† Obama’s Olympic Hopes Dashed: The First Couple’s self-centered presentations to the IOC solidified the view that the two are full of themselves. As badly as Barack Hussein Obama craves adulation, his off-putting arrogance is starting to wear (video link) and it won’t be long before he will be an object of ridicule amongst world leaders. Here's a sampling of opinion pieces about how and why Obama fell short of the mark in Copenhagen:

‡ The Financial Times of London: [T]he rejection is likely to intensify questions about Mr Obama’s allegedly vaunting self-belief. Although Mr Obama spent only a few hours in the Danish capital, and although other leaders were there to bat on behalf of their cities, Barack and Michelle Obama couched their pitches in biographical terms. By personalising Chicago’s appeal, Mr Obama put his own reputation on the line. (BTW: As did The Stiletto, pollster Frank Luntz notes that, “You had both Obamas, telling deeply personal, heartfelt stories to the international community that, in essence, couldn‘t care less.”)

‡ The Times of London: There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack Obama’s presidency in recent weeks: that he is loved by many, but feared by none; that he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving nothing with his grandiloquence. Chicago’s dismal showing yesterday, after Mr Obama’s personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good - but carries no heft. Mr Obama was greeted - as usual - like a rock star by the IOC delegates in Copenhagen - then humiliated by them. … Mr Obama’s soaring rhetoric - which captured the imagination during last year’s election - is simply not enough when it comes to confronting the myriad challenges of the presidency.

‡ National Review Online: [W]hat happened Friday will begin to cement an image about Obama that is negative - that his supposed “golden touch” is very nearly the opposite; that his rhetorical talents and appeal are vastly overstated (he delivers a major health-care speech to a joint session of Congress and it does nothing to move the needle; he then makes a personal appeal to the IOC and Chicago is dropped from the list in the first round); and that he is a surprisingly weak figure who is easily rolled by Democrats on Capitol Hill, by adversaries around the world, and, now, by the IOC. … He hurt his prestige a great deal … and he is beginning to seem overmatched on almost every front.

‡ The Washington Times: President Obama's failed Olympic gambit Friday was a blow to his image on the world stage and a very public humbling experience for a man who has grown unaccustomed to losing elections. … To Mr. Obama's critics, the trip resonated as a sign that the White House has begun to overestimate the value of Mr. Obama's personal magnetism and the power of a well-delivered speech. The episode was, in the view of Republican strategist Todd Harris, something the president might call a teachable moment.

Luntz adds: “People have grown tired over the Obamafication of life. President Obama ought to see this as his wake-up call.”

But he won’t – and neither will his sycophantic enablers. Incredibly, Obamaniacs are blaming President George W. Bush for the failed Chicago effort.

Yeah, well maybe the IOC meant to take Obama down a few pegs for his cruel joke about the Special Olympics.   

† Is Obama Already A Lame Duck?: The conclusions of an independent "fact-finding mission" about Russia’s August 2008 invasion of  Georgia vindicates then-Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s strong response - which The New York Times characteristically characterized as a cold war throwback. More to the point, the report makes then-Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama’s (he thought it was racist to use his middle name at the time) reticence in criticizing Russia a harbinger of his foreign policy of apology and appeasement.

This Washington Post editorial sums up the mission’s findings and the foreign policy implications:

Moscow's claim that Georgia committed "genocide" and thus justified its invasion, the report says, was false; moreover, "much of the Russian military action went far beyond the reasonable limits of defense." The mission also confirmed that "irregular armed groups on the South Ossetian side that would not or could not be adequately controlled by regular Russian armed forces" committed violations of human rights law and possibly war crimes, including the ethnic cleansing of Georgians.

A year later, Mr. Putin's attempt to subjugate Georgia looks like one of his worse blunders. Only two other countries - Nicaragua and Venezuela - have recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Mr. Saakashvili remains in office, and relations between Russia and all of its other neighbors have deteriorated. …

That doesn't mean the danger of further Russian aggression is over. Mr. Putin still claims the right to a 19th-century-style sphere of influence extending to Georgia, Ukraine and other nations of the former Soviet Union. If U.S. support for those countries is seen by Moscow to slacken, another war will soon follow.

