Monica Crowley

The Right Hand Distracts You While the Left Hand Karate Chops You

Today at the White House, President Obama spoke to the nation's governors with forked tongue. What else is new, I know. In between gassing around about being willing to hear "ideas" about how to make ObamaCare better, he gave dual messages on tax rates--within moments of each other.

Message One: He was glad he extended the Bush tax rates to everyone, including to those in the highest income bracket. He told the governors that that move has already made Americans' paychecks "bigger" and allowed businesses to "write off major investments." He went on to say, "These are tax cuts and changes in the tax credit system that are going to spur job creation and economic growth, and I'm proud that Democrats and Republicans worked with each other to get it done."

OK, so he seems to be down with lower rates for everyone, including the upper income earners and the small businesses that populate that higher bracket.

But then, just moments later, he hit the button on his Far-Left default position:

Message Two: He alluded to the Wisconsin union clash and said that those workers shouldn't be "denigrated" or "vilified," and that their rights shouldn't be "infringed upon."

He continued, "I believe that everyone should be at the table and that the concept of shared sacrifice should prevail," he said. "If all the pain is borne by only one group -- whether it's workers, or seniors, or the poor -- while the wealthiest among us get to keep or get more tax breaks, we're not doing the right thing."

He tried to fool you that he's moved to the center, unpacked his bags, and has been making himself comfortable there. But he's not comfortable there. He hates the center. He rejects the center. He is a committed Far-Left ideologue, who occasionally lets his true colors show, as he did today. He choked out some positive words about extending the Bush tax rates, and then he erased it all with class-warfare language. He can't wait to raise income taxes again so he can grow government even more.

He's constantly telling us who he is and what he intends to do. Believe him.

The McLaughlin Group

Please join us for another freewheeling edition of "The McLaughlin Group" this weekend. Check your local listings for time and channel, or visit www.McLaughlin.com for more information.

Hot Messes

Which one of these individuals is the hottest mess?

1. Muammar Qaddafi. In yet another rambling speech, he blamed the mass protests against his brutal, four-decade long rule on kids drinking Nescafe spiked with LSD: "Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe," he said. Oh yes: this revolution was brought on by kids drinking in magic 'shrooms. He continued: "From a national, moral, ethical standpoint ... they should stop. I have no authority stemming from laws or decisions or anything else, I just have moral authority. I only have moral authority." He's slaughtering his own people by the thousands in the streets. Moral authority? Not so much.

2. Charlie Sheen. In yet another rambling speech, he went on a radio show and called the creator/producer of his moneymaker, "Two and A Half Men," a "turd" and smeared him with an anti-Semitic name; he referred to Alcoholics Anonymous as a "bootleg cult;" he swore at Thomas Jefferson; and he threatened to complete a bodily function on someone. He also went on incomprehensible tirades about trolls, tattoos, and Vatican assassinations. CBS announced they were pulling the plug on his show. Apparently, his drug-addled antics have finally become too much for his corporate parent. Perhaps Sheen is drinking some of that LSD Nescafe.

3. Lindsay Lohan. Her latest run-in with the law involves a felony shoplifting charge. It was a pretty necklace, but it had a price tag. If she accepts the plea deal, it's back to the slammer for 6 months. She sounds like Charlie's type. Or maybe Muammar's----he insists on female bodyguards.

4. The Wisconsin Democrat state senators, who have now been on the lam for a week. Instead of manning up and voting on the state's desperately needed budget repair bill, they made a break for the border. The border with the People's Republic of Illinois, that is. They've been holed up in a no-tell motel ever since, ordering in pizza and watching reruns of "Sex and the City." The state is broke, the governor is trying to fix the fiscal disaster, mass layoffs loom, the unions are causing a ruckus, and these clowns have taken a powder instead of performing the job they were elected to do. I'm sure we'll find out later that instead of "Sex and the City" reruns, they were actually ordering up porn on pay-per-view.

