#please knock it off

The drawbacks to a foreign policy of speak softly but carry a big hashtag are becoming evident re China:

Using unusually strong language, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel took aim at Beijing's handling of territorial disputes with its Asian neighbors.

"In recent months, China has undertaken destabilizing, unilateral actions asserting its claims in the South China Sea," Hagel said.

He warned Beijing that the United States was committed to its geopolitical rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region and "will not look the other way when fundamental principles of the international order are being challenged".

Hagel said the United States took no position on the merits of rival territorial claims in the region, but added: "We firmly oppose any nation's use of intimidation, coercion, or the threat of force to assert these claims."

 Of course Hagel has to take this position. And the Chinese now have to bruster (a typo but I found it so funny that I can't correct it now) and protest, but would they have even expanded their ADIZ if they feared a tough response from the US?

This is a president who wouldn't send rescue to Benghazi because a botched response would have hurt his chances for reelection. He won't send real help to Ukraine because he fears Putin. Heck, he couldn't even stop an interview to deal with a fly on his face.

Yes the Chinese protest this strong language, but they don't fear it. And if they've been paying attention to this president, they know that strong language and devastating hashtags is as far as this is going to go. 

No, I'm not advocating escalation on our part. I'm saying we might not be at this point if we had shown a strong commitment to our allies for the last 5 years. I just hope China's neighbors don't escalate. There it is "hope". 

Isn't hope and change what we were promised? Well I just hope we can limp along until 2016. Mark  balance of power in the "changed" column.

Grandpa Speaks

BABA from joel kefali on Vimeo.

Substitute Loot-a-ran for Muslim, Porta-goose for English, and sticky buns for handmade sausage rolls and this could have been my grandpa.

h/t: laughing squid

Accomplishments Listed

This was drudged because the reporters did laugh at one point. But listen to the brag: the president deserves credit for engagement in issues like Iran, what we've done on Ukraine, and efforts to dive in and engage around the world. Diving in an engaging! Kinda makes you proud to be an American, no?

Space

Big Bang Theory is missing the boat if they don't have Koothrappali explain this to Penny. Why, the episode writes itself.

Probably Nothing

This is a departure from the main mission of this blog, which most of you know is to raise awareness of lumberjack fashion and to emphasize how fetching most women look in plaid... But anyway, listen to the president in this clip. Notice that he's making a click before several of his sentences? Like he's got negative pressure in his mouth before he opens it. And it creates a click. This seems like something I've heard before, back in the 80's it was. Recognize it? Care to hazard a guess?

News of the Weird

Kidney Disease Patients Not Part of "Diversity": Among the entities rushing to condemn Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in April was the UCLA Medical School, where researchers returned a $425,000 check from the Sterling Foundation to study "structural properties of key proteins in the kidney" to aid development of drugs to treat kidney disease -- and rejected the rest of Sterling's $3 million pledge. A UCLA spokesman said the school must emphasize its "core values" of "diversity, inclusion and respect." [KCBS-TV (Los Angeles), 4-29-2014]

Amazing. We'll only accept money from people who meet our criteria. As if accepting money somehow indicates approval of bad behavior.

from: NotW

I Might Subscribe Just so I Can Do This

Another happy subscriber pic.twitter.com/G3FYHeKJQA
— Richard Turley (@Mr_Turley) March 17, 2014

h/t: wetdry

Everything You Need to Know About the 80's

Camelopardalids Meteor Shower Disappoints

Like so many other things under this president.

Capital Weather Gang’s Kevin Ambrose:  

The Camelopardalids meteor shower was a total bust. I did not see one shooting star last night. I did photograph a jet leaving Dulles Airport that looks a lot like a shooting star...

 Ok, so maybe president Obama isn't responsible. Maybe he didn't promise a spectacular show. But I wanted to get this explanation of the shower's failure out there before John Kerry and Al Gore get a chance to blame it on global warming.

Ethics and the Man from Hawaii

Victor Davis Hanson has a new article on The Obama Administration’s Ethics Problem. The Hillary Clinton section  alone is worth the price of admission:

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton left office with American foreign policy in shambles. She has been unable to make the argument that a single initiative — reset with Russia, lead from behind in Libya, red lines on Syria, deadlines to Iran, complete withdrawal from Iraq, pressure on the Israelis, outreach to radical Islam and Latin American Communist dictatorships — had met with success.

Clinton infamously dismissed the lingering mysteries surrounding the Benghazi deaths with “What difference at this point does it make?” She also refused, despite numerous entreaties, to place the now-infamous Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram on a State Department terrorist watch list.

He touches on most of the Obamethics incidents. It's a pretty impressive list when you read it all in one place.

If I had to pick, I'd say the IRS scandal is the most egregious . Using the government to punish political "enemies" should bring special shame. But these are the guys who proudly locked WWII vets out of their memorial; like Cartman, they do what they want.

Is it any wonder Democrats are playing the race card? They have no shame and they have precious few accomplishments, but they've always got that race card.  Look for them to discover another Republican "war on women" as the election gets closer and the race card gets stale.