John Hawkins over at Townhall has a fairly popular article up right now entitled "7 Questions for Liberals About Obama's Libyan War."  The article is nothing terribly special but it is getting a lot of link-love in the conservative blogosphere right now and thus its arguments merit response.  While Hawkins raises seven distinct points, the article basically boils down to a rehash of many of the Left's criticisms of George W. Bush's adventures in Iraq and asks why these criticisms don't apply to Obama's intervention in Libya.

Others can and will respond to the fallacy of this argument better than this author ever could and thus this article will waste no time detailing the difference between a no-fly zone and an actual war nor will it discuss the difference between unilateral action and a UN backed multi-national operation.  These facts and distinctions, while important, are not really of any concern to those on the right who simply wish to scream "hypocrisy" now that President Obama has undertaken the first true foreign action that can be called his own.  

No, for people like Hawkins, it is best to address their points head on.  Hawkins asks, "Where are the massive protests" and he deserves an answer.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has determined that a federal law that barred gay marriages was unconstitutional and told government lawyers to stop defending it in court, the U.S.

Apparently, Tony Leys of the Des Moines Register has finally discovered this incredible documentary by Luis Argueta of the ICE raids at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa & the impact which it had on that midwestern town & the families involved.

Fascinating debate about the MSM's power or lack thereof over the outcome of the revolution on the streets of Cairo....

A crucial reminder that myths are precisely that: halfway between fact/truth & lies/falsity! As Joan says:

The survey, in the form of a "pop quiz," asked Americans whether they thought a series of 10 provisions were included in the new law. Five items (ie.

Perhaps we should listen to more of what the "real socialists" have to say.... What do you think?

CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak announced that he would not run for another term in elections scheduled for the fall, appearing on state television to promise an orderly transition but saying he would serve out his term.

A genius piece of journalism on "the other Arizona" explores the state that time forgot, the liberal intelligentsia oft overlooked by the MSM: it starts with a story of how a (most likely Muslim) African scout led the first (Spanish) settlers to the gates of the Salt River & ends …

"Alarming trends" is the understatement of the day!

A brilliant academic piece which shows that not only will rescinding birthright citizenship create a massive new bureaucracy at a time when we need to streamline but it would deprive us of the crucial resource of young people who are paying taxes, fulfilling civil & military serv …

A heady combination of reflections on our willingness to do whatever we want with our prisoners regardless of the treaties to which we are signatories & notification that Amnesty International has a letter condeming Bradley Manning's treatment; his lawyer David Coombs has stated  …

Here come the states!

"Count to ten; & take a deep breath!"

A fairly decent rundown on the 287g controversy in Tennessee: a must-read if you care about the ensuing civil rights struggle in this country! When was the last time you were indefinitely detained because of the color of your skin?

Another brilliant piece on the rising anti-immigrant states-rights extremists being accepted into the mainstream discourse of American politics just as they are being elected into the mainstream offices of American jurisprudence (however unprudently) leaves me wondering if the Ut …

The understatement of the year went completely unnoticed: Obama set a new record for deportation, even bending the rules & breaking the law to do so!

How hard is it to recognize that if we're going to send so much money to Mexico, that we ought to make sure that at least some of the money goes to fund development projects rather than flooding corrupt police & government officials' offices with more grease for their wheels?

Apparently, House Republicans are not reading the same briefs on the topic as we are....

I'm always afraid when the most liberal court in the country hands down a fascist decision like this: hopefully not a sign of things to come!

An encyclopedia of rightisms!

Now this is what an adult conversation looks like!

Close Guantanamo: it's a no-brainer!

I wonder how many people will get arrested tomorrow at this rally in DC.... Hopefully noone will end up in Guantanamo, but you never know....

Today is the 55th anniversary of the day Black seamstress Rosa Parks made history by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a White rider and go to the back of the bus.

"• Embassy cables show Arab allies want strike against Tehran • Israel prepared to attack alone to avoid its own 9/11 • Iranian bomb risks 'Middle East proliferation, war or both'"

""As soon as Obama took over, he said he would do this and that -- a lot of things. But he still hasn't met a single goal," said Saad Zaki Khalil, 56, who was selling cigarette lighters in central Cairo.

""I tried to prevent (being touched) with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me (so) we touched," Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring told tens of thousands of followers on Twitter.

"We have it in our power to begin the world over again". Thomas Paine 1776

Two articles / videos: President Obama Films 'It Gets Better' Video To Combat Gay Bullying

A FEDERAL appeals court on Wednesday granted the Obama administration's emergency request for a stay against a lower court order lifting the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring openly gay service members.

A large part of the people who inhabited it were Armenians - it had once been at the heart of a great Armenian empire. Today there are almost none. The only two buildings still standing there are mosques. Of the dozen or so churches, there is no trace.

"The Obama administration sought Friday to block a lawsuit over the scope of its targeted killing program for suspected terrorists, in a case that challenges the government to define the limits of its global battlefield against extremists.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Marine Corps told the Senate today that Congress should not repeal the law barring gays from serving openly in the military, dealing a blow to gay rights advocates just hours before a crucial test vote.

"Just over 60 years ago, with the horrors of the Holocaust fresh in mind, the world adopted the U.N. Genocide Convention, and promised to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.

As a gay diplomat seeks US asylum, Saudi Arabia seems torn between wanting a civilised image and appeasing traditionalists

A human embryo is not distinct in kind from a human being, but a human being at an early stage of development.We must speak for human embryonic Life as we speak for all human life.

"The top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip rejected compromise with Israel in a fiery speech Wednesday, a day after gunmen killed four Israelis.

An indignant President Obama complained last week, "I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead." Fine.

