Comedian Stewart Mocks White House Response To Consulate Attack
Comedian Jon Stewart took aim at the Obama administration’s fumbled response to the recent attacks on the U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya.
Stewart unveiled a new segment on Monday night called, “Do You Guys Ever Talk To Each Other Or…”
The satire mocked the uncoordinated response from President Barack Obama and his administration following the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens.
The White House, through its press secretary, had initially declined to label the incident an act of terrorism, emphasizing the ongoing investigation. The administration also pointed to the anti-Islam video that had triggered violent protests throughout the Middle East.
Stewart then pointed to a host of others who did call it a terrorist attack, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Obama later appeared on The View, where he said the attack clearly wasn’t just a “mob action.”
“And?” Stewart asked. “Is there some middle ground? A cynic would argue he is unwilling to admit the embassy was hit by terrorists because it would make him look bad.”
A CNN report confirmed the assault as a terrorist attack after 24 hours.
“Well, two things apparently have become clear,” Stewart concluded. “The attack on our embassy was planned and coordinated. The response to it — not so much.”
Stevens, 52, was the first sitting U.S. ambassador to be killed in a violent attack since 1979.
Officials said the ambassador, who was stationed at the embassy in Tripoli, was visiting the consulate at the time of the attack. The apparent cause of his death was smoke inhalation, according to several U.S. officials briefed on the attack, although the State Department has not confirmed that.
Stevens and the other Americans were killed when a mob of protesters and gunmen overwhelmed the consulate, setting fire to it in outrage over a film that ridicules Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Stevens died as he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as a crowd of hundreds attacked the consulate, many of them firing machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
By the end of the assault, much of the building was burned out and trashed.
About The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare”
Individual mandate requiring all U.S. citizens to have health insurance either through private companies, their employers, or state-sponsored exchanges. Failure to do so will result in a fine.
Insurance companies banned from denying coverage to applicants with pre-existing health conditions.
Insurance companies required to include preventative health care at no extra cost, banned from setting limits on payouts for coverage.
Companies employing over 50 people required to provide those employees with health insurance.
Children allowed to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until 26 years of age.
Health Care and the Facts-on-the-Ground Presidency
JUN 28 2012, 12:39 PM ET
From health care reform to immigration, President Obama is counting on Washington's inertia to make changes that last.
Wikimedia Commons
Republican reaction to the Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act was swift and outraged. Romney Press Secretary Andrea Saul tweeted that he'd raised more than $300,000 in the first hour after the verdict was announced. "The only way to save the country from ObamaCare's budget-busting government takeover of health care is to elect a new president," said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus as Republicans launched a #FullRepeal hashtag on Twitter and announced another (and largely symbolic) House vote to repeal the ACA the week of July 9.
But with the Supreme Court having upheld the ACA, Republicans are now clearly fighting a rear-guard action against a law that is partially implemented and which seems likely to grow in popularity now that it has been ratified and turned into something people can look forward to taking advantage of over time. The Supreme Court decision forces Republicans to express their conservatism not through new program proposals but by standing athwart history yelling stop. Obama has created a set of facts on the ground, and the inertial power of Washington and massive complexity of the health-care field that made universal health-care coverage little more than a Democratic fantasy from 1948 through 2009 will now tip the balance of power in the direction the president has set. Republicans can rail about it all they like, but in Washington, it is hard to ever completely undo what has been done. ... source:http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/the-facts-on-the-ground-presidency/259110/#
An Indian-American group has expressed outrage at Newsweek magazine for depicting President Obama as the Hindu deity Lord Shiva the destroyer on its recent cover.
Obama, fresh off a visit to India, is shown with multiple arms juggling issues from his administration as he balances on one leg.
The headline reads 'God of All Things' with the subtitle, 'Why the Modern Presidency May be too Much for One Person to Handle'.
Obama is depicted juggling housing, the economy, the world and more
In Hindiusm Shiva is the destroyer of all things and also responsible for rebirth. Thus Shiva oversees the circle of life
Shiva is often manifested as Lord Nataraja, who has many arms and balances on one leg in a dance of destruction
Obama is depicted as Nataraja.
Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism in Nevada, said in a statement to Sify news that Lord Siva was a highly revered major deity in Hinduism meant to be worshipped and not to be used indecorously or thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic effects.
He urged Newsweek to publish a disclaimer about the cover on its website and include a proper explanation of the Hindu gods with the next issue.
Suhag Shukla of the Washington-based Hindu-American Foundation told FoxNews that her group doesn't think Newsweek meant to be malicious, but believes 'the cover was in line with the media's comfort of utilizing Hindu symbols or deities to symbolize an issue.'
Zed said that Hindus understood that the purpose of Newsweek was not to denigrate Hinduism...
