Illinois Review

Di Leo: Foreign Policy Errors, from May to September

New York Times photo 

By John F Di Leo - 

On September 11, 2001, four groups of terrorists, associated with Al Qaeda, hijacked domestic airplanes with the intention of crash-landing into four key symbols of the United States, both public and private landmarks.  While a patriotic group of passengers in the fourth plane foiled one of the four plans, by the time it was all over, 3000 innocent people in New York and Washington had been murdered, and billions of dollars in property were destroyed.

The islamofascist movement – call it what you will: muslim terrorists, Islamic extremists, jihadists, Satanists, whatever – jumped for joy around the globe.  Those of us old enough to remember that awful day will never forget the news coverage, as it showed crowds cheering in much of the middle east, in celebration that “their side” had landed a successful sucker punch on the United States of America.

The world would be plunged into recession immediately. These crowds and their own countries suffered too, in this worldwide recession, but they didn’t care.  The big deal for them was that “their side” had scored a blow on the West.

Di Leo: The Mideast Peace Process, Forty Years Later

By John F. Di Leo - 

In September of 1978, following two weeks of secret negotiations at Camp David, Israel’s Menachem Begin and Egypt’s Anwar Sadat signed a preliminary peace treaty. These Camp David Accords proved to be the high water mark of Jimmy Carter’s presidency, his only foreign policy achievement. 

They couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. This unexpected peace between Israel and Egypt burnished the Democratic Party’s peacenik credentials after Lyndon Johnson’s long mismanagement of the Vietnam conflict.  President Carter wore this as a badge of honor, and made the most of it for the remainder of his presidency. 

The Camp David Accords hit the press just six weeks before the 1978 midterms, and dominated the foreign policy news for much of the remainder of Carter’s term in office. Even as the jihadist revolution in Iran that began in 1978, and then the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at the end of 1979, together jeopardized the world scene in the latter half of his presidency, Jimmy Carter could continue to campaign as a peacemaker, thanks to the favorable coverage he continued to get for this one piece of deal-making. 

Thorner: Former CIA officer reveals Islam's Influence in America

By Nancy Thorner -

Clare Lopez, a former CIA officer, is a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on Middle East, national defense, WMD, and counter terrorism issues. On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, she held a Zoom meeting on specific areas of expertise, including Islam and Iran. Ms. Lopez writes for The United West organization.

During the span of two hours, Ms. Lopez covered two topics of great importance.  The first topic, Bully of Asia, dealt with China and the coronavirus.

Di Leo: Al-Baghdadi's Unnecessary Decade of Mass Murder

By John F. Di Leo - 

At the time of his death, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been an active jihadist for about thirty years.  He had been the supreme commander of what is now known as ISIS for almost ten years, when, on October 26, while fleeing a US Special Forces raid at his latest hiding place in Syria, he committed suicide to avoid being captured alive (taking a couple of his own wives and children with him in the explosion).  

President Trump announced the successful termination of this enemy commander on Sunday morning, and because he teased it in advance by Twitter, and announced it so publicly, the mainstream media could not help but report it.  

What the media has managed to keep quiet about, however, is something else rather important - and relevant - concerning sl-Baghdadi’s history:

Thorner: Will domestic, lone wolf acts of terrorism affect the mid-term elections?

By Nancy Thorner - 

A hideous, evil and deadly postlude took place one day after the arrest of package bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc in Florida on Saturday, October 28, 2018, when a gunman, identified as Robert Browers, burst into a Pittsburgh synagogue shouting "All Jews must die!" during a circumcision ceremony at the Tree of Life Congregation. Sayoc was wielding an arsenal that included a semi-automatic rifle and three handguns. He killed 11 and wounded six others, including four police officers, during the 20 minute attack. 

While Cesar Savoc supposedly registered as a Republican in Florida in 2016, Robert Browers is not a Trump supporter. Brower - an anti-Semitic - complained that Trump was likewise not anti-Semitic, but surrounded by "too many Jewish people."

