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JUNE 4,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

PASSING – From CNN:  "(CNN) -- For more than two decades, Chester Nez kept silent about his role as one of the original Navajo code talkers responsible for developing an unbreakable code during World War II.
His death Wednesday at his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at age 93 was lamented by the Marine Corps as the end of an era -- for both the country and its armed forces.  'We mourn his passing but honor and celebrate the indomitable spirit and dedication of those Marines who became known as the Navajo code talkers,' the Marines said in a statement.  Nez was the last remaining of the original 29 Navajos recruited by the Marine Corps to develop the legendary code that was used for vital communications during battle."  The enemy never broke the code.

BIZARRE – From the Washington Free Beacon:  "Some of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides blasted the New York Times for what they said was unfair coverage of the former first lady during a recent secret meeting with the paper’s Washington bureau, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.  Sources said the meeting included Clinton advisers Philippe Reines and Huma Abedin, as well as Times Washington bureau chief Carolyn Ryan and national political reporter Amy Chozick, who has been on the Clinton beat for the paper.  During the closed-door gathering, Clinton aides reportedly griped about the paper’s coverage of the potential 2016 candidate, arguing that Clinton has left public office and not be subjected to harsh scrutiny, according to a source familiar with the discussions."  Whaa?  She shouldn't be subjected to harsh scrutiny?  Really?  What Clinton apparently wants is the Obama treatment of 2008:  no serious questions asked.  She will certainly get that from some "journalists."  But others may have learned their lesson from the Obama disaster. 

AFTER FIVE YEARS OF OBAMA – From CNN:  "The American Dream is impossible to achieve in this country.  So say nearly 6 in 10 people who responded to CNNMoney's American Dream Poll, conducted by ORC International. They feel the dream -- however they define it -- is out of reach.  Young adults, age 18 to 34, are most likely to feel the dream is unattainable, with 63% saying it's impossible. This age group has suffered in the wake of the Great Recession, finding it hard to get good jobs.  Younger Americans are a cause of great concern. Many respondents said they are worried about the next generation's ability to prosper."  Another part of the Obama legacy.  And yet the young screamed for him in 2008.  He was Barack, come to save us.  He's saved no one.

THE MARCH OF SCIENCE – Would you trust energy policy in these hands?  From the Washington Times:  "An official on the Environmental Protection Agency’s hydraulic fracturing scientific advisory board got a doctorate degree from an unaccredited, shuttered online correspondence school that congressional auditors targeted a decade ago in an investigation into diploma mills.  The advisory board member is listed as Dr. Connie Schreppel in EPA records, which highlight her doctorate from Kennedy Western University and a master’s from Greenwich University.  Both schools are unaccredited or unapproved in several states, including Texas, where it’s a misdemeanor crime to cite a degree from either school in seeking a job or a promotion."  You'd think they could get someone with solid, unquestioned credentials.  But who are we to question the culture of the diploma-mill community?

June 4,  2014     Permalink

OBAMA WOBBLY IN NEW POLL – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  And this was taken before the prisoner-release uproar.   From Andrew Malcolm at IBD: 

A new CNN-ORC International Poll shows that in the last month Obama's job approval did not get any worse.

Didn't get any better, of course, from 43%. And he's still underwater with the country's voters; fully 55% disapprove of whatever it is he's trying to do. With 960 days left on his White House lease, that passes for Happy Time. Maybe he should leave the country more often.

Obama's travels are always very expensive. But his absence gives countrymen a respite from the president's current penchant for small ball. You know, his campaigns for safer school lockers and more legible restaurant menus or whatever next week's cause will be.

CNN's Polling Director Keating Holland notes, "The President doesn't get a majority approving of his track record on any of the 12 issues tested in our poll."

You might not be surprised to learn that nearly six-in-ten Americans disapprove of Obama's job handling of the worsening Veterans Administration healthcare scandal.