President Obama's "story"goes like this: adherents of Islam are comprised of two groups, "radical Muslims" and "moderate Muslims." The "radical Muslims" believe in the use of violence, because they are "against freedom." Fortunately, "radical Muslims" represent a very …

"President says any attempt at a solution other than the two-state solution would be dangerous; praises Obama, Mubarak.

"Kenyan officials today welcomed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to a signing ceremony for Kenya's new constitution, in direct contravention of the state's legal obligations as an International Criminal Court signatory, to arrest the indicted sitting head of state.

Armed and extremely... patriotic. Why a growing number of Americans are preparing for a war against their government. ...The militias, which are dotted throughout the US and, according to recent figures, are growing rapidly in numbers, claim they are bulwarks against tyranny.

"President Barack Obama has personally warned Turkey's prime minister that unless Ankara shifts its position on Israel and Iran it stands little chance of obtaining the US weapons it wants to buy.

Nothing is more like the fascist Axis of the 1930s than Islamist expansionism today. Like the Hitler-Tojo-Mussolini Axis of the 1930s, Islamic fascists are fundamentally imperialistic, with an explicit order from on High to subjugate civilized people or turn them to ashes.

Obama didn't just stand up for the legal right of the group to build the Islamic center. He voiced powerful support for their moral right to do so as well, casting it as central to American identity.

GOP Rep. Bob Inglis slams Republican demagoguery, bemoans anti-Semitic tea party conspiracy nonsense, decries Sarah Palin's ignorance, and looks for a job. It was the middle of a tough primary contest, and Rep.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency expects to deport about 400,000 people this fiscal year, nearly 10 percent above the Bush administration's 2008 total and 25 percent more than were deported in 2007.

We keep hearing that the last decade of war, where we pour in gazillions to build up Iraq and Afghanistan even as our own economy sputters, has weakened Al Qaeda.

A federal judge has halted the most controversial elements of Arizona's new immigration law, which had been scheduled to take effect at midnight.

"France has declared war on al-Qaida, and matched its fighting words with a first attack on a base camp of the terror network's North African branch, after the terror network killed a French aid worker it took hostage in April.

J. Christian Adams' accusations that President Obama's Justice Department engaged in racially charged "corruption" in the New Black Panther Party case do not stand up to the evidence.

At a time when the prospects for immigration overhaul seem most dim, supporters have unleashed a secret weapon: a group of influential evangelical Christian leaders.

(Opinion):

"The United States will provide $73 million in aid to Zimbabwe, President Obama announced Friday after meeting with Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House. President Obama (right) praised Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House on Frida …

The regime in Cuba has agreed to the biggest release of political prisoners seen on the island nation in decades in a deal struck with the country's Catholic leader, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, church officials said last night.

A former Justice Department attorney who quit his job to protest the Obama administration's handling of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case is accusing Attorney General Eric Holder of dropping the charges for political reasons.

FOX hosts have shown time and again an uneasiness with the proximity Arizona has with the nation of Mexico.

Opening Doors - Strategic Federal Plan to End Homelessness The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled an ambitious plan that aspires to end homelessness among some of society's most vulnerable groups within the next decade.

excerpt: ''US president Barack Obama could veto a bill to lift the ban on out gay soldiers in the military if it contains spending provisions he opposes, his defence secretary said.

Pro-Israel highlights from Barack Obama's June 4th, 2008 speech to the AIPAC policy conference.

Dale Robertson, the vitriolic founder and president of TeaParty.org, blasted out a mass E-mail today that seemed meant to convince doubters that his movement is, after all, racist at its core.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced his new border security plan: He intends to dispatch 1,200 troops to the US-Mexico border and request $500 million in security funds.

Candidate Barack Obama repeatedly promised he'd call the almost century-old massacre of Armenians in Turkey a genocide. President Obama twice now has refused to do so.

Armenian Genocide day commemorates the 24 April 1915 commencement of the Turkish Armenian Genocide in which 1.5 million Armenians were systematically murdered by the Turks in the period 1915-1923.

The Obama administration has been criticized by conservatives for providing the failed Times Square bomber his Miranda rights hours after he was taken into custody.

The New York Times, in a front page article, described how President Obama appears to be reconsidering, if not turning away from, the historic strategic alliance between the U.S. and Israel.

QUESTION: Should we believe the administration that they are not pursuing a change in US policy towards Israel voting at the Security Council?

Yesterday, after ordering hospital visits rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians, president Obama called Janice Langbehn, a woman from Florida who in 2007 lost her partner for 18 years, Lisa Pond.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day, Egyptian cleric Amin Al-Ansari shows Holocaust footage and proclaims, "This is what we hope will happen but, Allah willing, at the hands of the Muslims." Warning: this is horrific beyond belief, and includes graphic Holocaust images.

"President Barack Obama's planned visit to the former Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald on June 5 will have special significance because his great uncle, Charlie Payne, was one of the American soldiers who liberated a sub-camp of Buchenwald sixty-four years ago.

"Many Palestinians share these views. There are a number of serious, pragmatic Palestinian leaders. But Palestinian radio and television have often recycled Holocaust skepticism. A recent poll of Arab citizens of Israel found that 40 percent deny that the Holocaust occurred.

"For the world to tackle truly important problems, people have to stop looking to religion to guide their moral compasses.."

"The answer has two parts, starting with the concept of "patternicity," which I defined in my December 2008 column as the human tendency to find meaningful patterns in meaningless noise.

There is a fine art to making a powerful point without making that point. Usually, the way to do this is by saying something and then immediately follow by saying "That is not why I'm saying".

'This morning, a bipartisan group of Congressmen that included Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA), Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) held a press conference to highlight recent developments in Sudan and call for intensified U.S.

Phoenix - Special precautions were taken because of his religion...............

"Iran Protest: Obama ya ba oona ya ba ma Translated.. Obama your either with the people of Iran or the Iranian goverment