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MARCH 13,  2015

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

A WOMAN WITH STANDARDS – From Fox:  "An Indian bride has walked out of her wedding ceremony after her groom-to-be failed to solve a simple math problem, police said Friday.  The bride tested the groom on his math skills and when he got the sum wrong, she walked out.  The question she asked: How much is 15 plus six?  His reply: 17."  Can you imagine any bride trying that here, given the state of American education?  She'd be told that a wrong answer isn't really wrong, just an expression of an alternative narrative.

HYPOCRITE KERRY – From Daily Caller:  "Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger hammered John Kerry in 1985 for interfering in diplomatic negotiations with Nicaragua’s Marxist government as a Massachusetts senator.  Thirty years later, Kerry is skewering Senate Republicans for their open letter to the Iranian leadership warning that any nuclear deal with the United States without the advice and consent of the U.S. Congress would not last beyond President Obama’s term.  Kerry and then-Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin visited Nicaragua in 1985 to cut a deal with the Sandinista government, which was close to the former Soviet Union. President Ronald Reagan, however, was already set on overthrowing the Marxist government in Nicaragua by sending aid to a group of Nicaraguan rebels — the contras."  And Kerry was actually negotiating with a foreign country.  The Senate Republican letter simply informed another government of the American system.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – From Breitbart:  "President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were both in California at the same time yesterday, but the pair took separate flights for two different television appearances.  Yesterday, President Obama traveled aboard Air Force One to California for a TV appearance with comedian Jimmy Kimmel. The First Lady, however, flew on a separate plane to California for a TV appearance with Ellen...The First Lady flew back to Washington D.C. separately, while the president will fly back to Washington D.C. this afternoon."  We are paying for this extravagance.  I wonder how many college scholarships could have been given for the cost of these TV appearances.

A NEW NATIONAL HOLIDAY – From Breitbart:  "Wednesday at the White House the First Lady celebrated Nowruz, which White House Dossier describes as the 'Iranian festival of spring that marks the beginning of the Persian new year.'  There is absolutely nothing wrong with honoring the many events celebrated within this magnificent e pluribus unum melting pot of ours. The problem is that this is not about honoring a group of people who make up less than 1% of our population. When the Obama White House celebrates the Amish holiday of 'Old Christmas' be sure to fire me up a flare.  That spectacle wasn’t about anything other than kissing up to the women-oppressing, homosexual-murdering Islamic theocrats in Iran who have only three goals: 1) Get a nuclear weapon. 2) Use that weapon to wipe out Israel. 3) Jump into a pile of 72 virgins."  I can't wait for Obama to be introduced as the Grand Ayatollah.

March 13, 2015       Permalink

ANOTHER BORDER CRISIS – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  Our southern border is constantly in the news, usually because it is the crossing point for most illegal immigrants.  But there are others who might cross that border, and they aren't coming to improve their lives.  From the Washington Post: 

About 100 people have joined the Islamic State militant group from countries in the Caribbean and South America, and existing human smuggling networks are in place that could allow them to infiltrate the United States if they return, said a top U.S. general on Thursday.

Marine Gen. John F. Kelly, chief of U.S. Southern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the networks are “so efficient that if a terrorist or almost anyone wants to get into our country, they just pay the fare.”

“No one checks their passports,” the general said. “No one, you know, they don’t go through metal detectors. No one cares why they’re coming. They just ride this network.“

More than 15,000 foreign fighters have poured into the Middle East to join the Islamic State, traveling primarily to Syria. Kelly, who oversees U.S. military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, acknowledged that the number of fighters coming from his region is small, but said that the countries involved don’t have the ability to monitor those returning well.

“I would suspect … that while they’re in Syria they’ll get good at killing and they’ll pick up some real job skills in terms of explosives and beheadings and things like that,” Kelly said. “Everyone is concerned, of course, if they come home because if they go over radicalized, one can expect that they’ll come back at least that radicalized, but with really good job skills.”

