Kindly Note the Impending Bankruptcy - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

Kindly Note the Impending Bankruptcy - Mark Steyn - National Review Online: "I suppose it’s possible to take this recurring melodrama seriously, but there’s no reason to. The problem facing the United States government is that it spends over a trillion dollars a year that it doesn’t have. If you want to make that number go away, you need either to reduce spending or to increase revenue. With the best will in the world, you can’t interpret the election result as a spectacular victory for less spending. Indeed, if nothing else, the unfortunate events of November 6 should have performed the useful task of disabusing us poor conservatives that America is any kind of “center-right nation.” A few months ago, I dined with a (pardon my English) French intellectual who, apropos Mitt Romney’s stump-speech warnings that we were on a one-way ticket to Continental-sized dependency, chortled to me, “Americans love Big Government as much as Europeans. The only difference is that Americans refuse to admit it.”"

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Deal or No Deal - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online

Deal or No Deal - By Ramesh Ponnuru - The Corner - National Review Online: "NR’s editors have a pretty pessimistic take on the fiscal-cliff talks. If no deal emerges, then Republicans have two options. The high-risk one is to pass an extension of all the tax cuts, watch Senate Democrats block it, watch tax rates rise for everyone, and try to blame Obama and the Democrats for this result. The low-risk one is to pass an extension of the middle-class tax cuts, which presumably the Democrats would have to pass, and watch taxes for high earners rise. That way at least Republicans wouldn’t get blamed for middle-class tax increases.

That second option isn’t great. But it’s better than some of the possible deals I’ve been reading and hearing about."

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It's crazy to me Republicans could be credibly blamed if we going over the fiscal cliff under option one. Because Democrats would be basically saying: "either you agree to raise taxes on the top 1%, or we let taxes go up on everyone."

How is it that Democrats don't get blamed under scenario one?

Benghazi Talking Points Timeline: Curiouser and Curiouser - By Peter Kirsanow - The Corner - National Review Online

Benghazi Talking Points Timeline: Curiouser and Curiouser - By Peter Kirsanow - The Corner - National Review Online: "For those of you keeping score at home, here’s the problem with the latest explanation:

On November 16, Petraeus told members of congress that the CIA had left the reference to al Qaeda and terrorism in the talking points. He doesn’t know who removed it.
On November 16, Acting CIA Director Morrell told members of Congress he doesn’t know who deleted the reference.
On November 16, DNI James Clapper told members of congress he doesn’t know who deleted the reference.
On November 20, Office of DNI spokesman Shawn Turner says the Office of the DNI deleted the reference (no mention of whether Clapper was involved).
On November 26 at 10:00 a.m., Acting CIA Director Morrell tells McCain et al. the FBI deleted the reference.
On November 26 at 4:00 p.m., “CIA officials” tell McCain et al. the CIA deleted it, but are unable to say who, precisely, did so.
Confused?"

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "But unless this country has completely gone to the dogs, it’s inconceivable to me that a majority can stomach the notion that four Americans were murdered on sovereign American territory while the president of the United States took note, then rolled over and went to bed before flying to Las Vegas on a campaign swing, secure in the knowledge that the truth would never come out because it didn’t fit his media protectors’ beloved “narrative” that GM was alive and Osama bin Laden was dead."

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Who changed the Benghazi talking points? - CBS News

Who changed the Benghazi talking points? - CBS News: "On Fri. Nov. 16, Petraeus told members of Congress that it wasn't the CIA that changed the talking points.

The White House and the State Department said it wasn't them.

The CIA then told CBS News that the edits were made at a "senior level in the interagency process." Intelligence officials said the references were dropped so as not to tip off al Qaeda as to what the U.S. knew, and to protect sources and methods.

Soon thereafter, another reason was given. A source from the Office of the Director for National Intelligence (ODNI) told CBS News' Margaret Brennan that ODNI made the edits as part of the interagency process because the links to al Qaeda were deemed too "tenuous" to make public.


Play VIDEO
Susan Rice speaking out on Libya attack
On Tuesday, Acting CIA Director Mike Morell provided yet another account. In a meeting with Republican Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., Morell stated that he believed it was the FBI that removed the references. He said the FBI did so "to prevent compromising an ongoing criminal investigation.""

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: " We also do not know how the Mohammed movie cover-up was orchestrated, although the evidence and common sense point to the White House. With four Americans killed and the nation appallingly misled in the stretch-run of a presidential campaign, this is a far more consequential matter than those that led to the Watergate and Lewinsky investigations. A commander-in-chief’s dereliction of duty and his administration’s intentional lying to the American people — to say nothing of its overbearing prosecution of the filmmaker in a transparent effort to shift responsibility to him — would be impeachable offenses if they are proved."