Commentary: Don't just thank a veteran. Hire one.

"Hire a veteran," David F. Melcher (Lt. Gen. USA-Ret), who is the President and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, says in a commentary in the Washington Examiner on Veterans Day 2017:

O'Hare worker seeking to "bury unbelievers alive" requests charges dismissed

CHICAGO - A Bosnian Muslim refugee and her five associates charged with attempting to provide support to ISIS invoked an unusual defense, according to ABC7 Chicago.

Mediha Medy Salkicevic has claimed that her support of ISIS constituted “legitimate warfare” and that she was waging war against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, just as the U.S. government is doing by supporting Syrian rebels.

Salkicevic was working for a cargo company at Chicago’s International O’Hare Airport when she was arrested in 2015. Investigators allege she said she wanted to “bury unbelievers alive” and kill infidels.

Di Leo: An Evening in Oslo, and a World Aflame

The creators of "Oslo" were honored Sunday night at annual Tony Awards

By John F. Di Leo - 

I am sickened – admittedly, not for the first time – by the theater community’s embrace of a new play called Oslo, which won a couple of Tony awards this week.

Now, I have no idea how well-written and well-acted the show is.  Obviously, if it won Tony awards, we can assume that it was both well-written and well-acted.

But the content of such a celebration is utterly destructive… and the giddy pacifist fools cheering its success don’t even realize what a damaged ideology they are championing.

Ryan Owens, honored during Trump's speech, graduated from Peoria high school

WASHINGTON - During President Donald Trump's speech before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, a slain military hero with Peoria Illinois roots and his wife were honored with a two-minute long applause.

Orland Park pastor named D.C. group's "Defender of Freedom"

ORLAND PARK - A southwest suburban church's new pastor will uniquely be honored Thursday night with the D.C.-based Freedom Alliance's "Defender of Freedom" Award for 2016.

Stone Church in Orland Park's Lead Pastor Wes Modder is being recognized for "his faithful service to our nation and unwavering commitment to protect religious freedom," Freedom Alliance says in a press release.  Modder starting serving the local congregation in October.

A recently retired Navy chaplain, Pastor Modder ministered to some of America’s most elite warriors, including U.S. Navy SEALs. He also became an example to other military chaplains facing increased bureaucratic hostility in the nation's Armed Forces.

“We are pleased to recognize Chaplain Modder for his distinguished military career as well as his ministry to combat warriors and those who serve our country,” said Freedom Alliance President Tom
Kilgannon. “Chaplains are crucial to the emotional and spiritual well-being of our fighting force and Wes Modder was among the best in the military’s ranks. His courage in defeating politically motivated attacks on him and his faith ensure the ability of other chaplains to minister according to their beliefs.”

“I’m honored to receive this award,” said Modder, “and humbled to stand in the company of those to whom it has previously been given. I’m fortunate to have been able to serve my God and my country at the same time and minister to courageous young men and women who wear our nation’s uniform.”

Di Leo: Hillary Clinton and the Crime Campaign

By John F. Di Leo -  

We have long been accustomed to accusations of corruption concerning the Clintons.  Their family business is commonly known as the “Clinton crime machine,” and their biographies read like a rap sheet, listing scandal after scandal, from real estate fraud to rape, from investment fraud to bribery.

But the issue to be discussed today isn’t about Bill and Hillary Clinton and their personal corruption.   It’s completely policy-based:  Careful study of the Clinton-Kaine platform, amazingly, reveals – there’s just no other way to put it – a criminal-friendly, or arguably even pro-crime, agenda.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be so shocking, considering what we know of modern Democratic Party demographics and issue stances.  But to have gathered it all together in one place is truly surprising.

Hultgren asks, "How Long Will VA Sit on its Hands While Our Heroes Suffer and Wait?"

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) sent a letter to the Secretary of the Veterans Administration, demanding answers on why, more than a year after a major VA overhaul was passed by Congress and signed into law, the VA has still not implemented a key portion of the law, the Veterans Choice Program.

