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APRIL 23,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET: 

TO BE WATCHED – Weekly jobless claims rose for the third straight week, to 295,000.  That is not a terrible number, but it certainly isn't something you want in the middle of a "recovery."  Jobless claims, and frozen wages, do not make a good mix.

RIDICULOUS – From The Times of Israel:  "US President Barack Obama told Jewish leaders last week he would not meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until after the June 30 deadline for the Iranian nuclear talks, the New York Times reported on Thursday.  Obama told the group he imagined a face-to-face meeting with the Israeli leader would likely end with Netanyahu 'publicly venting his complaints about the president’s policies,' particularly on Iran, according to anonymous sources familiar with the meeting."  Obama is a petulant child.  During this period he'll meet with absolute dictators, monarchs, and the never-elected leaders of Cuba.  But he won't meet with Israel's prime minister because the prime minister might disagree with him.  The whole world is watching.

OUR FUTURE LEADERS – From the Washington Times:  "You wouldn’t know it to look at her, but Christina Hoff Sommers is apparently the kind of speaker whose very presence on college campuses is so alarming that students require advance notice, also known as a trigger warning.  At least, that’s what happened when the American Enterprise Institute scholar spoke this month at Georgetown University and Oberlin College. Campus feminists kicked into high alert, warning students that her lecture on feminism and criticism of the college 'rape culture' could make them 'feel unsafe.'  Monday’s Oberlin event came with a 'safe space' for people to gather during and after her talk. One student warned beforehand that there would be 'gatekeeping' to ensure that nobody entered who might be a 'toxic, dangerous and/or violent person.'"  The problem is that many colleges appear to be run by people who are more immature than the students.  So what can we expect of the students?

GLOBAL WARMING ALERT – From WaPo:  "Late April is starting to feel more like mid-winter for many parts of the U.S. this week. The Great Lakes and Northeast woke up to snow on Thursday morning and for some, it was actually the fourth day in a row of the wintry weather.  Since Sunday, it has snowed in at least 23 states, as far south as New Mexico, according to the national snow analysis from the National Weather Service. Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin have been seeing snow all week, but are finally getting a reprieve on Thursday (if you can call temperatures in the 30s a reprieve)."  Al Gore still insisted on appearing in a bikini.

April 23,  2015     Permalink

BUILDING OF A SCANDAL – AT 11:20 A.M. ET:  It's impossible to predict how far this will go, but it's getting substantial attention across the internet.  And the fact that reporting by The New York Times is involved – not exactly a right-wing paper – makes it even more intriguing.  From Fox: 

It would be one thing for a politician to cash in her influence to get rich. Most do, to one degree or another. But what if a politician used her official position to do favors for her patrons? That starts to sound like something that can cross the line between unseemly and potentially illegal. But what if those favors compromised national security? That’s the incendiary claim made against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a forthcoming book and laid out in today’s NYT. The author’s allegation, which will air on television for the first time today at 10 a.m. ET on the Fox News Channel, is that Clinton personally benefitted from a deal that would eventually make the United States dependent on Vladimir Putin’s Russia for its supply of uranium.

And...

The Times, which like Fox News and the Washington Post, was given advance access to the book and its supporting documentation in order to verify its claims, drops its first story today. There are more bombshells to come, some of which will be revealed in “Special Report with Bret Baier” tonight at 6 p.m. ET, but this opening salvo is devastating. Baier, who has been working on the project for weeks, described the importance of this chapter: “While all of these deals and the money that flowed to the Clintons is complicated, now the nascent Clinton campaign will have to respond with more than just ‘you can't prove it.’ And hovering over all of this is a destroyed email server that many lawmakers now believe may have held the keys to unlock the behind-the-scenes connections between the Clinton Foundation, the family’s personal fortune and the secretary of state.”

COMMENT:  Obviously, very explosive.  The question is what comes next.  Can the book's author back up the claims?  Will this be the "one" that could force Clinton out of the race even before the race begins? 

