Hard Left Breaks With Obama on Afghanistan!

The Wall Street Journal has a great piece today, "Liberals Distance Themselves From the President." It turns out that some congressional Democrats and candidates for office in 2010 are rejecting the administration's troop surge. As noted there:

The liberal activist group MoveOn.org distributed an "emergency petition" Wednesday, saying that Congress "must push the Obama administration to outline firm benchmarks and a binding timeline to bring all of our troops home from Afghanistan as soon as possible."

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, this week penned an anti-surge essay titled "Time to Bring Home the Troops" on the liberal Daily Kos blog. Her chief rival in the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, issued a statement late Tuesday night declaring that "defeating al Qaeda does not require 30,000 additional troops."

Democrats in other states chimed in their opposition, including Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who is up for re-election next year, and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a former Republican who is trying to build ties to liberal voters amid a primary challenge. Begrudging support came from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D., Mass.), who said anything short of a rapid transfer of authority to Afghans "will end in failure, no matter how many troops we send to Afghanistan."

While Mr. Obama remains popular with Democratic voters, his standing could be hurt if he backtracks on his new pledge to begin a speedy troop drawdown in July 2011. The deadline was set to appease liberal skeptics, but Obama officials indicated in congressional testimony Wednesday that the president could adjust it based on conditions at the time.

Yeah, and Obama's efforts to appease his leftist flank have only worked to paint the adminstration as irresolute and confused. See today's Los Angeles Times, "Confusion Swirls Around New War Plan":

The war plan presented by the president Tuesday night, which fixes the beginning of troop reductions in July 2011 but does not set an end, was the subject of widespread confusion as lawmakers, diplomats and others debated whether it meant that American forces were headed for a hasty exit or a protracted military engagement.

Note too that it's not just congressional Democrats and state party candidates who are repudiating the administration. See, "Liberals Warn Obama That Base May Skip Midterm Elections."

These people could care less about American national security -- and in fact, these groups will form a domestic fifth column to bring about defeat at home. And of course, Obama brings it on himself (recall the president was the most antiwar senator on Capital Hill throughout 2007).

And there's more: A new communist-umbrella lobbying organization called End All Wars has announced a new round of protests against the administration's military policies. "EMERGENCY ANTI-ESCALATION RALLYSaturday, Dec. 12, 2009 • 11am-4pm • Washington DC. - Stop the Obama-Pelosi-Reid Escalation of the Afghan War!"

And check out this from the website:

It's so bad for the Obama that even his old radical pal William Ayers has bailed out on him. See, "Bill Ayers Dumps Obama."

More at Memeorandum.

Valerie Jarrett Speaks Out on Crashergate: Rep. Peter King Seeks Subpoenas for Salahis, Desiree Rogers; Secret Service Agent Placed on Leave!

Kathleen Hennessey and Mark Silva have the story, "Desiree Rogers Subpoena Sought: Presidential Adviser Valerie Jarrett Says Confidentiality an Important Issue":

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

With the House Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing today on the breach of White House security that enabled an uninvited Virginia couple access to a State Dinner, the ranking Republican is calling for subpoenas of both the couple and the White House social secretary, Desiree Rogers, who have declined to appear.

Rep. Peter King of New York, the ranking Republican on the committee, said before the hearing that he will support subpoenas compelling the testimony of Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the uninvited couple who greeted the president and other high level officials at the State Dinner held in the honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"I also want to subpoena Desiree Rogers,'' King said, dismissing the White House's invoking of executive privilege and keeping Rogers from appearing before the committee.

"I could accept their argument if this was any policy, but this is involves an administrative act by an appointee of the president,'' King said.

The Republican also acknowledged that he had spoken with Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and does not expect the Salahis or Rogers to appear this week.

Thompson said before the hearing that Congress needs to hear from all three, all of whom have declined to appear. Thompson had said Wednesday night that if the Salahis did not appear the committee was prepared to approve subpoenas to compel their testimony.

"This hearing is not about crashing a party at the White House,'' Thompson said. "Nor is it about wannabe celebrities.'' The purpose, he said, is protecting the president.

"The security gaps at issue cannot be explained away as missteps by a few frontline employees,'' Thompson said. "There were undeniable planning and execution failures of the entire Secret Service apparatus. We're all fortunate that this diplomatic celebration did not become a night of horror. ... We must dissect every fact ... and after we do these things, we need to give thanks that no lives were lost.''

Addressing the committee as the sole witness at today's hearing, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan conceded that "in our judgment, a mistake was made. In our line of work, we cannot afford even one mistake."

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president and close friend of Rogers from Chicago -- "I am,'' she said today -- said in an appearance on MSNBC this morning that the White House also has much bigger issues on its plate -- namely the economy.

The White House has made its own inqury and found, "look, we can do better,'' Jarrett said of the security question. "We need to have people at the gate from the White House working in concert with the Secret Service,'' she said. "We have done our own analysis and review and conclusion that we could have done a better job.''

On withholding Rogers from Capitol Hill, Jarrett said: "We think it's important that the president be able to have confidential conversations with his staff... We have done our review... and the person who is principally responsible for making sure that access to the Whtie House is limited,'' Secret Service Director Sullivan, is testifying today.

More at Memeorandum.

See also, the Politico, "Secret Service Punished in Salahi Case."

Desiree Rogers and Executive Privilege: What Did the President Know and When Did He Know It?

Okay, here's a follow up to my earlier post, "Desiree Rogers Won't Testify: White House Claims Executive Privilege in Crashergate Inquiry; Obama Cronies Circle Wagons as Damage Mounts!"

It turns out that the administration's claim of executive privilege in the Crashergate scandal is getting some attention.

Michael Shearer, at Time, asks, "Does Obama's Social Secretary Deserve Executive Privilege?":

The White House announced Wednesday that Social Secretary Desiree Rogers would not be testifying to Congress Thursday about the two reality television aspirants who got by the Secret Service at a recent state dinner to shake hands with President Obama. "I think you know that based on separation of powers staff here don't go to testify in front of Congress," said Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in his daily briefing. "She will not be testifying in front of Congress tomorrow."

