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MAY 14,  2011

NO HUCK TO BE – AT 10:07 P.M. ET:  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced tonight that he will not be a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.

Huck is gone.  So is Haley Barbour.  The GOP field narrows.  The party is waiting on Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana to decide whether Mitch will pitch.  But polls are showing that even Republicans aren't very excited about the group of candidates whom The Great Mentioner has mentioned.

As we've argued here before, it's time for the GOP to think in unconventional terms, skip a generation and go to young dynamos like Marco Rubio.  True, some of the GOP probables might make fine presidents.  But you've got to get the job first, and they'll be running against one of the most effective campaigners of our time.  Who needs to be a good president when you can talk?  From Fox:

Mike Huckabee said Saturday there would be no sequel to his surprisingly strong 2008 White House bid, in which he won the Iowa Republican caucus and finished second in the primaries to Sen. John McCain.

"All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.

The show is normally prerecorded before it airs at 8pm, but Huckabee saved the last 10 minutes of tonight’s broadcast to make his announcement live.

"The past few months have been times of deep personal reflection," Huckabee said. "Even though I wasn't actively establishing a campaign organization or seeking financial support to run again, polls have consistently put me at or near the top to be the Republican nominee."

"But I know that under the best of circumstances, being President is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity," he continued. "I can't know or predict the future, but I know for now my answer is clear and firm: I will not seek the Republican nomination for President this year."

COMMENT:   I wonder whether there might be a revolt within the party, with a possible attempt to coalesce behind "someone else."  Who would that someone else be, besides Rubio or perhaps Paul Ryan?  I have no idea.  Some have mentioned Jeb Bush, who established a fine record as governor of Florida.  But I just can't see another Bush.  Amerida does not like dynasties.   Recall President Ted Kennedy or President Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.

There has been mention of David Petraeus, but he will be newly installed as Obama's CIA director.   For him to run against his commander-in-chief would require some major policy split, and I don't see that happening. 

Republicans have a splendid chance next year, but a candidate with a pulse would help.

May 14, 2011      Permalink

LIBYA UPDATE – AT 2:05 P.M. ET:  Remember Libya?  You go to the Mediterranean and hang a right around where Italy is.  You'll hit Libya sooner or later.  We have some kind of a policy involving Libya, and it keeps getting updated, the way you update your computer.  Except in Washington they actually have to think it through, rather than hitting a button.  This is new to the Obamans. 

But, there's been a new update:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and NATO will continue military operations in Libya as long as Moammar Gadhafi keeps attacking his people, the White House said Friday as top U.S. officials met in Washington with leaders of the Libyan opposition.

Wait, wait, wait.  Didn't the last policy have something to do with Gadhafi leaving?  Or dying?  Or somethin'?

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met at the White House with a delegation from the Libyan Transitional National Council, including top representative Mahmoud Jibril. While the U.S. stopped short of recognizing the Council as Libya's legitimate government, as France and Italy have done, the White House said in a statement following the meeting that the Council is a "credible interlocutor of the Libyan people."

Now, I hope the boys actually investigated these Libyan visitors from the east, and found out what they actually stand for, so we don't wind up with Iran II.  I don't think that's asking too much.

Obama did not meet with the opposition leaders.

Not a bad decision.  You don't want a photo with these chaps if they turn out to be the kind who think women should be kept in cages. 

We'll see.  So far our policy in Libya hasn't changed the government, and our policy about the brutal crackdown in Syria has been nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Obama delivers a major speech on the Mideast this Wednesday.  The world waits.  Don't expect pearls.

May 14, 2011      Permalink

ON WISCONSIN – AT 12:24 P.M. ET:  Democratic Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin has announced that he will not be running again, creating an open seat in his state, and paving the way for what could become one of the most important Senate races in the nation.

There's already speculation that Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, a rising GOP star will enter the race.  It will be a risk, obviously, because he'd have to give up the House seat from which he has won fame and praise.  There is also speculation that former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, defeated for reelection last year, will throw his hat in the ring.

A Ryan-Feingold race would be a wonder, pitting a thoughtful, committed, creative conservative against a a respected liberal of real conviction, who established a fine reputation in the Senate.  The great issues of our time could be debated by two men capable of doing it.  If Ryan wins, as we would hope he would, the next step would clearly be a presidential run.

Wisconsin has made a lot of news recently, with the principled stand of Republican Governor Scott Walker in dealing with public-service unions.  It may make history again, as the launching ground for a president.

