Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



More at Randy's Roundtable, "Friday Nite Funnies," and Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES."

Also at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Remembering 911," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Roundup..."

CARTOON CREDIT: William Warren.

Bwahaha! Fight Against Islamic State Threatens Obama's Defense Budget 'Peace Dividend'

Well, I guess "the tide of war" isn't receding so much after all, lol.

At LAT, "Cuts to defense budget threatened by battle against Islamic State":

Members of Congress and the White House anticipated a peace dividend by winding down America's foreign wars, closing bases and shedding tens of thousands of troops.

But President Obama's new, open-ended strategy to confront Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria is likely to eat into some of the nearly $500 billion in Pentagon spending cuts that were planned over the next decade.

The first five weeks of U.S. airstrikes in northern Iraq has cost $262.5 million, according to the Pentagon, and Obama personally lobbied key members of Congress in recent days to appropriate $500 million to help train and arm Syrian rebels at camps in Saudi Arabia.

While that's still a pittance compared with the total $496-billion Pentagon budget, or the $1.2 trillion spent for the ground wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the costs of intervention are certain to increase under the plan to step up airstrikes, intensify surveillance and conduct counter-terrorism operations against the Sunni extremist force and its leaders.

There are already calls in Congress to eliminate the $45 billion in sequestration spending cuts that are set to hit next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, and to increase the supplemental appropriations used to fund the actual war-fighting, as opposed to other parts of the Pentagon budget.

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who chairs a House subcommittee on counter-terrorism and intelligence, said lawmakers should reconsider cuts to the defense budget to ensure the latest military venture is funded for the long haul.

"This is not just bombing a mountainside or securing a dam," he said. "This is a war that could go on for another 10, 15 years. And to do that we're going to have to recalibrate our thinking toward defense, and realize that we have to be on a wartime footing when it comes to spending."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said budget discussions were already underway to address the new national security priorities.

"Every time we talk about any initiative for the use of force or the initiation of hostilities, it's a question of resources," she said. "There is a concern and it's been brought up in our meetings. But we have a first responsibility to protect and defend. That is the oath we take."

The military action has meant a policy reversal for Obama, who vowed in May 2013 to take America off its "permanent war footing" and to curtail the use of drones. As of Saturday, the U.S. had launched 160 airstrikes in northern Iraq in five weeks, compared with 147 drone strikes over the last three years in northwest Pakistan, where Al Qaeda is still based.

For lawmakers, voting to increase military spending may be easier than approving other spending hikes, given the public outcry since videos surfaced last month showing Islamic State fighters beheading two American journalists. A third video released Saturday appeared to show the beheading of a British aid worker. Opinion polls show broad public support for U.S. airstrikes against the insurgents.

Yeah, well, I'm sure unicorns and rainbows would have been less expensive, but keep reading.

Here's That Joe Arpaio-Ku Klux Klan Photo from the Arizona SB-1070 Amnesty March in 2010

I posted this to Twitpic back in the day, but Twitter is forcing the company to shut down, so I might was well post it again to the blog.

Originally here, "Immigrants and Socialists March Against SB 1070 in Phoenix."

Heat Wave in Southern California

I'm watching the Angels and it's got to be 100 at Anaheim Stadium.

.@EvelynTaft OMGosh the #Angels are playing in this September heat!

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 14, 2014

And see LAT, "Southern California heat wave to last through Tuesday, forecasters say."

President Obama Would Release the Hostages and Pin Notes on Their Chests

Folks couldn't believe it, but indeed, Obama imagined he was an "adviser" to ISIS and that "he would not have killed the hostages but released them and pinned notes on their chests..."

At the New York Times, "Paths to War, Then and Now, Haunt Obama."

Pinning notes on chests??? In a thousand years I couldn't have made that up. He is desperate to back out of this.

