have. ("Girlfriend" apparently is the currently preferred euphemism for a woman who has sex with a man 50 years her senior in exchange for luxury cars and real estate. I can think of another word …)

O'Brien: Michelle's Latest Junket and The Politics of Black Skin Privilege

By Teri O'Brien - 

The Obamas, the most successful race hustlers in the history of this country, continue to play their skin game and exploit their black skin privilege, while the lap dog media continues to dangle shiny objects like the missing Malaysian aircraft, "March Madness," and bootleg butt injections (and you thought it was just Michelle's arms that people envied!) before the American people.

The use of huge posteriors to distract us from Moochelle's latest junket is not the only irony at play here. Yesterday, the First Klingon took a break from her opulent getaway to speak out in favor of free speech and religious freedom. Perhaps her husband's regime, who has unleashed the IRS on his political opposition and is currently in court trying to force religious institutions into violating their beliefs, could consider applying those fine noble principles here in the United States. Is there also a bit of irony in the fact that Michelle, who, along with the rest of this phony bunch, portrays herself as a champion of the "little guy" has a mother who apparently is terrorizing the staff at their Chinese luxury hotel?

Di Leo: Little Pavel Crosses the Border

By John F. Di Leo - 

Join us as we watch our friendly neighborhood campaign volunteer educate his classmates about vote fraud – in the context of the Crimean Referendum

It was primary election day back home in Chicago, and Pavel was glad he had switched his registration to his college address. The guys back at the 51st Ward Party Headquarters sure wouldn’t be happy with the ballots he was casting these days, and the excuse that “I’m just doing a little mischief in the other party” probably sounds a bit lame the second or third time it’s tried.

Pavel walked into his Comparative Political Science 202 class – he was always on time, but some of the other kids made it a point to get there early – and there was already quite a rowdy battle brewing.

Professor Hume-Strauss was at the board, writing a list of bullet points – Ukraine, Russia, Crimea, Sevastopol, Europe, USA, China – and she smiled broadly as the bell rang and the last stragglers took their seats.

“We’ll take a break from the syllabus today, folks,” she began. “The world’s all up in arms (some of it literally!) over what’s happening in Crimea, so let’s talk about that today. Some of us have already started…”

The disgrace of the American woman and the farce of feminism

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

Crimea votes in overwhelming favor of returning to the loving embrace of Russian tyrants. Let us not be deceived; we are today in the midst of a cold war revisited, and the sequel is not being brought to us through Vladimir Putin's sheer force of personality as the mainstream media would have you believe. The reason that Ukraine has been torn apart through Russia's intolerable aggression is because the only response that President Barack Obama can concoct to counter said aggression is a pronouncement of more sanctions against Russian officials as he busily disarms America so that the world will like us better.

Are you feeling the love yet?

O'Brien: Is Armstrong Williams the Latest Target of Obama Regime?

By Teri O'Brien - 

The Obama regime's M.O. is clear, and right out of the Chicago playbook,specifically, as Barack himself has said "punish your enemies," as in anyone who opposes the policies that our enlightened Dear Reader is trying to bestow on us.

Average citizens who dared to get involved with politics by forming and joining Tea Party groups, wealthy contributors to Mitt Romney, filmmaker, author and two-time Teri O'Brien Show guest Dinesh D'Souza all found them on the receiving end of harassment and intimidation from Obama's alphabet soup of tyranny. OSHA, the FEC, and most famously, the IRS have all been used by Obama and his lieutenants in their persecution campaign.

O'Brien: Fighting Back Against Obamacare, More Fairy Tales of the Gay Gestapo

By Teri O'Brien - 

Don't you hate it when you're really enjoying yourself, doing something you really really like, when, out of blue, you're jolted back to the reality that you've got some unpleasant tasks to deal with? That's what happened to our Dear Reader last week.

Just when Barack was indulging his favorite pass times, reminding us that there is, and will never be, forgiveness for America's sins against black people and using himself as a shining example, reality smacked him up the side of the head in the person of Vladimir Putin. Only hours after being warned by Obama to keep his mitts off Ukraine, he sent in the tanks. What a difference a day makes! Just the day before, Obama announced his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative at a White House event, featuring the human wallpaper backdrop of youthful faces that he clearly adores.