April 23, 2015       Permalink

LET THE HYPOCRISY FLOW – AT 10:29 A.M. ET: MSNBC presents itself as the voice of the common people, the working stiffs.  And, of course, MSNBC also believes in big government, supported by taxes.  Uh, that's where the problem comes in.  From the Washington Post: 

National Review reported today that MSNBC’s Touré, who co-hosts the network’s afternoon program “The Cycle,” owes nearly $60,000 in taxes to New York State, according to a pair of tax warrants that the magazine found. And as the story fully noted, there’s a trend afoot here:

*Al Sharpton: The New York Times reported last year that the MSNBC host ran a “delinquent” nonprofit organization and calculated “$4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses.” Sharpton convened a news conference to deny the story’s allegations.

*Melissa Harris-Perry: The Winston-Salem Journal last week reported that this MSNBC host and her husband, James Perry, had been socked with a $70,000 IRS tax lien. Harris-Perry said that more than $21,000 of that amount had been paid.

*Joy-Ann Reid: National Review reported that Reid, a former MSNBC host and managing editor of thegrio.com, and her husband were slapped with a nearly $5,000 tax warrant from New York state.

Let the ridiculing begin. “We actually do better as a country when we spread the wealth around,” Harris-Perry has said, as National Review pointed out. Touré has tweeted:

"Regressive taxation & tax-avoidance & union crushing & the financial corruption of legislation has fueled inequality more than hard work."

And...

National Review fetched no response from the network. When the Erik Wemple Blog knocked today, the network again clammed up. A spokeswoman offered to go off-record with an explanation of things. We responded that we weren’t interested in spin that we couldn’t publish. Is it that hard for MSNBC to take a simple stand in favor of our common civic obligations?

COMMENT:  I guess those MSNBC types were just too busy serving the common man to worry about paying their taxes.  We understand.  We're grateful for their support.

April 23, 2015       Permalink

IF CHINA IS WORRIED... – AT 9:43 A.M. ET:  If China is worried about North Korea, what should we be?  North Korea's aggressiveness is chilling.  From Fox: 

Chinese nuclear experts reportedly warned the U.S. earlier this year that North Korea's nuclear arsenal is larger than previously estimated, creating a heightened security threat to the U.S. and its East Asian allies.

The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that by Beijing's estimate, North Korea may already have manufactured 20 nuclear warheads and is capable of producing enough weapons-grade uranium to double that amount by next year. U.S. experts have previously estimated that North Korea has between 10 and 16 nuclear weapons.

The Chinese estimates were presented to U.S. nuclear specialists at a closed-door meeting at the China Institute of International Studies in Beijing this past February. The Journal reported that Chinese military representatives and experts on the North's nuclear program were at the meeting.

Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor and former head of the Los Alamos National Laboratory who attended the February meeting, told the Journal that estimates about North Korea's nuclear program involved a sizable amount of guesswork. He estimated that North Korea currently could have no more than 12 weapons, and as many as 20 in 2016.

"I’m concerned that by 20, they actually have a nuclear arsenal," Hecker said. "The more they believe they have a fully functional nuclear arsenal and deterrent, the more difficult it’s going to be to walk them back from that."

Washington has not had high-level talks with Pyongyang since 2012, when North Korea conducted a banned nuclear missile test. In the intervening time, the U.S. has relied on China to use its economic leverage to put pressure on the impoverished nation's missile program while the Obama administration works toward a nuclear deal with Iran.

However, the Journal reports that relations between China and North Korea have deteriorated since the death of dictator Kim Jong Il in 2011 and the ascension of Xi Jinping to China's leadership the following year.

COMMENT:  North Korea was billed as a Clinton Administration, then Obama Administration success story.  Why, didn't we have a nuclear deal with North Korea, as we'll have with Iran?  We sure did, and North Korea never honored the deal.  It went right ahead to build nuclear weapons, and we did almost nothing.  I'm sure Iran knows the history, and is using it.

