Somewhere In Hell, Joseph Goebbels Is Smiling

If Goebbels had the media we have today, there wouldn't be a Jew left on the planet...My Tweet

First some history. Joseph Goebbels was the Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. He was known for his pathological antisemitism. He supported and recommended the extermination of the Jews later known as the "Final Solution." But from the very beginning of his taking office, he led a variety of  "actions" against Jews in Germany. They included the burning of books, boycotting Jewish businesses and the killing of Jews. As most now know, the outcome was the murder of over 6 million Jews by the end of WWII in 1945. I visited Auschwitz on two occasions. I saw the results of the "Final Solution." 

And while I am not accusing the media of supporting the killing of Jews by Hamas and other terrorist groups, I am accusing them of taking part in distortions, omissions and outright lies when it comes to the reporting of any type of conflict between Jews and Jihadists. Hence, the reason for the title of this post. We are witnessing a propaganda war as well as a real war in the Middle East today. But you don't have to believe me, allow me to just list some headlines that have appeared in the media in the last several weeks. Keep in mind, Hamas stores munitions and rockets in schools, civilian homes, under hospitals, countless number of tunnels and mosques. They also fire their rockets and missiles from these sites. The Israelis, on the other hand, always warn the civilian population that they will respond to the Hamas attacks. In the last several weeks, Hamas fired over 2,300 rockets and missiles into Israel.

The following are Twitter feed headlines:

• "In small Gaza morgue, 75-year-old volunteer dresses bodies of those killed in conflict with Israel for burial." AP
• "Breaking: Palestinian official: 7 people killed while seeking shelter in UN school hit by Israeli shell." AP  (What the headline failed to report is that Hamas stores munitions in those schools. Even the UN Secretary deplored their actions two days ago).
• "695 Palestinians killed since the beginning of renewed hostilities, Gaza Health Ministry report." CNN (Of course, they don't report on how many of those Palestinians were terrorists. In fact, CNN keeps an update on Palestinian casualties).
• "Forced To Flee." CNN International on Palestinians fleeing to shelters from Israeli attacks. (Nothing on Israelis who have to take shelter on average every 10 minutes in the last month).
• "There is no life. How Gaza City residents carry on through generations of war." CNN International
• "Photos: Our images from the scene of a UN-run school hit by shelling in Gaza." Reuters 

I can continue with examples of dozens of these type of headlines without having to cherry pick especially with the BBC.

And one can't always count on the UN either. The day Hamas launched over 80 rockets into Israel, the UN decided to accuse Israel of war crimes against Hamas. Interesting that they didn't decide to do otherwise considering Hamas launched over 8000 rockets and missiles into Israel since 2005.

But none of this surprises those of us who know most of the media leans left and has a long history of bias against Israel. In fact, this was shown to be true with two recent polls.

Pew found that a majority---51%--- of Americans sympathize more with Israel. That's the good news.  But when one starts to peel back the onion, the following is revealed: The poll found 77% of conservative Republicans support Israel.  In contrast, only 39% of liberal Democrats do.

Also, Gallup recently reported that only 36% of Democrats say Israel's actions against Hamas are justified. 

To add further insult to injury, we have a Secretary of State in John F. Kerry who referred to Israel as an "apartheid state." This guy must enjoy being the back-stabbing pompous ass that he is. And the worst kept secret in Washington and Israel is that Mr. Obama has little regard for Israel.

Somewhere in hell, Goebbels is smiling. 

Mr. Obama: Who Are You? What Do You Believe In?

Even though the president is traveling, he has a staff and a phone and is perfectly capable of faking work anywhere...WH Press Secretary Tweet

• If I ever had the opportunity to meet Pres. Obama I would ask him point-blank: Who are you Mr. President? What exactly do you believe in? I believe many Americans have been asking themselves those same two questions for some time now---even more recently.
• His track record in the last six years and his years as a senator certainly indicate he's a progressive. But it's much to easy to arrive at that conclusion. There's something much deeper going on with this man, this president. For example, when he was campaigning for president, he projected hope and optimism to many Americans (those who fell for the con). Yet, as president, he projects weakness, doubt and a suggestion that he's abandoned our allies.  Even some in the press are now proclaiming that Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minister and David Cameron, the PM of Great Britain, have assumed leadership roles on the global political scene. In effect, replacing---perhaps for the first time in modern world history---an American president as the leader of the free world. In other words, these two leaders have filled the vacuum created by Obama's failure in leadership. 
• In foreign policy, we witness---on a daily basis---foreign leaders, dictators and even the leadership of terrorist organizations basically disregarding the pronouncements coming out of the White House. To borrow from Ronald Reagan, his policy of peace through strength has been replaced by a policy of peace through appeasement and defeatism in the Obama administration. Syria's Assad and Russia's Putin paid no mind to Obama's drawing of the red lines. Even terrorist thugs and murderers like Boko Haram made fun of the administration's hashtag diplomacy. Included in this are Christians who are being cleansed and murdered throughout the world, and barely a mention of this new holocaust from the White House. In other words, when thugs know the United States won't stand up to their aggression, the aggression will continue.
• There's a sense of benign neglect pervading this entire administration. And it's not only in foreign policy. It's become evident in domestic policy as well. For example, with regard to the border crisis, there's an appearance of no one being in charge in Washington. Hence, another void created resulting in thousands of illegal immigrants keep crossing our borders. 
• Of course there are also the many scandals and the conspicuous lawlessness.
• It's often been said that Obama likes to lead from behind. The problem with leading from behind is that few follow as evidenced by the examples above. So what's a nation to do when it has no idea what the guiding principles and core values are of its leadership? This is certain: the outcome is a much more divided nation whose image on the world stage has been severely diminished.
• There is an answer however to the U.S. regaining its stature in the world. As Seth Lipsky of the NY Sun wrote several weeks ago: "Let's do it the way Reagan did---with presidential strength and economic growth."  There's just one big problem: Obama and the progressive political class continue to stand in the way.

