Luxury Liner Sails with Spies On board!

Ship of secrets
There's no such thing as an ex-spy. There are only spies who pretend they have retired. Or so they tell you. But I have yet to meet a retired spy who walked the dog and pruned the roses all day. Take Bart Bechtel for instance - an ex-CIA operations officer, a specialist in domestic and international Terrorism matters and a US Navy Veteran with 31 years of Espionage and counter-intelligence experience - a spy to his fingertips. It was Bart Bechtel who decided to organise a seminar for spooks...

Palin to speak in Nevada (Politico)
Sarah Palin isn’t retreating on guns. Instead, she’s reloading. The former vice Presidential Candidate and possible 2012 presidential hopeful is headed to Safari Club International’s convention later this month in Reno, Nev. - one of the key early presidential primary states. Palin is scheduled to keynote the pro-hunting group’s huge annual meeting on Jan. 29 - 20,000 are expected from around the world - with a Speech on “her past hunting experiences and how politic...

Anterograde Amnesia
Anterograde AmnesiaFriday, January 14th, 2011 Severian entered a comment that, in Arsenio Hall Fashion, makes you go “hmmmmmm…” It’s either 100% pure awesome or 100% concentrated evil to those guys. Every Speech Dear Leader has ever given is the best one in the history of human utterance…until the next one; meanwhile, I honestly think you’d have trouble getting a liberal to agree that the sun rises in the east if Sarah Palin was on record claiming so (typical responses

As Obama urged unity, Palin brought division
President Obama did not miss the moment. From the generally positive overnight reaction, Obama's Speech in Tucson on Wednesday night struck just the right notes. Amid grief over a senseless tragedy and against a raging debate that threatened to further divide the country, the president urged healing and Reconciliation. This Story The Take: As Obama urged unity, Palin brought division Police recover black bag, ammunition believed to belong to Tucson suspect Wasserman-Schultz, Gillibrand discus...

Palin Sitting Down With Hannity For First Interview Since Arizona Shooting
Sarah Palin will sit down Monday with fellow Fox pundit and notorious softball lobber Sean Hannity, according to the New York Times, for her first interview since wading into the debate over the Tucson shooting. Palin's decision to do her first post-Tucson interview on Fox News isn't too surprising given that she's a paid Fox contributor who's often expressed disdain for the so-called 'lamestream media.' But Hannity's show in particular should provide her with a very friendly setting to speak ...

Sarah Palin to Appear on Hannity Monday
Sarah Palin will appear on Sean Hannity's program on Fox News Monday, the New York Times reported Thursday night. This interview will be Palin's first extended interview since the shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six people and wounded 12, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords was holding an event outside a Grocery Store to meet with her constituents. Palin has been taking heat from both sides of the political spectrum since the shooting. In the days following the shooting before ...

Christie quiet on concealed weapons
Here's an issue on which Chris Christie, the Governor of New Jersey, faces Chris Christie, the GOP's biggest new star. NJ.com: At a town hall meeting in Paramus, Christie was asked about his views on creating a process to allow residents to obtain a license to carry a Concealed Weapon. His response: The Legislation is never going to pass out of the Democrat-controlled Legislature. .... "I'm not going to bang my head against the wall on issues that there are absolutely no chance will get posted...

Obama, the orator, hits home
Provide feedback to the multimedia producers. Thank you. Your feedback was successfully sent. Video will begin in 5 seconds. What type of connection do you have? Your video format settings have been saved. Watch Barak Obama give his Speech in Tucson, Arizona following the killing of six people and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Some commentators say it's turning point in his Presidency. WASHINGTON: Barack Obama returned to the White House welcomed by a chorus from America's po...

Here And Now
Despite the Arizona shooting, federal lawmakers appear less receptive than ever to passing stricter Gun Control laws. Nine-year-old Chrisina Taylor Green was buried yesterday. Her death appears to have struck a nerve with the normally reserved president, whose daughter, Sasha, was born three months before Christina. NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio called for a Boycott on Glock. Staffers at the Tucson Hospital where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recovering were fired after a Security Breach. ...

Obama political fortunes are rising
No doubt about it: President Obama is on a political roll. Obama's Approval Ratings have cracked 50% in a number of polls, and a new McClatchy-Marist survey shows him pounding potential 2012 Republican challengers Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee. There are many reasons, pollsters say: Obama's political successes in December, particularly the Tax Cut deal with Republicans; the generally improving economy; and his handling of the Mass Shooting in Arizona last weekend. "Clearly, the la...

Blood Libel and Beyond
Lost in all of the squabbling about the use of the term "blood Libel" is an under-appreciated fact. Palin's statement yesterday was actually the most robust, unapologetic defense of vigorous democratic debate and the American system we've heard from any politician since Saturday, and that goes for President Obama's Speech as well. I don't fault Obama by saying this. Obama was speaking at a memorial service (or at least that was his plan). Palin did exactly what her detractors c...

The False Narrative Of Tea Party Violence Attempts Suicide
Obama's Speech at the Tucson memorial was an opportunity thrust upon him, not one of choice. But the tone of the Speech was consistent in many ways with the Obama 2.0 we saw during the Lame Duck session when Obama struck a tax deal with Republicans. Coming together to get things done was the theme. Obama had no real choice, considering the results of the November Elections. But there is nothing to suggest that the tone is anything more than a convenience to consolidate Democratic legislative ga...

There's a very good reason Sarah Palin can be elected President
Again, George Bush and Sarah Palin are Republicans, and that decision by a Republican Supreme Court is what being a Republican entails. They've got your back, Sarah. Sarah Palin has shown the same obliviousness to her logical contradictions, her complete misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the obvious as George Bush. Republicans, as typified by George Bush and Sarah Palin are unaware, and cannot be made aware, that there are some people who know more about things than they do. They live...