— Sick for Home (@motownrefugee) September 14, 2014

And at Twitchy, "You seriously will not believe Obama’s plan were he an ‘adviser to ISIS’ (it’s beyond parody) [photo]," and "It started with Obama advising ISIS to ‘pin notes on [hostages] chests.’ It ended with this brutal mockery."

The American Conservative 'Clears the Way for Global Jihad...'

From Robert Spencer, at Jihad Watch, "“The American Conservative” embraces the Islamic supremacist agenda":

The American Conservative (TAC) is a paleocon publication that counts among its founders Pat Buchanan and Taki Theodoracopulos, both bitter critics of Israel who have been repeatedly accused of anti-Semitism, so it is not surprising that it would be venomously anti-Israel. But now its opposition to American interventionism (which I generally share, and particularly share in regard to the Iraq and Afghanistan disasters) has driven it straight over the cliff into active support for the Islamic supremacist agenda of demonizing foes of jihad terror and friends of Israel, thereby clearing away resistance to the global jihad.

Keep reading.

British Prime Minister David Cameron: 'Islam Is a Religion of Peace...'

Does anyone truly believe this anymore? That Islam is a "religion of peace"? That line, bandied about in the days following 9/11, even by President Bush, is proved wrong by the very practitioners of the faith, day in and day out.

British PM David Cameron again proclaimed that Islam is a "religion of peace." I'll post the vid when it's up. #ISIS #IslamicState

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) September 14, 2014

The claim that "Islam is a religion of peace" is the Big Lie of our current era, designed to appease Muslims and their leftist enablers. At least George W. Bush was still willing to take the fight to the jihadis. At this point David Cameron's not even up for that, to say nothing of Barack "Red Lines" Obama.

Americans better just take care of their own and watch their backs. Nothing's stopping fanatical jihad at this point. I'll update if old Baracky changes his tune.

Watch Cameron at the video. Literally the first thing he says at the clip is how "Islam is a religion of peace."

Here: "David Cameron 'ISIS Have Planned And Continue to Plan Attacks Across Europe and In OUR Country!'"

Americans Ambivalent Over New U.S. Military Intervention in the Middle East

It's always the matter of whether core interests are threatened. A lot of Americans say that things should just work out as they may in the Middle East, rather than expending American blood and treasure in trying to secure the region.

Personally, I'd like to see a major bombing campaign not unlike Dresden in 1945. If that doesn't do it, send in the Marines (and the Army).

But then again, folks are tired of war, and I understand that too.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Americans express ambivalence over a new Mideast military plunge":

Back at New York's 9/11 Memorial, amid a tourist medley of foreign languages and the water flowing where the World Trade Center towers once stood, Jay Reynolds said he was glad Obama was more directly going after Islamic State terrorists, even though he has a son in the Army Special Forces and believes the conflict will soon escalate from bombing to a ground invasion — never mind the president's promises.

"When you put your hands on us, we're coming," said Reynolds, 50, a hospice worker in Vicksburg, Miss. The site where he stood reminded Reynolds that the U.S. could have acted sooner to fight Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda but didn't.

As for his soldier son, Reynolds said, he'll keep him in his prayers.

'Perhaps those who soft-pedal evil simply cannot wrap their minds around the breadth and depth of brutality – in spite of visual evidence and confirmation...'

An amazing post, at Patterico's Pontifications, "Refusing To Believe There Is Such A Thing As Evil." (Via Pirate's Cove.)

Here's That Video of Bill Maher Mercilessly Denouncing Islam as a Violent Faith of Murder and Violence

I pretty much hate atheists all around, but once in awhile Bill Maher indeed rings the right bells of political incorrectness.

He's definitely on target here, to the great dismay of the hopelessly PC Charlie Rose.

At Creeping Sharia, "Bill Maher tells Charlie Rose: “Most Muslim people in world condone violence…absolutely” (video)."



Plus, see the great discussion at Hot Air, "Video: Bill Maher vs. Charlie Rose on jihadism and moderate Islam."

