I think Mr Lowy has merely found a new higher paying grift with no higher management to take a cut.

Gun Control Activists Claim Second Amendment Violates Human Rights

The parents of a student killed in the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida have teamed up with Brady’s former chief litigator to file a “first-of-its-kind” complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that “US gun policy violates basic human rights law” and deprived the Joaquin Oliver of his right to life.

Jonathan Lowy, who left Brady to start the group Global Action on Gun Violence, is spearheading the lawsuit with help from the head of George Washington University Law School’s Civil and Human Rights Clinic, and unlike most litigation involving Second Amendment issues, this one was launched with a slickly-produced ad campaign crafted by Zulu Alpha Kilo.

Lowy, you might recall, is also heading up the Mexican government’s lawsuit against most major U.S. gun manufacturers. While a U.S. District Court judge tossed out the case, the First Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments over the summer about whether or not to reinstate the suit.

In this case, Lowy and plaintiffs Manuel and Patricia Oliver, who founded the anti-gun group Change the Ref after their son was murdered, aren’t asking a U.S. court to rule that the Second Amendment is a violation of human rights. Instead, they’re taking their argument to an international body that has no real jurisdiction over the United States.

The fact that this lawsuit was launched with its own public relations campaign is telling, because the whole thing looks to be one big PR stunt. The complaint itself is a laundry list of strident anti-gun talking points, including the oft-repeated claim that there is no real right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was understood for over two centuries to only concern the “well-regulated militia” which the Framers intended to protect and therefore mentioned in the text, not private gun ownership.

But in 2008 the Supreme Court of the United States created a new right to handguns for self-defense which was not mentioned by the Second Amendment’s Framers or in the text, and then the Court vastly expanded that right in 2022, requiring historical precedent for gun laws and making public safety considerations of little relevance in determining the constitutionality of gun laws.

These rulings have led courts to strike down numerous gun laws, and may constrain future regulations. The United States appears to be the only nation in the world that has chosen to put gun industry profits over public safety and gun rights over human rights.

See what I mean?

The historical evidence for an individual right to keep and bear arms is overwhelming, as the Heller opinion and a cursory knowledge of U.S. history makes clear. Lowy’s contention that the U.S. has put “gun rights over human rights” may make for a good bumper sticker slogan for gun prohibitionists, it’s another patently absurd claim. Guns don’t have rights (and honestly, I’ve never been a big fan of that phrase for that reason) but people absolutely do, including the human right of self-defense, as my colleague Tom Knighton discussed yesterday. It’s become a standard talking point on the Left that a lack of gun control is a violation of human rights, but strangely these same folks never want to talk about the slaughter of civilians in nations that have very restrictive gun control regimes, or the 20th century death toll in totalitarian nations that disarmed its citizenry.

The petition claims there are several supposed “major flaws in U.S. gun law”, including (but certainly not limited to) a lack of an  “assault weapons” ban, no “investigation or vetting of purchasers” beyond background checks; no “universal” background checks for sales by private citizens; no federal “licensing, registration or vetting for firearm purchases”, “no limits whatsoever on how many guns a civilian may purchase, either in one transaction or in any period of time”, and the protections from civil liability found in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

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Armed Texas store owner defends self in shootout with would-be robbers

An armed store owner in Texas fought back against a pair of attempted robbers, trading fire with the suspects in a shootout captured on security footage.

Two armed suspects entered a Cash for Gold shop in the 1100 block of N Town East Blvd in Mesquite just before 7 p.m. on Thursday, the Mesquite Police Department said.

Security footage from inside the store shows the owner in the back of the store when the two suspects in hooded sweatshirts enter and draw their weapons. One suspect is seen pointing a gun at the owner.

The owner, however, surprises the suspects by pulling out his own gun and trading fire with the pair, who quickly flee the store.

suspects entering store

Two suspects wearing hooded sweatshirts are wanted in connection with the attempted robbery.

