BALTIMORE, Maryland September 22, 2014 - They are all coming out of the woodwork, acting like they've been pro-American Patriots all along, but trapped in an administration willing to go to any length to avoid using military force, even when such use is for the general good of the country and the world. Leon Panetta, the California coat and tie leftist who did a turn as defense secretary under Obama after serving as Clinton's Chief of Staff, is just the latest example. Appearing on the now shamelessly left-leaning 60 Minutes show on CBS, mainly to plug a new book, Panetta said that when he was Obama's defense secretary he told the President he was in favor of leaving 8,000 to 10,000 American Troops in Iraq at the end of hostilities, plus an adequate intelligence contingent. But Obama was hell-bent on taking every military person out; every single one. He bragged about it time and again until just recently, when the absurdity of it became painfully apparent. Panetta said every military advisor told Obama the same thing he did. If only we would have done that - and by "we" Panetta means Obama and his administration - ISIS would never have incubated into a growing world-wide threat, and the United States could have kept former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from hopelessly corrupting the government left in charge in Iraq by Obama. I can only imagine thousands of low information types sitting at home drinking all of that Kool Aid as if it was absolutely true. But it isn't even a little bit true, and here is why: Panetta had plenty of media sources who would have been only too glad to run with a story like that back at crunch-time. If he was convinced that what Obama was doing was hair-brained, he could have went to these sources to get the story out that Obama was about to make a huge error, or he could have reached out to other party regulars to talk to Obama. Or, he could have resigned: which would have been extremely effective in upping the ante for Obama. Instead, Panetta and other pro-Hilary administration insiders stood around yawning, only too happy that the USA was washing its hands of all things Iraq. The war in Iraq was started by President Bush, and Panetta and every other Democratic Operative wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. These days, Obama is trying to blame Maliki for the failure to leave behind a contingent of American troops in Iraq. This, too, is total Hogwash. Obama has bragged constantly about the wisdom of his decision to pull all troops out of Iraq. He no more pushed a plan to leave troops in Iraq with Maliki than he pushed Ms. Lerner to clean up the IRS. But as for Panetta, he is willing to trash Obama to assist Hilary. Obama's approval rating is in the absolute tank. A new Reuters Poll has it at 35%. Hilary sees Obama as a lead ring around her neck and she is maneuvering to separate herself from him. She is pushing this fraud for purely political reasons. In fact, HIlary is every bit the leftist that Obama is. Like Obama, Hilary will do her best to trick voters into believing she is really a moderate, I believe an 8-year Hilary term will be far worse for America than was the 8 years of Obama. Many of Obama's biggest mistakes can be reversed if the next President and Congress can work together. But Hilary will not reverse any of Obama's nightmarish policies. And when she is finished, those policies will be in effect for 16 years. People turning adult age will have no memory of a president other than two uber leftists and their 16 years on a downbound train.
Why PC Police and Other Elites are Assaulting NFL Over Domestic Violence There was something about the entire Ray Rice debacle that I could not get my arms around, and it bothered me.
It wasn't the premise of the debate. A truly civilized society should have a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violcnce of any kind. Men should never physically assault or intimidate their partners, nor should women. And adults should never assault or physically intimidate their children or any children, for that matter. The penalty Rice ended up with is fine with me. I have a huge problem with the way Rice was punished, as I explained in a column here on September 9. But putting that issue aside, I was increasingly uncomfortable with the way the domestic violence story was hanging around the NFL's neck.
Society's interest in curbing and ending domestic violence has nothing at all to do with the NFL. Nothing. As has been revealed many times in recent days, incidents of domestic violence among NFL players are significantly below the national average. That should be the end of the connection between the NFL and the overall issue of domestic violence for these elites and PC Police who are out front in the discussion of the issue, telling us what to think about this and that. But the din of howling from the PC police and other elites shows no sign of letting up. I, for one, would be interested in knowing which segment of society really is most prone to commiting domestic violence. I would love to know which segments of society have the lowest rate of domestic violence. But the NFL is neither at the top or the bottom. They are in the middle and of no compelling interest under any definition of legitimate interest. The league's behanvior in recent weeks is almost refreshing. They quickly came to the conclusion that they had been out of touch in having a policy about the issue. They fixed the problem. I don't think they have overdone it. I don't think they have taken the problem too lightly when all is said and done. What more can they do? But the elites pushing the conversation seem to want to punish the league for falling short of what they think should have been their policy all along. Oh if we all were as smart as the elites of this country what a wonderful world we would live in. League officials admit their policy was virtually non-existant and their handling of the Rice incident was incorrect. But the league and the Ravens broke no law. They never said that they condoned domestic violence. They didn't even hint at such an absurd idea. Push the issue, folks. Think through how we as a civilized society can end domestic violence. Stop using the NFL as a whipping boy because in the end you're alienating people who should never arrive at that opinion.
I believe that what is really going on is the growing opinion on the far left, among elites and PC types, that the NFL and football generally is a bad thing. Anytime these types can trash the NFL they jump on it. The NFL is not a forced occupation. Millions of people love football. But in the opinion of these really awful people, football is violent, it is all male, and, therefore, it is all bad. These types want the millions to watch women's bowling on Sunday afternoon. Get your season tickets today.
