Cheri Jacobus

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is someone with whom I rarely — if ever — agree. But I applaud her move to protect kids in schools by at least coming up with some potential solutions that can work, even if some on the left and the right might disagree with her. I, for one, at least want to take a listen.
 
While there are details about her overall proposal to have the National Guard protecting schools around the country that are problematic, she is on the right track with the notion of armed, trained protection on location at schools. My concern now, however, is that because the NRA is proposing something somewhat similar by way of armed security at each school, Boxer might back off in deference to politics, with solutions to protect kids becoming prey to pressure from the heavy hand of the left. It has been noted that she did not specifically mention this part of the proposal in an appearance on Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC.

The teachers and principal at Sandy Hook Elementary school, though unarmed and likely terrified, did all they could to try to protect and save the kids, including running TOWARD the gunfire and to their deaths. Had even one been armed, the death toll would have been much lower and we’d be giving prayers of thanks that a madman was stopped, rather than trying to get our heads and broken hearts around the facts of what happened as Newtown buries 20 innocent children just before Christmas.

Since Monday night's debate, I've heard scores of Romney supporters express disappointment and surprise that Mitt Romney did not hammer away at President Obama on growing scandal regarding the attacks in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans.
 
But it likely wasn't a Romney gaffe — Romney's near-silence on Benghazi was on purpose.

While Democrats are relieved that Joe Biden did not top himself on his embarrassing gaffes, for which he has become well-known, he did not, in fact, "win" last night's vice-presidential debate. Expectations were so low for him that anything short of a caricature of his own hapless self would have been received by the party faithful and their friends in the media with applause.
 
Biden was over the top with his 82 interruptions (aided and abetted by moderator Martha Raddatz) and the rude yet odd facial expressions. But what I found the most interesting was Paul Ryan's demeanor.

President Obama has acquiesced and has now agreed to received intelligence briefings in person, like President Bush and all of his predecessors, rather than reading them on his iPad, on his own.
 
Aside from the disturbing thought that a man with no foreign policy experience thinks he doesn't need to be briefed in person on intelligence issues that can mean the difference between life and death — as we saw earlier this month with the attacks on the American consulate in Libya — it's disturbing that Obama has had trouble operating his iPhone, yet claims to have read intel briefings on his iPad.

Officials in the Obama administration were warned of a possible or imminent attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, given specific warning 48 hours in advance of the planned attacks on the anniversary of 9/11, according to the UK Independent newspaper, and were warned on Sept. 4 of possible attacks on U.S. interests in the region, according to the Jerusalem Post.

We now know that while President Obama was campaigning in Norfolk, Va., on Sept. 4, and was mugging for the cameras and getting lifted off the ground in a bear hug on the campaign trail in California on Sept. 9 — the dates both warnings came — he was also skipping at least six of his daily security briefings (now claiming to have read them, but declining in-person, face-to-face briefings), and did not even inform Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and other officials of the threat or put them on high alert in any way, shape or form.

While the media take potshots at American icon Clint Eastwood for his non-teleprompter speech last night at the GOP convention and talking to an empty chair representing President Obama, they seem to be missing the point. Or more likely, they "get it" but are sweeping it under the rug.
 
GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney recently visited U.S. ally Israel, while President Obama refuses to do so until/unless he is reelected. Empty chair.
 
President Obama has no plans to visit New Orleans post-Isaac, but Mitt Romney is on his way there. Obama continues to fundraise and campaign instead. Empty chair.

The controversy swirling around Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Mo.) comments about abortion in the case of rape or incest is telling, indeed — but not about Republicans. It's the Democrats who are, yet again, misrepresenting the facts (that's the politically acceptable language to expose the fact they are lying) and hope voters are too lazy, misinformed or stupid to learn the truth.
 
Even though Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his VP selection, Paul Ryan, and literally every leading Republican have resoundingly criticized Aiken, insisted he drop out of the race and pulled funding from his campaign, the Democrats are desperately trying to link the GOP to Akin's comments.

If President Obama visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Poland, and the The Daily Caller's Neil Munro shouted a question to him about his alleged "gaffes" — would the media and Democrats defend Munro? (Romney did not commit gaffes, by the way.) Would the slams and barbs be directed at Obama for not answering the question?

Team Obama may be cheering now, just after the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate, but the political problems for the president and congressional Democrats has just grown tenfold.
 
That such a monumental change to American life and liberty was imposed with no Republican votes with President Obama repeatedly denying that his government takeover of one-sixth of our economy was NOT a tax, and to be caught in that blatant and purposeful lie, will damage him severely. The president told us one thing, then told the Supreme Court quite another story in order to win his case. The SCOTUS upheld the individual mandate because Obama's lawyer argued that it was, in fact, a tax!