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The CIA’s top officer in Kabul was exposed Saturday by the White House when his name was inadvertently included on a list provided to news organizations of senior U.S. officials participating in President Obama’s surprise visit with U.S. troops. The White House recognized the mistake and quickly issued a revised list that did not include the individual, who had been identified on the initial release as the “Chief of Station” in Kabul, a designation used by the CIA for its highest-ranking spy in a country. The disclosure marked a rare instance in which a CIA officer working overseas had his...

Tommy Vietor started working for Barack Obama when he was still Senator Obama--well before he became a presidential candidate--and until Friday, the 32-year-old Vietor hadn't stopped. His first job for Obama was as the driver of a press van, and he rose up the ranks through the 2008 campaign, and then the White House press office, to become the National Security Council spokesman. Now leaving the White House to open a political communications firm with the president's departing speechwriter Jon Favreau, Vietor says it's been the privilege of a lifetime to work for the president. "It's been kind of a...

Russian leader Vladmir Putin sent in troops and tanks to invade neighboring Ukraine and the Obama administration is coming to the rescue with . . . selfies! State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was mocked Thursday after posting a photo of herself on Twitter holding a sign that read #United­For­Ukraine @State­Dept­Spox.” Psaki, who has worked closely with President Obama since his 2008 campaign and is the chief communications adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, is smiling and giving a thumbs-up in the photo. But the cheerleading for beleaguered Ukraine wasn’t trending or scaring off bully Putin, said critics in the blogosphere. “Presenting...

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A newly disclosed audio recording purportedly depicts a conversation between two American diplomats, in which one curses the European Union as they discuss how to handle turmoil in Ukraine. American officials were quick to suggest a Russian role in the apparent leak, which came as Russia is engaged in a tug of war with the E.U. and the United States for influence over Ukraine. The audio recording, incorporated into a video with Russian subtitles and posted on YouTube Tuesday, appears to be a conversation between the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey...

Gates writes about Obama with an ambivalence that he does not resolve, praising him as “a man of personal integrity” even as he faults his leadership. Though the book simmers with disappointment in Obama, it reflects outright contempt for Vice President Biden and many of Obama’s top aides. Biden is accused of “poisoning the well” against the military leadership. Thomas Donilon, initially Obama’s deputy national security adviser, and then-Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the White House coordinator for the wars, are described as regularly engaged in “aggressive, suspicious, and sometimes condescending and insulting questioning of our military leaders.” During that...

US Secretary of State John Kerry looks like a bit of an idiot these days. On Monday he announced that he will be returning to Israel and the Palestinian Authority and Jordan for the fifth time since he was sworn into office on February 1. That is an average of more than one visit a month. And aside from frequent flier miles, the only thing he has to show for it is a big black eye from PLO chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. When Kerry was here last month he unveiled a stunning plan to bring $4 billion...

The Obama campaign’s desperate “felony” charge against Mitt Romney ought to serve as a wake-up call for the Romney campaign and for the American public regarding the utter amorality of the president and his functionaries. Although the jejune Boston Globe story was quickly debunked, that of course won’t stop them from pounding home the Big Lie that Romney continued to run Bain in 1999 while he was saving the Winter Olympics as long as it’s useful and “fits the narrative.” Here’s why: All’s fair in love and war — so what if the charge is untrue? No one will remember...

Brett McGurk is another example of just what an amateur Barack Obama is. Today comes news that the Commerce Secretary committed two hit and run crashes after suffering “seizures.” There is no word on what caused the seizures and Johnny Walker was unavailable for comment. (Initial reports were that drugs and alcohol were not involved) Now, there is Brett McGurk. You should read this if you don’t know who he is. But the gist is this. [UPDATED} Brett McGurk is Barack Obama’s nominee to be Ambassador to Iraq. His experience includes having an affair with a Wall Street Journal reporter...

FOX News says Romney & GOP kept Gingrich off of Virginia ballot

New ad from Newt Gingrich. We dont't have video yet but here is script:Governor Huckabee: "If a man's dishonest to get a job, he'll be dishonest on the job." (Source)Narrator: What kind of man would mislead, distort, and deceive just to win an election?This man would be Mitt Romney. Romney said he has always voted Republican when he had the opportunity.But in the 1992 Presidential Primary Romney had the chance to vote for George H.W. Bush or Pat Buchanan but he voted for a liberal Democrat instead. (Source) Romney said his investments in Fannie and Freddie were in a blind...

