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APRIL 2,  2011

CONTROL YOUR EXCITEMENT – AT 10:05 P.M. ET:  I know how much all of us anticipate having Barack Obama for another four years.  Oh, the progress, the vision, the intellect, the...fill in your own depressing thoughts.  Now, apparently, the anointed one will announce this week that, after much thought and prayer, he is willing to sacrifice four more years to the undeserving and unworthy American peope.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama plans to announce his reelection campaign early next week in an electronic message to grass-roots supporters, Democratic sources tell POLITICO.

Obama launches with a recovering economy and a weak, fractured Republican field, but with chaos in the Middle East that adds unpredictability to an environment that points to likely reelection. Obama’s campaign, which could raise $1 billion or more, will be based in Chicago, just a few blocks from the headquarters of his historic 2008 race.

The most likely day for the campaign to file registration papers with the Federal Election Commission is Monday, but officials are not committing to a specific date in case some transcendent event in the world would overshadow the kickoff. Obama aides want to tell their supporters first, and so are not encouraging preview stories by the press.

The president’s announcement will be transmitted directly to supporters through text messages, email and social media, not with an appearance by Obama, the sources said.

Yeah, man, we want to be cool, right, man?

The launch could come any time, according to the sources. The website is ready, the donation button has been tested, and call sheets to key political supporters are set.

COMMENT:  It was clear during the midterm campaign, concluded in November, that Obama's base has lost a great deal of enthusiam.  But it can be fired up again by painting the opposition as monsters intent on ripping children from their parents and dismantling the Constitution.  Coming soon to a press release near you.

And let us not forget that the media will be even more in the tank for Obama than it was in 2008.  It has an investment in this inept man, and doesn't want that investment challenged or lost.  Obama is their 1960s dream, the culmination of a lifetime of leftist fantasy.  People love their fantasies.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

OUR WORST FEARS – AT 9:33 P.M. ET:  Are you getting the same sinking feeling that I am, that some of those leading the Mideast "revolutions" are not exactly in the same league as Jefferson, John Hancock, and Benny Franklin?  The Wall Street Journal reports:

DARNA, Libya—Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city's military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism.

Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.

Mr. Hasady's field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.

Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden's holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city's rebel recruits.

COMMENT:  What a great bunch of guys.  I can just see some of them invited to address a joint session of Congress.

In the Mideast, nothing is as it appears.  Reports out of Egypt, which we quoted here this morning, indicate a rise in the power of Islamists.

We were in the frying pan in the region.  Now we have to avoid diving into the fire.

April 2, 2011      Permalink

OH, THE TRUTH IT DOES COME OUT – AT 1:13 P.M. ET:  There has probably been more bluntness in Britain about press bias than in the U.S.  In Britain the discussion centers around the BBC, possibly the most overrated broadcaster in the world. 

Audiences, especially in the U.S., get taken in by those British accents.  "Sophisticated" Americans watch the BBC on public television, believing they're getting the truth because the reporters sound so good.  Ah, but the facts are different.  From London's Telegraph:

BBC presenter Michael Buerk has criticised the corporation for being "out of touch" with public opinion.

The veteran journalist accused BBC staff of making the left-wing Guardian newspaper their “bible” and political correctness "their creed”.

Mr Buerk, who presents Radio 4’s Moral Maze, was reviewing the memoir of his former colleague, Peter Sissons, who also attacks the BBC for having “institutional bias”.

Writing in political magazine Standpoint, Mr Buerk said: “What the BBC regards as normal and abnormal, what is moderate or extreme, where the centre of gravity of an issue lies, are conditioned by the common set of assumptions held by the people who work for it.”

He added: “It’s all very well-meaning, and painstakingly even-handed, but often notably adrift of the overriding national sentiment.”

Although he praised some BBC managers, including Mark Thompson, the director general, Mr Buerk said some of his bosses were “totally transparent t******.”

He concluded: “For those of us who love the place, and what it should stand for, these are worrying times.”

COMMENT:  These are worrying times indeed for those of us who love journalism.  Bias is far worse in other countries than in the U.S., with the rabid European left still having a lock grip on many news outlets in Europe, but some in the American media seem determined to catch up.

It's good to see BBC people speaking out about the Beeb's biases.  They've been evident for some time. 

April 2, 2011      Permalink

WORRY IN EGYPT – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:   Despite assurances from many "experts," the Islamists are apparently making their move in Egypt, which could have frightening implications for the region, and for the United States.  From The New York Times:

NAHIA, Egypt — Abboud al-Zomor — the former intelligence officer who supplied the bullets that killed President Anwar el-Sadat and is Egypt’s most notorious newly released prisoner — waxes enthusiastic about ending the violent jihad he once led.