COMMENT:  A small number of infiltrators can do devastating damage.  Recall that only 19 hijackers produced the 9-11 attacks. 

Also, weapons of mass destruction, broken down into components, can be smuggled across our border as well.  We should not judge the enemy only by his numbers, but by his capability, and by the weapons he's given. 

March 13, 2015       Permalink

MYSTERY IN MOSCOW – AT 10:14 A.M. ET:  Vladimir, we hardly knew ye.  There is a juicy mystery being played out in Moscow.  Vladimir Putin, the star of the show, hasn't been seen in a week, and the wonderin' is starting.  From The New York Times: 

MOSCOW — Where’s Putin?

It was the question preoccupying Moscow and much of Russia on Friday, as speculation mounted about why President Vladimir V. Putin had not been seen in public since last week.

He canceled a trip to Kazakhstan; postponed a treaty signing with representatives from South Ossetia who were reportedly told not to bother to come to Moscow; and, unusually, was absent from a meeting of top officials from the F.S.B., Russia’s domestic intelligence service.

The last confirmed public sighting was at a meeting with Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy on March 5 — although the Kremlin would have citizens think otherwise.

Given that the Kremlin borrows all manner of items from the Soviet playbook these days, there appeared to be an attempt to doctor the president’s timetable to show that all was well.

The daily newspaper RBC dug into Mr. Putin’s schedule as reported on the usually reliable presidential website, Kremlin.ru. The newspaper reported that a meeting with the governor of the northwestern region of Karelia, depicted as taking place on Wednesday, actually occurred on March 4, when a local website there wrote about it. A meeting with a group of women shown as having occurred on Sunday actually happened on March 6, RBC said.

On Friday, the Kremlin released video and posted a still picture of Mr. Putin meeting with the president of Russia’s Supreme Court, but since the video was not live, questions lingered.

The simplest explanation appeared to come from an unidentified government source in Kazakhstan, who apparently did not get the memo, and told Reuters “it looks like he has fallen ill.”

Since half of Moscow seemed to be suffering from a particularly devastating strain of flu that knocks people on their backs for days at a time, that seemed the most likely explanation.

But there also appeared to be a certain reluctance to concede that Russia’s leader, who cultivates a macho image of being in good health at age 62, might have been felled like a mere mortal.

COMMENT:  Let us not forget that Putin has an advanced degree in Political Explanation from the Hillary Clinton Institute, so anything is possible here.  We'll follow the story and let you know if Mr. Putin shows up...or, more interesting, if he doesn't.

March 13, 2015       Permalink

DANGER SIGNS – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  The Obamans tell us that the economy is doing just fine, recovering after six years, and that soon we'll have tofu in every pot and two Macs in every home.

Not so fast, Barack.  There are several major economic indicators that have gone wobbly, and retail sales – what people actually buy every day – is one of them.  From The Hill: 

U.S. retail sales fell for the third consecutive month in February, a drop potentially driven by cold weather.

The 0.6 percent drop followed up January's 0.8 percent fall in retail sales, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

Car dealers and retail and food stores were among the sectors to see falling sales in February, according to the Commerce data.

Consumer spending adds up to about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, and analysts had expected a slight increase in retail sales in February. The drop comes as the Federal Reserve is also considering a potential interest rate increase, its first in nine years.

COMMENT:  Well, cold weather might have some effect.  But that should have been countered by higher employment, if the Obama propaganda ministry is to be believed.

A common comment about the economy is that positive statistics don't seem to be reflected in what people see around them every day.  Most people I speak with really don't think the economy is improving.  Yes, there are jobs being "created," but what kind of jobs?  People are working for less, their dreams destroyed.  College graduates can't get jobs.  Many young people starting out in life can't afford to live in the towns where they grew up.  Jobs are insecure.   The list goes on.  Things are not good, and they're not likely to get better until we can make this economy boom again.  And that isn't happening.