Through the Veterans Choice Program, service men and women can receive vital home care services that are critical to follow-up care and medication adherence assistance, especially for disabled veterans and those without access to transportation. Yet local VA facilities are still refusing to work with new providers to get veterans the care they need.

Thorner: America's national security urgent, says two former ambassadors

By Nancy Thorner - 

John Bolton, who served as the United States permanent representative to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006 and Faith Whittlesey, a two-term U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland in the Reagan Administration talked about America's security future Saturday afternoon, September 17, at Eagle Forum Council XLV held at the St. Louis Airport Marriott.

Ambassador Bolton described the upcoming November election as "one of the most consequential elections we have ever faced. Very few things in life are perfect, but this election has come down to a choice between Hillary and Trump." 

Hillary was described as having been a radical in law school and as one who will do anything to be elected president.  Hillary's political philosophy is already akin to many of Bernie's ideas, and she didn't have to strain much to get there.

Kirk schedules hearing on Iran Cash-for-Hostages links to Terror Financing

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on National Security and International Trade and Finance, announced Tuesday his plans to hold an oversight hearing on the terror financing dangers of the Administration’s three airlift payments to the Iranian regime totaling $1.7 billion in difficult-to-trace foreign cash as part of a quid pro quo for the January 2016 release of American hostages.

The hearing will be held Wednesday, September 21st, at 10:30 a.m. at the nation's Capitol. The Senate Banking Subcommittee has oversight of the Treasury Department, Iran sanctions laws, and terrorist financing.

Thorner & O'Neil - ISIS declares war while world succumbs to political correctness

By Nancy Thorner and Bonnie O'Neil - 

A much anticipated media announcement let the American people know that Donald Trump would not formally announce his vice presidential choice at a scheduled 11 a.m. news conference on Friday, July 15, but that it was postponed to Saturday, July 16, in light of the deadly attack in Nice, France on Thursday, July 13.

Meanwhile, for two days the media advanced the idea that Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year old Tunisian Muslim, was a "lone wolf" despite his shouts of "Allahu Akahu Akbar:  (God is great in Arabic), before being killed in a clear suicide mission. The lone wolf theory was discounted on Saturday, July 16, when the The New York Times reported:

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the Bastille Day attack on the seaside promenade in Nice, France, which killed 84 people and injured 202.

Not one to bow to political correctness, Trump promptly tweeted:  "Another horrific attack, this time in Nice, France. Many dead and injured. When will we learn? It is only getting worse."  Trump understands that radical Islam is the cause of the frequent terror happenings world-wide and of the urgency to defeat ISIS before they find their way to America.

Trump issues TPP challenge to Clinton: will she answer?

NEW YORK - Republican candidate Donald Trump appears to be finding his message for the fall campaign. The gist of it seems to be boiling down to a key contrast between Democrat Hillary Clinton and himself: she's a globalist and he's a patriot.

From the Trump campaign Wednesday morning:

In his speech yesterday, "Declaring American Economic Independence," Donald J. Trump made the case for Americanism over Hillary Clinton's Globalism, and detailed how the Trans-Pacific Partnership would undermine U.S. sovereignty and economic prosperity. He announced he would withdraw from the TPP and negotiate bilateral trade deals that protect U.S. economic interests.

He then challenged Hillary Clinton, longtime enthusiastic booster of the TPP, if she too would pledge to withdraw from the pact and rule out its passage in any form. Clinton now weakly says she only has issues with the TPP "currently...in its current form," politician-speak for saying she will approve it at the very earliest opportunity.

Di Leo: "You Don't Need An AR-15"

By John F. Di Leo - 

“You don’t need an AR-15.”  After every shooting, we hear the presidents and governors and mayors repeat their call for “assault weapons bans”… because, as they say, “you don’t need an AR-15.” 

Or a Sig-Sauer, or an AK-47, or whatever weapon was used in whatever shooting was in the news.

And maybe they’re right.  You DON’T need an AR-15.

