Gingrich at Republican Fundraiser Says Obama's 'Already Failed'

US, SKorea militaries gird for NKorean provocation

By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang, Associated Press Writer – 46 mins ago

SEOUL, South Korea – The U.S. and South Korea put their military forces on high alert Thursday after North Korea renounced the truce keeping the peace between the two Koreas since 1953. The North also accused the U.S. of preparing to attack the isolated communist country in the wake of its second nuclear bomb test, and warned it would retaliate to any hostility with "merciless" and dangerous ferocity.

Seoul moved a 3,500-ton destroyer into waters near the Koreas' disputed western maritime border while smaller, high-speed vessels were keeping guard at the front line, South Korean news reports said. The defense ministry said the U.S. and South Korean militaries would increase surveillance activities.

Pyongyang, meanwhile, positioned artillery guns along the west coast on its side of the border, the Yonhap news agency said. The Joint Chiefs of Staffs in Seoul refused to confirm the reports.

The show of force along the heavily fortified border dividing the two Koreas comes three days after North Korea conducted an underground nuclear test and fired a series of short-range missiles.

The test drew immediate condemnation from world leaders and the U.N. Security Council, where ambassadors were discussing a new resolution to punish Pyongyang. President Barack Obama called it a "blatant violation" of international law.

In response, South Korea said it would join more than 90 nations that have agreed to stop and inspect vessels suspected of transporting weapons of mass destruction.

North Korea called South Korea's participation in the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative a prelude to a naval blockade and a violation of the truce signed to end the three-year war that broke out in Korea in 1950.

On Wednesday Pyongyang renounced the 1953 armistice and the following day warned U.S. forces against advancing into its territory.

"The northward invasion scheme by the U.S. and the South Korean puppet regime has exceeded the alarming level," the North's main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. "A minor accidental skirmish can lead to a nuclear war."

The U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea and another 50,000 in Japan, has denied it is planning military action. But U.S. and South Korean troops were placed on their highest alert level for more than two years.

The South Korea-U.S. combined forces command rates its surveillance alert on a scale to 5, with 1 being the highest level. On Thursday, the level was raised from 3 to 2, the second-highest level, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said. He said the last time the alert level was that high was in 2006, when the North conducted its first nuclear test.

Won said both militaries were raising their surveillance activities, although he would not explain what that meant. South Korean media reported that the higher alert would involve increased monitoring of North Korea using satellites and navy ships.

The U.N. Command on Korea said it would continue to observe the armistice, saying it "remains in force and is binding on all signatories, including North Korea."

North Korea has repudiated the armistice several times before, most recently in 2003 and 2006.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young accused the North of "seriously distorting" the decision to join in the initiative.

Seoul has said its military would "respond sternly" to any North Korean provocation, and that it would be able to contain the North with the help of U.S. troops.

The South Korean military has dispatched "personnel and equipment deployment" along its land and sea borders, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said. He spoke on condition of anonymity citing department policy.

He said there has been no particular movement of North Korean troops in border areas.

The two Koreas technically remain at war because they signed a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. However, North disputes the U.N.-drawn maritime border off their west coast, and used that dispute to provoke deadly naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

South Korea's mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said more anti-air missiles and artillery were dispatched to military bases on islands near the disputed western sea border with North Korea.

Yonhap said the destroyer has artillery guns, anti-ship guided missiles, ship-to-air missiles and torpedoes. Air force fighters are were on standby, the report said.

North Korea's West Sea fleet has 13 submarines and more than 360 vessels, Yonhap said.

The recent flurry of belligerence could reflect an effort by 67-year-old leader Kim Jong Il to boost his standing among his impoverished people.

It was also seen as a test of Obama's new administration, and came as two Americans, journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, remained in custody in Pyongyang accused of illegal entry and "hostile acts." They face trial in Pyongyang next week.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said any new Security Council resolution must be stronger than the one issued after the North's first atomic test in October 2006, and contain sanctions.

A Russian Foreign Ministry official said Moscow did not want to see Pyongyang further isolated. Andrei Nesterenko said Russia opposed sanctions but did not object to a U.N. resolution.

Hong Hyun-ik, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute security think tank, said sanctions would not be effective unless China — North Korea's traditional ally — implemented them.

"Kim Jong Il must be scoffing" at the talk of sanctions, he said. "He knows the world will forget about any sanctions in the end."

___

Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Eric Talmadge in Seoul, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, contributed to this report.

By Kristi Keck
CNN

(CNN) -- For the past eight years, the White House recognized the National Day of Prayer with a service in the East Room, but this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.

President Bush marked the National Day of Prayer with a service at the White House.

"Prayer is something that the president does everyday," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday, noting that Obama will sign a proclamation to recognize the day, as many administrations in the past have done.

Asked if Obama thought his predecessor's ceremonies were politicized, Gibbs said, "No, I'm not going to get into that again.

"I think the president understands, in his own life and in his family's life, the role that prayer plays."

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance for people of all faiths.

Under the Bush administration, the White House hosted an interfaith service each year, inviting protestant, Catholic and Jewish leaders for an event at the East Room.

President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush also marked the day with a White House observance.

President Harry Truman first established the day as a national event in 1952. Reagan signed a resolution in 1988 to observe the National Day of Prayer each year on the first Thursday in May, and each president since has recognized this day with a proclamation.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force, a privately funded organization that focuses on mobilizing the Christian community, says it's disappointed in this year's toned down observance, but other groups say the president needs to go a step farther -- and ignore the day altogether.

"It's not his job to tell people to pray," said David Silverman, national spokesperson for the organization American Atheists.

