5 Times Mitt Romney was Right about the Withdrawal of Troops in Iraq

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

America, you should have picked Mitt Romney. The last several years have shown Romney to be right, and Obama to be disastrously wrong on so many things — Russia, Obamacare, Detroit’s bankruptcy, just to name a few.

Right now we are watching in horror as terrorists take over Iraq after Obama cut and ran, leaving zero troops in the country, just so he could say he had fulfilled a campaign promise to “end” the War in Iraq. From the beginning, Mitt Romney warned against pulling out of Iraq too early and the importance of leaving enough troops to secure our victories.

Here are 5 times Romney was right about what would happen in Iraq:

In a speech announcing his entry into the 2008 presidential race, 2/13/2007:

“Across the nation, there is debate about our future course in Iraq. Our desire to bring our troops home, safely and soon, is met with our recognition that if Iraq descends into all-out civil war, millions could die; that Iraq’s Sunni region could become a base for Al Qaeda; that its Shia region could be seized by Iran; that Kurd tension could destabilize Turkey; and even that the broader Middle East could be drawn into conflict. The possible implications for America and for American interests from such developments could be devastating. It could mean a future with far more military involvement and far more loss of American life. For these reasons, I believe that so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population.”

At a veterans round table in South Carolina, 11/11/2011:

“It is my view that the withdrawal of all of our troops from Iraq by the end of this year is an enormous mistake, and failing by the Obama administration. The precipitous withdrawal is unfortunate — it’s more than unfortunate, I think it’s tragic. It puts at risk many of the victories that were hard won by the men and women who served there.”

In a statement on the withdrawal of troops, 11/21/2011:

“President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women. The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government. The American people deserve to hear the recommendations that were made by our military commanders in Iraq.”

On ‘Fox News Sunday,’ 12/17/2011:

“I think we’re going to find that this president, by not putting in place a status-of-forces agreement with the Iraqi leadership, has pulled our troops out in a precipitous way and we should have left 10-, 20-, 30-thousand personnel there to help transition to the Iraqi’s own military capabilities.”

In a speech at the Virginia Military Institute, 10/8/2012:

“In Iraq, the costly gains made by our troops are being eroded by rising violence, a resurgent Al Qaeda, the weakening of democracy in Baghdad, and the rising influence of Iran. And yet, America’s ability to influence events for the better in Iraq has been undermined by the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence. The president tried — and failed — to secure a responsible and gradual drawdown that would have better secured our gains.”

I’d say Mitt Romney, and the many others who warned this would happen, gets the last laugh, but the situation in Iraq isn’t even remotely funny. There is no joy in this “I told you so,” only anguish at the lives lost in vain, progress squandered, and effort wasted.

As Romney once said, “I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed.” The problem is, we knew from the start Obama couldn’t succeed because he was just plain wrong. Mitt Romney was right.

FINALLY! Dubya Rated Higher than Obama

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

Yeesh, it took 6 years, but FINALLY people are opening their eyes about Obama and realizing George W. wasn’t nearly as bad as conventional wisdom has been saying. This is the first time Dubya has been over 50% in a Gallup poll since 2005, and it’s the lowest Obama has ever been.

Maybe it’s the way Obama’s losing Iraq to terrorists, or the humanitarian crisis on our southern border caused by Obama pushing for amnesty, or the way our veterans are left to die waiting for government-run health care, or the failure of Obamacare, or the IRS targeting political opponents and “losing” evidence, or the first assassination of U.S. ambassador since 1979 in Benghazi, or … I could go on for days!

Here are the full poll results:

 

H/T: The American Pundit

Somewhat surprisingly, George H. W. Bush is neck and neck with Clinton. It’s gotta be the socks.

Real Men of Valor: Cpl. William “Kyle” Carpenter Receives Medal of Honor

The article was first published on The Political Insider:

Yesterday Marine Cpl. William “Kyle” Carpenter, 24, became the 11th service member of the War in Afghanistan to receive the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” In short, he is one badass hero:

He is credited with deliberately lunging at a hand grenade after an insurgent tossed at him and another Marine, Lance Cpl. Nick Eufrazio, while they manned a rooftop security post in a small, dusty compound in Marjah, Afghanistan.

Carpenter still bears the scars of that Nov. 21, 2010, incident, but has made a remarkable recovery. He has run a marathon, sky-dived and completed a mud-run competition since being injured, the president noted, and pushed through physical therapy and surgeries to retire medically and attend the University of South Carolina. …

The fact that Carpenter was able to laugh in response is a testament to modern medicine and quick work by both his doctors and his fellow service members. Carpenter’s vital signs flat-lined numerous times after he was injured, Obama recalled, but the Marine was resuscitated each time.

