Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

Last Sunday's Angel's Corner is here.

APRIL 29,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:49 P.M. ET: 

DEFIANCE – It is an honorable American tradition, civil disobedience.  From Fox:  "'We will not obey.'  That’s the blunt warning a group of prominent religious leaders is sending to the Supreme Court of the United States as it considers same-sex marriage.  'We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line,' read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage. 'We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve.'  'While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross,' the pledge states.  The signees are a who’s who of religious leaders including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, National Religious Broadcasters president Jerry Johnson, Pastor John Hagee, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse."  Whether one agrees or disagrees with the position of these religious leaders, their willingness peacefully to defy, and presumably to accept the legal consequences, is inspiring, and very much in the American tradition of peaceful protest.

OH PLEASE – Hillary Clinton did deliver her anticipated speech at Columbia University today.  She said it was important to restore trust in American life.  While no one fainted at that suggestion, the notion of Bill and Hillary Clinton being concerned about trust has the same ring of truth as Bonnie & Clyde being concerned about bank robbery.   You wonder whether Hillary ever means anything that she says.  She also said we have to rebalance the criminal-justice system.  Yeah, right.  Crime went down 80% under Mayor Rudy Giuliani in New York, and I never once heard him praised by Hillary Clinton.  When Hillary talks about "rebalancing," you know that's a codeword for "soft on crime."

SPORTS NEWS – From Fox:  "As tempers smoldered and the cleanup of riot-ravaged Baltimore continued outside, the city's beloved Orioles beat the White Sox in an eerily empty ballpark Wednesday afternoon.  The game at Orioles Park at Camden Yards was played out before 47,000 empty seats amid safety concerns for spectators. Games on Monday and Tuesday had been postponed, but Wednesday's game had to be played to keep to the rigid Major League Baseball schedule. Inside the stadium, an unfamiliar quiet descended on the field."  Now you know what we unrepentant Brooklyn Dodger fans feel like.  We've had silence for 58 years.  But we're very patient. 

PASSING – From AP:  "PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — Jean Nidetch, a New York housewife who tackled her own obesity, then shared her guiding principles with others in meetings that became known as Weight Watchers, the most widely known company of its kind, died Wednesday. She was 91.  She died at her home at a senior complex in Parkland, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale, her son David Nidetch said.  Plagued by her weight since childhood and carrying 214 pounds on her 5-foot-7 frame, Nidetch went to an obesity clinic sponsored by the New York City Board of Health in 1961 and began picking up tips that slowly seemed to work.  No skipping meals. Fish five times a week. Two pieces of bread and two glasses of skim milk a day. More fruits and vegetables."  The woman was a successful entrepreneur, and one must admire the way she built a company.  Out of respect, I will have my next BLT without mayonnaise.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

EGO OUT OF CONTROL – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  There are a lot of problems in New York City.  And, at a time of racial tension, you'd think the mayor, who's made race a big deal, would be at home.  But Bill de Blasio has bigger plans.  From Bloomberg:   

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio attracted the biggest crowd to Wisconsin Democrats’ annual dinner on Saturday since Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama attended seven years ago. The foray to the home state of expected Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker shows de Blasio’s determination to affect the 2016 election.

“I’m certainly going to be doing this with some regularity,” de Blasio said after getting a standing ovation for his speech in Milwaukee.

The 53-year-old mayor has in recent weeks ventured from the most populous U.S. city into the Midwest to inveigh against tax breaks for corporations, attacks on unions and income inequality. He has withheld a quick endorsement of Democratic candidate Clinton, emphasizing his power as leader of a city of 8.4 million and ensuring that his intentions remain a topic of speculation and conversation.

“I’m certainly going to be doing this with some regularity.”

De Blasio’s rise as the first Democratic New York mayor in 20 years and appeal to progressives can influence his party’s broad agenda while also being a thorn in the side of Republican candidates, said Mike Tate, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

“Outside of anyone named Obama or Clinton, I think Bill de Blasio and Elizabeth Warren are the two biggest draws in the Democratic Party,” said Tate, referring to the Massachusetts senator who also champions progressive issues. “People are really looking at what he did and what he is saying as a real path forward.”

