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JUNE 11,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE –  AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

YOUNG FLEE VENEZUELA – From Fox:  "CARACAS – If you are between 15 and 29 years old and you live in Venezuela, there’s a one in four chance you are planning to leave the country and put down roots somewhere else.  The acute financial crisis in the South American country is hitting particularly hard on the young, some of whom, having had grown up under the 16-year-old Chavista regime, still have hopes of starting a family in a society where they can at least dream of prosperity."  Remember those Hollywood stars who used to rush down to Caracas to praise the way the leftist country was being run?   Haven't seen them recently.

TERROR USA – From Fox:  "The FBI arrested a third man Thursday in connection with a plot to attack and behead a free speech activist and Boston police officers.  The agency's Rhode Island Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Nicholas Rovinski in Warwick, R.I. shortly after 8 p.m. local time. FBI spokeswoman Kristen Setera told Fox News that Rovinski was arrested without incident and referred further questions to the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston.  The Boston Herald reported that Rovinski is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Boston Friday, where the charges against him will be announced."  Just remember that the war on terror is over.  Barack said so.

MAJOR SNACK NEWS – From the Irish Examiner:  "Eating half a handful of peanuts or nuts a day could protect against death from cancer and heart disease, research suggests.   A study found men and women who eat at least 10g of nuts or peanuts per day have a lower risk of dying from several major causes of death than people who do not consume them."  The major downside, not included in the study, is that this could make Jimmy Carter rich.

FAILED POLICY – From The New York Times:  "WASHINGTON — President Obama is open to expanding the American military footprint in Iraq with a network of bases and possibly hundreds of additional troops to support Iraqi security forces in their fight against the Islamic State, White House officials said on Thursday.  As Iraqi forces struggle on the battlefield, aides said Mr. Obama would consider establishing a series of outposts where American advisers would work with Iraqi troops and local tribesmen. The bases would be run by Iraqis, and Americans would still not engage in ground combat, but they would play a more active role closer to the front lines."  Obama has totally botched Iraq.  Now he's trying to patch the problem by small additions of troops.   This is a perfect definition of amateurism.

June 11, 2015       Permalink

THE GLORIOUS MARCH OF HYPOCRISY – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  Obama needs a secretary of hypocrisy.  An entire cabinet department may be needed to regulate the flow of hypocrisy and deceit.   Consider the latest case, airliner emissions.  From Breitbart:   

On Wednesday, according to The Hill, the White House Office of Management and Budget approved new plans to regulate airplane emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency will now hold hearings on the prospective findings, then write up regulation. According to the OMB, the EPA has shown that such emissions justify an “endangerment finding” because they affect climate change; the regulations will reportedly “align… with regulations that the International Civil Aviation Organization, an agency of the United Nations, is developing.”

So the Obama administration wants to crack down on emissions from airplanes. Except, of course, if President Obama is aboard. Then, it’s a different story. The Air Force has now chosen a $367 million Boeing 747-8 (before upgrades) that runs 4,786 square feet; Business Insider calls the plane a “palace in the sky.” It’s the longest airliner ever and flies 8,000 nautical miles at a clip. The interiors are glossy and gorgeous, including leather couches, big screen TVs, top-of-the-line side tables, a state room that would make the MGM Grand envious, a huge office, and a conference room.

The current Air Force One is insufficient for the Obama administration and the Air Force. A Boeing 747-200B series model, Air Force One can refuel in midair, has in excess of 4,000 square feet on three levels, and includes an office, a conference room, a medical suite, two galleys capable of feeding 100 people, plus quarters for the president’s staff, press, and guests. Taxpayers currently spend $206,337 for every flight hour aboard Air Force One.

COMMENT:  Personally, I want President Obama to be very comfortable on his ride home on January 20, 2017. 

As for the hypocrisy, it's the mark of this administration.

June 11, 2015       Permalink

CENTRIST DEMS WARY OF HILLARY – AT 10:25 A.M. ET:  And for good reason.  Hillary's move to the left is isolating her from states that prefer a saner Democratic Party.  From The Hill:

Moderate Democrats are worried about Hillary Clinton’s recent embrace of liberal policies.

After positioning herself as a centrist and steely potential commander in chief in the 2008 Democratic primary, Clinton has shifted.

Clinton is now to the left of President Obama on the federal minimum wage. While Obama has endorsed a $10.10 hourly rate, Clinton has signaled support for more than doubling it, to $15 an hour.

The former first lady says same-sex marriage should be a constitutional right and endorsed Obama’s executive action shielding millions of illegal immigrants from deportation. She wants broad reform of a criminal justice system and calls for automatic voter registration.

Red-state Democrats in Congress don’t want Clinton to lose sight of a broadly appealing economic message that can win over white working-class voters who have deserted the party in droves recently.