Five Mainstream Republican Resolutions for 2014

By John F. Di Leo -

Every New Year’s, we write personal lists of resolutions for ourselves. Lose the weight, advance the career, learn a skill, write that book. A good concept, especially if we really do accomplish some of them!

But the problems America faces today aren’t going to be resolved that way. We are being impoverished by a leviathan state, and problems caused by government action can only be solved by government action.

There’s no point in my proposing any resolutions to the Democratic Party; as a non-member, I have no right to expect them to listen to me.

But as a lifelong Republican, I hereby respectfully submit my recommendations to the candidates, officeholders, and party leaders of the Republican Party, here:

Shazam! Liberal Death Star Reveals "Truth" About Benghazi Murders. It WAS the Video!

By Teri O'Brien -

The New York Times has a penetrating report out this morning, revealing everything you wanted to know about what really happened in Benghazi on September 11, 2012; that is, if you are hoping to bolster Hillary Clinton's presidential prospects in 2016. I thought it didn't make any difference at this point? What some East Coast Brain afflicted types still consider "the newspaper of record," and the rest of the country considers a joke, claims that we bitter clingers who suggested that the Obama administration, including its uber-competent Secretary of State, dropped the ball were wrong. It wasn't an al Qaeda attack, after all; that is, not CORE al Qaeda. No, your Honor, my client isn't a burglar. He's a robber, not a burglar.

Di Leo: Left Behind in Geneva -- A Weapon We May Miss in Years to Come

By John F. Di Leo - 

Late at night, in the middle of a weekend before a national holiday, Secretary of State John Kerry sat down in Switzerland, and reversed generations of foreign policy direction.

Representing the Obama administration (since no treaty is final until ratified by the U.S. Senate, and this one won’t be, at least not in its current form), Secretary Kerry agreed on a new and dangerous path in our relationship with Iran.

Iran has long argued – in English – that it has a right to develop nuclear power – and that case can indeed be made – but the West has suspected Iran of in fact wanting nuclear weapons, not nuclear power. All evidence indicates that these suspicions are correct: the type of research they do, the nature of their centrifuges, the quantities and processes employed, are all the right direction for building atomic weapons, all the wrong direction for building nuclear power plants.

O'Brien: Carter 2.0 to Iran-Give Nukes a Chance

By Teri O'Brien -

Whether it’s the democrats in the U.S. Senate, or the Iranians, going nuclear is all the rage.

In yet another brilliant move, the Dear Reader’s regime tells Iran “if you like your enriched uranium, you can keep your enriched uranium,” and, Bitter Clinger, unlike what he told you about your health insurance policy, your doctor, and your hospital, he isn’t lying to the Iranians. Perhaps, he’s confused. The speech that Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei  made last week, in which he called Israel a “rabid dog,” and accused the United States of war crimes, could have been written by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

A state sponsor of terrorism with a bomb. What could possibly go wrong? We’ve seen this movie before. It was called “North Korea,” and “Iran” is the sequel. Sec. of State John “Lurch” Kerry assures us that the deal does not include any “right to enrich” uranium. The Iranians disagree, and at least two senators say that the agreement includes a right to enrich. MMM …who to believe? A member of the Obama regime, or the Iranians? Tough call. If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, will Barack tell us that he is sorry the world finds itself in a much more dangerous place because of assurances they got from him? 

Di Leo: Barack Obama and the Myth of the Unforced Error

By John F. Di Leo - 

Many believe that the current administration – or perhaps more broadly, the current Democratic regime, by the triumvirate Obama, Pelosi, and Reid since the 2006 elections – will be remembered and condemned for its “unforced errors”… that is, for the unnecessary mistakes it has made, through mishandling programs and clumsily creating needless trouble by misreading economic cause-and-effect or societal trends.

But were they truly errors at all?  Were they mistakes? 

Much of the damage done by this administration has in fact been intentional – either out of some arrogant belief that “we elites know better than you do” or out of a vengeful desire to punish the Republicans, or the conservatives, or the entrepreneurs, or the bourgeoisie, or whoever they choose to detest most at any given moment.  Upon reflection, few of the nation’s ills during the Obama administration can honestly be called anything but their conscious plans.