“I want you to consider what Kyle has endured just to stand here today: More than two and a half years in the hospital; grueling rehabilitation; brain surgery to remove shrapnel from his head; nearly 40 surgeries to repair a collapsed lung, fractured fingers, a shattered arm broken in more than 30 places; multiple skin grafts,” Obama said. “He has a new prosthetic eye, new teeth, and one hell of a smile.”

H/T: Washington Post

Land of the free, because of the brave. The United States of America salutes and thanks you, Cpl. Carpenter.

Oorah!

Watch: Hillary Says Gun Rights Advocates Terrorize People

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

On a CNN townhall Tuesday, Hillary Clinton reiterated her vociferous, if uninformed, support for a new ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines. In the course of her answer to a question from the audience, Hillary ominously declared, “We cannot let a minority of people hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people.”

Watch:



H/T: Truth Revolt

Left unanswered is how exactly Hillary would disabuse these people of their viewpoint. A scary thought.

Watch the full question and answer here.

General Motors List of Banned “Judgment Words” Leaks, Hilarity Ensues

This article originally appeared on The Political Insider:

Digitas Daily is out with a hilarious video spoofing General Motor’s “Judgment Words” list of phrases employees should avoid when reporting problems. See if you can tell which ones in the video are real and which are fake – it’s harder than you think!



Background:

GM told engineers to avoid using dozens of words when communicating about vehicle problems that could potentially lead to recalls, including everything from “safety” to “Kevorkianesque.”

A PowerPoint presentation included in the company’s consent agreement with NHTSA unveiled Friday shows the nation’s largest automaker told engineers to avoid terms both absurd and mundane for fear of e-mails leaking to the media or regulators.

The presentation, given in the first quarter of 2008, was meant to teach engineers to use sparing, non-emotional language to describe problems that could potentially lead to auto recalls.

“Be factual, not fantastic, in your writing,” the PowerPoint notes at one point, adding later: “For anything you say or do, ask yourself how you would react if it was reported in a major newspaper or on television.”

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Harry Reid Pledges to Boycott Washington Redskins Games

This article originally appeared in The Political Insider:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has rejected an invitation from the team president to attend a “Washington, D.C. football team event,” aka a Washington Redskins home game.

After Reid and 49 other Senate Democrats signed a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking the league to change the team name, Redskins President Bruce Allen defended the name and invited Reid to attend a home game to “witness first-hand that the Washington Redskins are a positive, unifying force for our community in a city and region that is divided on so many levels.”

Reid wrote back:

Dear Mr. Allen:

I received your letter and invitation to attend a Washington, D.C. football team event.

During my time in the United States Senate, I have worked to right many of the injustices endured by Americans throughout the country. Among the most egregious in the history of our country are those injustices inflicted upon American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians. This is personal for me. I represent 27 tribes as the Senator from Nevada and have worked to protect their homelands and their sovereignty. I have a duty to ensure that the United States uphold centuries-old treaty and trust obligations towards Native Americans, and I take this responsibility very seriously.

I will not stand idly by while a professional sports team promotes a racial slur as a team name and disparages the American people. Nor will I consider your invitation to attend a home game until your organization chooses to do the right thing and change its offensive name.

Sincerely,
Harry Reid

H/T: Washington Examiner

“I will not stand idly by…” Hmmm, you mean like you did the previous 70+ years of your life before an 81-year-old team name became your pet project only a few short months ago, Harry? How about the 7 years you’ve been Senate Majority Leader, and 27 years a U.S. Senator, apparently it was okay to stand idly by then. There are many reasons to refuse tickets to a Redskins game, but this is one of the dumbest.
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My First National Review Article!!!

Obviously I'm extremely excited!!! This piece was originally published on National Review Online (minus the pictures)

Junior High Goes Condom Crazy
The nationwide push to give contraceptives to younger and younger kids.

This month a rural Oregon school district announced its decision to offer condoms to children as young as 11. The new policy was adopted in part because, according to a memo from the superintendent, “every few years, a middle school student either becomes pregnant or is associated with a pregnancy.” The rationale is flimsy, but it speaks to the wider trend of pushing the envelope when it comes to giving kids contraception in school.

Statistics on the availability of condoms nationally in secondary education, particularly in middle schools, are hard to come by. In 1998, Advocates for Youth reported that 418 schools gave out condoms. More recently, in 2006, the CDC said it was 5 percent of high schools. But city-wide programs in places like Chicago are growing and anecdotal evidence suggests that schools serving as free condom dispensatories is becoming old hat by now.

In Boston this spring there was a controversy over condom distribution in the school system. Not over the fact that condoms were being given out to students, but over the design of the wrapper. City schools received condoms from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to hand out to high schoolers that were emblazoned with provocative phrases like “one lucky lady,” “hump one,” and “tasty one.”

