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JUNE 12,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:38 P.M. ET: 

OBAMA FLOPS IN GALLUP POLL – From CNS:  "Fifty-one percent of the Americans who responded to a Gallup poll conducted June 5-8 said that they do not believe the phrase 'is honest and trustworthy' applies to President Barack Obama.  Gallup has asked Americans this question eight times over the last six years: 'Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think each applies or doesn't apply to Barack Obama. How about: Is honest and trustworthy.'  The latest poll, conducted June 5-8, was the first time that a majority said the description 'is honest and trustworthy' does not apply to Obama."  The truth eventually comes out.

PERRY MESS IT UP – Rick Perry set out recently to re-introduce himself to the American people, with a possible eye to 2016, after turning in a poor performance during the 2012 primary debates.  He was doing well until just a few days ago when, in San Francisco of all places, he compared homosexuality to alcoholism.  There's been an uproar from the usual suspects, but also a sense of disappointment among conservatives.  Why, many have asked, is it even necessary to bring up these divisive social issues?  True, Perry was asked a question about his views, but he could have easily deflected it.  These hot-button issues are used against Republicans, usually in an attempt to make the GOP look narrow and bigoted.  Just avoid them.

AS HILLARY WOULD SAY, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? – From the Washington Free Beacon:  "The New York Times has no plans to investigate the work of its former reporter Chris Hedges amid allegations that he plagiarized multiple stories for other publications over the past decade.  The New Republic reported on Thursday that the Pulitzer winner has been accused of plagiarizing passages in stories written for Harper’s, Truthdig, and his 2002 book War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning.  The article claims Hedges lifted copy from a range of sources over the years, including Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Matt Katz, Canadian leftist Naomi Klein, Neil Postman, and Ernest Hemingway.  The New Republic published several excerpts from Hedges’s articles that appear to be identical or similar to work published previously by other authors.  Hedges, now a progressive commentator, left the Times nearly a decade ago after spending 15 years there as a foreign correspondent."  He is a hard leftist, the charges appear almost certainly true, and he should be thrown out of the profession of journalism.  Let's see if the left applies the usual standards.

LITTLE JILL, HAPPY AT LAST – From the Politico:  "Former New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson will teach a narrative nonfiction course at Harvard University this fall, the school announced Thursday.  'Abramson will join Harvard University as a Visiting Lecturer for the 2014-2015 academic year,' the press release stated. 'The 1976 Harvard College graduate will teach undergraduate courses on narrative nonfiction for Harvard’s Department of English in the fall and spring semesters.'  In a statement, Abramson said she was 'honored and excited to be teaching at Harvard in the coming academic year.'"  Of course, Abramson was recently fired by The Times and instantly became a feminist martyr.  I guess she'll now have to give up her unemployment insurance.

June 12, 2014       Permalink

LET THE BLOODBATH BEGIN – AT 8:34 A.M. ET:   Eric Cantor's political body isn't even cold yet, and but the dancing on his grave has begun.  Potential successors are already lining up to succeed him.  "Oh, excuse us, Eric, we didn't mean to step on your head."   From The Hill: 

House GOP lawmakers were "shell-shocked" that party leader Rep. Eric Cantor lost his primary on Tuesday night, according to members who had spoken during a vote series on the House floor Wednesday.

But that didn't stop them from jockeying for his leadership post after he stepped aside at a closed-door meeting in the Capitol.

The contenders: Rep. Pete Sessions, who started openly lobbying for votes shortly after Cantor announced defeat on Tuesday night; Kevin McCarthy, Cantor's deputy; and possibly Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas lawmaker at the perch of the Financial Services Committee.

Some lawmakers were "rubbed the wrong way," when they received a text from hopeful Cantor successor Sessions asking for support in his bid to become the next House GOP Leader.

"I'm hearing on the Floor that the fact that people got texts 20 mins after (Eric) announced his loss, from Sessions, really rubbed people the wrong way ... Until 2 in the morning. How about waiting until the body's at the morgue?" one House member said.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) opted to wait until Cantor formally announced he was stepping down before campaigning to be the next Majority Leader, according to a source who was in McCarthy's office late Tuesday night.

"McCarthy said we're not doing anything until Eric does what Eric's going to do, we're going to give him room to make his decision," the source told The Hill.

