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The Obama Administration has acknowledged its support for a role for
the radically Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in the new Egyptian government. The
Brotherhood has called for the elimination of the Camp David Peace Accords
between Egypt and Israel. |
Obama's Muslim
Brotherhood
Endorsement
Causes Concern
Israel National News
For the first time, a US government supports granting a government role to an
extremist Islamic organization: the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. On Monday,
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Egypt's new government will have to
include a "whole host of important non-secular actors." Most prominent among
these is clearly the Muslim Brotherhood – which has made Islamic world
domination one of its ultimate goals. It also opposes Egypt's 30-year-old peace
treaty with Israel. Gibbs said the Muslim Brotherhood must reject violence and
recognize democratic goals for the US to be comfortable with it assuming a role
in the new government. This caveat does not significantly alter the new American
approach, which is very different than that of the previous Administration, in
which George W. Bush pushed Mubarak for democratic reforms but never publicly
accepted a role for Islamists. Today, new White House chief of staff William
Daley moderated the position very slightly, saying the US hopes for a "strong,
stable and secular Egyptian government." Noting that the strengthening of the
Muslim Brotherhood is "some people's expectation [and] some people's fear,"
Daley acknowledged that the situation in Egypt is largely out of American
control...
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 Rep.
Upton Investigates
Obamacare
Advertising
The Daily Caller
Top GOP healthcare official Rep. Fred Upton is taking a close look at the Obama
administration's advertising blitz for Obamacare, giving the president two weeks
to provide all documents related to the P.R. push that included spots by aging
TV star Andy Griffith. "Particularly when it comes to health care, we've seen
the creation of veritable government slush funds with no accountability or
transparency," said Upton in a written statement. At issue is $1 billion
provided to the Department on Health and Human Services (HHS) for Obamacare
implementation. Some of the money was spent on advertisements to "educate" the
public. GOP critics have called the efforts "propaganda," especially because HHS
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said last August that the administration had a "lot
of reeducation to do"...Cato Institute health policy expert Michael Cannon said
the Obamacare advertising campaign was "clearly shameless propaganda,"
mentioning the Griffith ads and a mail campaign to seniors.
 Obamacare
to Be Implemented
Despite Judge's Ruling
The Christian
Science Monitor
Senior administration officials vowed on Monday to
continue with the full implementation of President
Obama's healthcare reform law despite a federal judge's
decision declaring the law unconstitutional and void in
its entirety. "This is not the last word by any means,"
a White House official told reporters in a background
briefing. "We are quite confident it won't stand." The
Justice Department issued a statement saying it intends
to appeal the decision. "We strongly disagree with the
court's ruling," the statement says in part. The
comments came in reaction to a 78-page decision released
Monday by US District Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola,
FL. The judge ruled that Congress exceeded its power
under the Constitution's commerce clause when it
required all Americans to purchase health insurance.
 Obama Admin. Open to Muslim Brotherhood Role in New Egypt
Gov't
The Los Angeles Times
The Obama administration said for the first time that it supports a role for
groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned Islamist organization, in a
reformed Egyptian government. The organization must reject violence and
recognize democratic goals if the US is to be comfortable with it taking part in
the government, the White House said. But by even setting conditions for the
involvement of such nonsecular groups, the administration took a surprise step
in the midst of the crisis that has enveloped Egypt for the last week. The
statement was an acknowledgment that any popularly accepted new government will
probably include groups that are not considered friendly to US interests, and
was a signal that the White House is prepared for that probability after 30
years of reliable relations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
 Elite
Media Outs Labor Union's
Role in Middle East Turmoil
BigGovernment.com
For all the lack of clarity on where the Obama
Administration stands on the events in Egypt, one thing
is becoming more and more clear: Signs are beginning to
point more toward the likelihood that President Obama's
State Department, unions, as well as Left-leaning media
corporations are more directly involved in helping to
ignite the Mid-East turmoil than they are publicly
admitting. Although there have been numerous articles
regarding the role of unions in the Tunisian "revolution," perhaps none have been so clear as this
one in the Huffington Post: "Though the movement appears
to be a mix of grassroots spontaneity and targeted
direct actions, it has achieved political valence
through the savvy of organized labor activists. In the
days leading up to the uprising, unions were feeding the
foment of the demonstrators by calling strikes
nationwide, including an 8,000 strong lawyer strike that
paralyzed the courts."
 Is
SEIU Working with
Hamas And FARC?
