Eric Cantor Slams Obama on Response to Jerusalem Terror Attack

At The Hill, "After bombing, Cantor hits Obama admin. handling of Israel." Also, at Israel Matzav, "Cantor statement on suicide bombing nails Obama." And from the Office of Rep. Eric Cantor, "Leader Cantor's Statement on Violence in Israel":

“Today’s bombing in Jerusalem is another chilling reminder of the obstacles Israel faces in its quest to live in peace with its neighbors. Israel is a true friend to the United States and a vital strategic ally in an unstable region. In the face of unremitting terror, Israel can count on the continued support of the United States as exercises its right to defend its people.

“Within the past two weeks, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have launched dozens of unprovoked rocket attacks at innocent Israelis, while in the West Bank a terrorist brutally murdered a family as they slept in their home. These attacks must not be downplayed as mere episodes in a game of tit-for-tat between Israelis and Palestinians. There is absolutely no justification for deliberate and deadly attacks on innocent civilians.

“This kind of violence does not emerge in a vacuum; it is incubated through education and nurtured by popular culture. The sooner the world comes to grips with this reality, the sooner that there will be peace in the region. That’s why we must use the recent attacks to address the root cause of this violence: anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian mosques, schools and media – and the blanket refusal on the part of the Palestinians to accept Israel’s right to exist that it has created.

“The Administration has called on Israel to make sweeping concessions that I believe will endanger its security, but it doesn’t seem to demand similar from the Palestinians. That’s why I support bipartisan efforts in the House and Senate that call on the White House to put an end to anti-Israel incitement in the Palestinian territories. No matter how much we desire Mideast peace, it will remain a pipe dream so long as Palestinian culture makes martyrs of terrorists who target innocents.”

Britain's Royal Air Force Jet Fighters Refuel in Skies Over Cyprus on Wednesday

This one's for Theo Spark, a blogging buddy and coalition partner:

Also, live blogging at Telegraph UK, "Libyan air force destroyed, RAF commander says."

Terror in Jerusalem: Bus Bombing Kills One, Injures Dozens, in Sign of Escalating Campaign Against Israel

Bare Naked Islam has the winning headline: "THIRD INTIFADA HAS BEGUN: Bomb explodes on Jerusalem bus." Also at Pamela's, "Islam Attacks: Explosion Rocks Jerusalem bus stop; 25 wounded, Dead unknown." And the New York Times reports, FWIW: "Deadly Blast Strikes Outside Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station."

See also Jihad Watch, "Time for Muslims to hand out candy in Gaza: Woman dies of wounds in Jerusalem jihad bombing." And Jerusalem Post, "1 dead, 39 injured in Jerusalem bus station bombing" (via Memeorandum).

Expect updates ...

Woman Dragged Nearly Three-Quarters of a Mile in Tustin

Dragged to her death.

See: "Tustin woman dragged for blocks after being struck by motorist."

Notice the Red Hill Avenue sign at the clip. I pass that off ramp every morning, northbound, on my way to the college. Sad.

No Rally 'Round the Flag Effect on Libya Airstrikes

This is strange. One of the most common phenomena of public opinion and war is for the public to rally dramatically behind the president upon the commitment of U.S. troops to action. But according to polls on President Obama's use of force against the Gaddafi regime in Libya, this administration's action is seeing the lowest "rally 'round the the flag" effect compared to at least nine military operations since President Reagan's bombing raid against Gaddafi in 1986. See Gallup, "Americans Approve of Military Action Against Libya, 47% to 37%." Today 47 percent back Obama's authorization of force against Libya, whereas in 1986 a whopping 71 percent supported President Reagan's decision to strike Gaddafi's compound during Operation El Dorado Canyon. As Gallup notes:

Support for the current involvement in Libya is also much lower than support for U.S. airstrikes against Libya in 1986 in response to the Libyan bombing of a German nightclub that killed two American servicemen.

The president is also not benefiting from a personal "rally 'round the flag effect," which is the surge of approval for the president's job handling during the use of military force. David Weigel reports, "No Obama Poll Bounce from Libya." And progressive pollster Nate Silver does his best to put Obama in good standing, "Poll Finds Tentative Support, Potential Risks for Obama on Libya." The explanation for Obama's lackluster numbers could be war fatigue, but the president's indifference and relatively muted public statements can be contrasted unfavorably with previous administrations more comfortable with the projection of U.S. military power. In other words, presidential leadership matters and this White House is lacking.

That said, CBS News has an outlier with some higher levels of support: "Nearly 7 in 10 support air strikes in Libya, CBS News poll finds." It's probably a flawed sample, given the wide discrepancy, but at least Obambi will have something on which to pin his hopes.

Obama Cuts Short Latin American Sight-Seeing Tour

You can't make this stuff up.

Barack Hussein was planning to tour some Mayan ruins? No doubt that'll play well across the shores of Tripoli, to say nothing of the American midwest. At New York Times, "Obama to Head Home a Bit Early":

For Mr. Obama, who was traveling with his wife, daughters, mother-in-law and a family friend, Wednesday was to be mainly a day of sight-seeing — to Mayan ruins and to the cathedral where Archbishop Oscar Romero is buried, on the anniversary of his assassination during the nation’s civil war of the early 1980s.

And at USA Today, "Global crises overshadow Obama's 2011 agenda":

President Obama returns to the White House today after a six-day trip to Latin America that was intended to focus on jobs, trade and the economy — but the world just wouldn't cooperate.

A partial nuclear meltdown in Japan, a U.S. military operation in Libya, a looming budget showdown in Washington and more have overwhelmed Obama's agenda, raised risks for the nation's fragile economic recovery and opened him to criticism from not only the emerging Republican presidential field but also some congressional Democrats.