“It’s important that she has an economic platform that people can get on board with regardless of what state they live in,” said Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

“Be everywhere — Montana, Missouri, everywhere,” Tester added.

Centrist Democrats say Clinton should broaden, not narrow, her approach.

“I don’t think you write anything off. You show that you’re not afraid and you show the ability to go into an area, and it will help lift spirits,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). “I always do visit all 55 counties in my state. So when I ran statewide, I didn’t give up on certain counties and never visited. So you don’t give up on anybody.”

It is very common for presidential candidates to move closer to their base in the primary and shift back to the center in the general election. But Clinton’s strategy suggests she needs to shore up more of the base and is responding to pressure from liberal leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Still, moderate Democrats are particularly concerned about Clinton’s potential effect on state legislative races in Republican dominated states. They worry if she stays away from solid-red states, they will have a hard time winning down-ballot races that could shape the congressional districts of the future.

COMMENT:  The trouble is, the leftists have contempt for people who don't think as they do.  To the left, the debate is over.  Anyone who doesn't agree with them is a racist, an Islamophobe, a flat-Earther.  They would prefer that Hillary not contaminate herself with the rabble, and certainly not with people who run small businesses.  They are beneath contempt.

And there is something else, which we will explore in the future – the possibility that Hillary is just coming home to the left, that, in her heart, that's really where she wants to be.  The Democratic Party wants to return America to the world of the late 1960s.  That's when Hillary emerged.

June 11, 2015       Permalink

IS ISIS RUINING AL QAEDA? – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:   Is it possible that ISIS, because of its greater militancy and flashier image, is sinking Al Qaeda?  From Fox: 

Two of Al Qaeda's spiritual leaders have said that the terror organization is barely functioning after losing money and manpower to the rapidly rising Islamic State group, according to a report.

Abu Qatada and Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi have described Al Qaeda as being without "organizational structure," the Guardian reports. Maqdisi said Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri is isolated from his top lieutenants and "operates solely based on the allegiance.

"There is no organizational structure. There is only communication channels, and loyalty," he reportedly said.

Qatada, who was deported to Jordan from Britain in 2013 to face terrorism charges, also acknowledges that ISIS has gotten the better of Al Qaeda in the propaganda wars as well as those fought on the battlefield.

The Guardian report traces the beginning of Al Qaeda's downfall to the ascension of Zawahiri as Al Qaeda's leader following the death of Usama bin Laden in May 2011. While Zawahiri has been forced to move in secret in the remote mountain regions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, hundreds of thousands of militants have flocked to the new battlefields in Syria and Iraq.

"What is leadership," asked Dr. Munif Samara, an Al Qaeda associate quoted in the report, "if your leader is in Afghanistan and your soldiers are in Iraq?"

COMMENT:  We stress that this is one report.  But it does seem logical.  Most of the focus these days is on ISIS, and for good reasons:  It takes land.  It seizes.  It controls.  If it can take over a country, you'll see its flag raised over the capital.  Al Qaeda, at least now, can make no such claim.

But don't write Al Qaeda off as a source of terrorism and mass attacks.   All they need is 20 guys and some planes.

June 11, 2015       Permalink

PANIC TIME – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton isn't on a sinking ship.  She is a sinking ship.  The new bad news comes from Ohio.  From the Washington Times: 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s favorability is underwater in Ohio and she trails in head-to-head potential 2016 match-ups against native son Gov. John Kasich and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, according to a new poll.

Fifty-four percent of Ohio voters have an unfavorable opinion of Mrs. Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner, compared to 38 percent who have a favorable opinion, according to the survey released Wednesday by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling.

That tracks with a 50 percent/34 percent unfavorable/favorable split among independents for Mrs. Clinton in the survey. Ninety-one percent of Republicans said they have an unfavorable view of Mrs. Clinton, while 73 percent of Democrats said they have a favorable view.

Mr. Kasich, a possible presidential candidate, led Mrs. Clinton by 7 points in a head-to-head match-up, 47 percent to 40 percent. Mr. Paul was the only other Republican to lead Mrs. Clinton in a head-to-head contest, getting 44 percent to Mrs. Clinton’s 41 percent. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida was tied with her at 44 percent apiece.

She still dominates the Democratic field, getting 61 percent to 13 percent for Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, her next closest competitor on that side.

But her largest leads against other potential Republican rivals in head-to-head match-ups were just 3-point margins.

COMMENT:  I love it, I love it, I love it.  And remember, she's one of the most famous people in America.  The country already knows her.  It's known her for 25 years.   Where is the upside?  Will something new and wonderful come out about Hillary?  I doubt it.  If anything, it will be the reverse.

The Republican nomination for president next year is very valuable.  We must choose wisely.

