Ayatollah Says Obama Is Lying; 2016 Update

Friday, April 10, 2015

BREAKING NEWS: Federal authorities arrested a 20 year-old man today for plotting a suicide bombing of the U.S. Army base at Fort Riley, Kansas. The arrest of John T. Booker, who goes by the name of Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, is just the latest in a string of foiled plots by ISIS sympathizers inside the U.S. 

Ayatollah To Obama: You're Lying 

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lashed out at the Obama White House yesterday. "The White House published a factsheet which was wrong on most of the issues. It distorted reality," Khamenei said. 

He later issued a series of tweets that continued to contradict remarks from President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. In one tweet, the ayatollah said, "[The Americans] always deceive & breach promises." 

Khamenei's comments are causing a media firestorm. The deal that isn't a deal but a framework may not even be that. Either there are two completely separate versions of what has been agreed to or somebody is lying. Or perhaps both sides are lying. 

I have zero trust in the Iranian regime, which is why I think negotiations were a bad idea to begin with. But given Obama's history, it's hard to trust him either. Remember his promise, "If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. Period."? Remember the Bergdahl deal -- five Taliban leaders for one deserter? 

There is a growing consensus in Washington that, while we are battling with Iran over this framework and fighting over whether the administration will permit a co-equal branch of government to have a say, another deal with Iran has already been made. 

It has not been announced. It is not being reviewed by Congress. But it boils down to this: the president has signaled to Iran that he is prepared to accept the Islamic Republic as the dominant power in the Middle East. He is ready to align our interests with Iran's, while jettisoning historic allies like Israel and allies of convenience like Saudi Arabia. 

That is an earth-shattering agreement. And it is resulting in the deaths of thousands of people who are bearing the brunt of Iran's aggression in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and any place else the new Persian empire chooses to put under its thumb. 

2016 Update 

The 2016 race for the White House really took off this week. 

On the GOP side:
 

  • Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum took the first official step toward exploring another run. 
     
  • Allies of Senator Ted Cruz announced that they have raised more than $30 million. 
     
  • Senator Rand Paul jumped in. 
     
  • Polling shows the GOP nomination is up for grabs. Averaging the results of the five most recent polls finds Jeb Bush leading with 17%. He's followed by Scott Walker at 16%. Cruz, Paul, Huckabee and Carson are all at 9%. 

    On the Democratic side:
     

  • Hillary Clinton is expected to officially declare her candidacy this Sunday. Clinton was dogged this week by reports about her private email server and questionable donations to the Clinton Foundation. 

    Polling continues to show that Hillary is the prohibitive frontrunner for her party's nomination. But she will have to fight for it.
     

  • Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee surprised many political observers yesterday when he announced the formation of an exploratory committee. In his statement Chafee highlighted his opposition to the Iraq War. Like Barack Obama in 2007, Chafee is hoping to rally the anti-war left. 
     
  • Equally surprising were remarks by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. For weeks, Warren has resisted calls to run and insisted that she would not. But during an interview yesterday with CBS,Warren said, "I think there needs to be a vigorous debate in the whole question of running for president." 

    A poll released by Quinnipiac University highlights the challenges facing both frontrunners. 

    Voters in three key swing states -- Colorado, Iowa and Virginia -- did not believe Clinton is "honest and trustworthy." Only 38% of Colorado voters felt Clinton was honest and trustworthy, while 56% said she was not. 

    The bad news for Jeb Bush was that his favorability ratings with voters in all three states were negative. Keep in mind that his ratings are underwater now -- BEFORE any of the inevitable political attacks hit. 

    Who is your favorite for 2016? Click here to take our online poll.