Desperate McCain Sarah Palin move

The base hated McCain... Palin. The base hates Romney... Ryan.

Romney just handed Obama a 1964 daisy ad

Hey Romney-Ryan... You think Team Obama is mean now?

When EarlG wakes up tomorrow

he's going to dance around in his yard singing The Sound of Music.

US officials: al-Qaida gaining foothold in Syria

Source: AP

Bradley Klapper and Kimberly Dozier
August 10, 2012

WASHINGTON (AP) —Al-Qaida has advanced beyond isolated pockets of activity in Syria and now is building a network of well-organized cells, according to U.S. intelligence officials, who fear the terrorists could be on the verge of establishing an Iraq-like foothold that would be hard to defeat if rebels eventually oust President Bashar Assad.

At least a couple of hundred al-Qaida-linked militants are already operating in Syria, and their ranks are growing as foreign fighters stream into the Arab country daily, current and former U.S. intelligence officials say. The units are spreading from city to city, with veterans of the Iraq insurgency employing their expertise in bomb-building to carry out more than two dozen attacks so far. Others are using their experience in coordinating small units of fighters in Afghanistan to win new followers.

In Syria on Friday, rebel commanders appealed anew for new and better weapons from abroad, complaining that Assad's forces have them badly outgunned from the air and on the ground. In fact, rebel leaders say that with so little aid coming to them from the U.S. and other nations, they are slowly losing the battle for influence against hardline militants. They say their fighters are sometimes siding with extremists who are better funded and armed so they can fight the far stronger Syrian army.

It all could point to a widening danger posed by extremists who have joined rebels fighting the Assad government. Although the extremists are ostensibly on the same side as Washington by opposing Assad, U.S. officials fear their presence could fundamentally reshape what began as a protest movement for reform composed of largely moderate or secular Syrians. The opposition expanded into a civil war pitting Assad's four-decade dictatorship against a movement promising a new, democratic future for the country.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_SYRIA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-08-10-17-15-34

Meet Al-Assad's Mafia

Syria Sanctions: U.S. Prepares New Sanctions Targeting Assad Regime

Source: AP

August 10, 2012

ACCRA, Ghana -- The Obama administration is readying new sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and its allies as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton heads to Turkey for weekend talks with top Turkish officials and Syrian opposition activists.

Senior U.S. officials traveling with Clinton as she wraps up a nine-nation Africa tour in Ghana and Benin before flying to Turkey on Friday said the fresh sanctions aimed at hastening Assad's ouster were imminent. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to preview the move.

The sanctions are expected to complement existing penalties, which have targeted Assad's inner circle, including his entire Cabinet, along with Iranian individuals and entities that have been providing support to the regime.

They come as Clinton prepares for Saturday's discussions in Istanbul that will focus on forming a "common operational picture" with the Turks and Syrians to guide a democratic transition in post-Assad Syria, the officials said.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/10/syria-sanctions-us_n_1763781.html

Syria rebels retreat under heavy Aleppo fire

Source: Al Jazeera


Free Syria Army commander says rebels withdrew from Saleheddin district to prepare counter-attack against military

August 9, 2012

The Syrian army has renewed its heavy shelling of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, the country's commercial capital, anti-government activists have said, forcing the armed opposition to withdraw from at least one neighbourhood.

Intense bombardment rocked the neighbourhoods of Saleheddin, Hanano, Saif al-Dawla, Shaar and Shakur on Thursday, anti-government groups have said.

The army attacks are part of the government's continuing air and ground assaults on Aleppo, which is being defended by armed members of the movement to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president.

The battle for the city has now raged for more than two weeks. The fighting in Aleppo has focused mainly on the neighbourhood of Salaheddin, where heavy clashes have taken place in recent days between the Free Syrian Army and government forces.

Read more: http://m.aljazeera.com/story/20128973154112979

Ann Coulter demands Romney fire Andrea Saul

Ann Coulter explodes at Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul on Hannity: "She needs to be fired" (video)

(Video at link )

By Josh Feldman
Mediaite
August 8th, 2012

Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity strongly condemned the ad released by the pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA that basically accused Mitt Romney of a steelworker’s wife dying of cancer. However, Coulter did not let the Romney campaign off the hook, and tore into Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul for her “completely idiotic response” to the ad and called for the Romney campaign to immediately fire her.

Coulter repeatedly said that the ad was “repulsive” and referred to the president as a “despicable campaigner,” but it was Saul who bore the brunt of Coulter’s rage.

“Her response was not that it was despicable, not that Bain… that Romney had left Bain five years earlier or the woman died five years after the plant closed and didn’t even get her insurance from her husband, her response was, ‘Well, if she had lived in Massachusetts with Mitt Romney’s health care plan, she would have had health insurance.’ Anyone who donates to Mitt Romney, and I mean the big donors, ought to say if Andrea Saul isn’t fired and off the campaign tomorrow, they are not giving another dime, because it is not worth fighting for this man if this is the kind of spokesman he has… There’s no point in you doing your show, there’s no point in going to the convention and pushing for this man if he’s employing morons like this. This ad is the turning point and she has nearly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat! She should be off the campaign.”