Shiva is the god of the yogis, self-controlled and celibate, while at the same time a lover of his spouse (shakti). Lord Shiva is the destroyer of the world, following Brahma the creator and Vishnu the preserver, after which Brahma again creates the world and so on. Shiva is responsible for change both in the form of death and destruction and in the positive sense of destroying the ego, the false identification with the form. This also includes the shedding of old habits and attachments.
All that has a beginning by necessity must have an end. In destruction, truly nothing is destroyed but the illusion of individuality. Thus the power of destruction associated with Lord Shiva has great purifying power, both on a more personal level when problems make us see reality more clearly, as on a more universal level. Destruction opens the path for a new creation of the universe, a new opportunity for the beauty and drama of universal illusion to unfold. As Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram or Truth, Goodness and Beauty, Shiva represents the most essential goodness.
While of course many hindu deities are associated with different paths of yoga and meditation, in Shiva the art of meditation takes its most absolute form. In meditation, not only mind is stopped, everything is dropped. In deep meditation or samadhi, even the object of the meditation (like a mantra) is transformed into its formless essence, which is the essence of everything and everyone. Thus Shiva stands for letting go of everything in the world of forms. The path of Lord Shiva is the path of the ascetic yogi.
Forms of Shiva
Shiva has many forms, which are visible in his Panchavaktra form with 5 heads, a combination of all Shiva energies : Aghora (resides in the creamation grounds), Ishana (most often appears as the shivalingam), Tat Purusha (meditating), Varna Deva (the eternal Shiva) and Saddyojat or Braddha Rudra (the old wrathful form). The last also forms the connection to the Rudraksha mala - a rosary made of the dried fruits of the Rudraksha tree.
Another form is the Nataraj. Shiva Nataraj's dance represents both the destruction and the creation of the universe and reveals the cycles of death, birth and rebirth. His Dance of Bliss is for the welfare of the world. In the pose of Nataraj, the King of Dance is giving darshan to his beloved devotees within the "Hall of Consciousness", which is the heart of man. Under his feet, Shiva crushes the demon of ignorance called Apasmara Purusha, caused by forgetfulness. One hand is stretched across his chest and points towards the uplifted foot, indicating the release from earthly bondage of the devotee. The fire represents the final destruction of creation, but the dance of the Nataraj is also an act of creation, which arouses dormant energies and scatters the ashes of the universe in a pattern that will be the design of the ensuing creation.
Yet another manifestation of Lord Shiva is said to be Hanuman, the ultimate karma yogi, in never-ending selfless service to Ram. The fact that this is not really clear can be perfectly explained by the understanding that a true karma yogi will never take the credit for his acts, as they would otherwise not be entirely selfless. The ego would still get the credit. So, in order to respect Shiva as a true karma yogi, let us not pay too much attention to this manifestation.
The Mahamrityunyaya form of Shiva is the great conqueror of death. The Mahamrityunjaya mantra is one of the two main mantras of the Vedas, next to the Gayatri mantra. It is chanted to remove death and disease. This form of Shiva also is the being of pure joy, referring to the unconditioned enjoyment of the perfectly peaceful mind. That is the true nature of the divine elixir that this Shiva offers his devotees in no less than four hands.
Another main form of Shiva is Ardhnarishwara, half Shiva, half Shakti. Also related to Shiva is Indra.
"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded."
Unfortunately for America, Barack Obama's security plan is already practiced. Not in America but in Marxist regimes. Gusano at Babalu grew up with a civilian national security force... in Cuba:
Basically, what Obama is talking about is creating a Committee for the Defense of Liberal Ideology and Political correctness funded by a half trillion taxpayer dollars. National Security for this crowd is not about stopping terrorists from killing our children. National Security means to teach our children to understand the terrorists and their motivations so that our children can learn how to live their lives submissively so as not to offend the sensitivities of the very sensitive America haters.
Their version of National Security is to force you to act for the common good of society and not in your own best interest. Since this goes against human nature, the half trillion dollar “Civilian National Security Force” will have to force Americans to change their nature and create a new citizen that is self sacrificing and collective in nature-an ant-like new man, like Che's and Fidel's new man.
This concept is eerily similar to the Castroite CDR block snitch network that I grew up with only better funded and more ideologically pure. ********* Unfortunately, this was not the only time that the now President-Elect discussed this security force plan.
Barack Obama's recent words to promote his image as Community Organizer in Chief were not about forming a paramilitary force of volunteer brown shirts. They were about turning America into one, giant, community organizer's sandbox at enormous cost to taxpayers.
Senator Obama was nearly 17 minutes into his July 2 speech ... in Colorado Springs, Colorado when he deviated from his pre-released script and performed without the teleprompter net saying,
"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."
The immediate context for that amazing statement was a preview of parts of his plan to vastly expand community service opportunities for Americans of nearly all ages. He said,
"People of all ages, stations, and skills will be asked to serve."