Oh, by the way, our chief negotiator with North Korea, Wendy Sherman, is now our chief negotiator with Iran.   Nothing like failing upward.  Sounds like Hollywood.  It is Hollywood.

April 23,  2015     Permalink

POLL RESULTS – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  A new major poll has good news for Marco, no great thrills for Hillary.  From The Washington Times: 

Sen. Marco Rubio has emerged as the strongest candidate in the GOP presidential field, topping the rest of his announced and potential rivals for the nomination and running best against top Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll Thursday.

Mrs. Clinton still leads Mr. Rubio in a national head-to-head match-up, 45 percent to 43 percent, but the 2-point margin is down from the 5-point lead she held over him a month ago in the same survey.

Mr. Rubio announced his candidacy earlier this month and has shot to the top of the GOP field nationally, garnering 15 percent of support among likely GOP primary voters — up from just 5 percent support a month ago. He has surmounted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was first in the March poll but who slipped to third place in this survey. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, meanwhile, remains in second place, with 13 percent of GOP support.

And...

For her part Mrs. Clinton, who announced her campaign last week, remains in control of the Democratic race with 60 percent support of likely primary voters. Vice President Joseph R. Biden trails well behind at 10 percent, followed by Sen. Bernard Sanders, an independent who has pondered running as a Democrat. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Sen. Jim Webb run far behind at 3 percent and 1 percent respectively.

Mrs. Clinton’s 60 percent support in a primary is her highest level in more than a year, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

But for the general electorate, she’s beginning to wear a little thin. For the first time in years, she’s viewed unfavorably by more voters compared to those with a favorable opinion of her, 47-46.

COMMENT:  I love good news in the morning, don't you?  Marco is a great candidate.  Hey, what about a Rubio-Fiorina ticket?  Okay, I know there are legitimate objections, but that could be political dynamite.

It's getting exciting.  And Hillary is looking toasty.  Elizabeth Warren must be practicing on her teleprompter.  Joe Biden might want to, but he forgot where he put it.

April 23,  2015     Permalink

APRIL 22,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

CARLY SPEAKS OUT – Carly Fiorina is getting more and more attention, and she isn't afraid of tough issues.  From the Daily Signal:  "Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard and likely presidential candidate Carly Fiorina criticized the Democratic Party’s platform of abortion on demand during a recent speech.  Serving as the mistress of ceremonies at the Susan B. Anthony List’s Campaign for Life Gala in Washington, D.C. last week, Fiorina praised the organization and its supporters for their contributions to the pro-life movement.  Fiorina said that while some call the Republican Party’s pro-life platform 'extreme,' the Democratic Party’s platform of abortion on demand is hardly mainstream:  'Here is what it says: Any abortion, anytime, at any point in a woman’s pregnancy, for any reason, to be paid for by taxpayers. Now, there are Democrats who want to add, "to be performed by a non-doctor."  And this policy has been succinctly summarized by Democrats, such as Barbara Boxer, as "it isn’t a life until it leaves the hospital." Do you agree with that? Nobody agrees with that! Even people who think they’re pro-choice don’t agree with that.'"  Republicans are now trying to use the abortion issue against the Democrats, who've owned it for decades.

LOVING OBAMACARE?  BETTER READ THIS – From Fox:  "Both health-care consumers and providers felt the squeeze of rising health-care costs in 2014 – with out-of-pocket costs for patients rising 11% -- according to a TransUnion Healthcare report released Wednesday.  'Our latest report demonstrates that consumers continue to feel the pressure of rising health-care costs,' said Gerry McCarthy, president of TransUnion Healthcare. 'Despite a slowly improving economy, many consumers are finding they have less money to make these payments.'"  Another triumph for federal planning.  Thank the guy from Chicago.

