Monday, February 10, 2014
From: Gary L. Bauer
Iran Meets Obama’s “Open Hand” With A Clenched Fist
Barack Obama is committed to fundamentally transforming America in more ways than one. Beyond his big spending, big government domestic agenda, his foreign policy is fundamentally altering America’s position in the world. Nowhere is this more evident than his policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.
For thirty years, American presidents of both parties, with strong bi-partisan support in Congress, have worked to isolate Iran. But Obama has repeatedly “made nice” with the mullahs. He did so in a video-taped message shortly after taking office in 2009. A few months later, Obama tried again through a secret letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And when the country elected a new leader last year, Obama sent another letter. Mr. Obama became the first American president in decades to speak with an Iranian leader, and his administration is attempting to negotiate a deal that effectively legitimizes Iran’s nuclear program.
Obama says he is “giving peace a chance.” But his weakness is making war more likely. He even used his State of the Union address to issue a veto threat against new sanctions legislation that had overwhelming support from both political parties in Congress.
So how is Iran responding to all of Mr. Obama’s peace gestures? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is accusing the Obama Administration of lying. It is sending warships into the Atlantic, “approaching the United States’ maritime borders.” And the regime’s state-run media is treating its citizens to propaganda videos featuring the bombing of Tel Aviv and sinking of an American aircraft carrier.
Yet listening to the administration, you get the impression that the real impediment to peace is not Tehran’s belligerence, but Democrats and Republicans in the United States Congress.
Now They Are Concerned
Last week we told you about the likely terrorist attack on a California power substation. More than 100 rounds were fired at the substation, taking out 17 of 20 transformers in less than 20 minutes. The attack did $16 million worth of damage, which required nearly a month to repair. This incident occurred last April, but got lost in all the news coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Fortunately, the story is getting attention now because Jon Wellinghoff, a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is speaking out about it and warning just how vulnerable our electricity grid really is. And members of Congress are taking notice. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said Friday that while he is hesitant to impose more regulations on any industry, the safety of the U.S. electrical grid is a matter of national security.
Rep. Franks is right. According to Wellinghoff, there are approximately 100 critical substations, which, if taken out, could cause cascading power outages similar to one that occurred in 2003. During that event, a tree branch fell on a line in Ohio, and within hours, 50 million people from New York to Canada and the Great Lakes were in the dark.
GM’s “New Love”
The promotion of homosexuality has become the cause celebre during the Sochi winter Olympics. From an NBC commentator appearing on air in drag to the latest ad from General Motors entitled “New Love,” (aired during the opening ceremonies featuring a same-sex marriage), the issue is impossible to avoid.
Yet when churches are bombed and Christians have their throats slit while walking down the street, there is a collective yawn from most of the mainstream media, business and political elites.
Perhaps persecuted Christians languishing in jails around the world could get a little love if they suddenly “came out” as homosexuals. Then politicians, corporations, the U.N. and the Obama Administration would all be fighting each other to see who could help them the most!
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