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Donald Trump Has Decided To Run… In His Mind

In a telephone interview yesterday, Donald Trump broke the news that he will seek the presidency… in his mind that is.

In my mind, I have already decided,” Trump, 64, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I am going to announce. But I can’t do anything until the show ends.

Trump said he will focus on “making our country rich and respected,” by creating jobs, boosting the economy and stopping China and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries from taking advantage of the U.S.

Many people have already concluded that The Donald is not running. They call his stunt over these past few weeks, a sad and pathetic attempt to garnish more publicity for his show, Celebrity Apprentice and his many financial endeavors. They point to the fact that The Donald has pulled this stunt before as evidence that he is simply not serious.

But what if he is? What if Trump is intent on proving his detractors wrong and is hellbent on living up to the pompous, egotistical excuse for a man we’ve seen on exhibit in recent weeks and actually try his hand at running  for the most powerful position in the world? A position that he has absolutely no competency in ever performing?

The decision to run will be a liberal’s dream. We’re, quite frankly, not sure who will be more entertaining  – Palin, Trump or Bachmann?

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Osama bin Laden Politics

For President Obama, It’s A Promise Kept

“If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”

That line was given in a speech by President Obama in 2008 while he was campaigning for office as President of The United States. Since becoming president, Mr. Obama has not only lived up to this promise, but has authorized more drone attacks in Pakistan than the previous administration ever had. It’s been reported that these attacks, although Bin Laden was the ultimate target, resulted in other terrorists being killed.

According to a recent report by The Washington Times, “CIA drone attacks in Pakistan killed at least 581 militants last year [2009], according to independent estimates. The number of those militants noteworthy enough to appear on a U.S. list of most-wanted terrorists: two.” The report goes on to question the wisdom of these increased attacks, stating “despite a major escalation in the number of unmanned Predator strikes being carried out under the Obama administration, data from government and independent sources indicate that the number of high-ranking militants being killed as a result has either slipped or barely increased.”

But it will appear now, that the Administration was acting on “actionable intelligence.” And on Sunday, that intelligence paid off;

“Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Mr. Obama said. “A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.”

I’ve heard it said that while the rest of the political pundits and talking heads play checkers, the President is actively engaged in a game of chess. Chalk this one up as a checkmate against Osama Bin Laden.

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Chris Wallace Featured United States

Michele Bachmann Caught Like A Deer In The Headlights

The ‘Michele Bachmann’s A Joke Show’ continues, this time, in friendly territory. But even there, on the Foxnews Network, Michele Bachmann – another wanna be Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential campaign – couldn’t answer a question truthfully.

The conversation below is about the military actions in Libya.

Interviewed by Chris Wallace of Fox, Michele was put on the spot. Caught like a deer in the headlights, she appeared ill-prepared and quite frankly, ill-informed on the most basics of war ethics – you don’t believe what the enemy says, especially when the enemy is Qaudaffi;

WALLACE: We’re going to have Lindsey Graham on in a moment. Is he wrong when he says in fact we should get more deeply involved and in fact should take out Qaddafi? I would also like your reaction to the missile strike overnight that apparently killed some of Qaddafi’s family.

BACHMANN: Well, remember, Defense Secretary Gates said we were not attacked by Qaddafi, nor were we threatened attack. He also said we have no vital national American interest in Libya. Those are the two prerequisites for our United States military entry.

He was later asked what our military goal was in Libya. He couldn’t state what our military goal is. What in the world are we doing in Libya if we don’t know what our military goal is? And if we still aren’t sure about who the opposition forces are? What possible benefits–

WALLACE: When you say the opposition, you mean the rebels?

BACHMANN: The rebels. What possible benefit could there be for the United States if in fact we could potentially be benefiting Al Qaida of North Africa or Hezbollah, which is a very strong likelihood?

This would be a terrible mistake for this reason, because if we give Al Qaida of North Africa access to sustained revenues from oil, they could continue to fund global terrorism. How is that going to help anyone? This is a disaster in the making.