The decision is not likely to be contested by Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee, saving Rogers a potentially embarrassing turn in the hearing room spotlight. Since Rogers was only invited to testify by the ranking Republican on the committee, New York Rep. Pete King, and not subpoenaed
she faces no legal consequences for declining to attend.

But Gibbs' justification for Rogers' absence — invoking the separation of powers — nonetheless raised some eyebrows among legal scholars. "I'd completely fall out of my chair if they invoked executive privilege with regards to a social secretary arranging a party," said Mark J. Rozell, a public policy professor at George Mason, who recently wrote a book on executive privilege. "There is no prohibition under separation of powers against White House staff going to Capitol Hill to talk about what they know."

In response to questions from TIME, White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro said it was important for the keep confidential some internal discussions at the White House. "The job of White House staff must be to provide confidential advice without the threat of having to testify about that advice before Congress, which is why the general rule has long been that White House staff do not appear before Congress," Shapiro said in an email. "This is an aspect of the separation of powers, in the same way that executive branch officials cannot intrude into confidential relationship involving congressional or Supreme Court staff members."

Right.

Presidents usually invoke executive privilege for big reasons, like to hide a scandal. President Nixon, in 1973, refused special prosecutor Archibald Cox's subpoena for the Watergate tapes. So, today, when we hear the administration call on the doctrine of separation of powers (executive privilege) in refusing Rogers' testimony before the Congress, it obviously sounds like the Obama White House has something to hide. I mean, c'mon, does the Social Secretary sit in on White House domestic and foreign policy briefings? It would sound simply absurd, but given the unprecedented corruption of this regime, nothing can be taken for granted.

Sandy Levinson has some thoughts as well, "Original Intent and the White House Social Secretary":

The White House is apparently invoking the theory of separation of powers to prohibit Desiree Rogers, President Obama's Social Secretary, from testifying on the recent imbroglio regarding gate-crashing at the White House. My own view is that the White House is making a big mistake for no defensible reason.

I'm less inclined to think of this simply as a matter of original intent, however. The invocation of executive privilege is more tied to the rise of the imperial presidency, and for all of Barack Obama's calls for change (we can believe in), he's looking more sleazy than any administration since the burglers broke into the Democratic headquarters June 17, 1972.

So, to keep the analogy going, "what did the president know and when did he know it?", to borrow from Howard Baker's famous query during the Watergate hearings 36 years ago. With President Nixon, it was the break-in at the Watergate office complex, and subsequent cover up. With President Obama it's seemingly something less nefarious, like authorizing a change in security procotcol for White House social functions. So, why then the cover up, with claims to executive privilege?

Well, remember, if the House Homeland Security panel gets Ms. Rogers before the committee, she's sworn under oath to tell the truth. Perhaps there's more to the president's relationship to the Salahis? Recall, "White House 'Gatecrashers' Tied to Terror Sympathizer." And of course, there's lots of intel in Ms. Rogers' neighborhood as well.

See Michelle Malkin, "A hard-hitting MSM investigation of Chicago crony bundler Desiree Rogers?; Update: WH invokes separation of powers." Plus, via Michelle's entry, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "White House social secretary's faux pas draws House committee interest":

The social secretary is responsible for all entertaining in the White House. This was President Obama's first state dinner. And, unfortunately, it is likely to be remembered by history for a scene very close to farce.

Rich Masters, a former top policy and communications adviser to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who now does crisis public relations for a living, said he would advise Rogers to appear at Thursday's hearing.

"From a PR perspective, it is always advisable to be as open and honest as possible about these things," he said. "It's clear mistakes were made, but if she does not appear, you run the risk of you being the scapegoat."

For the administration's political enemies, Rogers is a tempting target, both because of how close she is to the Obamas and because of the unusually high-profile panache and glamour she has brought to a job.

Rogers, for example, not only planned the dinner, but was on the guest list along with her ex-husband, John Rogers, who co-chaired the Obama Inaugural Committee.

Yeah.

I'm not holding my breath.

More at Memeorandum.

Washington Redskins Statement: Michaele Salahi Never Part of Cheerleading Squad

At the San Jose Mercury News, "Redskins' Cheerleaders: White House Gate Crasher Was Never Member of Squad":

Before she made it into a White House state dinner without an official invitation, Michaele Salahi made it onto the Redskins alumni cheerleading squad — without ever having been a Redskins cheerleader.

Salahi performed at FedEx Field during halftime of the Redskins-St. Louis Rams game Sept. 20 with a group of 150 former Redskins cheerleaders. Salahi's rehearsals with the group were filmed by a crew that has been following Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq, for possible inclusion on a cable TV reality show, "Real Housewives of D.C."

Several alumni cheerleaders said in interviews that Michaele Salahi's presence at a rehearsal drew attention because of the presence of TV cameras, but also suspicion because no one seemed to remember her as a cheerleader for the team.

Their doubts were heightened when Salahi couldn't perform some of the basic cheerleader routines, including the standard choreography for the team's fight song, "Hail to the Redskins."

But it wasn't until stories about the Salahis' White House incident last week that the cheerleaders decided to follow up on her credentials as a Redskins cheerleader.

"She was never at an audition, never at a game and never performed" as an original cheerleader, said Sheryl Olecheck, a Redskins cheerleader from 1986-96 who choreographed the team for seven years. "When I saw her (at an alumni rehearsal), I had to ask around: 'Who is that?'"

Another alumni cheerleader said she asked Salahi who her choreographer was when she performed. "She couldn't answer," she said.

The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders Alumni Association lists Salahi on its membership roster and indicates that she was a cheerleader during 1991 season under her nickname and maiden name, Missy Holt. However, when asked by the group for proof of her participation, Salahi was unable to supply any.

The group's president, Terri Lamb, said Wednesday, "We have no record that she ever was a Redskins cheerleader. She was listed on our 1991 roster at Ms. Salahi's request and based on her misrepresentation to us."

