Back to Basics

Whether or not Obama’s bungling of the Solyndra mess involved criminal or unethical behavior is a question that must, and presumably will, be answered as a result of Congressional and internal inquiries which have been launched into the entire mess.

However, one thing seems perfectly clear: This administration lacks the business acumen and judgment needed to invest taxpayer money in a prudent, wise manner.

Indeed, scoring political points and rewarding large campaign donors may have been greater priorities than exercising due diligence.

One remembers that, back in February of 2009, newly-installed President Obama warned Congress that passing his almost one trillion dollar stimulus bill was so urgent that it simply could not wait. Congress was urged to pass the stimulus bill immediately, literally on blind faith alone.

That “Pass this Bill Now!” urgency in 2009 appears to have been a major reason for the overall failure of the stimulus bill, and in particular the disastrous results of the Solyndra loan guarantee.

Congress must not repeat the mistake of caving into another ‘Pass This Bill Now!’ rant from President Obama.

The last thing America needs is to waste even more taxpayer treasure on a progressive fairy tale pushed by a naïve community organizer!

My latest syndicated column was inspired by Five for Fighting singer/songwriter John Ondrasik’s tweet this morning suggesting that President Obama invite former President Bush to join him at Ground Zero on Thursday. Late tonight, word spread that just such an invitation was reportedly extended.

Unfortunately, Bush has apparently declined. Given how Paul Ryan was treated upon his Obama unity invitation, you could hardly blame him.

But as my column spells out today, I wish President Bush would reconsider. It’s a missed opportunity for President Obama to move the country forward and upward beyond the pre-9/11, Bush Derangement Syndrome-wracked morass that so many of his fellow travelers would return to in a heartbeat.

Perhaps President Obama will throw in more than just an obligatory nod to his predecessor on Thursday in his absence.

Imagine every “I” replaced with “We.”

Hope^TM lives.

Related: Nobody does libspoof better than Iowahawk. Here’s one of his best ever.

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Obama’s unity call: Show, don’t tell
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2011

In the spirit of post-bin Laden peace, love, and harmony, President Obama has asked all Americans to “harness” national good will and stand together. The commander-in-chief could practice what he preaches — by inviting President Bush to stand with him at Ground Zero in New York City on Thursday.

It would be an extraordinary – dare I say “unprecedented,” to borrow one of Obama’s favorite words? — act of political maturity, good faith, and transcendent unity against our common jihadi enemies. Tonight, some reported that Obama had invited Bush — who declined. If that’s true, Dubya needs to change his mind — for America’s sake.

Stay with me, folks. Suspend your disbelief, cue John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and wave your olive branches in the air like you just don’t care. Now, picture the uplifting, patriotic, post-partisan scene:

Side by side, the Democratic commander-in-chief and his GOP nemesis would join hands at the former site of the World Trade Center towers; pay heartfelt tribute to the thousands of victims of Osama bin Laden here at home and around the world; and pledge continued support for our military, intelligence, and homeland security personnel at home and around the world.

President Bush would graciously reiterate his congratulations to President Obama for a “momentous achievement” in “the fight against terror.”

President Obama would sincerely reiterate what he told Capitol Hill lawmakers at a dinner Monday night: “Obviously we’ve all had disagreements and differences in the past. I suspect we’ll have them again in the future. But last night, as Americans learned that the United States had carried out an operation that resulted in the capture and death of Osama bin Laden, we you know, I think we experienced the same sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. We were reminded again that there is a pride in what this nation stands for, and what we can achieve, that runs far deeper than party, far deeper than politics.”

And then, instead of merely paying lip service to this renewed sense of unity, Obama would actually lead from the front.