You could use a different weapon.  There are many.  Some are heavier, some are lighter.  Some more or less expensive, some better at longer or shorter distances.  Some fire less expensive ammunition so they’re more affordable for target practice; some fire more expensive ammunition to ensure a quick, clean kill when hunting deer, moose, or elk.  Some are more comfortable for tall shooters or for short ones; some are more suited to women, some to men.

There are so many brands and models; you don’t necessarily “need” the one that you “want.”  They are right about that, I suppose.

Know what else you don’t need?

Starkehaus: Seven conservative answers to questions raised by Orlando shooting

By Irene Starkehaus - 

In the aftermath of the Orlando Massacre committed by Omar Mateen in the early hours of June 12, 2016, it might behoove us to take the advice of John Kass (Chicago Tribune) and step away from the spin cycle just long enough to gain perspective before allowing ourselves to react. To paraphrase Kass, an emotional reaction is exactly what the enemies of liberty want. Don't give way to hotheaded and snarky retorts. They help no one but those on the wrong side of history.

The shock that the whole nation is experiencing right now is profound and rightly so. The evil that occurred at The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando utterly blisters the mind for a need to respond, and there's small hope of finding an angle to this event's reporting that isn't meant to demoralize and offend. Taking the time to center yourself before deciding what your response should be may not curtail these offenses, but it might bring forth a bit of clarity where chaos might otherwise prevail.

Would that religious and political leaders might take heed of Kass's advice before advocating for further controls over basic human rights and liberties. The world would be a better place without political opportunism. We can only hope that they mean no real harm and are just reacting out of a sense of helplessness or ignorance.

Chicago archbishop decries "easy access to deadly weapons" in Orlando shooting

CHICAGO - Chicago Archbishop  decried "easy access to deadly weapons" in his response to the shooting in Orlando early Sunday morning:

Our prayers and hearts are with the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, their families and our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. 

We are grateful to the first responders and civilians who heroically put themselves in harm’s way, providing an enduring reminder of what compassion and bravery look like--even in the face of such horror and danger.

In response to hatred, we are called to sow love. In response to violence, peace. And, in response to intolerance, tolerance.

The people of the Archdiocese of Chicago stand with the victims and their loved ones, and reaffirm our commitment, with Pope Francis, to address the causes of such tragedy, including easy access to deadly weapons. We can no longer stand by and do nothing.

The Cardinal did not mention the killer's identification with radical Islam and ISIS, nor the Catholic Church's teachings against homosexuality. 

After Memorial Day, the number of people shot this year in his Chicago archdiocese stood near 1,500 — up more than 50 percent over last year - with 250 killed.

Di Leo: Two Hours In Line, and Other Tales of Unlimited Government

By John F. Di Leo - 

A traveler with a camera filmed a scene at Chicago’s Midway Airport: a three-hour-plus TSA security line that snaked across the terminal, out the door, and around the building… and uploaded it to YouTube.

The fury of the day, in an age beset with furies, is therefore an anger directed against the TSA for our often unforgivably-long airport security lines.   The DHS secretary even took to the podium to answer complaints, and to assure us that his system is not in fact "a national crisis."

Sure, in this case, there was an alleged excuse – Chicago had seen hundreds of flight delays in recent days.  But that’s not really much of an excuse when you consider the fact that Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports together make up one of the busiest air travel hubs on earth, and such bundles of flight delays and cancellations are not unusual for them.  They should plan for such bottlenecks, travelers declare, not only for the smooth days.

And that is true. But even when it’s not a day like this, something is dreadfully wrong with air travel in America. And oh yes, the Secretary of Homeland Security is wrong about his department's effect on the nation.

O'Brien: Three Ways Just This Week That Obama is Making Us Less Safe

By Teri O'Brien -

If you spend even a little time watching what is laughingly referred to as “the news,” be it on cable or traditional network television, you will no longer wonder why many Americans walk around in a low-information fog about the current presidential race.

