Mind Changing on Missile Defense

The Foundation

"To judge from the history of mankind, we shall be compelled to conclude that the fiery and destructive passions of war reign in the human breast with much more powerful sway than the mild and beneficent sentiments of peace; and that to model our political systems upon speculations of lasting tranquillity would be to calculate on the weaker springs of human character." --Alexander Hamilton

Editorial Exegesis

"The administration beefs up our Alaskan-based interceptors it once downgraded in response to North Korea's threat, while ending the final phase of the Europe-based defense against Iran it once supported. ... We are reminded that if President Obama hadn't scuttled President Bush's plans, these added interceptors would already be in their silos. ... The failure to dissuade Pyongyang from advancing its nuclear and missile program through sanctions, concessions and diplomatic pressure, one of many Obama administration foreign policy flops, has led us to the point where North Korea is a serious threat and the White House once again has to change its position. An administration official said the North Korean missile threat was much less sophisticated when Sen. Obama was running for the White House and those who criticize the change of plans are engaging in 'Monday morning quarterbacking.' Well, we have been consistent in supporting missile defense -- the administration has not -- and we would suggest the administration has taken its eye off the ball regarding North Korea. ... The good news about the additional GBIs, including an environmental study (we're not making this up) for a third ground-based Interceptor site on the East Coast, comes with the bad news that to pay for it the Obama administration wants to scrap the fourth and final phase of a planned missile defense in Europe that was scheduled to be completed by 2018. ... That system was to be the replacement for Bush's earlier plan to place GBIs in Poland and a missile defense radar system in the Czech Republic. Typical of the way Obama has treated loyal allies such as Britain and Israel, the Poles were notified with a midnight phone call on Sept. 17, 2009 -- the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion -- that we were pulling the plug on that system due to Russian objections. That system as well also could have been already in place. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel assures us this new plan, including the part requiring environmental review, will protect us from North Korea and Iran. That is, unless Obama changes his mind again." --Investor's Business Daily

Upright

"All of this vindicates those who have fought for missile defenses since Ronald Reagan first aroused liberal ire with his Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983. Among his more vociferous critics was a Senator named Joe Biden. U.S. defenses have continued to advance despite Democratic hostility, though much of the technology dates to the 1980s. ... Even as Mr. Obama claims that stopping nuclear proliferation is a priority, the world is on the edge of a new and dangerous nuclear breakout. North Korea continues to expand its nuclear arsenal while Iran is ever-closer to having its own. Nations from South Korea to Saudi Arabia are now debating whether they need their own nuclear deterrent. If Mr. Obama won't prevent this proliferation, others should continue to press him to at least protect America from attack." --The Wall Street Journal

"We are, objectively speaking, supporting Islamic fundamentalists, and yes, even terrorists with the one hand, while opposing them with the other. We have transformed ourselves, in the span of a decade, from a nation that declares, 'You are either with us, or you are with the terrorists,' to a nation that is credibly accused of arming terrorists. And as in Pakistan, there is perhaps some room for debate over whether this schizophrenic policy is due largely to an increasingly incompetent bureaucracy ... or if it is by Machiavellian design. But there's no question over what gave rise to the increasing belief that the United States is backing the Muslim Brotherhood over religious minorities in Egypt, providing aid and comfort to the Taliban, or supporting violent jihad in Syria and Libya. What gave them that idea? We did." --columnist Kyle Shideler

"As we mark the ten-year anniversary of the Iraq War's launch, it's worth reflecting on the mixed history of that war. Mistakes were made in the conduct of the war, but that doesn't mean every aspect of the war was a mistake. Those of us who fought the war -- losing great men and women in the process -- understand the scope of the task and the meaning of the mission. ... It's worth remembering that the bipartisan view before the war ... was that Saddam Hussein was pursuing weapons of mass destruction and must be stopped. ... While critics of the war have long preferred to gloss over Saddam's record as if pre-invasion Iraq had been tranquil and misunderstood, surely no one wishes Saddam were still in power. ... More than 1.5 million Americans served in Iraq, over 4,400 lost their lives, and nearly 33,000 were wounded. Over a thousand U.S. civilian contracts also gave their lives. This sacrifice, and that of our Iraqi allies, was not in vain, but instead is an example of valor, service, and sacrifice. ... Ultimately, the core lesson of our war was resolve -- we fought like hell over there, and then demanded political courage from our leaders at home. We never quit, even if some of our leaders did. We have neither illusions of utopia in Iraq, nor visions of future foreign endeavors. But we do understand the nature of the enemy we face, and the need to stand resolute. The threat is real, it's still there, and we'll need to fight it again someday." --Pete Hegseth, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America

Insight

"The essential characteristic of Western civilization that distinguishes it from the arrested and petrified civilizations of the East was and is its concern for freedom from the state." --economist Ludwig Von Mises (1881-1973)

"The bigger the information media, the less courage and information they allow. Bigness means weakness." --American newsman Eric Sevareid (1912-1992)

Demo-gogues

You didn't build that: "[W]e recognize there are some things we do together as a country because individually we can't do it -- and by the way, the private sector on its own will not invest in this ['green'] research because it's too expensive, it's too risky. They can't afford it in terms of their bottom lines. So we've [government] got to support it, and we'll all benefit from it and our kids will benefit from it and our grandkids will benefit from it. That's who we are. That's been the American story." --Barack Obama

That's what we're afraid of: "It's not about 2014. I actually wanna govern, at least for a couple of years." --Barack Obama to campaign-turned advocacy group Organizing for Action

A bold vision: "Well, I believe that we're on a path to reduce the deficit. And I would say that -- count me as one who would say I want us to be on a path to balance the budget in a number of decades." --House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Nothing to see here: "[T]he debt is not endangering us a bit -- not at all. Our economists say we're in debt but it's not endangering everything. So all those ideas about the ceiling falling, the walls caving in because of that, you can sleep more comfortably in your bed at night when you realize that we don't think there's a problem." --Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)

Aiding and abetting: "We do not have an immediate debt crisis. ... It could be a year or two years, three years, four years. It's not an immediate problem." --House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who, when asked if he trusted Obama, replied, "Absolutely, absolutely."