Welcome home, Mr. President.

CAIR, Unindicted Hamas-Financer, Sought Millions From Muammar Gaddafi

Nothing to see here. Move along.

From Atlas Shrugs, "Muslim Brotherhood Hate Group CAIR Sought Gaddafi's Money." And IPT, "CAIR Officials Sought Gaddafi Money."

This is despicable. And note this: Nihad Awad, executive director of CAIR, used a different identity when establishing the Muslim Peace Foundation, a financing group:

The foundation was created in May 2008, corporate records filed in Washington, D.C. show. Officers include Shaw and Awad, who is listed as Nehad Hammad. Awad also used the name Nehad Hammad in CAIR's founding articles of incorporation in 1994. During a 2003 deposition in a civil lawsuit, Awad acknowledged his "full and complete name is Nihad Awad Hammad."

Regime Change the Only Viable Solution in Libya

From Bret Stephens, at WSJ, "We're (Almost) All Neocons Now." After a primer on the surging popularity of neoconservatism --- from French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Princeton Political Scientist Anne-Marie Slaughter --- Stephens reminds us:

It's easy to forget that Iraq was a war many liberals—Joe Biden, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton among them—once supported, when they could bring themselves to hate Saddam more than they did the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal. The latter passion overwhelmed the former for a few years, but eventually the initial logic of their position was bound to reassert itself in some similar scenario.

So it has been with Libya. The moment the Libyans revolted, the U.S. could not have remained silent without doing violence to bedrock American values. And so President Obama said Gadhafi must go. The moment Mr. Obama said that, the administration could not be indifferent to the outcome without risking the wrath of a vengeful Gadhafi, as well as a wider Arab audience that would have felt profoundly betrayed by empty U.S. promises. And so Mr. Obama crossed his fingers that the rebels would win, and win fast.

The moment Gadhafi turned the tide and threatened to massacre his opponents, the administration was bound to try to stop him for purely humanitarian reasons. And so Mr. Obama pressed for international action, even as he hoped the U.S. would not have to be directly involved. The moment it became clear that there would be no such intervention without U.S. involvement, the U.S. became involved.

Now the administration is again at a crossroads as it ponders what to do next. Sooner or later it will figure out that any road that doesn't lead to Gadhafi's death, imprisonment or exile is a cul-de-sac that can only mean the de facto partition of Libya, or Gadhafi's survival, or a long civil war from which the West cannot easily disentangle itself.

Put simply, regime change is the only viable option for resolving the crisis in Libya, a point most sentient observers are beginning to grasp. And regime change is only going to come about if the U.S. presses the matter. So why is the administration so reluctant to acknowledge the obvious?

Compare to Stephen Walt's, "What intervention in Libya tells us about the neocon-liberal alliance." Walt sounds more and more like a Paulbot. And he's long given realism a bad name. Not only that, his analysis is riddled with clichés. The United States hardly wields its military like hammer, obviously, since untold nails of humanitarian crises remain un-pounded. Indeed, the lost souls of Rwanda haunt the conscience of the West today. Americans can't intervene everywhere, but that's not a likelihood anyway. Walt --- and the anti-military paleocons before him --- simply raves against robust U.S. engagement in the world. It's isolationist and morally bankrupt.

Coalition Airstrikes Hit Libya Again: Tripoli and Surroundings Targeted in Fourth Barrage in Last Several Days

The main story's at LAT, "Coalition Airstrikes Target Tripoli." Reports of civilian causalities at both videos, with the U.S. denying the allegations:

RELATED: There's all kinds of commentary at Memeorandum, but too little hours in the day. Still, I'll try to post on Stephen Walt's essay later.

VIDEO: Sarah Palin Meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Via Freedom's Lighthouse:

More at Cubachi and Gateway Pundit.

F-15E Fighter Jet Crashes in Libya

Developing news, from New York Times, "American Warplane Crashes in Libya as Ground Fighting Continues." Also at Memeorandum.

Obama Has Thrown American Interests to the Wayside

The best as ever, Caroline Glick, at Jerusalem Post, "America’s descent into strategic dementia" (via Memeorandum). She pulls no punches, and puts "realists" like Stephen Walt to shame. This is one of those essays best read in full. The second passage on Obama's anti-American foreign policy is classic, but this section below reaffirms the point I made here earlier on the need to be wary of the Libyan opposition:

One of the most astounding aspects of the US debate on Libya in recent weeks has been the scant attention paid to the nature of the rebels.

The rebels are reportedly represented by the so-called National Transitional Council led by several of Gaddafi’s former ministers.

But while these men – who are themselves competing for the leadership mantle – are the face of the NTC, it is unclear who stands behind them. Only nine of the NTC’s 31 members have been identified.

Unfortunately, available data suggest that the rebels championed as freedom fighters by the neoconservatives, the opportunists, the Europeans and the Western media alike are not exactly liberal democrats. Indeed, the data indicate that Gaddafi’s opponents are more aligned with al-Qaida than with the US.

Also, from David Horowitz, "The War Against Israel Has Begun."

Robert Farley Banned Meade? Meade!! Bwahahahaha!!!

OMG this is too rich!

Robert "Moral Abomination" Farley of Lawyers, Gays and Marriage banned Meade, Ann Althouse's husband. Not only did he ban him, he deleted his comments! "Candy-assed" is putting it mildly! As Ann notes:

I don't link to them anymore, but I'll note that they are getting challenged about deleting all of Meade's old comments. They are trying to argue that all those comments were spam that needed to be removed. But the bloggers and commenters over there had interacted with Meade. You don't interact with spam. A step up from spam is "troll." But everyone knows not to feed the troll. Why did they go back and forth with Meade if he was a troll? Their interaction is the evidence that he was not a troll. Robert Farley simply became exasperated and embarrassed when Meade outwrote him, and he destroyed the material that made him look bad. He's like a scientist who destroys his data after his conclusions are questioned. The obvious presumption in the case of destruction of evidence is that it hurt your case. Of course, the evidence of their interaction with Meade is still there, and that evidence also, as I've just explained, is evidence against them. What colossal losers!

