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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas yesterday.  It's here.

FEBRUARY 9,  2015

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

FIGHT, PLEASE FIGHT – From the Washington Free Beacon:  "Hillary Clinton supporter David Brock resigned from the board of a leading pro-Clinton Super PAC on Monday after alleging “an orchestrated political hit job” against two other prominent pro-Clinton groups.  Brock accused current and former employees of Priorities USA, a major Democratic Super PAC backing Clinton’s expected presidential bid, of working to undermine the fundraising efforts of opposition research group Media Matters for America and Super PAC American Bridge, both of which are also supportive of Clinton.  Brock made his remarks in a letter to former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the co-chairs of Priorities’ board, according to Politico’s Ken Vogel."  You may recall that Brock used to be a conservative.  Now he's a Clintonite.  Let them fight.

ANOTHER PREDICTION, ANOTHER NO-SHOW – From the American Interest:  "Global climate models have pointed to an El Niño event for nearly a year, but the massive weather event has yet to materialize. Scientists are now hard at work trying to understand why Gaia has defied our best expectations."  But, hey, they can predict global warming for 75 years.  Or maybe they can't.  Maybe it's time for a serious, Congressional look at "climate science."  While they're at it, maybe they can tell me why most of the serious storm predictions for our area never seem to materialize.

ARE THEY SERIOUS? – From StarTribune.com:  "About 16 University of Minnesota students alleging on-campus racial and ethnic discrimination took over school President Eric Kaler’s second-floor office in Morrill Hall Monday afternoon...The protesters have a list of demands that include greater racial and ethnic diversity in university hiring practices and more money for the school’s ethnic studies program. These were initiatives that Kaler had promised would be accomplished by the end of last year, the students contended.  Other demands include removing descriptions of race and complexion from campus crime alerts, making enrolling in an ethnic studies class a requirement of all students, offering greater bathroom access for 'all genders,' and removing from admissions applications any questions about criminal history of prospective students."  I feel safer already.

OH HORRORS! – From The Hill:  "A battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren could easily divide entertainers, creating a showdown that might split Hollywood and force A-list stars to choose sides.  The lines are already being drawn in the fight for La-La Land’s love, with the former secretary of State not yet officially in the 2016 Democratic presidential race and the Massachusetts Democrat professing a lack of interest.  'They draw on different parts of the artistic community,' Darrell West, author of the book Celebrity Politics, tells ITK. 'Warren, being more liberal, does very well among progressive artists, various Hollywood stars who worry the Democratic Party has become too centrist.'"  Yeah, look at it.  Barack Obama.  John Kerry.  Real centrist.  It really is La-La Land out there."

February 9, 2015       Permalink

DOWN TO THE WIRE – AT 11:30 A.M. ET:   Nuclear talks with Iran are supposed to wind up next month.  Obama is desperate for an agreement, which would be a key step toward his goal of turning Iran into an ally.  The man lives his fantasies.  But there are problems, and maybe the administration is starting to feel the heat from doubtful members of Congress in both parties.  From the Daily Signal:

In an interview Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the deadline for Iranian nuclear talks was unlikely to be extended.

“If we’re not able to make the fundamental decisions that have to be made over the course of the next weeks, literally, I think it would be impossible to extend,” Kerry said. “I don’t think we would want to extend at that point. Either you make the decisions to prove your program is a peaceful one, or if you’re unable to do that, it may tell a story that none of us want to hear.”

According to the Associated Press, the negotiations group known as the P5+1 – comprised of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China and facilitated by the European Union – has missed two previous deadlines in their efforts to halt the development of an Iranian nuclear program.

The deadline for the framework of a nuclear deal is March 31, while the deadline for a comprehensive agreement is June 30.

According to NBC, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also dismissed extending the deadline.

COMMENT:  The issue here is not what Kerry thinks.  He's not allowed to think.  The decision on whether America caves will be made by Barack Obama, with Valerie Jarrett in a supporting role.  My great fear, apparently shared by many others, is that Obama will make reckless concessions to get a deal.

