It’s Monday, April 20th, 2015…and here’s an abbreviated edition of The Gouge!

First up, courtesy of Balls Cotton, a picture that’s worth far more than a thousand words; it accurately foretells the future of an entire way of life:

In related item, courtesy of NRO, Victor Davis Hanson offers the explanation behind Barry Soetoro’s otherwise inexplicable policies; at least inexplicable to those who’ve yet to realize the reality behind this truly Manchurian candidate:

Obama and Revolutionary Romance

His foreign-policy errors result not from incompetence but from a conscious agenda.

“Lots of questions arise about the muddled foreign policy of the Obama administration. Critics suggest that America’s friends have now become enemies, and enemies friends. Others cite incompetence and naïveté rather than deliberate agendas as the cause of American decline, and of growing global chaos from Libya to Ukraine.

But, in fact, there is a predictable pattern to Obama’s foreign policy. The president has an adolescent, romantic view of professed revolutionary societies and anti-Western poseurs — and of his own ability uniquely to reach out and win them over…”

Undoubtedly, and we mean undoubtedly, i.e., without question, it’s because he deems himself their political and intellectual soulmate.

Since we’re on the subject of thinly-disguised Socialists masquerading as Dimocrats, the WSJ‘s James Freeman wonders…

Who Needs the Clinton Foundation?

Foreign governments can continue donating to an outfit controlled by the former First Family and friends.

Hell if she knows!

“…Mrs. Clinton may have resigned from the board, but of course her name remains on the door and her husband and daughter remain on the board, along with other family friends and associates. If the former Secretary of State’s resignation really solved the conflict problem, there would be no reason to limit donations to just the big six.

But more fundamentally, the question is why the Clinton Foundation is an essential conduit for government aid from large industrialized nations to the Third World. Will the farmers in Malawi and Rwanda only accept assistance from the Clintons? Are the unsophisticated rubes in the donor governments, which include the world’s 4th and 5th largest economies, incapable of distributing aid without paying the Clintons to manage it?

The implication here is that the Clinton Foundation is a systemically important charitable institution, a sort of non-profit Citigroup, without which the world’s poor cannot be fed and the environment cannot be protected. It’s not clear if anyone believes this, but even if the foundation houses unique resources unavailable in any of the world’s great universities or philanthropic organizations, perhaps this is the appropriate time to find a new home for these assets.

The Clintons like to talk about all the causes they are supporting around the world, but they should give more thought to the cause of clean government in the United States. A healthy democracy remains free from undue influence both in fact and in public perception. There is nothing wrong with a foreign government having influence on our policies. On a range of issues, such as energy, the U.S. would benefit if our government spent more time listening to Canada, for example. But the Canadians should not be asked to pay for the privilege—or even approached for a donation that may appear to be a vehicle to exercise influence.

We’ll go Mr. Freeman one better: the real question is “Who needs the CLINTONS?”…or even wants them…outside of those with large amounts of cash looking to illegally influence future foreign and domestic policy?!?

Next up, again courtesy of Balls Cotton and the WSJ, in a speech saluting our Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, retired Marine Corps general James Mattis memorializes…

The Meaning of Their Service

A retired four-star Marine Corps general on the clarifying effect of combat experience, the poison of cynicism and how veterans can help revive American optimism.

“Our country gives hope to millions around the world, and you—who knew that at one time your job was to fight well—kept that hope alive. By your service you made clear your choice about what kind of world we want for our children: The world of violent jihadist terrorists, or one defined by Abraham Lincoln when he advised us to listen to our better angels?

I searched for words to pay my respects to all of you here tonight and had to turn to others more articulate than I to convey what our service meant. Someone once said that America is like a bank: If you want to take something out, then you must be willing to put something in…”

It is well worth reading in its entirety.

Finally, we’ll call it a wrap with a brief walk On the Lighter Side:

Magoo