That alleged misrepresentation enabled Michaele Salahi to become a dues-paying member in 2005 and to perform with the group at two other Redskins games at FedEx in 2005 and 2007. Neither of those appearances raised any concerns at the time.

Salahi didn't return calls or emails seeking comment Wednesday. A spokesman for the Redskins said the team was not aware of her participation in the cheerleader events.

More evidence that the Salahis are fraudsters.

All American Blogger Christmas Contest for 2009

My friend Duane Lester at All American Blogger asked me announce his Christmas Contest for 2009. Lots of cool prizes are up for grabs, including signed copies of Michelle Malkin's Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies, and William Owens', Obama: Why Black America Should Have Doubts.

Now that's cool.

More goodies in play at the link.

Desiree Rogers Won't Testify: White House Claims Executive Privilege in Crashergate Inquiry; Obama Cronies Circle Wagons as Damage Mounts!

NBC News Chicago has the story, "Desiree Rogers Won't Testify: The White House Social Secretary Won't Be Questioned Over Her Crashergate Role":

Citing separation of powers concerns, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary, will not give testimony on the Crashergate scandal before a House committee tomorrow.

"Based on separation of powers," Gibbs said, "staff here do not go to testify in front of Congress."

Gibbs added that the White House has done an assessment of the problems that occured during Obama's first state dinner and that changes had been made "as of last night."

"The first family was quite pleased with her performance," Gibbs said.

Some observers, however, have fingered Rogers as the one most responsible for letting Michele and Tareq Salahi slip by security at the front gate of the White House.

That's for sure.

See also, the New York Times, "Separation of Powers Cited for W.H. Social Secretary," and the Astute Bloggers, "BREAKING: WHITE HOUSE REFUSES TO SEND REP TO CONGRESS TO TESTIFY ABOUT PARTY-CRASHERS: What in the HELL is Obama hiding?"

The buzz now is that Ms. Rogers -- who's an Obama political appointee from the Chicago machine -- has taken center stage in the the Salahi gatecrashing scandal on the eve of congressional hearings. Mediaite has a dramatic piece as well, "Will Desiree Rogers Be The White House’s Next Van Jones?" The Salahis' unauthorized intrusion, as noted there, is "an extremely serious breach of White House security that could have endangered the President's life."

Congressional investigators want to know why the White House failed to station social office staff at the receiving lines with Secret Service personnel. But Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is playing down the significance of the security breach.

It turns out that Ms. Rogers -- whose modus operandi is to create an "open, inclusive White House" that's designe "for all people" -- has stripped some of the rigorous safety protocols from social office procedures, and she herself has abandoned the hands-on administrative leadership of staffers in previous administrations. As the NBC report indicates, for example, Bush-holdover Cathy Hargraves "was personally responsible for overseeing the invitations of state dinner guests and keeping track of their RSVPs. She also physically stood at the gate during functions and cross-checked names against a master list." In fact, on the night of state dinner, Ms. Rogers was not staffing entrances to the White House, but was herself "attending the state dinner she helped organized," according to the Washington Examiner. As noted at that entry:

By Washington's assuredly grim, outmoded cultural and social standards, Rogers is too flashy, to heat-seeking, too high-profile and too New York City for this town! If she did her job perfectly, all that posing in Prada might be tolerated. But now it looks like she screwed up, so Rogers is going to have to pay big.

Well, maybe not, actually. So far, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Ms. Rogers' has the confidence of senior officials in the White House, "Desiree Not Losing White House Gig":

A Desiree drubbing? So whose head will roll in the brouhaha over the White House interlopers who managed to sneak into President Obama's state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?

• Answer: It ain't gonna be White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, according to White House senior adviser David Axelrod.

• "Absolutely not," Axelrod told Sneed. "There was a breakdown in screening procedures that can and will be addressed, and Desiree will do so, in conjunction with the Secret Service. The president appreciates the great job she has done."

• Translation: Nobody's gonna mess with first lady Michelle Obama's galpal clique, which includes Rogers, Valerie Jarrett and Michelle's chief of staff, Susan Sher, who not only work at the White House, but also live in the same apartment complex -- where they frequently get together after hours to share a glass of wine, chat and kvetch. "It's almost like a pajama party," said a source who knows the women.

But as Ms. Rogers' failures are potentially catastrophic, it remains to be seen how long her political support holds up inside the Oval Office.

Robin Givhan, at today's Washington Post, offers a devastating indictment of Ms. Rogers' leadership style, and by implication, the president's:

In recent years, social secretaries had always quashed their own public profiles, demurred from seeking the limelight, in service to their position and in deference to the first lady. Indeed, the names of the most recent social secretaries -- Cathy Fenton, Lea Berman and Amy Zantzinger probably ring no bells outside of Washington circles. Those who have more prominent profiles such as Ann Stock, who worked in the Clinton administration and now at the Kennedy Center, and Letitia Baldridge of the Kennedy years, waited until their post-White House years to step into the spotlight.

No one with a clipboard and walkie-talkie was standing sentry at the southeast gate when the Salahis arrived, identifying themselves as guests, according to the White House. Such velvet-rope vigilance is common everywhere from third-tier nightclubs to Seventh Avenue fashion shows and celebrity-drenched parties. And there's the matter of former White House staffer Cathy Hargraves, who predated the Obamas as in-house guest-list guru and abruptly quit in June, according to Newsweek, because she had been stripped of much of her responsibility by Rogers.

There was a new social sheriff in town and, for better or worse, she was one like no other.

The 50-year-old Rogers arrived in Washington this year to great fanfare, no small amount of it of her own making. She entered the East Wing in a whirlwind of media exposure. She was featured in the glossy pages of Vogue -- beating the first lady's appearance in the fashion bible by a month. For a profile in WSJ, the Wall Street Journal's slick magazine, stylists outfitted Rogers in luxury fashions from Prada and Jil Sander and she posed in the first lady's garden tossing a flirtatious smile over her shoulder.