And here's Jason Van Steenwyk in the comments at LGM:

Bad form.

Petty, amateurish, juvenile and unprofessional. Particularly the vindictive deletion of Meade’s old posts.

What are you, an obnoxious 15 year old girl or something?

And the “pedigree” remark.

Geez.

Follow the links back and check out the pathetic rationalization from Moral Abomination Farley. This is really just wow!

Sarah Palin Meets With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Yid With Lid has the video from Governor Palin's visit to the Temple Mount yesterday.

And just in from Los Angeles Times, "Sarah Palin, in Jerusalem, Affirms Her Support for Israel":

Laying a foundation for a prospective presidential bid, Sarah Palin wrapped up an abbreviated tour of India and Israel on Monday, meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and declaring her fidelity to the Israeli people.

Earlier in her two-day sojourn to Israel, Palin toured the sacred Western Wall and its adjacent tunnels in Jerusalem's Old City, and appeared to contend that Israelis were too deferential to Arab concerns.

"Why are you apologizing all the time?" the former Alaska governor asked her guides at the wall, according to the Jerusalem Post, after being told that Jews were not allowed to pray openly on the Temple Mount and about the Arab riots that followed Netanyahu's opening of an exit from the tunnels in 1996.

Palin's drive-by trip to Asia and the Middle East were viewed as a means to bolster her foreign policy credentials at a time when the 2012 Republican landscape is beginning to take some shape. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the formation of an exploratory committee Monday.

RTWT.

Media Ignores Union Thuggery

Glenn Reynolds has an essay at the New York Post, "Uncivil Disobedience."

And a vlog from Ann Althouse, "What I think of the threat against me, blogging the protests, and how the recall elections can benefit the GOP." Ann compares union thugs to terrorists just after 40 seconds. Yeah, they're "just like al Qaeda," although how about Hamas or the Taliban --- they'll slit your effin' throat given the chance:

RELATED: At Wisconsin State Journal, "Analysis shows emails to Walker favored budget repair bill" (via Memeorandum and Nice Deb).

Obama's Liberal Internationalist Intervention

Ross Douthat is getting to be like his old self! This is an excellent essay, "A Very Liberal Intervention." The key to remember here is that "liberal" has some dual usage in this piece. Most folks think of "liberal" as referring to left-of-center politics domestically, but in the discourse of international relations, "liberal" is construed more in the classical economic sense of markets and institutions. Political liberals at home promote liberal institutionalism abroad, which means a reliance on international institutions and the submission of U.S. power to the constraining effect of multilateral organizations. The United Nations is the epitome of "liberalism" in both senses of the word. It supports a leftist agenda through an internationalist regime of supranational power. If that's at all confusing then folks will understand why "progressive" is a far superior label for leftists. The power of the individual or the autonomy of states is reduced either way. In any case, check out Douthat's argument:

In its month-long crab walk toward a military confrontation with Libya’s Muammar el-Qaddafi, the Obama administration has delivered a clinic in the liberal way of war.

Just a week ago, as the tide began to turn against the anti-Qaddafi rebellion, President Obama seemed determined to keep the United States out of Libya’s civil strife. But it turns out the president was willing to commit America to intervention all along. He just wanted to make sure we were doing it in the most multilateral, least cowboyish fashion imaginable.

That much his administration has achieved. In its opening phase, at least, our war in Libya looks like the beau ideal of a liberal internationalist intervention. It was blessed by the United Nations Security Council. It was endorsed by the Arab League. It was pushed by the diplomats at Hillary Clinton’s State Department, rather than the military men at Robert Gates’s Pentagon. Its humanitarian purpose is much clearer than its connection to American national security. And it was initiated not by the U.S. Marines or the Air Force, but by the fighter jets of the French Republic.

This is an intervention straight from Bill Clinton’s 1990s playbook, in other words, and a stark departure from the Bush administration’s more unilateralist methods. There are no “coalitions of the willing” here, no dismissive references to “Old Europe,” no “you are with us or you are with the terrorists.” Instead, the Obama White House has shown exquisite deference to the very international institutions and foreign governments that the Bush administration either steamrolled or ignored.

Keep reading at the link above. Douthat lays out a nice analysis of the pros and cons, although he misses one key objection to the administration's policy: dithering. The month-long delay of action is not the result of the need to build consensus with allies. It's the result of Obama's indecisiveness and indifference. And readers should not read this as a blanket endorsement of the intervention. Like Egypt, it's not clear what what kind of government is likely to come to power. Extremists groups are on the rise globally, and it's radical Islamism at the state level that's going to be our biggest challenge over time (not just transnational terrorist groups). Had Obama acted sooner the U.S. would have had more opportunity to promote democrats over Islamists. By now though, Islamist extremists have endorsed the rebel action and made plans for regime change. Here then is where the White House is failing American security, and it's a good bet that Hillary Clinton announced her eventual departure for this very reason.

In any case, I don't normally credit him, but Josh Marshall has a thoughtful piece on all of this, so what the heck? Some additional thoughts to consider, at the least: "Just a Bad, Bad Idea" (via Memeorandum).

Rule 5 Veena Malik

Well, here's a chance to get in some Rule 5 hotness along with some counter-jihad blogging.

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Hot Chick Rips Mufti A New One!":

And the ladies are putting in an excellent Rule 5 showing:

* American Perspectives, "Rihanna looks gorgeous in Vogue. Well done, Annie Leibovitz."