“It’s a quick 3 seconds. No time to think, it’s all reaction,” the owner, who wished to only be identified by his first name, Tien, told FOX4 Dallas-Fort Worth.

store owner draws weapon

The store owner drew his own weapon after the suspects held him at gunpoint.

Police said the victim fired three rounds in self-defense while the suspects also fired back before fleeing.

suspect pointing gun

The suspects and store owner traded fire during the encounter. Police said no one was struck or injured.

“Everything was slow motion to me,” Tien said. “I saw the mask, I saw the hoodie, I saw the gun come out.”

No one was injured during the attempted robbery, according to the department.

No arrests were immediately made and police are working to identify the suspects.

Tien told the station that this was the third time someone’s tried to rob his business in the last five years.

“I think the cash business, the gold business, seems to be an easy target for them, or so they think, but it’s not,” he said.

Photographers Without Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions

On October 7, Hamas terrorists were not the only ones who documented the war crimes they had committed during their deadly rampage across southern Israel. Some of their atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border area raises serious ethical questions.

What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning? Was it coordinated with Hamas? Did the respectable wire services, which published their photos, approve of their presence inside enemy territory, together with the terrorist infiltrators? Did the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets? Judging from the pictures of lynching, kidnapping and storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems like the border has been breached not only physically, but also journalistically.

AP: Photojournalists or Infiltrators?

Four names appear on AP’s photo credits from the Israel-Gaza border area on October 7: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.

Eslaiah, a freelancer who also works for CNN, crossed into Israel, took photos of a burning Israeli tank, and then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.

HonestReporting has obtained screenshots of Eslaiah’s now-removed tweets on X in which he documented himself standing in front of the Israeli tank. He did not wear a press vest or a helmet, and the Arabic caption of his tweet read: “Live from inside the Gaza Strip settlements.”

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November 9

1620 – Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower sight land at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

1780 – In the Battle of Fishdam Ford during the Revolutionary War, a force of British and Loyalist troops fail in a surprise attack against the South Carolina Patriot militia under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter, who later has a fort named after him.

1862 – Union General Ambrose Burnside assumes command of the Army of the Potomac, after General George B. McClellan is removed.

1867 – The last Shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, hands power back to the Emperor of Japan, starting the Meiji Restoration.

1872 – A fire erupts in the basement of a commercial warehouse at 83–87 Summer Street, Boston and is not controlled until 12 hours later, after destroying 776 buildings and much of the financial district in the city’s downtown, causing over $73 million in damage and killing 30 people died, including 12 firefighters.

1887 – Having earlier acquired rights to the exclusive use of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the U.S. Navy officially takes possession of the area.

1913 – A massive blizzard, the most destructive natural disaster ever to hit the lakes, reaches its greatest intensity after beginning two days earlier, destroying 19 ships and killing more than 250 people.

1917 – The Balfour Declaration,  a letter from Britain’s Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Walter, Baron Rothschild, declaring the British government’s support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in what would become British Mandate Palestine, is publicly published.

1918 – Due to massive civil unrest and mutinies in the imperial navy and army, German Kaiser Wilhelm abdicates the throne.

1935 – The Committee for Industrial Organization, the precursor to the Congress of Industrial Organizations, is founded in Atlantic City, New Jersey, by eight trade unions belonging to the American Federation of Labor. AFL-CIO

1938 – Using the assassination of their diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris as an excuse, the Nazis instigate what is called Kristallnacht for the breaking of the glass windows in many Jewish owned businesses and synagogues in Germany.

1960 – Robert McNamara is named president of Ford Motor Company, the first non-Ford to serve in that post, but resigns a month later to join the administration of newly elected John Kennedy.

1967 – NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft, atop the first Saturn V rocket, from Cape Kennedy.

1970 – In the case of Massachusetts v. Laird, the Supreme Court, citing a lack of jurisdiction, refuses to hear the case. Massachusetts’ Attorney General seeking the Court to rule on the passage of a state law granting residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.

