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AUGUST 13,  2015

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

CALLING JOE BIDEN, OR SOMEONE – From the Washington Times:  A federal judge ordered the State Department on Thursday to work with the FBI to get access to the 32,000 emails former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said were personal and that she didn’t return to the government, as the courts get more deeply involved in the Democratic presidential front-runner’s email practices.  This is getting very serious.  Courts on the federal level are really tough to buy off; the FBI is pretty straightarrow.  There are reports of virtual panic in the Democratic Party.  It's hard to hold a presidential inauguration in a federal prison. 

AMERICA IN THE AGE OF OBAMA – From The Wrap:  Police agencies in Southern California are increasing their presence around movie theaters, specifically in urban areas, as Universal prepares to release “Straight Outta Compton” on Friday, law enforcement insiders tell TheWrap.  The Los Angeles Police Department plans to dispatch additional officers to theaters in its Southwest Division, which includes Baldwin Hills, Baldwin Village, Crenshaw, Exposition Park, Jefferson Park, Leimert Park and West Adams, a department insider said.  “There will be extra patrols around the theaters, cars and foot patrol. But not only because of the movie that’s coming out, but in light of all the recent activity in the country,” the LAPD insider explained.  Nice, huh?  Does our vacationing president have any comments on the need to protect movie theaters...from the audience and the community?  Don't bother him.

GUARDIAN OF OUR SAFETY – From CBS:  DURANGO, Colo. (CBS4) – Gov. John Hickenlooper, who famously said he drank fracking fluid to make a point about its safety, drank from the recently contaminated Animas River on Wednesday.  Three million gallons of waste from the Gold King Mine poured into the Animas River last week, prompting a state of emergency and a shutdown of all river activities.  The governor toured the affected area on Tuesday, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency arrived on Wednesday, and the attorneys general of three states were present to ask questions.  This man needs counseling, or a full-time nurse.

FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT – Knowing our readership as I do, I think you'll like this: There is a tradition in the British armed forces,  started in World War I, to select a female singer to represent the military.  She is known as the “forces sweetheart.” In World War II the best-known “sweetheart” was Vera Lynn, who became one of the most popular singers  of her era, and made famous some of the great songs of the war years,  especially “We’ll Meet Again.” Vera Lynn is still alive. A more recent “sweetheart” was Katherine Jenkins, an operatic singer who has maintained the tradition  of singing songs of World War II.

Early this year the Brits marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Katherine Jenkins performed “We’ll Meet Again” at a gala concert, singing in counterpoint to a film of Vera Lynn singing the same song during the war. It’s a very nice effect.  Enjoy.  Here's the link:  "We'll Meet Again"

August 13, 2015       Permalink

THE NERVE OF THIS GUY – AT 11:34 A.M. ET:  Fidel Castro speaks.  And he'll probably be taken seriously in the Obama White House.  From AFP:

Havana (AFP) - Fidel Castro marked his 89th birthday Thursday by insisting the United States owes Cuba "many millions of dollars" because of the half-century-old American trade embargo.

Castro spoke out in an essay published in local media a day before US Secretary of State John Kerry makes a historic visit to Cuba to reopen the US embassy as part of the countries' restoration of diplomatic relations.

The trade embargo that the United States slapped on communist Cuba in 1962, three years after Castro seized power by ousting a US-backed regime, remains in effect despite the thawing.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to lift it, although US officials say this will take time and is not an automatic part of the restoration of ties as it requires congressional action.

Many Republicans, who control both chambers of the legislature, oppose the idea, insisting Cuba has to improve its human rights record and make other democratic reforms.

Castro wrote: "Cuba is owed compensation equivalent to damages, which total many millions of dollars, as our country has stated with irrefutable arguments and data in all of its speeches at the United Nations."

He did not go into detail on precisely how much money he reckons Washington owes Havana. The Americans are also claiming compensation for US-owned property, such as real estate, that was confiscated when Castro took power.

Castro made no mention either of Kerry's visit to reopen the embassy, a step that comes eight months after Obama and Castro's successor and brother Raul announced plans to restore relations. It officially took effect July 20.

Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother in 2006, stepping down because of poor health.

Over the years, Fidel Castro has been a frequent contributor of essays to the communist party newspaper Granma and other media. Thursday's was his first piece since May 8.

COMMENT:  Republicans are, of course, right on this.  No lowering of the trade embargo without an improvement in the human-rights situation for the Cuban people.  Human rights are no longer on the Democratic Party agenda, so we don't expect much help from them.

August 13, 2015        Permalink

WAITING IN THE WINGS – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  Joe Biden must be enjoying the news about Hillary.  He is vacationing in South Carolina, where, as I understand it, an important primary will be held.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

Vice President Joe Biden is using part of his vacation in South Carolina this week to sound out friends and family about a presidential bid, as some Democrats press him to enter the race and give the party another option in the face of lingering controversies involving Hillary Clinton.

From his vacation spot on Kiawah Island, Mr. Biden is giving the strongest signal yet that he is actively considering making a third run at the presidency. He is asking political allies for advice and gauging the strength of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign as he weighs his options, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Biden is expected to announce his decision next month.

“He’s taking input from a lot of people he cares about and respects,” said James Smith, a South Carolina legislator and Biden supporter who said he has urged the vice president to run. “He knows where I stand. It’s just got to be his decision.”

COMMENT:  But Biden faces some serious hurdles.  First, although he's a very likable guy, there is no real yearning for him in the Democratic Party.  His poll numbers go nowhere.

Second, he'd run for president twice before, with disastrous results.  He didn't even come close.

Third, he is given to gaffes, and embarrassing moments.

Fourth, he'll be 73, going on 74.  The GOP will undoubtedly run a much younger, more dynamic candidate. 

Fifth, the president he's tied to, Barack Obama, is becoming increasingly unpopular. 

I don't think it's an easy decision for Biden.  I think it's 50-50 on his running.

August 13, 2015       Permalink   

WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING – AT 9:41 A.M. ET:  I'm generally no great fan of my former newspaper, but The New York Times is running a superb piece on rape in the Islamic State.  It is stark and more than troubling: 

QADIYA, Iraq — In the moments before he raped the 12-year-old girl, the Islamic State fighter took the time to explain that what he was about to do was not a sin. Because the preteen girl practiced a religion other than Islam, the Quran not only gave him the right to rape her — it condoned and encouraged it, he insisted.

He bound her hands and gagged her. Then he knelt beside the bed and prostrated himself in prayer before getting on top of her.

When it was over, he knelt to pray again, bookending the rape with acts of religious devotion.

“I kept telling him it hurts — please stop,” said the girl, whose body is so small an adult could circle her waist with two hands. “He told me that according to Islam he is allowed to rape an unbeliever. He said that by raping me, he is drawing closer to God,” she said in an interview alongside her family in a refugee camp here, to which she escaped after 11 months of captivity.

The systematic rape of women and girls from the Yazidi religious minority has become deeply enmeshed in the organization and the radical theology of the Islamic State in the year since the group announced it was reviving slavery as an institution. Interviews with 21 women and girls who recently escaped the Islamic State, as well as an examination of the group’s official communications, illuminate how the practice has been enshrined in the group’s core tenets.

The trade in Yazidi women and girls has created a persistent infrastructure, with a network of warehouses where the victims are held, viewing rooms where they are inspected and marketed, and a dedicated fleet of buses used to transport them.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Then wonder why there is so little concern about this.  Maybe ask a multiculturalist professor, who anguishes over our failure to understand "other cultures."  The hypocrisy just flows.

Oh, remember when such lights as Michelle Obama held up a sign saying "Bring back our girls," after a Muslim group kidnaped girls in Africa?   That campaign lasted about a week.  Whatever happened to those girls?  Anyone still interested?

August 13, 2015       Permalink

CLOSING IN ON CLINTON – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  As Charles Krauthammer pointed out, Hillary Clinton has now lost control of a situation she has tried hard to contain.  From Fox: 

The FBI has taken possession of the personal e-mail server used by Hillary Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state, according to a published report.