COMMENT:  I'm guessing that Obama will take another hit in the next poll because of the prisoner issue.  What's remarkable about this supreme egotist is that public opinion means nothing to him.  And we must fear what he'll do after the November mid-terms, when his political obligations to the Democrat Party are over.  This is a man who can go wild.  We've seen it already.

June 4, 2014       Permalink

ANNIVERSARY – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  In two days we will observe the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of Normandy in northern France, which led to the eventual downfall of Hitler's Germany.

But let us not forget another anniversary.  It was 70 years ago today that allied forces liberated Rome, part of the campaign in Italy that led to the defeat of the Mussolini regime.  Veterans of Rome have always felt a bit cheated because their accomplishment, after weeks of bitter fighting, was immediately overshadowed by Normandy.

So let us remember the bitter Italian campaign, which was marked by historic battles with names like Anzio and Monte Cassino.  The troops who liberated Italy paid a heavy price, and their contribution to ultimate victory was second to none. 

June 4, 2014        Permalink

OBAMA'S WORST NIGHTMARE – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:   I don't mean to be cold or cynical, but we do political reporting here.   The great nightmare for Obama in the burgeoning prisoner-release scandal involves the parents of soldiers who were killed looking for Sgt. Bergdahl.  From Military Times: 

Sondra Andrews’ son, 2nd Lt. Darryn Andrews, is one of six soldiers killed reportedly while searching for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

The sergeant’s return from captivity has stirred “very raw emotions.”

“It gets really hurtful when I think, this guy was worth my son’s life? My son who was patriotic? Who was a true soldier? Who defended his country with his life?” Andrews told Army Times via phone on Monday. “That guy was worth that? I don’t think so.”

Andrews also was upset to hear the U.S. government agreed to release five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Bergdahl’s freedom.

“I bet you anything there were soldiers killed or wounded capturing those five guys,” she said. “So what does that do for their sacrifice? They sacrificed for nothing, because they turned right around and let them go.”

Bergdahl disappeared June 30, 2009, from a base in Paktika province, near the border with Pakistan.

COMMENTS:  It is those parents who, if they wish to go public, can make this one of the biggest political scandals of our time.  This whole episode has touched a nerve, in part because it comes on top of growing concerns that Obama is a weak president with a certain compassion for America's enemies. 

In any decent parliamentary system, this might well have already cost a prime minister his job.  Hmm.

June 4,  2014     Permalink

THE SCANDAL, AT LEAST THE LATEST ONE – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  The White House is desperately trying to ease its way through the prisoner release scandal.  From Fox: 

Deputy national security advisor Tony Blinken struggled to cover for his boss Susan Rice on Tuesday, backtracking from her contention that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl “served with honor and distinction” in the face of tough questions from NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell.

Mitchell confronted Blinken over Rice’s Sunday claim that Bergdahl “served with honor and distinction” — an assertion almost immediately disproven by scores of Bergdahl’s comrades and official Pentagon reports, which show the soldier abandoned his post and may have been seeking to join the Taliban.

“Why did Susan Rice say he served with honor and distinction?” she asked. “It was clear to the military as soon as he left what had happened, according to his former fellow soldiers?”

Andrea Mitchell asked a tough question of an Obaman?  Times are indeed changing...maybe.

“Andrea, as Chairman Dempsey said this morning, we need to give Sgt. Bergdahl an opportunity to tell his story,” Blinken dodged, refusing to address Rice’s claim. “Right now we’re focused on bringing him back to the United States. He hasn’t even spoken to his family yet. There’s a whole transition process that goes on.”

“Keep in mind,” the deputy national security advisor continued, ”he just spent five years in captivity in the most horrendous conditions possible. We want to bring him home, we want to reunite him with his family, we want to get him well. And then he’ll have an opportunity to tell us what happened.”

Oh come on.  They're still lying.  He wasn't held under the worst conditions possible.  Apparently Blinky never heard of the Bataan Death March.

But Mitchell didn’t let up, questioning how the United States can be assured that the five top-level Taliban prisoners released from Gitmo will remain in Qatar and not participate in command and control operations remotely.