Calvary Chapel, Mission Viejo, April 9, 2011

Okay, the pictures below are from last night’s screening and presentation of Pamela and Robert’s film, “The Ground Zero Mosque – The Second Wave of the 9/11 Attacks.” The crowd in attendance was mostly baby-boomers and retirees. But folks were passionate and very receptive of the program. This was the first time I’d seen the whole thing through. (I saw the first 10 minutes of the movie at CPAC.) It’s an excellent documentary which deserves a wide screening. And during the Q & A, Pamela and Robert again developed their theme of combating the lamestream media’s enabling of sharia at home. Of course Pamela’s talk was outstanding as usual. She reminded the audience that if we want to preserve our country and our security, we have to do it ourselves. “When you wake up in the morning, after rubbing the sleep from your eyes, ask yourself what are you going to do today to save the republic?” She got lots of applause. And for good reason. It’s shocking sometimes to see things in their totality, but the movie does that, illustrating what’s essentially media malpractice — and then Pamela and Robert bring it all home at the wrap-up discussion. Now, while Pamela was pleased to report that so far not a brick has been laid at the Cordoba Mosque, er, Park51 initiative, the battle is far from over. And Another protest is planned for Ground Zero on September 11th. We’re going to need it. See, for example, the lastest whitewash on the Hamas-backing Ground Zero developer Sharif El-Gamal at the April 5th Los Angeles Times, “The Man Behind the Manhattan Mosque.”
 

 

 

 

 

More later …

Bloomberg and other politicians are quick to forget this scene from September 11, 2001. Photo: NY Daily News

A public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption has obtained documents from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office that reveal his administration was instrumental in helping Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, his wife Daisy Khan and their partner Sharif el-Gamal obtain approval for a massive mosque and “community center” to be built in the shadow of Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“Peel away [Mayor] Bloomberg’s sanctimonious pronouncements, he is no different than the other politicians eager to sellout their own country and its people in order to garner more power,” said former New York police official Bill Fitzgerald. “With all due respect, Bloomberg should care more about the horrible snow removal scandal and the rising debt than about Americans’ objections to building a mosque at Ground Zero.

The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch as a result of its attorneys open records request and related lawsuits, include email correspondence between top officials inside the Mayor’s office and supporters of the Ground Zero Mosque, a project spearheaded by the Rauf-led Cordoba Initiative.

Among the highlights:

• A May 10, 2010, email from Daisy Khan, listed as Executive Director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, to Fatima Shama, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs: “Is there a good time to chat tomorrow. We need some guidance on how to tackle the opposition.”
• A letter supporting the Ground Zero Mosque drafted by Nazi Parvizi, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, to Julie Menin, Chairman of Manhattan’s Community Board 1, which had considered a resolution supporting the mosque. Parvizi crafted the letter for Daisy Khan’s signature, asking the board to temporarily withdraw the mosque resolution due to public outrage over the project. Parvizi described the purpose of the letter in a May 15, 2010, email: “What the letter will do, I hope, is get the media’s attention off everyone’s backs and give you guys time to regroup on your strategy as discussed…”
• A legal review of the Menin letter sent to the Mayor’s office by Rauf on May 15, 2010. The letter contemplates the impact withdrawing the Community Board 1 resolution could have on the effort to de-designate the mosque site as a historical landmark at a June 22, 2010, Landmark Commission meeting, thus allowing the project to move forward: “The Borough President (and Councilmember Chin) have a firm policy at speaking up at public agencies only after the community board has taken a position on an item. So withdrawing the resolution may affect their thinking about how helpful they can be on June 22.

Image courtesy WABC-TV New York

The “fix” was in from the start. The majority of New Yorkers and Americans have known that New York City Imam Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a staunch supporter of the Islamic center and mosque proposed for construction within the shadow of destruction of the 9/11 attacks. Now, thanks to a suit filed against the recalcitrant mayor to disclose correspondence related to his involvement in the proposed construction, Judicial Watch obtained e-mails that illustrates just how much inluence Bloomberg exerted behind the scenes on behalf of the Cordoba Initiative.

