Romney V.P. Nominee Paul Ryan Calls Out Obama on Abortion, Poverty

◼ link - USNews&WorldReport

Obama's refrain that Americans are "all in this together" sounds hollow "coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born," Ryan said.

He also said that while President Clinton-led Democrats sought to make abortions "safe, legal, and rare," Obama stands for "an absolute, unqualified right to abortion--at any time, under any circumstances, and even at taxpayer expense."

"We don't write anyone off in America, especially those without a voice. Every child has a place and purpose in this world," Ryan said. "Everyone counts, and in a just society the law should stand on the side of life."

Dinesh D'Souza has had a big week. Not only has his latest book, "Obama's America: Unmaking the American Dream," climbed to No. 2 on the New York Times' best-seller list. His movie based on the same book, "2016: Obama's America," has become the highest-grossing political documentary of all time, behind only Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

◼ D'Souza Gets Boffo Results By Exploding Obama Story

D'Souza: It shows a real hunger for information on Obama. There's a sense we haven't got the full story on this guy. Lots of people in the media think it's morally important that Obama be reelected. They will highlight positive information (about the president) and downplay or dismiss negative information. The result is people aren't getting the full picture.

So when people see the film, there's almost a sense of an epiphany, like: "Wow! There's all this stuff about Obama. Why haven't I been reading this in the New York Times and seeing it on the network news?" So the film has become a real weapon, if you will, in the information battle about Obama.

IBD: What do you think are the most compelling facts in the book and movie?

D'Souza: What has proved to be the devastating aspect of this film and also my book is the fact that they explode the official Obama stories...

Mr. President: It's time to show up for work

Weekly Republican Address 9/15/12: Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Rasmussen: Romney Leads By 2

◼ With only seven weeks to go in the presidential campaign, Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney up by 2 points over President Barack Obama in a nationwide sampling of voters. - Newsmax

◼ Married Voters Strongly Back Romney - Gallup

Married registered voters prefer Republican challenger Mitt Romney over Democratic President Barack Obama by 54% to 39%, according to Gallup data collected from June to August. On the other hand, nonmarried voters break strongly for the president over Romney, 56% to 35%.

◼ Obama’s convention bounce begins to fade - Washington Times

Gallup’s seven-day tracking survey, which showed as much as a 7-point lead for Mr. Obama in the middle of last week, is down to a 3-point lead as of Saturday.

That’s in line with the Real Clear Politics average of polls, which gave Mr. Obama a 3.1-point lead this past weekend. Still, every post-convention poll shows the president in the lead, save for one by Rasmussen Reports that gives Mr. Romney a 1-point advantage.

HOW OBAMA--AND THE MEDIA--LOST EGYPT

◼ PART 1: HOW OBAMA--AND THE MEDIA--LOST EGYPT - Virgil/Breitbart's BIG Peace
◼ PART 2: Western Media Allows for Infringments on Free Speech Abroad
◼ PART 3: HOW OBAMA--AND THE MEDIA--LOST EGYPT, AND ISRAEL, TOO
◼ PART 4: PART IV -- OBAMA, EGYPT, AND ISRAEL: NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON, FIFTY YEARS LATER

◼ Call Obama's Dire Foreign Policy Carter 2.0 - IBD Editorial

NYT Sent Unpublished Columns to the Obama Administration for Vetting

◼ link - Clay Waters /Newsbusters

"I support an “all of the above” energy policy, in direct contrast to Dianne Feinstein’s “none of the above” agenda that blocks exploration, increases regulation, and undermines innovation." Elizabeth Emken

_______________

Elizabeth Emken is endorsed by the California Republican Party and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Political Action Committee, ◼ More__________________
Elizabeth Emken

WHITE HOUSE MUST STOP SONY FROM RELEASING 'KILLING BIN LADEN' FILM

◼ Now that the White House and State Department have made clear that they believe movies compel terrorists to terrorize, it's time for them to get ahead of this problem. And one thing the White House can do immediately is to pressure Sony to stop the release of director Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty," which celebrates the killing of Osama bin Laden. - John Nolte/Breitbart

I'm only saying this because, you know, the White House and the media told me movies inflame and cause terrorism.

Think about it: if the poorly produced and laughably bad trailer for "The Innocence of Muslims" results in chaos, murder, and the burning of foreign outposts all throughout the Middle East, how much rioting and mayhem is a big-budgeted, slickly produced, Oscar-bait blockbuster celebrating the death of the leader of al-Qaeda going to cause?

Moreover, an excuse Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not be able to use in the case of "Zero Dark Thirty" (as she did with "Innocence of Muslims") is the cowardly and self-righteous claim that the federal government and the Obama White House had nothing to do with "Zero Dark Thirty."

Because the federal government and the Obama White House had everything to do with "Zero Dark Thirty."

As we now know, in an effort to get this glitzy in-kind contribution (tens of millions of dollars) up on the screen in time to affect the election, it was the Obama Administration that gave the filmmakers tons of encouragement and a troubling amount of access to all kinds of classified material....



◼ 'Zero Dark Thirty' Secret emails reveal how Obama backed bin Laden film to help win reelection: White House reminded filmmakers it wanted to 'have visibility' in the film so it could bask in the glory of bin Laden's death - Daniel Bates/Daily Mail

Zero Dark Thirty was originally set for release before the election in November, potentially giving President Obama an unfair boost to his popularity.

But following an outcry the release date was moved back until after the poll, even though trailers have already been released by Sony.

The new documents show discussions taking place before the row erupted and were unearthed after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch, a right wing website.

◼ With Obama policy crumbling, White House blames movie for Mideast unrest - Byron York/Washington Examiner
◼ Standing Athwart Sony Yelling ‘Stop’ - Ed Driscoll/PJM
◼ Obama shoots the First Amendment, aims later - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ Google Rejects White House Request to Pull Muhammad Film Clip - Newsmax

'Zero Dark Thirty' Secret emails reveal how Obama backed bin Laden film to help win reelection

◼ White House reminded filmmakers it wanted to 'have visibility' in the film so it could bask in the glory of bin Laden's death - Daniel Bates/Daily Mail

Zero Dark Thirty was originally set for release before the election in November, potentially giving President Obama an unfair boost to his popularity.

But following an outcry the release date was moved back until after the poll, even though trailers have already been released by Sony.

The new documents show discussions taking place before the row erupted and were unearthed after a Freedom of Information request by Judicial Watch, a right wing website.

◼ NEW BOOK: BIN LADEN WAS ALREADY DEAD...

A firsthand account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden contradicts previous accounts by administration officials, raising questions as to whether the terror mastermind presented a clear threat when SEALs first fired upon him.
Bin Laden apparently was shot in the head when he looked out of his bedroom door into the top-floor hallway of his compound as SEALs rushed up a narrow stairwell in his direction, according to former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette, writing under the pseudonym Mark Owen in “No Easy Day.” The book is to be published next week by Penguin Group (USA)’s Dutton imprint.