March 13, 2015       Permalink

DEVASTATING – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  There's a theory floating around that much of the negative information on Hillary Clinton is coming from the White House.  I believe that theory has great credibility.

Yes, Obama would want Hillary to win a presidential election against any Republican because she'd defend the programs put in place during Obama's years in office.  But, in his heart, Obama would probably prefer another Democrat, someone like Elizabeth Warren, to be the Democratic nominee.  There's bad blood between the Clintons and Obamas, and Obama could legitimately fear that Hillary, with all her faults, would outshine him. 

Now come statements from the Obama White House that are devastating to Hillary.  From The Politico: 

With so much on the line, with so much time to prepare, she’s back to classic Clinton? She’s flubbing a campaign kickoff eight years in the making because she somehow thought that no one would ever care that she set up a secret email server? That anyone would then accept her word that it was OK that she deleted 30,000 emails even though the State Department had been asking for some of them? And then go silent again?

After all, 2008’s “Change you can believe in” campaign slogan wasn’t just a reference to George W. Bush. It was also about her, and the uneasy feeling many people had that with Clinton, something else was always going on.

Obama aides had had that feeling themselves, even after she joined the administration and their staffs tried following Obama’s and Clinton’s leads in building mutual trust, almost to the point of suspension of disbelief.

“You never feel like you’re quite getting the full story, because everyone’s got some side deal or some complicating factor,” said one former Obama aide, reflecting on dealing with Clinton and her circle. “I don’t think there was a conscious effort to watch out for scams. It was more just, you know who you’re dealing with.”

COMMENT:  What an endorsement of the woman who would be president.  This could eventually take its toll.  It's clear many Democrats are exasperated over the "same old, same old" when Hillary is in action.

But who else?  In 1960 the Democrats had a race for the nomination that featured Jack Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Stuart Symington, Henry Jackson, Lyndon Johnson, and Adlai Stevenson.  Look at the party today.  They have no bench at all. 

I point out that the titular head of that party for the last eight years has been Barack Obama.

March 13,  2015     Permalink

MARCH 12,  2015

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

PARTY OF THE PEOPLE – From Fox:  "Former President Bill Clinton has received nearly $16 million in taxpayer funds since leaving the White House, covering everything from his pension to personnel to benefits -- and renewing questions over how much taxpayers really should spend on ex-presidents who make millions after leaving office.  A new Politico report and analysis examined the payments since he left office in 2001, and claimed it amounts to more than any other ex-president has received. Meanwhile, Politico points out, Clinton has a personal annual income that beats all the other living former presidents. His $15 million advance -- then a record -- for his 2008 memoir was just a sliver of his earnings. According to reports he's made more than $106 million in speaking fees alone since 2001.  Clinton’s wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also has earned millions in speaking fees -- and released a memoir, for which she reportedly got a $14 million advance, last year. In the first 16 months after leaving Foggy Bottom in 2012, she made at total of $12 million in personal income, according to Bloomberg."  It's comforting that they now have enough to pay future legal fees.

HILLARY THREATENED – From Newsmax:  "If former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refuses to voluntarily comply with requests from the Select Committee on Benghazi, committee chair Trey Gowdy will have no choice but to subpoena her, he said Thursday on Newsmax TV's 'America's Forum.'  'You hate that it gets to that point,' said Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican who is a former district attorney. "You ought to be able to make a request of a former cabinet level official. You shouldn't have to resort to legal process. But certainly, the committee can subpoena people and subpoena documents. Our committee cannot subpoena personal property like cars and boats and servers."

AMERICANS BACK TROOPS TO FIGHT ISIS – From Forbes:  "Over half of Americans would now support the United States sending ground troops to battle ISIS. That’s the result of a YouGov poll conducted in early March. One of the key reasons 53 percent of people are in favour of ground troops is that there are few viable alternatives.  Even though air strikes in Iraq and Syria have stalled the momentum of ISIS militants, less than one in four Americans believe they can be defeated through air power alone. Democrats are divided when it comes to supporting an American ground offensive. However, the same can’t be said of Republicans – 69 percent of them would support a deployment of ground troops while just 23 percent would be opposed."  Americans take this fight more seriously than the Democratic Party does.  They're beginning to see that something is terribly wrong with our defense policies.