BigGovernment.com
Prominent current and former members of SEIU local 73
are being investigated for their potential ties to the
Hamas and FARC terrorist groups. Late last year, their
homes were raided by the FBI, and they were subpoenaed
to appear in front of a grand jury for questioning. Joe
Iosbaker, Chief Steward of SEIU 73, and Tom Burke
(former board member of SEIU 73) are among 9 people who
are subjects in the investigation. None of them have
been charged with any crimes, yet. Two days ago, they
refused again to appear in front of the grand jury. The
interesting thing about these SEIU folks is that they
also belong to a violently radical group called the
Freedom Road Socialist Organization. This is the same
group who, along with the other subjects of the FBI
investigation, takes credit for staging the 2008 RNC
protest-riots.
 Affirmative
Action Scandal Rocks Naval Academy
BigPeace.com
Professor Bruce Fleming is not your typical US Naval
Academy (USNA) Professor. He teaches English and he also
happens to be a liberal. He also happens to believe in
speaking the truth. And by speaking the truth about the
dirty secrets of affirmative action at the Naval
Academy, he has set off a fire storm. Fleming wrote a
piece last year exposing the fact that the USNA had a
"two-tiered" system of admission that was designed to
bring more minorities into the academy. Since access to
the full article has expired, reporting on the article
is available here. And he began speaking to academy
alumni about the lower standards. "We'll do anything to
get non-white students," he said, in order to appear
more diverse and improve the football team. According to
Fleming, the Academy is rejecting better qualified white
applicants to admit minority candidates with less
impressive credentials.
 Army Commanders Were Told Not to Send Manning to Iraq
McClatchy Newspapers
Investigators have concluded that Army commanders ignored advice not to send to
Iraq an Army private who's now accused of downloading hundreds of thousands of
sensitive reports and diplomatic cables that ended up on the WikiLeaks website
in the largest single security breach in American history, McClatchy has
learned.
Pfc. Bradley Manning's direct supervisor warned that Manning had thrown chairs
at colleagues and shouted at higher ranking soldiers in the year he was
stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., and advised that Manning shouldn't be sent to
Iraq, where his job would entail accessing classified documents through the
Defense Department's computer system.
But superior officers decided to ignore the advice because the unit was short of
intelligence analysts and needed Manning's skills, two military officials
familiar with the investigation told McClatchy.
 Explosion
at Davos Sends Jitters
through WEF
The London
Telegraph
A small blast shattered two windows but caused no
injuries at a hotel near where top business and
political leaders are attending the World Economic
Forum, Swiss police have said. The explosion happened in
a storage room of the Posthotel Morosani shortly after
9am local time Thursday, regional police spokesman
Thomas Hobi told the AP. He said federal prosecutors are
investigating whether the blast has a criminal origin.
The Forum said in a statement a firework in the back of
the hotel was to blame. The hotel did not comment. The
hotel is just over a mile from the main venue of the
annual gathering in the Alpine ski resort of Davos.
There is tight security at the World Economic Forum as
left-wing groups plan to hold a protest this weekend
against the annual meeting of political and business
leaders and social activists.
 Washington
Post Organizes News Boycott
of Sarah Palin
BigJournalism.com
The Washington Post is engaging in online political activism by encouraging its
readers to boycott news coverage of Sarah Palin. The Post has picked up the call
initiated this morning by Post columnist Dana Milbank, adding a Twitter link on
the column page. The link generates a message to be sent from a Twitter member's
page that reads, "I'm making February a Palin-free month. Will you join me?" The
Post added the Twitter link to Milbank's column this afternoon, several hours
after running and pulling a Washington Post online poll about boycotting Sarah
Palin news coverage. Milbank wrote he was pledging to not write about or mention
Palin for the entire month of February. He called on fellow media members to
join him with the hope the boycott could be made permanent.
 Historian
Accused
of Altering
Lincoln Document
USA Today
There's a disturbing story out about presidential
historiography, involving our most revered president,
Abraham Lincoln. Thirteen years ago, an amateur
historian said he had discovered the pardon of a Union
army deserter that Lincoln issued on April 14, 1865 --
the same day of the president's murder at Ford's
Theatre. Yesterday, the National Archives accused that
historian, Thomas Lowry, of altering the document that
was actually written exactly a year before, in 1864 --
it said Lowry changed the "4" to a "5" with a fountain
pen. Lowry told The Washington Post that federal agents
forced him to confess, and he denied wrongdoing. David
S. Ferriero, archivist of the United States, told the
Post that the Archives were familiar with Lowry and his
wife, frequent visitors to the document rooms. Lowry has
now been banned for life from the National Archives. |
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