“The ballot boxes will decide who will win at the end of the day,” Mr. Zomor said during an interview in his large family compound in this hamlet on Cairo’s western edge. “There is no longer any need for me to use violence against those who gave us our freedom and allowed us to be part of political life.”

In its drive to create a perfect Islamic state, his Islamic Group and other groups like it were once synonymous with some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in Egypt. But they are now leaping aboard the democracy bandwagon, alarming those who believe that religious radicals are seeking to put in place strict Islamic law through ballots.

The public approval of the constitutional amendments on March 19 provided an early example of Islamist political muscle, the victory achieved in no small part by framing the yes vote as a religious duty. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Islamist campaign was the energy invested by religious organizations that once damned the democratic process as a Western, infidel innovation masterminded to undermine God’s laws.

COMMENT:  Let us not forget that a "democratic" election brought Hitler to power, brought Chavez to power in Venezuela, and brought Hamas to power in Gaza.   Free elections do not guarantee great results, nor do they even guarantee the election of those who would preserve the freedom.

And the question of the day still remains, "Who are the rebels of Libya?"  CIA operatives have been placed on Libyan soil to try to determine who.  It is a question we'll be asking throughout the Mideast.  A sectarian Egypt, led by or heavily influenced by, the Muslim Brotherhood would be a tremendous setback for American influence in the region.  Remember that we're still the Great Satan.

We hope the Arab spring doesn't turn into the Islamist winter, but don't bet your living room on a good outcome.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

MIDEAST ERUPTIONS – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  Demonstrations continue throughout the Mideast in what is being called "the Arab spring."  And, increasingly, Western observers are worrying about what comes after the spring.  Democracy...or something else?

One of the most critical Arab nations is Syria, where the government doesn't hesitate to turn guns on its people.  Predictions of mass demonstrations after Friday prayers yesterday did not disappoint, and death occurred:

(CNN) -- At least seven people died and dozens were injured as Syrian troops assaulted demonstrators who took to the streets after Friday prayers, witnesses and activists said.

Troops used gunfire amid protests in the Damascus suburb of Douma, according to witnesses and opposition sources, and one witness saw at least six dead demonstrators taken into a hospital morgue. Witnesses also said a man was shot in the head with a rubber bullet and dozens were injured.

Another death and 10 injuries occurred when troops shot at protesters marching toward the southern town of Al Sanameen, witnesses said.

Protests also were reported by witnesses in the cities of Daraa, Latakia, Homs, Baniyas and Kamishli, sources said. Opposition sources cited witnesses in Homs as saying thousands of people had gathered around a mosque. 

And...

One witness said security forces attacked thousands of protesters at the "big mosque" in the center of Douma with electric batons, tear gas and live ammunition.

"I have never in my life seen such violence: men shooting guns into an unarmed crowd without a thought," said the eyewitness, who had been hurt in an electric-baton beating and taken to the hospital for a head injury.

Along with the six dead, he said, he saw dozens of wounded, many of whom were seriously injured.

The American response to violence in Syria has been a mild rebuke to the government, but nothing even approaching the intervention we've mounted in Libya.  Our inconsistency and lack of a guiding policy is being duly noted.  Amateurs are at work.

Look for more violence next week, especially on Friday, the major day for Arab demonstrations.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

THE RIGHT THING – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  Occasionally, an Ivy League school does the right thing.  Now, you have to look carefully for these rare events, but they do occur. 

About a month ago Harvard announced the return of NROTC to its exalted campus.  Applause, applause.

But no Ivy symbolized resistance to the military more than Columbia University in New York, where members of my family have put in ample time pursuing their degrees.  The Columbia student riots of the late sixties are still recalled, with pain by grown-ups, and admiration by children who remain children.

But there is good news from the Columbia lion today:

More than four decades after Columbia University, the heart of the Vietnam-era student movement, banned R.O.T.C. from campus in a moment of 1960s antimilitary rage, the University Senate voted overwhelmingly on Friday to support efforts to bring the group back. 

The vote — 51 to 17, with 1 abstention — came in support of a Senate resolution to “explore mutually beneficial relationships with the armed forces of the United States, including participation in the programs of the Reserve Officers Training Corps.” It followed a series of sometimes venomous campus meetings and found its impetus in President Obama’s signing three months ago of a bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuality.

Dissenters, both on- and off-campus, dissented with their usual reflection and wisdom:

One former Weatherman, Brian Flanagan, who still lives in the Columbia area, was unrepentantly critical of the military and the R.O.T.C. in a brief interview on Friday.

“The U.S. armed forces are a blight on the planet,” Mr. Flanagan said. “I don’t support soldiers — I think they’re war criminals. So obviously, I’m against R.O.T.C. coming back.”

Well, there goes the neighborhood.