COMMENT:  The only serious change we've noticed in New York since Bill became mayor is an increase in murder.  Maybe that plays well with the "progressive" crowd, but it isn't playing well with the street folk.  I haven't seen any recent polls, but polls earlier this year showed de Blasio's approval at just above 50%, in an overwhelmingly Democratic city.  De Blasio has never had overwhelming popularity.  He was elected in 2013, almost by default.  The Republicans, reflecting the weakness of the New York Republican Party, barely ran a race.

He has national ambitions.  He might do the job here first, although Obama proved that a record in the Democratic Party is meaningless.

April 29, 2015       Permalink 

WARNING – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  Saudi Arabia, often an instigator of terror, is now taking action to rein in the monster it helped create.  From Fox: 

Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 93 suspected terrorists with ties to ISIS Tuesday, including two who were allegedly planning a car bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh.

Other potential targets for some of those arrested included residential compounds and prisons.

Authorities said that the potential suicide car bombing at the Embassy involved three individuals -- a Saudi national and two Syrian nationals residing in a Gulf state. The plot was uncovered Mar 13. and authorities took precautions at the Embassy and surrounding area before arresting two suspects the next day.

The timing of the alleged attack coincides with a U.S. decision to halt all consular services for a week starting March 15 at the Embassy and diplomatic missions in Jiddah and Dhahran.

The list of targets recalls a wave of attacks launched by Al Qaeda inside the kingdom from 2004 to 2007, which killed dozens of people, including foreigners, and threatened the stability of one of the world's most important oil-producing nations. Saudi Arabia is also home to Islam's holiest sites, in Mecca and Medina.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told the Associated Press there have been five ISIS-related attacks across the kingdom in recent months that have killed 15 civilians and security personnel. But he said Saudis have largely ignored ISIS’s calls to take up arms against their government and attack the Shiite minority, security forces and foreigners living in the kingdom.

COMMENT:  Terrorism is spreading.  It is not contracting.  But, of course, the war on terror is over.  Field Marshal of the United States (including Baltimore) Barack Obama has told us so.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

SHE WILL SPEAK – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton will speak today at Columbia University, which happens to be Obama's alma mater, at least we think.  The Queen will speak on the subject of criminal justice.  Judging from the advance stories, just imagine you're back in the 1960s, Lyndon Johnson is president, Stokely Carmichael is on the march in black America, and Watts is rioting.  And, oh yes, one in eight New York City residents is on welfare.  From Bloomberg:   

Hillary Clinton will call Wednesday for sweeping criminal justice reform and an end to the "era of mass incarceration," delivering a message that has even more currency after days of rioting in Baltimore.

"Mass incarceration"?  Where do we have that?  In fact, our willingness over the years actually to put criminals in prison has produced dramatically good results. 

Clinton's comments will come in the first policy speech of her campaign, at Columbia University in New York, where she will outline her vision for criminal justice reform, a campaign aide said.

The former secretary of state plans to call for a changed approach to punishment and prison, including making changes to probation practices, finding alternative punishments for low-level offenders, and increasing support for mental health and drug treatment.

Notice that there is no mention of culture, of fatherlessness, of left-wing social theories gone crazy.  As I wrote, welcome back to the sixties.

“We have to restore order and security.”

Clinton will say that she supports seeing every police department in the country obtain body cameras "to improve transparency and accountability in order to protect those on both sides of the lens."

She will also discuss the "hard truth and fundamental unfairness in our country" that African-American men are much more likely than others to be stopped and searched by police, and charged with crimes.

The sad and hard truth is that African-American men commit a disproportionately high number of crimes.  Police assigned to black communities will, by definition, stop and search more black men than any other group.  One can argue about the "root causes" of crime, but the numbers speak for themselves.

Clinton offered a preview of her speech on Tuesday night, telling New York donors who had given $2,700 each or raised at least $27,000 that "Baltimore is burning" and that the situation there "is heartbreaking."

"The tragic death of another young African-American man. The injuries to police officers. The burning of peoples’ homes and small businesses. We have to restore order and security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system," she said, adding that she would say more Wednesday.

