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APRIL 24,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

BRIAN TOASTING – From The New York Times:  "An NBC News internal investigation into Brian Williams has examined a half-dozen instances in which he is thought to have fabricated, misrepresented or embellished his accounts, two people with inside knowledge of the investigation said.  The investigation includes at least one episode that was previously unreported, these people said, involving statements by Mr. Williams about events from Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Arab Spring.  The investigation, conducted by at least five NBC journalists, was commissioned early this year after Mr. Williams was forced to apologize for embellishing an account of a helicopter episode in Iraq in 2003. He was subsequently suspended for six months from his anchor position on the 'NBC Nightly News.'"  It would be wise for Williams to be given some assignment other than chief anchor for NBC News.  There has to be some pride.

DETAILS, ALWAYS DETAILS – From Fox:  "The Iraqis are getting a batch of American F-16 fighter planes to run combat missions against the Islamic State, but questions remain over whether they can fly them.  According to officials, the first batch of the much-awaited jets is set to arrive in the war-torn country this summer. The Iraqis purchased 18 in 2011 for $3 billion, and another 18 for $830 million two years later, for a total of 36 aircraft.  To date, there have been numerous delays in getting the F-16s to Iraq, mostly because of the deteriorating security situation there, Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren told reporters on Friday. 'We remain committed to fulfilling the delivery of those aircraft,' he added.  He said there are 36 Iraqi pilots in the U.S. Air Force training 'pipeline,' with 30 at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, and the other six at language school. 'These will be the first pilots to use Iraq's F-16s in the fight against ISIL,' said Warren, adding that the first batch of jets delivered this summer will number 'less than 10.'"  I worry about the pilots at language school.  I mean, how fast can they learn the English?  And what about the others?  Enough English to fly an advanced aircraft?

YEAH, RIGHT – From Daily Caller:  "During his farewell address to the Justice Department Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder referred to his tenure at the Department of Justice as its 'golden age' and in the same mold as Robert Kennedy’s storied tenure.  Loretta Lynch will take over the department following the Senate’s 56-43 confirmation vote Thursday."  Since when did Bob Kennedy, who was made attorney general without ever having practiced law, have a storied tenure?  Wasn't he the dude who wiretapped Dr. King?  As for Holder, the gold seems awfully faded.  He is one of the most political AG's in memory.

April 24,  2015     Permalink

SENATE STARTS IRAN DEBATE – AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  The full Senate has begun debate on a compromise bill that would give Congress at least some say in a final nuclear accord with Iran.  The legislation is far from perfect, but it is a start.  From The Hill: 

Senators began debate on Iran legislation Thursday, with Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) making their opening salvos on the proposal.

Cardin, the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, urged senators to maintain the bipartisan nature of the legislation on curbing Iran's nuclear capabilites, which passed unanimously out of the Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month.

“What we did in the bill that we bring forward to you is a compromise,” the Maryland Democrat said. “Let’s see the amendments and try to work with you on the amendments. Let’s maintain the bipartisan cooperation we have here.”

Corker, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman who is facing skepticism within his own party over the bill, said that without the legislation, the president can “go straight to the U.N. Security Council ... and implement whatever deal he wants to implement with Iran.”

He acknowledged that senators have a “tremendous amount of work,” but called on lawmakers to bring forward any amendments.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he plans to offer or support amendments that would require any final deal to be submitted as a treaty to Iran, that would require the administration to submit any breaches of a final deal to Congress — instead of just material breaches — and that Iran wouldn’t get sanctions relief until they “live up to their international obligations.”

The Arkansas Republican said that includes closing the Fordow site, fulfilling obligations to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the president being able to certify that the country isn’t making intercontinental ballistic missiles and that Iran is no longer a state sponsor of terrorism.

Democrats, as well as President Obama, have pressed for Iran’s support of terrorism to be separate from the ongoing nuclear talks.

Cardin said Thursday that “we’re not talking about actions we’ve taken against Iran for terrorism or human rights violations. That’s a separate issue.”

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) also warned his colleagues against introducing “poisonous” amendments.

“Sometimes you got to know when you hit a home run and be able to cross the plate. ... Not think you’re still stuck in the dugout,” he said. “I urge my colleagues to suppress any intentions that would drive this to a point that we can’t have that strong vote.”

COMMENT:  It seems to me that Corker and Menendez have a strong argument – pass this legislation, which Obama says he'll sign, to provide a foundation for future, tougher legislation if need be. 

Remember, there may not be any deal at all.  Iran and the West are far apart on fundamental issues, like the extent of sanctions relief and the thoroughness of inspections.  If those issues can't be settled, the deal is off.  Even the current legislation is a warning to the president not to make serious concessions because both parties in Congress are watching. 

It will be intriguing to see if Hillary Clinton weighs in on this legislation.  As a presidential candidate and former secretary of state, she would be expected to have an opinion.  Of course, she'd also be expected to act decently, so expectations are sometimes not fulfilled.