That’s why President Obama’s policy of leading from behind is an outrage. And people should be outraged at the foolishness of the president’s decision. He said he wanted to go in for humanitarian purposes, and overnight we are hearing that potentially 10,000 to 30,000 people could have been killed in the strike. Those are some of the reports.

WALLACE: In the NATO strikes, 10,000 to 30,000 people?

BACHMANN: There is a report that came out from an ambassador from Tripoli that said we won’t know until we’re able to go in.

WALLACE: But did the NATO strikes kill 10,000 to 30,000 people?

BACHMANN: Yes.

WALLACE: So you’re believing the Qaddafi regime?

BACHMANN: We don’t know. We don’t know. All I’m saying is that —

WALLACE: Do you think Muammar Qaddafi is a reliable person?

BACHMANN: I don’t think anyone thinks that.

Get your talking points straight Michele, or maybe you missed the page that explains how to avoid answering a question.

Video: Below is the look of a stunned deer.

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Barack Obama Osama bin Laden Politics Terrorism United States

Is Bin Laden Dead? No Man Is An Island

Now that it’s has been reported that Osama Bin Laden has been killed, we must bear in mind that Bin Laden–the individual– represented ‘an ideology‘ to thousands, possibly millions of people in several nations and in the Afghan region in particular. No man is an island, the man represents the state of mind of the people for which he speaks or acts on behalf of.

Over the years of seeing the televised reports on Al-Qaeda, it was easy to see the enthusiasm of the young people shown around Osama Bin Laden.  The more idealistic among us are saying that “this is an end to all the violence”. I hasten to remind the naive among us that martyrdom is a serious thing and Osama Bin Laden is now a martyr.

To some, Osama Bin Laden is a monster who is responsible for atrocities across the span of several continents. To others Osama Bin Laden is an inspiring figure who stood against imperialism and outsmarted “the beast” for years. For those of us who are peace loving American citizens, let us remember that peace starts at home.

We must continue to impress upon our fellow citizens that people are people, all worthy of the common decency and respect that we would want for ourselves. Our country is truly great…truly great in terms of the constitutional ideas in which we aspire to. BUT!  This country’s hands are not clean, we live in the biggest international war mongering nation in the history of all mankind.

We have long become the ‘military industrial complex’  that President Eisenhower warned we would become, where our war machine has become a disproportionate part of our country’s budget and  an unfortunately a significant part of our existence. Covert operations of deposing leaders of other countries and installing puppet regimes have been a common occurence at our hands.

Let us not forget who armed and trained Osama Bin Ladin… if you dont know, look in the mirror. Let us not forget who installed one time “friend” and later named ‘boogie man’, Manuel Noriega, when it was convenient. Let us not forget Saddam Hussein was armed by billions of  U.S. taxpayers dollars to fight against Iran in the 80’s, Hussein later named ‘boogie man’, was incarcerated and hung when it was convenient.

Let us not forget that we have a long way to go to live up to our country’s great potential. Let us not forget  that no man stands alone. We may have just made 10,000 more Bin Ladins by his reported assassination. His body allegedly was immediately “buried at sea”…sure…whatever.

The minds and emotions of the masses are but a marionette. Believe what you must, but  let us love and enjoy an individual and collective peace, and as we digest these current reports we should do so consciously and with a mindset that recognizes the fact that we are under the universal law of ’cause and effect’. Our actions and indeed our thoughts are creative and for better or for worse they are productive. And let us not forget that we are all connected and that ‘no man is an island’.  For those that have an ear…let him/her hear.

Son of Man

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Barack Obama New York Osama bin Laden Politics United States

Americans To Bin Laden – Can You Hear Us Now?

Moments after President Obama declared in a nationally televised speech on Sunday that the mastermind of September 11th, Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, George Bush give the following statement;

“Earlier this evening, President Obama called to inform me that American forces killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda network that attacked America on September 11, 2001. I congratulated him and the men and women of our military and intelligence communities who devoted their lives to this mission. They have our everlasting gratitude.

This momentous achievement marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001. The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done.”

Mr. Bush, in his capacity as President went to “ground zero,” in New York after the World Trade Center was demolished, and promised America and the world that the responsible parties will be brought to justice. And although it didn’t happen under his administration, Americans of all political affiliation – Democrats, Republicans and Independents – should come together and celebrate the fact that the most wanted man in the world is dead.

