There's a lot of phony hype about how tough things have gotten for the Obama administration. Last month, the president's party took "a shellacking" from Republicans at the polls. Those aren't my words; they're President Barack Obama's. Since then, he's been depicted as "politically wounded," "forced to accept a new reality" and "pushed into a corner" by tea party Republicans. Don't believe the propaganda.
Despite GOP victories in the House of Representatives, governors' mansions and state legislatures Nov. 2, the O-Team persists in pressing its radical domestic agenda and Utopian national security policies. Obama's proclivity for waging class warfare and antipathy toward free enterprise are evident in everything that has happened since the midterm elections.
Little of what happened in Washington this week offers hope of a "new reality" at the White House or in Congress as a result of last month's balloting. The nation is rapidly heading for bankruptcy, but the $1.2 trillion, 1,924-page "omnibus" continuing resolution to keep the government running for the next nine months contains thousands of pork-laden "earmarks" that outrage most Americans.
Obama's dogged insistence on an unprecedented extension of unemployment benefits, his endorsement of an explosive increase in the national debt and his vow to reimpose a "death tax" -- and gut the transfer of family farms and small businesses from one generation to another -- are all part of his liberal dogma. Worse, his plans for dismantling U.S. defenses continue unabated. And all of this is being aided and abetted in a furious frenzy by the Democratic-controlled lame-duck Congress.
On Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi's House of Representatives voted 250-175 for repealing Section 654 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code -- the provision of law that deems homosexual conduct to be "an unacceptable risk" to our nation's "military capability." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid immediately promised to "attach the measure to a bill that will pass before the Senate adjourns." No member of either house acknowledged that the Obama administration also wants to legalize consensual sodomy in military units.
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Reid followed up by declaring that despite Republican opposition, the Senate also will vote on ratifying the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which Obama hastily negotiated with Russia last spring. He wants that done now, too.
On Thursday, Obama devoted less than 10 minutes of his busy schedule to his Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy review. With Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates standing beside him, the president declared, "We are on track to achieve our goals" of "disrupting, dismantling and defeating al-Qaida." Despite growing problems in nuclear-armed Pakistan, Obama reiterated his promise to "start reducing American forces next July."
The situation on the ground in Afghanistan is indeed much-improved, as our Fox News team reported a few weeks ago from the field. The evidence is irrefutable, in the competence of Afghan troops, enhanced security through much of the country, and the success of "capture-kill missions" against Taliban leaders. Since Gen. David Petraeus took the reins of the International Security Assistance Force and Lt. Gen. William Caldwell was placed in charge of recruiting, training and fielding Afghan National Security Forces, their capability has increased dramatically.
Unfortunately, Obama's obstinate adherence to a "date certain" for withdrawing from Afghanistan makes the very tough fight in the shadows of the Hindu Kush even more difficult. The deadline encourages Taliban kingpins and their supporters in Pakistan: "Hang on. The Americans -- and therefore the troops of their ISAF partners -- will be leaving soon."
Equally damaging is the message the self-imposed timeline sends to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He may have few of the qualities of our own nation's founders, but even if he did, the O-Team's pullout date tells Karzai to cut whatever deal he can with the Taliban, Iran, Pakistan and the opium dealers, because we're not going to stick around. Under these circumstances, is it any surprise that Karzai admits to taking "bundles of cash" from the ayatollahs in Tehran?
Obama didn't stay long, either. After an obviously uncomfortable nine minutes presenting his "assessment," the president said, "So with that, Vice President Biden and myself will depart." He and the veep ducked out, leaving Gates, Clinton and Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to explain what the report means.
In summing up, Clinton said, "We will not -- in fact, we dare not -- repeat history." Given the O-Team's penchant for blaming the Bush administration for all problems great and small, it's hard to tell exactly what she meant, but there is a part of our history we ought never to repeat -- the era of Jimmy Carter.
This president and this Congress are in denial. They can't define our enemies or describe victory any better than Jimmy Carter. Between now and the next Congress, which will convene Jan. 5, we can only hope there are at least 41 U.S. senators brave enough to "just say no" to the Obama administration's "strategy" for dismembering our national security.
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