'This woman, Marie Larf [Harf], seems to be the White Susan Rice, except even dumber and more preposterous...'

At AoSHQ, "State Department Refuses to Say if Cash Payoff Was Part of Bergdahl Hostage Deal."



A paid liar, and dumb at that.

VA Halted Visits to Troubled Hospitals

At the Wall Street Journal, "Change Came as Growing Number of Facilities Had High Death Rates."

PREVIOUSLY: "Depraved Leftists Run Interference for Obama on #VeteransAdministration."

The International Crisis of Unaccompanied Migrant Children at U.S. Border

From the editors, at the Sacramento Bee.

RELATED: At KNXV-TV ABC15 Phoenix, "Transfer of undocumented kids sparks threat."

Is Obama Considering Surrendering to the Taliban?

I think the real question is "Has Obama already surrendered to the Taliban"?

But see Marc Thiessen, at the Washington Post:

Obama administration officials are arguing that the Taliban release was inevitable, because the war in Afghanistan is ending. But the coming withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan does not end the state of war between the United States and the Taliban. There are only three ways that state of war can end: 1) we reach a peace accord with the Taliban; 2) the Taliban surrenders; or 3) the United States surrenders.

The first two are not happening anytime soon. Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar declared the release of his five commanders a “great victory.” Enemy forces don’t tend to capitulate after a great victory. And a Taliban spokesman declared last week that the prisoner exchange “won’t help the peace process in any way, because we don’t believe in the peace process.”

So unless Obama capitulates, there is no reason under the laws of war why the president must release Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These detainees have been approved by the Obama administration for indefinite detention. The president’s authority to hold Taliban detainees indefinitely is not extinguished when U.S. forces withdraw. The only thing that would require the United States to hand over Taliban prisoners would be if Obama issues a declaration that we have no further conflict with the Taliban. That would end his authority under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) to continue holding Taliban prisoners...

Supreme Court Rules Against 'Aged Out' Illegal Immigrants

Heh, no "special consideration" for illegals whose parents failed to get a permanent visa before they turned 21.

Back of the line, sucka!

At USA Today, "Justices deny visa priority to children who turn 21."

Also at Scotus Blog, "Quick take: Court defers to agency on “aged-out” immigrants."

Krauthammer Destroys Endless White House Lies on Bowe #Bergdahl

It's just "lie after lie," and the "pretense" that this deal was something to celebrate is just "appalling."

And just compare Krauthammer's comments here to the meme Politico was spinning last week. The MSM propaganda is just terrible: "Charles Krauthammer backs Bowe Bergdahl deal."

Poll: Veteran Households Slam #Bergdahl Swap as 'Wrong Thing to Do...'

From the new USA Today/Pew Center poll, "USA TODAY poll: Obama mishandled Bergdahl exchange."

Also, "Public Has Doubts about Bergdahl Prisoner Exchange":

Veteran Households’ Views of Bergdahl Deal.

Households that include a military veteran take a more negative view of Bergdahl and the prisoner exchange than do households without a veteran.

Overall, 33% of the public says someone in their household has served in the U.S. military or the military reserves at some point. Among this group, 55% say the exchange of five Taliban prisoners was the wrong thing to do, compared with just 26% who say it was the right thing to do. Non-veteran households are evenly divided (37% right thing, 38% wrong thing).

Furthermore, veteran households are somewhat more likely to say they are angry with Bergdahl (23%) than sympathetic toward him (12%), though most (57%) say they hold neither feeling toward him.

And when it comes to U.S. responsibility toward Bergdahl, 37% of veteran households say the country was not obligated to do all it could to secure his release because he walked away from his post; 47% say the U.S. has a responsibility to do all it can to return an American captive soldier, no matter what the circumstances. Non-veteran households are more likely to back U.S. efforts to free captive soldiers, regardless of the circumstances (60%-26%).

The American public agrees that we should make every effort to bring the troops home. But the poll finds Americans especially critical of White House communications with the Congress.

It's especially telling how the military families view this, however. Remember the president's "icy" reception at West Point? The chill has yet to thaw.

More at Memeorandum.

Whoa! MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Not Buying #Bergdahl Spin from State Department's Marie Harf

Harf's a paid liar.

From Noah Rothman, at Hot Air, "Andrea Mitchell not buying State Dept.’s spin on Bergdahl Swap."

Enjoy Bikinis

At Bananarama, "Bikinis Are the Only Way to Enjoy" (via Linkiest).

BONUS: At Egotastic, "Abbey Clancy Bikini Pictures."

Obama Administration Gave #Bergdahl Parents Exclusive Insider Access

The White House planned all along to use Bowe Berdahl's capture to empty Guantanamo.

At the Washington Times, "Bergdahl’s parents got rare access to insiders; data for sympathizer of Gitmo detainees":

Soon after Sgt. Bergdahl went missing in Afghanistan in June 2009, the Obama administration approved an outreach program that involved the Bergdahls traveling from their home in Hailey, Idaho, to the state’s National Guard headquarters in Boise.

There they were hooked into secure video conferences that included representatives of U.S. Central Command, which runs the war in Afghanistan, as well as with White House, State Department and intelligence officials.

Robert Bergdahl has expressed concern for prisoners at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. From that prison, the U.S. released five senior Taliban commanders May 31 in exchange for the 28-year-old Sgt. Bergdahl, who was held five years by the violent Haqqani Network, a Taliban ally.

Air Force Col. Timothy Marsano, Idaho’s National Guard spokesman, said the Bergdahls participated in video conferences quarterly — or perhaps as many as 20 — over the five years.

“Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl were regularly informed about what was happening throughout the duration using video teleconferencing [with] various military and other government agencies,” Col. Marsano said. “There was a great effort to keep Mr. and Mrs. Bergdahl updated on developments.”

