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Eight Men in Minnesota Charged with Recruiting Somali Americans to Join Their Terror Network

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:37:41 AM

U.S. says men ran terror network

Eight are charged with recruiting young Somali Americans in Minn.

By Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Federal authorities unsealed terrorism-related charges against eight men Monday, accusing them of recruiting at least 20 young Somali Americans from Minnesota to join an extremist Islamist insurgency in Somalia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/23/AR2009112303999.html

Tags: Terrorism  
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'Lowest Approval Index Rating Yet Measured'

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:36:09 AM
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -15. This is the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for President Obama (see trends).

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Tags: obama   poll  
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We are Desperately in Need of Another Stimulus Package

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:37:46 AM

Economy Growth Slow in 3rd Quarter

URGENT: Government's reading of gross domestic product shows economy not as energetic as expected
Tags: obama   economy  
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Instead of Sending Troops Right Away, He Waits for a Press Conference

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 9:36:31 AM

Obama plans to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan


By Jonathan S. Landay, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met Monday evening with his national security team to finalize a plan to dispatch some 34,000 additional U.S. troops over the next year to what he's called "a war of necessity" in Afghanistan, U.S. officials told McClatchy.

Obama is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on Dec. 1, followed by meetings on Capitol Hill aimed at winning congressional support amid opposition by some Democrats who are worried about the strain on the U.S. Treasury and whether Afghanistan has become a quagmire, the officials said.

The U.S. officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the issue publicly and because, one official said, the White House is incensed by leaks on its Afghanistan policy that didn't originate in the White House.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/79380.html


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Lieberman Says No on Public Option

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:52:04 AM

Lieberman's Stand: No Gov't Option

Senator says any health care overhaul that includes a so- called 'public option' will compel him to block a final vote
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Conclusion of This Day in American History

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:47:33 AM
It has been a year since I started, "This Day in American History," and today will be my last day. I hope you all have learned a lot over the last year because I know I did. It was a fun experience and I hope you enjoyed it too. If you ever have any suggestions for the blog, you can send me an email or just comment on any blog post.

November 24, 1947

"Hollywood 10" cited for contempt of Congress

The House of Representatives votes 346 to 17 to approve citations of contempt against 10 Hollywood writers, directors, and producers. These men had refused to cooperate at hearings dealing with communism in the movie industry held by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The "Hollywood 10," as the men were known, are sentenced to one year in jail. The Supreme Court later upheld the contempt charges.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2494

November 24, 1963

LBJ to continue Kennedy policy in Vietnam

Two days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms the U.S. intention to continue military and economic support to South Vietnam. He instructed Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, in Washington for consultations following South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem's assassination, to communicate his intention to the new South Vietnamese leadership. Johnson's first decision about Vietnam was effectively to continue Kennedy's policy.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=1508

November 24, 1963

Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald

At 12:20 p.m., in the basement of the Dallas police station, Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is shot to death by Jack Ruby, a Dallas nightclub owner.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5546

1987 - The U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to scrap short- and medium-range missiles. It was the first superpower treaty to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.

1993 - The U.S. Congress gave its final approval to the Brady handgun control bill.
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Rhee and Walpin

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:33:07 AM

Inspector General: Rhee visited me to intervene for Johnson

By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
November 24, 2009

On June 27, 2008, Michelle Rhee, head of the Washington, D.C., school system, paid a visit to Gerald Walpin, who was inspector general of the government volunteer organization AmeriCorps.

At the time, Walpin was investigating a California private school known as St. Hope, which was founded by Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star and friend of Rhee's who was running for mayor of Sacramento. St. Hope had received about $850,000 in AmeriCorps money, and Walpin's investigators were looking into charges that Johnson had misused those funds by assigning paid volunteer tutors to run errands for him and wash his car, as well as making them take part in political activities.

In the course of the investigation, some young female AmeriCorps volunteers also charged that Johnson had made inappropriate sexual advances toward them and offered one of them $1,000 a month to keep quiet.