Barbara Wells, an attorney for Denver-based computer services firm Platte River Networks, told The Washington Post that federal agents picked up the server from a private data center in New Jersey Wednesday afternoon. The attorney told the paper that the server "was blank" and no longer contained useful information.

"The information had been migrated over to a different server for purposes of transition," Wells told the paper. "To my knowledge the data on the old server is not available now on any servers or devices in Platte River Network’s control." Wells added that the company had cooperated with the FBI and had been told it was not a target of the investigation.

The Justice Department is looking into whether classified information was improperly stored on or passed through the server, which Clinton used for all her correspondence during her time as secretary of state.

The Post reported that Platte River Networks had been hired by former President Bill and Hillary Clinton to upgrade their private e-mail network in June 2013, after Hillary Clinton had left the State Department. As part of the job, the old server was taken from the basement of the Clintons' Chappaqua, N.Y. home and moved to the New Jersey data center.

Clinton announced that she would turn the server over to the FBI Tuesday. That same day, Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III told members of Congress that at least two emails that traversed the device while she was secretary of state contained information that warranted one of the government's highest levels of classification.

COMMENT:  Hillary Clinton is in serious trouble.  As it's been pointed out, if an ordinary government employee did what she did, that employee would face grim legal consequences. 

Will this probe end Clinton's candidacy for president?  Well, she's in the modern Democratic Party, which has shown a remarkable tolerance for bad behavior.  Exhibit A:  her husband.  Exhibit B:  Al Sharpton.  But Clinton's poll numbers are declining, and there seems to be little upside for her.  And if she's indicted?  I can't see how she could stay in the race, although she's a Clinton.

August 13,  2015     Permalink

AUGUST 12,  2015

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

EMBARRASSING – From AP:   WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration doesn't plan to invite Cuban dissidents to Secretary of State John Kerry's historic flag-raising at the U.S. Embassy in Havana on Friday, vividly illustrating how U.S. policy is shifting focus from the island's opposition to its single-party government. Instead, Kerry intends to meet more quietly with prominent activists later in the day, officials said.  The Cuban opposition has occupied the center of U.S. policy toward the island since the nations cut diplomatic relations in 1961. The Cuban government labels its domestic opponents as traitorous U.S. mercenaries. As the two countries have moved to restore relations, Cuba has almost entirely stopped meeting with American politicians who visit dissidents during trips to Havana.  Incredible.  We allow these pint-sized dictators to kick us around, and consider it progress. 

NEW YORK AGAINST IRAN DEAL – From Quinnipiac.edu:   New York City voters oppose 43 - 36 percent the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.  Jewish voters oppose the proposed pact 53 - 33 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds. Opposition is 70 - 15 percent among Republican voters and 51 - 32 percent among independent voters, while Democrats support the pact 43 - 33 percent.  Manhattan voters support the nuclear deal 48 - 27 percent, and Brooklyn voters are divided with support at 40 percent and opposition at 43 percent. Opposition is 42 - 26 percent in The Bronx, 49 - 33 percent in Queens and 76 - 11 percent in Staten Island.
Voters are divided on whether the deal would make the world safer or not as 40 percent say safer and 42 percent say less safe.   "New York City voters agree with U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer in his opposition to the proposed Iran deal," said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll.   Schumer is on safe ground, despite the ugly onslaught against him by the Obama crowd.  New York City is one of the most liberal towns in America.  If the Iran agreement is rejected there, Obama's support on the issue is truly in poor shape.  Reports from the Senate indicate that Schumer is still on track to be minority leader.  The lefties are trying to purge him, but it doesn't seem to be working.

MADNESS – From personalliberty.com:   It’s always fun to watch liberal utopia melt down in real time. Here’s a good one: from the intersection of big labor and racial oversensitivity.  United Auto Workers Local 2865, the University of California student-worker union, recently sent a letter to the AFL-CIO asking the union to sever ties with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA) because police officer unions do not represent the interest of workers.  Why? Because cops are racists and they work for oppressors. And oppressors hate workers, especially black ones. Duh, bro.  If American parents ever understood what actually goes on at universities, most would haul their kiddies out in a second. 