* Maggie's Notebook, "Rule 5 Saturday Night: Natalie Gulbis and March Madness Sweater Puppies."

* Teresa's Blog, "Rule 5 - Kisses with Grace Kelly."

And see the other friends of American Power: Amusing Bunni's Musings, Astute Bloggers, Bob Belvedere, CSPT, Dan Collins, Eye of Polyphemus, Gator Doug, Irish Cicero, Left Coast Rebel, Mind-Numbed Robot, Legal Insurrection, Lonely Conservative, PA Pundits International, Pirate's Cove, Saberpoint, Snooper, WyBlog, The Western Experience, Yankee Phil, and Zion's Trumpet.

Plus, top it off with Theo's Bedtime Totty.

And also a big thanks to Proof Positive, who once again has been doing some great roundups.

BONUS: PA Pundits International has some great breaking news and analysis.

As always, drop your link in the comments to be added to the roundups.

Ralph Nader, Formerly America's Premier Consumer Advocate, Now Just a Run-of-the-Mill Obama-Hating Antiwar Communist

I'd say "Bush-hating antiwar communist," but G.W. long ago split the scene. This is Obambi's war, and he's starting to rouse the deeper layers of the neo-communist contingents. And if it were just Daniel Ellsberg that'd be one thing. He's been known as a fellow-traveler for some time now. But Nader was the Green Party's presidential candidate in 2000, winning something like 3 million votes nationwide. He's a reformer who's purportedly done much to improve life for Americans. Say it ain't so Ralph! You're making Noam Chomsky proud with that rant about war crimes, sheesh! Just don't go nuclear on Israel, will ya? Consistency might at least help your legacy. But if you go aggro Jew-hater on Jerusalem that's it. You'll be remembered by anti-Semitism instead of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Or wait, been there already, Ralph? "Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism." Okay, fine. I can see why you're so well liked over at communist Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!

Anyway, see the full report at The Hill (via Memeorandum):

Obama Plays Soccer While Allies Launch Second Day of Airstrikes on Libya

Thinking ahead, the GOP's 2012 presidential hopefuls should have a mother load of material to hammer Obambi's foreign policy. Seriously. On Brazil, I can't see how this is good. Maybe the White House might hire some non-homosexuals for social protocol. Firm up the messaging, you know. This just doesn't seem to be setting the right tone. At Marooned in Marin, "While Attacks Are Made Against Libya, Obama Plays Soccer With Kids in Rio," And Weasel Zippers, "President Obama Plays Soccer in Rio":

And here's the word, on Twitter:

Where would John F. Kennedy be right now? In his office at the White House surrounded by his advisers.

RELATED: At Los Angeles Times, "Bombing campaign in Libya targets Kadafi's air, ground forces," and also Memeorandum.

Progressive Democrats Challenge Constitutionality of Military Action Against Libya

Well, it's not like we didn't see this coming. The only problem, again, is that these are not "liberal" Democrats. They're communists, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus --- Michael Capuano, Barbara Lee, Jerald Nadler, Maxine Waters --- and pathetic neo-communist hangers-on, like Rep. Dennis Kucinich. See Politico, in any case, "Liberal Democrats in uproar over Libya action" (via Memeorandum). These are the reflexively antiwar asshats I mentioned previously, but William Jacobson's got the lowdown on the folks from Daily Kos, who seemed quite the interventionists at the news of the attacks: "Strange Days - Daily Kos Takes On A Martial Look."

Sadly No! Tintin Attacks Community Colleges as 'Shitty'

Progressive asshat Tintin at Sadly No! took to Twitter to slam community colleges as "shitty," and also to slam me personally as lacking, or something. The Twitter exhange is here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The key screencaps pretty much tell it all, in any case. Community colleges are obviously not "shitty," hence my use of quotation marks. Tintin's a liar, and not too bright, Sadly No!

These are totally unoriginal attacks, by the way. Demon TBogg has long slurred junior colleges, and folks might remember the progressive demonosphere's "I can't believe he's really a professor" attacks on this blog: "You're a Professor, Really?"

Sigh. Progressives, they don't really care about the poor or disadvantaged. They care only about leveraging their totalitarian agenda --- and enabling terrorist savages.

Britian's PC Enforcers Attack Melanie Phillips Over Column Denouncing Palestinian Terrorists as 'Savages'

The story's at London's Guardian, "PCC investigates Melanie Phillips' Spectator blog" (via Blazing Cat Fur and Memeorandum). As readers here of course know, Phillips is one of the most penetrating writers on the moral depravity not just of Islamist jihadists, but of their progressive enablers in the press, left-wing parties and online fever-swamps. Robert Spencer offers an excellent response, "UK columnist investigated for referring to jihad murderers of Jewish family as 'savages'." And check the commentary at Spectator's "Coffee House" blog, "The threat to a British liberty":

We have no First Amendment protection in this country, and we're suffering from it. Freedom of expression under attack in Britain, from our notorious libel laws to this new phenomenon of police forces being asked to investigate what people put on their blogs.

Well, even the First Amendment is no guarantee against the kinds of assault on liberty progressives have mounted on truth-tellers worldwide. (Hat Tip: Israel Matzav.)

VIDEO: Night Sky Explosions Over Tripoli, Libya

Awesome clip:

And see the news updates at New York Times, "Allies Open Air Assault on Qaddafi’s Forces in Libya," and Telegraph UK, "Libya: British forces launch missile attacks on Gaddafi." Also at Memeorandum.

'Taxi Driver' - 35th Anniversary, Digitally Restored

I took my oldest son and he had a blast. He asked me on the way out, "Why did he do that? Was he kinda crazy?" I said, "Yeah, crazy but in a good way."

