Obama Forgot First Afghanistan Strategy?

The news that is not White House approved...

Oops, Never Mind!

Three months passed between the time President Obama received General McChrystal's recommendation and delivered his speech at West Point and many of us have wondered: What took so long? Well, The Washington Post answered that question over the weekend.

It turns out that in March, President Obama charged McChrystal with defeating the Taliban, and the plan McChrystal proposed was aimed at doing just that. But it seems the president forgot that, and when McChrystal reminded him in early October, the president requested something entirely different. That sent the general back to the drawing board to devise a new strategy.

According to The Post, "Whatever the administration might have said in March… it now wanted something else less absolute: To reverse the Taliban's momentum, deter it and try to persuade a number of its members to switch sides."

So I guess that long delay occurred because the White House gave McChrystal one strategy and then decided, oops, I guess we'd rather pursue another.

Irony Alert

When Mr. Transparency Barack Obama rolled into Washington, he claimed he was going to lift the veil on government secrecy like never before. Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, JAN 21: The way to make government responsible is to hold it accountable. And the way to make government accountable is make it transparent so that the American people can know exactly what decisions are being made, how they're being made and whether their interests are being well served.

Let me say it as simply as I can, transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

But that's not exactly how things are shaping up. In fact, the AP is reporting that Monday members of the president's administration held a workshop on transparency — behind closed doors. Cameras were barred from the event and members of the media were left out in the cold.

A representative from the Justice Department told the AP that the event was closed because it was being held at the Commerce Department where government IDs are needed to enter.

You know, for the sake of transparency, maybe the AP should have taken a page from the Salahis' playbook and just gone in and covered the event anyway.

Alarmists Attack

The Meltdown is brought to you by Professor Michael Schlesinger, a member of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois. Evidently Schlesinger has not learned anything from Climate-gate, because he lashed out at a New York Times science reporter for having the audacity to stray from the alarmist party lines.

Times reporter Andy Refkin wrote about the many prostitutes who are offering their services to the diplomats and celebrities gathered this week in Copenhagen. Schlesinger responded in an e-mail, saying, "Your reportage is very worrisome to most climate scientists… but I sense that you're about to experience the 'big cutoff' from those of us who believe we can no longer trust you."

Talk about a cult mentality and an attempt to strangle the national dialogue. Unfortunately that's precisely what is on display in Copenhagen all this week.

NYC Protests KSM

September 11 victims, family members and concerned citizens gathered over the weekend to protest against the decision to hold the 9/11 terror trials in New York City. In spite of the freezing rain, more than 1,500 people attended the massive rally outside of the courtroom where the trials are expected to take place.

Our own Griff Jenkins was on hand to hear directly from some of those in attendance:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a mistake. This is wrong. It cheapens all of our rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What this administration is doing is absolutely a slap in the face of America.

GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, ma'am. What is your name and who do you have here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Peggy, this is my sister Molly who was killed on 9/11 by terrorists.

JENKINS: I'm sorry for your lost. Why did you come out here today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came out here because she didn't get due process or the 3,000 other people their due process and this is an injustice to the American civil system. It really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Many of those who attended the rally will be in our studio audience this coming Friday night, December 11, for "Terror on Trial." During this very special edition of "Hannity" you will also be hearing from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and many, many others.

That's this Friday night, live audience, 9 p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel.

— Watch "Hannity" weekdays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox News Channel