Consider:

O'Brien: If they can afford cell phones, why subsidize their health insurance?

By Teri O'Brien -

Reverend Wright warned Barack Obama about chickens coming home to roost. Now that the endless litany of lies that he told while conning gullible people about his health care scheme are on prominent display, even Democrats are scrambling to distance themselves from this rolling disaster. You can keep your doctor? You can keep your plan? Signing up will be as easy as buying a book from Amazon.com? Not so much. The only defense for these whoppers is that any fool could plainly see that they were untrue the minute Obama told them. "You believed that stuff? Seriously?"

Even the application of the universal cure for every ailment, an Obama TelePrompTer reading, hasn't quelled the outcry. During last Monday's Rose Garden appearance, the One spoke about "marketplaces" where people can purchase health insurance for a monthly premium less than the cost of their cellphone or cable bills. He called that a "good deal."

O'Brien: Blue Meth Democrats

By Teri O'Brien - 

As he allows himself to be duped by an Iranian charm offensive designed to reduce the pain of economic sanctions and buy time to finish up that nuclear weapon they’ve been working on, and toting his TelePrompTer to another college campaign speech, King Barack has declared that he will not even talk to the Republicans in the House of Representatives.

In fact, as he cozies up to one of the world’s number one sponsors of terrorism, Iran, a country which has suffered very few consequences for many of its murderous acts, including its involvement in 1998 Embassy bombings, his dimwitted mouthpieces refer to Republicans as “terrorists,” “anarchists,” and “suicide bombers.” Yet, which party is the one that refuses to compromise? Which is the one that demands “purity,” on a par with Breaking Bad’s Walter White’s crystal blue meth?

O'Brien: Media Spins Obama's Bipolar Foreign Policy Bungling as Brilliant

By Teri O'Brien -

Yesterday the Lame Stream Media was all atwitter, in full thrill up leg mode, about the brilliance of our Dear Reader’s skillful handling of the situation in Syria. As usual, their blind, fanatical embrace of the cult of the personality they created around this empty suit blinds them from what just happened; specifically, Putin outsmarted Obama again. Obama, pick up your jock. We’ll unpack it for you on today’s show. 

Women are increasingly accepting the fact that when it comes to protecting themselves, firearms are the great equalizer. We are delighted to welcome Jan Morgan, Nationally Recognized 2nd Amendment Advocate/Speaker, NRA Certified Firearms Instructor, NRA Certified Range Safety Officer, State Certified Concealed Carry Instructor, and founder of Armed American Woman, (a national firearms training program for women). She is actively training NRA certified instructors at ranges across the country to teach the Armed American Woman curriculum. Jan is also an Associated Press Award winning investigative journalist/Owner/Editor JanMorganMedia.com, and has been a contributor on Patriot Update, The Daily Caller, and was selected as the Voice of the Conservative Vote by Texas GOP. Should be fun!

Hey Obama, want to Start a War in Syria? We’ve Got a Few Questions First

By Teri O'Brien - 

Last week our glorious Dear Reader traveled overseas to put on a fascinating, albeit a bit frightening, display of his narcissistic personality disorder in two separate news conferences. Responding to questions about Syria, he made the bizarre claim that his credibility isn’t on the line, and that the “red line” that has been crossed is not his. By Friday, I realized that he is so delusional that he probably believes these bizarre claims, which makes it even scarier. Barack Obama has achieved what seemed impossible; that is, he’s turned the Middle East into an even bigger disaster than it was before he was able to apply the power of his magnificent charm and intelligence to the situation. Libya, Egypt and now Syria. Heckuva of job, Barry! 

Speaking of narcissism, Michelle “First Klingon” Obama has decided that her “Let’s Move” initiative has created a “cultural shift.” Seriously? 

The American people are burning up telephone wires expressing their extreme unwillingness to go along with this war designed to rescue Obama from the consequences of his own ineptness. This is not the time to give up. If you haven’t called your member of Congress, you need to do so tomorrow, or Tuesday. For inspiration, here’s the script that I used for my call last Friday. 

Di Leo: Finding Redemption on the Road to Damascus

By John F. Di Leo - 

The “Road to Damascus” has long served as a term signifying discovery and conversion, a reframing of one’s attitude toward life.  It may be gradual, or it may be instantaneous, just as one may spend a long time traveling a road, hundreds of miles even, or one may just turn a corner onto a new road, and be immediately overwhelmed.