Early in her tenure, Rogers made a trip to New York City during February's fashion week. She sat in the front row of runway shows such as Donna Karan and smiled for the flock of photographers who descended on the striking Obama gatekeeper with her pixie cut, stylish wardrobe and high-altitude heels. She dabbled in a world of hipsters and art scene know-it-alls in her attempt to bring a contemporary gleam to the White House. And she seemed to thrive on all the attention. She has come across as a big-picture manager, not one focused on details.

That's in contrast to her reputation at Peoples Energy. There, says her former boss Thomas Patrick, she was so intent on learning the customer relations business from the ground up that she put on a hard hat and went out into the field with the workers who managed the pipes.

None of this was surprising to longtime friends who knew her from her Chicago days, when she was a mover and shaker in the city's high-culture society circles, and who worried that Rogers was putting herself out in front of the public too fast and too furiously. They warned her of the ways of Washington, its desire for discretion, and urged to keep her profile low. In the nation's capital, no one need know whether the social secretary wore Nina Ricci or Halston, just that she was appropriately clothed.

But Rogers has never been an introvert. The New Orleans native has waved to the crowds from a perch atop a Mardi Gras float. In Chicago, she was known for her eclectic mix of guests at her dazzling parties. She has stood up to dance by herself in cocktail bars, as friends sat by and watched in amusement. She is a coquettish life-of-the-party.

She came to the White House having known the Obamas for two decades, an introduction precipitated by her ex-husband, who played basketball with Craig Robinson, the first lady's brother. Desirée Rogers was a prolific fundraiser for Obama's presidential campaign and had donated to his Senate run, though she did not contribute to his early campaigns for the Illinois state legislature.

Of all those inside the Obama inner circle, she is closest to Valerie Jarrett. Rogers, Jarrett and Linda Johnson Rice of Johnson Publishing, which owns Ebony magazine, were the three musketeers in Chicago, profiled by a local magazine as a fearsome threesome. It's the connection to Jarrett that is Rogers's protective cocoon as she straddles the line between the East Wing and the West.

"All this talk about Desirée being lifelong friends with the Obamas is bunk. She's there because of Valerie," says someone who has known Rogers for years but didn't want to be identified so as not to upset her.

Rogers is having to negotiate a new relationship with the Obamas, one made difficult by her own heat-seeking personality. She arrived at the White House as a friend and peer of the first couple. But her own social stature and wealth exceeded that of the Obamas for many years. Long before their ascent, she was a star in Chicago society, running with the city's elite.

"She and her former husband, and then she alone, were very important social figures in Chicago. She belonged to all of the A-list clubs and charities and certainly had a great understanding of how that world operated," says Patrick, retired chairman of Peoples Energy. "She was my tutor in that world."

The Obamas were the nice couple from the South Side. She was a cut above. And now she has a job in which she is expected to serve at their pleasure.

If Ms. Rogers is not much more than a Valerie Jarrett lackey, we'll soon see if she doesn't indeed end up gettting canned like Van Jones.

That's the least we should see, considering a breach of this magnitude.

Video Hat Tip: Los Angeles Examiner, "Obama Social Secretary Desiree Rogers Will Not Attend Committee on Homeland Security Hearing."

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2009

Some clips from last night's (totally hot) Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Note especially the first one at top, which features the phenomental Marisa Miller steaming down the runway in the Harlequin Fantasy Bra, estimated to be worth at least $3 million:

Recall my earlier entries, with Marisa Miller pics and links to Victoria Secret's own videos, "Marisa Miller at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!

The fasion show was also a contest for the newest "Runway Angel." Kylie Bisutti, featured at bottom, took the prize. Ms. Kylie's a California Girl, from Simi Valley:

See also, the Los Angeles Times, "'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show' Runway," and the Orange County Register, "Photos: Fantasy Lingerie at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show."

P.S. Fergie of Black Eyed Peas was looking hot, right up there in the sexy-licious mix!

Salahi E-Mails Show Confusion Over State Dinner Invite

We have two new reports suggesting that Tareq and Michaele Salahi misunderstood the nature of their e-mail communications with Michele Jones, the White House appointee to the Pentagon. See MSNBC, "Party Crashers’ E-Mails Gush With Gratitude: Were Salahis Genuinely Confused About State Dinner Invitation? Maybe." Plus, from the Washington Post, "E-Mails Suggest Confusion Over State Dinner Invite":

The e-mails show that Michele S. Jones, special assistant to the secretary of defense and White House liaison, told the Salahis that the dinner was closed. But she offered to try to get them into the "arrival ceremony," presumably the daytime ceremony that kicks off a foreign leader's visit, often attended by several hundred people. The couple's lawyers told NBC that the Salahis thought this meant the dinner's receiving line.

The lawyers also told NBC that the Salahis say Jones called them the night before the dinner to say they were cleared for the receiving line. In the morning, Jones e-mailed to say that the arrival ceremony was canceled -- rain forced it inside -- but that she was still working on the state dinner. But later that day, lawyers claim, Jones left the Salahis a voice mail saying she had had no luck; but the couple, already in Washington, never got the message.

Tareq Salahi's next e-mail to Jones was a thank-you at night's end: "We ended up going to the gate to just check, in case it got approved, since we didn't know, and our name was indeed on the list." Jones's response: "Tareq you are most welcome. Delighted that you and Michaele had a wonderful time:)."

An administration official said Tuesday night that the e-mails support Jones's denial Monday that she told the couple she could get them in. "All Ms. Jones tells them is she is trying," the official said. "She never tells them yes and even leaves them a voice mail the day of saying, sorry, but it didn't happen." The Salahis, meanwhile, still can't point to "an e-mail actually inviting them."

As for Jones's final blithe note, the official said, she "responded that way to be polite," assuming the Salahis got tickets some other way.

ABC News had this piece yesterday as well, "E-Mails Show Salahis Never Got White House State Dinner Invite From Pentagon: Couple Had Claimed After E-Mails Came Out, They Would Be 'Completely Exonerated'."

