Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

MAY 6,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:29 P.M. ET: 

SHE'S BAACK – Monica Lewinsky has resurfaced and is telling her story in Vanity Fair.  She is now an accomplished woman of 40, with an advanced degree from the London School of Economics.  But she reports difficulty in landing a good job because of her past.  She has never actually told her side of the story.  It is virtually impossible to predict any political impact this reemergence may have, unless she produces a bombshell.  But no doubt her appearance will be an interesting historical footnote.

VULGAR – There are slippery pols, and then there is the level below slippery.  Former Governor Charlie Crist of Florida is in that second category.  He served as a Republican governor, then switched to the Democratic Party, and is now trying to get his old job back.  He says this about the GOP, from Fusion.net:
"Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (D) said Tuesday that a 'big reason' why he left the Republican Party was because many in the GOP were hostile to President Obama due to his race.  Crist, who is running for his old office against Gov. Rick Scott (R), said in an interview with Fusion’s Jorge Ramos that he felt uncomfortable with his previous party affiliation. Republicans are perceived as 'anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-minority, [and] anti-gay,' he said, and they refuse to compromise with Obama. The ex-governor said he feels,'liberated as a Democrat.'"  Really?  Liberated?  This is really low stuff.  A party doesn't become racist overnight.  It has a history.  Is Crist really telling us that he suddenly noticed racism in the GOP and decided to switch?  Come on.  A Republican administration made both Colin Powell and Condi Rice secretary of state.  And the Dem party of Florida has a long segregationist history.  Crist at his lowest.

FROM THEIR MOUTH TO... – The Washington Post's political team is predicting a major Republican Senate victory this fall:  "Republicans are strong favorites to retake the Senate majority this fall, according to The Post's new Election Lab model.  According to the model, which was built for The Post by political scientist and Monkey Cage blog author John Sides, Republicans have an 82 percent chance of claiming the six seats they need to move back into the majority."  Okay, I'll allow myself a small smile.  But we have six months to go before election day.  Work, work, work.

BITING THE HAND – Larry King, deposed as one of CNN's main talk-show hosts, is biting the hand that formerly fed him.  From Media Research Center:  "Appearing on Tuesday's NBC Today, former CNN talk show host Larry King ridiculed his former employer when asked if he would ever return to the cable channel: 'The tough time I would have at CNN now, I think, would be doing this airplane story. Because I think I'd crack up laughing. I think I would have – you know, how many times can you cover a plane? Six weeks and all we know is it made a left turn.'   Co-host Willie Geist asked: 'So you wouldn't do that story?' King replied: 'Well, what if they forced me to? I would probably not want to do it. I think it would get embarrassing after a while.'"  He is correct, but CNN has benefited in the ratings by making the disappearance of the Malaysian airliner into what, in my youth, was called a Saturday morning serial.  Come back, kids!  More thrills and spills!

May 6,  2014     Permalink

UKRAINE UPDATE – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:   Ukraine continues to slide toward disaster.  From Reuters: 

KRAMATORSK/ODESSA, Ukraine (Reuters) - Both sides have been burying their dead as Ukraine slides further towards war, with supporters of Russia and of a united Ukraine accusing each other of tearing the country apart.

Tuesday morning was quieter than past days in eastern and southern Ukraine, but the deadliest week since the separatist uprising began has transformed the conflict, hardening positions and leaving little room for peace.

In Kramatorsk, a separatist-held town in the east that saw an advance by Ukrainian troops at the weekend, the coffin of 21-year-old nurse Yulia Izotova was carried through streets stilled by barricades of tires and tree trunks on Monday. Scattered red carnations traced the route.

At the Holy Trinity Church, seven priests led mourners in prayer for a woman killed by large caliber bullets, which the townsfolk believe were fired by Ukrainian troops.

"They shoot at us. Why? Because we don't want to live with fascists?" asked 58-year-old passport photographer Sergei Fominsky, standing with his wife among the mourners. "We're not slaves. We kneel to no one."

In Odessa, a previously peaceful, multi-ethnic Black Sea port where more than 40 people were killed on Friday in the worst day of violence since a February revolt toppled Ukraine's pro-Russian president, pall-bearers carried Andrey Biryukov's open casket from a van to the street corner where he was shot.