Here’s what I saw in the last couple of weeks. One candidate, Donald J. Trump, who does seem a tad thin-skinned, is enraged that a political action committee for Sen. Ted Cruz used a provocative, 15-year old photo of his wife, done as part of her work as a professional model for a mainstream magazine, in a political ad, so he tweets a very unflattering picture of another candidate’s wife.

Kinzinger calls for U.S.-led strategy to destroy ISIS

EAST PEORIA - Illinois 16th District U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger introduced legislation this week that requires the U.S. government to put together a strategy to destroy ISIS.

Void apparent leadership from the White House, which tends to take radical Islamist attacks like those on children and women at an Easter event Sunday afternoon in Pakistan and at the Brussels airport and metra system in stride, Kinzinger is pushing for a United States-led response.

"We need to be organizing indigenous forces where it be, whether it's Sunni tribesmen, whether it's Iraqi military," said Kinzinger. "They're finally getting in a position where they can fight again. Embedding our special ops with them, continuing the air strikes, and ultimately doing what's necessary to win."

Kinzinger also calls for the U.S. to recruit moderate Muslims to help in the fight against ISIS. 

O'Brien: Questions for Trump Supporters

By Teri O'Brien -

As regular listeners to The Teri O'Brien Show know, recently I was thunderstruck to learn that one of my smart friends thought that I had endorsed Donald Trump. I'm not sure what I did to create that impression.

The truth is that I have issues with all three leading contenders.

Di Leo: Boots on the Ground, in a New York Forest

By John F. Di Leo - 

Reflections on the immigration of Tashfeen Malik, and the search for balance in a war-torn world…

By the morning of September 23, John Anderson (not his real name) had had a very rough 24 hours.

In his line of work, that might not have been unusual, but it was rather new for him. He’d been in this job for a year and a half, and had just closed a pretty substantial deal the day before. The discussions began on the night of the 21st, and went on well into the night, but by morning, an impressive operation was as good as transferred.

In a world in which only three things count – “location, location, location” – this deal had all three. A commanding view of the river, an opportunity to stop traffic from either direction on all sides, and a simply beautiful piece of tranquil scenery to boot, although the scenery wasn’t the selling point that made this particular property shine.

The deal had everything – big names, big numbers, big acreage – and promised to go down in the history books if everything worked as planned. This deal could be quite a coup.

Di Leo: Hillary Clinton and her Dangerous Deeds

By John F. Di Leo - 

Hillary Clinton, along with her allies in the mainstream media, have taken great delight in attacking Republicans lately, on the subject of Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s (and others’) calls for restrictions on muslim immigration … especially in light of the Obama Administration’s current efforts to import tens of thousands of un-vettable alleged Syrian “refugees” in the midst of a war.

Never mind that no country EVER allows unchecked immigration from a country with which it is at war.  It doesn’t happen, for reasons that are obvious to any conscious individual.  The Obama Administration counts on the American people’s willingness to disregard the parade of six thousand years of human civilization, and just accept the parade of “refugees” that could easily include an invasion force and numerous other risks.

Di Leo: Metadata Meets Its Master – But Are We Less Safe As A Result?

By John F. Di Leo - 

Since the NSA stopped collecting metadata about telephone calls on Sunday, May 31, 2015 (or was ordered to stop, anyway… with this government, you never really know), many have declared that we are a less safe nation today.

And this is true; we ARE a less safe nation today.  But as usual, both the answer and the foundation for it are largely misunderstood, in a nation in which a biased press refuses to tell the whole story, and a disinterested public refuses to study the issues until the third presidential debate rolls around every four years.

To answer the question – whether or not we have indeed taken a step backward in safety – requires a two part answer.  There is a short-term view, but there is also a long-term view, because safety isn’t about one single tool in the toolkit of our military; it’s about the big picture, a combination of foreign policy, immigration policy, and almost everything else a government does.

Di Leo: Overheard in a Conference Room in Havana…

Image Source

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.

Starkehaus: Thursday at CPAC 2015

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

A number of dynamic would-be presidential nominees spoke Thursday at the CPAC convention in Maryland. Given the audience, all potential candidates stayed right of center in their messaging as they courted the voters attending the nation's largest annual conservative convention.