Known as the “City of Jasmine,” Damascus is the capital of Syria, and has therefore been identified as one of America’s key enemies for many years.  Bashir Assad, like his father before him, has supported terrorist organizations – Hezbollah in particular – for decades.  They have been at the heart of every attack on Israel since 1948, ruining the once prosperous and peaceful nation of Lebanon, serving as a client state of Iran.

When journalists report on this country, rather than repeating themselves by naming the same dictator again and again in the same paragraph, they often refer to the capital city, saying “Damascus attacked…” or “Damascus declared…” or “Damascus threatened…” Fairly or not, we Americans therefore think of Damascus as a synonym for the government of Syria and the administration of Bashir Assad.

As America’s president has spent the summer of 2013 rattling a saber for war with Syria, it is perhaps instructive to think of the irony of Damascus’ involvement in our language and culture, as well as its current literal location as the planned target of President Obama’s current fury. 

O'Brien: From Barack to a Hard Place to CYA (Congress Your A**)

By Teri O'Brien - 

We might not know who used chemical weapons in Syria, but it’s not as if this latest international crisis hasn’t taught us here in America anything. Barack Obama knows there’s a Congress? Who knew? Just last week, the Regime unilaterally decided to restrict our 2nd amendment rights with a stroke of a pen.

I never thought I’d say it, but at this point, I’m starting to feel a little sorry for Sec. of State, John “Lurch” Kerry, who will today do the “full Ginsberg,” appearing on all five Sunday shows to present Barack Obama’s latest brilliant foreign policy move in the Middle East. Yesterday, after last week’s stunning rebuke of U.K.’s Prime Minister David Cameron, the first British PM to lose a war vote in over 200 years, now Barack Obama, without conceding that he does not have the authority to act against Bashar al-Assad without the consent of Congress, is seeking their approval. I think that all of my SL’s (Smart Listeners) know what’s going on here. Jackass Obama, off the PrompTer, shoots off his mouth, now wants Congress to bail him out by voting against any intervention in Syria. Like everything else he does, it’s cynical political calculation. If they vote no, they’ve gotten him off the hook, helping him avoid looking like a feckless fool for all his talk about “red lines,” which were crossed months ago. If they vote yes, he can pin the blame for another war on them, and have some great fodder for the 2014 election campaign. I know exactly what you’re thinking. I smell leadership!

O'Brien: From Till to Trayvon: How "Far" We've Come

By Teri O'Brien - 

Later today, our Sham WOW (Walks on Water) current occupant of the Oval Office will continue his endless summer of surfing on the mother of all waves of white guilt to try to distract everyone from the retched economy and the disastrous consequences of his "lead from behind" policies in the Middle East, including an imminent military strike on Syria. Since I know that everyone agrees with Eric Holder. We don't talk enough about race in this country, so let's take the occasion of this anniversary to broach a subject that is almost never mentioned.

As I watch all the TV talking heads babbling on about the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "March on Washington," something has been bothering me, but I couldn't figure out exactly what that was, other than my usual irritation at the vapid commentary that these supposedly knowledgeable, pompous windbags pump out non-stop. Now I realize why these commemorations ring not only hollow, but are quite annoying. 

Jay Leno's Obama Infomercial

By Teri O'Brien -

You are probably tired of hearing me say that being well-informed today is like being the only adult in a room full of three-year-olds, but I am compelled to say it again, having watched the Celebutard-in-Chief's performance Tuesday night on "The Tonight Show." This slobberfest, featuring Jay Leno as the infomercial interviewer, asking the planted questions was designed to allow the One to continue to deceive the low-information audience that he has conned so effectively for nearly 10 years. Despite what the East Coast brain rot-afflicted herd of allegedly knowledgeable "journalists" and "analysts" tell you about why Barack Obama was re-elected, they are either lying or clueless, probably both. They can recite their conventional wisdom about the "Hispanic vote" or whatever other myth they want to manufacture in Stalinist lockstep from now until hell freezes over. The reality is that the Obama campaign used "Big Data" to reach out the lo-fos in critical states like Ohio by advertising on shows like "Judge Judy" and other daytime programs. Last night's appearance was another example of that sort of outreach. I hope that Mr. Leno's informercial host act has disabused those who in the last couple of weeks have been celebrating that he has been telling jokes about Obama during his monologue. He is as in the tank as ever, as are the rest of the late night hosts.

