Alberta Oil, White House FOX War, Obamao: Morning Intell

I have never been present for any discussion of any measures that could even thinkably be taken against Tehran that does not focus obsessively and exclusively on the possibly calamitous outcomes. Israel hits Iran and—well, you fill in the rest. The target sites are, anyway, too much dispersed and too deeply buried. You know how it goes. Apparently, nothing can be done that does not make a bad situation worse. It is as if there could be a worse outcome than the nuclear armament of a lawless messianic state that tore up every agreement it signed even as it bought further time while signing it.

In that case, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and many others should never have said that such an eventuality was unacceptable. They should have said that there were some conditions under which it was acceptable, and also clearly specified what those conditions were. If there’s no saber in the scabbard, then at least don’t make the vulgar mistake of rattling it.

Against this, we are at least entitled to consider the idea that a decaying regime that is bluffing and buying (or rather stealing) time on weapons of mass destruction is in a condition that makes this the best moment to do at least something to raise the cost of the lawlessness and to slow down and sabotage the preparations. Or might it be better to wait and to fight later on more equal terms? Just asking.

Compelling, no?

For Obama, the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall presents a spectacular opportunity: to place himself, and America as he sees it, outside the constraints of history, where the important work of Utopianism can be properly undertaken. He wouldn’t miss missing it for the world.

Paul at Power Line [If it's not a bummer, he'd rather not trip]: “Obama will represent the U.S. as a supplicant and he will represent us as a penitent. If those roles aren’t available, one suspects he would just as soon stay home.”

Kyle-Anne Shiver’s finale: “Backlash is forming faster than a thunder cloud on a hot summer day. It’s going to be a fine fight and I’m bidding for the popcorn concession.”

It is an ominous precedent, for Limbaugh is still a private citizen, albeit a very public one. He is not an elected official, he holds no position with a political party, he is entitled to the same protections that any private citizen has. For the White House to put its full weight and power behind an operation to discredit any private citizen, no matter how powerful, is Orwellian at best, Stalinist at worst.

On the heels of a half-assed attempt at assassination of a Saudi official by an al-Qaeda operative who had a pound of explosives stuck up his rectum, comes this latest al-Qaeda training video. We have obtained the full transcript.

NOTE: Link may not be safe for work–depends on where you work.

Charlie Crist is trying to dress himself in the borrowed robes of a conservative. Even Macbeth, another ambitious guy, knew when the robes weren’t his.

It’s a transparent scam. But will Florida Republican primary voters buy it? They’ve given Crist a pass on a lot of things over his career. But he’s asking them to buy some pretty outlandish things now.

Many Republicrats put on their conservative clothes before the election. If elected, they quickly burn them on election night.