What messes these messes have made. At least Sheen and Lohan haven't killed anybody (yet). But Qaddafi is a terrorist to the Nth degree, and the Wisconsin Dems are pathetic losers who are costing taxpayers a fortune. Perhaps if the Wisconsin Dems had some of that Nescafe LSD, they'd come to their senses. Qaddafi should try some too.

Muammar "Hearts" Barack

Apparently, Colonel Qaddafi digs President Obama.

In a speech published on Saturday, Qaddafi called Obama "a friend."

Speaking in Sirt at an event marking the 24th anniversary of President Reagan's retaliatory attack on Libya after a Libyan terrorist strike, Qaddafi said, "At the time, we were the target of the American cannon, the American navy challenged us in the gulf of Sirt and attacked us all along Libya's shores. America tested Libya, and the Libyan people resisted the large country, but today, thank God, the difference is great."

Meaning: Unlike the days of President Reagan, today the Americans have a weak president who is sympathetic to our cause and flaccid in his response to our murderous behavior.

And then Qaddafi said, "Now ruling America is a black man from our continent, an African from Arab descent, from Muslim descent, and this is something we never imagined - that from Reagan we would get to Barakeh Obama."

We never imagined it either, Muammar.

Crickets and Tumbleweeds

My first active memory of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi was in 1986, when I remember seeing images of the flamboyant terrorist on television. Why was he on TV? Our intelligence services intercepted messages from Libya's East Berlin embassy suggesting Qaddafi had ordered the terrorist strike on a West Berlin disco frequented by U.S. servicemen that left hundreds dead. In response, President Reagan ordered a massive strike against Libya ten days later. U.S military jets bombed Tripoli and Benghazi in an operation that by all accounts stunned Qaddafi. Reagan didn't play.

Qaddafi's long list of horrors includes the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, support for all manner of Islamic and other terrorist groups, including the PLO, Carlos the Jackal, and FARC, funding the "Black September movement" that carried out the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and giving safe harbor to the convicted terrorist of Pan Am 103, al-Megrahi.

After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Qaddafi thought he was next, so he preemptively caved, giving up his nuclear weapons program. In return, Washington restored full diplomatic relations with Libya in 2006, but no one was under the illusion that Qaddafi was now our friend.

He is one of the world's most despicable despots and a terrorist in belief and in action. Over the past few days, he has extended that terror to his own people, ordering military jets to fire upon the thousands of protesters who have gathered to demand regime change. Qaddafi has hired mercenaries from Chad and Sudan to murder his people in the streets using hollow-point bullets. In a bizarre (is there any other way for him?) mini-speech, he said opponents "deserved to die." Yup, that's the old Colonel: what a sweetheart.

In all of the upheaval in the Middle East over the past two years, two examples in particular cry out for American presidential leadership: the revolt in Iran nearly two years ago, and the revolt today in Libya. In both cases, the regimes are enemies of the United States and state sponsors and exporters of terror; and they have revealed once again their brutality and totalitarianism by their willingness to slaughter their own people. In both cases, the people there have honestly had enough of their ruthless dictatorship and would really benefit from a few words of clear moral support from the President of the United States.

In both cases, instead of clarion calls of support for those aggrieved peoples, Obama has given them the silence of crickets and the remoteness of tumbleweeds.

When the 2009 Iranian revolt began, Obama spoke of an unwillingness to "meddle." But he was more than happy to meddle in Egypt, one of our staunchest and longstanding allies, and throw Hosni Mubarak under the bus. He's also more than willing to meddle in Israel on settlements and in the UK by giving away their nuclear secrets to the Russians, and on and on. He meddles when he wants to.

But he will not "meddle" when it matters most and costs the least: against terrorist regimes like Iran and Libya. Whose side is he on? Seriously.

Reagan once called Qaddafi "the mad dog of the Middle East." It now looks like the mad dog has met the chihuahua of the West.

Reagan didn't play. Bombs dropped. Sanctions were levied.

Obama plays. Half-hearted words are spoken. UN resolutions of mere "condemnation" are endlessly debated.

