Just When You Thought Progressives Couldn't Surprise You Anymore---There's This

Beheadings, caliphates, shit-borne death plagues. We've passed the fall of Rome straight to the Dark Ages...David Burge tweet

I normally don't post on a Friday. It's not a good day to bum people out with a weekend around the corner. But today had to be an exception. Regular readers know I warned New Yorkers about electing a progressive (Marx sympathizer) for mayor of the city. In fact, I predicted NYC would plunge into progressive hell once again. It didn't take long. Subsequently, I listed several examples in a previous post. One involved De Blasio supporting a hard-left progressive to become head of City Council. He put his support behind a individual who supported five Cuban intelligence agents who spied on the U.S. She also lobbied for the release of the leader of the FLN, a Puerto Rican domestic terrorist group. She's now NYC Council Speaker. De Blasio himself got married in Cuba. But there's more:

• This week the Speaker proposed illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes should NOT be handed over to immigration officials. 
• De Blasio also hired his wife---NYC's First Lady---to a city position at a salary of $170k per year.
• It was reported last week that the First Lady's Chief of Staff, Rachel Noerdinger, lives with a guy who was convicted of manslaughter and posted anti-police rants on his Facebook page. Ms. Noerdinger also makes $170k per year.
• But wait, it doesn't end there. Prior to being appointed aid to the First Lady of NYC, she was a mouthpiece for non other than the fake, phony, race-baiting for dollars fraud---Al Sharpton. The NY Post reported she serves as Sharpton's eyes and ears in City Hall.
• And if that's not enough, this should make your head explode. This week there was a birthday bash for Al Sharpton. He was celebrated on his 60th. Who celebrated this fraud? None other than Mayor de Blasio and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.  The NY Post  noted that Sharpton and his organization---the National Action Network---still owe the feds just over $800,000 in back taxes. The Post also reported one of the main reasons for this birthday bash was to help Sharpton's organization with donations to help bail him out of those past tax liabilities.  Sharpton's fundraiser reported they received over $1M in donations.

Keep in mind, these are the same progressives who lecture everyone else about income inequality. In fact, Mayor de Blasio ran on that issue. But all they really do is flip us the bird. That's the state of the progressive political class in America today.

Oh, one more item before I forget. Pres. Obama has been a featured speaker at Sharpton's annual National Action Network conventions, including one earlier this year.

Postscript:

Since this was posted, the NY Post and other publications reported Rachel Noerdinger owed almost $30 grand in 2011 federal tax liens. She also allowed her boyfriend to drive her car. He was unlicensed. In many of these, she allegedly neglected to disclose the information on her application for employment. In addition, she was cleared of much of this by the head of the Mayor's Department of Investigation---a guy who used to be Mayor de Blasio's chief fundraiser.

Americans Are Being Held Hostage By Obama's Transformational Chaos

U.S. Assures Hong Kong  That Their Protests Just One Of Many Issues White House Staying Silent On...The Onion

"We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America." Pres. Obama made that statement in October of 2008. It was one of only a few promises he's kept. Unfortunately---with the exception of a few remaining diehards---most Americans did not expect this type of transformation. And while Obama cannot be blamed for all the ills and chaos pervasive throughout the geo-political world, we are experiencing the consequences of the policies he's shaped in the last six years. Or to put it more bluntly---it appears trickle-down incompetence is not only the rule for this administration but it's also acceptable.

We now have a Secret Service scandal appearing  on the heels of one scandal after another beginning with Fast and Furious, highlighted by Benghazi and now topped off with the ISIS surge. Keep in mind, this is an administration that refused to even acknowledge the threat coming from ISIS even after being alerted to the threat by its own intelligence services. 

Perhaps shortly, we might even witness a scandal associated with the recent Ebola outbreak in the United States. I certainly hope not. But one thing behavioral psychology taught me was that future behavior can be predicted by past behavior.

For example, The American Thinker pointed out today there are at least 14 questions that will never be asked about Ebola. Two of those questions include the following:

• Why doesn't the U.S. have a mandatory quarantine period of 28 days before allowing any traveler who has visited W. Africa in the last 90 days? I can answer that question for the readers of the American Thinker. In April of 2010, USA Today reported the following: "The Obama administration quietly scrapped plans to enact sweeping new quarantine regulations that the CDC touted four years ago as critical to protecting Americans from dangerous diseases spread by travelers."
• When will the State Department cancel the 13,500 visitors visas from the three W. African countries that currently have Ebola epidemics? I would venture to say the reasons are both couched in politics and political correctness.

And while the flu kills thousands each year in this country alone, those two questions and more imply that there are some common sense tactics we can use in managing this dangerous disease. After all, during this time of year, we are all repeatedly reminded to get flu shots.

But when you have an administration that views everything through the lens of political correctness, so-called tolerance, religion, race, class and gender, we become hostage to a warped transformation. 

The NY Post editorial summed all of this up best in my opinion: "Will the Obama folks ever learn? To head off a threat, you've got to be willing to acknowledge it first."