Sports:
Maryland's Soccer team won a very important game on Monday night as they go about trying to right their ship. Their coach, the genius-like Sasho Cirovski, doesn't seem too concerned, and good for him. I'm sure he will get the lads playing far better than they are now. Against Michigan State last Friday, Maryland controlled the ball and pressed the attack, but they looked like lost souls when it came to scoring. A ball would be lifted into the State box and, at most, one player would run to it. On one play a ball was played through to a Maryland forward who had gotten ahead of the field without being offside. What did he do with the ball? He passed it. My remaining hair was pulled hard at that point. I suspect a bit of the problem - maybe more - is the fact that most of Maryland's players were teammates of Patrick Mullins for the last four years. By the middle of the 2012 season, and then throughout the 2013 season, Mullins did all of the scoring. Everybody else concentrated on getting Mullins the ball. Now, Mullins is gone and no one has stepped in to take his place. Cirovski is said to have told one of the Big Ten Network's announcers that David Kabelik is his best finisher right now. Great. Kabelik was listed as a defenseman at the start of the season and does not start.
So the Terps lost last Friday to Michigan STate, 1-0. On Monday they played better but still needed a penalty shot to edge Dayton, 1-0. Maryland is now 2 wins, 3 losses and 2 ties, including 0 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie in the Big Ten, a league they were picked to win. The lads have two huge games coming up. Friday night they are home to play Wisconsin and then, four days later, Georgetown comes to Ludwig Field on Tuesday night. If there is a college coach who can right this ship in time to make the NCAA Tournament, it is Cirovski. In his 22nd year and with two NCAA titles under his belt, (and last season's NCAA title thieved from his team by a slumbering referee), he will find a way to get these guys to score. I'd bet on it. Most times a team with scoring problems is really having trouble getting on offense. That is not Maryland's problem. They controlled the second half against Michigan State the same way they control games against weaker opponents. They just weren't capitalizing on the chances they were giving themselves. The only player I saw who was actually looking to score was Tsubasa Endoh. Endoh is a fabulous player. Last season he was like a general directing the offense as it probed the other team's defense for ways to get the ball to Mullins in a place where he could score. His only drawback is his lack of speed. He isn't slow, mind you, but he isn't lightning quick in the way a scorer needs to be if he is going to be successful in making one-on-one moves that lead to goals. He will score with a decent pass, but he is by far the player most likely to make such passes, not receive them. This is a severe test for Cirovski. After reaching the final four the last two seasons, most programs would be happy if the team struggled this year but returned to glory next season. One person who won't settle for doing it that way is the Maryland Coach.
In Europe, qualifying games for the 2016 European Championships are underway. All of the 53 participating national teams have been grouped into eight six-nation divisions and one five-team division. Each nation plays a home and home series with every other team in their division. The nine division champs and the nine division runner-ups make the 24 team finals in France. Like the World Cup, the European Championship awards the host nation an automatic berth in the finals. Thus, France is in the final 24.
The tiny nation of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees Mountains between France and Spain, is one of the 53 nations playing in the qualifying rounds. They have had little luck through the years, and currently own an unfathonable 44 game losing streak. What's worse, their last goal came in 2010. That is, until September 9. On that night, playing in their new 3,300 seat national stadium, they took a 1-0 lead over visiting Wales. The Welsh have had a drought of their own, but nothing compared to that of Andorra. The last time Wales made the finals of a major tournament was in 1958, when they made the finals of the World Cup. Many fans find it strange that the Welsh don't play for England, but the nationalism involved there would take years to explain. Still, Wales is a soccer hotbed and the folks there support the national team in a very vocal and devoted way. Plus, one of the world's best players - and the highest paid player - is from Wales and he plays for the National Team. He is Gareth Bale, the Real Madrid star. When Andorra grabbed the lead in the sixth minute, Bale knew, Wales knew, and Andorra probably knew, that the rest of the match would be Bale v. Andorra. Bale did not disappoint. He tied the match in the 22nd minute with a breathtaking header, and won it in the second half on a beautiful curling free kick, to the pure delight of the 1500 Welsh fans who made the trip. Still, the narrow victory and the goal Wales allowed did not sit well in Wales. The coach of the national team, Chris Coleman, was roundly booed at halftime by the Welsh fans.
One of the reasons that Wales was struggling against Andorra is the same reason Burnley is finding it difficult to score in the Premier League, even though their defense is among the league's best. Sam Vokes, who combined with Danny Ings to score 42 goals last season for the Claret, before being injured in a match against Leicester, is a huge missing part for both squads. The injury Vokes sustained was s torn anterior cruciate ligament, and it has kept Vokes idle since that time. But a release by the Wales National Team carried in the BBC indicates Vokes will be back in October in time for some of the national team's Euro 2016 qualifying matches. He is missed also by Burnley. Not only is he completely absent, but Ings has not been himself since Vokes' injury. Many think that Vokes' return could have a double impact on Burnley, by getting his scoring back on the pitch and getting Ings back to scoring. Sounds good to me.
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