Keep reading.

More at Twitchy, "Bob Bergdahl now tweeting for more Guantanamo releases." And IJR, "Why Did Robert Bergdahl Stand Next to President Obama and Praise Allah for His Freed POW Son?"

PREVIOUSLY: "Robert Bergdahl's #Taliban Tweets: Allāhu Akbar!"

Steve Coburn Apology on 'Good Morning America'

Bit by the backlash, I guess.

Here's the rant from Saturday, "California Chrome Owner Steve Coburn: 'This Is the Coward's Way Out...'"

And now at ABC News, "California Chrome Co-Owner 'Ashamed' of Angry Rant After Belmont Loss."

And Robin Roberts has the interview, "California Chrome Co-Owner Apologizes."

Quebec City Prison Escape

Wow.

At Toronto's Globe and Mail, "Quebec on alert after second jailbreak with helicopter," and at the National Post, "Three inmates use a helicopter to escape from Quebec prison — similar to daring 2013 jailbreak."

And at the Los Angeles Times, "Helicopter lands in prison yard, takes off with three inmates."

Saxby Chambliss and Dianne Feinstein on 'Face the Nation' — #BergdahlTreason

At WaPo, "Feinstein, Chambliss criticize White House over Bergdahl secrecy."

And videos, "Saxby Chambliss: Hard to 'validate' reports Bowe Bergdahl was tortured," and "Dianne Feinstein: Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap 'mixed bag at best'."

D-Day Veteran Jock Hutton, 89, Parachutes Into Normandy Again

At the Scottish Daily Record, "Scottish D-Day veteran Jock Hutton, 89, takes part in tandem parachute jump with Red Devils."

'I am glad that we got our guy back, however I do not feel it is right that we subject ourselves to these acts of terrorism...'

She got one heckuva round of applause at that response.

At Twitchy, "Did Miss Louisiana say it was a mistake for Obama to release five Taliban leaders from Gitmo? [video]."

Pakistan Taliban Attacks Karachi International Airport

Because we've got those terrorists on the run alright!

At WSJ, "Gunmen Attack Karachi Airport: Masked Men Attack With Guns, Grenades; At Least 23 People Killed."

KARACHI, Pakistan—Militants stormed Karachi's Jinnah International Airport late Sunday, exchanging fire with security forces and leaving at least 23 people dead, officials said.

Separately, gunmen and suicide bombers attacked pilgrims from the minority Shiite sect of Islam in the west of the country, killing at least 23 pilgrims.

The Pakistani Taliban, a group closely linked to al Qaeda and its militant allies, claimed responsibility for the airport attack. No responsibility was immediately claimed or assigned for the attack on the pilgrims, but the Pakistani Taliban frequently targets Shiites, who make up about 20% of Pakistan's population.

More.

Also at Pamela, "Jihadists disguised as police guards and wearing suicide vests kill 18 during five-hour siege at Pakistan’s largest international airport."

Battle to Establish an Islamic State Across Iraq and Syria

This is from far-left commentator Patrick Cockburn, brother to the "last Stalinist" Alexander Cockburn (who passed away in 2012), at the Independent UK, "In the war on terrorism, only al-Qa'ida thrives":

It has become increasingly obvious over the past year that al-Qa'ida type movements, notably Isis, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, have come to dominate or can operate freely in a great swathe of territory across northern Iraq and northern Syria. This gives Isis a vast hinterland in which it can manoeuvre and fight on both sides of what is a largely nominal Syrian-Iraqi border. The prospect is always there for an even more explosive conflict: last week, Isis columns of vehicles penetrated deep into the city of Samarra in Iraq, coming within less than two miles of the golden-domed Shia al-Askari shrine, the blowing up of which by al-Qa'ida in Iraq in 2006 led to a savage intensification of the sectarian civil war in which tens of thousands of Sunni and Shia were butchered.

So long as the Syrian civil war continues, it benefits groups such as Isis, which wants to create its own state and not just get rid of Assad, because fanatical armed groups, with fighters prepared to be killed, always benefit from conflict. By the same token, moderates lose out or are marginalised as the situation becomes more and more militarised and Syrian public opinion counts for little.

And, "Isis special report: Jihadist group more extreme than al-Qa’ida in battle to establish Islamic state across Iraq and Syria."

Miss Pennsylvania Valerie Gatto

At Life News, "Miss Pennsylvania Valerie Gatto Was Conceived in Rape, Glad She Wasn't Aborted."

And from Kevin Williamson, at National Review, "Mother Courage: Miss Pennsylvania USA's Remarkable Mother":

There are many kinds of courage in the world, of which a mother’s courage is a very specific and demanding variety. Rape is a special kind of cruelty in that it transforms the life-giving act into an act of torture. To suffer the crime and yet cherish the life is an act of transcendence, a perfection of generosity rarely if ever equaled by the merely human.

Kate Beckinsale

At Egotastic!, "Kate Beckinsale My Hot Virgin in White."

Details Emerge of Bowe #Bergdahl's Captivity

Most of the news now is pro-administration propaganda, with the folks at the New York Times leading the way. William Jacobson reported earlier on the Old Gray Lady's editorial demonizing Republicans for rightly calling out the administration's perfidy and treason, "NY Times Editors Rush to Demonize Republicans over Sgt. Bergdahl."

And from today's edition, "As Bowe Bergdahl Heals, Details Emerge of His Captivity," and "Bergdahl Was in Unit Known for Its Troubles." (At Memeorandum.)

And here's the report from this morning's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, with both George and Martha Raddatz showing touching solidarity with the traitor Bergdahl.



PREVIOUSLY: "Bowe #Bergdahl Won't Speak to His Family."