Postscript: It's now clear the Obama administration appears to make more excuses for Islamist as he continues to attack Christians and remains hostile to Israel.

Media Bias Toward Israel Abets Antisemitism, Criminal Behavior and Violence

Hamas: Polite academic society's favorite genocidal neo-Nazis...David Burge Tweet

• Several days ago, I wrote a piece about the media's sins of omission (July 14, 2014). In short, I made the claim that media bias is also evident in what the media ignores or does not choose to report. I listed countless examples as they relate to the the current crises in Israel and on our border.
• But the media's bias takes on an added dimension---one that also abets---one might also argue reinforces---the antisemitism and criminal behavior of Islamist. I've also found it intriguing that many of the same people in the media (and the progressive political class) who condemn what al-Qaeda and its affiliates do will defend the likes of Hamas, a designated terror organization.
• The media's bias against Israel is nothing new. It goes back to May of 1948 when the State of Israel was created. To list examples of its bias toward Israel on these pages would take a lifetime. Even now, when I occasionally listen to the BBC news for their international reporting, their bias toward Israel is conspicuous. In fact, they no longer even attempt to hide it. Many media outlets have become experts at steering the news from the truth. We've watched this play out in our own internal media coverage. Examples of course include the withholding of reporting of the  many lies of the administration with regard to Obamacare, Benghazi and the IRS just to name a few. 
• But the former behaviorist in me obliges me to report that this bias is also very dangerous. When the media converts terrorists like Hamas into victims of Israel's warranted, self-defense actions, they are complicit to the antisemitism, criminal behavior and violence perpetuated by Hamas. They also reinforce the aggressive actions of a terror organizations like Hamas and others. And equally disturbing, they reinforce the latent (and sometimes overt) antisemitism that often emerges in crises like these. We've seen this antisemitism raise its ugly head in several European nations in just the last week. For example, gangs have been roaming in France chanting, "Jews, out of France!"
• Journalism is suppose to be the guardian of liberty. Unfortunately, in too many cases, they've increasingly abetted the violence we're witnessing in the Middle East and other parts of the world. In some respects, it's become a criminal press.

Re: The Latest Beatdown of Obamacare---Don't Break Out The Champagne Yet

ConLawProf Strikes Again:... Breaking: Obama administration health care subsidies will keep flowing despite court decision...David Burge Tweet

When I first heard the news that an Appeals court  dealt a potentially devastating blow to Obamacare, the first thought that raced through my mind: the Obama administration will skirt the court's decision anyway.  In short, the court's ruling states that participants in health care exchanges run by the federal government are not eligible for tax subsidies. This affects 34 states. Subsequent to that ruling, another appeals court panel in Richmond, VA, upheld the law. But even if the second court's decision upheld the earlier decision, the Obama administration was going to violate the law anyway. How do I know that? They White House said they would. This administration has a long history of violating laws as recent Supreme Court rulings have shown.

In the last four years, there have been at least two dozen changes to Obamacare. Some of these were done unilaterally by the administration and some by the courts. They include, but have not been limited to, the following:

Progressives Like Obama, Hillary Clinton, Reid + Many Others Are The Milli Vanilli Of American Politics

The president fully supports Israeli's right to be patient and understanding while being pummeled by non-stop rocket attacks...WH Press Secretary

• Most know the story of Milli Vanilli, the singing duo busted for not singing their own songs. During their short career, they actually won many awards including a Grammy (unlike Pres. Obama's Nobel Prize, the Grammy was later withdrawn). In short, they were found to be fake, phonies and frauds.
• The very same can be said for the progressive political class. They always try to sell the American people an illusion. Whether it's downplaying real scandals or wrapping programs like Obamacare in bold-faced lies, it's still all a deception. Just last week, in the middle of the crisis on our own borders, the crisis that was erupting in the Ukraine and Hamas pummeling Israel with rockets and missiles, Pres. Obama declared the global community "tranquil." Even Harry Reid proclaimed the U.S. border was secure.
• As I wrote not long ago, the elite progressive political class are the great pretenders. We've listened to the likes of Hillary Clinton spread the progressive ideology of economic inequality and redistribution of wealth while she herself tried to convince the American people she and Bill Clinton were broke. Pres. Obama's attacks on economic inequality should fall on deaf ears considering he's attended over 400 fat-cat fundraisers in the previous six years and even managed to fit in almost 180 rounds of golf---with those same fat cats.
• The geo-political climate is a perfect example of the progressives trying to sell the American people an illusion. As recently as last March, when the Ukraine crisis first erupted, the Obama administration laid out plans to cut our military to pre-WWII levels. Rich Lowry of National Review sarcastically wrote at the time: "Because we all know that we'll never face an unexpected, unpredictable international crisis again." Welcome to July 2014 Mr. Obama. In fact, Michael Goodwin of the NY Post summed it up this way: "This is what the world looks like when a president laments evil instead of confronting it."