’13 Hours’ dramatizes … what’s going on in the country

[lostinblue 1,989]

13 Hours dramatizes whats going on in the country: bureaucratic indifference on the one side, things going up in flames on the other.

One of the final, devastating images in the Benghazi film 13 Hours is of an American flag lying in a pool of filthy water and debris after the jihadi raid on two American outposts in Libya.

As the movie was shown to New York critics Tuesday night, President Obama was giving his Everything Is Awesome State of the Union speech, droning the words, Anyone claiming that Americas economy is in decline is peddling fiction . . . The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth, period. Period. Its not even close. Its not even close. Its not even close.

So weve reached the point where a president has to insist that were still No. 1, at least in military strength, then say Its not even close three times. Someone is trying too hard.

To tens of million of Americans, that American flag in the muck is a little closer to the truth. For a large and restless segment of the public, a line that rings far truer than anything in the State of the Union is the one delivered by another political orator of our time: Theyre laughing at us.

America has a bigger military budget than the next eight countries combined, what good is that doing us if a ragtag militia can overrun our consulate and murder our ambassador in Libya? If we are giving Iran billions of dollars and an OK to build nukes in a decade? If were going to import Middle East turmoil by welcoming large numbers of military-age male refugees, many of whom may hate us?

We thought 13 Hours was going to be a movie about Hillary Clinton. Instead, its about Donald Trump. Because 13 Hours dramatizes in the most searing way imaginable whats going on in the country: bureaucratic indifference on the one side, things going up in flames on the other.

The movie is a study in the difference between thinkers and doers, between the theoretical and the practical, between Harvard graduates and guys who drew hot rods in their notebooks during algebra class.

In 13 Hours, the officious CIA station chief in Benghazi who stands in for every technocrat youve ever met tells the brawny security contractors who will soon save him from death, Youre hired help. There is no real threat here. We won the revolution for these people. He thinks he cant be wrong because We have the brightest minds from the Farm educated at Harvard and Yale.

A lady spy with a French accent who works in Benghazi tells one of the security contractors (ex-military men), I know what Im doing because its her second tour in a war zone. A contractor replies laconically, Its my 12th.

Another security guy says, referring to the probable assassin who was following her, I might not have gone to Harvard, but Im pretty sure that was a tail.

Its the old story of nerds vs. jocks. Donald Trump has left little doubt which one he is. He has spent this presidential campaign giving locker room wedgies to Jeb Bush and President Obama.

Nerds may be adequate leaders when everything is going smoothly. But when there are jihadis gathering with rocket launchers outside the gate, send for a jock.

Six weeks ago we suffered the worst terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11. And the president didnt even mention it in the State of the Union. He doesnt even think about it, because he thinks terrorism is a gun-control issue. Yet Paris has the kind of gun control that Obama can only dream about.

Its scarcely an exaggeration to say Americans are terrified. Sixty-seven percent of us think the country is on the wrong track, according to Rasmussen polling. One month ago, Americans said terrorism was their No. 1 concern.

If Americas economy is so strong, why are we having the slowest recovery from a recession since World War II? Why is the labor-force participation back down to where it was in the Carter years? Why is the bank RBS forecasting a stock-market crash? Why do only 20 percent of Americans tell Gallup that theyre satisfied with the way things are going? Why do only 13 percent say their children will be better off than they are, according to an August YouGov poll?

Donald Trump gets all this. Whoever is elected president will have to learn it.

I have no respect for Trump, but we must respect the people who respect him. They want to be heard, and Trump is speaking for them.

Trump fans and Trump haters talk past each other, noted Yuval Levin in National Review this week, because the former group mostly emphasizes his diagnoses and the latter his prescriptions.

To Scared America, youre not worth listening to if you cant even identify whats wrong. If you press a Trump supporter on the merits or plausibility or decency of a specific Trump proposal, the response is usually that at least Trump is willing to talk about the issue while others are afraid to, notes Levin.

Obamas solution to our ills, as captured in a Politico headline, is laughably obtuse: Obama: Ill travel the country to push campaign finance, redistricting reform.

