Obama’s teleprompter unavailable for comment…

Via HAP:

Williams: “There’s nobody out there except for Sarah Palin who could absolutely dominate the stage and she can’t stand on the intellectual stage with Obama”

A motorcade carrying President Barack Obama drives past on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe, Hawaii, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010

It’s raining, so we might as well go disrupt some church services…

(WaPo) — President Barack Obama and his family are making a rare Sunday trip to church.

The Obamas arrived at St. Michael’s Chapel mid-morning. The church is located on the Marine Corps base where Obama frequently golfs and goes to the gym during his Hawaiian vacations.

The Obamas were seated in the first row of the chapel as a band played “Joy to the World” and parishioners clapped. The celebrant said he was especially thankful this Sunday to have the Obamas in attendance.

Though Obama speaks frequently about his Christian faith, his family rarely attends church services in Washington. The White House says the president hasn’t joined a parish because his appearances would be disruptive to the rest of the congregation.

The only thing regrettable is KSM and the rest of them are still breathing air…

(Politico) — White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that it was unfortunate that some terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay need to be held indefinitely without trial.

“Some would be tried in federal courts, as we’ve seen done in the past. Some would be tried in military commissions, likely spending the rest of their lives in a maximum security prison that nobody, including terrorists, have ever escaped from. Some, regrettably, will have to be indefinitely detained,” Gibbs said on CNN’s “State of the Union” as he described Obama’s beleaguered plan for closing Guantanamo.

The press secretary quickly sought to clarify his comments by adding, “I say ‘regrettably’ not because it’s a bad thing for — necessarily for them in terms of the fact that they’re very dangerous people and we have to make sure that even if we can’t prosecute them, we’re not putting them back out on the battlefield.”

With Obama now almost a year overdue on his promise to close Guantanamo, Gibbs offered no prediction that the president’s plan would come to fruition anytime soon. “It’s certainly not going to close in the next month,” Gibbs said. “I think it’s going to be a while.”

Gibbs’s comments came following an exchange in which CNN’s Candy Crowley suggested that the president had the authority to close Guantanamo but had not. Gibbs replied by noting that legislation passed by Congress bars bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the U.S. “There are prohibitions, legislatively, on the transfer,” he noted.

(USA Today) — While some aides may be thinking about the 2012 re-election campaign,  President Obama himself is focused on the task at hand, a top aide says.

“His obligation is to think about all Americans every day,” White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said on NBC’s Meet The Press, and not be “distracted” by purely political news.

Jarrett later said, “he’s everybody’s president, regardless of party affiliation.”

Prodded by host David Gregory, Jarrett said Obama does not spend time thinking about possible 2012 Republican opponents like Sarah Palin.

If Obama focuses on things like jobs, national security, and other issues important to all Americans, Jarrett said, “then I think the politics will take care of itself.”

Odd. I don’t recall them blaming Bush for anything before. . . (/sarc)

(Fox News) — The White House is pushing back against a front-page New York Times story out Sunday that suggests end-of-life planning policies — or “death panels” as termed by critics — have been resurrected through Obama administration rule-making.

The new Medicare rule that takes effect on Jan. 1 will allow payment for doctors to provide counseling to help beneficiaries deal with end-of-life planning assistance. The “voluntary advance care planning” is included in a Medicare regulation issued Dec. 3 that covers annual checkups, known as wellness visits.

But the White House said Sunday the end-of-life planning provisions aren’t new to health care services provided by the government.

“The Times story is wrong. This benefit was signed into law under President Bush. The only thing new here is a regulation allowing the discussions — authorized in 2003 by the prescription drug benefit — to happen in the context of the new annual wellness visit created by the Affordable Care Act,” said White House spokesman Reid Cherlin.

Related: Obamacare Surprise: Medicare death Panels Kick in January 1st

(Doug Ross @Journal) — The moment you’ve been waiting for is here.

We’re pleased to announce the winners of the 2010 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards, the most prestigious new media awards anywhere. Or at least in the 993 area code.

These awards recognize a variety of categories of blogs and websites operating in the conservative hemisphere of the Internet, all of whom have worked tirelessly to protect America from Statism — some in very unique ways.

So, without further ado, may I have the envelopes, please?

(Sound of envelope being ripped open. . .) “Gasp. Ladies and gentleman, we have a tie!”