February 9, 2015       Permalink

BLUNTNESS, AND RARE CLARITY – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   Andrew Malcolm, of Investor's Business Daily, in a blunt and brave column, writes what a lot of other people are thinking, about President Obama.  From IBD: 

Once again Barack Obama, who entered American public life a decade ago as a real good talker, has created another unnecessary verbal mess for himself by dragging the medieval Crusades into the contemporary discussion of terrorism by Islamic extremists.

But what his tortured comparison also did was add fuel to the widespread suspicion that this American president who professes to be Christian harbors some dark, hidden affinity or allegiance to Islam.

That's a faith with 1.7 billion followers, the overwhelming number of whom have nothing to do with the senseless and bloody terrorism that seared the American psyche on 9/11 and most days since.

And being a president named Barack Hussein Obama, the Democrat sees no need to address these suspicions even as, like the stubborn secrecy he wrapped around his birth certificate, the allegedly false impression is embedded in many minds.

According to at least one understandably unidentified speechwriter, Obama personally wrote the Crusade reference into his remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.

And...

Obama is quite fond of such convenient but superficial moral equivalencies. In this case, he's comparing as equals Islamic State barbarism to the Spanish Inquisition, which occurred more than five centuries ago, and to two centuries of Crusades that began almost a millenia ago.

Such facile phrasing drew immediate rebukes across a wide spectrum, including not surprisingly political opponents.

"We will be happy to keep an eye out for runaway Christians," said Gov. Bobby Jindal. "But it would be nice if he would face the reality of the situation today. The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the radical Islamic threat today.”

Deborah Lipstadt, a professor of Jewish history at Emory University, said: “He has bent over backwards to try to separate this from Islam. Sometimes people try to keep an open mind. And when you have too open a mind, your brains can fall out.”

COMMENT:  Indeed, one sees falling brains all over Washington.  They often belonged to people who were only too happy to announce their own brilliance, and to coin phrases like "smart power" to call attention to their College Board scores.

Obama belongs to a class, now in charge in Washington, that believes that education equals wisdom, and that where you went to school determines your abilities and morality. 

In fact, in my lifetime I have never detected any connection between alma mater and competence, or educational pedigree and greatness.  Remember, please, that Lincoln had one year of schooling, and Reagan went to a tiny, obscure college in Illinois.

February 9,  2015     Permalink

TRUTH TELLIN' – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  A former high American intelligence official tells it like it is about American policy in the Mideast.  From the New York Post:

WASHINGTON – The former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency described President Obama’s strategy to fight ISIS as “confusion.”

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who retired last year as the agency’s head, compared the lack of clear direction to a football team not knowing where to go when they break from a huddle.

“I feel like when we say ‘ready, break,’ every player on the team is going off into other stadiums, playing different sports,” Flynn said on Fox News Sunday.

The criticism of the Obama administration’s ISIS strategy comes as the terrorists burned alive a caged Jordanian pilot and reported that US hostage, Kayla Mueller, had been killed. ISIS has marveled US leaders with its ability to recruit new members abroad, spark terror with brutal murders broadcast on social media and swiftly capture parts of Syria and Iraq.

COMMENT:  He's right, of course.  Even after the brutal murder of the Jordanian pilot, announced by ISIS while Jordan's King Abdullah was in Washington, Obama's response was lukewarm.  The president has no real strategy because he has no zeal for the fight.  He is much more comfortable condemning the West and its religions.  That is his ideology. 

John Kerry claims we're defeating ISIS.  I hope it's true, but I doubt it.  Islamist terrorism seems to grow and grow.  Our side was thrilled last week by the defiant reaction of King Abdullah of Jordan, but I really wonder how much international support he'll get after the uproar over the pilot's death dies down.  Obama has a way of selling out our allies, and enjoying it.

February 9, 2015       Permalink

MAJOR FINANCIAL NEWS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  Wait, I'm out of breath after reading this.  Must cool down.  Here it is, the definitive issue of our time.  From College Fix: 

The University of California Student Association board – which represents all 233,000 students enrolled in the UC system’s 10 campuses – approved a resolution on Sunday that calls on the system’s leaders to financially divest from the United States.