This puts Obama’s decision to leave Central Europe defenseless against an increasingly bellicose Russia by scrapping the missile shield – announced on the 70^th anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland because our president has repeatedly demonstrated (fourth item) he is ignorant of the history of the world before the blessed day of his birth – in a different light. Obama not only betrayed our allies, he didn’t even negotiate with the Russians to scrap the missile shield in exchange for an ironclad agreement to abandon its designs on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and to impose stiff sanctions against Iran. He just gave it up for nothing.

Which brings to mind Charles Krauthammer’s witticism regarding French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rapping the knuckles of Obama’s “outstretched hand” when our president’s arrogance, preening and naiveté got to be too much to take: “When France chides you for appeasement, you know you're scraping bottom.”

Just wait until Sarkozy starts calling us “Apple pie-eating surrender monkeys.”

† Obama – Not McCain - Will Be Bush III: In its handling of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the Obama administration is continuing the Bush administration’s strategy of applying financial pressure to compel the Hermit Kingdom to resume disarmament talks, reports The Associated Press:

The Democratic White House's effort borrows a page from former President George W. Bush's Republican playbook: Pyongyang unwilling to bend? Negotiating partners wary of tougher sanctions? Then bypass messy international diplomacy and hit the North where it hurts - its foreign bank accounts.

American officials are traveling around Asia, targeting private banks that might have North Korean ties. They hope to block money that could be used for missiles and nuclear bombs and, ultimately, to drive North Korea back to stalled disarmament talks. …

The officials tell bankers that North Korea is usingits [sic] accounts to hide counterfeiting of U.S. currency, to launder money, and to smuggle cigarettes and drugs. The banks could face potentially dire consequences if they are seen as helping illicit activities.

U.S. officials say bankers find their visits difficult to ignore.

"It's having an effect. We think that the word is out," said Philip Goldberg, President Obama's point man on implementing new United Nations sanctions on North Korea. The effort encourages banks to "give heightened scrutiny to any transaction that may be coming through with a North Korean label on it."

Juan Zarate, a senior counterterrorism adviser to Mr. Bush who helped develop the strategy, said in an interview that the U.S. effort to "harness the financial furies" is "making it very uncomfortable for the North Koreans to do business at all beyond their borders."

When he was a senator, Obama criticized the Bush administration for not engaging in direct negotiations with North Korea, but now that he’s sitting in the Oval Office, his predecessor is looking smarter and smarter on how to handle a variety of serious national security concerns (third item on page).

† Hate Crime or Home-Grown Terrorism? Either Way, CAIR Doesn’t Care: In 2006 The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington DC advocacy group that describes itself as “America’s largest Muslim civil liberties group,” published a “Muslim Community Safety Kit.” At the time, The Stiletto made this observation:

[The kit is meant] to “protect” Mohammedans from murderous American Christians and Jews who have formed terror cells and operate terrorist training camps in rural areas throughout the U.S., who plot to blow up bridges, landmark buildings and the New York subway system, who travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan to train as jihadis - and who protest Israel's retaliatory military strikes against Hezbollah and Hamas by killing an innocent woman whose only “crime” was to be Jewish. 

The Stiletto thinks someone should come up with an “Infidel Community Safety Kit.” Oh, wait: That’s Homeland Security’s job.

Well, it only took four years and a number of intercepted plots and prosecutions (fourth item) but the authorities who are supposed to keep us safe from Islamofascist terrorists have finally come up with an “Infidel Community Safety Kit” – only it has a catchier name, reports The Associated Press:

The nation's big city police chiefs are backing an anti-terrorism community watch program to educate people about what behavior is truly suspicious and ought to be reported to police.

Police Chief William Bratton of Los Angeles, whose department developed the iWATCH program, calls it the 21st century version of Neighborhood Watch.

Using brochures, public service announcements and meetings with community groups, iWATCH is designed to deliver concrete advice on how the public can follow the oft-repeated post-9/11 recommendation: "If you see something, say something." Program materials list nine types of suspicious behavior that should prompt people to call police and 12 kinds of places to look for it.

