Popularity of 'Don't Tread on Me' plates in Virginia suggests Tea Party still strong

A Virginia license plate with the Tea Party-embraced “Don’t Tread on Me” logo is a big seller, suggesting the movement remains popular, at least in the state, even after a tough loss in this year’s gubernatorial election.
At least five other states also sell the specialty plates: Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. But in Virginia, the tag ranks No. 2 among such plates approved in the past five years and ninth among more than 200 total.
The tag was issued to roughly 21,800 Virginia-registered vehicles in just the first 20 months of sales, according to state figures reported by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper.
“It is a symbol of frustration … a symbol of disgust with the government,” David Dwyer, a former Hampton Roads Tea Party chairman, told the newspaper.
The sales figures for the “Don’t Tread on Me” plates indicate more than just Tea Party members are buying them, which Dwyer suggests is an indication the movement’s mantra of less-government and no new taxes resonates with many Americans.
“I’m seeing [the tags] everywhere now,” added Hampton Roads Tea Party chairman Keith Freeman.
The state approved the logo, which resembles the rattlesnake-emblazoned historic Gadsden Flag, in 2011, after the movement helped Republicans win back the House a year earlier in the landslide, mid-term elections.
However, this was a tough year for conservative voters in Virginia. Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli lost to Democrat Terry McAuliffe in November in a race many political strategists called a test case for the 2016 elections.
Several other Virginia specialty plates with political themes are less popular, compared to the one with the Revolutionary-era “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
Roughly 1,600 vehicles have the abortion-rights “Trust Women/Respect Choice” plate while about 5,400 have the anti-abortion “Choose Life” message, according to the paper.
The state’s specialty plates cost an additional $10, though some revenue-sharing tags cost more.

NY Times Benghazi claims as ‘misleading’

GOP congressman blasts NY Times Benghazi claims as ‘misleading’

A top congressional Republican is saying a new report that concludes Al Qaeda did not carry out the 2012 attack on the U.S diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, is “misleading.”
The new report published Saturday in the New York Times concludes that there was no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault that killed four Americans on September 11, 2012, and that it appeared that the attack was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made anti-Islamic video, as the Obama administration first claimed.
New York Rep. Peter King, member and former chairman of the House’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Fox News the argument that the most overtly anti-Western militia, Ansar al-Shariah – not Al Qaeda – led the attack is an academic argument over semantics, considering Ansar al-Shariah is widely believed to be an affiliate terror group of Al Qaeda.
“It’s misleading,” King said. “It’s a distinction without a difference.”
The claims by the New York Times also conflicts with other evidence, including the testimony of Greg Hicks, the deputy of Ambassador Christopher Stevens who was killed in the attack. Hicks described the video as "a non-event in Libya" at that time, and consequently not a significant trigger for the attack
It would also contradict a separate report by a leading social media firm that found that the first reference to the anti-Islam film that was initially blamed for sparking the attack was not detected on social media until a day later.
Fox News’ Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

Saudis lament, 'we have been stabbed in the back by Obama'

Arabs don’t trust Obama either.
As 2013 ends, President Obama has lost credibility with many people who trusted him at the start of the year. Thanks to the Healthcare.gov debacle, polls find support for the president among women and independents has dropped to the lowest ebb of his presidency. Obama's words -- promising Americans they could keep their doctors under his health care plan -- didn’t match his deeds.
Surprisingly, the same thing is happening on the other side of the world among Arabs in the Middle East and for the same reason.
Too often, Obama’s speeches and actions don’t match.
"We are glad the Americans are here," said Ahmed al-Ibrahim, an adviser to some of Saudi Arabia's royals and officials, when I met with him recently, "but we fear that the president has lost credibility after Syria."

Astonished Saudi officials are contrasting Obama's quick actions in South Sudan with his unwillingness to act in places like Syria or in Bahrain.