And following the links takes us to that infamous Pew poll in Islam cited by Maher, "The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society."

It's a murderous, barbaric religion. No need to beat around the bush about it. And that means you, lurking leftists and Democrat jihad enablers.

9/11 and the Fog of Denial

From Robert Spencer, at FrontPage Magazine:

Thirteen years after 9/11, there is one thing that virtually all our politicians, law enforcement officials, and mainstream media guardians of opinion know: that attack had nothing whatsoever to do with Islam, and neither does any other jihad terror attack, anywhere, no matter how often its perpetrators quote the Qur’an and invoke Muhammad. Islam, we’re told again and again, is a good, benign thing – indeed, a positive force for societies, and to be encouraged in the West. Jihad terror is an aberration, an outrage against the Religion of Peace’s peaceful teachings. These lessons from our betters are coming more and more often in light of the advent of the Islamic State.

The caliph Ibrahim, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has a PhD in Islamic Studies. But Barack Obama is unimpressed with his Islamic erudition: “ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf emphasized that Obama meant what he said: “ISIL does not operate in the name of any religion. The president has been very clear about that, and the more we can underscore that, the better.”

Secretary of State John Kerry said that for some members of the international coalition he hopes to build against the Islamic State, joining it “will mean demolishing the distortion of one of the world’s great peaceful religions.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron chimed in:

What we are witnessing is actually a battle between Islam on the one hand and extremists who want to abuse Islam on the other. These extremists, often funded by fanatics living far away from the battlefields, pervert the Islamic faith as a way of justifying their warped and barbaric ideology – and they do so not just in Iraq and Syria but right across the world, from Boko Haram and al-Shabaab to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Where is “Islam” actually battling these “extremists who want to abuse Islam”? Cameron didn’t say.

Showing as much grasp of the situation as Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond declared: “Isil’s so-called caliphate has no moral legitimacy; it is a regime of torture, arbitrary punishment and murder that goes against the most basic beliefs of Islam.” On the opposite side of the aisle, Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper complained that Islamic State “extremists are beheading people and parading their heads on spikes, subjugating women and girls, killing Muslims, Christians and anyone who gets in their way. This is no liberation movement — only a perverted, oppressive ideology that bears no relation to Islam.”

Unfortunately, for every Islamic State atrocity she enumerated, there is Qur’anic sanction...

Keep reading.

And as always, it's in the Koran.

Islamic State Fears Nothing

Following-up from earlier, "David Cawthorne Haines Beheaded."

And now from Pamela Geller, "The Islamic State Beheads Another Hostage, British Aid Worker David Haines #Savages":

They fear nothing. They know Obama cannot get a golf game together, let alone a coalition. The Brits and the Germans have said they won’t join him. The Arab States won’t join the Great Satan to attack the Islamic State. Tepid lip service is all he will get from the Arab States. And Obama is conflicted between his duty to this country (which he chose to lead) and his perception in the Muslim world as Muhammad.

Obama is a spineless, feckless coward; he hates the US almost as much as the Islamic State does.

Quran 47:4 “When you meet the infidels, smite their necks.”

More.

Bob Crewe Dies: Was Songwriter for Frankie Valli and Four Seasons

At LAT, "Bob Crewe dies at 83; songwriter behind Frankie Valli, Four Seasons":

Bob Crewe — the songwriter and producer behind dozens of hits, including standards like "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," which boosted Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons into pop posterity — died Thursday in Scarborough, Maine. He was 83.

Crewe, a four-decade resident of Los Angeles, had been in worsening health since injuring his brain in a fall four years ago. In 2011 he moved to Maine to be closer to his brother, Dan Crewe, who confirmed his death.

With no formal music training, Crewe parlayed natural talents into a long and successful career, helping to advance the fortunes not only of Valli and the Four Seasons but also Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, Bobby Darin, Lesley Gore and Oliver.