Revisionist history: "[T]he approach the Republicans take is that they are there to shrink the role of government to the point where it really recalls to mind a statement of President Washington who cautioned about a political party at war with its own government." --Nancy Pelosi

Non Compos Mentis: "It's very important we continue training our military, so important. But one of the things in sequester is we cut back in training and maintenance. That's the way sequester was written." --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), shamelessly politicizing the death of seven Marines in a Nevada training exercise, and tying the deaths to the sequester

Not giving up: "[Banning assault weapons] is very important to me and I'm not going to lay down and play dead. I think the American people have said in every single public poll that they support this kind of legislation. It's aimed to protect children, to protect schools and malls. It's aimed to dry up the supply of these over time. And it came out on a 10-8 vote of the Judiciary Committee. Not to give me a vote on this would be a major betrayal of trust." --Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

Dezinformatsia

Move along: "What is so special about a balanced budget? ... While economists generally agree that narrowing the government's deficit and limiting the size of the debt are necessary in the long run, most argue that balancing the budget would not restore the nation's still-weak economy to health in the near term. Indeed, rushing to do so with unemployment still elevated and the economy growing at only a sluggish pace could even set back the effort to reduce the deficit." --New York Times economics reporter Annie Lowrey

Denial: "I'm not saying I'm the liberal media. I don't park myself in liberal or right-wing at all. I can't even vote. I don't have a horse in the race." --CNN's Piers Morgan

Approximately zero: "[T]he last Democratic president who had significant ties to Israel, President Clinton, was really a rock star in Israel. What are the chances that Barack Obama becomes similarly a rock star in Israel?" --NBC's David Gregory

Gasp! "This is the face of the new Republican right. They basically are for everyone having a gun whenever they want it. In fact, they encourage you have to a gun." --MSNBC's Chris Matthews

"Republicans in the House and Senate are standing firmly in the way of Mr. Obama's second-term agenda, with a message that is striking when set against the results of an election just four months ago: Mr. President, you have to come to us. ... Which raises the question: What are elections for?" --New York Times columnist Jonathan Weisman

Newspulper Headlines:

We Blame George W. Bush: "Obama: I Didn't Cancel W.H. Tours, Secret Service and Congress to Blame" --TheWeeklyStandard.com

Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Why Does the Devil in 'The Bible' Look Exactly Like President Obama?" --Daily Mail (London)

Answers to Questions Nobody Is Asking: "Space Algae Invasion? Probably Not" --Discovery.com

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations: "In Italy, the Catholic Church Proves More Intelligent Than Politicians" --Huffington Post

Bottom Story of the Day: "Elizabeth Warren Rips Into GOP, NRA" --Politico.com

(Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto)

Village Idiots

Not giving up: "We're going to work on this. We're going to find the votes [to pass an assault weapons ban]. And it deserves a vote and let's see if we can get it done." --White House chief of staff Denis McDonough

Grotesque wishes: "I believe someone in Newtown, Connecticut -- a grieving parent, an upset law enforcement officer, a citizen who has seen enough of this carnage in our country -- somebody, someday soon, is going to leak the crime scene photos of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. And when the American people see what bullets from an assault rifle fired at close range do to a little child's body, that's the day the jig will be up for the NRA. It will be the day the debate on gun control will come to an end. There will be nothing left to argue over. It will just be over. And every sane American will demand action." --filmmaker Michael Moore

Contempt for life: "With respect to those meanings of 'human' that are relevant to the morality of abortion, any fetus is less human than an adult pig." --biologist Richard Dawkins

Flip-flops: "A few years ago, Bill and I celebrated as our own daughter married the love of her life, and I wish every parent that same joy. To deny the opportunity to any of our daughters and sons solely on the basis of who they are and who they love is to deny them the chance to live up to their own God given potential." --Hillary Clinton, who staunchly opposed same-sex marriage in her 2008 presidential bid

Short Cuts

"You can't imagine how many attachments, links and videos, well-meaning, but seriously misguided, people send me every day. Al Gore always claimed he invented the Internet, but I have to believe that God invented the Delete key, and God knows I've been thanking Him ever since." --columnist Burt Prelutsky

"Any charm offensive that is labeled a charm offensive thereby loses some of its charm because it looks tactical." --columnist George Will

"We're learning more about the dead Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. It seems he amassed about $2 billion in personal fortune while president -- and he was a socialist. Imagine how rich he could have been if he didn't believe in redistribution of wealth." --comedian Jay Leno

"President Obama enjoyed steak and potatoes with twelve GOP senators at a highly-publicized dinner at the Jefferson Hotel's four-star restaurant. Sometimes you feel for the guy. President Obama has to pretend that he's a fair-minded leader who's willing to seek bi-partisan solutions just to escape Michelle's healthy menus for one night." --comedian Argus Hamilton

Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
Nate Jackson for The Patriot Post Editorial Team