Plus, from Ronald Kessler, "Secret Service Under Scrutiny for Salahi Slipup: Breach at the State Dinner Lends New Urgency to a Review of Secret Service Procedures." Referring to that piece, ChattahBox points fingers elsewhere, "State Dinner Security Lapse Mary Cheney’s Fault?"

But as any student of the presidency knows, the buck stops in the Oval Office, and even Kessler's clear about that:

New York: Your newsmax.com column implies that Pres. Obama is taking unnecessary risks with his own security. But does a president really know how lax his security is? Who reviews these operations and reports to the president? If magnometers aren't used or turned off, does a president have this kind of info? Thanks.

Ronald Kessler: The president certainly has this kind of information since my book, In the President's Secret Service, came out. Whenever I appear on TV or on the radio to do publicity for the book, people ask how can this happen and why isnt' the president doing something about it. Obama issued a statement after the security breach at the White House saying that he has "full confidence" in the Secret Service. While it's true that Secret Service agents are dedicated, brave and will take a bullet for the president, Secret Servicew management has been derelict in its duty. If the president continues to express confidence in the Secret Service without replacing the director and totally revamping the management he will be jeopardizing his own life in the opinion of many agents I have interviewed. In that respect, he will be following, unfortunately, in the footsteps of Abraham Lincolna and John F. Kennedy who also ignored advice to beef up their security [emphasis added].

I'll have more later on the deeply problematic screw-up of White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers.

President Obama's Afghanistan Speech (VIDEO)

I haven't commented because I literally flipped on the television just as President Obama was giving his last few lines:

This vast and diverse citizenry will not always agree on every issue – nor should we. But I also know that we, as a country, cannot sustain our leadership nor navigate the momentous challenges of our time if we allow ourselves to be split asunder by the same rancor and cynicism and partisanship that has in recent times poisoned our national discourse.

It is easy to forget that when this war began, we were united – bound together by the fresh memory of a horrific attack, and by the determination to defend our homeland and the values we hold dear. I refuse to accept the notion that we cannot summon that unity again. I believe with every fiber of my being that we – as Americans – can still come together behind a common purpose. For our values are not simply words written into parchment – they are a creed that calls us together, and that has carried us through the darkest of storms as one nation, one people.

America – we are passing through a time of great trial. And the message that we send in the midst of these storms must be clear: that our cause is just, our resolve unwavering. We will go forward with the confidence that right makes might, and with the commitment to forge an America that is safer, a world that is more secure, and a future that represents not the deepest of fears but the highest of hopes. Thank you, God Bless you, God Bless our troops, and may God Bless the United States of America.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Actually, what I did see was a different president, and uncomfortable president, not the uplifting presdident of old. The weight of office is wearing on the man.

Ann Althouse speaks for me:

He sounded oddly stern, like he was lecturing us. Annoyed at us. The words were meant to be inspirational but there was no lift... no lift of a driving dream. Is he tired of being Obama? Or was it the vibe in the room? I don't think those West Point folk liked him too much. He made some pauses that felt awkward in advance of grudging applause, and the response at the end was minimal. The camera searched among the faces and found only grim ones. No one glowed with the fire of Obama-love.

More at Memeorandum. See especially, Fred Barnes, "A Disappointing Speech in Support of the Right Policy."

Worn-Out Tools: David Frum Joins Charles Johnson in Ideological Exile

I blogged previously on the conservative schadenfreude at Mad King Charles' final break with the right wing. So, that that's, right? Well no, actually. Now we've got David Frum pleading for Charles Johnson to think twice about his shifting allegiances:

Charles Johnson, editor of the Little Green Footballs site, has written a post declaring his personal breach with the American right.

He offers 10 reasons, but they all boil down to the same one: His outrage at the bad characters found in right-wing media and blogosphere.

And yes, there’s no shortage of bad characters. No shortage on the left-hand side either. Or the middle, for that matter. But why surrender to them? Why let them get away with their claim to define your movement? Why not stand up to them? That was Rudyard Kipling’s advice to those who felt as Johnson now feels:

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools;

These are days for stooping and building.

Look, the Kipling quote's a nice touch, but only at first blush. For all of Frum's erudition, the dude's got to know that Kipling's poetry's probably not the best for hammering home any proud conservative traditions, e.g., "The White Man's Burden" can't be thought of too well these days on either side of the ideological fence; and on the night that President Obama delivered a major address on Afghanistan, some might recall Kipling's own most dour ditty, "The Young British Soldier":

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

That's just great. Pinch me when C.J. joins Daily Kos in saluting the troops with "screw them."

Besides, that last line in the poem, "build ‘em up with worn-out tools ..." Well, also not the best choice of words for Charles Johnson, now being extolled by the radical left for his virtues. So, confer Urban Dictionary's entry for "tool":

Someone who is a complete idiot/ one who is used by other people, and usually dosen't even realize it/ someone who can't think for themselves/ an asshat.

I'm not picking on David Frum. I know he's a former Reagan speechwriter and all that. But at a time with conservatives are doing extremely well in opposing this administration AND winning elections, it's hardly productive for former right-wing hot shots to join with the other side.

Charles Johnson Completes Auto-Excommunication From the Entire Conservative Blogosphere

I guess this completes the circle, "Why I Parted Ways With The Right."

I was never that big a fan of Charles Johnson, but last year I was amazed at his ability to weed out the most vile comments and posts at Daily Kos, and so I visited there routinely. C.J. hadn't fully transmogrified into the premiere enemy of everything-not-LGF, but the writing was on the wall with the early attacks on Pamela Geller, and the wierd denunciation of must about any European criticism of Islam as "fascism."

Anyway, there's lots of attention to C.J. auth-excommunication. See ...

Ace of Spades HQ, "Obligatory: Charles Johnson Makes it Official."

Another Black Conservative, "Little Green Footballs Officially Goes Left."

The Daley Gator, "Charles Johnson is not man enough to watch SEC football."

Da TechGuy, "FLASH! Charles Johnson trolls for hits: Lobbies to be an MSNBC regular…"

Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels, "Charles Johnson Explains Why He Parted Ways with Right Wing Nuts."