COMMENT:  This is truly an "on the brink" situation.  It would be easy for Russia to find a "provocation" in all this combat, and move into Ukraine militarily.  I don't really think we'd have much of an answer.  Western Europe is making clear that it isn't prepared to restrain the Russians because of commercial ties.  Euros talk. 

Meanwhile, the big story at the White House today is global warming, one of the old liberal stand-bys.  Ukraine?  Where's that at?

May 6, 2014       Permalink

TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  It is very easy to ridicule the military claims of smaller powers.  It is also dangerous.  You know, those little yellow men with poor eyesight could never attack the mighty American fleet at Pearl Harbor.  Right? 

Iranian military leaders are making some startling claims.  Some Americans will laugh.  I'm not laughing.  The United States Navy operates in waters near Iran, and it is vulnerable.  Recall the attack by Iraqi missiles on the guided missile frigate USS Stark in 1987, in which 37 American sailors lost their lives.  Recall the attack, launched by a small boat, against the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer USS Cole, while in port in Yemen in 2000, killing 17 sailors.  From The Times of Israel: 

The naval commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said Monday that the destruction of the US Navy is a major operational goal of his forces, an Iranian news agency reported. In an unusually aggressive interview, he was said to have declared that Iran’s navy had been conducting drills on how to sink US vessels in any potential combat, that Iran “naturally” wants to sink these vessels, and that it could sink a US aircraft carrier in less than a minute.

“Conducting trainings, exercises and drills to get prepared for operational goals is always on our agenda and Americans and all the world know that one of the operational goals of the IRGC Navy is destruction of the US naval force,” Fadavi said in what the semi-official Fars News Agency called an exclusive interview.

US air power totally depends on fighters flying from its aircraft carriers, Fadavi was quoted saying, “hence, that is a natural thing that we want to sink these vessels.”

Fars said Fadavi also spoke of the vulnerability of the United States’ giant warships and aircraft carriers, notably in any potential combat against Iranian missiles and speedboats in the Persian Gulf: “If you take a look at [former US defense secretary] Robert Gates’ book, you will see how he counts the vulnerabilities of aircraft carriers to the IRGC Navy and (that’s why) he asks for a change in the US naval strategy. This is no easy task, but they (the Americans) have started doing so as he has emphasized,” Fadavi said.

US warships are a very easy target for the IRGC naval force, given that “we have very precise analyses of the design, construction and structures of these warships and we know how to act.”

COMMENT:  I would imagine our Navy is taking this very seriously.  Iran may not be a major power, but it does possess modern weapons.  Only a few missiles getting through could take a supercarrier out of action and possibly sink it.  And remember that Iran, essentially Persian, is an ancient seagoing nation, with an experienced maritime tradition. 

Smaller powers can wreak horrible havoc in war, and inflict terrible casualties.  Think Korea, think Vietnam, indeed think World War II in the Pacific.  Japan was no match for the U.S., but we paid a ghastly price to prove that point.

May 6, 2014       Permalink

HORRIBLE – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  While the nutbags of the collegiate left, both student and faculty, try to keep Condi Rice and Ayaan Hirsi Ali off their campuses – mustn't hear dangerous ideas – a horror story is unfolding in Nigeria.  Haven't seen much interest on the part of the trendy left in this, but those we call grown-ups are increasingly enraged.  From CNN:

(CNN) -- Fears for the fate of more than 200 Nigerian girls turned even more nightmarish Monday when the leader of the Islamist militant group that kidnapped them announced plans to sell them.

Nice to know that CNN condescended to use the term "Islamist militant group."  If someone on a college campus used that term, he or she would be labeled an "Islamophobe."

"I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," a man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in a video first obtained by Agence France-Presse.

"There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women," he continued, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language.

Boko Haram is a terrorist group receiving training from al Qaeda affiliates, according to U.S. officials. Its name means "Western education is sin." In his nearly hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for Western education to end.

"Girls, you should go and get married," he said.

The outrageous threat means the girls' parents' worst fears could be realized. Parents have avoided speaking to the media for fear their daughters may be singled out for reprisals.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the video "does appear legitimate."

And Hillary Clinton even added her expression of concern, although only in a Twitter message.  I'm sure it was deeply felt, ahem:   "Access to education is a basic right & an unconscionable reason to target innocent girls," she wrote Sunday. "We must stand up to terrorism. #BringBackOurGirls."  Please notice the absence of any reference to Islamic fanaticism.  We must take care not to offend.

