Charles Krauthammer R.I.P.

BREAKING NEWS: Charles Krauthammer, Pulitzer Prize winner and longtime Fox News contributor, dead at 68. https://t.co/xCL2PcxoFn pic.twitter.com/4oE4rtCTdl

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 21, 2018

He will be missed.

Rest in peace.

Charles Krauthammer - A Wonderful Life

Our prayers are with @krauthammer

If you read one thing today, let it be this: “I leave this life with no regrets.”https://t.co/vrlT5eFOzC

— Conservative Review (@CR) June 8, 2018

"I'm just really happy that he has put this out so that he can see how much the world loves him and how much he changed the world."

On 'The @dailybriefing,' @BretBaier discussed the release of Charles Krauthammer's letter discussing his cancer diagnosis. https://t.co/DvQty021V0 pic.twitter.com/Vphd9xgeg5

— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 8, 2018

If you haven’t watched this special on Charles @krauthammer — and you have some time Give it a view. https://t.co/nnWG4TvHjV

— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) June 8, 2018

From the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer writes:

I leave this life with no regrets. It was a wonderful life — full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.

Charles Krauthammer had a profound impact on me.

Although this is certainly not the news I wanted to hear, I'm glad he shared this.

Every life will come to an end. It's nice to know that he is happy with the life he lived.

Trump's Speech in Poland

Remarks by President Trump to the People of Poland | July 6, 2017

Krasiński Square
Warsaw, Poland



Reaction:

Gutfeld on Trump’s speech in Poland | Fox News Video https://t.co/jvcEFOGByE

— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) July 7, 2017

My experience yesterday in Poland was a great one. Thank you to everyone, including the haters, for the great reviews of the speech!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2017

Krauthammer: Obama, Cuba, and Appeasement

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: You mentioned Obama in '08.

Well, this is what he said in '08: 'I will maintain the embargo.'

And he said for precisely the reason that we have cited here today: 'It provides us with leverage to provide the regime with a choice. If you take significant steps towards a democracy, we will take steps to begin normalizing relations' - which is the consensus that the country has had for 50 years.

There was not an ounce, there was not an inch, there was a not a suggestion of an opening here. So, this is a contradiction.

It's about, this administration, that everywhere it meets a tyrant, whether it's Putin in Russia and we abandon the missile defense system in Eastern Europe and get nothing in return; we do a START treaty which is advantageous to the Russians and does nothing on our part; or with Iran where Obama refuses to support the revolution in 2009 and appears to be relaxing sanctions and giving away the store on nuclear weapons.

Is there no tyrant or anti-American center in the world that Obama will not appease for nothing in return? If you get something in return, I'd be willing to listen. I haven't seen anything.

There is no tyrant or anti-American center in the world that Obama will not appease.

Krauthammer: Obama's Abuse of Power

Charles Krauthammer believes that Obama knows he is abusing his power as president. Obama just doesn't care. He knows he's disregarding the Constitution. Obama has no problem with that.

I agree. Obama doesn't care about the Constitution.

Obama is beyond arrogant.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: If this were a Republican, he'd be impeached now over all of these abuses.

Krauthammer: Obama, the VA, and 'Elementary Competence'

The VA scandal is really going to test the Leftist media and other Obama hacks.

Are they going to turn a blind eye to this scandal as well, and give Obama a pass yet again?

Apparently, the abuse of our vets doesn't faze them.

Charles Krauthammer gets down to brass tacks when commenting on Obama and the way he manages his string of scandals and failures.

From The Right Scoop:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: He acts as if – and this is the same with the IRS, with the eavesdropping on the AP and all these other scandals with the Obamacare launch – as if he stumbled upon the presidency and discovered all this horrible stuff his happening.

He’s in charge of these departments. At some point you’ve got to ask where has he been and where is the competence, the elementary competence he promised when he ran in 2008?

It is incredible just how shameless these Leftists are. They are willing to ignore anything in order to prop up Obama.

We're talking about our vets here!

Michelle Obama and "Dr." Jill Biden are always yapping about caring for our veterans.

What a load!

If the government can't manage the VA properly and provide adequate care for our vets, it's crazy to believe ObamaCare will function effectively.

The fact is Obama is a horrible president, worse than Jimmy Carter. This administration is unbelievably awful.

By refusing to acknowledge that reality, Leftists lose all credibility.

Obama's 'Equal Pay' BS Explained

I agree with George Will. Obama is intellectually incompetent.

