NATIONAL

“What is the Islamic State? Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. ‘We have not defeated the idea,’ he said. ‘We do not even understand the idea.’ In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.” – The Atlantic

“Never in the history of public relations have an institution and its representatives been so mismatched as at the current U.S. Department of State, where, tasked with articulating America’s position toward Middle East terror outfits, Russian aggression, and the world’s other vicissitudes, are Jen Psaki and Marie Harf, currently in the midst of an interminable Lucy-and-Ethel routine as Foggy Bottom’s spokesperson and deputy spokesperson, respectively. In an administration that has always given the distinct impression of being directed by second-year poli-sci majors from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Psaki and Harf are the only two under the impression that Legally Blonde was a documentary — one that they are apparently trying to re-create, with little success, at Foggy Bottom.” – National Review

“The State Department spokesperson has the task of defending the president’s foreign policy more often than any other government official. During President Barack Obama’s first term, that unenviable task fell to the opaque Victoria Nuland, whose redeeming feature was that there was a spine behind the smokescreen. (‘F*** the E.U.,’ she famously said, albeit in private, on Russia and the Ukraine.) Not so with successors Jen Psaki and Marie Harf, the clueless defending the hopeless.” – Breitbart

“A new CNN poll shows that the American people are poised to blame Republicans for a partial ‘shutdown’ of the Department of Homeland Security if Congress fails to supply appropriations to the agency prior to funding expiring later this month. A 53 percent majority would point the finger at the GOP, with 30 percent blaming President Obama, and another 13 percent blaming both sides.” – Guy Benson/Townhall

“Late Monday, a federal district judge in Texas issued a temporary injunction that bars the Obama administration from proceeding with the president’s unilateral decree of effective amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.” – Andrew McCarthy/National Review

“Asking a Scott Walker whether he believes in evolution when only 19 percent of the American populace believes it to be the only explanation for why we are here is a device for measuring his membership in the smart set. After all, Walker isn’t the only prominent American without a college degree. Take NBC News, for example. Its outgoing serial fabulist anchor Brian Williams never graduated from college, and neither did Williams’ replacement Lester Holt. But both Williams and Holt would dutifully parrot the ‘pro-science’ viewpoint that yes, yes, evolution explains the origins of mankind. It’s only those knuckle-dragging white Christian rednecks from flyover territory who believe otherwise. And since Walker lacks an Ivy League pedigree or in fact even a degree at all, if he can be engaged to spout bible-beating hokum on foreign shores that surely would be the end of him.” – Scott McKay/American Spectator

“A controversial U.S. Muslim leader who has been highly critical of Israel and said that the Jewish state should be on the ‘suspect list’ in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks participated on Tuesday in a White House summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) that featured Vice President Joe Biden.” – Washington Free Beacon

“The Clinton Foundation has dropped its self-imposed ban on collecting funds from foreign governments and is winning contributions at an accelerating rate, raising ethical questions as Hillary Clinton ramps up her expected bid for the presidency.” – WSJ

“I don’t get it either. Everyone understands why the wider media doesn’t make a fuss about it but it’d only take a few reporters to start grumbling before this becomes a headache for the White House. You’d think someone in the Hopenchange PR shop would pull Uncle Joe aside and let him know that he’s behaving increasingly like his Onion caricature. (It’s asking too much to demand that they reprimand him out of sincere objection to his busy hands.) Maybe this is another artifact of Obama entering the YOPO stage of his presidency. If O can summarily rewrite the country’s immigration laws and then go party with domestic terrorists, why can’t Biden cop a quick feel at the otherwise boring bureaucratic functions he’s forced to attend? Come next year, he’ll be showing up to these things without a shirt on. What are you going do to stop him? Vote against (giggle) Hillary?” – Hot Air

“Perverted ISIS militants are trying to score Viagra to fuel their lust for ‘brutal and abnormal’ sex, according to a shocking report from activists in the terror group’s main Syrian stronghold.” – NY Post

LOUISIANA

“Now that a major levee board’s lawsuit against as many as 88 energy-related companies has been thoroughly rejected even by a judge appointed by the famously anti-oil Barack Obama, the levee board ought to drop the suit it never should have filed in the first place.” – Quin Hillyer/Baton Rouge Advocate

“Louisiana was given a C grade in a report by a nonprofit group that examined financial support for higher education. However, the report warned that any more cuts could be detrimental, especially to low-income families.” – Houma Courier

“A recent survey by the Louisiana Association of Educators found that a majority of Louisiana teachers believe students are being tested too much in regards to state-required standardized tests.” – NOLA.com

“Baton General Hospital executives say plans to close their Mid City emergency room will proceed regardless of any alternatives legislative leaders, community activists and the Jindal administration develop.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“On October, 21, 1998, President Bill Clinton signed legislation into law that requires public housing tenants to contribute eight hours of community service per month or enroll in job training of other “self-sufficiency” programs. But 17 years later, a new audit says, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is not doing a good job monitoring compliance of the rules, approved as part of a series of welfare reform initiatives negotiated between the Democratic president and Republican-led House of Representatives in the 1990s.” – NOLA.com

“New Orleans Police Superintendent Michael Harrison applauded the work of his department and its partners, including a contingent of State Police sent to the city to help keep the peace during the city’s signature celebration.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The New Orleans Police Department says over 400 arrests were made this Carnival season along parade routes and in the French Quarter. The arrests all come over the past 12 days.” – Fox 8 Live

“Louisiana Economic Development isn’t usually in the business of providing up-front infrastructure or relocation incentives to start-up business ventures such as Elio Motors. The reason: risk management.” – Shreveport Times

“Louisiana’s two freshmen House members — Republicans Garret Graves of Baton Rouge and Ralph Abraham of Alto — are doing a little more than typical congressional first termers.” – NOLA.com

“Shea Patterson won’t be an LSU Tiger, and his brother is not one anymore. Patterson, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound five-star quarterback from Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, committed to Ole Miss over LSU and Southern California on Tuesday. His brother, Sean, is no longer a graduate assistant at LSU, Patterson’s father, also named Sean, confirmed Tuesday to The Shreveport Times. Sean left the program last week, his father said.” – Baton Rouge Advocate