From the AMC homepage:

It was playing at The District in Tustin, minutes from my home. Also showing Tuesday night. The movie's riveting climax is here.

The Absentee Administration: Obama Falls Silent Amid World Crises

I've forgotten now, but I saw some progressive network bloviator the other day defending President Obama's lame Brazil trip while the rest of the world was literally melting down. The jokes write themselves at this point: Hillary Clinton campaigned against Barack Obama's unpreparedness for the crucial "3:00 AM" moment, and then she ends up announcing she won't hang around for a second term at precisely the crucial foreign policy crisis where Americans would have preferred she was answering the red phone. Kimberley Strassel was on this the other day, "President 'Present'." And here's this classic summary from Donald Sensing:

There is nothing at all in Obama's pre-presidential resume that shows he ever made highly difficult decisions that depended, at the end, on his own personal reservoir of wisdom and experience. So he does not tackle the inbox because its contents are above his competence. (One is reminded of Obama telling Rick Warren that when an unborn child gets human rights is "above my pay grade.") He tends instead to lesser matters that match his lower level of competence, such as filling out basketball brackets and flying down to Rio on a five-day trip of little importance, but which conveniently corresponds to his daughters' spring break. So tourism time will be a heavy feature of the agenda. But will anything presidential be accomplished?

See also, Rex Murphy, "When crisis strikes the world, Obama falls silent" (at Memeorandum).

Long Beach City College Announces Cuts, Layoffs

Below is Ann-Marie Gabel, Vice President for Administrative Services, speaking on the fiscal situation last month. Turns out the college administration is making haste on those reductions she's talking about. Budget chopping begins right now. At Long Beach Press-Telegram, "LBCC to Cut 222 Courses Next Fall":

LONG BEACH - About 1,000 fewer students will be able to attend Long Beach City College this fall due to a string of budget cuts that include the elimination of 222 course sections, college officials announced Friday.

The cuts for new academic year also include layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions and the suspension of the golf and tennis programs.

Like schools across the state, LBCC is experiencing one of its toughest financial years in its history. Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget calls for a minimum of $290 million in reductions to community colleges and $1 billion in cuts to the University of California and California State University systems.

LBCC, which serves more than 30,000 students between its two campuses, is facing a $7 million shortfall in its roughly $110 million general fund.

And that's the best-case scenario.

More at the link.

The college faculty union reached agreement with the administration in January.

War in Libya!

Well, what do you know? The most antiwar president since at Jimmy Carter has authorized his very own military engagement. Frankly, I wondered if he had it in him. It'll be interesting to watch how this frazzles the Democratic coalition. These freaks are reflexively antiwar. Some progressives will hammer the administration as capitulating to Cheneyesque warmongering, while neocon wannabe interventionists will slam Obambi for his useless dithering. Add on top of that the feminist angle --- that Hillary, Samantha, and Susan are hot for high-value targets --- and this makes one hella progressive battle royal!

The feminist angle is at Christian Science Monitor, "A 'gender gap' in Obama administration’s approach to war?", and Althouse, "A feminist milestone: Our male President has been pulled into war by 3 women" (via Memeorandum). And the big headline is a Fox News, "U.S. Launches Cruise Missiles Against Qaddafi's Air Defenses." And at Los Angeles Times, "U.S. warships launch airstrikes on Libya":

U.S. and British warships launch more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at defense facilities on the Libyan coast, a naval commander at the Pentagon says. The strikes are intended to help an international coalition establish a no-fly zone in Libya ....

The U.S. is on the "leading edge" of the coalition military action that is designed to prevent further attacks against Libyan citizens, especially around the city of Benghazi, the main stronghold of rebels seeking to overthrow Kadafi's regime. The U.S. strikes are intended to defeat the Libyan government's ability to resist the implementation of a no-fly zone, said a senior U.S. military official.

The U.S. moved ahead Saturday with a three-pronged approach in what has been code named Operation Odyssey Dawn: launch targeted cruise missiles against Libyan air defenses, jam communications of Kadafi's forces and establish the central command and control for the operations.

Also previously at Wall Street Journal, "Allies Rally Against Gadhafi: Obama Demands That Libya Halt Attacks on Civilians as World Leaders Plot Military Strategy."

Middle East Turmoil Messes Up Progressive Foreign Policy

There's a lot out there on this, so it's a surplus of fodder for hammering progressive moral bankruptcy in foreign policy. Note first how Glenn Reynolds couldn't resist pointing out the laughable hypocrisy of Andrew Sullivan (yeah, I know, the world's moved on from Sully, but it's irresistible):

ANDREW SULLIVAN, who once complained that Bush wasn’t interested enough in invading Iraq, is now unhappy with Obama on Libya. Yeah, I know, who cares — but it’s worth recording for posterity.

That second link goes to Sully's post, "The Imperial President." And you gotta love this:

To launch a war on these grounds is to set a precedent that would require a kind of global power and reach that not even the most righteous neocons have pushed for.

Really? I guess Sully's not hip to Great Satan's Girlfriend!

More on that later.

I'm especially tripping on Hillary Rodham Clinton, who's basically said "f**k this s**t" on Obama's FUBAR foreign policy. See New York Times, "Shift By Clinton Helped Obama Take a Harder Line" (via Memeorandum). And just breaking, "France Sends Military Flights Over Libya."

Caroline Glick: 'Israel's indivisible legitimacy'

Another great essay, at Jerusalem Post.