Most of Crewe's songwriting hits were in the 1960s, but the 1970s brought one of his last chart-toppers, the soul hit "Lady Marmalade" for Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash of the vocal group LaBelle. The song, written with Kenny Nolan, launched a sexually suggestive line — "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi (ce soir)? — into the vernacular of a generation.

"He was an enormous talent," Valli said Friday. "He was making records from the early '50s to the '60s and '70s. He had his own record company for a while. Sometimes I wonder if the industry really realized what a talent he was. He was surely one of the most creative people I ever worked with."

Crewe, portrayed in the movie and Tony-winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys," frequently collaborated with Bob Gaudio, the singer, songwriter and keyboardist who was one of the original members of the Four Seasons.

Although Crewe couldn't play an instrument or read music, "he sort of had a way of painting a picture of what he wanted," Gaudio told The Times. "He had a way of communicating with people — and they got it. He'd say, 'I want to hear some blue streaks here.' He's noted in the show as saying, 'I want to hear sky blue; you're giving me brown.'"

More.

David Cawthorne Haines Beheaded

British Prime Minister David Cameron has responded on Twitter:

The murder of David Haines is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to his family who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014

We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) September 13, 2014

And at Mirror UK, "David Haines 'beheading': Latest updates after ISIS video claiming to show execution of British hostage."

More at Telegraph UK, "Foreign Office working urgently to verify video showing British hostage David Haines 'beheading' by Isil terrorists." And BuzzFeed, "New ISIS Video Purports To Show Execution Of British Citizen."

Added: At Bare Naked Islam, "Islamic State (ISIS) claims to have beheaded British hostage, David Haines, and is threatening to behead another Briton, Alan Henning."

Obama's Betrayal of the Constitution

From leftist Professor Bruce Ackerman, at the New York Times (via Ms. EBL):

BERLIN — PRESIDENT OBAMA’s declaration of war against the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria marks a decisive break in the American constitutional tradition. Nothing attempted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, remotely compares in imperial hubris.

Mr. Bush gained explicit congressional consent for his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In contrast, the Obama administration has not even published a legal opinion attempting to justify the president’s assertion of unilateral war-making authority. This is because no serious opinion can be written.

This became clear when White House officials briefed reporters before Mr. Obama’s speech to the nation on Wednesday evening. They said a war against ISIS was justified by Congress’s authorization of force against Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that no new approval was needed.

But the 2001 authorization for the use of military force does not apply here. That resolution — scaled back from what Mr. Bush initially wanted — extended only to nations and organizations that “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the 9/11 attacks.

Mr. Obama is rightly proud of his success in killing Osama bin Laden in 2011 and dismantling the Qaeda network he built up. But it’s preposterous to suggest that a congressional vote 13 years ago can be used to legalize new bombings in Syria and additional (noncombat) forces in Iraq. In justifying earlier bombing campaigns in Yemen and Somalia, the administration’s lawyers claimed that the 2001 authorization covered terrorist groups that did not even exist back then. They said it sufficed to show that these groups were “affiliated” with Al Qaeda.

Even this was a big stretch, and it is not big enough to encompass the war on ISIS. Not only was ISIS created long after 2001, but Al Qaeda publicly disavowed it earlier this year. It is Al Qaeda’s competitor, not its affiliate.

Mr. Obama may rightly be frustrated by gridlock in Washington, but his assault on the rule of law is a devastating setback for our constitutional order. His refusal even to ask the Justice Department to provide a formal legal pretext for the war on ISIS is astonishing...

More.

And for the prototypical leftist response, see depraved authoritarian Steve M. at No More Mister, who blames it all on George W. Bush and the evil Republi-thugs, "MY SECRET SHAME: OBAMA'S SHREDDING THE CONSTITUTION, AND I DON'T REALLY CARE."