Bob Burnett: Is the Giffords' Shooting a Teachable Moment?
While there is little doubt about the facts of the Tucson tragedy, that one man pulled the trigger on the automatic revolver that shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, killed six others, and wounded 12 more, the open question is whether it is a teachable moment. No one who heard the awful news on Saturday, January 8th, should have been surprised. Since the political Rhetoric escalated during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Americans have being holding their breath expecting an assault on Bara...

Arizona speech was challenge to write
Helping to craft the Speech that President Barack Obama would deliver in Tucson, Ariz., was perhaps the biggest assignment of White House Speechwriter Cody Keenan’s career. The task for the 30-year-old Northwestern University graduate: help the president eulogize the Victims of Saturday’s deadly shootings in Tucson, praise the heroes and unite the nation while, at the same time, rising above the bare-knuckle fight between politicians and pundits about the dismal state of political ...

Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech
(01-13) 23:27 PST Tucson, Ariz. (AP) -- What was billed as a memorial for Victims of the Arizona shooting rampage turned into a rollicking rally, leaving some conservative commentators wondering whether President Barack Obama's Speech was a scripted political event. Not so, insisted the White House and host University of Arizona. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday he and other aides didn't expect the president's remarks at the school's Basketball arena to receive as much rousing applau...

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
Friday opinion, and a study in contrast. There's this: The Caucus: Reaction to President Obama’s Speech at the memorial service in Arizona on Wednesday night has been almost uniformly positive, even from some of his sharpest critics. Some Conservative Bloggers took shots at Mr. Obama, saying the event — at a Basketball arena with thousands of College Students in the crowd — came off more like a pep rally than a memorial service. But aside from that, most of the conversation o...

Tucson tea party founder says Giffords to blame for getting shot
By David Edwards The Raw Story Thursday, January 13th, 2011 One tea Party Leader says that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) has herself to blame for getting shot in the head Saturday. The Arizona congresswoman shouldn't have attended an event "in full view of the public" if she had security concerns, according to Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries. Giffords warned MSNBC's Chuck Todd last year that there would be "consequences" to violent Rhetoric and imagery after Fox News' Sarah Palin ...

Sarah Palin to speak at sold-out Safari Club International pro-hunting convention (Daily Caller)
Read more stories from The Daily Caller Obama's positioning for spending fights benefits from careful planning, but unforeseen events play major role Congressmen want increased security for themselves — but are they in more danger than teachers and doctors? Stephanopoulos, NYT, CNN, WaPo decline to correct erroneous Giffords reporting ObamaCare Repeal rescheduled; GOP not scared off by left-wing attacks Pollsters say Obama's Approval Ratings will have modest bump In spite of all the rece

Jonathan Capehart: Obama's powerful Tucson omission
Some of the most poignant words of any Speech are the ones that don't appear in the prepared text, if one exists. They are the ones that bubble forth during delivery. Because they are unscripted, their authenticity and their power are immediately felt. President George W. Bush's "I can hear you" moment on a smoldering pile at Ground Zero is a prime example. And last night, President Obama gave us one of his own. The moment came near the end of his peroration on the need for civility...

Nancy Pelosi Refers to Tucson Mass Shooting as a Tragic Accident Video 1/13/11
Here is video of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House Floor speaking about the Tucson Mass Shooting and supporting a resolution to honor the Victims. As she did so, she unwittingly refers to the Mass Shooting in Tucson as a “tragic accident.” Obviously, Pelosi misspoke, and she should be cut some slack. But can you just imagine the hue and cry from the media if it was Sarah Palin or George W. Bush who had said this?

Attorney at firm representing Assange accusers helped facilitate CIA renditions in 2001
Stumble This! An attorney representing two Swedish women who brought Sexual Assault charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was investigated following revelations that during his time in the Swedish government, his administration helped facilitate extraordinary renditions that allegedly resulted in two Terrorism suspects being tortured in Egypt. The US policy of extraordinary rendition, or Kidnapping Terrorism suspects from foreign countries and transporting them to locations where tor...

Sarah Palins Mistake
Democrats were in major meltdown when John McCain tapped Sarah Palin as his Running Mate just days before the Republican National Convention in 2008, in large part, because Sarah Palin was the change agent Barack Obama claimed to be.  As Governor of Alaska, she actually took on entrenched interests, worked across party lines and shook up her state’s political establishment. No wonder Democrats (and their allies in the MSM) chose to ignore her actual record of accomplishment and dwell on...

White House: 'No comment' on Palin 'blood libel' debate
The White House wants no part of the debate over former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's use of the term "blood Libel." In a press briefing on Thursday morning, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs acknowledged he watched Palin's statement on the Tucson shootings, but he wouldn't say if President Obama has. Gibbs refused give any White House perspective on Palin's remarks. "I'm happy to speak to what the president said and how he came about saying it, but I'll let others opine on t...

Rev. Franklin Graham Defends Palin: I Am Shocked at Reports Linking Sarah Palin to Tucson Shootings
The Rev. Franklin Graham defended Sarah Palin from the horrific attacks coming from the state-run media and Democrats after a leftwing pothead shot and killed 6 people in Tucson. Internationally respected Evangelist Franklin Graham, the son of the great preacher Billy Graham, jumped into the political fray Tuesday by denouncing “outrageous” attempts by the political left to blame Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the Tucson rampage that left six dead and 14 wounded. “This is a time f...