Indecision Forever, "Little Green Footballs Joins the Liberal Elite America Haters."

Israel Matsav, "Say it isn't so: Charles Johnson trivializes the Holocaust."

James Joyner, "Charles Johnson ‘Breaks’ From the Right."

JammieWearingFool, "Driver of Crazy Train Comes Clean."

Jawa Report, "You'readouch you'readouche Can You Do the Fandango."

Jules Crittenden, "Charles Johnson Explains The Crazy Hating."

Left Coast Rebel, "Little Green Footballs: Charles Johnson Jekyll and Hyde."

Legal Insurrection, "Someone Needs Attention."

Moonbattery, "Charles Johnson Explains Himself."

Neocon Express, "Charles Johnson is a Low-Life Who Abuses the Holocaust to Make Cheap Political Points."

Pirate's Cove, "Speaking of barking moonbat unhinged crazy...

Right Wing Nut House, "CHARLES JOHNSON’S WORLD."

Riehl World View, "For Chuckles Johnson, It's Meltdown Number Two."

Robert Stacy McCain, "Charles Johnson Parts Ways With Reality."

Saberpoint, "Charles Johnson Jumps the Lizard."

Snooper's Report, "Little Green Turtle Turds Is DOA."

Stop the ACLU, "Speaking of barking moonbat unhinged crazy..."

Tom Maguire, "Pale Riders."

YidWithLid, "A Sad Day in the Blog World The "Death" of a Legend; Little Green Footballs."

Wake Up America, "The Right's Present To The Left- Charles Johnson."

All good stuff. I especialy like the brilliant Exurban League's, "Why I Parted Ways With Little Green Footballs":

1. Calling everyone to the right of LGF "fascists," both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan [He's European?], and 56 other microscopic splinter parties no one has ever heard of.)

2. Seeing bigotry, hatred and white supremacism in everything (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, occasional Fox News viewers, etc.)

3. Confusing pre-Roe legal arrangements with "the Dark Ages," and faith for "fanaticism" (see: Christians, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.)

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness while pretending to be pro-science (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.). And writing phrases like "anti-science bad craziness."

5. Support for Christophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.) ...

Check the original post for the rest.

I'm not linking, but Andrew Sullivan confirms that he and Charles were indeed separated at birth. See, "Leaving the Right."

If I missed anyone's post in the roundup, just drop your link in the comments, or send me an e-mail.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: 'No Scientic Basis for Dispute' Over Global Warming

It's really bad. Watch the video. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs demonstrates his total amateurism in responding to questions on the CRU "Climaquiddick" scandal. World Net Daily has more, "Gibbs: 'No Dispute' on Global Warming: Dismisses 31,000 Scientists Who Signed Petition Challenging 'Consensus'."

But see also, Douglas Keenan, at Pajamas Media, "The Fraud Is Everywhere: SUNY Albany and Queens University Belfast Join Climategate":

Some of the emails leaked in Climategate discuss my work. Following is a comment on that, and on something more important.

In 2007, I published a peer-reviewed paper alleging that some important research relied upon by the IPCC (for the treatment of urbanization effects) was fraudulent. The emails show that Tom Wigley — one of the most oft-cited climatologists and an extreme warming advocate — thought my paper was valid. They also show that Phil Jones, the head of the Climatic Research Unit, tried to convince the journal editor not to publish my paper.

After my paper was published, the State University of New York — where the research discussed in my paper was conducted — carried out an investigation. During the investigation, I was not interviewed — contrary to the university’s policies, federal regulations, and natural justice. I was allowed to comment on the report of the investigation, before the report’s release.

But I was not allowed to see the report. Truly Kafkaesque.

The report apparently concluded that there was no fraud. The leaked files contain the defense used against my allegation, a defense obviously and strongly contradicted by the documentary record. It is no surprise then that the university still refuses to release the report. (More details on all of this — including source documents — are on my site.)

My paper demonstrates that by 2001, Jones knew there were severe problems with the urbanization research. Yet Jones continued to rely on that research in his work, including in his work for the latest report of the IPCC.

More at the link.

See also, the Wall Street Journal, "Climategate: The Fallout Continues from CRU Hacking," and Bret Stephens, "Climategate: Follow the Money."

Salahis Speak Out on 'Today Show', Play Victim Card: 'Our Lives Have Been Destroyed'; Matt Lauer Gives Party Crashers Free Pass on Islamist Ties!

Gateway Pundit has the headline, "The Radical Salahis Stick With Their Story – Say They Were Invited to White House."

But check the video:

The key moment is at about 1:30 minutes. Matt Lauer asks the couple if they've been "mischaracterized" by the media. Tareq and Michaele plead they've been devastated: "Our lives have been destroyed." The couple is totally evasive throughout the entire interview, and Lauer -- who asks some pointed questions -- lets these fame-seekers off the hook. He asks only one follow up question, saying he wants to be "more specific," but is stonewalled again by the Salahis. They plead the the truth will come out in the Secret Service investigation, but the couple's radical ties to ATFP never come up. Lauer drops the ball and skips any mention of the White House's epic security breach, and especially the key role that Desiree Rogers -- the Obamas' hand-groomed Social Secretary and flak-catcher -- had in creating the scandal.

Give Lauer credit for exposing the Salahis' fraud in the early part of the interview, where they refuse to respond to questions about their Pentagon e-mails. Otherwise, way too sweet of an appearance. These people are not victims. They're glamor-seekers, and stuff's hitting the fan now. As Michelle Malkin indicated today, there's lots more here than meets the eye. See, ""Crashergate, Desiree Rogers, and the Chicago Way: Land of no consequences; Update: House Panel to Hold Hearing."

More at Hot Air, "Video: Crashers Deny Crashing White House party." Also, the Los Angeles Times, "State Dinner Crashers Exchanged E-Mails with Pentagon Official." (via Memeorandum).

ADDED: Linked at Common Sense Political Thought, "Oh, the Poor Dears! See also, Camp of the Saints, "A FISHY MAIN COURSE."