◼ Contradicts Obama's account
◼ FLASHBACK: 'Firefight'

State Department to press: Stop asking us about the sacking of Benghazi consulate

◼ The US insists that the death of an American ambassador and three others in Benghazi resulted from a riot spinning out of control over a cheesy YouTube video. The Libyan government insists that the operation that sacked the consulate and assassinated the four diplomatic personnel was a well-planned plot that exploited the rioting. Who to believe? Whatever you think, don’t bother asking the State Department, because they have told the media they’re done discussing it: - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

◼ The State Department told reporters Friday afternoon that it won't answer any more questions about the Sept. 11 attack on the consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans until the investigation into the incident is complete. - The Cable/Foreign Policy

◼ Fox News military analyst Col. David Hunt told Breitbart’s Michael Patrick Leahy that the security policy for all Libyan diplomatic missions was determined last year after the fall of Moammar Qaddafi, and signed by Hillary Clinton — and that it “severely compromised” the safety of the diplomatic staff:

◼ Hunt told Breitbart News that the new State Department Rules of Engagement for Libya, approved and signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton since the 2011 fall of Khadafi’s regime, severely compromised the safety and security of murdered Ambassador Stevens and all American diplomatic staff in Libya. - Michael Patrick Leahy/Breitbart

He also stated that the decision not to staff Benghazi with Marines was made by Secretary of State Clinton when she attached her signature to the State Department Rules of Engagement for Libya document. Breitbart News has subsequently learned that under those rules of engagement, Secretary Clinton prohibited Marines from providing security at any American diplomatic installation in Libya.

Hunt told Breitbart News that “the rules of engagement have been changing drastically over the last 10 years. . . The reason the surge in Iraq worked was we had another 40,000 soldiers and the rules of engagement were changed to allow our guys to shoot. What’s happened in Libya is the final straw of political correctness. We allowed a contractor to hire local nationals as security guards, but said they can’t have bullets. This was all part of the point of not having a high profile in Libya.”

According to Hunt, the debacle at the American mission in Benghazi is directly the result of Obama’s new policies. ”The policy of the Obama administration led to this,” he said.

◼ SHOCKING: Libyan Mob Attack Kills Four, Including U.S. Ambassador
UPDATE: ‘Full-Blown … Crisis’
UPDATE: Hey, MSM, No Fair Shouting Questions at President Gutsy Call - The Other McCain

AS WORLD BURNS, OBAMA PARTIES WITH BEYONCÉ

◼ President Barack Obama is collecting $1.4 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party at a fundraising event in Washington. - AP/Sacramento Bee

The event Friday night, at a private residence in the nation's capital, attracted 35 donors who each contributed $40,000.

The event capped a day marked by the return of the remains of four Americans killed in Benghazi, Libya, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. The president attended the ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base.

Shortly before the fundraiser, the president attended political meetings at Democratic Party headquarters.
◼ Beyonce, Jay-Z to host fundraiser for Obama at swanky New York nightclub - Washington Post
◼ While the world is engulfed in Islamist ragefests, including the storming of Western embassies across the Middle East and the evacuation of the University of Texas at Austin due to bomb threats, President Obama is doing what he does best.

He’s hobnobbing with celebrities. - Ben Shapiro/Breitbart

◼ Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave? Actually, no. Instead, the black flag of al-Qaeda flies over the U.S. embassy in Tunis. But don’t worry, when your president’s so cool he’s doing gigs in Vegas, what happens in Tunis stays in Tunis. - Mark Steyn
_________________
President Obama has reportedly missed all of his daily intelligence briefings since September 5th.

Quantitative Easing Explained

◼ US credit rating downgraded -- again... - CNBC
◼ PUMPING BLAMED... - forexlive

Already the rating agency had warned on Wednesday when it affirmed the U.S. rating at AA that “QE3 will likely trigger a negative action.”

Given that the outlook is already negative (AA-), a downgrade to AA- would be a logical next step for the rating agency.

“We are not receiving QE3 positively,” Vice President and co-manager of the ratings’ desk Bill Hassiepen told MNI Thursday, while the fiscal situation is a “nightmare.”
While the Fed is seeking to support economic growth through its quantitative easing, Hassiepen argued that the central bank’s “massive monetization” is instead causing “sluggish to stagnant economic growth.”

◼ CASH FOR BANKERS: Fed risks political fallout... Financial Times
◼ Faber: If I Were Bernanke, I Would Resign... - CNBC
◼ Ron Paul: "Country Should Panic Over Fed's Decision" - zerohedge

Ron Paul’s reaction to more Federal Reserve stimulus:

“It should not surprise anybody, but it is still astounding. To me, it is so astounding that it does not collapse the markets. [Bernanke] said, ‘We are in very big trouble. We are going to do something unprecedented and we believe it will not hurt the dollar.’ And yet the stocks, they say ‘we love this stuff.’ But the dollar didn’t do so well today and the real value of the dollar is measured against gold, and gold skyrocketed from its very low to its highest. It means we are weakening the dollar. We are trying to liquidate our debt through inflation. The consequence of what the Fed is doing is a lot more than just CPI. It has to do with malinvestment and people doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Believe me, there is plenty of that. The one thing that Bernanke has not achieved and it frustrates him, I can tell—is he gets no economic growth. He doesn’t do anything with the unemployment numbers. I think the country should have panicked over what the Fed is saying that we have lost control and the only thing we have left is massively creating new money out of thin air, which has not worked before, and is not going to work this time.”

25-second quick clip

Full 5 minute clip - must watch! from Mal-investment to Bernanke's frustration...


◼ QE3: Quantitatively Easing America Further Into Inflation - New American

'FULL-BLOWN CRISIS'

◼ The State Department has gone into full-blown crisis mode, organizing a round-the-clock effort to coordinate the U.S. government's response to the expanding attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa. - The Cable/Foreign Policy via Drudge
MOB AT US EMBASSY IN LONDON BURNS AMERICAN FLAG...
Protesters smash windows, set fires at embassy in Tunisia...
GUNFIRE HEARD AT EMBASSY IN SUDAN...
Report: German embassy in Sudan on fire...
Clashes intensify near US embassy in Cairo...
Embassies on high alert as protests spread...
MARINES CALLED IN...
Crowd in Lebanon torches KFC...
__________________WH: Protests not directed at US...
'We're very proud of the president's record on foreign policy'...
FLASHBACK: The Day I'm Inaugurated Muslim Hostility Will Ease...
__________________◼ ROUND UP: Islamists Worldwide Setting Countries on Fire - William Bigelow/Breitbart
◼ REPORT: HILLARY IGNORED WARNINGS - Ben Shapiro/Breitbart

Today, the Independent is reporting shocking details about the attack on the Libyan consulate that resulted in the death of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. The details are so explosive that they will result in a Congressional investigation. In fact, they’re so explosive that they should result in the resignation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The only question now: What did Hillary Clinton know, and when did she know it?

Yesterday, we reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was responsible under the law for the “security policies and programs that provide for the protection of all US government personnel … on official duty abroad.” Clinton herself seemed bewildered by the attacks on the Libyan consulate, asking, “How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction?”

But according to the Independent, she had no reason to be puzzled. Quoting senior diplomatic sources, the paper reports, “the US State Department had credible information 48 hours before mobs charged the consulate in Benghazi, and the embassy in Cairo, that American missions may be targeted.” Nonetheless, “no warnings were given for diplomats to go on high alert and ‘lockdown,’ under which movement is severely restricted.”