Krauthammer: ObamaCare 7.1 Million - Phony Number

Obama the Clown

Obama continues to play the clown.

"Sanctions" on a few individuals???

Good grief!

Charles Krauthammer nails it.



Putin is loving this.

Come on, Obama. Man up!

Krauthammer is right. This is humiliating.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: If he thinks that sanctioning seven Russians out of a population of, what, 150 million is a sanction, he’s living in a different world.

Banana Republic President

Enough is enough.

What Obama is doing is not OK.

He can't rewrite the LAW as part of his daily routine.

For years, Charles Krauthammer has used the term "banana republic" to describe Obama's arrogance and his lawlessness.

Video examples here and here and here.

Yesterday, Krauthammer reiterated his designation of Obama's behavior as the stuff of a banana republic.

The Right Scoop has video and a transcript:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: But generally speaking you get past the next election by changing your policies, by announcing new initiatives, but not by wantonly changing the law lawlessly. This is stuff you do in a banana republic. It’s as if the law is simply a blackboard on which Obama writes any number he wants, any delay he wants, and any provision.

It’s now reached a point where it is so endemic that nobody even notices or complains. I think if the complaints had started with the first arbitrary changes — and these are are not adjustments or transitions. These are political decisions to minimize the impact leading up to an election. And it’s changing the law in a way that you are not allowed to do.

"This is stuff you do in a banana republic. It’s as if the law is simply a blackboard on which Obama writes any number he wants, any delay he wants, and any provision."

The United States is not a banana republic, but Obama rules as if it is.

I've said this again and again, but can you imagine how the Leftists would react if President George W. Bush behaved this way?

Obama's lawlessness is unacceptable.

Mitt Romney wouldn't be pulling this crap.

Thanks, Republicans and conservatives who sat out the 2012 election and delivered a second term to the banana republic president, Obama. Way to go.

Syria Regime Change

Jay Carney insisted Obama is not considering regime change as an option in its response to Bashar Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people.



Charles Krauthammer points out that it's pointless to attack Syria if the goal is not regime change.

From Noel Sheppard, MRC:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It’s precisely because of all of those unknowns that if you're going to cross the line, you're going to cross the Rubicon and enter into the war by killing people, by launching cruise missiles as the administration is clearly about to do, that is do something, not just as an expression of outrage, you know, as a kind of a show of Obama’s conscience. If you're going to actually cross the line, with all of the possible consequences you’ve outlined, which could be serious, then have a strategic effect.

We don't hear that. We heard Carney say this isn't about regime change. Well then it’s a pointless exercise. If it’s going to be an attack, what it should be aimed at, as General Keane was explaining, having the objective of weakening the regime, of stopping Assad who is now winning this war, and giving the rebels a chance of winning or weakening Assad.

Imagine the effect on the rebels who have been abandoned. Nobody’s helped them up until now. And the word now from Washington loud and clear is the Americans are going to act. This is a country that took down the Taliban in 100 days, took down Saddam in Iraq, who had been in power 30 years, took him down in three weeks. We have the capacity to take away the air assets of this regime. If we are going to have an attack, it should be aimed at that, and if it’s not, we shouldn't be doing anything.

I agree with Krauthammer.

Krauthammer: Geithner's 'Insulting' Deal (Video)

Charles Krauthammer gives his take on the "fiscal cliff" deal offered by Timothy Geithner yesterday.

Here's video:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It's not just a bad deal. This is really an insulting deal. What Geithner offered, what you showed on the screen, Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and he had lost a civil war.

The Democrats have won by three percent of the vote and they did not hold the House. Republicans won the House, so this is not exactly unconditional surrender, but that's what the administration is asking of the Republicans.

This idea there not only are no cuts in this, there's an increase in spending with a new stimulus. I mean, this is almost unheard of. I mean, what do they expect? They obviously expect the Republicans will cave on everything. I think the Republicans ought to simply walk away.

The president is the president. He's the leader. They are demanding that Republicans explain all the cuts that they want to make. We had that movie a year and a half ago where Paul Ryan presented a budget, a serious, real budget with real cuts.

Obama was supposed to give a speech in which he would respond with a counter offer. And what did he do? He gave a speech where he had Ryan sitting in the front row. He called the Ryan proposal un-American, insulted him, offered nothing, and ran on Medi-scare in the next 18 months. And they expect Republicans are going to do this again?

