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1.) Furious over Benghazi — Republican Sen. Rand Paul has some serious questions about the Benghazi attack and the lack of security at the U.S. consulate there. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“The Kentucky senator also pointed out the money the State Department is spending on ‘greening’ the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, which he called an effort by President Barack Obama to ‘show off’ to his liberal friends. ‘When you think about it, even 10 Marines are pretty tough with automatic weapons,’ he said. ‘They would have had a fighting chance had there been 10 Marines there. I think that’s how many Marines are in Paris. So, you got 10 Marines in Paris and about the same time they’re denying security for Libya, they’re spending $100,000 greening up the embassy in Vienna. So we got money to promote this global warming agenda of the president’s — to show off for his liberal friends in Europe. But they seem to not have enough money for security? That’s inexcusable and to me enough reason to fire the president.’”
2.)Be afraid. Be very afraid — The Secretary of Homeland Security is using the wreckage of Hurricane Sandy to scare people about a potential cyberattack, TheDC’s Josh Peterson reports:
“During a Wednesday talk moderated by The Washington Post, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano likened the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy to the consequences of a potential cyber attack on the nation’s critical infrastructure. Napolitano’s remarks are the latest from the Obama administration trying to sell an upcoming new executive order on cybersecurity. ‘If you think a control-system attack that takes down a utility even for a few hours is not serious, just look at what is happening now that Mother Nature has taken out those utilities,’ she said.”
Actually, that does sound pretty scary.
3.) Global snoring — America’s nanny has made a decision in the presidential race, if anyone cares. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed President Barack Obama for president Thursday. In a statement written during the days following Hurricane Sandy, which wreaked havoc on New York City, Bloomberg pointed to climate change as the reason for the endorsement, which came in a Bloomberg News piece headlined ‘A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change.'”
Here’s the thing. If climate change was the apocalyptic threat many Democrats suggest it is — including President Obama, at least when he was running in 2008 — why would Democrats waste their time on other issues? If climate change is going to essentially destroy the world as we know it, don’t you think that would make the issue number one on the agenda for Democrats? That certainly wasn’t the case for President Obama during his first term. He used his political capital on the stimulus and health care bills. The president’s lack of focus on global warming despite campaigning on its dire threat is enough to make one believe that many liberal politicians don’t believe the sh#t they’re selling on climate change.
4.) Milton Friedman’s missing essays — Well, not exactly missing. More like little-seen essays. Now they’re complied into a new book. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:
“The Nobel Prize winning libertarian economist Milton Friedman would have turned 100 last July and to celebrate his birthday a new book is out with a series of essays he wrote that few have seen. … One essay in the book is a 1989 letter to conservative commentator Bill Bennett, who was then the director of National Drug Control Policy for President Ronald Reagan. In the essay, Friedman urges Bennett to reconsider the war on drugs. ‘Friedman supported the complete legalization of all drugs,’ [economist and Friedman biographer Lanny] Ebenstein explains. ‘He took this position for both practical and philosophical reasons. From the philosophical standpoint, he believed that individuals should have the right to put in their body whatever they wish. From the practical standpoint, he thought that the costs of the war on drugs exceed the benefits.'”
Friedman is irreplaceable. If only here were alive today to provide insight on the serious economic battles that confront us.
5.) “The Lizard King” quote of the day — From “The Lizard King: The Shocking Inside Account of Obama’s True Intergalactic Ambitions By An Anonymous White House Staffer,” edited and introduced by Daily Caller writers Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn:
“During the first full week of October, the president woke up every day at 3 a.m. He’s not normally an early riser. In fact, he often tells White House staff that he hates the sun, though he’s never actually explained why. But beginning after his inauguration, the president began confidently pronouncing to me and other staffers that he was a shoe-in to win the Nobel Peace Prize, even going so far as to don a fake Nobel medal around his neck in the West Wing as a joke. Senior staffers didn’t particularly like the president gallivanting around the West Wing with a fake medal around his neck, not least because if it got out it would not paint a pretty picture.”
It is unquestionably the funniest book of the year — and your TheDC Morning facilitator isn’t just saying that because he co-wrote it. BUY … IT … NOW.
6.) Poll of the Day: Colorado is … close — Rasmussen Reports poll of Colorado: Mitt Romney 50%, President Obama 47%. The RealClearPolitics polling average has President Obama up 0.9%.