Nowhere does Steve M. actually rebut Professor Ackerman. Steve M. mocks Professor Ackerman and blames Republicans. Fact: George W. Bush went to Congress for war authorizations in 2001 (Afghanistan) and 2002 (Iraq). Now we have a president who simply refuses to seek congressional authorization for wars and improvises at each step along the way. I mean, Steve M. doesn't even offer the most reasonable rebuttal to Professor Ackerman, that Obama is acting under his power as commander-in-chief, with his own interpretation of presidential war powers; and that absent the large, wholesale, long-term deployment of ground troops, the president has ample authority to authorize strikes against terrorist on the basis of executive power alone.

But again, it's not about whether or not Obama has exceeded his authority. For Steve M. and other left-wing partisan hacks, it's all good as long as it's a black Muslim socialist who's pulling the strings up on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Republi-thugs are just standing in the way of the coming of leftist Heaven on Earth.

Nina Agdal for Leonisa Lingerie September 2014

At Egotastic!, "Nina Agdal poses in Leonisa Lingerie September 2014."

'Moderate', Obama-Backed Syrian Rebel Front (SRF) Signs Non-Aggression Pact with Islamic State — #ISIS

Right.

Remember the SRG is one of the key factions that compose the Free Syrian Army, the supposed anti-Assad rebels upon whom the Obama administration has staked its Syria policy.

Hmm, big mistake.

Basically, we're funding the Islamic State at this point.

At PuffHo, "ISIS Strikes Deal With Moderate Syrian Rebels: Reports."

And from Patrick Poole, at Pajamas Media, "Yet Another US-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Makes Peace With ISIS":

According to the media reports other groups joining the ceasefire with ISIS include Liwa Ahrar Turkman al-Golan, Liwa Hittin & Liwa al-Umma al-Wahida.

When seeking US heavy weapons, including TOW anti-tank missiles, SRF commander Jamal Maroof was full of bravado, declaring war against ISIS. In May, McClatchy reported that SRF and other “vetted moderate” rebel groups had received TOW missiles from the US and posted videos of their use.

But as soon as weapons were being delivered to Maroof’s SRF forces, he was giving interviews to Western media making clear that “Al-Qaeda is not our problem.”

A May 2014 report by Jenan Mousa of Al-Aan notes that Maroof runs SRF in a cave with his 3 wives and children...

During that interview where Maroof talks about receiving US military aid and his soldiers receive US training, there is one curious artifact in the background:

Yeah, talk about not understanding the optics!

More at the link.

Basically, forget about "aiding" the "moderate" Syrian rebels. There's no such thing. Perhaps at one point, years ago, there were. But not now. We need to start bombing the "Islamic State" like it's 1945. That is, if the U.S. is really serious about "destroying" ISIS. I think somebody of particular importance said that, somewhere. And, well, time's a wastin'.

Countries Around the World Trying to Suppress the Flow of Jihadists to #ISIS

Well, good luck with that.

At the New York Times, "Nations Trying to Stop Their Citizens From Going to Middle East to Fight for ISIS":

UNITED NATIONS — France wants more power to block its citizens from leaving the country, while Britain is weighing whether to stop more of its citizens from coming home. Tunisia is debating measures to make it a criminal offense to help jihadist fighters travel to Syria and Iraq, while Russia has outlawed enlisting in armed groups that are “contradictory to Russian policy.”

The rapid surge of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and its ability to draw fighters from across the globe, have set off alarm bells in capitals worldwide. Countries that rarely see eye to eye are now trying to blunt its recruitment drive, passing a raft of new rules that they hope will stop their citizens from joining extremist groups abroad.

The United States has seized on the issue, pushing for a legally binding United Nations Security Council resolution that would compel all countries in the world to take steps to “prevent and suppress” the flow of their citizens into the arms of groups considered to be terrorist organizations.