The Republicans are going to walk on this, and I think they have leverage. Yes, for Congressional Democrats, it will help them in the future if Republicans absorb the blame, because we're going to have a recession.

But Obama's not running again, unlike the Congressional Democrats. He's going to have a recession, 9 percent unemployment, 2 million more unemployed, and a second term that's going to be a ruin.

I do find Obama's cockiness and arrogance and flat-out incompetence to be stunning.

I can't help but think of what might have been.

Everything would be so different right now if Romney and Ryan had won.

Charles Krauthammer: Obama Policy Collapse, Middle East Meltdown

Charles Krauthammer offers his analysis of what's happening in the Middle East and why.

He holds Obama accountable.

Accountability - What a concept!

Here's video:



Transcript:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: What we're seeing on that screen is the meltdown, the collapse of the Obama policy on the Muslim world.

The irony is that it began in Cairo, in the same place where the speech he made at the beginning of his presidency in which he said you wanted a new beginning with mutual respect - implying that under other presidents, particularly Bush, there was a lack of mutual respect, which was an insult to the United States, which had gone to war six times in the last twenty years on behalf of oppressed Muslims in Kuwait, in Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.

So to imply that we somehow had mistreated the Muslims, which was the premise of his speech, and how the Iraq War had inflamed the Arab world against us, well, there was no storming of the U.S. embassy in Cairo in those days. What we're seeing now is al Qaedistan developing in Libya; a meltdown of our relations with Egypt; we've got riots in Yemen; attacks on our embassy in Tunisia.

This entire premise that we want to be loved and respected, we're going to apologize, has now yielded all of these results and these are the fruits of apology and retreat and lack of confidence in our own principles.

Krauthammer is exactly right.

We're seeing the fruits of Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East.

This Nobel Peace Laureate has shown just how terribly he miscalculated. Obama the brilliant has shown himself to be so wrong it's scary.

Obama's plan of appeasement and apology failed.

The recent events in the Middle East reveal his administration in all its incompetence.

Obama has given the American people a clear choice in the upcoming election.

Do we want to stick with his failed "peace through weakness" plan?

Do we want to blame America first (and last and all times in between)?

If we do, Obama should get four more years, years most likely filled with more attacks like the one on 9/11, 2012.

Cairo and Obama

UPDATE: Well, well, well.

Here's a shocker: Obama Administration Distances Self From Statement Issued by US Embassy in Cairo.

The Obama administration today distanced itself from a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

...An administration official tells ABC News that “no one in Washington approved that statement before it was released and it doesn’t reflect the views of the U.S. government.”

Yeah?

Well, why did it take so long for the White House to "distance itself"?

These reactions always come after the stuff has already hit the fan and it's clear Obama is suffering politically.

There's always an inexcusable delay and the delay casts doubts about the sincerity and motivation of the comments.

By the way, where's Obama's personal statement on the attacks?

Is that the big, loud-mouthed cricket living in our garage that I hear, or is it Obama?
______________

I guess Obama's grovelling in Egypt didn't work.

Arab Spring?

I don't think so.



It's clear that the Obama administration accepts the attack on our embassy in Cairo by radical Islamists.

Peace through weakness?

That doesn't work.

Does Obama enjoy seeing the walls of our embassy scaled by Islamist protesters, the U.S. flag removed from our embassy, ripped apart, and replaced with a black flag similar to one used by al Qaeda?

And what sort of statement does the embassy release? One condemning the radical Islamists?

Of course not. This is your country under Obama.

Here's the statement from the U.S. embassy:

The Embassy of the United States in Cairo condemns the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims – as we condemn efforts to offend believers of all religions. Today, the 11th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Americans are honoring our patriots and those who serve our nation as the fitting response to the enemies of democracy. Respect for religious beliefs is a cornerstone of American democracy. We firmly reject the actions by those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious beliefs of others.

An American was killed at a similar protest at our embassy in Libya.

Where's the apology for that?

I agree with Charles Krauthammer's reaction to this pathetic statement.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: That statement is an embarrassment. That's a hostage statement. That's a mob of al Qaeda sympathizers in Egypt forcing the United States into making a statement essentially of apology, on 9/11 of all days, for something of which we are not responsible.

I would issue a statement saying to the mob, 'Go to hell.' The way America works, the way a democracy works, is that everybody has a right to express themselves. We don't police our speech and you ought to apologize to the United States for storming an embassy, and the violation of the ultimate sacred principle of democracy, which is protecting embassies and missions abroad. For the U.S. to, what, essentially, issue a veiled apology, I think is disgraceful.

