The Strange World Of Jimmy Carter 

President Jimmy Carter was a guest on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show Monday night. When Stewart strangely asked him whether the jihadists attacks in Paris were motivated by something other than Islamic extremism, Carter responded by doing what he does best -- he blamed Israel.

"Well," Carter said, "one of the origins for it (the violence) is the Palestinian problem. And this aggravates people who are affiliated in any way with the Arab people who live in the West Bank and Gaza, what they are doing now -- what's being done to them."

The cartoonists at the Paris newspaper were no friends of Israel, but that did not save them. The Christian children beheaded by ISIS and the Muslim school children massacred in their classrooms by the Taliban in Pakistan were unlikely to be pro-Israel. 

The French shoppers who were run down just before Christmas by a an Islamist who drove his car into them and the Australians terrorized at a Sydney coffee shop had no known relationship to the battle over a Palestinian state. 

In fact the French government, just days before the attack, sided with the Palestinian Authority against Israel at the U.N. But that did not stop the murderous rampage in Paris.

Jimmy Carter remains a national embarrassment. 

Coincidence? 

Did you notice what happened yesterday? As President Obama was addressing a conference on cyber security, news broke that the Twitter and YouTube accounts for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) were hacked and hijacked by ISIS supporters. Administration officials downplayed the attack as "cyber vandalism" and rushed to assure us that no sensitive information was compromised.

I suspect the generals and their families whose home addresses were published online might feel differently. Law enforcement has been warning military personnel since the summer that ISIS was encouraging Muslims in America to track down the home addresses of U.S. soldiers and to "show up and slaughter them." 

The CENTCOM hacking was bad enough. But a fire erupted in Washington, D.C.'s, Metro system yesterday. Smoke filled a train car and hundreds poured out of the L'Enfant Plaza Station "coughing, throwing up and struggling for breath," according to a local news report. One person died, at least 85 people were sent to the hospital and two remain in critical condition. Initial reports blame the incident on "electrical arcing." 

Last night there was also a suspicious fire at New York City's Penn Station. Sure, electrical fires happen. But two fires on the same day in New York and Washington? That's quite a coincidence.

Speaking of coincidences, British intelligence warned last week of possible Al Qaeda "mass casualty attacks" on transit systems and other "iconic targets." 

Is Congress Still Relevant? 

After his party's humiliating defeat in 1994, Bill Clinton famously quipped, "The president is still relevant." In the wake of Obama's aggressive executive actions, Republican leaders in Congress should be asking if they are still relevant.

Even though Speaker John Boehner beat back the challenge to his leadership, it seems he got the message of conservative discontent. Coincidentally or not, there are signs that the House leadership is looking for ways to roll back Obama's overreach on immigration. 

All of the options are problematic; none are guaranteed to succeed. But the most effective way to accomplish the goal is still on the table. 

When the "cromnimbus" passed last year, it provided only short-term funding for the Department of Homeland Security. That funding expires next month. If Congress passes a fully-funded bill, it should likely add money for anti-terrorism activities given the headlines of recent days, while cutting funds out for Obama's amnesty. 

The American people must understand what is at stake. A researcher at the Law Library of Congress determined that not even King George III had the power to arbitrarily suspend laws as Obama is doing.

Congressional leaders should conduct a massive educational campaign -- with paid ads if necessary -- explaining to the public that they have funded everything except the president's constitutionally questionable abuse of power. 

If Obama vetoes the bill, shutting down the Department of Homeland Security, that would speak volumes about his priorities -- putting his amnesty of illegal immigrants above our homeland security. If compromise means that you don't get everything you want, Obama needs to decide what is more important to him, what he is willing to give up. But members of Congress must first force him to make that choice. 

If the president can veto laws and then accuse Congress of shutting down the government, Congress becomes meaningless. Obama could issue that threat over just about any demand. Congress must take a stand and demonstrate its relevance. 

Primary Problems? 

Conservative leaders have been deeply worried that the 2016 Republican presidential primary will look like 2008 and 2012 -- a half dozen or more solid conservatives competing for the nomination against one establishment candidate who has far more money. In recent weeks it looked like that establishment candidate would be former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. 

But there are signs that the Republican establishment may have its own primary problems. Mitt Romney met with approximately 30 major donors in Manhattan Friday. Romney reportedly told them, "Everybody in here can go tell your friends that I'm considering a run." 

Romney is more than just "considering a run." According to today's Washington Post, Romney is "is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network," including key activists in New Hampshire. Of course, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is also expected to run (if he can ever put "Bridgegate" away) and former New York Governor George Pataki is expressing interest too. 

Further underscoring the likelihood of another Romney run, yesterday Rep. Paul Ryan, Romney's 2012 running mate, took himself out of contention for 2016. Last year, Ryan said he would not run against Romney. 

Romney's position has changed dramatically over the past year. Last January, when asked by a New York Times reporter whether he would make a third run for the White House, Romney answered rather emphatically, "Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no."

Clinton confidant and Democrat strategist James Carville suggested that Romney may attempt to position himself as the conservative alternative to Bush. The Post writes that Romney is even making that argument himself and has reached out to conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Laura Ingraham.

Whether you find Carville's speculation credible or not, there appears to be a growing chance that the establishment may be divided this time, perhaps creating an opening for a strong conservative to emerge.