WE CAN'T WAIT – From The Hill:  "Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s attorney is pressing the head of the House panel investigating the Benghazi attacks to schedule her testimony 'without delay.'  Clinton lawyer David Kendall said there was 'no reason' to delay her appearance or have her testify in a private interview.  'In November, I informed your staff of Secretary Clinton’s willingness to testify publicly before the Select Committee on Benghazi. In the succeeding months, she has reiterated her willingness, and I do so again on her behalf,' Kendall said in a letter to panel chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).  'There is no reason to delay her appearance or to have her testify in a private interview,' he added."  Clearly, the Clinton camp wants to get her testimony, which will unquestionably be only her version of the truth, out of the way early, before it hits too close to the 2016 campaign. 

April 22,  2015     Permalink

CLOSE CALL – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  There has been a close terror call in France.  From Fox: 

A suspected Islamic terrorist's plans to mount attacks on French churches were thwarted when he accidentally shot himself and called an ambulance, leading to the discovery of loaded guns, bulletproof vests and chilling notes about his intended targets, authorities said Wednesday.

French police believe the 24-year-old Algerian native was planning an imminent attack Sunday on one or more French churches in Paris when he shot himself, France’s top security official announced Wednesday. The suspect, who was not named, is a computer science student who was flagged as a risk by security officials last year, said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. He is also accused in the death of a young mother.

Sources told AFP that the suspect was found with a bullet it his leg and said he was wounded in some sort of dispute. The man was treated for a leg wound and remained hospitalized on Wednesday.

Police who arrived at the scene found a blood trail leading to his car, with loaded guns, bulletproof vests and notes about potential targets inside.

Inside the car, authorities discovered flashing blue lights that can fix magnetically to car roofs and orange “Police” armbands used by French plainclothes officers, RTL radio reports, according to France 24.

"Detailed documents that were also found established beyond doubt that the individual was planning an imminent attack, probably on one or two churches," Cazeneuve said, according to Reuters.

In the man's apartment, in southeastern Paris, more weapons were found as well as evidence of ties to Islamic extremism, the official said. There was no immediate evidence that the suspect had direct ties to any organized groups, the official added.

COMMENT:   It doesn't matter whether the culprit has "direct ties" to any organized group.  These groups radicalize these kids via internet or meetings.  You don't have to join.  You don't have to have a membership card or pay dues.  The damage from the explosion is the same. 

April 22, 2015       Permalink

MIKE – AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  Mike Huckabee will be running for president.   I can't conceive of him getting the nomination, but the sheer number of qualified Republicans running is itself a major story.  Consider the imagery:  Many Republicans competing, all with credentials.  And then there's Hillary, saddled with scandal, with no serious opposition.  From The Politico: 

Mike Huckabee has been staffing up for his likely presidential campaign, before an expected announcement in Hope, Arkansas, on May 5.

Sources familiar with the internal planning tell POLITICO that the Republican has decided on senior staff and their roles for a potential 2016 campaign.

This inner-circle includes three alumni of the former Arkansas governor’s 2008 presidential campaign, during which he won the Iowa caucuses and carried seven other states. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Huckabee’s daughter, would be campaign manager. Chip Saltsman, who was manager last time, returns as a senior adviser. Bob Wickers will stay in his role as pollster and media consultant.
Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, the GOP operative and former congressman, will work as a senior political adviser on the potential campaign.

COMMENT:  Huckabee is a very articulate speaker, an ordained minister who doesn't scare people away.  Eventually the GOP field must narrow, and the quicker the better, as voters can only concentrate on a small number of candidates at a time.  But the Republican side will not be dull. 

Hillary will not be dull either, kind of in the way that Bonnie and Clyde weren't dull.

April 22, 2015       Permalink 

THE HILLARY MESS – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton has launched her campaign for president.  As Johnny Carson used to say, "Notice the difference?"  It's a mess, a non-campaign, a little sideshow by an individual who seems decidedly un-presidential. 