Recruits from 74 countries are among the estimated 12,000 foreign militants in Syria and Iraq, many of them fighting with ISIS, according to Peter Neumann, a professor at King’s College London, who has culled the figures largely from government sources. The largest blocs of these fighters come from nearby Muslim countries, like Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, but smaller contingents come from countries as far away and disparate as Belgium, China, Russia and the United States...

Continue reading.

Amanda Marcotte's '7 Female Misogynists' Is Actually 10, But Who's Counting?

She's a vile woman.

Funny though, she's not lesbian, which is an anomaly for Robert Stacy McCain and his series on radical feminism.

Marcotte ain't so great with numbers, that's for sure. The Politichicks --- Ann-Marie Murrell, Morgan Brittany and Dr. Gina Loudon --- count as one woman is Marcotte's rogue's gallery of femisogynists.

Happy Saturday! Here is a list of 7 female misogynists. http://t.co/jSJwEOgniK Glad to have my Twitter mentions turned off!
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) September 13, 2014

And yes, turn off those mentions! What better way to avoid the fact that you're reviled by the entire world?!!

Walter James Casper take note!

Added! From Darleen Click, "Vagina Warrior Amanda Marcotte has an Enemies List."

Cathy Young & I at top of SALON enemy list.We are both pro-choice, pro-LGBT,libertarian-leaning feminists.Our crime?We check feminist facts.

— Christina H. Sommers (@CHSommers) September 13, 2014

Saturday Roundup

Let's start things off with the Mad Jewess Woman, "Start War Before Elections. Brilliant Plan of the #Communist #Democrats," and "Speaking Out Against Tyranny Is Gods' Will."

And at Maggie's Farm, "Sunday Morning Links."

Also at Blackmailers Don't Shoot, "Quinnspiracy Rule 5 Linkaround, and Odie's, "Special Watch ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

From William Teach, at Right Wing News, "Nancy Pelosi: Civilization Is In Jeopardy If GOP Takes Back Senate."

And at Pirate's Cove, "If All You See……is a wonderful greenspace which would be perfect for solar panels (as long as it is far from your home), you might just be a Warmist."

Matt Vespa, at Town Hall, "Fighter Pilot Was Tasked With Taking Out United 93 By Crashing Into It," and John Hawkins, "Millennials, Hollywood Is Lying To You About Work And Success (Part 2)."

At the Conservative Hideout, "Racial Violence: Two Black Women Force White Tenants out at Gun Point, Tired of ‘White People Moving Into Area’."

Now at Camp of the Saints, "The Obamas: Tone Deaf, Blind, and Dangerous."

And at EAG News, "University paper publishes 9/11 editorial, claims USA needs to ‘get over’ terrorist attacks."

More at Pat Dollard's, "Leftist Nutcase Bill Maher Says He Might Vote For Rand Paul Due To Libertarian Nutcase’s Anti-American Foreign Policy."

From Peter Ingemi, "Why a Formal Declaration of War on ISIS should be voted on and passed," and Zero Hedge, "Obama’s ISIS War Is Not Only Illegal, It Makes George W. Bush Look Like A Constitutional Scholar."

At Drunken Stepfather, "STEPLINKS OF THE DAY," and the Chive, "There Are Sexy Chivers Among Us (97 Photos)."

And at Lonley Con, "Kirsten Gillibrand Won’t Disclose Who Harassed Her."

From Dana Pico, "Economics 101: Maybe going on strike for higher wages when your jobs are already being replaced by robots isn’t the wisest idea."

Check out Jack Dunphy, at PJ Media, "Oakland Firefighter Plays Victim Card Until Police Release Video."

And JWF, "Democrat Fossil James Clyburn Say Sexting is a ‘Great Tool’ for Organizing Voters."

Also at Egotastic!, "Yasmine Colt Pink Bikini Sextastic for Today’s 138 Water Shoot."

At Knuckledraggin', "The most popular girl at the office," and Good Stuff's, "GOODSTUFFs BLOGGING MAGAZINE (155th Issue)."