"We'll Need A Lot Of Sunshine To Disinfect This Rot" In The Obama Administration

Secret Service Chief: "This is unacceptable and I take full responsibility." Translation: "LOL. You can't fire me." David Burge Tweet

• Almost two years ago, Michael Goodwin of the NY Post wrote, "We'll need a lot of sunshine to disinfect this rot." He was referring to all the scandals surrounding the Obama administration. At the time,  Obamacare, Benghazi and the IRS scandals were making headlines.
• Since Goodwin wrote that piece, much has changed---for the worse. Under this administration, almost all of our formally highly regarded institutions have exhibited what I've referred to in the past as "trickle down incompetence."
• Take the most recent example. I grew up holding the Secret Service in high regard. Most Americans did.  While they have one of the hardest, important  and most dangerous jobs in the world, recent reports appear to indicate even they are engulfed in conspicuous incompetence. Two years ago, at least eight Secret Service agents were fired for allegedly soliciting prostitutes while on the job in Columbia. Not long ago, three agents were sent home while on duty in the Netherlands. They were found to be drunk before the president's arrival. Two weeks ago, the guy that broke into the White House was actually able to see more of the White House than most tourist get to see. He was only stopped by an off-duty agent. And don't forget that lunatic fake sign language guy who was able to stand right next to Pres. Obama at Mandela's funeral service last year.
• But it doesn't stop with the Secret Service. We've seen this trickle-down incompetence exhibited by the White House (a list much too long to summarize here), by Congress, by the State Department, by Health and Human Services (Obamacare), by the Treasury (the IRS scandal), by the Pentagon and DOJ (where we've witnessed political correctness running amok as highlighted by the treatment of the Ft. Hood shooter case) and by the handling of immigrants entering the country illegally. Just as disturbing, our foreign policy is a mess as our intelligence services bicker with the Obama administration over ISIS and who was told when. (Thank God, we still have a military that does an outstanding job).
• And while I believe it's absurd to blame Obama, we now have the first Ebola diagnosis in the United States. 
• Nevertheless, these events and more leave most Americans distrusting this government. Most polls substantiate this claim. In addition,  the total lack of transparency and accountability has been breathtaking. And the main stream media---the people who are suppose to hold the government accountable, the people who are suppose to be the guardians of freedom and liberty---failed miserably in doing their job.
• Unfortunately,  it appears we have to wait at least another two years before we can open the drapes to let the sunshine in.

That Bubble Wrap The Media Covered Obama In?---It's Popping

The White House intruder made it all the way into the East Room, which technically means he spent more time in the WH in Sept Than Obama...WH Press Secretary

• Most of us watched children play with bubble wrap. They like the sound of the wrap popping. After a few minutes, the popping stops and the children move on to something else. They've lost interest. The wrap's bubbles have all burst. It's no longer fun to play with. The bubble wrap is now useless. It's not longer functional.
• On several occasions, I've written pieces about the media's cloaking of Obama in bubble wrap. (They've done the same with Hillary Clinton over the years). But in recent months, we've heard popping coming from that bubble wrap. The last pop just might have been the threat we're facing from ISIS. Even his complicit media popped some of those bubbles themselves.
• Pres. Obama finally answered that 3 a.m. phone call only to find out he was too late to the dance. By all accounts from some in the media, we're finding out that Mr. Obama hasn't attended 60% of his intelligence briefings (Don't be surprised if he played more rounds of golf). In fact, Pentagon officials reported that the president was forewarned about ISIS over a year ago. They said he was fully brief about the threat.  And yet, on 60 Minutes this past weekend, Obama blamed the intelligence community for the the ISIS "surprise."
• But even more disturbing is the news that al-Qaeda is not "on the run" or "decimated" as Pres. Obama proclaimed on many occasions---especially prior to the last presidential election. In fact, many terrorist groups have actually been given safe havens in the very Arab countries the president said is part of the coalition against ISIS.
• It's so absurd; one is inclined to put this information in the "WTF?" file. For example, Qatar has long been the headquarters for Hamas. For many years, it was also the home base for the Taliban (the very group Pakistan gave comfort). The Saudis have long supported Wahhabi organizations---long known to recruit Islamist. And Turkey? No different. While we've had American bases in Turkey for years, the country has been known as a recruiting region for Islamist.
• This week Bibi Netanyahu, PM of Israel, said the things at the UN that Obama should have said to them last week.  While Pres. Obama failed to mention the threat coming from Iran, Bibi made it clear that a nuclear Iran would be more dangerous than even the threat coming from ISIS. He reminded everyone, "To defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear power is to win the battle but lose the war." He added, "Together we must recognize the dangers of radical Islam." In other words, like George W. Bush and others at the time, Bibi correctly and precisely diagnosed the threats facing Western civilization from Islamist. 
• So we're left with just one question: Is Obama finally paying attention? It's an important question because we're not hearing that popping sound anymore.