A WABC Channel 7 report details the mayoral meddling in this report. Yet another news report published by the New York Daily News disclosed that NY Community Affairs Commisioner Nazli Parvizi actually drafted a letter on behalf of Daisy Khan, the wife of Cordoba Initiative’s head Imam Rauf to send to the community board ahead of their vote on the project.

The e-mails illustrate how the mayor’s office ran active interference against the media, to buy time for the mosque planners so they could regroup and refine their strategy. After confirming the depth and breadth of the mayor’s rabid support to see that the mosque project succeeds, a logical question would be whether it is merely his philanthropic nature  driving his passion for the project.  To find the answers, you don’t have to look much farther than Bloomberg’s increased business dealings in the Middle East Islamic world. Just follow the money.

During his annual Ramadan dinner this past August at Gracie Mansion, New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg told his audience that there should be no compromise, insisting that a mosque be built near Ground Zero regardless of the fact that almost 70 percent of Americans oppose such a structure so close to the site of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. With two key organizers of the mosque in the audience — Daisy Khan, wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and developer Sharif el-Gamal, of Soho Properties — Bloomberg said moving ahead with the project would exercise the freedoms envisioned by the Founding Fathers.

Attorneys for a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption filed a petition on Thursday with the New York State Supreme Court to compel New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office to comply with a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request regarding contacts between the Mayor’s office, Ground Zero Mosque Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, and controversial Muslim organizations.

The backers of the Ground Zero Mosque have virtually no money, one of the group’s leaders says, and plan to create another nonprofit organization that would further complicate the already labyrinthine financial network surrounding the project, according to a report by the Investigative Project on Terrorism.

Federal tax records show Rauf and his associate Daisy Khan direct the two groups supporting the mosque project – the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA). Those two organizations, along with Soho Properties, which owns the site of the proposed mosque and community center, are coordinating the project, wrote IPT’s Steve Emerson.

The Washington, DC-based Judicial Watch is seeking the following information pursuant to its open records request filed on August 9, 2010:

– All records of communication between the Office of the Mayor and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf concerning the Cordoba Initiative’s proposed Cordoba House project.

– All records of communication between the Office of Mayor Bloomberg and any of the following entities:

1.      Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR);

2.      Islamic Society of North America (ISNA);

3.      International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT);

4.      American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA);

5.      American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC);

6.      Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

On August 19, 2010, Mayor Bloomberg’s office acknowledged receipt of the request and indicated a response would be forthcoming in 20 days.  After the Mayor’s office failed to respond by its self-imposed deadline and to a subsequent administrative appeal, Judicial Watch filed its petition yesterday with the New York Supreme Court.

The Cordoba Initiative, led by Imam Rauf, plans to build a 13-story mosque and community center in the shadow of Ground Zero, the site of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Prepare to be righteously outraged.

As if it isn’t enough that slumlord and terrorist apologist Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his cadre of associates are rubbing salt in a still-gaping American wound through his plans to erect an iconic symbol of Islamic conquest in the shadows of the former World Trade Center, the Cordoba Initiative (as it was once known) is asking you, the American taxpayer, to subsidize it.

An application for a $5 million in federal grant money was reportedly made on or about November 5, 2010 with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) by Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the Ground Zero mosque and Rauf associate.

The LMDC was formed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks by former Governor Pataki former Mayor Giuliani to help plan the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan. It is a joint State-City corporation governed by a 16-member Board of Directors, half appointed by the Governor of New York and half by the Mayor of New York.

They have yet to be awarded any funding by the LMDC as the confidential review process is still underway. Nonetheless, the mere fact that El-Gamal and his associates applied for grant money is raising some eyebrows. Congressman Peter King (R-NY), the presumptive new chairman  of the House Homeland Security Committee called it “absolutely disgraceful,” and added that “[i]t goes entirely against the spirit of the fund” in an interview with Fox News. “It’s an affront to the memory of all those who were murdered on 9-11. There are so many worthwhile projects in lower Manhattan.  This shows a gross insensitivity to the most fundamental feelings of New Yorkers and to those murdered on 9-11 it is a slap in the face that is a terrible insult.”

