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JUNE 18,  2015

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

DISGRACEFUL – President Obama, who rarely reveals skills of leadership, disgraced himself today by his response to the awful shootings in Charleston.  Instead of a dignified expression of grief, he seized the opportunity to disparage his own country and call for gun control.  He said mass killings like this don't happen in other civilized countries.  Paris, anyone?  You'll recall that after the recent terrorism in Paris, world leaders gathered for an anti-terror march down a Parisian boulevard.  And guess who didn't show up.  Barack Obama.  He's getting a bad press on his political comments today.

MORE POOR TASTE – From Variety:  "Hours after delivering a statement on the shooting massacre of nine people at an historic church in Charleston, S.C., President Obama and a group of entertainment industry donors had a lengthy discussion about the roots of gun violence in the first of two Hollywood-centric fundraisers in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to an attendee who was present.  About 30 people attended the event at the Pacific Palisades home of Chuck Lorre, executive producer of 'Two and a Half Men.' Tickets for what was billed as an intimate discussion with the president sold for up to $33,400 each, with proceeds going to the Democratic National Committee."   Obama needs advice from Hillary, who gets $200,000 a speech, minimum, and gives the money to her own foundation.  Always such class.

IMMIGRATION MESS – The numbers are just staggering.  From AP:  "MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico now deports more Central American migrants than the United States, a dramatic shift since the U.S. asked Mexico for help a year ago with a spike in illegal migration, especially among unaccompanied minors.  Between October and April, Mexico apprehended 92,889 Central Americans. In the same time period, the United States detained 70,226 'other than Mexican' migrants, the vast majority from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador."  I have no solution for this, but what North America clearly needs is some kind of international immigration system.  What we have now is chaos, with the potential for terrorists to slip in among the migrants.

AND JUST WHO ARE YOU? – From The Politico:  "The U.S. Census Bureau is experimenting with eliminating the word 'race' altogether in its 2020 survey, according to a report from the Pew Research Center on Thursday.  As part of its final research push before finalizing its 2020 wording, test-census forms will be sent to 1.2 million households later this fall in without any references to “race” or “origin.” Instead, the forms will ask: 'Which categories describe person 1?' Respondents will then be able to choose from the usual list of racial and ethnic categories."  Each citizen will get a chance to invent himself.  Not much for a census, but great for political correctness.

June 18, 2015       Permalink

OUTRAGE – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  In what is becoming a huge news story, nine innocent people, all black, were murdered last night in Charleston, South Carolina.  The gunman, caught on surveillance video, is apparently white.  From Fox: 

A frantic manhunt was on in South Carolina, hours after a "horrible scoundrel" opened fire in a historic African-American church in downtown Charleston, killing nine, including the prominent pastor and state senator, during a regular prayer meeting.

Police immediately branded the shooting spree, which began just after 9 p.m. Wednesday, a hate crime, and released surveillance images of a white man fleeing the scene at 180-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church after the horrific incident, which left six women and three men dead.

"This is an unspeakable and unfathomable act by somebody filled with hate and a deranged mind," Charleston Mayor Joseph Riley said in a Thursday morning press conference. He vowed that authorities were "committed to finding this horrible scoundrel."

COMMENT:  The role of the media in the face of this awful crime is to report the news, not to make matters worse.  It may well have been a hate crime, but branding it as such is probably a mistake.  We don't know the facts.  It could have been a personal grudge, or a revenge killing.  Nothing justifies it, but this is not a time for press hysteria, especially at outlets like CNN.

The usual suspects, the Sharptons, will be out there, trying to make gains out of this enormous personal tragedy.  The media should impose the greatest discipline in keeping the story straight.

June 18, 2015       Permalink

HILLARY HIT AGAIN IN POLLS! – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:   Americans just don't see her as selling Girl Scout cookies.  From CNN:

(CNN) A majority of voters in three key presidential swing states view Hillary Clinton as not honest and trustworthy, according to a new poll out Wednesday.

The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll finds that by margins of 8 to 14 percentage points voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania are skeptical of Clinton's trustworthiness.

In Florida, 51% of voters hold the negative view of Clinton, compared to 43% who feel she is trustworthy. In Ohio, 53% of voters find Clinton not trustworthy, compared to 40% who do. And in Pennsylvania, 54% of voters don't find her honest, while 40% do.

Compounding the possible issue for Clinton, being honest and trustworthy is also the top issue to voters in all three early states.

Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the poll, said that Clinton is experiencing a "continuing slide" with how she is "perceived by voters who continue to say she is not honest and trustworthy."