1979 –  North American Aerospace Defense Command computers and the Alternate National Military Command Center in Fort Ritchie, Maryland, detect a purported massive Soviet nuclear missile strike against the U.S. After reviewing the raw data from satellites and checking the early warning radars, the alert is cancelled as a false alarm caused by a NORAD technician loading a test tape, but failing to switch the system status to “test”.

1989 – East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to freely travel to West Berlin.

1998 – A U.S. federal judge, in the largest civil settlement in American history, orders 37 U.S. brokerage houses to pay $1.03 billion to cheated NASDAQ investors to compensate for price fixing.

2004 – The Firefox 1.0 internet browser is released.

 

US military strikes Iranian weapons facility in Syria following attacks against troops

The U.S. military conducted an airstrike against what it described as a weapons storage facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in eastern Syria.

Two U.S. F-15 aircraft carried out the “precision self-defense strike” on Wednesday, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described it in a statement, though he did not comment on whether the strike was successful or if there were any casualties. This is the second time the United States has conducted this type of strike in recent weeks.

U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria that are there to counter ISIS have been attacked via one-way attack drones or rockets about 40 times by Iranian proxies in the region since Oct. 7, the day of the terrorist attacks in Israel that erupted Middle Eastern tension.

Forty-five U.S. troops reported injuries in attacks at al Asad Air Base in Iraq and at al Tanf garrison in Syria on Oct. 17 and 18, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Monday. One other person was injured in an attack at Erbil Air Base in Iraq. 25 of those troops reported traumatic brain injuries, while 21 reported nonserious nonhead injuries.

Two troops returned to duty only to be taken later to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest American military hospital outside the United States, for additional care. Both are in stable condition.

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes against an IRGC weapons storage facility and an ammunition storage area in Syria on Oct. 26.

“Let’s be clear: Iran is responsible,” a senior military official told reporters at the time. “I want to emphasize that the United States does not seek conflict, nor do we desire further hostilities; however, the Iran-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must cease. We are prepared to take further measures to protect our people if necessary.”

The U.S. has surged personnel and equipment to the Middle East following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and the subsequent war between Israel and Hamas. U.S. defense officials have said the intent is to deter Israel’s adversaries in the region, mainly Iran, from getting directly involved in and expanding the conflict.

I think it more means the recruiting numbers suck and someone high enough at the Pentagon decided for better theatrics.

The Army’s New Recruitment Video Means Only One Thing

The U.S. Army on Monday released a recruitment ad that critics argue is a sure sign the military is gearing up for war.

There are no signs of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the 30-second spot, which features white males jumping out of a plane.

“Your greatest victories are never achieved alone,” text in the ad reads. “Be all you can be.”

It comes two years after the Army pushed an animated video series, “The Calling,” that checked all the woke boxes.

 

I think it wouldn’t take an actual Police Investigator™ to have deduced that

Investigators say a homeowner shot an intruder in Reeds Spring, Mo.

REEDS SPRING, Mo. (KY3) – Investigators say a home intruder died after the homeowner shot him in Stone County.

The incident happened Saturday night in Reeds Spring. Investigators say the homeowner shot the intruder when he was violently attacked.

The Greene County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division took over the investigation.

Gun rights groups to seek Supreme Court ruling on assault weapons

Gun rights advocacy groups say they intend to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state’s assault weapons ban after a federal appeals court on Friday refused to block enforcement of the law.

In a statement Saturday, the Illinois State Rifle Association said it was not surprised by the 7th Circuit panel’s 2-1 decision, which said plaintiffs in the consolidated cases had not met their burden to show they were likely to win in a constitutional challenge to the law.

“It has always been and is our intent to take our case to the U.S. Supreme Court where we believe we can get a favorable ruling for law-abiding gun owners in Illinois,” the organization said. “We will continue to stand up for the Second amendment and Illinois law-abiding gun owners and against our anti-gun Governor Pritzker and General Assembly.”

In addition, the National Foundation for Gun Rights – which provided attorneys involved in the consolidated case – said it will appeal as well.

“Semi-auto bans like Illinois’ strike right at the heart of the Second Amendment and are completely inconsistent with multiple Supreme Court precedents,” the organization said in a statement. “We will keep fighting and are preparing to appeal this outrageous ruling.”