The measure cited alleged human rights violations by America such as drone strikes that have killed civilians, and claimed the country’s criminal justice system is racist, among other accusations.

The “Resolution Toward Socially Responsible Investment at the University of California” passed with an overwhelming majority vote of 11-1-3.

“The government of the United States of America is engaged in drone strikes that have killed over 2,400 people in Pakistan and Yemen, many of them civilians,” the resolution stated. “The government oversees, by far, the highest rate of imprisonment in the world, and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement agencies, particularly for drug-related offences. 400,000 undocumented immigrants are held in detention centers every year, and millions have been deported since the current administration took office, and the government is directly supporting and propping up numerous dictatorships around the world with weapons sales and foreign aid.”

COMMENT:  Please note that these "students" are enrolled at publicly supported universities – taxpayer money – and this is what they do with their time.

There are lots of "divestment" resolutions passed by college student governments, most of them directed at the energy industry or the nation of Israel.  This is the first divestment resolution directed at the entire United States.

Pathetic.

February 9,  2015     Permalink

FEBRUARY 8,  2015

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

GIGANTIC POLITICAL NEWS – From The Hill:  "Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he has not ruled out launching a presidential bid in 2016, maintaining he's been too busy to give the prospect any thought.   Asked by 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd if he'd consider another run, the 2004 Democratic nominee said he can think of 'no scenario whatsoever' where he would launch another bid.  'I haven't thought about it and I'm, as you can tell, pretty busy,' he said, chuckling, during a trip to Germany this weekend meeting foreign leaders at the Munich Security Conference.  Pressed if he'd rule out the possibility, Kerry replied, 'Well, nobody ever says never.'"  I guess Hillary Clinton couldn't be reached for comment.

THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD? – Well, sometimes mamas take it too far.  From CBS New York:  "A Staten Island mother stood accused Friday of threatening to blow up her daughter’s school after her daughter failed an exam.  Karen Shearon covered her face with her coat as she left the Staten Island courthouse Friday afternoon.  When asked if she made the threats against Susan Wagner High School, at 1200 Manor Rd. on the edge of the Manor Heights section of Staten Island, Sharon said no and called the teachers at the school 'liars.'  Investigators claimed Shearon made the threat after a guidance counselor called to tell her that her daughter failed the Regents Examination."  Maybe a bit o'studyin' could have avoided this.

HYPOCRITES – From Breitbart:  "Despite a supposed White House policy against meeting foreign leaders facing elections, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry both met with Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog in Munich on Saturday. Herzog is the main rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Mar. 17 election, and his supporters played up the meeting as evidence that Herzog is more respected by the Obama administration and world leaders in general than Netanyahu."  This administrations two-faced behavior is disgraceful, no matter what side you may be on in the Israeli election.  A Soviet once said that great nations don't change their foreign policy every five minutes.  That hasn't dawned on Obama and his team.  We look like a bunch of kids playing in a sandbox.  Except the kids would do things better.

February 8, 2015       Permalink

THE FIB – AT 12:18 P.M. ET:   Extraordinary, isn't it, the way President Obama is taking credit for lower gasoline prices, even though he opposed almost all the things that forced prices down.  Is it delusion or dishonesty?  From progressivestoday.com:

Only a few months after banning oil drilling in Bristol Bay in Alaska, and a few days from pushing to ban oil drilling in an Alaskan wild life refuge, President Obama has decided that cheap gas prices are somehow because of him.

On Friday, President Obama told a crowd at the Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis that people were saving a lot of money at that gas pump so “You’re Welcome” (video below):

“A lot of families have been saving a lot of money at the gas pump which is putting smiles on folks faces. And (Crowd laughs) No, You’re Welcome.”

The absolute gall of the President for taking credit for something he honestly doesn’t support, and is not responsible for, is mind numbing.

Ever since 2006, when Obama was still a Senator, he has touted that America can not “drill away it’s energy problem."

And...