Blinken stressed the commitments received from the government of Qatar, adding that “under the previous administration, hundreds of prisoners were released from Guantanamo without any restrictions on their travel or activities.”

COMMENT:  It's BUSH!  It's BUSH!  Don't you understand?  The Bush releases involved minor figures.  Obama just released five Taliban commanders.

June 4, 2014       Permalink

JUNE 3,  2014

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

CARSON – There's a current Republican presidential boomlet for Dr. Ben Carson, the brilliant, African-American neurosurgeon from Johns Hopkins.  I saw him interviewed on CNN tonight and came away with the same impression I've had before.  He says all the right things, and says them clearly, but he has an unpolished, sometimes confrontational demeanor that makes it hard for him to close the deal.  He needs more experience and some good coaching.  But he's fascinating – a black neurosurgeon who's actually saved many lives, and who can speak about things like Obamacare with authority.  With the right preparation, he could be ready for 2016, probably as a vice presidential candidate.

A FADING TRADITION, THE SUMMER JOB – From CNS:  "(CNSNews.com) – A new analysis by the Employment Policy Institute (EPI) shows that unemployment among teens without a high school diploma is more than 50 percent in two of the largest U.S. cities.  Using U.S. Census Bureau data from May 2013 to April 2014, the analysis reveals that in Riverside-San Bernardino area of Southern California, the unemployment rate for teens ages 16 to 19 years old who don’t have a high school diploma is 54.2 percent.  In the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore., metropolitan area, the unemployment rate from that population is 53.8 percent.  'These numbers are staggering,' Michael Saltsman, director of research at EPI told CNSNews.com. 'Teens across the country this summer are missing out on valuable work experience as they continue to suffer through an extended period of high unemployment and difficult job prospects.'"  Obama shows his usual interest.

COMMAND PERFORMANCE – Hillary Clinton endorsed the sordid prisoner swap today.  This is speculation on my part, but I'm assuming this was the subject that she and Obama had at the White House last week, that he briefed her, and effectively demanded her support.  She knows she must toe the Obama line if she wants his support for 2016.  Obama has other favorites, like Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts.  Republicans, of course, would love to tie Clinton to this ridiculous deal, and her endorsement of the thing makes her ripe for a demand that she testify before Congress.

OH, ANOTHER ONE – We are blessed by such enlightenment.  From The Washington Free Beacon:  "The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is creating a $2-million research center to study how the government can 'nudge' Americans toward healthier eating habits.  The agency is currently accepting grant applications to establish a 'Center for Behavioral Economics and Healthy Food Choice Research,' which will facilitate studies such as how breaking up combo meals at fast-food restaurants would influence customers.  'The USDA Center will facilitate new and innovative research on the application of behavioral economics theory to healthy food choice behaviors that would contribute to enhancing the nutrition, food security, and health of American consumers' the USDA’s grant announcement said."  When I was growing up I consulted a research center worth considerably more than $2-million.  It was called Mother.

June 3, 2014     Permalink

DID OBAMA JUST LOSE KENTUCKY? – AT 8:59 A.M. ET:  The EPA's new coal regulations could sink the candidacy of Kentucky Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is challenging the re-election of Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.  Grimes issued the required denunciation of the new regulations, but the fact is that they were issued by her party's national administration.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes is trying to distance herself from the Obama administration’s new plan to restrict carbon emissions, but her fundraising activities are creating a dilemma for her campaign and ammunition for her opponents.

After the EPA announced aggressive new plans on Monday to limit carbon emissions from fossil-fuel power plants, Grimes said in a statement that the rule “is more proof that Washington isn’t working for Kentucky.”

“Coal keeps the lights on in the Commonwealth, providing a way for thousands of Kentuckians to put food on their tables,” Grimes said in a statement. “When I’m in the U.S. Senate, I will fiercely oppose the president’s attack on Kentucky’s coal industry because protecting our jobs will be my number one priority.”

Grimes’ spokesman told Politico that she is “absolutely livid” about the new rule.