Clinton's early state honest and trustworthy numbers follow what a CNN/ORC poll released earlier this month found: 42% of Americans consider her honest and trustworthy, while 57% don't.

COMMENT:  One thing is clear:  she isn't the Teflon candidate.  The attacks on her have clearly taken their toll, in part because they reinforce an idea that was already out there, that the Clintons are not to be trusted. 

Obviously, that is a charge that Republicans must pursue.  It is likely that more damage will be done to Clinton as more opposition research is conducted in the coming months. There seems to be no end of scandal.  Can her decline cost her the nomination?  The smart money today would say no, but I wonder if it's really the smart money.  If she continues to sag, the Democrats might just go with any opponent with a pulse.  The sense of excitement would be enormous.  Or, we might see a genuine draft of Elizabeth Warren at the convention.  The networks would love it.  Oh, the ratings. 

June 18, 2015       Permalink 

IRAQ GONE? – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  Is Iraq still a country?  Increasingly, the answer appears to be "no."  You can't blame it all on Field Marshal Obama, but his reckless childlike pullout from Iraq didn't help.  From the Washington Examiner: 

At a hearing Wednesday focused on the strategy for Iraq, the Pentagon conceded that the hope for a multi-sectarian, unified Iraq is becoming a less likely outcome. More likely, they said, is a three-way split of the country.

"Iraq is fractured," said House Armed Services Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. "You can make a pretty powerful argument, in fact, that Iraq is no more."

Smith said that while new Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has pledged support for a multi-sectarian Iraq, the lower-ranking Shiite members who fill out the rest of the government are not committed to that goal. That makes it likely that no matter how many additional U.S. forces are added to recruit Sunnis into the fight, it won't stick.

"Does [Abadi's] writ run through Iraq?" Defense Secretary Ashton Carter responded. "That's what we are waiting to see."

"How do we offer the Sunnis, you know, a reasonable place to be if they don't have some support from Baghdad?" Smith asked. "I think we need to start thinking about it."

Carter said the Defense Department does consider a future that involves three Iraqs, not one. The nation could be split into a Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite territory if Iraq's central government cannot convince Sunnis and Kurds they will be an inclusive and protected part of a unified Iraq.

COMMENT:  Then why are we putting more military assistance personnel into Iraq?  I think that's a question that Congress should pursue vigorously.  There appears to be no real strategy, a function of a disengaged, uninvolved president.

We do not seem to have much real influence in the Mideast.  This may well be Obama's real legacy.

June 18, 2015       Permalink

THE HILLARY DECEPTION – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  The story of the Hillary Clinton e-mails is far from over.  She has, shock, apparently lied about them.  Fox News is on the case: 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her personal email account to handle high level negotiations in 2011 for a no-fly zone to help topple Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, according to a series of emails obtained by Fox News, challenging her claim the private server did not hold classified information.

The emails, linked here, conflict with Clinton's statement that she did not put national security at risk by using a personal account.

"I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material," Clinton, now a candidate for president, told reporters in March. "I'm certainly well-aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material."

That claim was hard to test because emails released by the State Department are heavily blacked out. But an email chain from March 23, 2011 -- with virtually no redactions -- shows a message for senior administration staff including then Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, then-Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Michele Flournoy among others. It goes point by point, explaining what Turkey, France and Britain will likely accept in the deal.

COMMENT:  I can't believe that Hillary Clinton broke no law in the way she conducted herself.  And if she did break the law, why is she not being prosecuted?  I hope that question comes up, and is pursued during the campaign.

June 18,  2015     Permalink

JUNE 17,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:31 P.M. ET: 

THE WILLIAMS DECISION – From The New York Times:  "NBC is planning to announce Thursday that Brian Williams will not return to his position as the anchor of its 'Nightly News' show, four months after the network suspended him for exaggerating his role in a helicopter incident in Iraq, according to two people briefed on the discussions.  Mr. Williams is expected to move to a new role primarily at the cable news network MSNBC, probably in a breaking-news capacity in the beginning, according to one of the people.
Lester Holt, who has been filling in for Mr. Williams as anchor, will take on the position permanently, one person said."  Sending Williams to MSNBC is like sending him to the Titanic after it hits the iceberg.  Lester Holt has done a capable job, and it is no surprise that his anchor role has been made permanent.

