"When John Kennedy addressed West Point’s Class of 1962, he told them the burden of defending freedom 'will require more from you than ever before in our history.' ... 

"How different from Barack Obama’s adolescent address Wednesday. Here the long gray line was reduced to a backdrop for a president shouting to the world: I’m not the weakling you think! ... 

"On Wednesday, our commander-in-chief stood before some of America’s most selfless men and women. It was an opportunity to inspire these young West Pointers with a speech about national security — and their vital role in a dangerous world. 

"Instead he opted for a campaign speech once again contrasting his own brilliance with a childish caricature of his critics."

"The news about the accidental outing of the name of the CIA station chief in Kabul, Afghanistan seemed to be just one more instance in a long list of incompetent episodes in a second term that is proving to be as problematic as even President Obama’s sternest critics predicted. ...  

"Coming as it did from an administration and a political party that has often sought to successfully criminalize the leaking of such information in the recent past, we have a right to ask where’s the outrage about this colossal error? But more than that, this absurd tale also speaks volumes about the hypocrisy and selective prosecution policies pursued by the same people now telling us to move along because there’s nothing to see. ...  

"If the press lets Obama get away with this blunder, it will be just one more example of the refusal of the national press to hold this administration to the same standards that it judges the president’s opponents."

"Republicans in Congress seem to be drawn toward the immigration issue like a moth toward a flame. How turning illegal immigrants into Democratic voters, while demoralizing the Republican base, will help either the country or the Republicans is a mystery. If ever there was a high-risk, low-yield investment, this is it."

"Of all the three-day weekends on the U.S. calendar, Memorial Day is the most expensive. The war dead we honor today and their families paid dearly for it. …

"In a perfect world, there would be no need for a Memorial Day, but the world is not now nor ever has been perfect. So the last Monday in May continues to be a very expensive holiday. …

"A holiday weekend is full of distractions, but take a moment to remember their lives. After all, they gave you all of theirs."

"Barack Obama has a strange habit of acting like somebody else has been president these past years. It’s really odd. 

"In his speech on the VA, the president said that he would not stand for things that he clearly and undeniably has stood for some years now, and swore that he would not tolerate that which he has been tolerating since 2009. ... 

"So Barack Obama has sworn that he will not tolerate the incompetence of the Obama administration. I’d like to think that that means he is going to resign, but I don’t think that’s what he meant."

"News quiz: President Obama and his communications team hope that Americans are: 1) Dumb; 2) Distracted; 3) Numb to government inefficiency; 4) All of above. 

"Answer: 4, all of the above. 

"That answer along with utter incompetence are the best explanations for why the White House thought it could get away with claiming that the departure of Veterans Affairs official Robert Petzel was a step toward accountability for its scandalous treatment of war veterans. 

"Fact is, the department announced in 2013 that Dr. Petzel would retire this year. ... 

"It's a policy travesty magnified by an insulting public relations strategy."

"Holding hearings on Benghazi and the IRS are all well and good, and should strongly motivate Republicans to get out and vote. But barring any smoking guns before Election Day that implicate people in the White House for malfeasance, what beyond scandal will trigger the independents who swing elections in key states and districts to vote Republican? How will Republicans manage the nation better than Democrats? That is what the GOP has yet to figure out and tie into one coherent message."

"According to those in the elite salons of Washington, ObamaCare cannot be repealed. The conventional wisdom on the cocktail circuit contends that once you mandate health insurance for millions, you cannot unmandate it.  This theoretical belief has become accepted in Washington as a dogmatic article of faith.  And the Obamacrats and most of the press believe that repeating this mantra often enough will make it so. ... 

"The country that won two world wars and put a man on the moon cannot, it is believed, repeal a disastrous public policy. Says who? Why not?  

"I know a little bit about health care policy, having spent most of my adult life analyzing and implementing policy changes on the state and federal levels.  And based on my decades of experience, the idea that ObamaCare cannot be repealed defies both logic and real world justification, on multiple levels."

“The men and women in our armed services are our final protection against those who wish us ill. The soldier, the sailor, the airman, and the marine in the United States and around the world are the ultimate guardians of our freedom to say what we think, go where we will, choose who we want for our leaders, and pray as we wish. 

"It is sad that these rights, which should belong to all people, are not fully enjoyed by most of the human family. It is sadder still that some in the world view such freedom as a threat to their right to rule over their fellow citizens, and so long as that's true, we can't afford to take our freedom for granted. It cannot survive without protection. And for their role in protecting our freedoms, we honor the members of our volunteer Armed Forces today.”

"Welcome to the Dark Ages, Part II. We have slipped into an age of un-enlightenment where you fall in line behind the mob or face the consequences.

"How ironic that the persecutors this time around are the so-called intellectuals. They claim to be liberal while behaving as anything but. The touchstone of liberalism is tolerance of differing ideas. Yet this mob exists to enforce conformity of thought and to delegitimize any dissent from its sanctioned worldview. Intolerance is its calling card.

"Each week seems to bring another incident. ...

"Don't bother trying to make sense of what beliefs are permitted and which ones will get you strung up in the town square. ...

"As the mob gleefully destroys people's lives, its members haven't stopped to ask themselves a basic question: What happens when they come for me? If history is any guide, that's how these things usually end."