Her campaign even took ads out in Kentucky newspapers featuring a miner holding a lump of coal. “President Obama and Washington don’t get it,” the ad says. “Alison Grimes does.”

Yet Grimes is also scheduled to attend a fundraiser Thursday in Washington, D.C., with Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), who praised Monday’s EPA announcement.

“Addressing climate change, cutting pollution, and creating jobs through clean energy is the right thing to do, and we need a national policy to put our country on the right course to achieve these goals,” Reid said. “Our planet, our children and seniors, and our public health will be greatly strengthened by the EPA’s protections.”

COMMENT:  Fairly typical liberal Democrat.  You issue the necessary agonized statements, then go join the other liberals at fundraisers, no matter what they've done to your people back home.

I hope the voters of Kentucky are watching.  And I hope Mitch McConnell, not necessarily the most dynamic guy on our side, pulls this out.

June 3, 2014       Permalink

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE ECONOMY – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  The heroic prisoner exchange took attention away from another big story yesterday – the issuing, by the Obama crusade, of the most extensive "environmental" regulations in the nation's history.  They will have a devastating effect on the coal industry, and will drive the price of electricity even higher.  The cultured crowd in Aspen will be pleased to read of the development aboard their private jets.  Others, especially Democratic candidates from coal states, will be less amused.  From Fox: 

Coal-state lawmakers, accusing President Obama of using a back door to impose strict emissions limits on power plants, are rallying to slam that door shut -- claiming the plan would cost jobs and jack up electric bills.

In Kentucky, West Virginia, and other states that rely on coal to fuel their own economies -- and that help generate power for everybody else -- officials vowed Monday to introduce legislation halting the newly announced EPA plan.

Under the draft regulation unveiled Monday, carbon emissions at fossil fuel-burning power plants would be cut 30 percent by 2030.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., calling the move an "assault" on the economy and an "illegal use of executive power," said he'd "force a vote to repeal it."

On the House side, Democratic West Virginia Rep. Nick Rahall announced he would introduce legislation, along with Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., to stop the EPA plan.

"We will introduce bipartisan legislation that will prevent these disastrous new rules from wreaking havoc on our economy in West Virginia," Rahall said in a statement.

The 645-page plan, expected to be finalized next year, is a centerpiece of Obama's climate change agenda, and a step that the administration hopes will get other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year.

"We have a moral obligation to act," EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said, in announcing the plan Monday morning.

While the proposed regulation drew praise from environmental groups, the coal industry and coal-state lawmakers were apprehensive.

Bill Bissett, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said he's "certain that it will be very bad news for states like Kentucky who mine and use coal to create electricity."

COMMENT:   The Obama administration has utter contempt for the very people it claims to represent.  That's a common characteristic on the political left, where people are judged more by what degrees they have from what schools than by either the content of their character or the value of their work. 

Of course this move will have a devastating economic effect, and it probably won't do all that much for the environment.  In China and India, coal-fired plants are pretty standard, and nobody is regulating China or India.

June 3, 2014       Permalink

SHE'S BAACK – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:   It appears that Susan Rice, currently the national security adviser, is the administration's go-to girl for false stories.  You'll remember that it was loyal soldier Rice who was sent out after Benghazi to spin the tale that it was a YouTube video that led to the entire sad affair.  There wasn't a line of truth to it.

Now our heroine is being sent out to explain this prisoner swap, which has the sane part of the nation up in arms.   Paul Mirengoff of Powerline notes the Rice sequel, available at a TV set near you: 

The question has been asked many times: why was Susan Rice selected to appear on the talk shows to discuss the Benghazi attack? At the time, Rice was our ambassador to the U.N. There was no connection between her job and Benghazi.

Now I think I know why Rice was selected. She is willing to say anything on television.

Consider her appearance on ABC News to discuss the trade in which we released five senior Taliban commanders in exchange for American POW Bowe Bergdahl. Rice stated, among other things, that Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction” and that he “wasn’t simply a hostage; he was an American prisoner of war captured on the battlefield.”