The Left's Enduring Shame

I want to take another moment and really rub dolt-douche Thers' face in it. Like Scott Eric Kaufman, no doubt this guy would do Itamar-style violence to conservatives if he could. People like this --- Thers, SEK, and more --- are consumed by ideological bigotry. It's a vile blackness that warps both reason and compassion. And of course it's impossible to argue with them, for they promptly retreat into their bestial comment-thread cocoons, where the likes of REPSAC = CASPER spew the devil's frenzied caterwauls of hate. So here we have --- today and over the last few weeks --- the "empirical reality" of a systematic, widely reported progressive descent into newfound depths of pathological hatred. In response, again and again, Thers has issued bald-faced lies declaiming the seething demonology. Just today he's got two posts smearing Ann Althouse, who had the temerity to denounce the militant manifesto that announced: "WE WILL FUCK YOU UP!" Baseballs on the lawn seemed to be the out for Thers, making it easy to dismiss Shankman's threat to "beat the ever loving shit out of" Meade if he dared to "to get all tough with us." More innocent baseballs, no doubt.

In any case, check Patterico, "The Greatest Blog Post Ever Written?" And the topic there, which I found earlier, is Lee Stranahan's essay at Huffington Post, "Shame: Ignoring Death Threats to Wisconsin Politicians Is Media Bias." It's best to just read it in full. And after that, head over to the dude's Twitter feed. The guy's way left wing, but different: He's honest and willing to denounce the violent advocacy that's become the signature identity of today's progressives.

VIDEO: Alyssa Miller Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011

At Blazing Cat Fur, "Because it's Friday...and it's Pin-Up Wars Round 2."

Let see if the lovely Alyssa Miller rates a link at the roundup:

More blogging later ...

Intimidation in Wisconsin

There's a lot developing in Wisconsin. A Dane County judge has halted the state's new collective bargaining statute. That'll be a big story throughout the day, so we'll see.

What's even more interesting is the left's escalation of progressive thuggery. William Jacobson comments: "And On the 21st Day the Intimidation Did Not Rest In Wisconsin." And following the link there takes us to John Nolte at Big Government, "20 Days of Left-Wing Thuggery in Wisconsin: When Will Obama, Democrats, and MSM Call for Civility?":

Most of all though is the mind-blowing threat/manifesto against Ann Althouse: "Union thuggery against Althouse and Meade."

We are NOT radically nonviolent. We comply with the laws of the Citybecause it is our City and we love it, but OH MY GOD do we hope Meade tries to get alltough with us. WE LOVE IT. LOVE IT. Just last night we saw a Jimmy John's worker who we know beat the ever loving shit out of some idiot drunk asshole who wouldn't be civil and polite in his workplace. We have the numbers and we don't back down from anyone. We all know each other. We know each other from Service Industry Night at the Orpheum, because we're regulars at the same coffee shops, restaurants and bars,we know each other from the co-ops, we know each other because we've had a million jobs each (and we all worked at CapTel at least once), because we live in every shitty townie house in ever-changing groups of 2 – 7 people, because we are young and horny and screw each other incessantly, because we're all on facebook, and because we aren't anti-social, life-denying, world-sterilizing pieces of human garbage like the two of you. WE WILL FUCK YOU UP.

That's not intimidating at all, right? RTWT at "Operation: Countertroll."

And amazingly, Dan Riehl has interviewed this progressive asshat, "Exclusive Interview With Jim Shankman, the Man Behind the Ann Althouse Threat." It's pretty interesting. Shankman self-identifies as a "radical progressive," but then denies he's a "socialist" or "Marxist." Apparently Shankman was previously a member of International Workers of the World (IWW/AI), an anarchist syndicate, which makes sense since the dude's anti-Althouse manifesto is all about the F**KING OCCUPATION!

BONUS: It turns out, incredibly, that dolt-douche Thers has a bigger crush on Althouse than REPSAC = CASPER has on me. Thers, who thinks he's smarter than the entire universe, denies that Shankman's threatening Alhouse and Meade, focusing on the part about throwing "f**king baseballs" on Althouse's lawn, with the address posted at the manifest as well, naturally. See the entries from dolt-douche Thers here and here. Then compare to Kenneth Anderson at Volokh, who suggests this might be a bit more serious than tossing baseballs.

Not So Fast on Japan's Chernobyl

From The Blog Prof, "Vlog: Fukushima is No Chernobyl, and Here's Why":

RELATED: At New York Times, "Data Show Radiation’s Spread; Frantic Repairs Go On at Plant." And more at Memeorandum.

'To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous'

An incredible essay (in that it had to be written at all), and powerfully uplifting. At New York Times, "Grant Hill’s Response to Jalen Rose."

United Nations Approves Military Action Against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi

At Los Angeles Times, "U.N. authorizes military action against Kadafi":

U.S. and allied forces began preparing for military operations against Libya despite doubts the outgunned rebels can be saved.

At New York Times, "U.N. Approves Airstrikes to Halt Attacks by Qaddafi Forces." Also, from Roger Cohen, "Be Ruthless or Stay Out":

What’s clear to me is that there is no halfway house. Spurn conscience-salving gestures. The case against going in prevails unless the West, backed and joined by the Arab League, decides it will, ruthlessly, stop, defeat, remove and, if necessary, kill Qaddafi in short order. I’m skeptical that determination can be forged. Only if it can be does intervention make sense.

But who takes power after Gaddafi's gone? That's one "con" that Cohen doesn't address?

Body-Slammed Bully Should Apologize

I saw the video previously. But here's this right now Fox News, "Mother of Bully Body-Slammed in Video Demands Apology From Her Son's Victim." That may be erroneous, however. See Australia's Daily Telegraph, "Clarification - an apology to Tina Gale":

IN an article published in The Daily Telegraph yesterday headlined "Bully's angry mum wants victim to apologise", it was written that bully Ritchard Gale's mother Tina wanted her son's victim to apologise for slamming her son to the ground.