Best Conservative News Blog: Weasel Zippers and Gateway Pundit (TIE)

Here’s a special message from ZIP who is getting massively snowed on at his inlaws in NJ: “A humble thank you to Doug Ross and the readers of WZ.”

Check out the rest of the list here.

So says Big Sis…

(Politico) — The federal government’s “see something, say something” campaign to encourage citizen vigilance against the terrorism threat doesn’t amount to a “Big Brother”-style spying effort. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in an interview aired Sunday.

“It just sounds very Big Brother to me, turning in the next door neighbor…” CNN’s Candy Crowley said to Napolitano during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Crowley suggested that the type of activity that citizens are supposed to report is totally undefined, but Napolitano argued that — with a reminder — people can figure out for themselves what merits reporting. She also noted that the “see something” campaign started not with the federal government but in the New York subway system after 9/11.

Rest here>>>

Not Really.

(Reuters) — Turkey’s Foreign Minister has said Turkey wants to repair ties with Israel but insisted the Jewish state must first apologise and offer compensation for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound ship.

“Turkey has the will to make peace with Israel,” Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters on Saturday, reiterating Ankara’s conditions for the re-establishment of full diplomatic ties.

“Turkey has the will to make peace with everybody,” Davutoglu said, according to state-run Anatolian. “Why should Israel remain excluded? It is a country with which we had very good relations until 2008.”

Israeli soldiers stormed the Mavi Marmara on May 31, killing nine Turkish activists. The ship was part of a Turkish-led convoy bringing supplies to blockaded Gaza.

Israel’s reply to Turkey: Go pound sand.

(AFP via Yahoo) — Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed on Sunday that Israel would not apologise to Turkey for a commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship that killed nine Turkish activists.

Speaking in Jerusalem at a meeting of Israel’s ambassadors, Lieberman said Ankara’s demand for an apology before normalising relations between the former allies was “a cheek”.

“The ones who have to apologise are the government of Turkey for supporting terror,” he said.

Meanwhile:

(The Jerusalem Post) — Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists on Sunday welcomed back to Istanbul the ship that was the scene of bloodshed during an IDF raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May. Activists meanwhile, promised to send more ships in an effort to break the Gaza blockade.

Hundreds of balloons were released as the ship, Mavi Marmara, sailed into Istanbul’s Sarayburnu port, following repairs at a port on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.

The activists, mostly members of pro-Islamic groups, waved Palestinian and Turkish flags and chanted “down with Israel” and “Allah is great” as they greeted the vessel. Protesters also boarded boats to welcome the approaching ship, which was adorned with a poster of the nine activists from Turkey who were killed during the raid.

“We promise that we will go again and again to Gaza, until Gaza and Palestine are free,” Israeli-Swedish activist Dror Elimelech Feiler told the crowd.

I guess she forgot about this May 2010 DHS report: Terrorism Attacks Against US at All-Time High

(The Washington Times) — The United States is safer now than it was in 2009, though terrorists continue to make attempts on domestic targets, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Sunday.

“Everything is objectively better than it was two years ago, particularly in the aviation environment,” Ms. Napolitano said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” one year after a Nigerian man attempted to blow up a Detriot-bound plane on Christmas Day.

She also said that screening airline passengers with full-body scanners and pat-downs at U.S airports across the country will continue into the “foreseeable future,” despite criticism about the intrusiveness of the procedures.

Ms. Napolitano said U.S. law enforcement always is looking for ways to improve security through technology and training, but the new methods are “objectively safer for our traveling public.”

Even though the “end-of-life” care language was dropped from ObamaCare before it passed because of the outcry, Obama reinserted it through the regulation-writing process without telling anybody. This guy is as shady as it gets…

(NY Times)- When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.

Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.

Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill.

While the new law does not mention advance care planning, the Obama administration has been able to achieve its policy goal through the regulation-writing process, a strategy that could become more prevalent in the next two years as the president deals with a strengthened Republican opposition in Congress.

Rest here>>>

Whoopi Goldberg seen nodding in approval…

(Overland Literary Journal) — Let me begin with my position: I have no opinion on the allegations regarding Julian Assange. I do believe rape is unconditionally wrong. But what we are talking about in the Assange case are allegations, with the associated presumption of innocence. This is further complicated, however, as rape allegations are so rarely taken seriously by the state.

It has been disconcerting of late, since the allegations against Julian Assange surfaced, to read the internet, listen to the radio, watch Democracy Now!.

