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JUNE 5,  2014

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

OH NO!:  From NBC:  "FLOTUS for Senate?  It wasn't that long ago that such a slogan would seem absurd, but political wags are beginning to wonder whether Michelle Obama is mulling a run for Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk's seat in 2016.  A Thursday column in Reuters suggests that Obama would be the only candidate with a large enough profile to unseat the Republican.  The column also points to Obama's recent willingness to debate the merits of her school lunch program with Republicans, a trip to China, fundraising and her stance on the kidnapped Nigerian school girls as other signs that her tone is turning more political."  Of course, that's exactly what Hillary did.  As Bill's tenure as president was winding down, she picked a state, New York, and was elected to the U.S. Senate.  I'm not sure, though, that the people of Illinois are yearning for an expert in vegetable oil and tasteless foods.

THE EMERGING VERDICT – From theweek.com:  "With President Obama's approval rating still deep underwater, a new survey from Fox News finds that Americans generally think George W. Bush ran a more "competent" administration. In the survey, a 48 percent plurality said Bush's White House was more competent, while 42 percent picked Obama's.  At the same time, fully two-thirds of Americans said Bill Clinton's administration was more competent than Obama's, versus only 18 percent who liked Obama's better."  Mr. Bush is being rehabilitated by the American public, and he deserves to be.  At least "W" was taken seriously.

ONCE A GREAT CITY – From the New York Post:  "More than half the members of the New York City Council have fired off a letter to Walmart demanding that it stop making millions in charitable contributions to local groups here.  Twenty-six of the 51 members of the Council charged in the letter that the world’s biggest retailer’s support of local causes is a cynical ploy to enter the market here.  'We know how desperate you are to find a foothold in New York City to buy influence and support here,' says the letter, obtained by The Post and addressed to Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation.  'Stop spending your dangerous dollars in our city,' the testy letter demands. 'That’s right: this is a cease-and-desist letter.'"  As we say in New York:  shmucks.

COMING IN TO PITCH FOR SEBELIUS – From The Hill:  "The Senate voted 78-17 Thursday to confirm Sylvia Burwell as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), ushering in a new era for the Obama administration on healthcare.  More than 20 Republicans joined Democrats in approving Burwell’s nomination to replace Kathleen Sebelius as the second Cabinet official ever to oversee ObamaCare.  'She is a leader with a head and a heart,' Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said of Burwell. 'We can come together to make the law work better.'  The Senate is handing Burwell the reins of Washington's most complicated and politically fraught department at a fragile time for ObamaCare's implementation."  I don't envy her.  I hope she has a good supply of tranquilizers.

June 5, 2014       Permalink

ONE MORE OBAMA "ACHIEVEMENT" – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  We have watched our space program contract under Obama's regime.  We used to be first in space.  We used to be a lot of good things.  From the Washington Post:   

A sweeping review of NASA’s human spaceflight program has concluded that the agency has an unsustainable and unsafe strategy that will prevent the United States from achieving a human landing on Mars in the foreseeable future.

The 286-page National Research Council report, the culmination of an 18-month, $3.2 million investigation mandated by Congress, says that to continue on the present course under budgets that don’t keep pace with inflation “is to invite failure, disillusionment, and the loss of the longstanding international perception that human spaceflight is something the United States does best.”

The report makes a case for sending astronauts back to the moon. That had been a key element of NASA’s strategy under President George W. Bush. But President Obama and his advisers explicitly opposed another moon landing (“I just have to say pretty bluntly here: We’ve been there before,” Obama said in a speech on space policy in 2010).

A major argument against returning to the moon was that it didn’t pencil out — that there wasn’t nearly enough money dedicated to the program. Now the NRC’s Committee on Human Spaceflight has come to the same conclusion about the Obama administration’s vision for NASA. If the goal is a human landing on Mars, the current strategy won’t work.

COMMENT:  You may recall that, when appointing his new NASA director, President Obama announced that a major goal of NASA was "Muslim outreach."  As Johnny Carson used to say, "I did not know that."  I always thought achieving dreams was the goal of NASA.  I guess I'm just an old-fashioned, uninformed, male chauvinist American.  I apologize.  (No I don't!)

June 5, 2014       Permalink

THEY'RE SAYIN' IT THEMSELVES – AT 9:27 A.M. ET:  The enemy confirms our fears.  From TIME:   

A Taliban commander close to the negotiations over the release of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told TIME Thursday that the deal made to secure Bergdahl’s release has made it more appealing for fighters to capture American soldiers and other high-value targets.

