President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to inform Obama before the announcement because it didn’t want to wake him up, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.

“Waking up a president in the middle of the night, this isn’t really something you do,” Jagland said.

The Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Obama’s calls for peace and cooperation but recognized initiatives that have yet to bear fruit…

I know I’ve been quite out of the loop here on the road for a week but....wow.

Free Picture Frames Filled with Broken Dreams.

I have all these picture frames filled with pictures of me and my ex. If you want them, you can come get them, but you have to take them with the pictures of me and him during happier times. I cannot look at them and I can’t bring myself to remove the pictures.... I just want them gone. These frames hold the photographic representations of my broken hopes and expectations and only serve of as a reminder of how I wasted the past 7 years. If you would like to fill them with pictures of you and your loved ones and hang these cursed framed on your walls, feel free.... but don’t e-mail me later when your world comes crashing down too.

Forget about Afghanistan, healthcare and the economy. President Barack Obama took time out on Thursday to indulge in his favorite sport as he hosted cabinet members and lawmakers for a round of pickup games on the White House basketball court.

Funny, I never heard the press telling us to forget about Iraq, oil prices and the economy when Bush took time out to indulge in his favorite pastime.

Obama had Love sign a photograph to prove his shot-swatting ability and had it put on display in the West Wing for his enjoyment as he walks to and from meetings, Gibbs said. It was brought into the briefing room as Gibbs recounted the story.

Vanity, thy name is Obama.

scene at the Reagan Library…

*

Good lord.

Beware of number 3!

Saudi Arabia has led a quiet campaign ... demanding behind closed doors that oil-producing nations get special financial assistance if a new climate pact calls for substantial reductions in the use of fossil fuels. ...

Get it from Al Gore.
Geeeezus, do you believe these jackasses!?

Pork Chop Barn here to stay

And here I was worried.

“coalition”

Paige Bennethum, 4, holds her daddy’s hand as he lines up in formation before heading to Iraq. Credit: Abby Bennethum

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum was preparing to depart from Fort Dix, N.J., for Iraq, leaving behind his pregnant wife and two little girls. His family was there to see him off. His commanding officer didn’t have the heart to tell Paige she had to let go of her daddy.

Because of the Sheik’s comment (superficially attractive, but without recognizing American exceptionalism), I need to clarify my point, above:
(Watch the video at this link starting about 3:30.)
War is important. It is inherently uncivilized in its prosecution. Our national leadership cannot legitimately ask troops and their families to risk everything, unless the objective is important enough to kill and suffer and die for. If it is, then they cannot quit until the job is finished: you know, victory. Anything less is not only a vile betrayal of those who fought, it is a betrayal of the American people whose freedom and safety depend on the original objective.
(For an example of true betrayal of one’s word, go watch this.)

*BANG*POW*retch*

to this post: Thank You iW∅n!

“but she has such toned and shapely arms!!!”

Now we have Michelle’s family tree accompanied by a breathless tale of her slave Great⁴Grandmother.

[NYT workaround: if they try to make ya register, copy/paste the article title into gloogle and take the first link.]

and strangely lacking in ...erm, nuance

Now, the White House has shifted strategy, “emphasizing the campaign against Al Qaeda in Pakistan while arguing that the Taliban in Afghanistan do not pose a direct threat to the United States,”

“They’re not the same type of group,” [White House Dough Boy Robert Gibbs] said. “Al Qaeda is a global, transnational jihadist movement that has conducted attacks on the United States homeland, conducted attacks on our allies, continues to plan and has the intent and will to do so again.”

uhm… But who gave alQ a nice little nest to plan from?  And who has infiltrated their neighbor’s infrastructure?  ...their nuke owning neighbor?

I’m just being a a Big Ol’ Guurl—worrying about shadows and unicorns.  Cuz, gee—they said themselves:

“We did not have any agenda to harm other countries including Europe nor [do] we have such agenda today,” said the statement posted on a known Taliban website. “Still, if you want to turn the country of the proud and pious Afghans into a colony, then know that we have an unwavering determination and have braced for a prolonged war.”

It’s almost like they’ve read the ...naaah And orchestrated the timing… ...naaah ‘Sides—no one ever challenges Joe Biden on foreign affairs… right?

Analysis from Long War Journal

Teh iW∅n’s Tough Talk as Chronicled by Jim Geraghty:

“This is the central front in the war on terrorism. This is where the Taliban is gaining strength and launching new attacks bla bla bla...”

Ace

at the range edition

*blub*

*clicky*clicky*

Interestingly, there’s this eerie silence about Obama.  You don’t hear a peep about him.  Or course, liberals are still foaming at the mouth about Sarah Palin, tea baggers, birthers, and all things conservative. 

But adulation for Obama: Missing in Action. A telling sign:  the life size black and white cardboard doll of Obama in a storefront near my office has been taken down.  Where did it go—to the local recycling center with other discarded Obamabilia?

runnin’ hog-wild

[Four Steps to FUNQ]

… “a senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNSNews.com that it is ‘likely’ that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose a 90-percent tax on bonuses paid to employees of certain bailed-out financial institutions—as a ‘shell’ for enacting the final version of the Senate’s health care bill, which Reid is responsible for crafting.”

of r∅∅bs, n∅∅bs, and g∅∅bers

And so it goes. Yet another speech, with props appropriate for a fourth grade show and tell, to sell the rubes on something they seem unwilling to want to buy. And another appeal to oratory in place of substance. And meanwhile, out at the edge of the campfire’s glow, lean and cruel wolves circle red-eyed and hungry, watching and learning.

---

NB:  For those who missed it [highly, highly recommended]-- and for those who wish to savor it again, Bill Whittle has re-posted Tribes.

Well someone’s got some sense.

Conservative party leader David Cameron said he wanted to restore a sense of “social responsibility” which had been undermined by an over- regulating center-left government led by Prime Minister Gordon Brown who had wasted public money.

Cameron told delegates at his party’s annual convention, “We will need to confront Britain’s culture of irresponsibility and that will be hard to take for many people. And we will have to tear down Labour’s big government bureaucracy, ripping up its time-wasting, money- draining, responsibility-sapping nonsense.”
[...]
Cameron said the solution to growing concerns about poverty, crime and “broken society” is not to create a “bigger government.”

“We are going to solve our problems with a stronger society. Stronger families. Stronger communities. A stronger country. All by rebuilding responsibility,” he told the packed conference hall.

Hey Britain...if you guys don’t want him, can we have him?

I mean you kill ‘em and you THINK they’re dead, but they just get right back up.