The 7th Circuit’s decision on Friday left in place the state’s assault weapons ban as well as local bans enacted by Cook County and the cities of Chicago and Naperville.

The state of Illinois and the city of Naperville both enacted their bans in response to a mass shooting last year at an Independence Day parade in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured or traumatized.

Authorities say the alleged shooter in that incident used a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semiautomatic rifle and carried three 30-round magazines. That type of gun and magazine are now banned under the state’s assault weapons law.

The majority opinion from the 7th Circuit focused on whether that type of weapon, or others like it, were protected under the Second Amendment.

That opinion, written by Judge Diane Wood and cosigned by Judge Frank Easterbrook, drew a distinction between the types of “bearable” arms commonly used for self-defense and the type of weapons typically reserved only for military uses.

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November 8

1519 – Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with a great celebration.

1605 – Robert Catesby, ringleader of the Gunpowder Plotters planning on blowing up Parliament in London, is killed in a gunfight with his pursuers  at Holbeche House in Staffordshire

1837 – Mary Lyon founds Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts -later Mount Holyoke College – the first of a group of historically female colleges in the Northeastern United States.

1861 – During the American Civil War, The USS San Jacinto stops the British mail ship RMS Trent and arrests two Confederate envoys, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the UK and US, with President Lincoln finally releasing the envoys.

1887 – John ‘Doc’ Holliday dies in bed, with his boots off, in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, age 36.

1889 – Montana is admitted as the 41st U.S. state.

1895 – While experimenting with electricity, Wilhelm Röntgen discovers the X-ray.

1923 – In Munich, Adolf Hitler leads the Nazis in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government later called the ‘Beer Hall Putsch‘ due to the Nazi beginnings at the Bürgerliches brewery’s Bürgerbräukeller in Munich.

1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected as the 32nd President of the United States, defeating incumbent President Herbert Hoover.

1933 – During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt unveils the Civil Works Administration, an organization designed to create jobs for more than four million unemployed during the winter of 1933-34

1950 – Over Korea, U.S. Air Force Lt. Russell J. Brown, piloting an F-80 Shooting Star, shoots down 2 North Korean MiG-15s, the first jet aircraft-to-jet aircraft dogfight.

1957 – Pan Am Flight 7, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, disappears between San Francisco and Honolulu with the loss of all 44 passengers and crew aboard. Wreckage and bodies are discovered a week later.

1960 – John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States

1965 – American Airlines Flight 383, a Boeing 727, crashes in Constance, Kentucky on final approach to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, killing 54 of the 57 passengers and 4 of the 5 crew aboard.

1966 – President Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the American Football League.

1972 – American pay television network Home Box Office (HBO) launches.

1973 – The right ear of John Paul Getty III is delivered to a newspaper outlet along with a ransom note, convincing his father to pay $2.9 million.

1977 – Manolis Andronikos, a Greek archaeologist and professor at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, discovers the tomb of Philip II of Macedon – the father of Alexander the Great – at Vergina.

1988 – Vice President George H. W. Bush is elected as the 41st President of the United States.

1994 – The midterm election demoncrap losses result in massive Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. The passage of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act which included an ‘assault weapon’ ban is seen as playing a significant part in this.

2002 –The United Nations Security Council unanimously approves resolution 1441 on Iraq, warning Saddam Hussein to disarm or face “serious consequences”.

2011 – Asteroid 2005 YU55 passes 0.85 lunar distances from Earth – about 201,700 miles – the closest known approach by an asteroid of its size since 2010 XC15 in 1976.

2016 – Donald Trump is elected the 45th President of the United States

2020 – Alex Trebek, noted longtime host of Jeopardy!, dies, age 80, of pancreatic cancer, at his home in Los Angeles

 

“Isn’t it odd that people break laws with AR15s every time there is a gun control push…”

Armed man with AR-15 ARRESTED on Capitol Hill: Cops confirm suspect Ahmir Lavon Merrell, 21, in custody after emergency call from outside congressional offices

U.S. Capitol Police arrested a 21-year-old man with an AR-15 rifle outside the Capitol complex Tuesday afternoon.