It gets worse.

◼ AMERICA ATTACKED ABROAD - Exra Dulis/Breitbart

President Obama has reportedly missed all of his daily intelligence briefings since September 5th.

Paul Ryan: “We Need Peace Through Strength” (Video)

◼ With the Middle East on fire, Paul Ryan was asked some foreign policy questions in this interview with Greta Van Sustern, Wednesday night. - Nice Deb

Greta asked Paul Ryan what he would be thinking about the radical Islamic uprising in the middle east if he were the Vice President.

Ryan answered, “We need peace through strength. Our adversaries who are tempted to test us, need to know that America is strong militarily, that we’re not going to have these devastating defense cuts, that I think questions the resolve and the strength of our military, and the President needs to speak with force and clarity for our principles.”

Steyn on Obama’s Las Vegas ‘performance’: ‘Every American should be ashamed of their president’ [AUDIO]

◼ On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday night, National Review columnist Mark Steyn, author of “After America: Get Ready for Armageddon,” said President Barack Obama gave an embarrassing performance Wednesday during his campaign swing through Las Vegas, Nev., in the wake of attacks on U.S. diplomatic stations in Libya and Egypt. - Jeff Poor/Daily Caller

“Nobody, no novelist would attempt to do anything so crass after this man is dragged through the streets — after he is killed, dragged through the streets of Libya, God knows what’s happened to him if you believe some of the worst stories out there. And then the guy goes to Vegas. Why not just do it at Caesar’s Palace with a bunch of showgirls? Every American who’s watching, regardless if you’re Democrat or Republican, if you’re not embarrassed by the buffoon who’s serving as President of the United States after that performance last night, there’s something wrong with you.”

NO MARINES FOR LIBYAN AMBASSADOR, FULL SECURITY DETAIL FOR VALERIE JARRETT VACATION

◼ Ambassador Chris Stevens did not have a Marine detail in Benghazi, Libya. But White House Senior Advisor and Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett has a full Secret Service detail on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, according to Democratic pollster Pat Caddell.
Ben Shapiro/Breitbart

That’s the pathetic foreign policy of the Obama administration, says Caddell today in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News. “Jarrett seems to have a 24 hour, around the clock detail, with five or six agents full time,” Caddell explains. “The media has been completely uninterested. We don’t provide security for our ambassador in Libya, but she needs a full Secret Service security detail. And nobody thinks there’s anything wrong with this. And nobody in the press will ask. What kind of slavish stoogery are they perpetrating here?

“This country has reached the point of absurdity. There are people dead because we don’t have security details for them. But she’s privileged to have a full Secret Service detail on vacation?”

Caddell points out that Americans are already unhappy with President Obama on foreign policy aside from the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Caddell, along with Republican pollster John McLaughlin, runs Secure America, a nonpartisan advocacy group. “We’ve just finished two polls coming out in the field today,” says Caddell, “but we already know that people feel strongly about Iran; they feel strongly about the administration’s policy with regard to Islamic extremists. They don’t like the Obama administration’s handling of these issues. And this election won’t only be about the economy. The American people aren’t stupid. They can walk and chew gum at the same time.”

CFRW changes official ballot position on Prop 31 to OPPOSE!

CFRW Ballot Recommendations

Prop 30- Governor Brown’s Tax Increase: NO
Prop 31- State Budget Initiative Constitutional Amendment: No position OPPOSE
Prop 32- Stop Special Interests! Paycheck Protection: YES
Prop 33- Auto Insurance Coverage Prices: YES
Prop 34- Elimination of Death Penalty: NO
Prop 35- Human Trafficking Penalties: YES
Prop 36- Three Strikes Law Revise: NO
Prop 37- Genetically Engineered Food Labeling: NO
Prop 38- Molly Munger Tax Increase: NO
Prop 39- Multistate Business Tax: NO
Prop 40- Redistricting State Senate Districts: YES

Krauthammer on Arab Turmoil: What We're Seeing Is the Meltdown, The Collapse of Obama Policy

◼ DER SPIEGEL: 'Obama's Middle East Policy is in Ruins' - Der Spiegel

The conservative Die Welt writes: "US President Barack Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins. Like no president before him, he tried to win over the Arab world. After some initial hesitation, he came out clearly on the side of the democratic revolutions. … In this context, he must accept the fact that he has snubbed old close allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian military. And now parts of the freed societies are turning against the country which helped bring them into being. Anti-Americanism in the Arab world has even increased to levels greater than in the Bush era. It's a bitter outcome for Obama."

"Obama was naive to believe that one only needed to adopt a new tone and show more respect in order to dispel deep-seated reservations about the free world. In practice, the policies of the Obama administration in the region were not as naive as they may have seemed at times, and the Americans have always been much more involved in the Middle East than the passive Europeans. But Washington has provided the image of a distracted superpower in the process of decline to the societies there. This image of weakness is being exploited by Salafists and al-Qaida, who are active in North Africa from Somalia to Mali."

"One thing is clear: If jihadists believe they can attack American installations and kill an ambassador on the anniversary of Sept. 11, then America's deterrent power has declined considerably. For a superpower, it is not enough just to want to be loved. You have to scare the bad guys to keep them in check."

...The mass-circulation daily Bild writes:

"Naked hatred is raging against a country that many people in the world regard as a symbol of freedom. When US flags burn, embassies are vandalized, and diplomats are murdered, it is an attack on the West, and not just America!"

"We rooted for the demonstrators at Tahrir Square, and many of us have longed to see democracy in the Arab nations. But democracy includes honoring the lives of fellow humans."
"The turmoil in Libya, Cairo, and Bangladesh is a return to the Middle Ages, when people were beheaded and stoned to death. No pathetic anti-Islam film can justify hate-filled murder."

"The West must be tough on terrorism. And it must show that it can differentiate between rabble-rousers and peaceful Muslims."

◼ Obama’s Great Islamist Delusion has come home to roost - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ If it’s Friday in the Muslim world, it’s time for another Islamic Rage Boy riot!!!! - Michelle Malkin

If the president does not consider Egypt either an ally or an enemy, it is perhaps best to hold off on the $1 billion-plus aid package until he can determine which, of any category, it belongs in.

◼ Ally, Enemy, or None of the Above? - Victor Davis Hanson/National Review

PAPER: U.S. WARNED OF EMBASSY ATTACK BUT DID NOTHING

◼ Revealed: inside story of US envoy's assassination, America 'was warned of embassy attack but did nothing' - Independent.co.uk

◼ Sensitive documents go missing... The killings of the US ambassador to Libya and three of his staff were likely to have been the result of a serious and continuing security breach, The Independent can reveal.

American officials believe the attack was planned, but Chris Stevens had been back in the country only a short while and the details of his visit to Benghazi, where he and his staff died, were meant to be confidential.

The US administration is now facing a crisis in Libya. Sensitive documents have gone missing from the consulate in Benghazi and the supposedly secret location of the "safe house" in the city, where the staff had retreated, came under sustained mortar attack. Other such refuges across the country are no longer deemed "safe".