COMMENT:  Look, that's Washington.  It's the same in Hollywood.  Big stars used to say that they could tell exactly where they stood by the body language of the guard at the studio gate. 

Harry Truman once said that if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.  Today, even the dogs are writing unauthorized tell-alls, or woof-alls.

June 12, 2014       Permalink

HILLARY POUNDED – AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton, who's already bought the gold coach for the coronation, is having a terrible time.  It's one gaffe after another – especially this week's whopper about being broke upon leaving the White House with her semi-husband, Bill, and needing millions just to make those little ends meet.  Tell that to an auto worker.

Now comes news that the American people have rejected one of the central foundations of her campaign, that she and Barack Obama have restored American leadership around the world.  The laughter you hear is from the foreign ministries of allied countries.  From CNS: 

(CNSNews.com) – Opinion polls during Hillary Clinton’s years as secretary of state raise questions about her claim this week that her most important achievement in that position was “to help restore America’s leadership around the world.”

While America’s global leadership image, as measured in international polling, improved significantly immediately after President Obama came into office, a slow but steady decline was seen in the ensuing years.

Gallup’s annual international surveys found worldwide approval of U.S. leadership fell from 49 percent in 2009 to 47 percent in 2010, 46 percent in 2011, and 41 percent in 2012 – the last full year Clinton served as America’s top diplomat.

Gallup’s most recent poll in the series, released in April, found that worldwide approval of American leadership improved again last year, rebounding to 46 percent – but for 11 of the 12 months of 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry was at the helm of the State Department.

COMMENT:  Hillary Clinton has about as much credibility on foreign policy as Al Gore had when he said he'd invented the internet.  Or Barack Obama has on most every issue.  We have an administration of paperback novelists.

June 12, 2014        Permalink

U.S. BACK IN IRAQ? – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  The big news of the moment is the apparent request by Iraq for American military support, as the country descends into chaos.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — As the threat from Sunni militants in western Iraq escalated last month, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki secretly asked the Obama administration to consider carrying out airstrikes against extremist staging areas, according to Iraqi and American officials.

But Iraq’s appeals for a military response have so far been rebuffed by the White House, which has been reluctant to open a new chapter in a conflict that President Obama has insisted was over when the United States withdrew the last of its forces from Iraq in 2011.

Must not contradict the history, as written by the sage and prophet, Barack Obama.

The swift capture of Mosul by militants aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has underscored how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq have converged into one widening regional insurgency with fighters coursing back and forth through the porous border between the two countries. But it has also called attention to the limits the White House has imposed on the use of American power in an increasingly violent and volatile region.

A spokeswoman for the National Security Council, Bernadette Meehan, declined to comment on Mr. Maliki’s requests. “We are not going to get into details of our diplomatic discussions,” she said in a statement. “The current focus of our discussions with the government of Iraq and our policy considerations is to build the capacity of the Iraqis to successfully confront” the Islamic extremists.

What a joke.  They're collapsing.

The Obama administration has carried out drone strikes against militants in Yemen and Pakistan, where it fears terrorists have been hatching plans to attack the United States. But despite the fact that Sunni militants have been making steady advances and may be carving out new havens from which they could carry out attacks against the West, administration spokesmen have insisted that the United States is not actively considering using warplanes or armed drones to strike them.

COMMENT:  What happens if Iraq essentially falls to the Islamists, and Obama makes it clear he's prepared to give up the gains bought in blood by the United States?  Well, I guess they'll blame BUSH (!!) and
CHENEY (!!!!).  The fact is that proclamations of weakness by the Obama administration have resulted in a volatile, increasingly hostile Middle East, but blaming the previous administration will be standard procedure. 

The sad fact remains that there will still be a hardcore element of Obama supporters who will back anything he does.  The sad fact also is that Americans have become increasingly wary of any further entanglements.  And the further sad fact is that we're cutting our defenses.  Messages are sent.

June 12, 2014       Permalink

MIDEAST HORROR – AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  The Mideast is in flames, and the latest torch is being lit in Iraq, place of American sacrifice and heroism.  Absurd claims by Field Marshal Obama that he has "ended" wars are being increasingly laughed at.  Even the liberal Washington Post comes down hard on our make-believe president:

FOR YEARS, President Obama has been claiming credit for “ending wars,” when, in fact, he was pulling the United States out of wars that were far from over. Now the pretense is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.