May 14, 2011       Permalink

WATCH, HE'LL SOON BE WEARING A COWBOY HAT – AT 12:03 P.M. ET:  Let's see, he "got" bin Laden (it was actually Navy SEALs.)   He's kept most of Bush's national security policies.  Now he wants to start the pumps going.  By the time next year's election rolls around, Barack Obama will be wearing ten gallon toppers and riding into the sunset on a horse called George W.  We await the neuroses this must be causing his base.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — President Obama, facing voter anger over high gasoline prices and complaints from Republicans and business leaders that his policies are restricting the development of domestic energy resources, announced Saturday that he was taking several steps to speed oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters.

It was at least a partial concession to his critics, who say he has shackled domestic energy development at a time when consumers are paying near-record prices at the gas pump. The Republican-led House passed three bills in the last 10 days that would significantly expand and accelerate oil development in the United States, saying the administration was driving up gas prices and preventing job creation with antidrilling policies.

Administration officials said the president’s announcement was intended in part to answer these arguments, signal flexibility and demonstrate Mr. Obama’s commitment to reducing oil imports by increasing domestic production. But in fact the policies announced Saturday would not have an immediate effect on supply or prices, nor would they quickly open any new areas to drilling.

No, but at least there's the start of some common sense, rather than the severe environmentalism that governs Mr. Obama's wing of the Democratic Party.  We are an oil-based nation, and will be for decades, until new energy sources are developed and proved, both technically and economically.

We're all for the environment.  We're also for people not starving to death in a wrecked, depressed economy.  There's an intelligent balance.

We welcome the president's baby steps in this area.  May he break into a stride.

May 14, 2011       Permalink

TRAVELING – AT 11:43 A.M. ET:  We are traveling, currently in wonderful Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia.

It's graduation time, and an atmosphere of festivity and relief pervades Charlottesville.  The restaurant owners are all smiles, as they know the parents are coming.  The kids are all smiles, as they know they finally made it. 

I marvel at the changes in the south since I first worked in the region, at the CIA in Langley, decades ago.  (Okay, Langley isn't exactly the South, but it is surrounded by Manassas (Bull Run) and other places that caused discomfort to a northern boy who'd thought a southern trip ended in Delaware. 

The South was always gracious, and always produced some of our finest writers, musicians, scholars, and statesmen.  It was cursed by the racial issue, which was regularly looked at by northerners through hypocritical eyes, as the treatment of minorities in the North wasn't much better. 

But the South has changed.  The graciousness remains, and the racial issue has changed dramatically.  If this country is saved, it will be by the South and the rest of America's heartland.  Values like patriotism and common sense remain strong here, and political correctness is suppressed.  That doesn't mean all northeasterners are nuts.  Even New York City, with a 4-1 Democratic registration, hasn't elected a Democratic mayor in almost 20 years, finally disgusted with the failure and phoniness.  But much of the northeast is still affected by the values of the sixties, and the heartland has largely expunged them.

It is very comfortable being here.  Even the Confederate statues don't bother me anymore.  It is a time that is long past.

May 14, 2011     Permalink 

MAY 13,  2011

A PROPER PROBE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET:  This is the kind of thing that drives citizens nuts.  The appearances here are just awful.  From The Hill:

House members in both parties are concerned about the decision by FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker to leave the agency for Comcast/NBC Universal.

Baker's decision has prompted questions on whether she was considering that post while reviewing the Comcast merger, which she voted to approve. She has denied any overlap between the review and her discussions with Comcast, and has stated that she followed ethics rules.

The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), has the development on its radar.

"We’re aware of the situation and we’ll continue to monitor it,” a spokeswoman told The Hill.

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), a member of the Energy and Commerce panel, says Congress needs more answers on the issue.

"There are a lot of questions. It just looks horrible. It looks really bad. I can't believe someone would be so blind to that perception," said Robert Kellar, Inslee's communications director.

He said Inslee will seek further answers, and will review the rules governing the "revolving door" between industry and government.

COMMENT:  What shocks us is the blatancy of the thing.  Clearly, appearances just don't count for some people, or some corporations, as long as the money is good.  I'm glad that Republicans as well as Democrats are angered by this, and that the GOP isn't blindly and blandly lamenting federal intervention.  The FCC is a federal panel, funded by Congressional action.  A probe into its integrity is in order.