Somehow this scandalized parents who were otherwise supportive of their kids’ collecting condoms on the way to class. One mother told the Boston Globe, “I was horrified. As a mother of three teenagers, there was no way I wanted my kids to be given condoms with those wrappers.” Try to wrap your head around that logic.

Speaking of interesting wrappers, New York Daily News reported that city students were welcomed back to school last fall with a vast assortment of condoms from which to choose. Not content to provide condoms for simple utilitarian use, fun features such as “Rough Rider Studded,” “King XL,” “Extra Strength,” “Ultra Sensitive,” “Ultra Thin,” “Ribbed” and even “Assorted Flavors,” were on offer to minors. Far from the professed purpose of safety, these types of condoms sure seem to cross the line into encouraging more sex and experimentation. Homework assignment, kids: figure out the difference between “Ultra Sensitive” and “Ultra Thin!”

Sensibly, the mother of a 12-year-old girl told the paper, “As far as varieties, it’s ridiculous.” Shockingly, she continued, “But I guess they need to know whether it will fit them. These young kids are very mature, and sex is just a norm now.”

According to the Daily News, during the 2011-12 school year the district went through 800,000 condoms. With roughly 240,000 high school students in the New York City public school system, that equates to more than 3 condoms per student.

Also during the 2011-12 school year, the New York Post separately reported that 40 New York school-based health clinics gave 12,721 doses of the morning-after pill, 10,462 packets of birth control pills, 2,117 injections of Depo-Provera and an unspecified number of insertions of IUDs to girls under their care – far higher than the city had previously reported and all without requiring parental notification.

One parent was outraged, “I’m in shock. What gives [then-Mayor Bloomberg] the right to decide, without adequate notice, to give our children drugs that will impact their bodies and their psyches? He has purposely kept the public and parents in the dark with his agenda.”

All these drugs and devices carry risks of side effects and complications associated with administering hormones and performing minimally invasive procedures on minors. Yet the schools keep pushing the boundary.

It’s been a long time since schools were all about reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. But now they’re adding reproduction to the three R’s, as school administrators find more and more outrageous ways to push contraception on younger and younger kids.

Astounding: Hillary Claims the Taliban Five Poses No Threat to the United States

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

In an interview that aired on the Today Show, presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton dismissed criticism of the Obama administration’s trade of the five most dangerous Taliban terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay for an alleged deserter.

She told NBC’s Cynthia McFadden:

These five guys are not a threat to the United States. They are a threat to the safety and security of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It’s up to those two countries to make the decision once and for all that these are threats to them. So I think we may be kind of missing the bigger picture here. We want to get an American home, whether they fell off the ship because they were drunk or they were pushed or they jumped, we try to rescue everybody.

It is Clinton, with her astounding willful blindness or outright stupidity, who is missing the bigger picture here. A threat to Afghanistan and Pakistan, an unstable region where we still have troops being killed, is a threat to us. These five “guys” are hardened terrorists dedicated to attacking America anywhere they can. To say that the Taliban does not pose a threat to the United States pretty much ignores the entire history of the 21st century and the War on Terror.

It is scary to think that a President Hillary Clinton would bring a pre-9-11 mindset to her potential administration – a mindset that led to the horrific murder of 3,000 Americans on U.S. soil. Would she follow in the footsteps of her husband, who allowed the Taliban to take over Afghanistan in the 1990s, leading to Al-Qaeda gaining a stronghold from which to launch terrorist attacks? Don’t forget Bill Clinton infamously refused to take action when Osama bin Laden was offered – multiple times – on a silver platter.

We already know the deadly consequences of leaving Afghanistan alone to handle the Taliban, why would we EVER want to repeat that?

And let’s not allow the outrageousness of the first half of Hillary’s quote to overshadow the fact that she goes on to conflate the issue of negotiating with terrorists for a possible traitor with the military maxim of leaving no man behind. The circumstances of how Bergdahl fell into Taliban hands matters greatly.

Suggesting that Bergdahl might have been drunk or forced out is an attempt to cloud and make light of the issue to an audience of low-information voters who don’t know any better. Meanwhile, the rest of us already know he purposefully and willingly abandoned his post, a grievous offense in the military and one that any Commander-in-Chief should take seriously. Instead, Hillary is too clever by half and flippant about it.

You can be sure that when Hillary, and the Obama administration, says the important thing is to “get an American home,” they don’t mean so Bergdahl can be court martialed and face the consequences of allegedly deserting. I’m willing to bet that both would work hard to save face by preventing Bergdahl from ever being tried and the full details of his disappearance revealed.

Obviously, this is not the first time Hillary has demonstrated an unnerving indifference to foreign policy crises. At this point, what difference does it make? Hopefully enough to derail her 2016 presidential bid.