AND AMERICANS HAVE LOST FAITH IN GOVERNMENT – From AP:   "WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years.  The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of confidence in the Supreme Court, 11 percent in the executive branch and 5 percent in Congress. By contrast, half have a great deal of confidence in the military.  The survey is conducted by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago." I'm surprised the numbers are so high.

March 12, 2015       Permalink

COPS SHOT IN FERGUSON – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  After weeks of unrelenting cop bashing in much of the media, two police officers were shot in Ferguson, Missouri, during the night.  From Fox: 

Two police officers were seriously injured in a shooting early Thursday outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department amid new protests following the resignation of the town's embattled police chief.

A 32-year-old officer from suburban Webster Groves was shot in the face and a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said. Both were taken to a local hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious. He said he did not have further details about their conditions but described their injuries as "very serious," but not life-threatening.

Authorities are searching for the gunman. No suspect has been identified.

The protest up to that point was relatively peaceful, but the sound of gunfire just after midnight sent protesters and police officers running for cover. Police dressed in riot gear dragged the injured officers to safety, The New York Times reported.

COMMENT:  We do not pre-judge, but I hardly think it's coincidental that we had two cops murdered in New York recently, and now two seriously wounded in Ferguson while anti-cop sentiment is being whipped up around the country. 

We now know that the "hands up, don't shoot" narrative was at best a fiction, and at worst a hoax.  In Ferguson, we now know, Michael Brown did not have his hands up when shot by a police officer defending himself. 

We now know that the troubled bi-racial teenager shot dead by a police officer in Wisconsin just days ago had pled guilty to armed robbery three months earlier.  No angel he.

Each case is different.  Each involves different personalities.  There are undoubtedly abuses by some police officers.  They must be exposed and punished in a decent society.  Standards for police officers, the first symbols of authority, must be high.  But generating hatred toward police is no answer to the few officers who go bad. 

I don't know how we get the best young men and women to apply for police work in this atmosphere.  But I do know that we need them.

Oh, by the way, there are no reports of any injuries to civilians by police officers after the shootings in Ferguson overnight.

March 12, 2015       Permalink 

IRAN DECLARES VICTORY, AND NO ONE IS LAUGHING – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  Iran seems to feel it has us pretty much where it wants us...and plenty of observers agree.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Iran’s foreign minister and chief negotiator in nuclear talks with the West declared victory for his country, stating that no matter how the negotiations end, Tehran has come out “the winner,” according to remarks made on Tuesday and presented in the country’s state-run press.

Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister, stated in remarks before the country’s powerful Assembly of Experts, which recently installed a hardline new cleric as its leader, that the nuclear negotiations have established Tehran as a global power broker.

“We are the winner whether the [nuclear] negotiations yield results or not,” Zarif was quoted as saying before the assembly by the Tasnim News Agency. “The capital we have obtained over the years is dignity and self-esteem, a capital that could not be retaken.”

Zarif’s comments were accompanied by a host of bold military displays by Tehran in recent weeks, including the announcement of one new weapon that Iranian military leaders have described as a “very special” missile.

As the United States and Iran rush to hash out a final nuclear agreement ahead of a self-imposed July deadline, Zarif also lashed out at congressional Republicans who have expressed skepticism over the Obama administration’s diplomacy and have fought to exert control over the implementation of any deal.

COMMENT:  To a certain degree, Zarif is right.  Obama's appeasement of Iran, his giving in to many demands regarding its nuclear program, has enhanced Iran's prestige and presumed power.  And, although we are negotiating over nuclear weapons, we haven't demanded that Iran's ICBM's be included in the talks, although they are clearly being constructed to carry nuclear warheads.  At every stage we have enhanced Iran's position, treating the country as a great power, which it isn't.