While the mad dog hangs on to what's left of his regime, he must be astonished by the American president who appears to be rooting for him.

Scott Walker, Rock Star

The newly elected governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has instantly shot to national fame because he is fearlessly staring down the government unions bankrupting his state. He is going eyeball to eyeball with them, refusing to do what every previous governor has done, which is negotiate huge (and fiscally impossible) pension and benefits packages, and then lie to everybody that it's all doable. "Don't worry! We'll find a way to pay for it all. In the meantime, your big donation is so welcome!" Governor Walker, like Governors Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Mitch Daniels, among others, are calling out this bankrupting, vote-buying scheme. Enough.

Of course, all hell is breaking loose in Wisconsin and elsewhere, because what is unfolding there is the truth and reality meeting past lies and corruption. This is quite literally a battle between good versus evil. Keep in mind: we are not attacking the rank and file union members. We are going after the union bosses and the Democrat pols who have kept them all fat, rich and happy. And re-elected. At the taxpayers' expense.

A few thoughts: 1. So much for the new, post-Tucson "civility." There are signs out there equating Governor Walker with Hitler and Mubarak and the Taliban. The unions have organized marches aoutside his home. This is escalating to the point of potential violence. I don't see the usual suspects on the Left, who were beside themselves over "right-wing rhetoric" post-Tucson, wringing their hands over any of this. Actually, to the contrary, they are egging on the demonstrators. I knew it was a classic Left-wing putsch when Jesse Jackson alighted on the scene. Figure Rev. Al will be there in 3, 2,1...

2. The situation is going to get worse because neither side is backing down. Governor Walker should NOT compromise at this point. In fact, he CAN'T compromise. There is NO MONEY. He's got nothing with which to negotiate. He's also become a political rock star over this stand-off with the union, eclipsing NJ Governor Chris Christie. (This may be why Christie is sending signals that he may form a presidential exploratory committee. Got to strike while the iron is hot, and some of these newer Governors are going for the union jugular, which previously had been Christie's turf. Christie may realize this is his moment before Walker and some of the others emerge as the GOP Flavor of the Month, or Year.) Walker is now a national figure. He's not going to blow it.

3. This is about money and power. Period. The unions have money and use it to buy power. The politicians have power and acquire it through union money. What Governor Walker is doing is upending the whole equation. No union boss is going to go gently into that good night.

4. President Obama is all over this (inappropriately, for the president of the United States, but what else is new with this guy) because his whole political life is built on union support. His 2008 campaign arm, Organizing for America is running the show---and by extension, so is he, because THIS IS WHAT HE DOES. Note the name: Organizing for America. Obama is and has always been a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. He is a professional agitator. A rabble-rouser. Someone who believes in creating chaos in order to use it to achieve his ends. The union protests are HIM.

All of this is going to get worse before it gets better, because there is no money in the state coffers, and because unions and entrenched politicians aren't going to give up their power easily. They will fight back. They are the Qaddafis of the American Midwest.

The McLaughlin Group

Please join us for another thrilling edition of "The McLaughlin Group" this weekend. Check your local listings for time and channel, or visit www.McLaughlin.com for more information.

So Much For "Working Together"

After his party's "shellacking" in November, President Obama pledged to usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation. He said he got the message that the American people want both sides to work together. (Actually, that wasn't the message of the election. The message was to strip the Democrats of as much power as possible and install Republicans as the majority in the House and with bigger numbers in the Senate to stop the Obama agenda. It wasn't about getting "both sides to work together." It was about stopping one side dead in its tracks. But Obama spun it as the people's desire to see both parties work together to solve problems. Actually, his party has created and compounded most of those problems, and the American people want the Democrats to cease and desist---and they do not want the Republicans working together with the Democrats in any way, shape, or form, unless it's in full service to the limited government, big spending cuts agenda.)