Watch the video:

H/T: Washington Examiner

14 Years in the Making ...

I will never forget the first time I heard about National Review. I was 16 years old, working in our basement office, listening to radio coverage of the 2000 election recount, when I heard the host read the article, The Gore Lies. I wrote down the name of the magazine and headed to the library. I read the latest issue cover to cover, came home, handed my mom a subscription card and said, "This is what I want for Christmas!"

National Review has been my conservative Bible over the years. It truly helped me build a solid conservative foundation and understanding of my beliefs and led me to study politics in college and work in it ever since.

It was also in National Review that I saw an ad for the high school Young America's Foundation conference which I attended the following summer and then the college conferences in subsequent years. (I was quoted in Time magazine in 2004 as saying, "I'm a conservative because I'm antiestablishment" at that year's YAF conference!) I also credit YAF as being instrumental in my early development of conservative ideas.

When I was in college applying for internships, and then later jobs, when I would be asked, where do you envision yourself in 10 or 15 years or what is your dream job? I would respond: Stay at home mom and freelance writer for National Review. Flash forward 14 years and I'm a work from home wife and freelance writer for National Review!

Today I had my first article published on National Review! This is truly a career dream come true! You should be able to find all my articles here.

I guess now I need a new career goal. Hmmm... Maybe I'll make it to write a book in the next 10-15 years.

Miss USA contestant conceived in rape: “I knew God put me here for a purpose”

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

Valerie Gatto is Miss Pennsylvania and competed in the Miss USA 2014 pageant on June 8th. But she wouldn’t be here today if her mother had followed the conventional wisdom on abortion. You see, Valerie was a product of rape:

Gatto has revealed that her mother was raped at knife-point when she was 19 years old. Valerie says that the perpetrator planned to murder her mother after the sexual assault, but that she was able to escape when he became distracted.

While her mother originally intended to give Valerie up for adoption, she then decided to set aside her plans for law school and raise her daughter.

“I knew God put me here for a purpose, and He’s the reason my mother and I were saved,” Gatto says. “I want to do Him proud and my family proud.”

“I could just sit here and say, ‘Why did this happen,’ and ‘Does my father know I exist,’” Valerie continued. “But God put me here to do great things, and I’m not going to let things from the past stop me.”

Abortion advocates always bring up cases of rape as a reason to abort, and most Americans agree with this exception. But Valerie puts a human face on the children conceived through rape and is a reminder that all life is precious, no matter the circumstances surrounding their being. How many other Valeries have been aborted, and think about what they might have done with their lives and the joy they could have brought to the world.

So the next time someone asks you, “What about cases of rape?” remember Valerie and her inspiring story. As she says, God put us all here for a purpose. It doesn’t matter how you got here, it just matters what you do when you’re here on Earth.

H/T: Lifenews.com

Watch: Reagan Honors the Heroes Who Took the Cliffs of Normandy

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent.
These are the heroes who helped end a war.”
- President Ronald Reagan at Normandy on June 6, 1984

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, rewatch the epic speech President Reagan gave on the 40th anniversary honoring the men who gave their lives to defend our freedom:

You Won’t Believe How A 93 Year Old Is Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

This article was originally published on The Political Insider:

On June 6, 1944, 73,000 American men invaded Normandy, landing on beaches and parachuting over enemy lines to liberate occupied France during World War II.

On June 5, 2014, one World War II paratrooper demonstrated the spirit of the Greatest Generation by reenacting the heroic jump he made over Normandy 70 years ago today:

Seventy years ago, Jim ‘Pee Wee’ Martin of the legendary 101st Airborne Division parachuted into France, behind enemy lines, hours before the D-Day armada launched across the English Channel.

Today, at the age of 93, the Ohio World War Two hero jumped out of a plane again to mark the anniversary of the June 6, 1944, landings as a mark of respect to his comrades of the Greatest Generation who could not be there.

This time however, despite the veterans advanced age, the jump was a whole lot easier.

‘It didn’t compare,’ said Martin to CNN, ‘because there wasn’t anybody shooting at me today.’

Martin made his jump as ceremonies to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day draw thousands of visitors to the cemeteries, beaches and stone-walled villages of Normandy this week.

The badass nonagenarian groused, “They are making me do a tandem. They are worried about me getting hurt. I said, ‘Don’t worry about it. If I get hurt or I get killed, what is the difference? I’ve lived 93 years. I’ve had a good life.’”

2,500 Americans lost their lives on D-Day. Now, an average of 555 WWII vets die a day, leaving us with a little more than 1 million of the 16 million who served.

Thank you, Mr. Martin, and the other brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy and saved the world from totalitarianism. We are all in your debt.