Theyre talking jihad. Hes talking gerrymandering.

http://nypost.com/2016/01/17/13-hours-captures-how-americans-really-feel-about-our-global-standing/

[ready4ONE 5,400]

I am an American and I am not terrified.

[Boiler 46,359]

It has always been thus.

[lostinblue 1,989]

I am an American and I am not terrified.

Levinson Family: We Feel 'Betrayed' by White House

The family of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who disappeared while on assignment for the U.S. government in Iran in 2007, said they feel devastated and betrayed by the Obama White House not just because Levinson was not included in the Iranian prisoner swap that freed several other Americans, but because no one from the White House called to warn them about the exchange. They learned about it by watching television.

I thought after nine years that they would have enough respect for our family to at least tell us in advance that this is happening, Levinsons wife, Christine, told ABC News. It could have been five minutes, but to find out on the TV for the whole family was wrong. It was absolutely devastating.

Im very disappointed. I feel extremely betrayed by them, she said.

Christine said that she had been trying to get a high-level meeting with Obama administration officials for the last six weeks but had been relegated to phone calls. Christine did manage to speak on the phone with Secretary of State John Kerry last week, she said, but Kerry did not tell her about the upcoming prisoner exchange. After news of the exchange broke Saturday, Christine said she called the White House but didnt hear back from anyone until hours later when White House Deputy National Security Advisor Lisa Monaco called to apologize. Christine said that Monaco explained that they meant to tell her ahead of time, but the Iranian government apparently leaked the news early.

Last summer President Obama made a public pledge that the government would improve its treatment of hostage families, following sharp criticism from the loved ones of other Americans that were held abroad, including Diane Foley, the mother of slain journalist James Foley.

These families have already suffered enough, and they should never feel ignored or victimized by their own government, Obama said in June.

Seven months later, Christine and Dan Levinson, Bobs son, told ABC News they have felt abandoned.

Its bad enough that we werent notified, but he wasnt included in the deal and thats never going to be enough and the least they could do is follow up with us and tell us the steps that theyre taking now, Dan Levinson said. Were hoping to meet with President Obama, Secretary Kerry and other administration officials because the least they can do is explain to us, and we can talk to them face-to-face about what needs to be done on their end, on our end what can be done.

The 67-year-old Levinson, who served for more than two decades with the FBI before retiring, disappeared off Iran's Kish Island in March 2007. For years the U.S. government said Levinson was working at the time as a private investigator, but in December 2013 his family acknowledged that he was, in fact, working as a freelance "spy" for a rogue CIA operation. The Iranian government has long-denied holding Levinson or even knowing where he is the latter claim doubted by some U.S. officials and Levinsons family.

Saturday Iranian media broke the news that Iran and the U.S. government had struck a deal in which five Americans held in Iranian prisons were freed in exchange for the release of seven Iranians either convicted or awaiting trial in the U.S. all accused of crimes related to violating sanctions against Iran. The U.S. also removed Interpol red notices and dismissed charges against 14 other Iranians abroad who a U.S. official said were unlikely to be extradited to the U.S.

Secretary Kerry tweeted Sunday that as part of the swap, Iran also agreed to deepen our coordination as we work to locate Robert Levinson. We wont rest until the Levinson family is whole again.

A senior administration official added, The dialogue between the United States and Iran regarding prisoners of mutual concern also opened the door to us engaging in conversations with the Iranian government regarding the Levinson case. We are hopeful this continued dialogue and cooperation will lead to his return to the United States.

Today Kerry said on CNN that he feels horrible for the Levinson family. I know its very, very difficult for his family to see these other people come back and to not have answers.

Christine and Dan said that while they havent given up hope, theyre waiting to see if the U.S. government will follow through.

There are ways to get this done. There are ways to have these talks and really be blunt with the Iranians and seek a proper way to get him released, Dan Levinson said. There needs to be more pressure He can be brought home if the U.S. administration is willing to put all their efforts to do that.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/levinson-family-feel-betrayed-white-house/story?id=36365692

These folks are still terrified you think...