CONFIDENCE IN RELIGION DECLINES – From USA Today:  "Americans have less confidence in organized religion today than ever measured before — a sign that the church could be 'losing its footing as a pillar of moral leadership in the nation's culture,' a new Gallup survey finds.  'In the '80s the church and organized religion were the No. 1' in Gallup's annual look at confidence in institutions, said Lydia Saad, author of the report released Wednesday.  Confidence, she said, 'is a value judgment on how the institution is perceived, a mark of the amount of respect it is due.' A slight upsurge for Catholic confidence, for example, parallels the 2013 election and immense popularity of Pope Francis.  Overall, church and organized religion is now ranked in fourth place in the Gallup survey — behind the military, small business and the police — while still ahead of the medical system, Congress and the media, among 15 institutions measured."  America without its religious heritage is not America.  But religious groups must do a better job of showing the importance of their message.  It is eternal values, foundation values, that people seek, not trendiness or political correctness posing as morality.

BUCKS – From the Washington Post:  "Will it be Susan B. Anthony or Harriet Tubman? Eleanor Roosevelt or Rosa Parks? Or another important woman from American history?  These will be among the names the nation ponders after the Obama administration’s announcement late Wednesday that a woman will be featured on the $10 bill, the first time in well over a century that a female portrait will grace the United States’ paper money.  The redesigned bill will be unveiled in 2020 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the right of women to vote. The Treasury Department is launching a massive public campaign to solicit suggestions through social media and town halls for what the bill should look like and who should be on it. The only requirements for candidacy are that the woman be deceased and embody the theme of the bill’s new look: 'Democracy.'"  I have no problem with a woman on currency, but don't the people's elected representatives have any say in this?  Every group will probably demand their own currency. 

CHANGING CULTURE? – From Racked:  "The overall market for luxury goods has grown steadily since the end of the recession, but the biggest luxury brands in the world are still worried about logo fatigue. According to the Washington Post, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada are struggling as wealthy customers continue to favor less ostentatious accessories. 'I think as customers have begun to notice changes in their own income and the income of others, they begin to feel a little bit of yuppie guilt around purchasing the logos,' Charles Lawry told the Post. Lawry is an assistant professor at Pace University who studies luxury marketing. 'It’s the idea of not wanting to seem as if you’re trying to brag about the products that you own.' Johann Rupert, chief executive of Richemont, is concerned about how income inequality will affect the luxury business. 'This is really what keeps me up at night,' Rupert said at a conference last week. 'Because people with money will not wish to show it. If your child’s best friend’s parents go unemployed, you don’t want to buy a car or anything showy.'"  Fascinating cultural development:  inconspicuous consumption.

June 17, 2015       Permalink

FBI vs. ISIS, IN THE USA – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  They're here, and we'd better be on guard.  From ABC News: 

The FBI is in the midst of a broad campaign to disrupt potential terrorists inspired by ISIS, with several arrests expected before July 4th, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The latest arrest that is part of this campaign came Saturday in New York, where a college student thought al Qaeda was getting soft and "making efforts to prepare an explosive device for detonation,” according to the FBI.

Hundreds of investigations are underway in all 50 states. Many involve suspected ISIS supporters, authorities said.

In the New York case, Munther Omar Saleh was accused of being an alleged “fervent supporter” of ISIS and offering to translate the terror group's propaganda into English. Court records quoted a tweet that read: “I fear AQ could be getting too moderate.”

Saleh had been under FBI surveillance since March when a Port Authority police officer saw him walking with a lantern on the George Washington Bridge, according to court records.

The FBI said Saleh told a confidential informant he was “in N.Y. and trying to do an Op.”

Instructions for a pressure cooker bomb were found on his computer along with images of New York City landmarks and tourist attractions, what court records called “potential targets for a terrorist attack.”

Saleh allegedly expressed support for the attack on the offices of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and the attempted attack on the Draw the Prophet cartoon contest in Garland, Texas.

In roughly a month since two suspected ISIS supporters were killed in that attack, authorities have made at least five arrests of suspected ISIS supporters as part of what law enforcement officials tell ABC News is a broad campaign to disrupt potential terrorists encouraged by ISIS through social media.

COMMENT:   Fine work, but it's the ones we don't know about that makes it a nightmare. 

June 17, 2015       Permalink 

OUR HILLARY, SO READY FOR OFFICE – AT 10:53 A.M. ET:  Byron York, in the Washington Examiner, explores how Hillary is already acting as if she were president.  In her mind, she is. 

Anyone who has covered a presidential campaign at the primary stage noticed something different about Hillary Clinton's news conference in Concord, New Hampshire Monday.