“It’s better to kidnap one person like Bergdahl than kidnapping hundreds of useless people,” the commander said, speaking by telephone on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. “It has encouraged our people. Now everybody will work hard to capture such an important bird.”

The U.S. agreed on May 31 to exchange five Taliban commanders from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for Bergdahl, America’s only living prisoner of war. Following the deal, the outpouring of relief by those who had long lobbied to “Bring Bowe Home” was soon eclipsed by accusations and recriminations as Republican lawmakers accused the administration of making a dangerous precedent.

“What does this tell terrorists?,” Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on ABC’s This Week the day after Bergdahl’s release. “That if you capture a U.S. soldier, you can trade that soldier for five terrorist prisoners?”

COMMENT:  The Taliban dream would be to capture a few American soldiers and release them only if Obama releases all prisoners at Guantanamo.  And Obama would do it.  That kind of thing is in his blood.

Trouble ahead.  Our soldiers have targets on their backs.

June 5, 2014       Permalink

PUBLIC ALSO DUBIOUS ON SWAP – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  The American public also opposes the prisoner swap.  And please note that this poll was taken before it was revealed that Berndahl probably was a deserter.  From Fox: 

Americans hold mixed views of the Obama administration’s deal to swap a captive U.S. soldier for five Taliban prisoners, yet almost all fear that negotiating with terrorist groups will put U.S. troops at risk.

That’s according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.

A prisoner exchange Saturday that released U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five top-level Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay has sparked debate over negotiating with terrorists. Fully 84 percent of voters are concerned that making deals with terrorists will encourage those groups to take more American soldiers hostage. That includes a 57-percent majority that is “very” concerned and another 27 percent that is “somewhat” concerned.

Only 15 percent aren’t worried deals like this will put more troops at risk.

Bergdahl was held captive for five years in Afghanistan. Voters are nearly evenly divided over the Taliban-exchange deal that got him released: 45 percent approve vs. 47 percent disapprove.

While 59 percent of Democrats approve of the swap, nearly a third disapproves (32 percent). Views among Republicans are reversed: 31 percent approve vs. 62 percent disapprove. Independents are more likely to disapprove (49 percent) than approve (41 percent) of the exchange.

It’s worth noting that this has been a fast-moving story and the poll was conducted before it was widely known that Bergdahl had written letters to his father saying he was ashamed to be an American and before the multiple news reports that Bergdahl intentionally walked off his post.

There’s far more agreement about what negotiating with terrorists could mean going forward, as large majorities of Democrats (77 percent), independents (83 percent) and Republicans (93 percent) are all concerned these groups will take more Americans hostage.

COMMENT:  This is a major disaster for the Obamans, who have a unique capacity to pull off disasters.  But the president seems entirely content with his decision.   It's increasingly clear that he has little or no regard for the opinion of the people he claims to lead.

June 5, 2014       Permalink

PANETTA SLAMS SWAP – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  Former Secretary of Defense and CIA director Leon Panetta – who also served as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff – gives poor reviews to the swap of five Taliban commanders for one American with a dubious history.  From triblive.com: 

A former top adviser to President Obama on Wednesday questioned the release of dangerous terrorists in exchange for an imprisoned American soldier as anger spread among lawmakers in Washington over the secret deal to free Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

“I don't fault the administration for wanting to get him back. I do question whether the conditions are in place to make sure these terrorists don't go back into battle,” former CIA director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a gas industry gathering in Pittsburgh.

Panetta, who was in the Cabinet for four of the five years Bergdahl spent in Taliban custody, said he opposed a swap for the terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, when he was Defense secretary.

“I said, ‘Wait, I have an obligation under the law,'” Panetta said during a lunchtime address at the Hart Energy Developing Unconventionals DUG East conference at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. “If I send prisoners from Guantanamo, they have to guarantee they don't go back to the battlefield. I had serious concerns.”

He said talks fell apart because the Taliban “asked for five top guys.” He did not say when during his 2011-13 tenure in the Pentagon that discussions took place.

COMMENT:  Obama's support on this seems limited, as usual, to the left wing of the Democratic Party.  But the deed is done, and the five senior Taliban commanders released from Gitmo are reported to be running quite freely in Qatar.  I'd imagine that, as time goes on, the intelligence community will discover that they're back plotting the murder of Americans.  Obama will blame Bush.

June 5,  2014     Permalink

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