Rhee, who later became engaged to marry Johnson, had been on St. Hope's board of directors before taking over as chief of the District of Columbia system. Her apparent goal, as she visited Walpin, was to vouch for Johnson.

"The basic point of her meeting with me was to tell me what a great guy he was," Walpin recalls, "and what wonderful work he has done, and that maybe he had made mistakes administratively, but that she thought I should give as much consideration as possible to his good work in deciding what to do."

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Inspector-general_-Rhee-intervened-for-Johnson-8577747-71924762.html

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'Solving Whose Problem'

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:32:07 AM
Solving Whose Problem?
by Thomas Sowell

No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems-- of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind.

Many of the things the government does that may seem stupid are not stupid at all, from the standpoint of the elected officials or bureaucrats who do these things.

The current economic downturn that has cost millions of people their jobs began with successive administrations of both parties pushing banks and other lenders to make mortgage loans to people whose incomes, credit history and inability or unwillingness to make a substantial down payment on a house made them bad risks.

Was that stupid? Not at all. The money that was being put at risk was not the politicians' money, and in most cases was not even the government's money. Moreover, the jobs that are being lost by the millions are not the politicians' jobs-- and jobs in the government's bureaucracies are increasing.

No one pushed these reckless mortgage lending policies more than Congressman Barney Frank, who brushed aside warnings about risk, and said in 2003 that he wanted to "roll the dice" even more in the housing markets. But it would very rash to bet against Congressman Frank's getting re-elected in 2010.

http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/11/24/solving_whose_problem


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'U.S.S.A.'

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:30:34 AM
U.S.S.A.
by Cal Thomas

Not all revolutions begin in the streets with tanks and guns. Some advance slowly, almost imperceptibly, until a nation is transformed and the public realizes too late that their freedoms are gone.

Such is the revolution now taking place in America. The '60s crowd has emerged from the ideological grave and is about to impose on this country a declaration of dependence in the form of government-run health insurance and treatment. It matters not what facts are known about this "coup," because to those from the '60s -- whether they lived in that decade or were born later and adopted its ideology -- only feelings and intentions matter, not truth and results.

Why would anyone trust government -- which has a difficult enough time winning wars -- to properly administer health care? What track record does government have in living up to its economic forecasts and competence in running anything?

But this is about none of that. This is about liberal Democrats realizing their decades-old dream of complete control of our lives. Every move you make, every breath you take, they'll be watching you. Except, of course, when it comes to terrorists who want to destroy America faster than the liberals do. A different standard is applied to them.

http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2009/11/24/ussa

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Would Obama be President if He Told the Truth?

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:28:50 AM
Would Obama Be President If He Made These Five Campaign Promises?
by John Hawkins

Calling a politician dishonest is like calling a burglar dishonest. The difference is that burglars take less of your money, don't get invited on the Sunday morning shows, and are more dangerous -- unless you happen to be a woman near a male member of the Kennedy family.

Even amongst politicians, Barack Obama is such a liar that he makes Bill Clinton look like honest Abe Lincoln by comparison. During the campaign, Barack Obama promised everything to everybody and when people inquired too closely, his supporters screamed that you had to be a racist for doubting him.

Well now, Barack Obama is President of the United States and he can no longer hide behind "hope" and "change" while he votes "present" on the tough issues. Now, people can actually judge Barack Obama based on what he's doing instead of just projecting their hopes and dreams on a man with no record of leadership and a gift for soaring oratory.

Quite frankly, 2008 was a dream scenario for Barack. The sitting Republican President had a 25% approval rating, the GOP ran an old, uninspiring candidate who was disliked by much of the base, and there was a botched response to a last minute financial crisis that slammed the door shut on the GOP's last hopes of winning.