Police confirmed that the suspect apprehended on the Senate side of the Capitol was in custody after receiving an emergency call around 12:30 p.m. ET.

‘USCP Officers just arrested a man with a gun in the park across from Union Station. At this time we have no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat,’ Capitol Police wrote on X.

‘We are working to gather more information and will put out more details when they are confirmed,’ continued the post.

An officer told reporters that the ‘man with an AR-15’ was identified as Ahmir Lavon Merrell. Police do not believe that he had a particular motive or target.

However, Chief Tom Manger said ‘the fact that he was on Capitol grounds, is a concern.’

According to videos from the scene, the suspect – a black man wearing a bright orange sweat suit – was loaded into an ambulance. Police said the man was tased following a standoff with an officer before being arrested.

The man was spotted in handcuffs with his hair and beard full of leaves following his capture. Merrell is from Atlanta, Georgia, and a registered sex offender who has mental health challenges, according to reports.

Hence the alteration of Massachusetts into a less flattering version

18-Year-Old Massachusetts Man Arrested on Gun Charges After Shooting Knife-Wielding Attacker

A teen from Brockton, Massachusetts is facing numerous charges and is being held behind bars without bail after shooting a man who was armed with a knife at the teen’s place of business.

Khamani K. Anderson has been charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, but so far hasn’t been charged with any violent offense in connection with the shooting. Meanwhile, the man Anderson is accused of shooting is facing a number of charges of his own, the most serious of which is a count of assault with a deadly weapon.

According to police reports filed in court, [26-year-old Brandon] Theodat, a regular customer who some people had suspected of shoplifting in the past, entered the business on Campanelli Industrial Drive around 11:35 a.m. Sunday.

One store employee told police she overheard an argument between Anderson and Theodat, and that Theodat at one point said words to the effect of, “cam called me a broke [expletive],” court papers said.

An assistant manager told police he overheard the argument at Anderson’s register and told Anderson to walk away as it started to escalate, and as he was informed that Theodat had a knife.

The assistant manager told police Anderson headed to the break room but Theodat followed and refused the manager’s request that he leave the store, records show.

Anderson emerged from the break room with a fanny pack slung around his shoulder, the assistant manager told police, and the manager said he observed Theodat holding a knife as the argument continued by an electronics aisle, according to legal filings.

The assistant manager “stated both ended up to the east of the front door when the customer was approaching Khamani and he heard a gunshot,” the filings said, adding that the assistant manager “showed us where he observed Khamani Anderson when the shot went off, and pointed us towards a bra rack, which is where the shell casing was located.”

Legal filings said the assistant manager didn’t see a gun but did see Theodat “grab his right leg and start limping out of the store.” Anderson left the area.

Police found Theodat still in possession of the knife when they arrived on scene, while Anderson turned himself over to authorities “without incident” on Monday.

In most states, Anderson wouldn’t be facing charges at all (at least for possessing a firearm or ammunition without a license), but thanks to Massachusetts’ incredibly restrictive gun control laws the 18-year-old is looking at a mandatory minimum sentence of 18 months behind bars if he’s convicted of the non-violent, possessory offense. Discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, meanwhile, could lead to a fine and several months of jail time, though there is an exception for “the lawful defense of life and property,” which may very well be the case here.

It’s impossible for Anderson to have legally possessed any gun, for self-defense or any other lawful purpose, since Massachusetts requires applicants for a license to carry (which also serves as a license to possess) to be at least 21-years-old. There are several cases percolating around the federal court system challenging gun bans for under-21s, including Reese v. ATF in the Fifth Circuit, which heard oral arguments on the issue on Monday.

I’ll be curious to see if Anderson or his attorney raise a Second Amendment claim at any point in his criminal proceedings (presuming he fights the charges). If the only barrier to Anderson lawfully exercising his right to keep and bear arms is the fact that the state says he’s too young to do so, he has a very good argument that Massachusetts is infringing on his fundamental right to armed self-defense.