Exposed: Names of Libyans who are working with Americans...
Was 'revenge for drone strike'...
'There were 400 attackers'...
◼ Krauthammer’s Take on Hillary: ‘Meltdown at the State Department’ - Eliana Johnson/National Review
◼ Third and fourth victims of the attack on US consulate in Libya identified; both were former Navy SEALs - Twitchy
◼ CARTER CORRECTS OBAMA... - Dan Loesch/Breitbart's BIG Peace

President Carter spoke to Drake University in Des Moines and was asked if he agrees with what Obama said about Egypt:
Carter: "Egypt is an ally of the US, we know Egypt well."
President Obama had earlier stated during an interview: Obama: 'Ya know, I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we do not consider them an enemy.'

Anti-American protests spread to Iran...
FEDERAL AUTHORITIES OUT ANTI-MUSLIM FILMMAKER...
AP: 'Not immediately clear' if he's being investigated...
FBI Warns of Violence in America...
REPORT: Marines not permitted live ammo at embassy in Egypt...
◼ Mobs Storm US Embassies in Yemen, Egypt - Newsmax
◼ THE LIBYAN SCANDAL DEEPENS - John Hinderaker/Powerline

54 Days

Report: U.S. Marines defending the American embassy in Egypt were not permitted by the State Department to carry live ammunition, limiting their ability to respond to attacks like those this week on the U.S. consulate in Cairo.

◼ Marine blogs say U.S. embassy did not authorize service members to carry ammo - Washington Free Beacon

Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson “did not permit U.S. Marine guards to carry live ammunition,” according to multiple reports on U.S. Marine Corps blogs spotted by Nightwatch. “She neutralized any U.S. military capability that was dedicated to preserve her life and protect the US Embassy.”

U.S. officials have yet to confirm or comment on the reports. Time magazine’s Battleland blog reported Thursday “Senior U.S. officials late Wednesday declined to discuss in detail the security at either Cairo or Benghazi, so answers may be slow in coming.”

If true, the reports indicate that Patterson shirked her obligation to protect U.S. interests, Nightwatch states.

“She did not defend U.S. sovereign territory and betrayed her oath of office,” the report states. “She neutered the Marines posted to defend the embassy, trusting the Egyptians over the Marines.”

The second 9/11 illustrates futility of groveling for peace

◼ Forgive President Obama if he seemed a bit shell-shocked during his brief statement Wednesday on the murderous attack against an American consulate in Libya. In June 2009, he had grand plans for harmony between East and West. In a celebrated speech delivered in Cairo, Obama spoke earnestly about the need for the West and the Muslim world to look past old hostilities and suspicions. - Washington Examiner Editorial

And then on Tuesday night, his grand vision came crashing down.

...When he laid out his vision in Cairo, Obama spoke of himself as uniquely qualified to bring about rapprochement. "I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed," he said. "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't."

...On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Americans have seen what all this has accomplished: exactly nothing. Despite his promises, and all of his promise as an American president with family ties to the Islamic faith, Obama has utterly failed to change the Muslim world. He has done nothing to alter Arabs' and Muslims' negative views of Americans. He has made no progress whatsoever toward peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

There is nothing wrong with a president mouthing sweet nothings to the Islamic world. But there also comes a point when Americans must recognize them for the nothings they are.

Kirstin Powers UNLOADS on Obama and Media After Mideast Embassy Attacks

The nation is in the midst of a profound national security and foreign policy crisis, and the American people deserve to know why their government was asleep at the switch--as well as what the position of the political opposition is. Yet the mainstream media is trying to quash that critical discussion and debate. Not even the fact that free speech itself at stake is enough to move them to outrage at events rather than at Mitt Romney.

◼ MSM REPORTERS CAUGHT ON OPEN MIC PLANNING ATTACK ON ROMNEY - JOEL B. POLLAK/Breitbart

Breaking Bad: California vs. the Other States

◼ Here’s a depressing but documented comparison of California taxes and economic climate with the rest of the states. The news is breaking bad, and getting worse (twice a month, I update crucial data on this fact sheet) - Richard Rider/Fox&Hounds

◼ California has the 2nd worst state income tax in the nation...
◼ CA has the highest state sales tax rate in the nation...
◼ CA corporate income tax rate (8.84%) is the highest west of the Mississippi (our economic competitors) except for Alaska...
◼ CA has the highest gas tax (tied with NY) in the nation at 67.7 cents/gallon...
◼ California in 2009 ranked 15th highest in per capita property taxes (including commercial) – the only major tax where we are not in the worst ten states. But CA property taxes per owner-occupied home were the 10th highest in the nation in 2009...
◼ CA has now instituted the highest “cap and trade” tax in the nation...
◼ California’s 2012 “Tax Freedom Day” (the day the average taxpayer stops working for government and starts working for himself) is the 11th worst date in the nation...
◼ CA has the 3rd highest state unemployment rate. (July, 2012) – 10.7%.
◼ CA needlessly licenses more occupations than any state – 177...
◼ California’s 2012 Business Tax Climate ranks 3rd worst in the nation...
◼ CA public school teachers the highest paid in the nation. CA students rank 48th in math achievement, 49th in reading...
◼ 1 in 5 in Los Angeles County receiving public aid...
◼ California has 12% of the nation’s population, but 33% of the country’s TANF (“Temporary” Assistance for Needy Families) welfare recipients – more than the next 7 states combined.

DETAILS AND MUCH MORE AT THE LINK.

Netanyahu, like him or not, has a weight on his shoulders far greater than has the president of the United States. For the prime minister of Israel, it’s not the economy, stupid. It’s the preservation of his people. In other words, it’s genocide, stupid.

◼ The Democratic Party and a Second Holocaust - Roger L. Simon/PJM

At the same time as Obama is refusing or not refusing to talk with Netanyahu, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is arriving in New York for his annual pilgrimage to the UN, once more undoubtedly to spew his propaganda before the world as the centrifuges continue to whirl back in Iran, bringing the Islamic Republic closer and closer to a nuclear weapon....

How do you sleep?

I’m talking to you David Axelrod, Charles Schumer, and even you, Alan Dershowitz, who made such a big (and welcome) noise when Jerusalem, Hamas, and the “law of return” were left out of the Democratic Party platform for the first time in years and then went suddenly silent when only the first of the three was reinstated.

How about you, Rahm Emanuel, son of the Irgun and one-time volunteer with the IDF? How would you feel if a dirty nuke, slipped by the Revolutionary Guard into the hands of their buddies in Hezbollah, detonated on Dizengoff Street?

And then there’s Jack Lew, Orthodox and the president’s very own chief of staff, sometimes referred to as “The Gate Keeper” or “The Co-President.”

I could go on. There are so many more. But you get the point.... Read the rest, at the link.