Columbia, before the sixties, contributed enormously to national defense.  That contribution was heralded in Herman Wouk's great novel, "The Caine Mutiny."  Naval midshipmen in World War II lived in Furnald Hall, where I later lived.  More naval officers in that war were produced by Columbia than by the Naval Academy.  The Manhattan Project, the drive to produce the atomic bomb, was so named because Columbia, which played a critical role, is in Manhattan.  And, of course, as the story points out, Dwight D. Eisenhower served briefly as president of Columbia in the late 40s, although his tenure is ridiculed by the society of smugness at Columbia, which still resents the presence of a mere "Army man."

It's good to see Columbia taking the first steps to return to its former tradition.  The sixties be damned.

April 2, 2011     Permalink

APRIL 1,  2011

WHAT ARE WE BECOMING? – AT 11:47 P.M. ET:  Steve Moore of The Wall Street Journal has written a fine, provocative piece on what America is becoming economically.  It is disturbing, and important, one of the best short pieces I've read recently:

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.

It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined. We have moved decisively from a nation of makers to a nation of takers. Nearly half of the $2.2 trillion cost of state and local governments is the $1 trillion-a-year tab for pay and benefits of state and local employees. Is it any wonder that so many states and cities cannot pay their bills?

And...

Don't expect a reversal of this trend anytime soon. Surveys of college graduates are finding that more and more of our top minds want to work for the government. Why? Because in recent years only government agencies have been hiring, and because the offer of near lifetime security is highly valued in these times of economic turbulence. When 23-year-olds aren't willing to take career risks, we have a real problem on our hands. Sadly, we could end up with a generation of Americans who want to work at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

And...

One way that private companies spur productivity is by firing underperforming employees and rewarding excellence. In government employment, tenure for teachers and near lifetime employment for other civil servants shields workers from this basic system of reward and punishment. It is a system that breeds mediocrity, which is what we've gotten.

Finally...

President Obama says we have to retool our economy to "win the future." The only way to do that is to grow the economy that makes things, not the sector that takes things.

COMMENT:  Of course, Moore is correct.  Look, we do need public employees, and many do a fine job.  But bloated government agencies, at any governmental level, rarely do a fine job.  And please remember that many who work in these agencies have a vested interest in problems not being solved.  If you work in a welfare agency, you don't want reductions in welfare rolls.  That reduction can put you out of business.  If you work in a mediocre school, you don't want parents having school choice.  That could close your school.

But I think it's going to be awfully hard to get this country back to the point of "making things."  The "service economy" is easier and cleaner, and fits in with the mentality of today's educational system.  Manufacturing is outsourced to low-pay nations.

This country won (along with our allies) World War II in large measure because of production.  We made things, and made them at an astounding rate.  We still make a small number of products, and we grow most of our own food.  But some American flags are made in China.  And Boeing's production of airliners is being stalled by a shortage of parts from quake-ravaged Japan...a country Boeing warplanes helped defeat not many decades ago.

April 1, 2011     Permalink

WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  We reported yesterday on a new Quinnipiac poll that shows several Republicans – Huckabee, Romney and Christie – in a position to challenge Obama in 2012.  The poll also showed Obama's approval in the low 40s. 

Today's Rasmussen tracker confirms that Obama seems to be on a slight downward slide, although today's jobs report may help him.  What has clearly not helped him is his muddled, baffling response to Libya:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-two percent (42%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17.

And...

Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. On Monday morning, before the president’s speech, that number was 47%. Today, fifty-five percent (55%) disapprove.

COMMENT:  The president's approval, according to Ras, has hovered in the same range for more than a year.  He may go down to the low 40s, as shown in that Quinnipiac poll, but he's never been below that.  So, while his numbers are very soft, they're far from hopeless. 

We should remember that Carter was ahead of Reagan in the polls during much of the 1980 campaign.  Reagan's victory was far from assured until the final weeks.  And Obama is better liked than Carter.  So poll numbers today are only telling part of the story.

April 1, 2011      Permalink

LIBYA LATEST – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:  To say the picture is muddled would be modest.  It is hard to know exactly what is happening on the ground.  However, a rebel leader, meeting with a UN envoy, has set out the first formal conditions for the conflict to end.  From Fox:

BENGHAZI, Libya-- A Libyan opposition leader says the rebels will accept a U.N.-demanded cease-fire if Moammar Gadhafi pulls his forces from all cities and allows peaceful protests.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil spoke Friday during a joint press conference with U.N. envoy Abdelilah Al-Khatib. Al-Khatib is visiting the rebels' de-facto stronghold of Benghazi in hopes of reaching a cease-fire and political solution to the crisis embroiling the North African nation.