After the Tucson shooting, when his side went wild blaming conservative "talk" and the "tone" of political discourse for the actions of a lone, deranged maniac, Obama gave a speech extolling the virtues of "civility." He urged a change in "tone." He was, as he always is, focusing us on appearances. That's his way of distracting us from the actual substance of policy debates, because in a center-right nation, liberalism constantly loses those debates. If you're focused on "tone," you're not focused on the vast philosophical differences that separate the right from the left on policy. You're also not focused on the fact that the left's "solutions" over the past two years---ever-greater spending, government intervention in nearly every facet of the economy, brand-new massive entitlements---have failed. Utterly. That's why he wants you focused on "tone."

Well, it didn't take long for the left to throw "tone" right out the window. Wisconsin, like most other states, is broke. There is no money. The new Republican governor, Scott Walker, proposed a bill to take on the unions head-on. The bill would strip most government workers of collective bargaining rights. Ohio Governor John Kasich has proposed the same thing, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has taken on the powerful state teachers' union and hasn't backed down. Public sector unions are bankrupting this country. Between ever-higher wages and huge negotiated pension and benefits packages, the costs of public workers are pushing states over the edge. These governors have no choice. They've got to bust the unions, renegotiate the union contracts, and move forward with far less generous packages for public employees. It's so bad that even liberal governors of liberal states are acknowledging the need to move in this direction. See: California's governor Jerry Brown and New York's governor Andrew Cuomo. States (like the federal and local governments) simply cannot go on like this. There is no money.

Governor Walker needs to put his state's fiscal house in order. That requires steep spending cuts. The unions don't like it. Neither do their allies in the Democrat party. Lucky for them, those allies go all the way up to the President. Obama called the bill "an assault on unions." ("Assault?" Really? I thought words that referenced violence were a big no-no after Tucson.) His 2008 campaign arm, Organizing for America, is orchestrating the big rallies against the bill in Madison. It's busy coordinating the protests and busing in union members from all over the place. They sound very Muslim Brotherhood, don't they? Remember: the Muslim Brothers were the original community organizers.

The protesters are carrying signs equating Governor Walker with Hitler and Mussolini as they hoisted placards saying "Death to Tyrants." (So much for a change in "tone.") Over 1000 teachers called in "sick" in order to demonstrate against the cuts. (They so need to be fired, a la the air traffic controllers fired by President Reagan for going on strike. Critical public employees pulling labor stunts like this? You're gone.)

Wisconsin's governor is responding to a clear and present danger: debt that is threatening to swallow the state. He must take serious actions. The public union gravy train is over, not just there, but everywhere. The money is gone, and the party is over.

Instead of literally fleeing the state to escape voting on the bill, Wisconsin Democrat state senators should have manned up: stay and vote against the bill, if that's what they believed, or vote for it and help their state back to fiscal health.

The President, his campaign arm, and the Democratic National Committee have joined this battle on the side of the unions and against the vast majority of the American people. I hope the Republicans see it clearly. All that Democrat talk about "changing the tone" and "working together" was pure B.S.

Game on.

With Friends Like These...

If you've been a longtime, stalwart ally of the United States, you'd better run for your life.

Since Barack Obama has been president, he has managed to diss each one of our allies, in varying degrees of seriousness from merely insulting to full-on betrayal.

Most recently, Obama threw our ally of three decades, now-former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, under the bus in record time. Crowds of indeterminate nature in the streets? See ya, Mubarak! Nice knowin' ya. Now scram.

When he first entered the White House, Obama dissed our greatest ally, the British, by returning a bust of Winston Churchill, the savior of Western civilization. The bust was a gift from the British, but the Bama needed to make room for all of those photos of Michelle with her buff arms, so something had to go. He also dissed the British by giving the Prime Minister DVDs that he was unable to watch on European players, and to the Queen, an iPod....loaded with his own speeches. Her Majesty was all, "WTF?"

Not to mention handing over to Russia British nuclear secrets that the British begged Obama not to divulge. Yo, Vlad: the Brits have 6 nuclear subs fitted with 30 nuclear warheads each. Liz: don't sweat it. it's just your top secret national security stuff.