Domestic violence suspect shot after barging into Fresno home. Police say he crashed a car, ran

A fight between a motorist and his occupant that may have led to a vehicle crash ended Sunday with the driver being shot by a Fresno homeowner after he allegedly made his way into the home while trying to flee.

The incident unfolded at 1:45 p.m. at North Island Waterpark Drive, near West Shaw Avenue.

Fresno Police Lt. Skye Leibee said officers assisted the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in a domestic violence incident while the vehicle was being driven. The sheriff’s helicopter was overhead and was able to view the vehicle traveling southbound on Island Waterpark Drive.

Deputies attempted to catch up to the vehicle to investigate the complaint of domestic violence.

No pursuit took place, Leibee said, but deputies saw a cloud of dust in the area and noticed a crash.

Deputies saw the vehicle disabled in the middle of the roadway after it struck with a parked vehicle. Deputies saw the alleged suspect, described as a man in his 50s, fleeing into a nearby home. There, he began fighting with the home’s occupants.

One of the residents pulled out a gun and fired on the suspect at least once.

Leibee said the suspect was taken to a hospital with an injury not considered life-threatening.

Officers tracked down the original victim of the domestic violence complaint and interviewed her.

Officers had set up a perimeter in the neighborhood after the wounded suspect refused to surrender.

He was later taken into custody without incident, Leibee said. Leibee said the suspect is expected to face several charges.

The two occupants of the home where the suspect entered were not injured.

Out: “Firey But Mostly Peaceful Protests”
IN: “Passionate Protests”
An ABC “News’s” chief White House hack offers her unbiased on the pro-terrorism/pro-Jew-slaughter mayhem that invaded DC this weekend:

passionateprotests.jpg

Passionate attempts to pound open the White House gates.

Passionate scaling of the White House fence. Remember, grandmothers are in federal prison for 5 years for simply “parading” in Congress.

As Paul observed, it’s a moslem speaking.

Sorry, Obama: ‘We’ Aren’t Complicit. It’s You Who Has Blood on Your Hands.

In 1953, the Swiss novelist Max Frisch published a play called The Arsonists. It’s a pitch dark comedy about a small town ravaged by a group of maniacs disguised as traveling salesmen, who sweet-talk their way into people’s homes and then set them on fire. Its protagonist is a dolt called Biedermann—bieder being German for honest, respectable, and upright. He’s aware of the danger, and yet, when the arsonists knock, he lets them in. The tragedy, Frisch argues, is that he almost has no other choice: The arsonists are such smooth talkers that it’s easy, when listening to them, to ignore the large drums of kerosene and the matches they’re holding in their hands.

I thought of The Arsonists this week when I heard snippets of a podcast interview featuring former president Barack Obama on the Middle East. “Nobody’s hands are clean,” Obama said. “All of us are complicit.”

Nah, man. Not all of us are complicit. It’s just you.

It’s you, because you’re the one who gave that stentorian speech about red lines in Syria and then sat by and did nothing as those red lines were crossed and Assad continued to slaughter his own people, allowing the Iranians and the Russians to creep in and fill the vacuum left by your devastating lack of leadership.

It’s you, because you’re the one who came up with the idea of empowering Iran, the world’s premiere exporter of terrorism, Holocaust denial, and chaos, all the while telling the American people you were merely trying to stop Teheran from getting a nuclear bomb. Billions of dollars and thousands of dead later, we can all see how well this idea—which you, with the eloquence only a professor could muster, called “regional integration”—is working.

It’s you, because you’re the one who delivered a parting gift to the region, ending your final term as president by reversing four decades of American bipartisan support of Israel and abstaining from a U.N. vote condemning Israeli settlements, while funneling $400 million in annual payments to the despotic Palestinian Authority, which then promptly used this money to fund its pay-for-slay program, doling out large cash payments to any Palestinian who murdered Jews.

So, please, Mr. President: Spare us your opinions.