Yes, it's disgraceful.

We're in Obama's world now.

We need Mitt Romney in the White House.

Obama embraces the Muslim Brotherhood while he abandons Israel.

Nice way for Obama to commemorate 9/11.

Krauthammer: Obama's Flexibility Doctrine

Charles Krauthammer discusses Obama and "The 'Flexibility' Doctrine."

"On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this can be solved, but it’s important for him [Vladimir Putin] to give me space. . . . This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility."

— Barack Obama to Dmitry Medvedev, open mic, March 26

You don’t often hear an American president secretly (he thinks) assuring foreign leaders that concessions are coming their way, but they must wait because he’s seeking reelection and he dares not tell his own people.

Not at all, spun a White House aide in major gaffe-control mode. The president was merely explaining that arms control is too complicated to be dealt with in a year in which both Russia and the United States hold presidential elections.

Rubbish.

Obama's secret whispers to Medvedev are really amazing.

What could be more revealing and truly chilling?

...On which of “all these issues” — Syria, Iran, Eastern Europe, Georgia, human rights — is Obama ready to offer Putin yet more flexibility as soon as he gets past his last election? Where else will he show U.S. adversaries more flexibility? Yet more aid to North Korea? More weakening of tough Senate sanctions against Iran?

Can you imagine the kind of pressure a reelected Obama will put on Israel, the kind of anxiety he will induce from Georgia to the Persian Gulf, the nervousness among our most loyal East European friends who, having been left out on a limb by Obama once before, are now wondering what new flexibility Obama will show Putin — the man who famously proclaimed that the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century was Russia’s loss of its Soviet empire?

They don’t know. We don’t know. We didn’t even know this was coming — until the mike was left open. Only Putin was to know. “I will transmit this information to Vladimir,” Medvedev assured Obama.

Added Medvedev: “I stand with you.” A nice endorsement from Putin’s puppet, enough to chill friends and allies, democrats and dissidents, all over the world.

Frankly, another term of Obama scares the hell out of me.

Obama's Economic Plan - SEPTEMBER

Obama has promised to put out a specific economic plan in September.



Can you stand the suspense?



Charles Krauthammer is right. Pathetic.

Krauthammer: Tea Party Wins on Debt Deal

Charles Krauthammer gives his analysis of the debt deal - winners and losers.

Video.



Transcript

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: Our constitutional system is designed so that you can't govern controlling half a branch of the government. It's simply not done. I think the president, if this is avoided, he doesn't gain, he doesn't lose. He didn't show any leadership here. It'll be neutral.

Boehner - I think if he gets 60 percent of his caucus, he'll be OK.

The winner is the Tea Party. They have changed the debate in the country. I think they ought to do what George Aiken advocated in the worst of days of the Vietnam war - declare victory and go home.

There'll be another fight a year from now. Obama is losing it. And I think that's where the big payoff will be. And that's when the country will decide what it wants to do about debt and also about the size of government.

Krauthammer: Obama's Speech

Here's video of Charles Krauthammer's reaction to Obama's speech last night:



Transcript

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I thought I was cynical until I heard that speech. It was purely partisan. It was meant as a campaign speech, and I think it was a speech from yesterday. It has nothing to do with the current negotiations.

He's pushing the 'balanced approach,' a word which he knows is tested by his pollsters as appealing to independents. That's all that this is about. He used all the cliches that would help him with that constituency.

As Steve [Hayes] indicated, the Democrats in the Congress have already accepted it's only going to be about cuts. He's talking about the corporate jets again and again. He started his speech by blaming it all on Bush. This is now three and a half years in.

And what was so interesting is that he thought... he's talked about himself as being a new Reagan. That's how he sees himself, the liberal Reagan. Reagan could do one thing that almost no modern president could do: He could go to the nation and sway an issue. This is Obama thinking he's going to achieve that. I don't know if he's going to succeed or not, but he spoke to the American people.

Remember what he told Eric Cantor? 'You call my bluff, I'll go to the people'? That's his attempt. Let's see if it works.

Krauthammer: Obama's Speech

Charles Krauthammer slams Obama's budget speech, calling it a "disgrace."