Death of Ambassador Stevens Is America’s Shame, Hillary’s and Obama’s

◼ While the mainstream media was occupying itself Wednesday decrying Mitt Romney’s forthright reaction to the carnage in Cairo and Benghazi, their putative bellwether, the New York Times, ironically was busy exposing the real story. It’s clear now that if there is a disgrace in what happened at the Benghazi consulate, it has nothing at all to do with Romney and everything to do with our State Department, its chief Hilary Clinton, and her boss Barack Obama. - Roger L. Simon/PJM

...A “string of assassinations”… “awash in guns” …planted bomb… something’s wrong here. It borders on criminal negligence, indeed it crosses that border, that Ambassador Stevens would be left with such paltry security in a country so unsettled and riddled with violence as Libya. The fact these events may now be tied to al-Qaeda makes this negligence all the more unconscionable.

Rasmussen: Romney in lead 47%-46%

◼ The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 47% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns 46% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Romney has solidified the GOP vote and holds a 77-point lead among Republicans. That’s slightly larger than Obama’s 72-point advantage among Democrats.

When “leaners” are included, it’s Romney 49% and Obama 47%. Leaners are those who initially indicate no preference for either candidate but express a preference for one of them in a follow-up question.

Perhaps most significantly, Republicans are once again more engaged in the election than Democrats. Forty-nine percent (49%) of GOP voters are following the race on a daily basis. Among Democrats, just 42% are that interested. Throughout 2012, Republicans have consistently held the enthusiasm advantage. However, for a few days following the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, the president’s party caught up to the GOP on this important measure of potential turnout.

Jobless claims rise, Inflation jumps, Dollar Weakens

◼ Via Drudge
Jobless claims rise to 382,000 in latest week...
LABOR DEPT: Blame -- Hurricane Isaac?
Inflation jumps; wholesale gas up most in 3 years...
Dollar Weakens Before Fed Move... Developing...
Do insiders know ahead of time?
Barroso calls for EU 'federation'...
Italy borrowing costs plunge at auction...

Today's headlines: Israeli Arab Official Warns Of ‘Armageddon’ Over Anti-Islam Film

◼ Via Drudge
◼ Israeli Arab Official Warns Of ‘Armageddon’ Over Anti-Islam Film - CBS Washington
◼ RAGE AGAINST AMERICA - Reuters
◼ State Dept alerts travelers - USA Today
◼ Protesters storm American embassy in Yemen - NYT
◼ US Flags Burned at Tunisia embassy - AlJazeera
◼ New Clashes in Cairo - Reuters
◼ Consulate in Berlin evacuated - WKRN-TV Nashville
◼ Iraqi militia threatens U.S. interests - Reuters
◼ 'The Most Serious Challenge to Obama' - Karen DeYoung and Scott Wilson/Washington Post
◼ WIKILEAKS blames US stance on Assange for embassy attack - Telegraph
◼ Al Qaeda leader urges support for ousting Syria's Assad - BBC
◼ Releases New Video of American Hostage - ABC
Obama, Romney trade tough words over attacks...
PAPER: President echoes Carter with 'shoot first' criticism...
Last U.S. ambassador killed on duty -- 1979...
FLASHBACK '08: Obama Politicized Death of 9 Troops To Ding Bush, McCain...

Polls show Romney soars with independent voters

◼ "If Romney can beat Obama among independents this time, he can win the election." - Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner

The CNN/ORC International poll of registered and likely voters released Tuesday shows likely voters favoring Obama by 52 percent to 46 percent over Romney -- evidence, pundits said, of a post-convention bump for the president.

But a figure buried in the report shows Romney leading Obama among likely independent voters, 54 percent to 40 percent....

A poll conducted two weeks ago by Democracy Corps showed Romney with a 15-point lead among independents, 53 percent to 38 percent.

Romney also appears to have an advantage over Obama when it comes to voter enthusiasm.

The CNN/ORC International poll showed Republicans leading Democrats among the most enthusiastic voters, 62 percent to 56 percent. The enthusiasm level helps determine which party will show up in greater numbers to vote.

"This Republican enthusiasm advantage has manifested itself in an unprecedented and historic grassroots effort that will have a significant impact on turnout in battleground states on Election Day," Romney campaign pollster Neil Newhouse said in a Monday memo aimed at downplaying reports of an Obama bounce.

◼ OHIO IS NECK AND NECK - William Bigelow/breitbart

Two new polls indicate that contrary to the media hype, Ohio is now a toss-up between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. The American Research poll, conducted between September 10-12, showed Obama ahead 47% to 46%. The latest Rasmussen poll shows exactly the same numbers.

There are positive subtexts for Romney in both polls. In the American Research poll, independents favored Romney by a whopping margin, 53% to 37%. This bodes well for Romney with those who remain undecided. In the Rasmussen poll, voters said they trusted Romney on the economy more, which will ultimately prove pivotal, but the biggest edge they gave Obama was, strangely enough, on issues of national security. With the recent violence in the Middle East revealing Obama as feckless and weak, voters may be shifting in the near future in their opinions of Obama’s capabilities on foreign policy.

Ohio is up for grabs. And after the way Obama won Ohio handily in 2008, this will probably make the Nervous Nellies in the Obama White House a little Nellier.

Michelle Malkin to White House: "These Optics Suck!!!"

◼ If you’re blood isn’t boiling, you’re not paying attention! - Michelle Malkin

And the left's response?

Egypt intelligence warns of attacks on Israel, US embassies

◼ Al-Masry Al-Youm reportedly obtained a copy of the September 4 letter, sent to all Egyptian security sectors, warning that Sinai- and Gaza-based Global Jihad cells were planning attacks on the two embassies. - Jerusalem Post

Egypt's General Intelligence Service warned that a jihadi group is planning to launch terrorist attacks against the US and Israeli embassies in Cairo, according to a report Tuesday by Egypt Independent, citing a secret letter obtained by Al-Masry Al-Youm.

◼ Why is Obama skipping more than half of his daily intelligence meetings? - Marc A. Thiessen/Washington Post, 4 days ago, September 10th.

GOP REP HAMMERS OBAMA IN SCATHING HOUSE FLOOR SPEECH: ‘IT’S AN INCONVENIENT THING TO HAVE TO BE PRESIDENT WHEN YOU REALLY ARE BEST AT RUNNING FOR OFFICE’

◼ Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) took a shot at President Obama’s foreign policy in an impassioned speech on the House floor Wednesday, slamming the administration’s response to the killings of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, by radical Islamists during an attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya. - The Blaze

...“We see people in the Middle East begin to have dreams of new Ottoman Empire where everyone will be subjected to some of what we‘ve seen happen in those countries where we helped bring about an Arab Spring that’s turned into a Winter nightmare,” he said. “This is not a time to play petty personal games, to snub leaders of friends, of allies, even when you disagree with them for heaven’s sake.”

He went on: “Take a little time from a fundraiser, take a little time that you don’t go to the golf course and meet with the leader of a country that sees hatred for its people, anti-semitism, the racism, the bigotry growing around the world, who is scared for its own existence, who can‘t be sure that we’re going to be there with them because of the actions of this administration.”

“I mean, it is an inconvenient thing to have to be president when you really are best at running for office,” he said.

