Key SOTU takeaway: The sequester is happening, and it’s going to hit the Navy hard

Daily Caller

By: Robert C. O'Brien

President Obama’s State of the Union address made it clear that sequestration is coming to the United States Armed Forces. President Obama acknowledged in his speech that “these sudden, harsh, arbitrary cuts would jeopardize our military readiness.” He then attempted to lay the blame for the sequester on Congress, stating, “In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that if both parties couldn’t agree on a plan to reach our deficit goal, about a trillion dollars’ worth of budget cuts would automatically go into effect this year.”

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A Bipartisan National Security Agenda

The Diplomat

By: Robert C. O'Brien

The White House announced on Wednesday that President Obama will host Governor Romney for a post-election lunch in Washington on Thursday. The lunch is symbolic of the best of America, a bi-partisan tradition of coming together after a tough election campaign. Given the challenges facing the United States, it is important that President Obama and Governor Romney seize the opportunity to move beyond symbolism and set a bipartisan agenda on four key national security issues.

In his concession speech, Governor Romney stated, “the nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can't risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people's work. And we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.”

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Obama Failed to Mention Loss of Aircraft Carrier from Navy Fleet

Newswmax

By: Robert C. O'Brien

Robert C. O'Brien's Perspective: Governor Romney was right and President Obama was wrong when it comes to the importance of maintaining a strong United States Navy

“[W]e have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them.” That unfortunate quip was, of course, made by President Obama at the debate on foreign policy at Lynn University earlier this month.

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A Tale of Two Debates: Obama Rallies Base; Romney Makes Case to Independents

FlashReport

By: Robert C. O'Brien

After a lackluster performance in Denver two weeks ago, President Barack Obama entered into last night's debate seeking to rally his base and dispel doubts that he still wanted the job.  Given his Denver reviews, it was almost impossible for the President not to exceed expectations in Long Island.  Indeed, one journalist from a major daily told me that many of his colleagues had already written most of their "Obama comeback" stories on the assumption that President Obama would give a solid performance at Hofstra University.

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Is the Benghazi Attack Obama’s Madrid Train Bombings?

PJ Media

By: Robert C. O'Brien and Brad Thor

On March 11, 2004, bombs ripped through Madrid’s commuter train system killing 191 people and wounding an additional 1,800. The terrorist attack took place three days before Spain’s general election and completely turned it upside down. The ruling People’s Party lead by then-Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar chose to cast blame on Spain’s Basque separatist organization ETA, while the Socialist opposition pointed to al-Qaeda as the culprit.

By blaming ETA, Anzar’s camp hoped to curry votes by drawing attention to their leader’s tough campaign against the Spanish terror organization. The Socialists, on the other hand, hoped voters would hold Aznar responsible for having incited Islamic extremists by his support of America’s war in Iraq, which was exceedingly unpopular in Spain.

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