The Saudi official is referring to Obama’s “red line” vow of military action if the Syrian dictator Bashir Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. Assad did and Obama didn’t. Saudi officials were stunned.
Next came the revelation earlier this year that Obama was secretly negotiating with Iran, the mortal enemy of both Israel and Saudi Arabia. Officials in both nations have told me that they simply don't believe that the president can sweet-talk the mullahs out of the weapons they have coveted for years.
“The bond of trust between America and Saudi Arabia has been broken in the Obama years," al-Ibrahim said. "We feel we have been stabbed in the back by Obama."
"Every time that Obama had to choose between his enemies and his friends, he always chose his enemies," he said. "We don't know what he's putting in his tea."
Al-Ibrahim also pointed to Obama's “dangerous inaction” during violent Iran-backed uprisings in Bahrain, and now his negotiations with Iran, and his separate, secret negotiations with Iran's terrorist proxy Hezbollah. Since American officials cannot legally negotiate with terrorist groups and Hezbollah is a State Department-listed terror organization, the administration has been using British diplomats to carry messages to Hezbollah. The Obama administration reportedly favors a "warm up to a direct relationship in the future" with Hezbollah.
Obama is sending conflicting messages. In Washington, the president says negotiations are all we need to meet the Iranian threat. He issued a rare veto threat to try to halt tougher sanctions against Iran.
At the same time, in the Middle East, the president has dispatched more than 40 U.S. Navy vessels (including a carrier-strike group) and sent his secretary of defense to detail America's vast military assets in the region.
Speaking to Arab defense ministers, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel itemized America's military commitment to immediately respond to Iranian aggression:

• More than 35,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines in the theater;
• Even after exiting Iraq, the U.S. Army maintains more than 10,000 forward-deployed soldiers as well as tanks, artillery, and attack helicopters;
• America's most advanced fighter jets, including F-22s, are deployed less than an hour's flight time from Iran;
• American surveillance aircraft, ground listening stations, satellites, and sea patrols continue to scan for threats across the region;
• America's missile defense systems--on ground, sea, and air--remain on high alert. That includes the U.S. Navy's ballistic missile defense ships, Patriot missile batteries, and phased-array radars.

“The Department of Defense will work with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on better integration of its members’ missile defense capabilities. The United States continues to believe that a multilateral framework is the best way to develop interoperable and integrated regional missile defense. Such defenses are the best way to deter and, if necessary, defeat coercion and aggression," Hagel told the Gulf News on Dec.18.
With little fanfare, Obama has also quietly lifted the ban on selling sensitive missile-defense technology to Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies living within reach of Iran's new Shahab-3 missiles. The Shahab-3's range is 1,242 miles--placing Israel and most of America's Arab allies within striking distance.
However, Obama's quiet efforts to provide new missile defenses and renewed security guarantees may be too little, too late.
The Saudis are now seeking their own military arrangements because they no longer trust the U.S. The GCC, a regional alliance of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, recently announced the creation of a joint military force based in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.
“There will be a unified command of around 100,000 members, God willing,” Prince Miteb bin Abdullah told reporters. This new force represents a massive expansion of the 30,000-strong Peninsula Shield force.
"We no longer believe that America alone can safeguard our freedom from Iranian aggression," said al-Ibrahim, "that's why we are expanding our forces and integrating our missile defenses with our neighbors."
He added, "the world should understand that the GCC will not stay quiet and leave our member-states vulnerable to bad actors and bad deals in the region. It is our duty to protect our region."
And now, astonished Saudi officials are contrasting Obama's quick actions last weekend in South Sudan with his unwillingness to act in places like Syria or in Bahrain where thousands of U.S. troops and the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet are based.
"The president has shown that he can take action when he chooses to. He chose not to act after the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, but as soon as things started to go wrong in South Sudan, Obama jumped on it," said al-Ibrahim.
On Saturday, Obama dispatched three CV-22 Osprey aircraft, the sort that can fly like an airplane and an helicopter, to South Sudan to evacuate Americans caught in ongoing violence in the city of Bor. The aircraft came under small arms fire and were forced to retreat as they attempted to land. Four U.S. service members were injured in the attempted evacuation. American citizens were rescued successfully on Sunday using civilian and U.N. helicopters.
In his June 4, 2009 Cairo speech, the first American president raised in a Muslim land came to offer a bold promise: "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect." Four and a half years later, Arab leaders like al-Ibrahim say that "mutual interest" is sundered and "mutual respect" squandered.