COMMENT:  This shows once again that modern liberalism isn't a series of political beliefs.  It's a religion.  No matter what the facts show, the party line just continues.  You either accept the faith, or are escorted out. 

There was a time when most African-American families were intact.  That is no longer the case.  Some eighty percent of the children living in Harlem don't know who their fathers are.  Unless this tragedy is addressed, nothing will work.

For more than a year, New York City has had a "progressive" mayor who is more critical of the police than of criminals.  Crime is already up.  But the left will never learn.

April 29, 2015       Permalink

ECONOMIC GRIMNESS – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The American economy has hit the brakes.  From the Washington Post: 

The U.S. economy ground nearly to a halt in the first three months of the year, according to government data released Wednesday morning, as exports plunged and severe winter weather sidelined construction projects and helped keep consumers indoors.

The gross domestic product grew between January and March at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding to the picture of an economy braking sharply after accelerating for much of last year. The first pace fell well shy of the 1 percent mark anticipated by analysts and marked the weakest quarter in a year.

The economy had expanded at a rate of 2.2 percent in the final three months of 2014.

Economists, employers and policymakers now face the challenge of determining whether the slowdown is temporary — stemming mostly from an unusually snowy winter in the Northeast — or a sign of broader problems.

COMMENT:  It's been my experience that people still have to eat in snowy weather, still have to buy fuel, still have to pay electric and cable TV bills, and still go to doctors and hospitals.  The fact is that there have been signs of an economic slowdown for some time.  There has also been an increase, for three weeks running, in the number of unemployment claims.

Now, of course, we all know that this is all caused by George Bush and global warming, but maybe an enterprising reporter will determine some other cause. 

Oh, by the way, wait 'til the next figures come out, and how the left will say how anything negative was influenced by racial rioting caused by...the police and their Republican allies.  Coming to a CNN channel near you.

April 29,  2015     Permalink

APRIL 28, 2015

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

LIZZIE STILL AIN'T RUNNIN' – From The Hill: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has a message for people skeptical of her decision not to run for the White House in 2016: It won’t stop her from pursuing her message of economic populism.  'You think I’m not forcing a debate?” she responded to The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, when he challenged her decision not to seek the Democratic nomination for president.  'Call me back in a year and ask me what type of debate we’re having,' she added.   'I’m doing the work I should be doing,' she told him later."  So warm and kind.  Warren is generally considered a poor, shrill campaigner, and maybe she realizes her act may not play so well outside Massachusetts.

AND HILLARY SPEAKS – From The Hill:  "Hillary Clinton called the protests and riots in Baltimore 'heartbreaking' during a speech at a campaign fundraiser in New York City.  'Baltimore is burning,' she said to donors to her presidential campaign.   'The tragic death of another young African-American man, the injuries to police officers, the burning of peoples’ homes and small businesses. We have to restore order and security. But then we have to take a hard look as to what we need to do to reform our system.'"  She's so profound, isn't she?  It's always the system at fault, or society at fault.  Individual criminals and their instigators are never at fault.  How convenient.

BERNIE IN – Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who caucuses with the Dems, will announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president later in the week.  Sanders identifies himself as a democratic socialist.  While I certainly don't share his politics, Sanders has always struck me as a man of personal integrity and commitment.  He will add some class to the Democratic nomination process, where it is much needed.

BALTIMORE DISGRACE – From AP:  "After a pair of postponements caused by rioting in Baltimore, the Orioles and Chicago White Sox will play Wednesday at Camden Yards in what is believed to be the first game without fans in major league baseball's 145-season history.  Because of the unsettled environment in Baltimore, where rioters burned a drug store and set police cars ablaze on Monday night, officials moved the game up five hours from its original 7:05 p.m. starting time and closed it to the public."  Maybe the rioters and looters who get caught should have their earnings subjected to a special tax for years to help pay for the economic damage they're doing.  

April 28, 2015       Permalink

BAD INVESTMENT ADVICE – AT 10:57 A.M. ET:  Whenever someone says "green energy," I advise friends to grab hold of their wallets and not let go.  And for good reason.  From Fox:   

It’s official, the Energy Department’s green energy loan program is actually expected to lose money despite media reports that such loans would net the government a profit.