August 12,  2015     Permalink 

CARLY SOARS – AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  As many had predicted, Carly Fiorina's standing in the polls has improved dramatically as a result of her stellar performance in last week's debates.  Many observers declared her the star of the evening, even though she was relegated to the "junior" debate.  From the New York Post: 

WASHINGTON — She was relegated to the “kids table,” but Carly Fiorina’s strong performance in last week’s GOP presidential debates propelled her into the top tier in the crowded Republican field.

Three new polls released Tuesday put the former Hewlett-Packard CEO within the top five of 17 Republican presidential candidates — a huge leap from the No. 14 spot she held prior to the Thursday night showdown on Fox News.

By most accounts, Fiorina won that second-tier forum featuring the seven candidates with the lowest poll scores.

“She has broken through,” Suffolk University pollster David Paleologos told The Post.

The next debate on Sept. 16 will be hosted by CNN at the Ronald Reagan Library in California.
Once again, the candidates will be separated, with the top 10 getting a spot on the main event stage and the candidates in the bottom tier of national polls going to the B-list debate.

And...

Paleologos called Fiorina’s showing “dramatic.”

The debate, he said, “was a real boost — it would have been a turbo boost had she been in the evening debate — but a boost is a boost nevertheless. She’s put herself in the game and that’s what you need to do six months before the first contest.”

COMMENT:  Why the raves?  Because Fiorina is the most prepared, most articulate candidate running.  She knows how to put across her point of view in plain English, without rancor, and in a beautifully modulated voice.  She clearly practices.  All good speakers do.  She's extraordinarily focused.  She has the will to win, and we sense it.

Even if she doesn't eventually get the nomination, she might well still be on the ticket, and will be an asset.

August 12, 2015       Permalink 

MAYOR MIKE SPEAKS OUT – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  While no Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York is looked on fondly by New Yorkers as a solid mayor who kept the city safe, as compared with the current clown-in-chief, Red Bill de Blasio, who's nostalgic about Fidel Castro.

I've been wondering when Mayor Mike would speak out on national issues.  I've also been wondering whether he would make a run for national office.  Like Donald, he could finance his own campaign.

Now Bloomberg has spoken out, or written out, on the Iran deal.  His column, published by his own news service, is serious, mature, and thoughtful.  From Bloomberg:   

I have deep reservations about the Iranian nuclear agreement, but I -- like many Americans -- am still weighing the evidence for and against it. This is one of the most important debates of our time, one with huge implications for our future and security and the stability of the world. Yet instead of attempting to persuade Americans on the merits, supporters of the deal are resorting to intimidation and demonization, while also grossly overstating their case.

Last week, President Barack Obama said that it was not a difficult decision to endorse the agreement. I couldn't disagree more. This is an extraordinarily difficult decision, and the president's case would be more compelling if he stopped minimizing the agreement's weaknesses and exaggerating its benefits. If he believes that the deal "permanently prohibits Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," as he said in his speech at American University last Wednesday, then he should take another look at the agreement, whose restrictions end suddenly after 15 years, with some of the constraints on uranium enrichment melting away after just 10.

Overstating the case for the agreement belies the gravity of the issue and does more to breed distrust than win support. Smearing critics is even less effective. In his speech, the president suggested that critics of the deal are the same people who argued for the war in Iraq. The message wasn't very subtle: Those who oppose the agreement are warmongers. (Of course, those who voted for the Iraq War resolution in 2002 include Obama's vice president and secretary of state.)

Then he went further, saying: "It's those hardliners chanting 'Death to America' who have been most opposed to the deal. They're making common cause with the Republican caucus." From a president who often complains about hyperpartisanship, and whose stated aim is to elevate the discourse, the public deserved something better.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's one of the best columns I've read on the subject.  Say, you don't think Mike is gearing up to...?