Abdul-Jalil says the rebels' condition for a cease fire is "that the Gadhafi brigades and forces withdraw from inside and outside Libyan cities to give freedom to the Libyan people to choose and the world will see that they will choose freedom."

At the same time, American policy gets more and more confused, even, incredibly, drawing a reprimand from Secretary of Defense Gates, as Fox reports:

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is about to pull its attack planes out of the international air campaign in Libya, hoping NATO partners can take up the slack.

The announcement Thursday drew incredulous reactions from some in Congress who wondered aloud why the Obama administration would bow out of a key element of the strategy for protecting Libyan civilians and crippling Muammar Qaddafi's army.

"Odd," "troubling" and "unnerving" were among critical comments by senators pressing for an explanation of the announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that American combat missions will end Saturday.

"Your timing is exquisite," Republican Sen. John McCain said sarcastically, alluding to Qaddafi's military advances this week.

And...

Gates said no one should be surprised by the U.S. combat air pullback, but he called the timing "unfortunate" in light of Qaddafi's battlefield gains.

Yeah, I'd say so.  My own reasonably informed guess is that the White House is trying to run the operation while, at the same time, appeasing its leftist base.  Mission impossible. 

And the German government has just declared that there is no military solution to Libya, a patently ridiculous comment.  Of course there's a military solution, if NATO is willing to impose it.  But Germany is increasingly becoming a problem within NATO, going its own way and becoming increasingly assertive.  German companies are supplying sensitive material to Iran, and Germany refused to go along with the military campaign to protect civilians in Libya.  Although Angela Merkel, Germany's leader, is decidedly pro-American, she is a leading a nation that is drifting back toward some very disturbing old ways. 

The lack of real American leadership right now is profound, and the resulting confusion and lack of a firm strategy is going to cost us.

April 1, 2011      Permalink 

JOB REPORT BRIGHTER – AT 8:42 A.M. ET:  The weekly jobs report just came out, and it shows continued, if less than spectacular, improvement.  From The New York Times:

The United States economy added 216,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, adding to hopes that hiring was finally on a steadier track despite concerns about overseas turmoil.

The gain in jobs slightly exceeded economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate continued to decline, to 8.8 percent.

Quite a few signs have pointed to this economic recovery finally gaining some momentum. The weekly unemployment claims have declined steadily, from the mid-400,000s to the neighborhood of 385,000. In most contexts, the latter would be a grim number. But in this slowest and most sluggish of recoveries, it points to fewer layoffs, and presumably to more hiring.

Still, threats to a more robust recovery remain, of course, including a surge in energy and food prices, with the possibility of disruptions in oil production in the Middle East continuing to weigh on the financial markets. State and local governments have also been shedding jobs as they grapple with budget woes.

COMMENT:  If the job picture improves, Mr. Obama will benefit mightily in 2012.  But the last paragraph we quoted is critical.  The rise in food and oil prices hits people where they live.  Even if they are gainfully employed, nothing will hit them more.  And housing is still in a deep recession.

We're always happy to see more people employed in the private sector, but I think we're far from out of the woods.  If we go into stagflation – a stagnant economy joined by rising prices – Obama will be in Carterland. 

April 1, 2011      Permalink

SMOKING GUNS – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  One of the bright things about the revolutions going on in the Mideast today is that information comes out that finally, and definitively, exposes the vast network of corruption and hatred that has supported Arab thug leaders for decades.  Consider:

CHICAGO – Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan reiterated his defense of Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday, calling the embattled Libyan leader a friend and Muslim brother who's lent the movement $8 million over the years.

Farrakhan, speaking at a rare news conference, railed against the media and said Gadhafi isn't the monster being portrayed by Western governments.

Ask the relatives of PanAm 103.  But Farrakhan wouldn't talk to them anyway.

The 78-year-old minister criticized the U.S. government and President Barack Obama — whom he also called a brother — for launching military action against Libya without justification. He accused Americans of just wanting Gadhafi out of the picture to secure oil interests.

"I love Moammar Gadhafi, and I love our president," Farrakhan told several hundred cheering supporters at the Nation of Islam's headquarters. "It grieves me to see my brother president set a policy that would remove this man not only from power, but from the earth."

The man he loves – and this isn't a Gershwin tune – openly said that he would murder his own people in Libya if the revolution continued.  Farrakhan has strange crushes. 

Sadly, Farrakhan continues to have a disturbing level of support in the black community.  Maybe now, as he expresses heat for one of the world's great murderers, will people start to desert him.

The sad fact is, however, that Farrakhan has also had white enablers.  They have included the late columnist, Robert Novak, and the governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell.  As mayor of Philadelphia, Rendell welcomed the bigot Farrakhan to his city and reprimanded those who opposed Farrakhan's visit.

When you lie down with dogs...

April 1, 2011     Permalink