The Government Accountability Office says the DOE’s oft-touted $28 billion loan program will cost taxpayers $2.21 billion over the lifetime of the loans. Not only that, the costs to taxpayers for green loans has risen about $500 million as “the result of loan guarantee defaults” from companies like Solyndra and Abound Solar.

The “credit subsidy cost of the loans and loan guarantees in its portfolio” is expected “to be $2.21 billion, including $807 million for loans that have defaulted,” GAO reports. “The fees DOE has collected have not been sufficient to cover all of its administrative expenses for the program” because the “fees on the current loan guarantees were too low to cover ongoing monitoring costs.”

This stands in sharp contrast to media reports from last year suggesting the DOE’s green loan program would net taxpayers $5 billion. Last year, the Washington Post’s Wonkblog ran with the headline, “Remember Solyndra? Those loans are making money.” The liberal news watchdog Media Matters exclaimed that “Solyndra Scandal-Mongering Hasn’t Stopped The Energy Dept’s Loan Program From Turning A Profit”

Such news stories came after a November 2014 DOE progress report saying it was on track to earn more than $5 billion in total interest payments. The DOE said it had earned $810 million in interest payments — outweighing the $780 million in estimated losses the loan program was expected to incur.

Of course, the DOE’s report did not include “credit subsidy costs” of the loans. When that’s taken into account, the DOE is projected to lose more than $2 billion.

COMMENT:  And where's the green energy?  I thought that by now the country would be running largely on spinach.  Or at least Green Giant peas.  We never get a break, do we?

Green energy, a noble goal, has proved to be far more complicated than we were told.  But you may be sure that a great deal of money, some of it the taxpayers', is changing hands in response to the green craze.  And I wonder how many campaign contributions are translated into "green energy loans" as thank-you's to heavy contributors.

April 28, 2015       Permalink

AND HE'S RIGHT – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  The author of the new "Clinton Cash," which rips bare the Clintons' financial dealings, is under sustained attack from Clintonians.  He is fighting back, and he's correct.   From The Hill: 

The author of a controversial book that has sought to cast doubt on Hillary Clinton’s impartiality at the State Department, on Tuesday pushed back against criticism that Clinton Cash doesn’t include a “smoking gun” that directly proves the book’s allegations.

Peter Schweizer compared Clinton’s conduct to that of politicians in two high-profile corruption investigations—former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who was convicted on corruption charges, and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who has been indicted on bribery charges.

“If you look at former governor of Virginia who was prosecuted, if you look at Sen. Menendez, there was no quid pro quo,” Schweizer said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.

“Yet, they were prosecuted because there were contribution or payments or gifts given to public officials with the perception or the belief that they were going to be given something in exchange,” he added.

Schweizer’s interview turned heated with pointed questions from “Morning Joe” hosts Mika Brzezinski and former GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough (Fla.). Brzezinski accused Schweizer of timing the book around Clinton’s campaign kickoff, while Scarborough sided with Schweizer and said that there should be a further investigation into Clinton’s conduct.

Schweizer’s book argues that donations to the Clinton Foundation have influenced her conduct as secretary of State. He’s specifically targeted instances including the sale of mining interests to a Russian government agency and a change in policy on exporting nuclear technology to India.

But many Clinton allies have bashed the book as politically motivated and note that there’s never been direct evidence of any impropriety. Campaign spokesman Brian Fallon told The New York Times that accusations regarding the mining sale were “utterly baseless,” and the pro-Clinton rapid response group Correct the Record has released a number of fact sheets pushing back on the book’s claims.

COMMENT:  When standards are high, which they never are with the Clintons, the appearance of impropriety is considered very significant.  Throughout their careers the Clintons have regularly given that appearance of impropriety.  It is unlikely that we can absolutely prove illegal conduct, as they've become expert at covering their tracks.  But huge contributions to the Clinton Foundation (one was $31.1-million)
from elements that later got favorable treatment by the State Department raise major questions of propriety and national security.  And then, of course, we have Hillary's private server and the thousands of e-mails from that server that have been conveniently destroyed.