Video and Transcript, from NewsBusters:

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I thought it was a disgrace. I thought I’ve rarely heard a speech by a president so shallow, so hyper-partisan, and so intellectually dishonest, outside the last couple of weeks of a presidential election where you are allowed to call your opponent anything short of a traitor. But we're a year-and-a-half away from Election Day, and it was supposed to be a speech about policy. He didn't even get to his own alternative until more than half-way through the speech, and when he did, he threw out these numbers suspended in midair with nothing under them with all kinds of goals and guidelines and triggers which mean absolutely nothing. The speech was really and was almost entirely an attack on the Ryan plan. And it was deeply dishonest.

BRET BAIER, HOST: Paul Ryan’s plan. The budget.

KRAUTHAMMER: Let me give you one example how dishonest it was. He went on and on about how the Republicans want to steal from your grandma to lower taxes on the rich. And he talked about the Bush tax cuts and how much he’s going to stand on the bridge and oppose any extension which is what he knows how to do. He has done it over and over for the last six years. The Ryan plan is not about the Bush tax cuts. It transcends them. It's about what the deficit, what Obama’s own commission had recommended: that you strip out loopholes and you lower the rates for everyone. It’s not about whether it should be the Bush rates or the Clinton rates. The whole new approach which the Simpson-Bowles commission had recommended itself. In fact, Bowles had recommended in one of its scenarios a high rate of 23 percent. Ryan’s is at 25 percent. Obama did this knowing that this is a way to play to his base. It was a speech that was quite remarkable in how demagogic it was, and I say that with all due respect.

Yes, Obama's speech was a complete disaster, with all due respect.

Geraldine Ferraro and Obama

Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman to be part of a major party's presidential ticket, passed away today.

Video.



Here's Obama's statement on the passing of Geraldine Ferraro:

Michelle and I were saddened to learn about the passing of Geraldine Ferraro. Geraldine will forever be remembered as a trailblazer who broke down barriers for women, and Americans of all backgrounds and walks of life. Whether it was as a public school teacher, assistant district attorney, Member of Congress, or candidate for Vice President, Geraldine fought to uphold America's founding ideals of equality, justice, and opportunity for all. And as our Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Commission, she stood up for those ideals around the world. Sasha and Malia will grow up in a more equal America because of the life Geraldine Ferraro chose to live. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her husband, John Zaccaro, her children and grandchildren, and their entire family.

Nice words from Obama.

He didn't have very nice things to say about Geraldine Ferraro when she was working on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Then, Obama attacked her.

From the Associated Press:

Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down from an honorary post she held in Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign amid a controversy regarding comments that Barack Obama wouldn't be succeeding in the presidential race if he weren't black.

Ferraro notified Clinton by letter Wednesday that she would no longer serve on Clinton's finance committee as "Honorary New York Leadership Council Chair."

Obama has called Ferraro's comments "ridiculous" and his campaign aides have called on Clinton to denounce the statement.

"I think they were wrong-headed," he said at a Chicago news conference. "The notion that it is a great advantage to me to be an African American named Barack Obama and pursue the presidency, I think, is not a view that has been commonly shared by the general public."

In a letter to Clinton, first reported by CNN, Ferraro says: "Dear Hillary, I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what's at stake in this campaign. The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you. I won't let that happen. Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren. You have my deep admiration and respect, Gerry."

..."I was talking about historic candidacies and what I started off by saying (was that) if you go back to 1984 and look at my historic candidacy, which I had just talked about all these things, in 1984 if my name was Gerard Ferraro instead of Geraldine Ferraro, I would have never been chosen as a vice presidential candidate," Ferraro said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "It had nothing to do with my qualification."

Ferraro said she has a 40-year history of opposing discrimination of all kinds, including race, and that she was outraged at criticism of her remarks by David Axelrod, Obama's chief media strategist, because he knows her and her record.

"David Axelrod, his campaign manager, has chose to spin this as a racist comment because everytime anybody makes a comment about race who is white — he did it with Bill Clinton, he was successful; he did it with (Pennsylvania governor and Clinton supporter) Ed Rendell, he was less successful; and he is certainly not going to be successful with me," Ferraro told CBS' "The Early Show." "He should have called me up ... He knows I'm not racist."

Geraldine Ferraro was not racist. The Obama campaign knew that, but that didn't stop Obama from playing the race card.

When reading Obama's comments on her death, I think it's worth remembering how Obama treated her in life. Remember that to become president Obama and his aides were willing to say despicable things and disparage the character of this wonderful woman.

(Read Charles Krauthammer's October 2008 column, "Who's Playing the Race Card?")

Ferraro was a trailblazer and an inspiration.

My prayers are with her family and friends.

May she rest in peace.