June 11,  2015     Permalink

JUNE 10,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

DISSING HILLARY – From The Politico:   "Hillary Clinton has planned a lavish campaign kickoff on New York City’s Roosevelt Island this Saturday, but one of the Big Apple’s Democratic heavyweights isn’t attending.  Mayor Bill de Blasio’s press secretary confirmed to POLITICO Wednesday that the New York Democrat would not attend the rally. 'I’m waiting to hear…her larger vision to addressing income inequality,' de Blasio said when asked about the event by Capital New York’s Azi Paybarah.  De Blasio has thus far refused to endorse Clinton, despite having managed her successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2000, and has kept his distance from the former secretary of state’s nascent campaign."  I guess Hillary just doesn't go far enough left.  De Blasio is an old Castroite, so his stand isn't that surprising.  What is surprising is his love for himself.  His mayoralty is a farce, with rising crime, yet he believes he's the conscience of the Democratic Party.

U.S. ENERGETIC – From Fox:  "The United States has overtaken Russia as the biggest oil and natural gas producer in the world, in what one economist has described as 'a changing of the guard of global energy suppliers.'  Bloomberg reported Wednesday that U.S. oil production rose to a record 1.6 million barrels a day last year, according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy. Natural gas output also soared, which inched America ahead of Russia as a producer of the two combined."  Obama will take credit, but our energy production increased despite his policies, not because of them.

FROM HIS OWN CROWD – Increasingly, President Obama is being criticized by members of his own party.  From The Hill:  "A House Democrat on Wednesday accused President Obama of losing touch with the real world, as his administration pushes for fast-track authority to finish a sweeping trade pact.  Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who opposes the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership and legislation to help finalize it, said Obama lives 'in a cloister' at the White House, while Sherman and his fellow lawmakers 'are out seeing the real world'...Sherman said living in the White House for the last six years had put Obama out of touch with the common American and that he should listen to the perspective of fellow Democrats who oppose him on trade."  No chance of that.  Obama doesn't like the real world.  Fantasies are more fun.

ON THE MOVE – From Fox:  "A group supporting Carly Fiorina’s 2016 White House bid released a video Wednesday critical of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s accomplishments while secretary of state.  The three-minute ad by the super PAC Carly for America uses clips from TV networks in which Americans, including some pundits, appear pressed or fall silent when trying to recall Clinton’s accomplishments as the county’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013.  Fiorina, a Republican candidate and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, has made criticizing Clinton’s State Department record a major part of her candidacy, asserting that Clinton's most touted achievement appears to be her travels."  Very shrewd.  So far, Carly has run the best and most imaginative candidate of all the GOP contenders. 

June 10, 2015       Permalink

MORE TOOPS BACK TO IRAQ – AT 12:57 P.M. ET:  If Obama had done our withdrawal from Iraq correctly, this wouldn't be necessary.  From the Washington Times: 

President Obama is ordering up to 450 more U.S. troops to Iraq to help with training of Iraqi security forces in the fight against the Islamic State, the White House announced Wednesday.

The additional troops will be used to set up a training base in Anbar Province in Iraq, where Islamic State fighters captured the key city of Ramadi three weeks ago.

“This effort will complement the efforts of U.S. and coalition trainers at the four previously-established training sites,” the White House said in a statement.

There are currently more than 3,000 U.S. troops in Iraq — with 2,250 of them devoted to supporting Iraqi security forces, 800 protecting U.S. personnel and facilities, 450 training Iraqi troops and 200 in advising and assisting roles.

As with the current U.S. military personnel in Iraq, the White House said the new troops will not have a combat role.

COMMENT:  The idea, apparently, is to try to retake territory that American troops captured during the Iraq War.  That territory was lost when Obama, with a bow to the political left, withdrew our troops in order to "end" the war (what a joke), and did not leave a residual force to maintain security. 

More advisers sent.   Now ISIS might well want to force us to send combat troops, which would be a devastating psychological victory for them.  Obama will blame Bush.

June 10, 2015      Permalink

BLACKS DISILLUSIONED WITH OBAMA – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  It took some time, but many black voters are apparently realizing that Barack Obama's election as president hasn't improved their lives at all.  This has profound implications for Hillary, who's depending on the black vote to come out for her.  But what if blacks ask, "What difference does it make?"  From WaPo:   

Jacksonville, Fla. — During those two electric Novembers, the chance to elect a black president, and then keep him in office, seized Regenia Motley’s neighborhood.

Nightclubs were registering voters. Churches held fish fries after loading buses that ferried parishioners to the polls. A truck hoisted a big sign that said “Obama.” And residents waited in long lines at precincts across the community.

But as Motley and some friends sought shade recently under a mulberry tree and looked across the landscape of empty lots and abandoned houses that has persisted here, they wondered whether they would ever bother voting again.