May 13, 2011       Permalink 

MEN OF VISION, MEN OF DISCOVERY, MEN OF...WHAT'S THIS? – AT 11:05 P.M. ET:  What is a scientist to do when his arguments run into trouble, and people actually ask serious questions?  The answer is clear, modern, intellectual.  From The Hill:

Climate scientists have been criticized for not being able to clearly articulate to the general public the effects of climate change on the planet. Well, a group of Australian climate scientists is hoping to change that.

It's written a rap and starred in a music video about the harms caused by climate change.

Here's a taste of the rap:

"Climate change is caused by people/ Earth, unlike 'Alien,' has no sequel."

And this:

"Denialists deny this, in your dreams/ Because climate change means more extremes."

COMMENT:  Well, we can be thankful for the fact that they became scientists and not lyricists.  Our ears are healthier for it.

As for their frustration, maybe the problem doesn't lie in communications skills but in scientific skills.  Serious people are asking serious questions for a reason – that they have serious doubts about "climate change," and those doubts are reinforced by the opinions of a number of first-class scientists.

But when you can't win the argument, just sing.  Hey man, it's cool.

May 13,  2011     Permalink

MITCH DANIELS – IS HE MARIO CUOMO II? – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  Former Governor Mario Cuomo of New York became famous for his Hamlet act.  He was endlessly deciding whether to run for president.  Finally, when people were bored with him, he decided against it, thus giving up a sure pool of about six votes.

I'm afraid Republican Governor of Mitch Daniels is beginning to look like Cuomo II.  Will he or won't he?  It's an interesting question...for about two weeks.  After that it becomes a bore, and it's becoming a bore.  A candidate burns up his good will while endlessly "deciding."  People have a right to ask:  If he's this hesitant, why would we want him as president?  From The Politico:

INDIANAPOLIS –It’s becoming a recurring pattern: the more supporters of Mitch Daniels attempt to pump him up, the less he appears to want to run for president.

At a state Republican Party dinner here Thursday night, Daniels backers thronged a hotel ballroom, waved signs that read “Run Mitch Run,” and rose to their feet to chant the same after watching a slickly-produced video extolling the two-term Indiana governor’s accomplishments.

Cue the cold shower.

Talking to reporters after over a thousand of his fellow Hoosiers beseeched him to get in the race, Daniels praised the current GOP presidential field and said he could easily back any number of them.

He also suggested he could find another way to give back without being in the White House, and channeled one-time presidential hopeful Haley Barbour about the grim long-term implications of a run.

“You have to decide if this is really the way you want to spend maybe the rest of your life, and is it the right thing for your family,” explained the governor.

Whatever he decides, Republicans want Daniels to make up his mind soon. After months of hoping fervently that he would come to the rescue of a party establishment casting about for an alternative to Mitt Romney, GOP insiders are beginning to grumble about the governor’s Hoosier Hamlet routine.

And I don't blame them.  There are now reports that Daniels's wife is against a run, and that Laura Bush called her to encourage her to give more support to Mitch's possible presidential aspirations.  When you have to start doing that...

Daniels has been a superior governor.  As a national candidate, though, he may well have some severe limitations.  His speaking style cures all cases of insomnia.  He often starts drifting into philosophy and questioning almost everything.  And he really has no foreign policy, except possibly the relationship between Indiana and Illinois.  Besides, he looks as if he weights about 130 pounds and could use a second helping of mama's home stew. 

A Daniels candidacy might work if America is fascinated by an eccentric who may not even want the job, and whose wife might prefer to live in a tent.  The country would probably have a solid president, if an unusual one.

May 13, 2011        Permalink 

TRULY DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  The United States was granted limited access to some of the wives of bin Laden – what a great TV series – and Andrew Malcolm of the L. A. Times's Top of the Ticket log has a solid report, with an appropriate bit of irony:

Americans question 3 Osama bin Laden widows, but they are reported openly hostile for some reason...

...The trio of females with a range of assorted children were living together in the million-dollar Bin Laden housing compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan...

...CNN is reporting that American intelligence officers were finally permitted to question the three women Thursday. But only in the presence of Pakistani intelligence officials and only with the three women together.

Standard interrogation procedures would involve questioning the women separately to acquire, compare and contrast details of their stories and play them off against each other. The presence of Pakistani intelligence operatives would likely inhibit the spilling of any details on how they might have been protecting the world's most wanted man living near the country's main military academy.