With reporters standing behind a barrier rail, the conference began not with Clinton but with press aide Nick Merrill, who had a list of journalists who would be recognized. "OK folks, we're going to start, take a few questions, with Dan Tuohy, Union Leader," Merrill began. After Clinton responded to Tuohy's question, Merrill jumped in again, recognizing Anne Gearan of the Washington Post. And then Merrill inquired: "Where's James Pindell? You have a question, James?" And so it went.

The normal way for a campaign to work, certainly at this early stage of the campaign, would be for the candidate to come out and say, "I'm going to take some questions" and then take some questions. While a press aide would likely be standing nearby, there would be no middleman, and no list of reporters who would and would not be allowed to ask a question. Even the President of the United States, who does work off a list at formal news conferences, calls on reporters himself, without an aide standing beside him to announce who will be allowed to speak.

The Clinton system is just one small way in which the former secretary of state is conducting her campaign as if she is already the president. At the same time, though, it left some members of the press with the impression that her campaign is still in the training stage, that Clinton is not yet ready for an unscripted exchange of information with the press. It's an ironic turn for a candidate who has argued since 2007 that she is so experienced that she would be ready to serve as commander-in-chief from the very first day of her term in office.

COMMENT:  What strikes me about Clinton is the blatancy of her incompetence.  She comes off as an amateur, and doesn't seem to know, or care.  She makes the same mistakes over and over.  Mayor of a small town, maybe.  President of the United States – not quite.

June 17, 2015       Permalink

UNBELIEVABLE – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:   Point by point, undoubtedly under Obama's direction, we're beginning to pull back our demands on Iran in the nuclear talks, talks that are scheduled to wrap up in 13 days.  From AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that a full accounting of Iran’s possible past atomic weapons research is not necessarily critical to reaching a nuclear deal with Tehran. His comments came amid concerns the Obama administration is backing down on demands that Iran resolve concerns about previous work as part of an agreement that would curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Kerry said the US and its negotiating partners are “not fixated” on the issue of so-called “possible military dimensions” because they already have a complete picture of Iran’s past activities. He said they are more concerned that those activities have stopped and about what Iran might do in the future. Negotiators are concentrating their efforts on that as they race to meet a June 30 deadline to reach a deal, Kerry said.

“The possible military dimensions, frankly, gets distorted a little bit in some of the discussions in that we’re not fixated on Iran specifically accounting for what they did at one point in time or another,” he told reporters at the State Department by video link from his home in Boston, where he is recovering from surgery on a broken leg.

COMMENT:  What concession comes next, in order to have an agreement to put on Obama's desk?  We are demanding exhaustive inspections, but Iran has already turned them down.  We await our cave-in on that point.

If the agreement is as bad as we fear, we can expect an unprecedented smear campaign against those who oppose it, including charges of disloyalty to the United States.  This is going to be very ugly.  I wonder if Hillary will have an opinion. 

June 17,  2015     Permalink

ECONOMIC WARNING – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  Despite periodic good news, the long-term economic prospects for the United States are not inspiring.  We are in danger.  From the Washington Times: 

Rising federal debt threatens to choke economic growth within a decade, beginning a death spiral that will sap revenue from government programs even as demands grow, forcing the government to borrow even more, Congress's budget watchdog said in a frightening report Tuesday.

Budget cuts or tax increases now would help avert that scary scenario, leaving the economy far stronger than it otherwise would be, the Congressional Budget Office said in the starkest warning yet by the independent agency that putting off tough decisions will only make things worse.

The report — the first major one under new CBO Director Keith Hall — also takes aim at some traditional liberal arguments, finding that government investment yields only half the return on investment compared with the private sector and that money transfers to the poor act as “implicit taxes,” keeping them out of the labor force and depressing the economy further.

“The long-term outlook for the federal budget has worsened dramatically over the past several years,” the CBO said in its dire report, blaming large deficits that piled up under President Obama’s stimulus and more fundamental changes to the economy that have caused Americans to leave the workforce in favor of government support.

The next few years will show solid improvement in the budget as the effects of the stimulus wear off and the economy climbs out of the slump that began under President George W. Bush and has continued for most of Mr. Obama’s tenure.

But the aging population, rising health care costs, a less-motivated workforce and ever more generous promises of government assistance will soon reverse the trend and send annual deficits shooting back up, accumulating a bigger debt burden that will act as a permanent drag on the economy.

“Our national debt is spiraling out of control,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, Georgia Republican.

COMMENT:  This coming crisis requires the greatest level of cooperation between the president and Congress, but we have a president who refuses to work with Congress, except when the spirit moves him.  Why, after all, would a god work with mere men?

June 17,  2015     Permalink