In one corner of the ring we have people — often men — taking the iniquitous approach of publishing intimate details of these sexual misconduct allegations and attempting to dismantle them one by one through their own, unflawed, privileged logic: champions for the new poster boy of the Left. Evidently, this is not only reserved for men; Naomi Wolf has taken a similar, equally presumptive stance, as well as implying that she knows the intimate life of Julian Assange.

The problem, as I see it, can be summarised like so:

1. Rape is a crime of capitalism. It’s about power and dominance, and capitalism takes people’s power away. It is systemic.
2. The state will do anything to hide its secrets — even using women as a political tool.
3. WikiLeaks has done outstanding work; this is separate to the individual behaviours of Julian Assange.
4. Just because you’re a woman, it doesn’t make you a feminist.
5. The state currently has no interest in protecting women’s rights.
6. We want a justice system that works for the people.
7. Women are being used, as usual, for political purposes.

Rest here>>>

HT: Jay T.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:9–14)

They should be stapling a copy to the forehead of every Democrat, I think I’m free on January 6th to help out…

(Washington Times) — The Constitution frequently gets lip service in Congress, but House Republicans next year will make sure it gets a lot more than that — the new rules the incoming majority party proposed this week call for a full reading of the country’s founding document on the floor of the House on Jan. 6.

The goal, backers said, is to underscore the limited-government rules the Founders imposed on Congress — and to try to bring some of those principles back into everyday legislating.

“It stems from the debate that we’ve had for the last two years about things like the exercise of authority in a whole host of different areas by the EPA, we’ve had this debate in relation to the health care bill, the cap-and-trade legislation,” said Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte, Virginia Republican, who proposed the reading. “This Congress has been very aggressive in expanding the power of the federal government, and there’s been a big backlash to that.”

Setting aside time at the beginning of the congressional session for the reading is just one of the changes to House rules that Republicans say are designed to open up the legislative process. They say the new rules also will try to bring some restraints to lawmaking after decades in which both Republican and Democratic leaders whittled away opportunities for real legislative give-and-take.

The biggest changes would make it easier to cut spending and harder to create entitlement programs, while imposing restrictions that could keep leaders from jamming massive bills onto the House floor before lawmakers have had a chance to digest them.

Wear it as a badge of honor…

(The Hill) — North Korea’s official news agency blasted the incoming chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee — while mistaking her for a chairman.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), a Cuban immigrant, has been a regular target of dictator Fidel Castro and his Latin American allies Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

But the Korean Central News Agency, the mouthpiece of Pyongyang in a country with no free media, said Wednesday that Ros-Lehtinen’s calls for North Korea to be relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism were “intolerable as it is malignant vituperation against the dignified DPRK and its system.”

“Ros, man representing the U.S. conservative hard-liners, is human scum as he earned ill-fame as an anti-communist fanatic,” the KCNA wrote. “He is a political illiterate ignorant of the background against which the nuclear issue cropped up on the Korean Peninsula and the processes to settle it.

“It is natural to hear such rubbish from him.”

North Korea said it was concerned that Ros-Lehtinen is taking the helm of Foreign Affairs as “it is quite clear that he would escalate the anti-DPRK campaign in Congress and political arena.”

Wait, did he say “easier?”…

(The Hill)- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says his job will be “easier” in the 112th Congress, despite a slimmer Democratic majority and a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“It’s going to be much easier than it was,” Reid told the Las Vegas Sun. He seemed to be referring, if indirectly, to the vastly lower expectations that many political observers have for the divided Congress that takes power in January, compared with the grand hopes that Democrats had entering the 111th Congress when they controlled both chambers and had a near filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. The Republicans will hold 47 seats in January, six more than they held before the November elections.

With Republicans running the House, Reid said his job would be to act as a “cooling vessel for the heat of the House of Representatives.” Led by Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio), the House is expected to quickly pass a raft of legislation that reflects Republican priorities, including a repeal of the healthcare law, but that will be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Proposed new name to bring it into Islamic compliance, the Barack Obama School…

(Emirates 24/7) — Saudi education authorities have decided to change the name of a local school called after a famous pre-Islam Arabian poet because he was not a Muslim, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Friday.

Hatem Al Tai School in the northern town of Hail has been changed into Hatem School on the grounds the poet Hatem Al Tai was Christian, Sharq daily said.

“Education sources said the decision to change the school’s name was because Hatem Al Tai was a blasphemous man who had lived during the Jahiliyya era before Islam . . . several intellects in the city criticized the decision and considered it as an act of fanaticism, which is hated in Islam.”