Yah never know.  I mean, who woulda thunk of Trump?

August 12, 2015       Permalink

YIKES – HILLARY FADES – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  A new poll shows Bernie Sanders surging ahead of Hillary in New Hampshire, which, of course, will hold the first major primary.  From the Boston Herald: 

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has rocketed past longtime front-runner Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, a stunning turn in a race once considered a lock for the former secretary of state, a new Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows.

Vice President Joe Biden got 9 percent support in the test primary match-up. The other announced Democrats in the race, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Virginia Gov. Jim Webb, barely register at 1 percent or below.

The live interview phone poll was conducted Aug. 7-10 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.

Clinton is still viewed overwhelmingly by voters as the likely Democratic nominee, but the results suggest she faces an unexpectedly difficult fight to prevent an embarrassing opening loss in the first-in-the-nation primary.

The Franklin Pierce/Herald poll shows that most New Hampshire Democrats are lukewarm to Clinton, despite her campaign’s concerted effort to soften her image and connect with voters.

Just 35 percent of likely primary voters say they are “excited” about Clinton’s campaign, according to the poll. And 51 percent of voters say that while they could support her, they aren’t enthusiastic about her White House bid.

And while 80 percent of likely Granite State Democrats view her favorably, just 38 percent of those say they have a “very” favorable impression.

Sanders’ rise has been meteoric. The socialist senator trailed Clinton by a 44-8 margin in a Franklin Pierce/Herald poll in March.

COMMENT:  Well, I guess it gives our side some satisfaction to see this, but let's be careful what we wish for.  Let's say Hillary is toppled, or even withdraws from the nomination race because of poor polls, a possible indictment, or both.   Who's left?  Bernie?  Lizzie Warren?  In terms of policy, they could be much worse.

And let's also recall that Jimmy ("Why not the best?") Carter couldn't wait to run against Ronald Reagan in 1980.  He thought he'd roll over the "extremist warmonger."  Then Americans saw them both on the same strange, and it was all over.  Reagan was a president.  Carter, even though holding the presidency, was a local postmaster. 

I disagree with Bernie on almost everything, but he has a certain "my favorite uncle" appeal.  Don't underestimate him.  I think Hillary would be easier to beat.

August 12,  2015     Permalink

POOR HILLARY, SHE HAS A PROBLEM – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  I feel so sorry for her.   She's "earned" $140-million, with her husband, in recent years.  But how can she keep it, and enjoy an occasional lunch at Burger King, with all these legal expenses?  From Fox:   

Charles Krauthammer told viewers Tuesday on “Special Report with Bret Baier” that revelations classified emails were found on Hillary Clinton's private server that she used to conduct business showed that “it’s not only her trustworthiness, it’s the fact that nothing she says ever is true three weeks later.”

On Tuesday, the Intelligence Community Inspector General informed Congress that two of four classified emails found on Clinton's personal server carried a “Top Secret” classification – one of the highest security categorizations.

Clinton has repeatedly denied using her private account to send or receive any classified emails. On March 10 she told reporters “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material. So I'm certainly aware of the classification and requirements and did not send classified material.”

Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor said that Tuesday’s revelation is simply part of a larger pattern of behavior by the former secretary of state: “She says ‘there was nothing classified and I know how to do that, I know the process,’ and then it was revised to ‘nothing that at the time was classified.’ Well, now we’re learning that it is quite probable that actually at the time it was, and she should have known it even if she’ll claim, obviously, that she didn’t.

“There’s always a movement, a parsing of the edges, a cutting, with her husband, and with herself and that is the problem that dogs her and that she cannot escape.”

COMMENT:  And that's what people see, and have often seen.  And yet, if she is the nominee, you may be sure that the same media that put Barack Obama in office will make every effort to put Hillary in office, as another "first."  They will be some pro forma concerns expressed about her, but I can just imagine The New York Times saying, "On balance, she is far preferable to a candidate of the Republican Party, with its anti-woman agenda and reckless foreign policy."

In addition, she went to the right schools, and that counts more than anything.

August 12, 2015       Permalink