Bin Laden actually had at least 20 children with his five wives, but he was separated from two of the spouses. One of Bin Laden's sons was killed in the SEAL raid. Bin Laden himself came from an extended family of 53 siblings from 23 women married to his father.

COMMENT:  Remember, we must respect the culture.  I wonder if they allow one wife with 23 husbands.  No, no, I didn't ask that.

The Pakistanis are not being cooperative.  They've been playing a double game, and Pakistan, for a variety of reasons, seems to be sinking deeper and deeper into extremism. 

And yet, President Obama is expected to renew his "outreach" to the Muslim world next week, in a major speech.  His first "outreach" campaign, launched by a speech in Cairo, has been a colossal failure, and it occurred at a time when Obama still had a glowing international reputation.  Now, his image in the Muslim world tarnished by his need to be an actual president of the United States, and not a "citizen of the world," Obama tries still one more outreach.  Give me odds on the chances for success.

May 13, 2011       Permalink

HONORING BIN LADEN – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:   The first act of retaliation has been launched, avenging the death of Osama bin Laden.   From WaPo:

SHABQADAR, Pakistan — Twin suicide bombings outside a paramilitary training center in Pakistan’s northwest killed least 80 people early Friday, in what appeared to be militants’ first major retaliatory attack since the death of Osama bin Laden.

The massive explosions targeted new recruits for Pakistan’s Frontier Constabulary in Charsadda district, about an hour’s drive from the capital, Islamabad. The recruits had just finished morning prayers and were boarding buses that would take them on home leave, said Jehanzeb Khan, a senior police officer in Charsadda.

The Pakistani Taliban, a homegrown offshoot of the Afghan militant group, said it had carried out the attack to avenge bin Laden’s killing by U.S. commandos, according to news services.

Pakistanis already have condemned the U.S. raid as an embarrassing violation of territorial sovereignty, and the death of scores of Pakistanis in an apparent attempt at retaliation could result in even more anti-U.S. sentiment here.

“This was the first revenge for Osama’s martyrdom. Wait for bigger attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said by telephone, according to Agence France-Presse.

COMMENT:  Of course, we must not judge.  We must respect their culture and their narrative.

Wrong.

This is murder, plain and simple.  It reminds us that, despite the death of bin Laden, there are devoted followers of him and other terror leaders all over the world.  We should recall that, despite the complete defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, unrepentant Nazis sailed on, a number sneaking their way in to Latin America through a route known as the rat line.  Among them were Adolf Eichmann, who organized the Holocaust, and Josef Mengele, the "angel of death" of Auschwitz.

The war on terror was never about the killing or capture of one man.  It was and is about a body of ideas.  Those ideas are still out there, and there are too many people on our side, and especially in Europe, who have no problem overlooking that fact, and accommodating themselves to a dark reality through verbal gymnastics.  No, it isn't just another culture.  And no, they don't have "legitimate grievances" based on "poverty, ignorance and disease."

In 1939, on the eve of World War II, there were plenty of people who regarded Hitler's "Mein Kampf" as the early rantings of an immature young man, written many years before.  They were wrong.  Hitler meant it.  Al Qaeda means it, too.

May 13, 2011       Permalink

BUT THEY'RE SO INTELLECTUAL AND SOPHISTICATED – San Francisco once again pledges allegiance to...well, you'll figure it out.  From Fox:

U.S. automakers are having a banner year in 2011. Sales are up and so are profits. And they’re doing it without much help from the city of San Francisco.

On April 29, the last domestic car dealership within city limits, San Francisco Ford Lincoln, closed its showroom doors and began winding down its repair and service operations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Business had fallen off so much over the past few years that Ford Motor Co. itself had taken over the operation from its previous owner, but even support from the mother ship couldn’t keep it afloat.

Foreign automakers, including BMW, Honda, Scion and Smart, all continue to run what appear to be thriving dealerships in the area, as San Franciscans increasingly pledge their allegiance to import brands. Even the site of the last General Motors dealership to shut down in the city -- Ellis Brooks Chevrolet – is soon to be the home of a new mega-showroom for Nissan/Infiniti.

COMMENT:  I wonder if the San Fran crowd knows that many of those "foreign" cars it prefers – much better dinner table conversation – are actually made in the American South by non-union labor.  When they find out, will they boycott their cars?  Become Freedom Riders again?  Import directly from beloved countries like the People's Republic of China?

Stay tuned.  There may be a moral crisis coming in San Francisco.  First in its history.

May 13, 2011     Permalink