The day's list of prominent speakers began with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The style of Christie's discussion was pretty unusual to say the least. He shared the stage with talk show host Laura Ingraham. They then went through what appeared to be an overly rehearsed interview session with the potential presidential candidate answering questions posed by Ingraham. Rather than engaging the audience, the contrived setup came off as something akin to an infomercial. The leitmotif seemed less likely to improve Christie's gravitas with conservative voters and more likely to hurt Laura Ingraham's, I'm sorry to say.

Christie did unabashedly pronounce himself a prolife candidate and offered as an example his success in eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood from the NJ budget. He stated that he is experiencing what he termed "implementation regrets" over the Common Core.

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."

Starkehaus: In the war against Islamic terror, our greatest enemy is ourselves

By Irene F. Starkehaus - 

After this week's furtherance of brutal ethnic cleansing of Coptic Christian communities throughout the Middle East, Western pacifists and subjectivists find themselves circling around the only outcome that was actually possible given their progressive goals. It has oft been said that when God is removed from our lives, it leaves a void that will be filled by anything but God. So it has begun. After members of the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State beheaded twenty-one Coptic Christians, IS renewed its vow to bring down:

"…every country that has entered into the alliance against the Islamic State, especially the US, [the] UK, France, Australia and Germany."

The terror organization then swore to conquer the "Nation of the Cross" and:

"In time the whole world will be an Islamic state. Our goal is to make sure that even the Vatican will be Muslim."

They then went on to graphically detail how they will go about killing our men and raping our women and children for the unforgivable affront of rejecting their perversion.

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?

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: Time for a Criminal Investigation of the Obama Regime's Amnesty?

By Teri O'Brien - 

Seventy-three years ago yesterday, the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Today, our liberty hangs in the balance, but not due to any foreign threat, but because of the enemy within, the traitorous, corrupt media, enabling a lawless, gangsta regime, by running endless stories on the irredeemable racism of our country, most of which conflate the Garner case with the Michael Brown incident in Ferguson, Missouri.

As you well know, but for his race, Barack Obama would still be on a Chicago street corner with his clipboard and bullhorn, trying to stir up a sense of entitlement and rage among poor black people. So, the last thing he, and his fellow race baiters like Eric Holder, revered presidential advisor/tax cheat "Rev." Al Sharpton, and his repellant wife, Michelle "Black Solidarity" Obama, want is what Dr. King urged; that is, a society in which people are judged, not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.

If that lofty and admirable vision were to be realized, where does that leave this passel of mediocre, affirmative-action assisted jerks, all of whom are C players, at best? Their supporting that would make about as much sense as the CEO of McDonald's dreaming of everyone on the planet going vegan. Right on cue, the dead enders of the Occupy Wall Street and anti-globalization imbeciles display their ignorance and even stupidity, staging "die ins" by lying down in the street, and chanting irrational slogans like "Hands up. Don't Shoot," which are at war with the facts in the Ferguson case. Thought experiment: Obama's America, Mobocracy or Idiocracy? Discuss among yourselves.

O'Brien: The Awful Truth About Obama's Lawless Amnesty

By Teri O'Brien -

So, Barack Obama finally made good on his threat to unilaterally amend our immigration laws with his pen and phone, and celebrated by jetting off to Vegas, where he lied to an audience of shrieking high school students. He favors groups of backward children for these performances. They are ignorant about even the most basic information about public policy issues, but what they lack in knowledge and information, they make up for in youthful exuberance. Ignorance plus emotions on overdrive, for a demagogue, what's not to like?

I won't insult your intelligence by stating the obvious, or at least not only the obvious; that is, that this amnesty is an affront to the rule of law, separation of powers and the Constitution, and that it is an exercise in pure cynicism and political expediency. We'll discuss the lies in Obama's Friday speech at De La Sol High School in Las Vegas, but there's more to it than that. Beneath the surface, there's a larger agenda. We'll connect the dots today. 