We'll follow this issue – the abduction of 200 girls in the name of Allah – and see if it gets as much traction as the obnoxious ranting of a basketball-team owner in L.A.  It probably won't, because dealing with radical Islam takes real work, not just Twitter statements, and goes up against the trendy multiculturalism of the people who control the media and the universities.

May 6, 2014        Permalink 

RUSSIA WARNING – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  Do you sometimes feel that your country is becoming a punching bag?  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The commander of U.S. air forces in the Pacific is reporting a significant increase in activities by Russian planes and ships in the region.

Gen. Herbert Carlisle linked that to the situation in the Ukraine. He said Russia was demonstrating its capabilities and gathering intelligence on U.S. military exercises.

Carlisle said there had been long-range Russian air patrols to the coast of California and a circumnavigation of the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. He said a U.S. F-15 fighter jet intercepted a Russian strategic bomber that had flown to Guam.

He also reported a sharp increase in Russian air patrols around Japanese islands and Korea.

Carlisle said there was a lot more Russian ship activity too.

He was speaking Monday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

COMMENT:  Nothing to see, folks, nothing to see.  Just a friendly, misunderstood nation, oppressed by Ronald Reagan, coming out of its period of oppression.  Now, may we speak about climate change?

May 6,  2014     Permalink

MAY 5,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:30 P.M. ET: 

MAJOR FASHION NEWS – From London's Telegraph:  "A top Iranian dress designer has made an outfit for Baroness Ashton that could spare the blushes of Iranian diplomats during crunch nuclear talks.
Three years ago Iranian state media doctored pictures of the EU’s foreign policy chief to show her with a much higher neckline than she actually had during negotiations in Turkey.  Her attire then was modest by Western standards but clearly deemed too racy by Iran’s.  The new Iranian set of clothes, apparently a goodwill gift, will ensure the Baroness does not flash too much flesh during future meetings – if she decides to wear them.  Baroness Ashton, 58, has received the dress and 'warmly welcomed its design,' said the costume’s proud maker, Mitra Tamjidi told Iran’s ISNA news agency. She 'is scheduled to put on the dress in one of her diplomatic meetings.'"  I can't wait.

GOWDY HEADS BENGHAZI COMMITTEE – From Fox:  "South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, a former federal prosecutor known for his aggressive style of questioning at congressional hearings, has been tapped to lead a select committee tasked with investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks.  House Speaker John Boehner made the announcement Monday afternoon.  'With four of our countrymen killed at the hands of terrorists, the American people want answers, accountability, and justice,' he said. 'Trey Gowdy is as dogged, focused, and serious-minded as they come.'"  That's correct.  He's terrific, the very best.  The question, though, is whether these hearings will ever get off the ground.  Already we're hearing that Democrats might boycott them, turning them into a partisan affair, and giving the mainstream media the excuse it needs to ignore them.  We're also hearing that the Obama White House might invoke executive privilege and refuse to cooperate.  I have to believe that a smart guy like Gowdy has already mulled these possibilities and has replies.  Ultimately, public opinion might well decide whether this probe gets going.

DULL CONVERSATION ALERT – From The Hill:  "President Obama will speak about climate change on Tuesday with a number of national and local TV meteorologists across the country, according to an administration official.  The 2014 National Climate Assessment will be released Tuesday and will be the focus of Obama’s interviews. 'Today' show weather forecaster Al Roker will be among those interviewing Obama on this year’s report, which is expected to look at the number of extreme weather events and their connection to climate change, among other data.  The Washington Post reports Tuesday’s climate lineup reflects a 'reinvigorated strategy' from the administration on climate change action."  I'm sure Al Roker will ask really tough questions of Obama.  As a TV weatherman, he's an expert on climate change (choke).  This whole thing is a farce.  Obama is under pressure from wealthy liberal donors to the Dem Party to take on the so-called climate issue.  Meanwhile, I'd love to know what investments these donors have, and whether they'll profit from the changes they demand in energy policy.  I doubt if any mainstream news organization will bother to investigate.