It has been nearly a month since Barack Obama promised to have a press conference, July 19 to be exact. We're still waiting. In the meantime, we get ridiculous Kabuki performances like this televised schtick.

DiLeo: Revolutions in Judgment, Past and Present

By John F. Di Leo - 

The President of the United States is committed to supporting the rebels in Syria, in their effort to overthrow the vicious dictator Bashir Assad. No one on earth –not his people, not the authors of a dictionary, not his closest friends, would ever argue the point. He is a vicious dictator, a malevolent cancer on the map of the middle east.

So the American President commits to sending American aid –guns and ammo, technology and funding – to support the rebels trying to pull this vicious dictator off his perch. But who are these rebels?

They are loosely known as the Free Syria Army, a collection of militias that oppose Assad’s alliance with Iran and support of Hezbollah. Sound good so far? Well, keep listening. The FSA is essentially a collection of Muslim Brotherhood terror bands, a coalition of Sunni muslim groups that want to replace the bloodthirsty dominance of the middle east by Shi’ites with uncontested bloodthirsty dominance by Sunnis. The rebels are the Morsi wing, the Bin Laden wing – a more modern, more so-called religious version of the Saddam Hussein side of this endless struggle. 

Simple Path To Constitutionally Sound Government: Follow BHO!

By Sam Pierce -

Our nation is faced with a mountain range of serious, self-inflicted problems. We are damning future generations to suffocating debt, by choice. We are sacrificing precious American lives in far away lands under the very thin masks of "defense" or foreign relations. We take from the producer and use the ill-gotten gain to further erode the foundation of the country. We outsource the management of daily life to a far off bureaucracy. We move toward some variation of the life depicted in Orwell's "1984" without much resistance. We have almost entirely succumbed to the subtly deadly weapon of political correctness, which has been employed magnificently by the enemies of liberty.

I know the popular, at least among those who claim the elastic moniker, "conservative," solution would be to place our noses adjacent to the proverbial grindstone in support of Republican candidates. Of course, they are correct that none but Democrat or Republican candidates can win in the big elections (a situation they toil to perpetuate). Even so, electing Republicans has proven to be no solution, at least, not in itself.

Ineligible Barack Obama, Poster Child For Ignoring Wisdom of the Founders

By Teri O'Brien - 

Those of us who have taken the time to try to answer the question “Who is Barack Hussein Obama?” over the last six years, from Stanley Kurtz, Dinesh D’Souza, Jack Cashill, Dr. Jerome Corsi, Joel Gilbert, all of whom have appeared on The Teri O’Brien Show to discuss their findings, agree on one thing; that is, wherever we look into his background, we find sealed records, scrubbed websites, altered (and probably forged) documents, deception and an endless series of unanswered questions.

Among the remaining mysteries is the question of his many Social Security numbers. The one most frequently used, the one that starts with “042,” appears to have been issued in Connecticut in 1976-77, when Barack Obama would have been a 16 year old living in Hawaii, and originally belonged to a man born in 1890, Harrison J Bounel. How can this be? What is the best explanation for it? Can it be the same explanation that we heard for the fact that up until 2007 Barack Obama’s publisher distributed a bio that said he was born in Kenya, “clerical error?”

Today we’ll ask Orly Taitz, who has been trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of Barack Obama for years, will join us to share her findings and the current status of the legal proceedings to try to get to the truth.

Googlegate…oh, what a tangled web – part two

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

We recognize the despotism that the Progressive Movement has produced and we all nod our heads in agreement with my prosaicisms which do wonders for singing to the choir but nothing else. The problem with this kind of generalization is that it does little to improve the political climate other than ignite a week's worth of opposition posting from the internet's conservative blogosphere before we move on to the next outrage. The fact that there is a next outrage shows us that we are whistling in the wind and such reality promotes despair within the ranks of conservative reformers ~tangled web - part one.