But she had, in fact, said she wanted her son to apologise to his victim.

The Daily Telegraph apologises for the error.

By way of analogy, Casey Heynes is the American taxpayer slamming the progressive union thugs to the cold cement. These Big Labor bullies have been practically getting away with murder. The GOP's righteous smackdown will continue beyond Madison.

Keffiyeh-Clad Communists Call for Revolution in Chicago

Because, you know, it's all just a bunch of "imaginary communists" --- just ask Tintin, the blogging asshat at Sadly No!

"Because we do in fact hate commies, at least real commies, not the imaginary commies that community college Assistant Associate Professor Douglas sees lurking behind every potted plant."

More potted plants in Chicago.

At Rebel Pundit, "Anti-American, Pro-Socialist & Communist Immigrant Youth: “Open The F**KING BORDERS!!”":

Also, "COMING SOON – ChicagoSocialists.org & Immigrant Youth Justice League Join Forces In Chicago Preview," and "Communist Revolutionary Comes out of the Shadows to Protest in Chicago."

The keffiyeh is the universal symbol of anti-colonialism and murderous pro-Palestinian radicalism. It's the symbol of anti-Semitism and diabolical evil. Stupidity is no justification for such cheap and easy death-to-Jews advocacy. These people are a disgrace --- the dregs of humanity, along with their pro-terror enablers on the progressive left. Yeah, that's you pro-terror Tintin Sadly-Nihilist.

Jews in Settlement Community Save the Life of Palestinian Woman and Her Newly Born Infant Wednesday

This kinda goes against the bloodthirsty libel of the global anti-Semitic campaign against Israel. At Elder of Zion, "Evil, extremist settlers save Arab baby's life. Leftists don't notice." And following the link there takes us to Ynet, "IDF, settlers save Arab baby."

After reading those pieces, check over at Jerusalem Post, where this letter was published yesterday, "So it’s our fault?" An excerpt:

Sir, – I sit here in shock as Gershon Baskin looks to blame Israel for the lack of progress in the so-called peace negotiations (“The clock is ticking,” Encountering Peace, March 15). He babbles on and on about a Palestinian narrative of how Israel stole all the land, made the Palestinians refugees and now denies them their dignity...

We are all grateful – and I’m sure the Fogel family is very comforted – that Baskin condemns, along with all Palestinians, the slaughter at Itamar. But he does note that Itamar is home to some of the most fanatical settlers. I am sure that a three-month-old infant fits into this group.

Perhaps Baskin should look for another place to live. Why be part of such an awful nation that, unlike the loving and caring Palestinian people, doesn’t want to be a partner for peace?

JONATHAN SURASKY
Ra’anana

More letters at the link.

The Neocon Cudgel

I wanted to comment earlier on this Politico piece attacking the emerging GOP field as a bunch of "neo-cons" on foreign policy. I thought it simplistic, for one thing, and as usual, the essay wrongly generalizes neoconservatism as exclusively an expansionist foreign policy ideology. It's not. But because questions of war and peace (and support for Israel) have become among the most contentious political issues of recent years, the neocon label has become the all-purpose slur to demonize and marginalize political opponents. That said, it's interesting to see Matt Lewis jumping in here to disaggregate the simplicities. See, "Abusing and Misusing The ‘Neo-Con’ Label":

Perhaps seeking to contrast himself with the rest of the 2012 Republican crowd, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour recently said the U.S. should consider reducing forces in Afghanistan.

Noting that Barbour is the lone voice among likely GOP candidates making this argument, Politico’s Ben Smith and Byron Tau argue that neo-cons are “winning the fight for the direction of the [Republican] party.” (As far as I know, Barbour did not use the term neo-con).

The term “neo-con” originally was used to describe former Democrats (often Jewish intellectuals — but not always) who were, as Irving Kristol put it, “mugged by reality”.

Over time, the meaning has evolved — so much so that apparently the modern definition includes anyone who isn’t an isolationist. Today, neo-con is essentially shorthand for “quixotic warmonger.” (That Pawlenty, Romney, Gingrich — and the rest of the GOP field — are all essentially being labeled neo-cons speaks to the bastardization of the term.)

Putting aside whether or not Governor Barbour’s position on Afghanistan is correct or not, I can’t help thinking the label is now just a cudgel, casually employed by people who don’t know the original definition of the word — or are merely looking for a cheap way to discredit their adversaries. (And for journalists, the term is simply a good shorthand — which makes its overuse all the more common).

Unfortunately, anyone who disagrees with a given instance of military intervention can dismiss their intellectual adversaries by simply labeling them with the term. This, of course, dispatches with the messy work of actually debating the merits of intervention on an ad hoc basis (I would argue that sometimes intervention is good and sometimes it is bad).

I'd just simply remind folks of the deeply moral dimension of neoconservative thought, which is the key reason it's despised by the America-hating left. And in case you missed it, Irving Kristol's posthumous collection of essay is out, The Neoconservative Persuasion: Selected Essays, 1942-2009.

RELATED: At GSGF, "Regional Strategery."

Maybe It's Worth Stopping for a Moment to Reflect on the Fogel Family Murders

Listen to Glenn Beck's commentary, one of the only mainstream commentators who has taken a moment or two to reflect on the unspeakable evil visited upon the Fogel family, all of Israel, and the moral universe. At the second half of the clip Beck makes a reference to Bernadine Dohrn, whose hero was Charles Manson. The thought of Dohrn's murder-worship is soul-crushing, but so is progressivism. See Walter Hudson as well, "Horrific Stabbing of Infant Shows Flaw in Leftist Worldview."

I'll have more on all of this. Folks have been appreciative of these essays.