On Monday, a loathsome offshoot of al-Qaeda, the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, captured Mosul, one of Iraq’s most important cities, seizing large caches of modern weaponry and sending half a million civilians fleeing in terror. ISIS, which can make the original al-Qaeda look moderate, controls large swaths of territory stretching from northern Syria into Iraq. On Tuesday, militants advanced toward Baghdad, capturing Tikrit and other cities.

If Iraq joins Syria in full-fledged civil war, the danger to U.S. allies in Israel, Turkey, Jordan and the Kurdish region of Iraq is immense. These terrorist safe havens also pose a direct threat to the United States, according to U.S. officials. “We know individuals from the U.S., Canada and Europe are traveling to Syria to fight in the conflict,” Jeh Johnson, secretary of homeland security, said earlier this year. “At the same time, extremists are actively trying to recruit Westerners, indoctrinate them, and see them return to their home countries with an extremist mission.”

When Mr. Obama defended his foreign policy in a speech at West Point two weeks ago, he triggered some interesting debate about the relative merits of engagement and restraint. But the question of whether Mr. Obama more closely resembles Dwight D. Eisenhower or Jimmy Carter is less relevant than the results of his policy, which are increasingly worrisome.

COMMENT:  Obama is Carter.  He is no Eisenhower.  Eisenhower threatened to use the atomic bomb to end the Korean War.  Out of office, he fully supported our engagement in Vietnam.

Obama really doesn't seem to care.  I think he's shown an embarrassing warmth toward radical Islam,  which meshes well with his contempt for American society.

We are losing, but to Obama, that's what's been needed all along.  He is who he is, but we weren't permitted to ask much about that when he ran in 2008.

June 12,  2014     Permalink

JUNE 11,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:14 P.M. ET: 

OH HILLARY – From the Washington Free Beacon:  "The terrible week continues for Hillary Clinton.  At Wednesday’s Rahm Emanuel-Hillary Clinton show for her book tour, she was responsible for another unforced error.  'I actually write about Rahm in the book,' Clinton said. 'I asked him not to read it before we sat and did our interview! But it was in the very first chapter, the chapter I rightly call "Team of Rivals" because that’s what it was in the beginning. A senator from Illinois ran against a senator from New York just as had happened way back with a senator from Illinois named Lincoln and a senator from New York named Seward. And it turned out the same way.'  Maybe Hillary is not 'ready,' as Lincoln was never a senator because he lost that election to Stephen A. Douglas."  Correct.  Lincoln had been a congressman from Illinois, never a senator.  And, by the way, "team of rivals" isn't Hillary Clinton's phrase.  It's Doris Kearns Goodwin's.

OBAMA CONTINUES POLL DROP – From Bloomberg:  "President Barack Obama’s favorability ratings hit the lowest point of his presidency in a Bloomberg National Poll, with just 44 percent of Americans saying they have positive feelings about him.  That drop in personal popularity has become a broader drag on the public’s perception of his performance in office.  Obama, already given poor marks on the economy and health care, also gets low ratings on two recent political firestorms: the management of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the deal that freed the last U.S. prisoner of war in Afghanistan, according to the poll."  It just gets worse and worse.  And 44% is actually a high number compared with other polls, which put the president at closer to 40%.  I guess demigods have political problems, just like mere mortals.

AN ADMISSION – From Fox:  "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday sought to ease concerns about the controversial swap of five hardened Taliban leaders for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, but under pressure from lawmakers acknowledged that the administration mishandled the announcement.  'We didn't handle some of this right,' Hagel admitted to the House Armed Services Committee, toward the end of the first public hearing on the prisoner exchange.  The hearing lasted more than five hours, as lawmakers from both sides of the aisle voiced concerns about the trade -- while some also accused Republicans of exaggerating the security threats.  Though White House and other officials have adamantly defended their handling of the exchange, Hagel did express some regret over the decision to keep Congress in the dark until after the swap had been executed. Republicans and Democrats alike vented to Hagel that they should have been trusted with that information.  Hagel acknowledged 'we could have done a better job of keeping you informed.'"  I'd like to know who accused Republicans of exaggerating the security threats.  The fringe left of the Democratic Party never gives up the party line.