The grant application was submitted under the Lower Manhattan Community and Cultural Enhancement Program that is administered by the LMDC. That program was established “to provide up to a total of $17 million in grants through a competitive process to not-for-profit and government organizations engaged in cultural or community programs or projects.” The “Ground Zero mosque project is asking for nearly a third of the available money. Will they get it? Some of it? All of it? It’s indeed possible, according to research and interviews I’ve conducted this week.

A source close to a member of the LMDC General Advisory Council confirmed that an application “was submitted and met all of the criteria for consideration.” Additionally, “the applicants were extremely careful to structure the grant application to include the request for only the portion of the proposed structure that will not be used for religious activities.” This source stated that there is serious consideration being given to awarding at least some of the requested funds, although “there is some additional financial information needed from the applicants that has yet to be received.” Continue reading Financial jihad at Ground Zero

At the direction of some of the principal planners of the Islamic cultural center at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan, Muslims from across the five boroughs of New York and New Jersey are quietly being urged to attend Friday prayer services that are being held at the former Burlington retail store on Park Place.  This is being done to deceptively inflate Muslim demographics in lower Manhattan while creating a misleading but convincingly effective visual display of the need for the center.

This tactic is currently being used in Paris, as shown in this CBN video report. An undercover French videographer captured covert video footage of Muslims lining the streets of Paris, blocking and closing off the streets as a display of their power and influence. According to his observations, the Muslims engaged in these activities are not indigenous to the area. He has observed vehicles filled with Muslims coming from different parts of the city to purposely swell the numbers.

During the course of my investigation, I interviewed a long-time business owner located in close proximity to the planned Islamic center on Park Place. He told me that ever since the opposition to the Islamic center became public, the numbers of prayer participants at the intended site has increased dramatically. “A year ago, there was hardly any foot traffic to and from [Park Place].  Within the last few months, I’ve seen cars and other vehicles with out of state license plates parking at various lots and the men walking to Park Place. A lot of the cars have New Jersey license plates.”  In consideration of his business and fearing for his safety, he has requested that his name and address not be published.

As part of my continuing investigation into this matter, I’ve personally verified his claims. I’ve conducted surveillance of Park Place and the adjacent areas on different occasions, observing numerous vehicles bearing license plates from New Jersey and even Pennsylvania parking in nearby lots. I’ve observed the occupants walk to the Park Place location, and following the services inside, walk back to their vehicles and leave the area.

Also according to this source, the mood among the Muslims participating in the Friday services has changed dramatically within the last several weeks. “Last year, I would talk to three, maybe four Muslims, at most, after Friday prayers. They were quite reserved. Now, I see dozens of Muslims in groups and their mood, attitude, behavior and conversation is anything but reserved. It is contentious. They appear to be activists on a mission,” he stated.

Meanwhile, there are those who continue to assert that the proposed “victory mosque” is neither a mosque nor located at “Ground Zero.” They also cite the existence of a simple, chapel like prayer room from Muslims that existed within one of the World Trade Center towers well before the attacks on 9/11 in their argument favoring construction.  They are “technically” correct on both counts, but like the visual display of Muslim demographics in lower Manhattan, their assertions are deceptive and disingenuous at best.

Three years ago Reverend Lennox Yearwood was comparing the captured Al Queda and Taliban terrorists to civil rights heroine Rosa Parks, and demanding the shutdown of Guantanamo Bay. But last year Reverend Yearwood was conducting a conference call on behalf of the Obama Administration laying out plans to turn the commemoration of the terrorist attacks of September 11th into a “National Day of Service”.

While there is nothing wrong with giving blood, picking up trash off the sidewalks or serving as a volunteer dance instructor– some of the projects listed by the official 911 Day of Service website, they are not what the commemoration of 9/11 is about. They are instead a deliberate attempt to drain the day of its meaning, to obscure the tragedy with feel good sentiments about the environment and community projects that do not address the meaning of September 11.