Like Bush said back then;

I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

And although it took 10 years, the people who knocked down those buildings can hear us now. I’m sure!

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Barack Obama dead Politics United States White House

President Obama Announce Osama Bin Laden’s Death – Video

President Obama makes the announcement that Osama Bin Laden was dead, and American have “custody” of his body. Watch the entire video below.

Transcript

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

ON OSAMA BIN LADEN

East Room

11:35 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory — hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.

And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.

On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.

We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda — an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.

Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.

Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.

Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.

Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.

Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will — remain vigilant at home and abroad.

As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.

Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.

So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.

Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.

We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.

Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.

And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.

The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.

Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

END 11:44 P.M. EDT

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President Obama – We Have Custody Of Osama Bin Laden’s Dead Body

I was just doing my usual Sunday routine, watching CNN, browsing the internet, getting ready for my Monday morning commute when Don Lemons of CNN broke in to say that President Obama will be making a major announcement. A major announcement? On a Sunday?

And so–the speculations began on Twitter. At about 10:40 PM, John King of CNN stated, that according to his sources, the news President Obama was getting ready to broadcast to the world was that Osama bin Laden is dead!

I stared at the television as the words left King’s mouth, and I felt the news, this particular news, should have been given by the President himself. But as the initial shock wore off, a sense of relief came over me…and then the flashback.

On  September 11, 2001, I was working on Wall Street. No, not as a broker, but in another capacity. And I remember the havoc and horror as I stood, with thousands of people, literally three  blocks from The World Trade Center on the corner of Broadway and Pine Street, not sure what was happening, but sure that whatever it was, something major was taking place. We all stood together trying to make sense of the scenes taking place all around us.

Then the second plane hit and we all knew, collectively, that we were under attack. People began leaving the area. Others, like myself, continued to stay and watch. Downtown Manhattan was in chaos. I remembered looking up, way up, and saw what I thought were debris falling down from the WTC. I later realized that what I thought was debris, were in fact people.

And as  news began to circulate that other planes were hijacked we became angry. Then the first tower came down. We ran, knowing that many lives were lost.

Two more towers fell and 3,000 more innocent lives were lost.

And now, 10 years later, President Obama at about 11:35PM, announced that on his command, American troops entered Pakistan and killed Osama Bin Laden, the man responsible for the attacks on America in 2001.

It’s a joyous time here in America and around the world!

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Donald Trump – It’s My Honor To Be “Zinged” By The President

Donald Trump called into CNN’s Don Lemon on Sunday night, and credits the President for some very timely jokes against him. “I thought the President’s performance was much better,” Mr. Trump said, when asked by Don to give his opinion on the evening.

But when compared with Seth, The Donald had nothing but criticism.

I thought that Seth had a hard time getting the words out, marbles in his mouth. He had a hard time with his speech, but, you know I hosted Saturday Night Live and I understand Seth and, I never got him. But his presentation was pretty poor and he got some very poor marks.

Well Trump, we expected you to say that. The fact is, the President started the ball rolling, and Seth brought it all home.

Donald Trump again took credit for the President bring forth his “long form certificate,” claiming that Hillary Clinton and John McCain were not able to achieve that feat.

I was very proud of the fact that I was able to get him to give his birth certificate, because look, if you look, Hillary and Bill Clinton couldn’t get him to do it, the McCain campaign worked very hard, they couldn’t get him to do it.

Yay for The Donald!

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Barack Obama Donald Trump Donald Trump Politics United States White House

Live, From The Washington Hilton Hotel…The President Of The United States!

Watching the last couple of hours of the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, aired on television this morning, was like having front row seats at a black tie comedy club! The President, showing his adeptness at adding some well needed humour to the absolute madness that is his life right now, was crackin’ on everything from the Birthers to Matt Damon! And Seth Meyers,  head writer of Saturday Night Live?…I was laughing so hard I ended up having a coughing fit!…

BTW, Keep your eyes on Trump when the jokes turn on him…priceless!

 

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