He dissed the French by arriving in Paris only to turn down a dinner invitation from French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Seriously: no one does that. Not only is that a breach of presidential protocol, but it's stupid. Have the Obamas ever tasted French food??

He dissed our South Korean allies by refusing to deal aggressively with their (and our) North Korean enemy on its nuclear program, its proliferation, its attack of a South Korean ship that killed 46 South Korean citizens, and its military assault on the South that killed several civilians. The message South Korea and another great ally, Japan, took from this? You're on your own. Good luck with that whole North Korean nightmare thingy. And that Chinese colossus thingy too.

And he has royally dissed our great Israeli allies, by publicly and relentlessly demanding an end to settlement construction---without demanding reciprocal concessions from the Palestinian side. Now we hear that Team Obama is taking the diss a step further and will support a U.N. Security Council statement rebuking Israel over the settlements issue. The Middle East is aflame, Israel's enemies are on the march, there may not be an Israeli-Egyptian peace much longer, Iran is now on all sides of Israel in the form of Hamas and Hezbollah, and Iran itself is working feverishly on a nuclear weapon with which to destroy Israel, and Obama thinks now would be a good time to turn our back on her.

This is how he treats our friends. But if you're an enemy of the United States, no problem! Let's talk, Iran! Let's negotiate, Russia! Let's deal, North Korea! Sit down for a splashy state dinner, China! What up, Hugo Chavez!

You can't treat allies like this and expect them to be allies for long. Maybe that's the point. Maybe the point is to poison our strongest and best relationships and reward our enemies. Maybe the point is to weaken the United States and our place in the world in order to create....a new world order....in which we have been taken down and the bad guys have been elevated. The actions of the American president have followed enough of a pattern for enough time that it's clear he's more comfortable in bed with the bad guys than with our friends.

Obama has taken us into the years of living dangerously.

Raped By "Democracy"

CBS war correspondent Lara Logan went to Egypt to cover the protests against Hosni Mubarak in its early, heady days of hope n' change. She was detained, interrogated, and released. Undeterred, she returned to Egypt last week to continue covering the story and to interview Wael Ghonim, the young Google executive who played a pivotal role in orchestrating the protests.

Caught up in the final massive anti-Mubarak protest, Logan was surrounded by a mob of men, separated from her crew, and brutally beaten and sexually assaulted. A group of women and Egyptian soldiers finally rescued her. CBS got her out of the country and hospitalized as soon as possible.

This is a personal horror for Logan, and we all wish her a speedy physical and emotional recovery.

There are, however, some lessons in this horrendous attack for the rest of us:

1. The Western reporters who went into Tahrir Square to cover the demonstrations got swept up in the fantasy that they were "one of them," meaning that they felt they were part of the story as well as its chroniclers. The result? Even though most were with security, they let their guards down, becoming enamored of the wondrous "democracy movement" they were witnessing. The result? Many of them got attacked: Fox News's Greg Palkot, CNN's Anderson Cooper, ABC's Brian Hartman, CBS's Lara Logan. They were not "one of them." And the Egyptians made that brutally clear.

2. The Muslim Brotherhood has played a role in the protests from the start, has been orchestrating the transition, and is now running the show in less obvious ways. Yesterday they formed a formal political party to run in the upcoming elections, should they ever take place. And the godfather of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Youssef al-Qaradawi, is now speaking out about the need for Sharia in Egypt and elsewhere and the creation of a renewed Islamic caliphate, what he calls a "united Muslim nations." When the enemy tells you who they are and what they intend to do, believe them. Today the New York Times has one article saying that the Muslim Brotherhood is not relevant in Egypt, and another article saying that a radical MB member has been named to the transition panel advising on a new government. It's all so obvious. We just choose not to see it.

3. As I've been saying, I hope this revolt produces true freedom and human rights for the Egyptian people. But no one has taken the time or thought to ask: Is that what THEY want? That is a serious question. Because so far, it looks like the Egypt that will emerge will be not the one that came to Lara Logan's rescue, but the one that attacked her.