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Notes on Benghazi and Susan Rice - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online

Notes on Benghazi and Susan Rice - By Jonah Goldberg - The Corner - National Review Online: "I find the effort to claim that criticism of Susan Rice is racist or sexist to be offensive, ridiculous and damn near lunatic. According to this theory, Republican racists waited in the tall grass until Rice had a shot to be the fifth non-white-male Secretary of State in a row and then decided to pounce."

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The Corner - National Review Online

The Corner - National Review Online: "In today’s press briefing, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that “there are no unanswered questions” about Susan Rice’s appearances Sunday shows or about the talking points she used in those appearances. “Those questions have been answered,” he said. Carney went on to allege that reporters, in asking about Rice’s Sunday show appearances, are more interested in playing politics that in “what happened in Benghazi.”"

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Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge

Cafe Hayek — where orders emerge: "I agree with Mr. Krugman that

We are, morally, a much better nation than we were. Oh, and the food has improved a lot, too.

But the fact that he singles out genuine improvement in our morals (such as our greater acceptance of gays and lesbians) and in our food gives (to me, at any rate) the powerful impression – fueled by the entire essay – that middle-class Americans are clearly enduring today unnecessary hardships on the larger economic front."

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Discuss.

Rice: We didn't intend to mislead on Benghazi - POLITICO.com

Rice: We didn't intend to mislead on Benghazi - POLITICO.com: ""In the course of the meeting, we explained that the talking points provided by the intelligence community, and the initial assessment upon which they were based, were incorrect in a key respect: there was no protest or demonstration in Benghazi," Rice said.

"While, we certainly wish that we had had perfect information just days after the terrorist attack, as is often the case, the intelligence assessment has evolved," she said."

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Rice: We didn't intend to mislead on Benghazi - POLITICO.com

Rice: We didn't intend to mislead on Benghazi - POLITICO.com: "Under fire from congressional critics, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice stressed in a Tuesday statement that she did not intend to mislead the public about the September 11th attacks on the Benghazi consulate."

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Works and Days » Learning from the Election

Works and Days » Learning from the Election: "The Republicans have only won the popular vote since Ronald Reagan’s presidency on two occasions: 1988 and 2004. In both instances, even the patrician Bushes were able to paint their liberal opponents as out-of-touch Massachusetts magnificoes. Lee Atwater turned Michael Dukakis, the helmeted tank driver, into a bumbling Harvard Square naïf.  Karl Rove reminded the country that John Kerry, the wind surfer, was a spandex-wearing, wetsuit-outfitted yuppie who lived in several of his rich wife’s mansions, as he jetted around in her plane and sailed on her boat."

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Obama’s Senior Adviser Echoes Romney - By Jillian Kay Melchior - The Corner - National Review Online

Obama’s Senior Adviser Echoes Romney - By Jillian Kay Melchior - The Corner - National Review Online: "Speaking at the University of Delaware this month, Obama’s senior adviser David Plouffe pitched a plan we’ve all heard before . . . from the mouth of Mitt Romney.

With the fiscal cliff inching closer and closer, negotiations are “going to get hairy,” Plouffe said. Predictably, he called for Republicans to raise taxes. But here’s Plouffe’s surprising idea for what Dems need to do to reach a deal:"

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Chris Matthews: GOP A ‘Ruling Class’ Committed To Rights Of ‘White Men Of Property’ | Mediaite

Chris Matthews: GOP A ‘Ruling Class’ Committed To Rights Of ‘White Men Of Property’ | Mediaite: "MSNBC host Chris Matthews’ final thought on Monday centered on his belief that the Republican party is composed of individuals committed to the rights of “white men of property” over the freedoms of minority and female voters. He said that Republicans believe they are a “ruling class,” and that this is “their country to rule.”"

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Failures of Intelligence - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

Failures of Intelligence - Mark Steyn - National Review Online: "The FBI was initially reported to have printed out 20,000–30,000 pages of e-mails and other communications between General Allen, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Jill Kelley of Tampa, one-half of a pair of identical twins dressed like understudies for the CentCom mess-hall production of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Thirty thousand pages! The complete works of Shakespeare come to about three and a half thousand pages, but American officials can’t even have a sex scandal without getting bogged down in the paperwork."

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