And a new book threatens to derail the whole plot.  From Peter Wehner at Commentary: 

Hillary Clinton is making her life more difficult than it needs to be.

I’m speaking in this instance of the donations by foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation. As Jonathan made note of yesterday, a New York Times story on the forthcoming book by Peter Schweizer, Clinton Cash, asserts that “foreign entities who made payments to the Clinton Foundation and to Mr. Clinton through high speaking fees received favors from Mrs. Clinton’s State Department in return.”

When the secretary of state has a policy of pay-to-play, that is bad enough. It reinforces the impression that Mrs. Clinton is a tangle of corruption, dishonest and untrustworthy, and playing by rules that apply to her and her husband but not to others. That has happened time and again with the Clintons; it’s the pattern and habits of a lifetime. And there’s no indication it will change. The portrait of Mrs. Clinton is that of a hardened, brittle, unreflective, and self-justifying individual. Whatever problems she faces are always the result of others, often the “right-wing conspiracy” she has invented in her over-active imagination.

But that’s not the only complicating factor for Mrs. Clinton. The other is that she has badly damaged her ability to wage a culture war/”war on women” campaign against Republicans. Because whatever outlandish charge she makes against Republicans, they will sound positively enlightened compared to the repression of women and gays that occurs in nations (like Saudi Arabia, Oman, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, et cetera) that have given millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. It looks for all the world as if those nations gave money to buy the silence of the Clintons–and their investment paid off.

COMMENT:  The hypocrisy of the left is something to behold.  Never has a group been so anguished about so much and taken action about so little.  Hillary's lack of real interest in the plight of women around the world is exposed.  Note the silence of the feminist movement. 

April 22, 2015       Permalink

REMARKABLE LETTER – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  My Iranian friend, Banafsheh Zand, alerts us to an extraordinary letter from the nephew of Iran's supreme leader, whom nephew clearly does not like.  There are no family reunions planned.  The letter is reported by Roger Simon at PJ Media: 

An open letter to President Obama was posted on an Iranian website (khodnevis.org) today from Dr. Mahmoud Moradkhani — the nephew of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This letter is explosive and tells Obama, in essence, that the ayatollah, his uncle, is lying in negotiations, practicing the Shia doctrine of taqiyya in which it is permissible for Muslims to lie to the infidel for the advancement of Islam. He advises the president not to pursue his nuclear deal with Iran and to focus on the atrocious human rights record of that country. But allow the doctor to speak for himself:

Dear Mr. President

I am presenting this open letter as one of the serious opponents of the Islamic republic of Iran on behalf of the like-minded opposition groups and myself. Because of my knowledge of this regime, especially of Ali Khamenei who is my uncle (my mother’s brother), I see it as my duty to inform you about this regime and the issue of nuclear negotiations with the Islamic regime of Iran.

Let me at first inform you that the regime that falsely calls itself a republic came to power in 1979 by deceiving Iranian people and the world through provoking Iranian people against the regime of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and gaining the support of the world community.

The tragedy of Cinema Rex*, believing in Khomeini’s words and then establishing a backward regime that is violent, medieval and against all international laws are all results of Iranian people and the world community being deceived. We are witnessing that not only a rich and cultured country like Iran has become a victim of this regime but also the Middle East and the whole free world. The intervention of Ali Khamenei’s regime (following Khomeini’s footsteps who had no other intention other that domination of Iraq) in Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria is more than obvious. As if these were not enough, he has now added the Arabian Peninsula to that list.

In any case, this regime has done great damage to Iranians and to the international community.

We can find a historical example of this kind of deception prior to the Second World War. Hitler manipulated and deceived German people and European countries and the hesitation in addressing the problem with Hitler led to a great disaster.

COMMENT:  Read the entire thing.  It's the best history lesson, and psychological lesson, about Iran that I've read.  And it points up either the deceit or immaturity, or both, of the Obama administration.

April 22,  2015     Permalink