“What was the point?” asked Motley, 23, a grocery store clerk. “We made history, but I don’t see change.”

On Jacksonville’s north side and in other struggling urban neighborhoods across the country, where Barack Obama mobilized large numbers of new African American voters who were inspired partly by the emotional draw of his biography, high hopes have turned to frustration: Even a black president was unable to heal places still gripped by violence, drugs and joblessness.

The dynamic, made prominent in recent months after unrest in Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., sets up a stark challenge for Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner.

While supporting Obama became a cause for many here rather than a typical campaign, Clinton faces a higher bar in making a case that she, too, can be a transformative figure.

COMMENT:   Obama isn't interested.  He's an ideologist and an egotist, a bad combination.  His concern for people is dramatically limited.

June 10, 2015       Permalink

SERIOUS DOUBTS ON THE IRAN DEAL – We are 20 days away from the date when the Iran nuclear deal is scheduled to be completed.  But there are, to use the football metaphor, plenty of flags on the play.  From Fox:   

A former top military intelligence official under President Obama on Wednesday blasted the administration's pursuit of a nuclear deal with Iran, calling it a "placeholder" based on "wishful thinking."

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, delivered pointed and detailed criticism of the Iran deal framework -- as well as the U.S. response to the violence in Iraq and Syria -- in written testimony to a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee.

"It is clear that the nuclear deal is not a permanent fix but merely a placeholder," he said in the testimony, obtained by Fox News in advance of a hearing where he's set to testify.

He said the 10-year timeframe on parts of the deal "only make sense" if the U.S. thinks a "wider reconciliation" with Iran is possible. He called this "wishful thinking," adding that "regime change" is the best way to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.

I'm glad someone who's held a high defense position finally used those words – regime change.  Of course, Michael Ledeen, the distinguished scholar, has used them for years.  It's the only way.

In lengthy written remarks, Flynn asserted that Iran has "every intention" of building a nuclear weapon, and their desire to destroy Israel is "very real."

"Iran has not once (not once) contributed to the greater good of the security of the region," he said in his remarks, noting their fighters "killed or maimed thousands of Americans and Iraqis" in Iraq.

The administration is working alongside five other world powers to try and strike a nuclear deal -- which would aim to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief -- by the end of the month. But Flynn said Iran already has made it clear they will put limits on inspections, making for "incomplete verification." Plus he said it's "unreasonable" to believe international sanctions could be resumed once lifted.

COMMENT:   Obama is trying to sell the line that we could "snap back" sanctions on Iran if they broke the agreement.  Yeah, right.  Once the money starts to flow between Europe and Iran, fat chance sanctions would be resumed.  This agreement, if the reports on it are accurate, is a route to an Iranian nuclear bomb.  And I have no doubt Obama will continue to suck up to Iran, in the hopes that it becomes an ally and can replace Israel, which is too pro-American for Obama's liking.  It gets that bad.

June 10, 2015       Permalink

FOOLIN' AROUND – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  The climate religionists are back in town, but this time they're getting some flak.  You've read that there hasn't been any "global warming" in about 17 years, which appears to be true.  But that didn't fit the narrative of the Obamans and the religious warmers, so last week the administration came out with new "findings" that claim there hasn't been any pause.  Not so fast, guys.  From Fox: 

Until last week, government data on climate change indicated that the Earth has warmed over the last century, but that the warming slowed dramatically and even stopped at points over the last 17 years.

But a paper released May 28 by researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has readjusted the data in a way that makes the reduction in warming disappear, indicating a steady increase in temperature instead. But the study’s readjusted data conflict with many other climate measurements, including data taken by satellites, and some climate scientists aren’t buying the new claim.

“While I’m sure this latest analysis from NOAA will be regarded as politically useful for the Obama administration, I don’t regard it as a particularly useful contribution to our scientific understanding of what is going on,” Judith Curry, a climate science professor at Georgia Tech, wrote in a response to the study.

And in an interview, Curry told FoxNews.com that that the adjusted data doesn’t match other independent measures of temperature.

“The new NOAA dataset disagrees with a UK dataset, which is generally regarded as the gold standard for global sea surface temperature datasets,” she said. “The new dataset also disagrees with ARGO buoys and satellite analyses.”

COMMENT:  Eisenhower, in his farewell address to the nation – the famous and famously misquoted "industrial-military complex" address – warned about the impact of government grants on scientific results.  In effect, he predicted the pressure to "go along" that these grants bring, and, by extension, that federal employment can bring.  I'm not making charges.  Just sayin'.

If this were a theoretical debate, it wouldn't be that significant.  But the climate-change religionists are demanding trillions of dollars to "fight" climate change, funds that could be used for other noble purposes.  Before one check is written, I want to see a lot more actual proof, and I'm not seeing it.

June 10,  2015     Permalink