9/11 was indeed a Day of Service, but not the sort of generic service that the Obama Administration has in mind. It was a day when police officers and firefighters rushed up story after story, through thick choking smoke and weighed down by their equipment in the hopes of saving lives. Many died. Some are still dying now, year after year. That was their service.

It was a week when volunteers with little protection went to help sort through the rubble in the hopes of finding bodies under the melted steel and fallen ash. A week when people stood waiting with food and drink outstretched for the rescue workers. It was a year when New Yorkers who had never thought of serving joined the United States military to fight for their country. To fight against those who had carried out the attacks, and would carry out more if they were not stopped.

That is the service of 9/11. It is a service that the likes of Lennox Yearwood, who continues to campaign for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, or the rest of the anti-war radicals associated with the Obama Administration, want Americans to forget in favor of generic volunteerism. Forget the dead and clean up some trash, is the new motto of the day. Service without sacrifice and without meaning. A day when the nation was attacked, when a people rose to show their courage, robbed of its soul. A soul that belongs to all those whose eyes cloud, whose heart aches and whose fists clench over the memory of that day.

9/11 is not a day to pick up trash in the park. It is a day for remembering that we are at war and why we are at war. It is a time to recall that there are enemies around us who wish to kill us, and that there are soldiers and police officers who bravely stand between us and our killers. The demilitarization of 9/11 is part of the deliberate demilitarization of America. If 9/11 was a call to arms, the new 9/11 “Day of Service” is a call to recycle your soda cans.

Despite the fact that former President G.W. Bush said we are at war with “terrorism” and Obama says the U.S. is “not at war with Islam,” it is more than apparent to anyone paying attention that Islam is at war with America and has been for several decades.

Take, for example, Obama’s endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque—formerly called the Cordoba mosque to honor the Muslim conquest of Spain for seven centuries and then renamed Park 51 to mask its true intent.

During his most recent press conference, Obama compared a mosque to a synagogue, a church, or a Hindu temple. In doing so he ignored fourteen centuries of Muslim history in which, wherever they conquered, they went out of their way to build their mosques where former churches or temples existed. In India alone, they did this more than two thousand times to obliterate Hindu temples or shrines.

The Muslim conquest of what was then known as Palestine resulted in the Al Aqsa mosque on arguably the most holy site in Jewish history. Its gleaming golden dome dominates the skyline of Jerusalem to this day.

There is an important reason why the proposed mosque should not be built near Ground Zero and that is because mosques around the world are often places where hatred of unbelievers is preached and where attacks are planned.

Obama counts on American’s general ignorance of Islam and on the nation’s long tradition of tolerance. By contrast, in practice Islam has no tolerance of religions other than Islam.

A case in point is the way “Cordoba House” changed its name to Park 51 which is odd since the address of the location is 45–47 Park Place, but look to the Koran, the battle plan for Islamic conquest, to understand the new name for this project. Koran chapter 51, verses 45-47 suggests the real story:

51:45 And they were unable to arise, nor could they defend themselves.
51:46 And [We destroyed] the people of Noah before; indeed, they were a people defiantly disobedient.
51:47 And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander.

Obama, a former student of Islam when he was a boy living in Indonesia, has never made a secret of his affinity for Islam and, as his first actions following his inauguration revealed, he was intent on “building bridges” to Islam in the Middle East.

His first television interview was with Al Arabia and his first major international speech was in Cairo. Recently we learned that the director of NASA was given a new priority that has nothing to do with the exploration of space, but rather as “outreach” to Muslim nations.

Little wonder, then, that many Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, especially since his first endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque occurred in a speech given at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan.

There have been more terrorist attacks and attempted attacks in the United States during Obama’s first year and a half in office than in the preceding Bush administration.