April 24, 2015       Permalink

VATICAN THE TARGET? – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  Italy has conducted a large anti-terror sweep that shows that the threat of terror is as great as ever, and may be greater.  From CNN:

Rome (CNN) Italian authorities said they had launched a "vast anti-terrorism operation" Friday, going after suspects associated with al Qaeda who had discussed a range of targets, including the Vatican.

Some members of the terrorist cell had direct contact with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before his death in Pakistan in 2011, wiretaps showed, Italy's state-run ANSA news agency reported.

And wiretaps and other intelligence revealed that the group planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as in Italy, according to Caligari Chief Prosecutor Mauro Mura.

Some evidence indicated the Vatican was among the targets considered, police said. Talk of this took place March 2010, around the time a possible suicide bomber from Afghanistan entered Italy, Mura said.

Police said, too, that some of the suspects were involved in a Pakistani market bombing in 2009 in which more than 300 people were killed and injured

The suspects had been under surveillance for years, some as far back as 2005, police said.

On Friday, Italian State Police closed in, carrying out raids in seven provinces in what they called a first-of-its-kind operation. One of the raids targeted the alleged terrorist cell's headquarters on the island of Sardinia.

COMMENT:  With the Middle East in flames, we can only imagine what will happen if terror groups get control of governments.  We've been lucky that Pakistan, which has nuclear weapons, has not gone down the drain.  But the drain is still there, and our will power may not be.

April 24, 2015       Permalink

RUBIO ROARS – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  The Fox News poll confirms the earlier result from the Quinnipiac poll – Marco Rubio is catching on with voters.  From Fox: 

The Bush dynasty is a negative for voters and Marco Rubio is seen as a leader of the future, as the Florida senator jumps to the head of the GOP pack. The Clinton dynasty is a plus -- and even though Hillary could have an honesty problem, she dominates the Democratic side. And both the Republican faithful (with their crowded field) and the Democratic faithful (with their sole favorite) are happy with their range of 2016 choices.

These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election. Here are some more:

Announcing your candidacy helps your poll numbers. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio receives a five percentage-point bump after his April 13 announcement and has the backing of 13 percent in the race for the Republican nomination -- just a touch over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker who gets 12 percent among self-identified GOP primary voters. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul comes in at 10 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee earn 9 percent each and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gets 8 percent.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson each garner 6 percent. Last month Christie was at 4 percent and Carson at 11 percent.

And...

Who’s a leader of the future? Rubio tops that list. Voters see him “more as a leader of the future” (50 percent) than the past (21 percent) by a 29-point margin.

That dwarfs the numbers who see Paul (by 12 points), Warren (by 11 points) and Walker (by 10 points) as leaders of the future. By a 2-point margin, more see Clinton as a leader of the future (43 percent) than the past (41 percent).

Biden (by 33 points) and Bush (by 17 points) are the only two seen more as leaders of the past.

COMMENT:  The Republican opportunity couldn't be more clear.  Remember, any remaining strength in Clinton's numbers is being helped mightily by pure name recognition.  Once the Republican field becomes better known, Clinton's name advantage melts away.

April 24, 2015        Permalink

SUMMING IT UP – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  IBD sums up the Democratic dilemma involving Hillary Clinton superbly.  This is what it's about:

With each day, new revelations call into question Hillary Clinton's behavior during her tenure as secretary of state and after. It's time for her to suspend her campaign and start answering questions.

When even the left-wing media notice a leading Democrat's apparent ethical lapses, she has a real problem. And so does the Democratic Party, which as of now has all its bets for 2016 placed on Hillary Clinton, who, Peter Schweizer's upcoming book "Clinton Cash" suggests, may have engaged in corrupt behavior in office.

The latest revelation is a potential bombshell: That while Clinton was secretary of state, a federal committee approved the $610 million sale of Wyoming-based uranium mines to Russia's state atomic energy agency, Rosatom, as it tried to corner the market for the radioactive mineral.

Clinton's State Department was one of those that approved the deal. That's not illegal, but there's a conflict: The chairman of Uranium One, the Canadian company that sold the uranium mines to Russia, was Ian Telfer, who gave $2.4 million to the Clinton Foundation.

That's not all. The New York Times notes that a Russian investment bank that was behind the deal paid Bill Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow.

It also should be noted that the Wyoming mine is no small operation, and that Rosatom makes nuclear weapons, among other things. So national security is at stake.

Nor is this the only whiff of potential scandal emanating from the Clinton Foundation.

COMMENT:  The standard Clinton game is to work through a scandal with denials and testimonials from friends, hoping that the passage of time will make most people forget.  It's worked before.  But the presidency is different, and I'm not sure it will work now. 

Besides, enthusiasm for Hillary is very limited.  True, she'd be the first woman president, but that's not quite as electrifying on the left as the first black president.  And she is not considered a true, fanatical "progressive." 

For the Dems the question is, "If not her...who?"

April 24,  2015     Permalink

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