"We are very happy he did away with the George W. Bush-era celebrations and party, but we wish he wouldn't do it at all. ... When church and state are separate, separate is separate," he said.

Although there are no public events scheduled at the White House, representatives from the legislative and judicial branches are expected to attend an event the National Day of Prayer Task Force is holding on Capitol Hill.

But, despite numerous attempts to get a representative from the executive office to attend, "it doesn't appear they are going to fulfill our request," said Becky Armstrong, marketing and media manager of the National Day of Prayer Task Force.

"The White House is a small part of what the national day of prayer is all about. Tomorrow there will be dozens of events held in our nation's capitol and governors from all 50 states have already issued proclamations recognizing the National Day of Prayer," Armstrong said.

"It would be belittling to those millions of people to reduce this day to merely one event not being held at the White House."

Task Force Chairman Shirley Dobson said in a statement that she was disappointed in the "lack of participation" by the Obama administration, adding that "at this time in our country's history, we would hope our President would recognize more fully the importance of prayer."

Is The Beltway GOP Irrelevant?

An Analysis By Scott Rasmussen

While Biden tells his family to stay out of Airplanes and Subways, they tell the rest of America to do something different.

This whole Swine Flu SCARE is out of a control by a Jr. Administration that is feeling their way through on how to do things.   This is what happens when you elect a Jr. Senator to the Highest Office of the land who has never done anything but community organize uneducated weak minded people who have nothing in life but the words of a charismatic figure saying "Yes We Can"....

Maybe they should pick up a hobby or read a book instead of being motivated by FEELINGS. 

The old saying is that there are two quotients that need to be filled with people:  1) Intellectual Quotient & 2) Emotional Quotient.

Obama and his followers have filled the Emotional tank because that is all the idiots who vote for him and support him have going for them.

RAW EMOTION!!

But have no fear!

The mid term elections are coming up and for the first time in more than 5 years, the polls overwhelmingly show that voters will RATHER vote for Republicans than Democrats.

Generic Congressional Ballot -- Republicans Top Democrats on Generic Congressional Ballot

1/3 of the Senate and half the House will change with the mid term election.

Although Obama and the Dems are being slick to not raise taxes before that time, they are loosing momentum.

The days of Liberals are numbered and YES WE CAN take the Government back and put it on the right track.

This time, we will hold the Republicans to CONSERVATIVE STANDARDS of not spending out of control like the Liberals do.

Remember one thing people.... The Crescendo of where the Democrats and Liberals are going has been reached and there is only one way to go from here... that is down!

They will not even hold their current altitude.  Obama has the same ratings that President Bush had in his first 100 Days.

Nothing changed in Washington except for a Jr. Senator taking office and surrounding himself with a bunch of EXTREME LEFT WING idiots who tell their families to stay off Planes & Trains while telling the American People to do things differently.

This is POLITICS as usual and nothing but the same old bullshit in a different suit. 

A very EMPTY Suit at that!

- Doc

Biden tells family to stay off planes, subways

By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer Nancy Benac, Associated Press Writer – 11 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Joe Biden said Thursday he advised his family to stay off airplanes and subways because of the swine flu, a remark that forced the vice president's office to backtrack, the travel industry to cry foul and other government officials to try to massage Biden's message.

"I would tell members of my family — and I have — that I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show.

Biden, who has a reputation for off-the-cuff remarks, went beyond any precautions recommended by the federal government. In discussing his personal advice to his family, he said simply, "That's me."

Within two hours, Biden's office issued a statement backing off the remarks and suggesting he was talking about travel to Mexico.

"On the 'Today Show' this morning, the vice president was asked what he would tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this week," said spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander. "The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways."

Biden, who has three grown children and five grandchildren, was asked whether he would advise his own family against flying to Mexico on a commercial flight.

"It's not just going to Mexico, if you're in a confined aircraft and one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft," Biden said on NBC. "That's me. I would not be at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends avoiding nonessential travel to Mexico. But it isn't recommending that people avoid other travel because of the swine flu.

The airline and travel industries were quick to criticize Biden's remarks.

James May, president of the Air Transport Association, which represents airlines, sent Biden a letter expressing "extreme disappointment at your suggestion that people should avoid air travel."

American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith declined to comment directly on the vice president's remarks, but said, "To suggest that people not fly at this stage of things is a broad brush stroke bordering on fear mongering."

U.S. Travel Association President Roger Dow urged the public to "heed the advice of medical experts" and gently chided the vice president without specifically mentioning him.

"Elected officials must strike a delicate balance of accurately and adequately informing citizens of health concerns without unduly discouraging travel and other important economic activity," Dow said in a statement.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano offered to rewrite Biden's words for him: "I think the vice president ... if he could say that over again, he would say if they're feeling sick, they should stay off of public transit or confined spaces because that is indeed the advice that we're giving," she said on MSNBC.

On Radio Iowa this morning, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, was less forgiving, calling it "a very unfortunate statement by the vice president."

During his decades as Delaware senator, Biden was a regular on Amtrak, riding the train from Wilmington to Washington.

Asked on NBC's "Today" show whether the U.S. government should close the border with Mexico, Biden said health authorities advise that would be impractical and noted the new flu is already in the U.S. and several other nations.

Instead, Biden said, the focus should be on slowing the spread of the virus through groups of people in close quarters, such as airplanes, malls, stadiums and classrooms.

"Closing the classroom and closing the border are two fundamentally different things," he said.

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Iran's supreme leader dismisses Obama overtures

AP – Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves to his supporters during his visit to Mashhad, 900