The Obama Bounce Fades

◼ The post convention bounce that led to jubilation in the mainstream media has exhausted itself and Romney is coming back strongly. - Dick Morris

aving shown Obama as much as four points ahead of Romney in the immediate aftermath of the Conventions, Rasmussen now has the president down to a one point margin: Obama: 46 Romney: 45.
Instead, the fundamental flaws of the Democratic strategy are emerging: By tying the race to unrealistic expectations of economic recovery, Obama has mortgaged his re-election campaign to the dismal monthly and weekly economic data that assaults us constantly.
And the days after his convention recessed have not been good for President Obama. Instead of strong executive leadership, we are seeing a world and a country in chaos while the president campaigns.
• Libya, which we liberated at a cost of over one billion dollars and at the risk of our military men and women, now fails to protect our embassy against Islamist extremists. Our ambassador is assassinated in a terrorist attack....

Everywhere we see, in ruins, Obama’s plans for our country. His foreign policy has encouraged revolutions that have brought our worst enemies to power in the Middle East while his environmental policies have tried — fortunately without success — to limit our domestic production of energy. His education reforms have no teeth and he sits by passively as they are challenged by his own local teachers union.
Credit much of the quick end to his bounce to Romney’s ads which, right off the bat after the Democratic Convention closed, rapped Obama for trying to convince us that we are better off than we were four years ago. Obama’s campaign essentially poses the question: What will you believe — your own eyes or my speeches?
And the polls show that the spellbinding power of his teleprompter-eloquence has a shorter and shorter half life. More, at the link.

Obama’s 3 a.m. Moment?

◼ This may be Obama’s 3 a.m. moment that Hillary warned us about. Obama was not ready then and four years later he is still not ready. - No Quarter

No one listened to Hillary in 2008. Will they listen now?

◼ A Bloodless Victory - Daniel Greenfield/Sultan Knish

Obama's clean war in Libya, the one that was won by lying to the UN and then dropping bombs and flying away while ragged bands of fighters whittled away what was left of the decrepit Libyan military, doesn't look so clean anymore. The bloodless victory has seen its first blood shed as those same fighters coddled and protected by American jets and drones tore into the temporary consulate set up to liaise with the rebels, set it on fire and dragged the body of the ambassador who had helped their rebellion succeed through the streets while posing for snapshots with his corpse.

Those four dead Americans in Libya won't be the last casualties because there is no such thing as a bloodless victory....

Our technology is quite impressive. We can send a drone from around the world to take out a car winding around a dusty track in the north of Yemen. And a mob of savages can break into our consulate, use low tech firebombs to torch it and drag the body of an ambassador who died of smoke inhalation into the street and take photos of him with smartphones and then upload those photos to the internet in a fraction of a second.

That's the problem with technocrats who imagine that technology makes things simple and clean. It doesn't, it just makes everything happen that much faster. The same technology that has given us incredible firepower and reach has also brought the enemy and their propaganda that much closer. The society that can produce massive amounts of smartphones is also the one that produces massive amounts of bleeding hearts that pine for a bloodless victory and turn on the cause at the first drop of blood.

Technology does not make war cleaner and neither do ideals. The Chicago Progressives thought that they could fight a cleaner war by keeping the occupation out of it. They were wrong. They chose to use locals to guard a consulate that was not fortified so as not to upset or alienate the locals with a show of force. And now the Marines are coming to Libya and drones will patrol the country for Jihadist camps. Libya is becoming Iraq, just as Iraq became Afghanistan and Afghanistan became Somalia and every conflict fought against savages on civilized terms recapitulates the same terms of the same war whose lessons have still not been learned.

As the photos of the ambassador's body showed up on the news, somewhere in the White House, fresh off the campaign trail, Obama probably rubbed his forehead, looked at the bloody mess and wondered where something as simple and clean as removing Gaddafi while letting the locals run the show had gone so wrong.... Always a MUST READ. More at the link.

DAY 3: No formal talks with striking Chicago Teachers Union...

◼ Did they meet? CPS says no, union says yes - Chicago Sun-Times

At fundraiser in Vegas, Obama tells crowd, ‘We had a tough day’

◼ While President Obama faced criticism for campaigning in Las Vegas the day after four Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, he did acknowledge the crisis early in his remarks, referring to “the tough day we had today” amid cheers from supporters - Twitchy

◼ Priorities! 4 dead, personnel evacuated from Libya and Obama hits Vegas, baby!; Updated - Twitchy

Video: Obama criticizes Romney for politics of Libya statement while headin’ off for campaign fun in Vegas

◼ link - Allahpundit/HotAir

I kind of like that he’s going through with the campaign rally tonight — held in America’s quintessential vacation destination, no less — just because it helps further expose the media’s fake outrage over Romney’s statement this morning for the concern-trolling fraud that it is. If they really cared as much about “optics” as they pretended to a few hours ago, they’d destroy him over the callousness of a big rally in Sin City while people are wondering what the hell happened yesterday in Libya....

Here’s O chatting with CBS this afternoon by accusing the most famously cautious presidential candidate in recent U.S. history of being a “shoot first, aim later” kind of guy. Question for CBS: Did you ask him any questions about the security failures in Benghazi yesterday? If so, why isn’t his answer to that being circulated as the clip du jour instead of this dial-tone critique of Romney?



Update: This is actually happening, guys. You’re not dreaming. We live in a country where “serious” political media is actually pushing this meme:

Chris Matthews: The tragedy in Benghazi that cost Ambassador Stevens his life has been overshadowed by the desperate reach by Mitt Romney
— Hardball (@hardball) September 12, 2012

◼ How the media turned Obama's foreign policy bungle into a Romney gaffe - Philip Klein/Washington Examiner

AMERICANS KILLED IN LIBYA: ATTACK 'COORDINATED'

◼ Drudge headlines tell the story:
◼ American Ambassador 'Suffocated To Death' - Matt Vasilogambros/National Journal

Later on Wednesday, Obama administration officials told the New York Times they believed the attack did not spontaneously spin out from protests, but had been planned ahead of time. Militants holding machine guns and rocket propelled grenades raided the embassy at night, as shown by a Reuters video, setting fire to the compound and eventually killing four personnel. Stevens died of suffocation, while the three other personnel were killed by gunshot wounds, CBS News reports.

◼ **WARNING** **GRAPHIC PHOTO** - New York Post
◼ REPORT: No Record of Obama Attending Intel Briefings Week Before Attack - Breitbart/Big Peace
Romney campaign links attacks to failed Middle East policies...
White House gave 'mixed signals'...
Senator: Attacks 'have the markings' of al Qaeda revenge...
Mobs with guns and rocket-propelled grenades...
Marines Headed to Libya to Reinforce Security...
REPORT: Ex-Gaddafi forces responsible...
FLASHBACK: Hillary Clinton boast on Gaddafi: 'We came, we saw, he died'...
MOB STORMS EMBASSY IN CAIRO...
TEAR DOWN AMERICAN FLAG...
BLACK FLAG RAISED...
'There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger'...
Original apology post from the U.S. Embassy...
Photo: Egyptian rioters were wearing Guy Fawkes masks...
Al Qaeda Releases New Video of American Hostage...
US EMBASSIES IN ALGERIA, TUNISIA ON ALERT...
Warning spread to embassies in 7 countries...
Years of warning about embassy security preceded Libya attack...
CALLS TO STRIP FUNDING FROM EGYPT, LIBYA...
Open mic catches reporters coordinating questions for Romney...
REPORT: Egypt orders legal action in US against Prophet film makers...
BIDEN: Slain diplomats 'as courageous as any of our warriors'...
OBAMA: I Value Your Work Because I Spent Time Abroad as Kid...
OFF TO VEGAS...
CONVENTION BOUNCE GONE: O 46% R 45%...

