US Government Insiders Agree...Americans Are Stupid

I don't know exactly what it is about Iran, but it's pretty clear to me that President Obama has a soft spot for this country.

Rewind: Early on, the Obama Administration promised to further cripple Iran with continued economic sanctions if they continued their quest for nuclear arms. Some crippling, instead of a kick in the shin, Obama quickly lifted the sanctions on Iran as required by the terms of his super-wacky nuclear deal with Iran.  As far as deals go, this one will definitely go down in history as one of the worst ever for the US.  Not only were the sanctions lifted, but Obama quickly released $150 billion dollars that was being held by the US for previous bad behavior by Iran. But what was most alarming was the revelation that the agreement was not legally binding because Iran didn't sign it, they refused to.  And when you read the details it becomes even more bizarre considering that the agreement essentially allows Iran to monitor itself and requires outside inspectors to notify them days before they come to inspect. Here's what I wrote about the deal when it was first "negotiated".

Nearly a year after the nuclear deal, Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications for President Obama and an Advisor on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran admitted that the administration misled the American public about the deal (well, well,
well). And just how did they do it?  According to Rhodes, the Obama Administration uses friendly reporters and nonprofits to do their dirty work. He said they function as "public relations tools".  He said that the Obama Administration can do this at will because "these tools are ignorant, will believe what they're told, will essentially take dictation and are happy to be used just to get the information necessary for a tweet or two." Well, at least give the guy credit for being so candid. An in-depth and disturbing look at how the Obama Administration duped Americans on the deal can be found here.

Side note: Rhodes' comments reminds me of those by Jonathan Gruber, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), who said that the Obama Administration intentionally crafted the legislation to be complicated because with a lack of transparency and American stupidity, they knew they'd get it passed. Gruber has gleefully stated many times that American stupidity allowed the bill to pass.  Of course, the White House quickly tried to smooth things out by distancing itself from Gruber, but when you pay a guy $6 million dollars, I'd say you're pretty darn close.

And then there was the $400 million payment (ransom) made to Iran in exchange for the release of four American hostages. President Obama insisted that the money was nothing more than payment for a long held dispute and that it was merely coincidental that Iran decided to release the four Americans that they were holding captive once they received the money.  Thankfully the Wall Street Journal didn't buy that story the way other media outlets did.  However, despite the revelation that Iran would not release the Americans until the money arrived--small dominations in foreign currency, stacked in piles on pallets--the President stuck with his story and earnestly tried convincing us dummies that he had told us about this months ago.  He also explained why the $400 million was sent in cash instead of a check or by wire. He explains why the money had to be in cash at the end of the video (06:05) below...which ties-in nicely with the next part of this post. By the way, in what is clearly a pattern, the White House now admits that the $400 million dollars was a ransom.  Okay, I'll admit, they didn't use the word ransom, instead they admitted that the payment to Iran was "delayed for several hours to retain maximum leverage to ensure that the prisoners were released." Just a fancy way of saying it was ransom so us dummies don't go getting any ideas.

 And the money keeps right on flowing. Earlier this week, it was revealed that just two days after paying the $400 million dollar ransom, the Obama Administration paid Iran another $1.3 billion dollars.  This time, the administration made thirteen separate payments of $99,999,999.99.  There was also an additional payment of $10,390,236.28.  The president has said that the money was interest owed for a decades-old dispute over a weapons deal gone bad. No explanation was given for the additional $10+ million dollar payment. In the above video, President Obama passionately explains why the $400 million dollars had to be in cash. Yet, it's a little curious that the $1.3 billion dollars was broken down into several payments of  $99,999,999.99, especially when you consider that the Federal Reserve's check processing equipment no longer accepts checks of $100,000,000.00 or more, something that impacts other agencies including the Treasury Department. But it will have to remain a curiosity until such time that the administration decides to reveal exactly what method was used to pay the money.  So far, they have refused to do so.

Lastly, despite President Obama's apparent soft spot for Iran (giving them all of that good 'ol American cold cash), and his rather naive hope that they will straighten up and fly right, Iran has not only taken more Americans hostage, but their compliance with the nuclear agreement is highly suspect. But then again what difference does it make, we're just a bunch of dummies anyway.