Desiree Rogers to Face Homeland Security Panel: Obama's Gal at Center of Salahi Scandal; Gatecrashers Claim Pentagon Appointee Approved Dinner Invite!

From the Washington Post, "House Republicans Ask Desiree Rogers to Join Party-Crasher Hearing":

Republican members of the House Homeland Security committee have invited White House social secretary Desirée Rogers to testify Thursday, a committee aide said Monday night, about how a couple from Northern Virginia slipped into the White House last week for a state dinner, despite not being on the guest list.

Rogers acknowledged to the Associated Press last week that no one from her office was at a security checkpoint Nov. 24 to assist Secret Service agents in determining whether partygoers should be admitted to the mansion. Tareq and Michaele Salahi were waved through the checkpoint and later came face-to-face with President Obama in a receiving line.

Michael Shearer, at Swampland, tries to get Ms. Rogers' off the hook, "Piling On Desirée Rogers—Is The Social Secretary To Blame For Two Ticketless Boobs At The White House?" (via Memeorandum).

Michelle Malkin's got the devasting exposé, "Crashergate, Desiree Rogers, and the Chicago Way: Land of no consequences; Update: House Panel to Hold Hearing":

As I noted in Chapter 2 of Culture of Corruption, Rogers sees herself not merely as a party planner, but as the overseer of the White House “strategy for events.” While she pays lip service to exercising restraint in Washington (“As we go through our struggle, there is a need to be prudent”), Rogers defended the lavish “Camelot” scene that quickly became an Obama hallmark in the economically-stressed first 100 days. The celebrity-filled cocktail nights and conga lines are a means to end, she explained to National Public Radio:

“My belief is that we don’t always get everything accomplished over a meeting table,”” Rogers says. “Many times it’s over cocktails, it’s over dinner and so the other piece to our work will be what kind of events can we create?”

Fittingly, Ms. Rogers’ personal motto is laissez les bon temps rouler: Let the good times roll. With her savvy fundraising skills, she helped keep Team Obama rolling in dough during the 2008 presidential campaign. According to left-wing watchdog Public Citizen, Rogers bundled more than $200,000 for Obama and contributed $28,500 to committees supporting her good friend. A Harvard MBA and former Allstate Financial executive, Rogers spent 2004 to -2008 as head of Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas, a $1.1 billion natural gas utility in Chicago. During her tenure, the utility’s parent company was sued for artificially inflating gas prices; a settlement with Illinois regulators required the firm to refund $100 million to consumers. Separate actions resulted in fines of $500,000 for a backlog of overdue meter safety inspections and $1 million for failing to properly inspect distribution pipes. In April 2009, financial disclosure forms revealed that Rogers “collected more than $1 million for her work as president of two gas companies for part of 2008. Later, she earned a $350,000 salary from Allstate Financial as president of its social-networking division, and $150,000 in board fees from Equity Residential, a real-estate investment trust in which she also holds at least $250,000 in stock.”

Rogers has known Mr. and Mrs. O for more than a decade. How did they meet? Ivy League connections – —the same connections that Michelle Obama griped would keep her “on the periphery.” Rogers’ ex-husband, John W. Rogers, Jr., played basketball with Michelle O’s brother, Craig Robinson, at Princeton. As I’ve mentioned previously, Mr. Rogers also served as a campaign finance bundler for Team Obama. The Rogerses were among 79 top fundraisers who, according to the Washington Post, tapped their personal networks to raise at least $200,000 each. The bundlers recruited a total of more than 27,000 donors to write maximum-limit checks for $2,300 each.

Plus, at the Los Angeles Times, "State Dinner Crashers Exchanged E-Mails with Pentagon Official":

Federal authorities say Tareq and Michaele Salahi were mistakenly admitted by Secret Service agents who failed to verify that they were on the guest list. But authorities acknowledged Monday that in the weeks leading up to the dinner, the Salahis traded e-mails with Michele S. Jones, a top Obama political appointee at the Pentagon, in hopes of scoring an invitation.

One source close to the investigation said the couple produced the e-mails at the security checkpoint last Tuesday to show that they had been invited to the event. The Secret Service, which has interviewed the Salahis as part of its own investigation, has obtained copies of the e-mails.

On Monday night, the White House released a statement in which Jones said she did nothing to help the couple get into the dinner.

"I did not state at any time, or imply that I had tickets for ANY portion of the evening's events," according to the statement from Jones, whose title is special assistant to the Secretary of Defense and White House liaison. "I specifically stated that they did not have tickets and in fact that I did not have the authority to authorize attendance, admittance or access to any part of the evening's activities. Even though I informed them of this, they still decided to come."

Jones, who did not return calls seeking comment, is a retired Army major who was appointed in July.

Plus, "State Dinner Crashers Waved E-Mails From Pentagon Official at Checkpoint."

Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing

Lied to threatened cheated and deceived
Hear nothing see nothing say nothing
Led up garden paths and into blind alleys
Hear nothing see nothing say nothing

*****

Listen here.

Same situation here:

I'm no "birther," but on this, Andrew McCarthy speaks for me, "Suborned in the U.S.A.: The Birth-Certificate Controversy is About Obama’s Honesty, Not Where He Was Born."

There's nothing racist about this advertisement, but to the radical left, that's raaacist!!!

Scared Monkeys isn't buying it, "Three Monkeys Racist ... More Foolishness from the Liberal LEFT ... Obama Ad with Racial Undertones, GET REAL!"

Actually, it's the Radical LEFT, but who's to quibble.

The fact is, with Barack Obama we've been lied to, threatened, cheated, and decieved, but the left wants you to Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. And that's change you can believe in!

The Obama-Salahi Connection: Why No Invite for White House Gatecrashers?

I'm honored that my work on the Salahis was picked up by Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, and World Net Daily (as well as many others to whom I've linked in earlier entries).