IRAQ – Late bulletin:  There are reports starting to surface that the Iraqi government has approved the use of American air strikes, either manned or unmanned, to stop the advance of jihadist groups that are rapidly taking over huge sections of the country.  Iraq, where American blood was spilled, is in serious danger of collapse.  Another great Obama victory.  Give the man a sixth star.

June 11, 2014       Permalink

AND NEXT DOOR TO IRAQ... – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  There are crucial talks underway to "save" the nuclear negotiations with Iran.  Under the current schedule, we're supposed to have a "permanent" agreement with Iran by next month, but that now seems impossible.  There are serious problems, apparently.  And, of course, Obama would love to see the talks stalled until after our midterms, when he can grant more concessions to Iran and close a deal, even a rotten one.   France has been pretty stalwart on Iran's nuclear program, as reported by Reuters:   

(Reuters) - Iran must drop its demands to have thousands of centrifuges used to enrich uranium if it wants a lasting deal with major powers over its disputed nuclear programme, France's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Highlighting a big gap in negotiating positions, Laurent Fabius told French radio that Iran should only have a few hundred centrifuges, machines that spin at supersonic speed to increase the concentration of the fissile isotope.

Iran - which says its nuclear programme is peaceful and rejects accusations it has been seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability - now has around 19,000 centrifuges installed, of which roughly 10,000 are operating, according to the U.N. nuclear agency. It says it needs to expand its capacity to fuel planned nuclear power plants.

Paris has long held out for strict terms in the negotiations, in which it and Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are contemplating an easing of strict economic sanctions if Iran can dispel their concerns. U.S. and Iranian officials are holding talks in Geneva on Monday and Tuesday this week to discuss ways of breaking a deadlock which has raised the likelihood that a self-imposed July 20 deadline will lapse without an accord.

Failure of the broader negotiating process could raise the possibility of further sanctions and increase the danger of military action by Israel against Iranian nuclear installations.

COMMENT:  Clearly, the French statement was designed to give some spine to the Americans.  As expected under Obama and Kerry, we've gotten wobbly.  And why should Iran be particularly concerned about an American response, given our foreign policy, including the disgraceful prisoner swap of last week.

I genuinely worry that, after November, Obama will give away the store.

June 11, 2014       Permalink

GUN CONTROL IN IRAQ – AT 9:02 A.M. ET:   Iraq has been off the front pages, but the security situation there continues to deteriorate.  One reason is that Field Marshal Obama, in one of his great moments as a strategist, pulled all American troops out of Iraq, depriving the country of the stability force it needed.  Now we see the result.  From Al Arabiya News, an organization we normally don't quote: 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday offered weapons and equipment to citizens who volunteer to fight Islamist militants, hours after the government forces lost the northern city of Mosul to the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).

In a statement broadcast on state television, Maliki said the cabinet has “created a special crisis cell to follow up on the process of volunteering and equipping and arming.”

The cabinet “praises the willingness of the citizens and the sons of the tribes to volunteer and carry weapons ... to defend the homeland and defeat terrorism,” he said.

Maliki said the cabinet also decided to “restructure and reorganize” the security forces, and to ask parliament to “announce a state of emergency.”

Hours after Maliki's statement ISIS Jhadists also seized several areas in Kirkuk province, a police officer said, according to AFP.

ISIS militants overran the Hawijah, Zab, Riyadh and Abbasi areas west of the city of Kirkuk, and Rashad and Yankaja to its south, Colonel Ahmed Taha said.

COMMENT:  I'm not claiming that this is all Obama's fault, but he certainly hasn't been helpful.  He condemned our effort in Iraq, basically insulting the sacrifices of our troops, and now shows little interest in the future of the country,

Creating a democracy is hard.  We fought the war in Korea, one of the great acts of containment of aggression in modern history, but struggled for years afterward to help South Korea build a true, functioning democracy.  Sometimes it was discouraging, but in the end it's worked out pretty well.  People like Obama don't know that history, and don't care.

June 11, 2014       Permalink

VULGAR, DISGRACEFUL – AT 8:34 A.M. ET:   There's an argument to be made for further action to cut gun violence, but the way the current president of the United States makes it shows who he really is, and what he really thinks.  He's a man with contempt for his own country and its people, a man who thinks he's really above us.  From the Washington Times: 

Calling the failure to pass gun-control laws the biggest frustration of his time in office, President Obama on Tuesday said America “should be ashamed” of its gun laws, decried the type of violence seen again Tuesday at an Oregon school, and praised a country that more or less banned all long guns.