Still, with all those advantages, could Barack Obama have become President had he told the American people what he actually intended to do in his first year as President instead of essentially saying, "Imagine what you want a politician to be. Ok, got it? Great, that's what I'm going to do!"

http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnHawkins/2009/11/24/would_obama_be_president_if_he_made_these_five_campaign_promises

Tags: hawkins   obama  
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It Gives Obama Another Opportunity to Call for a Press Conference

Posted by Defend America on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 8:03:57 AM

Afghan Decision on Dec. 1

URGENT: White House official tells Fox News that Obama will announce war strategy decision in address to nation
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Could Monday be the Day?

Posted by Defend America on Monday, November 23, 2009 7:03:14 PM
Obama could lock in Afghanistan decision Monday
Nov 23 06:09 PM US/Eastern
By ANNE GEARAN and JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House said President Barack Obama could use an unusual evening war council session Monday to lock in his long-awaited decision on whether to commit tens of thousands of new U.S. forces to the stalemated war in Afghanistan.

Military officials and others said they expect Obama to settle on a middle-ground option that would deploy an eventual 32,000 to 35,000 U.S. forces to the 8-year-old conflict.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9C5HCDO0&show_article=1
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White House Rushed to Find an Excuse After Firing Gerald Walpin

Posted by Defend America on Monday, November 23, 2009 5:58:48 PM

New documents: White House scrambled to justify AmeriCorps firing after the fact

By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
November 23, 2009

Just hours after Sen. Charles Grassley and Rep. Darrell Issa released a report Friday on their investigation into the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin, the Obama White House gave the lawmakers a trove of new, previously-withheld documents on the affair. It was a twist on the now-familiar White House late-Friday release of bad news; this time, the new evidence was put out not only at the start of a weekend but also hours too late for inclusion in the report.

The new documents support the Republican investigators' conclusion that the White House's explanation for Walpin's dismissal -- that it came after the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, unanimously decided that Walpin must go -- was in fact a public story cobbled together after Walpin was fired, not before.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/New-documents-White-House-scrambled-to-justify-AmeriCorps-firing-after-the-fact-71483647.html
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Another Liberal Republican that Needs to be Taken Down and Defeated Uses Race and Gender Card

Posted by Defend America on Monday, November 23, 2009 5:44:17 PM

Carly Fiorina channels Dede Scozzafava, wields race/gender card against conservative rival

By Michelle Malkin  •  November 23, 2009 11:03 AM

Grass-roots conservatives, your attention, please: The NRCC and GOP dumped $1 million of your hard-earned money into radical Leftist Republican Dede Scozzafava’s NY-23’s campaign — money that was squandered trashing mainstream conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, who lost the race by less than 3,400 votes.

Now, the GOP elite Senate candidate in California, Carly Fiorina, is running against Democrat Barbara Boxer by…trashing mainstream conservative GOP rival Chuck DeVore.

Fiorina’s strongest argument against DeVore? He’s a white man and she’s not.

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/11/23/carly-fiorina-channels-dede-scozzafava-wields-racegender-card-against-conservative-rival/
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ACORN San Diego Involved in 'Document Dump'

Posted by Defend America on Monday, November 23, 2009 5:42:24 PM

BREAKING: San Diego ACORN Document Dump Scandal

by Derrick Roach

On October 1st, 2009 California Attorney General Jerry Brown announced that an investigation had been opened into ACORN’s activities in California, resulting from undercover videos showing employees seemingly offering to assist the undercover film makers with human smuggling, child prostitution and even tax advice to boot.

Although ACORN has denied any wrongdoing, some of the employees involved were terminated, and ACORN has publicly stated that they would fully cooperate with any investigations that followed.

Interestingly, the local head ACORN organizer in California, David Lagstein was caught on tape earlier this month speaking to an East County Democratic Club.

Mr. Lagstein stated: “…the attorney general is a political animal, but certainly every bit of the communication we have had with them has suggested that the fault will be found with the people that did the video and not the people with ACORN.”

Continuing, Mr. Lagstein stated: “…we are fully cooperating, some of the investigators visited our office this morning and I think they really understand what’s going on.”

Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.

http://biggovernment.com/2009/11/23/breaking-san-diego-acorn-document-dump-scandal/
Tags: ACORN  
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