You'll learn:

O'Brien: Will The Supreme Court Rescue Us from Obamacare?

By Teri O'Brien - 

In spite of the clear message of last Tuesday's election, specifically, that the people want Barack Obama's radical, lawless behavior stopped, leaders of the victorious GOP are sending disturbing signals that they are not as determined to do what they promised when they were looking for our votes.

For example, more than once Senate Majority-Leader-in-Waiting, Mitch McConnell, vowed to fight to repeal Obamacare. Just days before the election, he ran an ad, featuring a Kentucky nurse and mother saying just that. Suddenly, we're hearing about ditching the medical device tax, but not much else.

Perhaps there is still hope. Will the Supreme Court rescue the GOP from its own gutlessness, and thereby rescue the country from Obamacare? Its decision last week to review the Fourth Circuit's decision in King v. Burwell strongly suggests that four justices are willing to reverse the lower court's ruling authorizing tax credits for insurance purchased on federal exchanges, something clearly prohibited by the statute. 

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.

O'Brien: Obama's Pen and Phone in Action

By Teri O'Brien -

Start spreading the news, or the plague. Thanks to the ideological fanaticism of the Obama Regime, the deadly Ebola virus has made it to New York City. Not to worry, though, as we are reminded by an endless parade of government apparatchiks. It isn't spread by "casual contact," and can be contracted only by those with direct exposure to the bodily fluids of someone with symptoms, but what does that mean? Bottom line: once again, we're being lied to.

In the interest of political correctness, Obama refuses to seal the border and stop the flights from the Ebola hot zone, and you don't have to french kiss an Ebola patient to have contact with bodily fluids. We'll explain how that could happen, and how you can protect yourself and your family.

O'Brien: Obama parties with celebs While Enterovirus kills American children

9-year-old patient Jayden Broadway of Denver is being treated for the enterovirus 68 

By Teri O'Brien - 

How many American children have died from the Enterovirus D-68, or do you call it the “Unaccompanied Alien Minors Virus?” Were illegal alien children shipped all over the United States after this past summer’s invasion to try to cover up the origin of these infections with a virus that hasn’t been seen in the U.S. since 1962, and which some experts consider more dangerous than Ebola? There is evidence that the answer is yes. 

Speaking of Ebola, the third-world plague that Obama was eager to see invade our country for reasons stated here, now a Dallas health care worker, probably a nurse, who took care of the late Liberian, Thomas Eric Duncan, is infected, despite taking every precaution recommended by “experts” from the federal government’s CDC. How could that happen? During a Sunday morning news conference on October 12, the CDC director stated that the cause was a "breach of protocol," while other experts are warning that it may too late to stop the spread of this disease in the U.S. If we had only listened to left-wing lunatic Rep. Alan Greyson. Even he could see back in July that we should have shut down flights from West Africa.

It looks like the One has found a worthy successor to his race-baiting disgrace of an Attorney General, Eric Holder, and he’s a doozy. Reports are that he will be named before the election, which is only 23 days away.

O'Brien: Eric Holder’s Legacy of Left-wing Lawlessness

By Teri O'Brien -

Now that Eric Holder has announced that he will step down once his successor has been named, it's time to review some of the greatest hits of his disgraceful tenure, from “race cowards” to his role in ginning up racial resentment in Ferguson, Missouri, and everything in between. Why did he resign now? What have Obama and Reid cooked up for the lame duck session of Congress?

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.

IR EXCLUSIVE: Kaifesh, West talk Iraq, War on Terror and Naive Americans

(L-R) Colonel Allen West, Colonel Larry Kaifesh

SCHAUMBURG - Colonel Allen West and Colonel Larry Kaifesh, GOP candidate for Congress in 8th CD, talked with Illinois Review about the upcoming election and the ongoing War on Terror. Part 1 is HERE. Here is Part 2: 

IR: Many voiced hope that America would have a new generation of leaders coming back from fighting terrorism in the Mid East. But we’re seeing a tone of disrespect for the military growing as people grow tired of war.  What are your thoughts as things are changing – from the Administration down – towards the military?