MSNBC host: Hey, let’s prosecute filmmaker Jones as accessory to ambassador’s murder

◼ If you’re thinking about prosecuting someone for non-violent speech because of the violent reaction of others, then you might be an idiot. - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Whatever else one thinks of Jones, he has the right to oppose Islam and to make films that take a critical look at Mohammed. Our freedom of speech — and in this case, of religious practice through comparative criticism — does not get trumped by rioting mobs on the other side of the globe. It’s perfectly fine for people to criticize Jones and his efforts — that’s also free speech — but calling for his prosecution for his speech and religious practice defies everything for which the First Amendment stands.

One might think that journalists would know this better than anyone else … but apparently not, at least not the journalists on MSNBC.

Update: Maybe they should take some lessons in journalism from Timothy Dalrymple, because it’s not clear that Jones has anything to do with the film anyway:

Somehow the name of Terry Jones, the once-obscure fundamentalist Floridian “pastor” who made headlines around the world with his determination to burn copies of the Koran, gets mixed into this. The curious thing? It’s not exactly clear that Terry Jones had anything to do with it. The Coptic blogger, Sadek, had recently met Terry Jones and joined him in an anti-Islamic protest in Washington in June. Beyond that, it’s unclear whether Jones knew of the film or intended to promote it, until now.

But don’t let that stand in the way of calls for a blasphemy trial for Jones.

Gov. Jerry Brown signs pension reform bill

◼ Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 340 in Los Angeles this morning, making changes to the pension system for state and local government employees. - Sacramento Bee

"This is the biggest rollback to public pension benefits in the history of California pensions," Brown said in a statement. "We're lowering benefits to what they were before I was Governor the first time and reducing costs by up to $55 billion in PERS and billions more in other local pension systems. Under the new rules, employers and employees alike are going to contribute their fair share of the costs, resulting in a more sustainable system."

The legislation caps benefits, increases the retirement age, stops abusive practices and requires state employees to pay at least half of their pension costs.

Mitt Romney Remarks and Q&A on Libya and Egypt Embassy Attacks - September 12 2012

◼ UPDATE: Romney Defends Free Speech, Not Obama - White House Dossier

◼ Radicals attack US embassy, Obama apologizes. Will Romney speak out? (UPDATE: Romney speaks out) - Byron York/Washington Examiner
◼ Romney: Obama administration response to embassy attacks 'disgraceful' - Byron York/Washington Examiner
◼ Romney is right: In embassy incidents, Obama administration's first instinct was to sympathize with attackers - Byron York/Washington Examiner

◼ Obama Remarks on Killings in Libya - White House Dossier

Watch the Trailer that Makes Muslims Murder Innocent Americans

◼ Filmmaker Sam Bacile in hiding after anti-Muslim film sparks violence in which American diplomat was killed - FOX



An Israeli filmmaker based in California went into hiding Tuesday after his movie attacking Islam’s Prophet Muhammad sparked angry assaults by ultra-conservative Muslims on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya, where a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed.

Speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, writer and director Sam Bacile remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that the 56-year-old intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion.

Protesters angered over Bacile’s film opened fire on and burned down the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others on Tuesday. In Egypt, protesters scaled the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and replaced an American flag with an Islamic banner.

“This is a political movie,” said Bacile. “The U.S. lost a lot of money and a lot of people in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’re fighting with ideas.”

Bacile, a California real estate developer who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew, said he believes the movie will help his native land by exposing Islam’s flaws to the world....

Bacile's film was dubbed into Egyptian Arabic by someone he doesn't know, but he speaks enough Arabic to confirm that the translation is accurate. It was made in three months in the summer of 2011, with 59 actors and about 45 people behind the camera.
The full film has been shown once, to a mostly empty theater in Hollywood earlier this year, said Bacile.

55 days

Emken pulls an Eastwood against Feinstein

◼ Feinstein shouldn’t have taken umbrage at the question, which was an obvious one. It’s one The Times has put to the senator as well, as Emken points out. - Michael McGough/LA Times

The debate continues over whether Clint Eastwood’s performance with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention was an inspired improvisation or an age-induced embarrassment. But one Republican candidate seems to find the empty chair a useful image.
Under the heading "Empty Chair Update" in an email, Elizabeth Emken, the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate in California, is pointing journalists toward a TV interview in which her Democratic opponent Sen. Dianne Feinstein walks away after being asked if she would debate Emken -- leaving an empty chair!

◼ Here's the link. It doesn’t show Feinstein to advantage.

◼ Elizabeth Emken: Running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and the odds - Patt Morrison/LA Times
◼ Face your rival, Sen. Feinstein, It would benefit voters to hear both candidates articulate their positions on important issues. - LA Times
_______________

Elizabeth Emken is endorsed by the California Republican Party and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Political Action Committee, ◼ More__________________
Elizabeth Emken

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO LIBYA, 3 OTHERS, KILLED IN ATTACK

◼ The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed as they rushed away from a consulate building in Benghazi, stormed by al Qaeda-linked gunmen blaming America for a film that they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad. - Reuters

The attack raised questions about the future U.S. diplomatic presence in Libya, relations between Washington and Tripoli, the unstable security situation in post-Gaddafi Libya and whether more protests might take place in the Muslim world.

◼ **WARNING** **GRAPHIC PHOTO** REBELS PARADE CORPSE...◼ Via Drudge

◼ Obama's Going to Las Vegas - CNS

Before he leaves, the schedule indicated, Obama will "deliver a statement" in the White House Rose Garden at 10:35 a.m., the White House said.

Canada to revoke citizenship from 3,100 people

◼ Canada has begun revoking citizenship from 3,100 people that the government said obtained it fraudulently, the country's immigration minister said Monday. - AP

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that in most of the fraud cases, applicants paid a representative to prove they were living in Canada to establish residency when they were, in fact, living abroad.

Permanent residents must reside in Canada for three out of four consecutive years before applying for Canadian citizenship. To retain their status as permanent residents, they must live in Canada for two out of five years, with rare exceptions.
Criminal investigations by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Border Services Agency have found that a family of five could pay over $25,000 over four or more years to create the illusion of Canadian residence.

The Hope And The Change - Official Movie Trailer

9-11-12: US Embassies Attacked, One American Dead, Obama Team Slams Romney

◼ Nothing is so clear as to the focus of the Obama campaign as their reaction to today’s attacks on American embassies that have resulted in evacuations and the death of one State department official. For hours ◼ report (image source) after report came in about the attacks, and no word from the Obama camp was forthcoming. - SooperMexican

The US Embassy in Cairo released a statement apologizing for any offense against Muslims by anyone ever. Then they stood by their condemnation of those insulting their attackers. Then the White House pulled the rug from under them and said their condemnation was not supported by the administration. ◼ Now the embassy deleted their statements.