If the Saudi exasperation sounds familiar, it is because it is the same tone you hear in Tel Aviv and in Washington.

'Duck Dynasty' to resume filming with Phil Robertson, A&E announces

The A&E Network announced Friday it would resume filming “Duck Dynasty” with Phil Robertson and the rest of his family next spring.
Robertson had been indefinitely suspended by the network on Dec. 18 for comments he made about homosexuality in an interview with GQ Magazine.
The removal of the 67-year-old family patriarch triggered support from gay rights organizations but objections from many fans of the show, including such political figures as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
There was no immediate response from the Robertson family to A&E’s announcement.
The fifth season of the family series originally had been scheduled to start Jan. 15 but until Friday’s announcement,its future had been uncertain.
In a statement released late Friday afternoon, A&E said, “While Phil's comments made in the (GQ) interview reflect his personal views based on his own beliefs, and his own personal journey, he and his family have publicly stated they regret the ‘coarse language’ he used and the misinterpretation of his core beliefs based only on the article. He also made it clear he would ‘never incite or encourage hate.’"
The network added that “Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man's views. It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family, a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A&E Networks also feel strongly about.
“So after discussions with the Robertson family, as well as consulting with numerous advocacy groups, A&E has decided to resume filming Duck Dynasty later this spring with the entire Robertson family.”
“Duck Dynasty” is the top-rated reality program on cable, according to the Hollywood Reporter, with an average 13.4 million viewers and a marketing franchise in such outlets as Walmart, Sears and Cracker Barrel restaurants – which briefly removed the “Dynasty” items after Robertson’s suspension.

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Even in Hawaii, Obama can't escape troubled state health insurance exchanges

The president may be vacationing in a tropical paradise, but there's no escaping the buffeting winds of troubled state health insurance exchanges, even in Hawaii.
For openers, the botched roll-out of the ObamaCare state exchange in Hawaii has hurt Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie's approval ratings: 51 percent of likely Democratic primary voters say they don't like the way he's doing his job.
Already out of a job is Coral Andrews, the executive director of Hawaii's state-run exchange. She submitted her resignation effective December 6 after only 257 people had signed up for health care a month into the roll out.
Hawaii's website contract was awarded to the same firm, CGI, that blew the national Healthcare.gov roll out. CGI won the Hawaii contract even after the state senate president warned the state exchange director not to hire the firm. CGI apparently also had botched Hawaii's tax website, costing Hawaiians $50 million to fix.
Hawaii is not alone. Oregon's website never has worked, despite that state receiving more exchange grant money than any others, except California and New York.
Oregon applicants are forced to fill out a 19-page paper form but that, too, has been problematic. Despite assurances that coverage would take effect January 1, late this month applicants began receiving robo-calls in which a voice told the applicant, "If you have not heard from us by December 23rd, it is unlikely your application can be processed for January 1st insurance coverage."
Oregonian Harold Stanton received one of those calls and is no longer sure whether his health care insurance is effective come January 1.
"The governor should have been apprised of the situation. If he wasn't apprised of the situation, then shame on his aides, and if he was, then shame on him for not listening to his aides," he says.
The director of Oregon’s exchange is now on medical leave.
Maryland, home to presumed Democratic presidential contender Gov. Martin O'Malley, also had a bad roll out.
Its exchange director is now gone, but lingering animosities remain. Gubernatorial hopeful Attorney General Doug Gansler fired off an intra-party salvo when he said the roll out was akin to a "Saturday Night Live skit." The object of his wrath is lieutenant governor and gubernatorial front-runner Anthony Brown, who is also the chairman of the state panel on the health care roll out.
California has been touted as a state exchange success story. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently said of her state’s exchange, "In Covered California, we're moving along (the) largest state in the union, rolling along in a very positive way on it."
But what she did not say was that the state’s enrollment among Latinos has been weak.
Only five percent of enrollees are Latino, even though they make up more than half of California's uninsured.
In a conference call with reporters Monday, Pelosi said the "transformational" nature of ObamaCare, much like Social Security, means that the law will take time to work out.
She added, "It's going to be a glorious thing."