World Net Daily's piece develops the implications of Tareq Salahi's Palestinian ties in full, "White House 'Gatecrashers' Tied to Terror Sympathizer":

But Reliapundit at the Astute Bloggers has questions: For example, why would the Salahis sneak into a state dinner if they knew the president? The Secret Service confirmed, after the gatecrashers left the party unescorted, that the couple had not been officially invited. It's now known, of course, that Barack Obama met the Salahis as far back as 2005, and the couple claims to have been in "the Obamas' glass-enclosed viewing area after an inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial." So, there are a lot of unanswered questions.

The intense severity of the security breach is foremost, with scrutiny focusing on the breakdown at the Secret Service. As this morning's Washington Post indicates, "Security experts called the breach an indefensible breakdown that will almost certainly lead to changes within the Secret Service ..."

But after that we're left with Tareq Salahi's shadowy ties to radical Islamists and terror-enablers, especially Columbia University's Rashid Khalidi. Certainly these relationships aren't something that the mainstream press wants to discuss. As Debbie Schlussel noted yesterday, the New York Times, in previously published reports, removed reference to Tareq Salahi's membership at the American Task Force on Palestine, an Israel-bashing group now shown as having long relations with the terrorist organizations in the Middle East. See, "NY Times Scrubs Its Own Reporting on White House Party Crasher Tareq Salahi’s Board Membership in Pro-Palestinian Terror Group."

And Media Matters doesn't want to discuss Salahi's Palestian ties either; and in fact, the Soros-backed unit describes Jim Hoft's entry on the story as a "conspiracy." See, "Gateway Pundit Concocts Conspiracy Theory Involving WH Party Crashers, Rashid Khalidi, and Obama's 'Radicalism'."

The Salahis' reasons for crashing the event are being questioned as well, and the couple's now denying any profit-motivations for their actions. See Fox News, "White House Crashers' Rep Reportedly Says They Do Not Seek Cash for Interviews." (Although Anne Applebaum's piece this morning chaulks it up to the routine climbers' quest for "wealth and fame." See, "Social Climbing With a Twist: White House Gate-Crashers in a Long Tradition.")

So why, then? It's clear that the couple's forthcoming reality show gig was already clinched (a Bravo camera crew was trailing the Salahis at the entrance to the White House). Perhaps, given the Salahis' well-advertised earlier meetings with the Obamas, lacking an invitation, the couple felt entitled to be at the dinner anyway. And if that's so, the White House had to play dumb. After Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, and Barack's long association with the sleazy Chicago underworld of ACORN thugs and (alleged) secret homosexual lovers, the last thing the president needs is for an old Palestianian pal to demonstrate open entrée at a state dinner hosting the prime minister of India.

So, perhaps besides the egregious security breakdown (which amply illustrates gross administration incompetence; no White House social-functions personnel were stationed at the gates), it's mostly a White House in damage control issue at this point. Van Jones, Anita Dunn, Bertha Lewis ... the list goes on. Maybe there's a limit to the heat the president's willing to take on his outrageous ties to ideological extremists and Palestinian lobbyists.

Fresh Conservative takes a look at this angle, "Gate Crashers or Genial Guests?":

Over the years, Barack Obama has distanced himself from the circle of extremist associates like Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko and Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Yet, while the White House denies it was the notorious Ayers on the White House visitor’s list, the cofounder of Weather Underground’s name has mysteriously disappeared from the roster.

New questions arise: could Khalidi, supporter of Palestinian terror and former Palestine Liberation Organization worker, have an ideological association to zany power couple Tareq and Michaele Salahi, crashers of the State Dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh?

Coincidentally, it appears that one half of the reality TV Washington, DC couple that allegedly busted through the security detail at the White House is Tareq Salahi of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) Board of Directors. The American Task Force on Palestine is an inadvertent successor group of the American Committee on Jerusalem (1995-2003), to which Khalidi once served as President.

Tareq Salahi’s picture, which was still posted a week ago on the American Task Force on Palestine website, is currently deleted from the Board of Directors gallery. Yet, as cited by TPM Document Collectors, the audacious party boy remains on the Board of the American Task Force on Palestine’s website.

At the State Dinner, the Salahi’s were officially announced and took cozy photographs with the Vice President, Chief of Staff and Katie Couric. And if that weren’t stunning enough, it now appears, “President Obama met the couple…as they went through the receiving line.” The Secret Service is downplaying security threats posed by the couple, and the Salahi’s attorney Paul Gardner claims his, “clients were cleared, by the White House to be there.” If it is found out that Salahi was a valid guest, the question that deserves an answer is who granted the Khalidi-styled Director entry to the function? Specifically, because the Obama administration, on perpetual surveillance for threats posed from right-wing extremists, pro-life advocates, ex-military, and born again Christians are, together with the Secret Service, bizarrely downplaying security threats posed by the Salahi’s.

Supping around the First State Dinner table with cronies like Michaele and Tareq wouldn’t be a first for Obama, who admittedly dined on more than one occasion with the likes of Mona and Rashid Khalidi. Based on President Obama’s comfort level dining with PLO activists, its feasible that either he, or a close associate, extended the invitation to kindred Palestinian sympathizer Tareq Salahi and his wife.

Let’s review: Salahi is on the Board of Directors of the Palestinian Task Force, which has connections to the former American Committee on Jerusalem, who’s president was Rashid Khalidi. Obama is a friend and supporter of Khalidi. Then, out of nowhere the Salahi’s show up at the first White House State Dinner, and make it past high security barriers to the reception line, successfully gaining direct access to the President of the United States.

Could this be one big serendipitous twist of fate? Perhaps, but if Michaele and Tareq were indeed legitimate White House guests, such a revelation would be indicative of anti-Israeli sentiment deep within the recesses of the Obama administration, and would be more unsettling than two reality TV wannabes successfully crashing a White House party. If proven that the Salahi's are old friends of Obama, such startling news could be all that is needed to catapult the president into his own starring role in a reality show entitled, How to Dupe a Nation. The series could be a primetime special where a left wing, liberal, anti-America, Israel hating, radical socialist, swindles America into electing a barefaced impostor to the undeserved position of leader of the free world.