Hillary's defenders are becoming desperate.  An observer has to ask why one major political couple has been so consistently linked to apparently shady dealings.  It has gone on for years.  In this case the devil is not in the details.  It's in the way the Clintons live their lives, and the manner in which they've parlayed "public service" into a vast fortune.

We applaud the author.

April 28, 2015       Permalink

HORRIBLE – AT 9:23 A.M. ET:  We recall how two police officers in New York City were assassinated after Ferguson.  From the Washington Times: 

Law enforcement intelligence officials have put out a warning that someone has sent a text calling on people to kill “all white police officers” in reaction to the death of Freddie Gray while in Baltimore police custody, raising fears violence could spread nationally, according to safety memos obtained by The Washington Times.

Officers are being warned of possible ambushes and urged to change travel patterns and to tone down clothes or emblems that identify them as police.

The Baltimore police department separately put out a press release on Monday saying various gangs, including the Black Guerrilla Family, Bloods and Crips “have entered into a partnership to ‘take out’ law enforcement.”

A memo from the West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center is more specific, saying the gangs’ targets are white officers. Its report quotes another memo from the Eastern Shore Information Center in Salisbury, Md.

“Law enforcement officers are reminded to remain vigilant when conducting traffic stops and in general contact with citizens,” says the West Virginia center, which monitors criminals.

The Eastern Shore center “officer safety bulletin” states that the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office received information from a citizen who received a text with a Chicago area code.

COMMENT:  We have anti-cop mayors in several cities, including New York.  The New York City Council is about to "de-criminalize" a number of offenses, despite the pleading of the police commissioner.

Welcome to the 1960s.  I hope that kids who've been taught that it was a glorious era of social protest are now seeing the reality.

April 28, 2015       Permalink

ANOTHER GREAT PUBLIC SERVANT – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  We recall the revered mayor of New Orleans and governor of Louisiana during Katrina, and their zero performance; we reverently remember Mayor David Dinkins of New York, who ordered police to let rioters "vent" rather than confront them.  Why are we lucky enough to have such leaders?  Oh, and now we have another one in the firmament.  From Fox: 

“I wanted to give space to those who wished to destroy,” that is how Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake described her policy Saturday at a press conference. Her words, which effectively told police to stand down as those gathered to protest the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray smashed store windows, looted 7-Elevens and forced attendees at a Baltimore Oriole-Boston Red Sox baseball game to remain in the stadium because it wasn’t safe outside.

At a press conference on April 25 the mayor said, "“I made it very clear that I work with the police and instructed them to do everything that they could to make sure that the protesters were able to exercise their right to free speech. It’s a very delicate balancing act."

The major of Baltimore is a joke, and it's widely known.  Her concept of free speech makes Al Sharpton look like a pacifist.

The resulting violence escalated as flyers were distributed describing how the city was going to have a "purge" Monday styled after the movie of the same name where all laws were suspended for one night.

On Monday alone, seven police officers were injured with one reportedly "unresponsive." Looting is occurred in broad daylight with cars being torched and bottles, rocks and other large objects being hurled at officers at close range.

It all started on Saturday night when protests turned to violent riots in the area of the tourist heavy Inner Harbor area. Matt Boyle, a reporter for Breitbart News ended up being in the perimeter of the melee while going to attend a ballgame between the Boston Red Sox and the hometown Orioles. Boyle's live tweets of his observations of the mayhem described a dangerous, out-of-control situation that made him fear for his safety.

Boyle's later report described police standing passively by while a family trying to drive through the streets by Camden Yards found their car surrounded, windows smashed, passenger door pried open with the female passenger screaming in terror as the police observed. Fortunately, the attackers realized they were separated from the pack and chose to discontinue their assault without doing further harm.

COMMENT:   This is madness.  It is racial politics at its worst.  As the column goes on to say, this rioting may destroy Baltimore's growing tourist business, based on the development of the Inner Harbor.  How many jobs will be lost?  What race will lose the most?

April 28,  2015     Permalink