Even if the talks break down, others in the region will see it as a victory for Iran, which would have to give up nothing.  True, the economic sanctions that we've imposed on Iran would remain – and they are hurting – but I would wager that the sanctions in time will essentially lose effect, as more and more nations seek business with Iran.

If the nuclear talks "succeed," Iran will probably come away with a very good deal.

The Iranians historically have been superb negotiators.  They are helped this time by facing an American president who wilfully operates from weakness.

March 12, 2015       Permalink

U.S. SAYS "PRETTY PLEASE" TO...VIETNAM – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  There are consequences to losing a war politically that is being won on the battlefield.  Thus, the United States finds itself, 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, dealing with a Vietnamese regime that is doing favors for the Russians.  From Reuters: 

(Reuters) - The United States has asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use a former U.S. base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region, exposing strains in Washington's steadily warming relations with Hanoi.

The request, described to Reuters by a State Department official, comes as U.S. officials say Russian bombers have stepped up flights in a region already rife with tensions between China, U.S.-ally Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

General Vincent Brooks, commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, told Reuters the planes had conducted "provocative" flights, including around the U.S. Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, home to a major American air base.

It is the first time that U.S. officials have confirmed the role of Cam Ranh Bay, a natural deep-water harbor, in Russian bomber plane activity that has increased globally.

Brooks said the planes that circled Guam were refueled by Russian tankers flying from the strategic bay, which was transformed by the Americans during the Vietnam War into a massive air and naval base.

COMMENT:  We are constantly being told of our "warming" relations with Hanoi, conveniently forgetting that Vietnam is a Communist country, and will do Russia's bidding.  Asia is getting to be a dangerous place, and you may be sure that the masters in Hanoi always know which way the wind is blowing.

We also note that Russia is clearly returning to major-power status.  Putin dreams of a new Russian empire.  These "provocative" flights are Moscow's message that it will expand its areas of operations at will.  The Russians see, from our weakness over Ukraine, that there will probably be very little pushback.  Obama is still pushing the "reset" button.

March 12, 2015       Permalink

THEY FOUND OUT? – AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  There is agony among Democrats.  The anointed queen keeps doing these odd things.  It's so upsetting.  From WaPo:

Senior Democrats are increasingly worried that Hillary Rodham Clinton is not ready to run for president, fearing that the clumsy and insular handling of the nine-day fracas over her private e-mails was a warning sign about the campaign expected to launch next month.

Few Democrats believe that the revelations about her un­or­tho­dox e-mail practices as secretary of state are a substantive issue that would damage Clinton with voters, and many said she performed adequately in a Tuesday news conference defending herself.

But in interviews Wednesday with The Washington Post, current and former Democratic officeholders and operatives from across the country raised serious questions about her and her political team’s strength and readiness for a 2016 presidential campaign.

“She’s tried to put the day of reckoning off, but it’s come now, and I don’t think she can stand another couple of weeks of this without her structure in place,” said Jim Hodges, a former governor of South Carolina.

“Had this story been responded to in two or three days instead of in eight days, it would not be as big,” said Robert Gibbs, a former White House press secretary under President Obama.

Some Democrats said Clinton’s initial refusal to provide answers in the growing e-mail controversy smacked of arrogance and a worrisome bunker mentality — and that the controversy was a self-inflicted wound.

“Had this story been responded to in two or three days instead of in eight days, it would not be as big,” said Robert Gibbs, a former White House press secretary under President Obama. “They are the ones who put air in this balloon in a way that was not necessary at all. . . . It’s clear they lack an apparatus. She’s a candidate without a campaign.”

A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

COMMENT:  She's a candidate without ethics, that's what she is.  She reminds the country of the scandals that always swept up around her husband.  She lies casually.  She doesn't even have the good sense to remember her lies so she doesn't contradict herself.

And it's pretty clear that many in the press don't like her.  That's not a way to get elected.

March 12,  2015     Permalink