The Signature Moral Issue of Our Time

From Melanie Phillips, "A Terrible Resonance" (via Blazing Cat Fur):

Religious fascism as thus displayed by Arabs from Ramallah to Gaza City is bad enough. But it is the evil that now consumes Britain and the west which so completely chills the heart and prompts a terrible despair. For such moral blindness and worse means that, facing the heirs of the Nazis, the Jews once again find themselves abandoned, their victimisation once again dismissed and themselves once again blamed for their own persecution. Listen to the BBC, read the British newspapers or the New York Times, read the vicious readers’ comments on so many websites (including this one) and you will see that the blind eye to deranged racism and totalitarian mass murder that paved the way for so much slaughter under Nazism and Stalinism is rampant once again, showing us once more that civilisation is merely a thin veneer for barbarism.

In the face of this crisis of western civilisation and its chilling implications for the Jewish people, Israel itself is worse than useless. This is because -- contrary to the brutish power ascribed to it by its enemies -- Israel is pathologically timid. And so, even when faced with the terrifying consequences for its own security from the moral inversion of the west, it has chosen to stay silent.

It does not say what it should be shouting from the rooftops, that it is being forced by Britain, America and Europe to cut its own throat and that it refuses to do so; that it stands for truth, justice and international law while Britain, America and the EU stand for their negation; that it is not Israel but these western powers that are the cause of the Middle East impasse, because from the get-go the more the Arabs massacred the Jews the more Britain and the west rewarded them and punished their Jewish victims, a pattern which continues to this day.

The question now has to be asked of every person in Britain and the west who promotes the boycott of Israel, or wears the keffiyeh in solidarity with the ‘Palestinians’, or so obsessively demonises the ‘settlers’ or ‘apartheid’ Israel, or makes vicious comments at the dinner tables of the elite about the bloody Jews and shitty Israel, why these ‘enlightened’ folk turn a blind eye to the slaughter of infants as they sleep, and assist Jew-hating fanatics in their racist aim of destroying Israel and denying to the Jews alone the right to live in their own historic country – and all because Israel is reluctant to reward these fanatics by giving them the territory from where they can finally achieve their murderous aims. These ‘progressives’ need to be outed for what they are – the fellow-travellers of psychotic religious fascism.

Israel is the signature moral issue of our time. Which side people choose to be on in the Arab and Muslim war against Israel tells us whether they are on the side of truth, justice and basic humanity – or the side of evil. The sickening response to the slaughter of the Fogel family shows us all too horrifyingly which side the west is on.

Legacy of Hiroshima Heightens Fears in Japan

As we discussed the earthquake and tsunami on Monday in class, I noted that Japan was the world's only country that had previously faced a nuclear holocaust. The potential (and now real) meltdown of nuclear reactors there has an enormous historical significance for the Japanese, beyond the comprehension or experience of any other nation. At WSJ, "Hiroshima's Legacy Heightens Fears":

TOKYO—Mikiso Iwasa was 16 years old when the atomic bomb struck Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. He was in the backyard of his house, a little less than a mile away from ground zero. He was smashed onto the ground by the force of the bomb.

Mr. Iwasa escaped, but the deadly effects of radiation caught up with him later: He suffered from skin cancer twice as well as prostate cancer. He lost his hair. His nose and gums bled. He developed rashes all over his body.

For the only country ever to have experienced the atomic bomb and the horrific effects of concentrated radiation exposure, the nuclear crisis escalating in Japan has had a crippling effect on the nation's collective psyche.

As the World Looks Away...

A thoughtful and acutely urgent essay, from Zilla of the Resistance, "Don't Let Them Sweep this Horror Under the Rug":

Please, do not let what happened to these people be forgotten, do not allow the media to get away with whitewashing the islamist slaughter of innocents. The MSM won't honestly report on what is happening, or why, so it falls to the rest of us. Get on your blogs, your Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, write/email/call fax news agencies and do not let this horror be ignored.

Remember what happened the last time the world looked the other way as Jews were massacred? Think it can't happen again? Well people back then thought that it could never happen in the first place.

Lots more at the link.

Silicone Snake Death Photoshoot: Israeli Jewish Model Orit Fox

At London's Daily Mail, fulsome coverage of the snake attack on model Orit Fox in Israel, "Snake dies from silicone poisoning after biting model's breast during photoshoot." The story's getting more coverage than the Fogel family killings, and that's not just at Daily Mail. Turns out the press likes large Jewish breasts. Jewish settlers. Not so much. See Closet Conservative: "New Seekrit Zionist Weapon of Massive Boobie Destruction."

HAT TIP: Blazing Cat Fur: "Decapitated Jewish babies? Nowhere."

Danny Ayalon, Israel Deputy Foreign Minister, Statement on Itamar Massacre

From an interview with Seth Mandel, at Big Peace:

Ayalon said the brutal stabbing of a Jewish family in Itamar in their sleep cannot be looked at in a vacuum, but is more evidence that without true recognition, the delegitimization of Israel and the ubiquitous incitement in Palestinian media reinforces an environment of violence that will only continue if this atmosphere of hatred isn’t reformed:

“So of course when we talk about the fact that we would like the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or the homeland of the Jews, it’s something which is more than symbolic. It’s not just something that is verbally pronounced. It’s something which is very deep. Because if we sign a peace treaty between the Israeli people and the Palestinians, it also must reflect the end of the conflict, and the end of the claims. And so long as they claim the entire land, and we see it through a systematic incitement through a systematic culture which talks about the Israelis, the Jews as colonialists that do not deserve a state, that came here from… Europe, deny 3,500 years of Jewish history and presence here. And of course glorification of terrorists. But so long as they do not accept in the fullest meaning that we are here by our own right–they are not doing any favor to us by recognizing this–then we have a problem.”

More at the link above.