Both statements are very probably untrue. There is substantial evidence that Bergdahl deserted the Army, or at least went AWOL.

Before leaving, Bergdahl wrote, “I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools. I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting.” After he left, American soldiers reportedly were killed trying to get him back.

Thus, it seems fairly clear that Bergdahl did not serve the United States with “honor and distinction,” as those words were understood before the time of Obama. And it’s quite unlikely that Bergdahl was captured on the battlefield, as that term is commonly understood. More likely, he was captured while deserting.

Rice was aware of the substantial allegations against Bergdahl. Indeed, she alluded to them in the ABC interview saying “we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years.”

So why did she insist that he has served the U.S. with honor and distinction and was captured on the battlefield?

The answer, I can only conclude, is that she has no regard for the truth. She will employ any words she believes will help President Obama. She serves him with distinction and, in her view perhaps, honor.

This probably explains why, back in September 2012, Susan Rice was selected to purvey Team Obama’s lies about Benghazi.

COMMENT:  And thus Rice continues to allow her reputation to be sullied in the service of Obama, who will do nothing for her if she gets into real trouble.

There is loyalty, and then there is blind loyalty.  And then there is fanaticism.

June 3, 2014       Permalink

THE SENSE OF REVULSION GROWS FURTHER – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  I don't think I've seen anything quite like this in my career.  Obama may simply have gone too far this time in the Sergeant Bergdahl case.  This is not a policy disagreement.  It is a rising chorus of disgust with a president who seems to lack an American sensibility.  He doesn't feel this country in his gut.

We should have been forewarned in 2008.  But the mainstream media refused to ask any serious questions about the little man from Illinois with the odd background, and with whole sections of his life seemingly off-limits to any questions.  Reporters held back, lest they be called racists or McCarthyites. 

Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal captures the sense of dismay – we have gotten back an American of dubious background and released five murderers, giving aid and comfort to our enemies: 

We are not "in time of war." We are in Time of Obama.

In Time of Obama, dereliction of duty is heroism, releasing mass murderers with American blood on their hands is a good way to start a peace process, negotiating with terrorists is not negotiating with terrorists, and exchanging senior Taliban commanders for a lone American soldier is not an incentive to take other Americans hostage but rather proof that America brings its people home.

In Time of Obama, we may get the facts about the circumstances of Sgt. Bergdahl's disappearance and captivity. But first his parents are going to get an invitation to the White House so Mr. Obama can milk the occasion for his own political purposes. First Sgt. Bergdahl will be welcomed home by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. First "senior defense officials" are going to prejudge a potential verdict by a military court because, as one such official averred, "five years is enough."

Dempsey should refuse to shake Bergdahl's hand.  If ordered to do so, he should resign.  I'd like to see him prove that he's something more than a political general.

In Time of Obama it has become impossible to credit claims by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and National Security Adviser Susan Rice that a prisoner exchange had to be made because Sgt. Bergdahl was in dangerously declining health.

This assertion was instantly contradicted by eyewitness accounts that the sergeant was "in good condition" when he was released by his captors. "Freed U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl developed a love for Afghan green tea, taught his captors badminton, and even celebrated Christmas and Easter with the hardline Islamists," the AFP reported Sunday, citing a Pakistani militant commander.

In Time of Obama, the testimony of the Pakistani militants regarding Sgt. Bergdahl's health is at least as credible as anything Susan Rice has to say, on any subject, on any Sunday talk show.

COMMENT:  Wonderfully said by Bret Stephens.  We are getting direct quotes from soldiers interviewed about this "exchange."  We're also getting word about the fury of parents of soldiers killed while looking for Sgt. Bergdahl after he strangely disappeared.  I'm guessing some of those parents will hold a press conference, and really make this into a major scandal.

Sometimes I wish we had a parliamentary system, so we can get rid of a president overnight.  I get the sense that many moderate Democrats would go along.

June 3,  2014     Permalink