This week we celebrate the 26^th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's perhaps most famous speech at Brandenburg Gate in what was then West Berlin, Germany. For those of us who are old enough to remember that stirring address, it's good that we take the time to explain to those who are young the relevance of the era that we refer to as the Cold War.

The Cold War – a term coined by George Orwell in 1945 in reference to the dawning of the nuclear age. The term was adopted by US presidential advisor Bernard Baruch in 1947 to express the beginning of the never ending conflict between the US and the Soviet Union that was a "peace that is no peace."

We well remember Ronald Reagan – the man who used the job as president to do whatever he could to free future generations from the grips of Soviet aggression. Sadly, Soviet aggression is now the least of our children's worries. They have their own bogeymen with which to contend. They go to school and perform safety drills to protect them from homegrown terrorists and other likeminded whack jobs with perhaps a tad less futility than huddling under one's desk to protect oneself from the imminent nuclear holocaust, but the truth is that, in the grand scheme of things, we have just supplemented one evil empire with another.

As We Remember the Many, Remember Too the Individuals

By John F. Di Leo - 

Each Memorial Day, Americans proudly, and solemnly, display our flags only at the half-staff position for the morning, not to return them to the full-staff position until noon. This we do in memory of the million-some casualties whom our nation has lost in battle since the Founding era.

We hold parades in their honor; we hoist a flag and raise a toast at city parks and private barbecues. We may wear red, white and blue clothing, or flag lapel pins, or decorate our homes with bunting. But for all this show of support, who are we really honoring?  Do we know?

On July 4, we celebrate the Founding Fathers, a generation of giants who won us our independence and designed the greatest system of government ever attempted. We know their names, from school and books and popular culture. Our street signs bear their names, as do our school buildings and even our towns. 

Obama in the Bunker on Benghazi, Coverup Exposed with Victoria Toensing

By Teri O'Brien - 

After last week’s hearing on Benghazi before Darryl Issa’s House Oversight Committee, we have even more questions about what happened on the most recent anniversary of 9/11. Still, it’s a clear picture is emerging, and common sense allows us to connect the very obvious dots. We’ll explore the remaining questions with über attorney Victoria Toensing, who represented the Benghazi whistleblowers, and who was scheduled to appear last week, but was delayed while traveling. Combining what happened in the hearing with an application of my knowledge of the Chicago Way, I’m pretty sure I understand what happened. I’ll tell you during today’s show. Suffice it to say for now that it’s time to put Valerie Jarrett, David Plouffe, and Obama’s ultimate sleazemeister, David Axelrod under oath and get some answers.

There was another hearing in Congress last week, this time in the Senate on immigration. Any doubt that this 844-page monstrosity drafted by the Gang of 8 is a trick cooked up by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), should be gone after what we heard last week. Of the over 300 amendments proposed to the bill, the defeat of the one specific change tells us everything we need to know. Paging Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Let me say it again: you are being played.

Whistleblowers' attorney Victoria Toensing talks Benghazi Coverup

By Teri O'Brien - 

During a week when Barack Obama had to state that rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated, the reality is that rumors of al Qaeda’s demise, fueled by the One’s desire to perpetuate his pre-election mantra that “GM is alive and Osama bin Laden is dead,” are the thing that has been seriously, and dangerously exaggerated, as demonstrated by both Benghazi and Boston.

The Benghazi coverup is beginning to unravel.

In a terrific piece of reporting, Steve Hayes of the Weekly Standard confirms this weekend what we knew all along; specifically, “senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults.”

Where’s my shocked face?

This coming Wednesday, three whistleblowers, all career State Department officials, will testify before Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA) and his Oversight and Government Reform Committee. We are delighted that their attorney, the amazing Victoria Toensing, will be our guest Sunday.

International Trade Across the Centuries

By John F. Di Leo -

National Security Issues Don’t End at the Border

For over a decade, the British Crown had been at war with the American colonies. One could argue that April 6, 1776 was the day that the American colonies had finally had it.

The sundering of the bonds between two peoples is not something that happens in a day. The relationship between Great Britain and what was to become the United States of America began as a close-knit bond. The link between these frontier territories and their mother country was tight and fond at first; Americans were proud to think of themselves as British citizens, and even our most rabid patriots regretted having to give that up in the end (with only the odd Francophile as exceptions). But so they did, and the events of April 6, 1776 were a turning point.