For Turkey, busy riding an economic boom and preoccupied with soccer scandals and revolutionary shifts across its borders, the race for the U.S. Republican nomination hasn’t exactly been a box office draw. Until Tuesday, that is … Late Monday, Texas governor and presidential hopeful Rick Perry said that Turkey was governed by “what many perceive to be Islamic terrorists,” and should be booted out of NATO. The governor’s remarks, made during the Fox News Channel and Wall Street Journal GOP debate in South Carolina, came in response to a question from the moderator over whether Turkey still belonged in...

The Palin source said O'Donnell's representatives misled the tea party group about the extent of the governor's relationship with O'Donnell. O'Donnell's representatives told event organizers that she would be in Iowa on the date of the rally and would like to come by and "say hi" to Palin, the source said. O'Donnell was then added to the speaking agenda. The source told CNN that O'Donnell aides lied to organizers and said Palin had been communicating via text message with O'Donnell about the rally. "The governor hasn't spoken to her in a year," the Palin source said of O'Donnell

Sarah Palin canceled her Saturday appearance at a tea party rally in Indianola, Iowa, a person close the former Alaska governor told The Wall Street Journal. The person cited “continual lying” from event organizers at Tea Party of America, including a recent mixup over whether former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware would also speak. Ms. Palin is known for last-minute schedule changes that whipsaw supporters and media across the country. But the latest decision is puzzling. Ms. Palin’s speech at the rally was viewed as her most high-profile appearance of the summer, fueling speculation she was indeed plotting...

On Friday, July 15, the White House announced that the president would meet with the Dalai Lama. This was after weeks of speculation, and only one day before the Dalai Lama’s long-planned week in Washington was scheduled to end. In other words, the White House waited until the last minute and thereby squandered much of the good will such a meeting can engender. On the same day, it was announced that the United States would finally recognize the Transitional National Council in Libya as the country’s legitimate government. This step has been urged upon the White House for months, and...

Body language expert Tanya Reiman told Bill O’Reilly recently that Obama lied – He was no friend of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Reiman said that Obama had “contempt in his eyes” and displayed it with his body language when he was with Benjamin Netanyahu. It was obvious. Narcissists don’t like being challenged. Now we know the rest of the story…Obama went into a rage after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lectured him on his suicide plan for Israel. NewsFavor reported, via Doug Ross: Shortly after the photo-op meeting and “working lunch” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the one that...

Barack Obama and his gang think you’re an idiot. The sad part is that they are 43% right. Byron York reports on Valerie Jarrett’s recent appearance on Meet the Press during which she made quite apparent that she and her boss really believe Americans are blatantly stupid. Jarrett shared this thought: On "Meet the Press" December 26, top White House adviser Valerie Jarrett said President Obama's "biggest regret" is that the severity of the economic crisis forced him to "spend almost every waking hour in Washington focusing very hard on solving that crisis" and thus kept him from traveling...

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, leaving the funeral of a murdered Border Patrol agent Wednesday, scolded a reporter for asking her to address the victim's family's concerns that not enough is being done to secure the southern border. The family of agent Brian Terry had complained that Napolitano had offered them "empty words" when she called to express her condolences. Terry's father, Kent Terry, in an interview with ABC affiliate KGUN, said he told Napolitano to "wake your man up in the White House," to which she replied that he's done more in two years than any president. Napolitano attended...

Reporting from Washington - The Obama administration is releasing a major statement on nuclear weapons policy that will herald a further shrinking of the U.S. arsenal, even as it rejects some sweeping steps advocated by arms control advocates. The statement, to be released Tuesday, will announce that the arsenal will shrink by thousands of warheads, and it will further restrict when the weapons may be used, U.S. officials say. But the administration has rejected proposals to declare that the "sole purpose" of nuclear arms is deterrence, nor will it promise that the United States won't be the first to use...

Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president was facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest. But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters,...