Here’s a list of what to watch for and report:  

‡ People drawing or measuring important buildings.

‡ Strangers asking questions about security or building security procedures.

‡ Briefcase, suitcase, backpack or package left behind.

‡ Cars or trucks left in "No Parking" zones in front of important buildings.

‡ Intruders in secure areas where they are not supposed to be.

‡ A person wearing clothes that are too big and too heavy for the weather.

‡ Chemical smells or fumes that worry you.

‡ Questions about sensitive information such as building blueprints, security plans or VIP travel schedules without a right or need to know.

‡ Purchasing supplies or equipment that can be used to make bombs or weapons or purchasing uniforms without having proper credentials.

According to authorities, a terrorist attack would be more likely at these types of locations:

‡ Government buildings.

‡ Religious facilities.

‡ Amusement parks.

‡ Sports/Entertainment venues.

‡ High-rise buildings.

‡ Mass-gathering locations - such as parades and fairs.

‡ Schools.

‡ Hotels.

‡ Theaters.

‡ Shopping malls.

‡ Bridges.

‡ Public transportation.

Naturally, the American Civil Liberties Union thinks iWatch will lead to racial profiling – concerns the group did not express about CAIR’s effort.

† How ACORN Got Buried By “Squirrelly Right-Wingers”: It’s not just corporate sponsors like Bank of America cutting ties to ACORN, the embattled group has been losing support from several major foundations, including The Ford Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Marguerite Casey Foundation, even before the “pimp and ho” videos, reports The Washington Post:

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now … receives about 10 percent of its $25 million annual budget from federal grants, according to Brian Kettenring, deputy director of national operations. The rest comes from foundations, membership dues and private donations. …

The Ford Foundation, which has given nearly $2 million, suspended funding for ACORN and its affiliate organizations about a year ago because of concerns about inadequate financial controls and procedures, according to spokeswoman Fiona R. Guthrie.

One local group said it has no plans to change the terms of a $50,000 grant awarded this summer. The Collaborative for Education Organizing, part of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, sponsored a project aimed at organizing parents of District public high school students to advocate for change in the classroom.

"They are going to keep a real close eye at what's going on at D.C. ACORN and make a decision on how they proceed with the grant," said Terri Freeman, Community Foundation president. Half of the money is contingent upon an interim report due early next year. …

[T]he Needmor Fund, a family foundation based in Toledo that gave about $150,000 a year to local organizations affiliated with ACORN … suspended grantmaking in June 2008 because of the alleged embezzlement. It resumed its funding in September after ACORN took corrective action, said Dave Beckwith, Needmor's executive director.

ACORN claims a ten-fold increase in contributions from individual donors, but could not provide a dollar amount.

† What It’s Like To Live In The Bronx: Part II: This New York Times editorial assures Gothamites who rarely venture north of 96^th Street that “The Bronx is no longer burning,” but warns against gentrification – as though the borough’s residents are somehow undeserving of their own Starbucks, Ikea and Costco, all of which have moved into parts of Brooklyn that were pretty dicey not too long ago. Meanwhile, David Gonzales writes another article for The New York Times about The Bronx - this one, a tour of the neighborhood surrounding Yankee Stadium:

Pinstripe fanatics who hustle from their cars to their seats for playoff games this month may not realize it, but there are plenty of things to do near Yankee Stadium that don’t involve beer, booing or going broke. Concourse Village - taking its name from the Grand Concourse - has museums and theaters that put the lie to the outdated image of a South Bronx aflame. Better yet, they don’t require a week’s salary (or millions in tax-free bonds) to finance a family outing

As an added bonus, Gonzales’ article lists some of the borough’s most celebrated sons and daughters, including: Rita Moreno, Bobby Darin, Robert Klein, Garry Marshall, Martin Scorsese, Regis Philbin, Don De Lillo and George Carlin. BTW: Ann Bancroft, Gray Davis, Billy Joel, Stanley Kubrick, Ralph Lauren, Michael Mukasey, Colin Powell, William Safire, Carly Simon and Neil Simon also have Bronx roots.