After the costly French and Indian War, the British government was broke. They decided, understandably, that the American colonists should contribute to that burden more directly, through some form of taxation. Fair enough. The American colonies all had their own state legislatures, and had for a century or more; reasonable discussions about how America might share the burden would certainly have been justified.

Obama Administration's Stunning Admission on Border Security

By Teri O'Brien -

Last week the Lame Stream Media indulged two obsessions, one old, and one new. The former, their celebration of the anniversary of the tenth anniversary of the liberation of Iraq by demonizing Pres. George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney and their new shiny hobby horse, the essential and immediate legalization of so-called same sex marriage, there was actual news that will affect you and your family. During a hearing in the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security made a stunning admission, one that went virtually unreported, even on so-called “conservative” news outlets like Fox News. Do you know about it? If not, listen and learn not only about another instance of incompetence, at best, or deliberate malfeasance, at worst when it comes to securing the border. We’ll discuss this shocking revelation with our guest Mark Kirkorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies. We’ll also ask him about Sen. Rand Paul’s extremely disappointing statement earlier this week, an effective endorsement of open borders, and what about those Chinese baby factories in California? Is it time to put an end to birthright citizenship, and do we need a constitutional amendment to do it?

On Missiles and Missed Opportunities – The Verdict Is In

By John F. Di Leo -

On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech that horrified the liberal establishment of the time: his call for a Strategic Defense Initiative.

Ronald Reagan was not your typical politician. The only president born and raised in Illinois (yes, Lincoln, Grant, and Obama moved to Illinois as adults, but only Ronald Reagan grew up there), he came to politics with a heartland sensibility: do what makes sense, do what’s right; don’t worry about what the elites from the Ivy League or Foggy Bottom insist upon.

Reagan came to party activism late in life, running for public office for the first time in his successful 1966 campaign for the California governorship, after having moved there at 26 and making his career in various aspects of entertainment, as a film and television actor, longtime president of the Screen Actors Guild, and corporate spokesman for General Electric. Only at 55, therefore, did he hold his first political office; perhaps that too helps to explain his approach to political problems, an approach that we today refer to as “thinking outside of the box.”

Jew Hater/Prospective Obama Award Winner's Amazing On-Off Twitter Hacker

By Teri O'Brien -

Yesterday the Obama State Department decided to revisit its plans to give an International Woman of Courage Award to Samira Ibrahim, someone with an unfortunate history of tweets celebrating 9/11 and otherwise expressing what some might call unfortunate sentiments like how cool it is that some Israelis got killed in Bulgaria. She claimed that some evil miscreant had hacked her Twitter account and written that nasty stuff, but she was sent packing anyway. Oh no! The hacker is back! The Weekly Standard, the publication that exposed this disgrace in the first place, reports that her latest tweet reads:

"I refuse to apologize to the Zionist lobby in America regarding my previous anti-Zionist statements under pressure from American government therefore they withdrew the award.”

Go away, you mean hacking person who keeps "stealing" this heroic woman's Twitter feed! As the youngsters say, haters gonna hate, and this one seems unstoppable!

George Washington, Keeper of the Peace

By John F. Di Leo - 

A year into his second term, President George Washington celebrated his 63rd birthday on February 22, 1794, and received one of the best birthday present any head of state ever received. The new minister from France, Jean Antoine Joseph Baron Fauchet presented his credentials as the new ambassador from France, replacing the troublesome Edmund-Charles Genet at last.

Citizen Genet was many things. A child prodigy, fluent in six languages by age twelve, he was born at Versailles in 1763, the only son of a French civil servant. Genet served as court translator in his youth and was then sent to the embassy to Russia, at St Petersburg, at age 25. While serving thusly as a French diplomat, Genet proved so undiplomatic that Empress Catherine the Great had him ejected in 1792, declaring him persona non grata, famously saying that his further presence at the Tsarist court would be “not only superfluous but intolerable.”

Fortunately for him, however, the government he served had changed while he was in Russia; France was now ruled by the Girondists. This new regime loved their bold young anti-monarchist ambassador, and sent him right on to the United States, where he arrived to the immediate public acclaim of huge, excited, and misguided crowds.