... In his campaign document entitled "The Blueprint for Change: Barack Obama's Plan For America," Obama's "Service" section runs a close second to "Education" in complexity. But, with his Colorado Springs' statement, it grabbed first place in its projected costs to taxpayers. Obama did the cost projection himself.
He plans to double the Peace Corps' budget by 2011, and expand AmeriCorps, USA Freedom Corps, VISTA, YouthBuild Program, and the Senior Corps. Plus, he proposes to form a Classroom Corps, Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, Veterans Corps, Homeland Security Corps, Global Energy Corps, and a Green Jobs Corps. ...
So it made sense in Colorado Springs when he said his call to community service "will be a central cause of my presidency." He couldn't be clearer in signaling his intentions, including a Social Investment Fund Network to link local non-profits with the federal government.
The entire plan is breathtaking in its scope. ...
Senator Obama aims to tap into the already active volunteerism of millions of Americans and recruit them to become cogs in a gigantic government machine grinding out his social re-engineering agenda. I...In his speech he said,
"Now I know what the cynics will say. I've heard from them all my life."
...he means to marshal volunteers for social service and economic equality while saving the environment.
"Because the future of our nation depends on the soldier at Fort Carson, but is also depends on the teacher in East LA, the nurse in Appalachia, the after-school worker in New Orleans..."
...But ultimate national security requires someone to carry, and, if necessary, discharge a deadly weapon with intent to kill. ...
Voters haven't paid much attention to his "Service" plan because the old news media has ignored it. ...When Obama said that the "civilian national security force" would be just as "well-funded" as the Armed Forces, he stepped squarely into the giant sandbox and played with the big numbers. As the late Carl Sagan said, "billions and billions" of dollars.
... Senator Obama has never managed an organization larger than a Senate staff, or that of a law school publication. And, he's never operated a for-profit business or been responsible for any profit center within one. So, while words matter to Senator Obama, it's not clear if math means anything to him at all. ***** Still more about this interesting, yet disturbing idea from CNS News
...Just five days later, the July 7 issue of Defense News published an interview in which Obama elaborated on his goals.
“I believe we can reconfigure our civilian national-security force. We still have a national security apparatus on the civilian side, in the way the State Department is structured and USAID, that hearkens back to the Cold War,” Obama said.
“We need to be able to deploy teams that combine agricultural specialists and engineers and linguists and cultural specialists who are prepared to go into some of the most dangerous areas alongside our military,” he said.
Such proposals sound either like the creation of new programs or the expansion of existing ones, said Brian Darling, director of Senate Relations for the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“He clearly leans toward the diplomacy side in world affairs,” Darling told CNSNews.com. “Foreign aid, agriculture aid, using federal tax dollars to buy a country’s affections is one element of diplomacy. But I hope he realizes that having a strong military is another form of diplomacy.”
A similar theme was repeated when Obama gave a speech entitled “A World that Stands as One” in front of 200,000 Germans in Berlin.
“The burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden.
“In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more – not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity,”
he added. ***** While I agree that more citizens of this nation need to involve themselves in the happenings of daily life and volunteer for service instead of lazying in front of the TV, becoming a Marxist nation is not part of the American dream.
Do we blindly follow our United States President? Or do we become involved in solutions to the problems infecting our great nation?
Do we submit ourselves to whatever the government attempts to submit us to? Or do we think of opportunities to create better options?
Yes, we live according to the laws of this great land. However, in order to help our country become what it once was, or even better, we need to be actively involved in solutions, instead of lazily expecting hand-outs, instead of passively going through a funnel vision of a routine throughout our daily lives.
Get involved! Volunteer in your community! Think of ideas that can become solutions for more people than just yourselves! Think outside of the little box you call your home! Become a positive partner in the Universal Energy that is becoming more and more negative! Make a difference!
By now, the whole world knows that Obama is the next President of the United States of American.
Now that the country has made her decision, we must all come together with respect for the person who has won the election. There may be differences of opinion regarding programs and regarding character, but there is one uniting outcome. That uniting outcome is that we will all be governed by the same president. Another uniting outcome is that we must all live by the law of the land.
May Barack Obama create unity, prosperity, and not poverty. Pray that the newly elected officials will make decisions that are best for our country and remember the United States Constitution in the process, that we may not lose what our Founding Fathers worked so hard to create, that we may continue to enjoy the freedoms that many take for granted, that we may all be privy to the idea of the American Dream.
"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government." -- Thomas Jefferson
To McCain and Palin, let's give our best wishes and general sympathetic condolences for a campaign that was strong and fought hard. They did an amazing job and are both amazing people. May them and their families enjoy some time off and may the universe grant them influence where they can be most useful from this time forth.
"America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal--to discover and maintain liberty among men." -- Woodrow Wilson
Comedian Jon Stewart took aim at the Obama administration’s fumbled response to the recent attacks on the U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya.