As a matter of fact President Obama does not support any form of cheap energy. This became apparent when he admitted that in order to “mobilize” the citizenry in support of his Green energy agenda, his Cap and Trade program would cause the price of electricity, natural gas, or anything else that is refined (such as gasoline) to skyrocket.

President Obama taking credit for something which he did not do, or support is very reminiscent of the tactics used by Communist leaders who would take credit for the rain that fell from the sky and the food on peoples’ tables.

COMMENT:  And, naturally, the mainstream media never challenges Obama on his ridiculous claim.  After all, how much good news do they have about the "achievements" of the exalted president?

February 8, 2015       Permalink

THE WAR ON CHRISTIANS – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Prince Charles, of all people, has written an excellent piece on the war against Christians, especially in the Middle East.  His warning should be taken seriously.  We are looking at the possibility that Christianity will be wiped out in the Middle East.  If this were being done to Muslims, the political left would be aflame.  From London's Daily Mail:   

There is a real worry that there could come a time when there are no Christians left in the Middle East because the numbers have gone so dramatically down.

With what has happened in Mosul in Iraq and other centres, there are very few Christians left because they were intimidated to a degree you can't believe.

Everything has been taken from them. Many of them are so fearful now of ever going back.

It is a most agonising situation, but we must remember that all around the world there is appalling persecution going on, not only of Christians but of Muslims and of other faiths and religions.

The radicalisation of people in Britain is a great worry, and the extent to which this is happening is alarming, particularly in a country like ours where we hold values dear.

You would think that the people who have come here, or are born here, and who go to school here, would abide by those values and outlooks.

But the frightening part is that people can be so radicalised, either through direct contact with somebody, or through the internet. There is an extraordinary amount of crazy stuff on the internet and clearly some people get particularly affected by it and join with others.

I can see some of this radicalisation is a search for adventure and excitement at a particular age.

So what I have been trying to do with the Prince's Trust and other groups is to find alternatives for adolescents and people at a young age – constructive paths to channel their enthusiasm, their energy, their sense of wanting to take risks.

COMMENT:  Why can the prince say what the president of the United States cannot say?  Read the whole piece.  It's quite interesting, coming from a member of the royal family.

February 8, 2015       Permalink

JORDAN FOLLOWS THROUGH – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  I'm usually no great fan of Arab countries, but Jordan has certainly stepped up to the plate in the fight against ISIS.  At least King Abdullah walks the walk while our president talks the talk, or mumbles the talk, or whispers, or something.  From Reuters: 

Jordan's air force chief said on Sunday his country's jet fighters had conducted 56 bombing raids in three days against Islamic State militants in northeast Syria, targeting key bases and arms depots.

Jordan stepped up its bombing of the jihadist group on Thursday in response to the brutal killing by Islamic State of a captured Jordanian pilot, and continued until Saturday.

No new strikes were announced for Sunday.

"We achieved what we aimed for. We destroyed logistics centers, arms depots and targeted hideouts of their fighters," General Mansour al-Jbour, head of the Jordanian airforce, told a news conference.

Jordan has carried out nearly a fifth of the sorties of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria to date, Jbour said. US aircraft joined the mission to provide intelligence, surveillance, a U.S. official told Reuters earlier on Sunday.

The raids had "degraded" nearly 20 percent of the militants' capabilities, he said.

COMMENT:  Impossible to verify the claims, but one must be impressed by Jordan's determination.   We hope it continues.

Some people say that ISIS cannot be defeated militarily, it being an ideology.  That's nonsense.  It's the kind of "observation" we always get from the political left.  How many times have you heard leftists say, "There's no military solution"?  We heard it often during the Vietnam War.  Strange, but the enemy in Vietnam certainly found a military solution.  They called it victory.

Ideologies need foot soldiers to spread their ideology.  They need a structure, a mechanism.  Destroy that structure and you may not wipe out the ideology, but you will certainly render it largely helpless.  We did not destroy fascism by defeating Nazi Germany, but Nazism as a force was torn to shreds.

February 8,  2015     Permalink