Speaking to Tumblr founder David Karp, Mr. Obama said the U.S. does not conform to the rest of the “advanced, developed” world when it comes to gun laws, resurrecting his plea for restrictions on the sale of firearms.

He also disputed the notion that mental illness is solely to blame, saying other nations do not experience mass shootings and the U.S. doesn’t “have a monopoly on crazy people.”

Gee, Barack, thanks for undercutting the effort to have mental-health histories included in background checks.

“My biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who can do just unbelievable damage. We’re the only developed country on earth where this happens. And it happens now once a week. And it’s a one-day story. There’s no place else like this,” the president said.

There's a quote that our enemies will use.  Gee, gun control didn't prevent the massacre of more than 60 children in Norway several years ago. 

He then went on to praise a country that had outright banned and imposed a mandatory buyback on almost all long guns, including semi-automatic weapons and shotguns.

He was talking about Australia, where the jury is still out on the practical effects of the gun ban.

“A couple of decades ago Australia had a mass shooting similar to Columbine or Newtown, and Australia just said, ‘Well, that’s it. We’re not doing — we’re not seeing that again,’ and basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they haven’t had a mass shooting since. I mean, our levels of gun violence are off the charts. There’s no other advanced, developed country on earth that would put up with this,” he said.

COMMENT:  What comes through is Obama's seething dislike of his own country.  Notice that he doesn't say much about who is committing the crimes.  That gets too delicate.  But the fact is that in a high-gun-ownership state like Vermont, there is very little gun violence.

There are things that we can probably do.  As I've said here many times, as a gunowner myself:  I'm in favor of practical, Constitutional steps that actually have an effect.  I'm not in favor of grandstanding.  And I'm not in favor of our accidental president demeaning and degrading the country to make a choice.

Last week there was an attempted mass shooting at Seattle Pacific University.  It was stopped by a trained student security guard armed only with pepper spray.   Nothing in Obama's statement about that, or about the training of school personnel to deal with violent incidents, which will occur despite any gun control. 

But, of course, this is a president who was caught on an open mike in 2008 condemning Americans who "cling to their guns and their religion."  We elected him anyway.  What was America thinking?

June 11, 2014       Permalink

THE MAN WHO – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  Washington is numb this morning over the primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.  Some historians have already weighed in, claiming that never before has a House leader of Cantor's rank been defeated in the primary.  (We'll wait for further historical study on that.)  And who defeated Cantor?  Dave Brat, as described in The Politico: 

Brat, a Michigan native, is 49 years old. He’s spent the last 18 years working as an economics professor at Randolph Macon College, a school of around 1,200 students located in Ashland, Va. According to news reports, he also spent time working as an economist in the Army and at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

He earned his bachelors degree from Hope College, a small liberal arts college in Holland, Mich. He would go on to get a doctorate in economics from American University. Brat, who is Catholic, got his masters from Princeton Theological Seminiary, an institution that, according to its mission statement, “prepares women and men to serve Jesus Christ in ministries marked by faith, integrity, scholarship, competence, compassion, and joy, equipping them for leadership worldwide in congregations and the larger church, in classrooms and the academy, and in the public arena.”

Brat launched his campaign in January. Like many tea party-aligned candidates, he said he wanted to address the nation’s ballooning deficit and that he wanted to be Cantor’s “term limit.”

But, even for a conservative hopeful, he took on the Republican establishment in unusually harsh terms. Shortly after launching his campaign, according to an account in the Culpeper Star Exponent, Brat held an event in which he suggested that Washington politicians charged money to pass laws. He also said that, to get a seat on the House Ethics Committee, a member would have to pay $150,000.

“These days everything is for sale in D.C,” Brat said at the time, according to the paper.

Appearing on Fox News after the race was called, Brat disputed the characterization of the race as being simply a battle between the tea party and establishment. He said he had won support from Republicans across the board who were attracted to his espousal of fiscal conservatism and “faith in God.”

COMMENT:  We'll learn more as Brat is forced to give his position on specific issues.  The district is heavily Republican, so the odds are in his favor.  But I definitely want details.

June 11,  2014     Permalink