KAIFESH: I’d just like to highlight that as one of the reasons I’m running. Because there’s a complete failure in leadership from the Administration on down. And in regards to Iraq, we had a success – it was a fragile success – but it was success. At one time before we pulled out, Iraq was one of the most stable countries in the region. And there’s not one national security or military person that didn’t understand this fragile success needed to have some work.

We just couldn’t pull out the support network. It was amazing what we were able to do there – build a Western democracy in a foreign, Islamic country in the heart of the Middle East. It was a major accomplishment. But it was there, and it was succeeding. It was fragile.

When the Status Armed Forces Agreement failed, I don’t think anyone of us believed it would make it. It was just a matter of time at that moment. And that is the unfortunate part. Leadership would recognize that and identify.

We need to do what’s right for the sacrifices of those that served, all the commitment and the treasure we gave to fight this war – and for the Iraqi people. And make sure we saw it through to success, instead of pulling out because it was politically favorable. When we start making national security decisions based on political pulls, bad things happen.  This is just the perfect example.

IR: The military budget is being cut by this Administration. Where will all this end up?

O'Brien: How's That "Great Society" Working Out?

President Lyndon Johnson launched the "Great Society" program 50 years ago

By Teri O'Brien -

Just wondering …who kills more young black men, white police officers or other young black men? Do "civil rights leaders" from black-on-black shooting gallery Chicago, like Jesse Jackson, who has insinuated himself into the mess in Ferguson, MO, have any credibility there?

Recently, on The Teri O'Brien Show, we joined the rest of the country in celebrating Barack Obama's arrival on the national scene, what has become known as "The Speech," his 2004 Democrat convention performance, and what a performance it was, a declaration that there are no divisions among Americans, and a rejection of attempts by "cynics" to divide us into warring groups based on race, religion or any other external, and irrelevant, difference.

What a difference 10 years makes.

O'Brien: World in Flames, Obama Phones it In

President Obama on the phone with British Prime Minister Cameron | Photo: by Pete Souza

By Teri O'Brien -

Barack Obama's "lead from behind" foreign policy strategy is working out even better than his brilliant stewardship of things here at home. Fortunately, he was able to go off on his vacation to one of the playgrounds for the 1% that he and his repellant wife, Michelle Antoinette, love so much, Martha's Vineyard, and was able to get in one round of golf already. Just who was in yesterday's jolly foursome on the delightful resort links yesterday as children starved and died of dehydration in Iraq?

The group that Obama mocked as the "J.V.," ISIS, now poses a direct threat to the United States. As usual, the Lame Stream Media hasn't told you about the terrifying details of why that's the case. We will.

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.

Mokena lays to rest PFC Aaron Scott Toppen

MOKENA - Tuesday, the southwest suburb of Mokena laid to rest a hometown hero - 19 year old Aaron Toppen, a private in the U.S. Army that was killed along with four others in Afghanistan earlier this month.

The townspeople lined the streets when Toppen's body was delivered last weekend, and they lined the streets once again with flags in hand Tuesday as a horse-drawn hearse carried the body from Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park to Mokena's St. John's Cemetery. 

 

O'Brien: House GOP shuffles just to dance to the same tune

By Teri O'Brien - 

Last week, after Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor's recent primary defeat and resignation as Majority Leader, the GOP's theme song could have been The Who's "We Won't Get Fooled Again," as in "meet the new boss. Same as the old boss." California Rep. Kevin McCarthy, beloved by Silicon Valley and, despite his vociferous denials, enthusiastic supporter of amnesty for illegals, is the new Majority Leader.

In an interesting coincidence, like many of you, I find myself feeling like Kevin McCarthy, not the guy in Congress, but the actor, or rather the character that he played in the classic film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." He could clearly see the terrifying destruction of his perfect American town by an alien invasion, which so many of his friends and neighbors could not. Many of them decided there was no point in resisting, passively assenting to and becoming part of the takeover. 

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?

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 …)