Hatem Al Tai was a famous pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah Arabian poet. He was a Christian and belonged to the Ta’i Arabian tribe in north Saudi Arabia.

Stories about his extreme generosity have made him an icon to Arabs up till the present day, as in the proverbial phrase “more generous than Hatem Al Tai.”

Christmas eve in Pakistan…

LAHORE: Thousands of people rallied in major Pakistani cities on Friday threatening further protests and anarchy if the government moves to amend a controversial blasphemy law.

A ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker sparked outcry last month by seeking to end the death penalty for blasphemy, after a Christian mother of five was sentenced to hang for defaming the Prophet Mohammed.

Demonstrators marched in the eastern city of Lahore, the port city of Karachi and the central city of Multan, after influential religious parties called for protests to defend the law.

A crowd of nearly 1,500 people gathered in Lahore, calling for “Jihad” and pledging to sacrifice their lives to protect the honour of Prophet Mohammad. They also warned that attempts to soften the law would trigger nationwide protests.

“Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and we will not tolerate any attempt to amend the law,” a leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Maulana Ahmad Khan told the participants.

In the port city of Karachi, more than 2,000 people rallied against Rehman’s proposed draft bill and demanded the government give Bibi a severe punishment for insulting Prophet Mohammad.

Bibi was arrested in June 2009 after Muslim women labourers refused to drink from a bowl of water she was asked to fetch while out working in the fields.

Days later, the women complained that she made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Bibi was set upon by a mob, arrested by police and sentenced on November 8.

Leaders of JUI and radical Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party warned that the government would “face a strong reaction if Bibi was pardoned.”

Sympathy factor = Nil…

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Months of “inhumane” solitary confinement are taking a toll on the US Army private suspected of passing secret government files to WikiLeaks, one of his supporters said Thursday after paying him a visit.

“It has become obvious to me that (Bradley) Manning’s physical and mental well-being are deteriorating,” David House wrote on the blog Firedoglake, recounting a visit to the military brig where the accused soldier is being held.

“It’s become increasingly clear that the severe, inhumane conditions of his detention are wearing on Manning,” he wrote.

Held at a military brig in Virginia at the Quantico Marine base since July, Manning, 23, has been placed under a maximum security regimen because authorities say his escape would pose a risk to national security.

Under the strict rules, Manning is allowed out of his cell for only one hour a day for exercise outside or at an indoor gym, military officers say.

But House said the Pentagon’s description of conditions was contradicted by what he learned from Manning.

“He has not been outside or into the brig yard for either recreation nor exercises in four full weeks,” House said.

“When told of the Pentagon’s statement that he indeed receives exercise, Manning’s reply was that he is able to exercise insofar as walking in chains is a form of exercise,” he wrote.

As a “precaution,” prison authorities have decided not to issue Manning cotton sheets and instead have provided two blankets and a pillow made of material that cannot be torn into pieces.

And if he was shot you can bet your life leftists would be fawning outrage…

(Haaretz)- A Palestinian caught trying to infiltrate a settlement Wednesday night claims he was sent by his family members, who had hoped he would be killed by soldiers during the infiltration.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers patrolling the central West Bank near the settlement of Beit El on Wednesday spotted a Palestinian walking toward the settlement and subsequently arrested him.

According to the investigation into the incident, the boy was behaving in a strange manner and the soldiers originally thought that he was drunk. Later on in the investigation, it was clarified that he was actually suffering from a mental illness.

The boy told investigators that his family wanted him dead. He said they threatened him at gunpoint, forcing him to walk towards the settlement with the hope that soldiers would think he was trying to infiltrate and would shoot him.

IDF scouts who searched the area confirmed the boy’s version of events and found four family members who had tried to flee the area.

The “we hate America” crowd hardest hit…

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) – A Brookline school is now saying permission slips won’t be necessary for students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Edward Devotion School, which has not recited the Pledge of Allegiance in seven years, will say the Pledge over the school’s intercom once a week beginning next month.

Gerardo Martinez, the school’s principal, initially said the permission slips were sent to encourage parents to have a discussion with their kids about the Pledge.

The principal also says he sent this note out to parents just to let them know it was okay if they do not want their kids to participate.

Unfortunately for the principal, the thought of a permission slip to recite the Pledge set off a fire storm. Eventually the principal sent out a second note to parents explaining that it was not mandatory to sign the permission slips.

Update to this story.