Meanwhile, Hilary Clinton condemns the death of the State Department official, and nearly comes close to apologizing herself.

And all this time, nothing official from Obama.

Finally, the release a statement soundly and firmly condemning… Mitt Romney.

◼ From TPM:

“We are shocked that, at a time when the United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a political attack,” Obama’s campaign press secretary Ben LaBolt said in a statement.

◼ State Dept. Confirms Death In Libya; Romney Attacks ‘Disgraceful’ White House - Talking Points Memo

Mitt Romney seized on the embassy attacks as an opportunity to condemn Obama’s “disgraceful” handling of the situation in a statement late Tuesday. Despite the embassy’s assertion that its statement was drafted before protests began, Romney slammed the White House for turning to apologies as the “first response” to violence.

“I’m outraged by the attacks on American diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and by the death of an American consulate worker in Benghazi,” he said. “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.”

*9-11-12: US Embassies Attacked, One American Dead, US Apologizes to Attackers, Obama Team Slams Romney http://bit.ly/Op3qtA #forward

White House declines Netanyahu request to meet with Obama; Announces Letterman appearance

◼ 'WAIT FOR WHAT? WAIT UNTIL WHEN?' - Washington CBS

“The world tells Israel, `Wait. There’s still time,’” Netanyahu said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press. “And I say: `Wait for what? Wait until when?’ Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel.”

USA and Israel in open feud... ◼ link
◼ White House declines Netanyahu request to meet with Obama - Haaretz

The White House declined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request on Tuesday to meet U.S. President Barack Obama during a UN conference in New York at the end of the month.

◼ 'Schedule Full'

Earlier, the Obama administration labeled as inaccurate reports in the Israeli press that Obama refused to meet with Netanyahu during the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“They’re simply not in the city at the same time,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an e- mailed response to questions.

◼ OBAMA ANNOUNCES LETTERMAN APPEARANCE ON DAY HE SNUBBED NETANYAHU - Christian Toto/Breitbart

President Barack Obama will be visiting one of his biggest fans soon - late night talker David Letterman.

The president will chat with the "Late Show" host during a trip to New York City next week, according to the National Journal. Letterman's nightly monologues mostly spare the president from satirical ribbing, saving his most cutting remarks for the Romneys ... or even former President George W. Bush.

The news comes on the same day Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he couldn't meet with him due to a scheduling conflict.

◼ President Obama chats Pitbull, Medicare with 'Pimp with the Limp' DJ Laz - Miami Herald

WE WILL NEVER FORGET: INCREDIBLE PICS SHOW WORLD TRADE CENTER TRIBUTE LIGHTING UP NIGHT SKY

The tribute will shine the night of Tuesday, Sept. 11 over New York, eleven years after the terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Forty luminaria are placed at the wall of names in memory of the 40 passengers and crew of United Flight 93 at the Flight 93 National Memorial at sunset on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 in Shanksville, Pa. Tuesday marks the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

◼ Many more pictures at The Blaze

Unreal: Mob storms U.S. Embassy in Cairo; Embassy releases statement, tweets apologies for hurt Muslim feelings; Update: Embassy will continue ‘criticizing bigotry’

◼ US Embassy Cairo @USEmbassyCairo 11 Sep 12: We condemn the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims

◼ Cairo protesters scale U.S. Embassy wall, remove flag - USA Today

Reuters reports that protesters tried to raise a black flag carrying the slogan: "There is no god but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger."

The news agency says about 2,000 protesters have gathered outside the embassy and about 20 have scaled the walls.

September 11th: “May God bring comfort to the families of the victims of 9/11 this day, and may He always bless the United States of America.”

◼ Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus and RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day released the following statement on the eleventh anniversary of September 11th:

“Today we pause to remember those we lost eleven years ago on September 11, 2001,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “In prayer and in silence across America, we will honor the innocent lives lost in senseless acts of evil. We will remember, too, the acts of selfless valor witnessed that day. From patriots on Flight 93 to the first responders who courageously worked to save their fellow Americans, the bravery in the midst of terror inspired and united a nation.”

“We owe unyielding gratitude to our military men and women who have died defending our freedom, and we continue to pray for those serving overseas. We honor all who brought justice to those who brought hate to our shores, and we remain committed to a strong national defense against the terrorists and extremists who to this day seek to do us harm.”

“We all remember that dark day, where we were and what we were doing,” said RNC Co-Chair Sharon Day. “But we also remember the lesson we learned: nothing can destroy the American spirit. If we remain steadfast in our defense of liberty, our children will inherit a more peaceful world.

“May God bring comfort to the families of the victims of 9/11 this day, and may He always bless the United States of America.”

President Obama WEEKLY ADDRESS: Coming Together to Remember September 11th

◼ Remarks of President Barack Obama - whitehouse.gov

◼ The Distortion of 9-11-01 as a Day of Service and Patriot Day – We Are Zombies! - Maggie's Notebook
◼ Obama's Plan to Desecrate 9/11 - Matthew Vadum/American Spectator

The Obama White House is behind a cynical, coldly calculated political effort to erase the meaning of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks from the American psyche and convert Sept. 11 into a day of leftist celebration and statist idolatry.

This effort to reshape the American psyche has nothing to do with healing the nation and everything to do with easing the nation along in the ongoing radical transformation of America that President Obama promised during last year’s election campaign. The president signed into law a measure in April that designated Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, but it’s not likely many lawmakers thought this meant that day was going to be turned into a celebration of ethanol, carbon emission controls, and radical community organizing….

◼ President Obama used his Weekly Address on Saturday to remember the 9-11 Terrorist Attacks on America. In his address he does not mention God once. - Jim Hoft/Gateway Pundit

The White House website posted video of Michelle Obama in Botswana on a 9-11 tribute page.

◼ #NeverForget 9-11: Remembering 9-11, and victim Peter Edward Mardikian - Sister Toldjah
◼ 9/11: The Heart of the Matter - Wake up America
◼ September 11 2012, a letter to my North American friends - Daniel in Venezuela
◼ 9-11 Its Aftermath, Eleven Years On - Wolf Howling

9/11

On Tuesday, September, 11, 2012, we pause to remember the horrific and tragic events of September 11, 2001. We mourn the loss of over 3,000 American lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who continue to grieve.

Towers In Twilight

◼ In the first few years it seemed as if they were still there, stark lines rising into the sky, tall shadows falling on the streets, a missing space that your eyes filled in without even thinking. You walked past, and your eyes said, "Of course they're there. They're always there" and for a moment you saw them as they were, grey ghosts of steel rising above the rubble. You saw the city as it was and then you remembered that city is gone. - Daniel Greenfield/Sultan Knish

Tonight and the night before as the towers of light cast blue beams across the sky, we remember but memory is a destructive medium. Each year the memories grow fainter. At lunch counters people ask each other where they were that day and exchange stories. But the stories grow fainter each year and the memories of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge or stumbling through the ash or handing out sandwiches to rescue workers have grown dimmer too.

This was the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. How many people are still moved by that date, how many less so than were in 1822 or 1862? The anniversaries that we hold on to are the ones that mean something to us. And what does September 11 mean to us? What did it mean to us eleven years ago and what does it mean to us now?