THE OTHER SIDE OF RUTGERS – Several days ago former Secretary of State Condi Rice withdrew as commencement speaker at Rutgers after leftist students and faculty objected to her, and some students took over a university office to protest.  Now other students are expressing outrage at Rice's withdrawal.  From Fox:  "Student groups at Rutgers University expressed their dismay Monday at the withdrawal of former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a commencement speaker.  In an open letter to university president Dr. Robert Barchi, three student groups said they took issue with Rice's decision to withdraw as a speaker amid protests over her previously planned appearance at the school's graduation. The groups also expressed concern that Rutgers is not a place where 'the free ideas and a diversity of opinions are encourage'  The letter was written Monday on behalf of the Rutgers College Republicans, Eagleton Undergraduate Associates, Greek Life at Rutgers University, and other student organizations.  'The decision surprised many and evoked a wide range of responses on the Rutgers University campus, social media and in the national media' wrote Donald P. Coughlan of the Eagleton Undergraduate Associates."  Good letter.   The reputation of Rutgers has been sullied by a small group of intolerant faculty and students.  What will Rutgers do to get it back?

May 5, 2014        Permalink

GOP LEADING IN MAJOR POLL – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:   We caution that polls are only snapshots in time, that they differ, and that the midterms are six months away.  But polls do give us a sense of where things stand, and they're entertaining on a Monday morning.  From The Politico: 

Republicans are beating Democrats in a generic ballot for the 2014 midterm elections — a reversal from just two months ago, a new poll says.

According to a Pew Research poll released Monday, 47 percent said they would vote for the GOP candidate in their district while 43 percent said they would vote for the Democrat.

The 4-percentage-point edge is an improvement for the GOP. Just two months ago, Democrats had a 46 percent-44 percent edge in the Pew generic ballot.

The poll also suggests President Barack Obama will likely be more of a liability for Democrats than he was in 2010. Sixteen percent of voters said their midterm vote should be considered a vote for the president, while 26 percent of voters said their vote should be considered a vote against him. In the midterms in 2010, 24 percent said their congressional vote was a support vote for Obama, compared to just 20 percent who said theirs was a vote against him.

Sixty-five percent of voters also said they want the next president in 2016 to pursue different policies than the Obama White House.

Democrats are struggling to win over independent voters, according to the poll. Republicans hold a 16-point edge among independent voters, 49 percent-33 percent.

COMMENT:   An optimistic poll for our side.  But I caution:  Note that the same poll taken two months ago had different results, with the Dems winning.

We must fight as if we're 20 points behind.   We must be optimistic, but not self-assured.  And we must consider defeat a catastrophe, not a setback.  This election is about the future of the United States.  It will set the stage, psychologically, for the 2016 presidential election, and affect the national morale of our country.

No halfway effort.  And let's start the process of dragging our voters to the polls, something that wins elections for the other side.

May 5, 2014       Permalink

OUR COMMANDER – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:   Barack Obama has been in office five and a half years, and we still ask, "Who is he?"  We still seem to know so little about him.  And when people ask penetrating questions about his past, about why he won't release key records in his background, they're put down immediately or called "racists." 

There will probably now be a formal congressional investigation of Benghazi.  Democrats are already opposing it, some threatening to boycott it.  I wonder why.  Could it be that this probe will finally tell us the character of the man in the White House?  The great Andrew Malcolm of IBD, gives us a stark portrait of Barack Obama's actions during an event in which four Americans, including an ambassador, were murdered:

But for us the most pressing, curious and disturbing question today remains: Where was the Commander-in-Chief and what was he doing during an eight-hour attack that left four government employees unprotected, abandoned and dead?

We know now, thanks to Bret Baier's recent interview with ex-Obama aide Tommy Vietor, that the president was not in the Situation Room, the secure, in-house command post where presidents usually go to oversee crises. Remember the Osama bin Laden assassination-night photo with Obama back in the corner and others riveted to a real-time video screen?

Clinton and then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have both said they talked with Obama by phone that awful evening. And Obama's said he ordered all necessary security for American facilities and representatives abroad.

But that's it! Nothing more.

Not until the next morning when Obama emerged into the Rose Garden with a silent Clinton to denounce the attack, cite the video and vow quick justice to the perpetrators. Then, he flew off to Las Vegas campaign fundraisers before the bodies were cold. Justice remains undelivered 600 days later.

Now, recall the contemporary context: Six weeks out from his reelection. Months into his comforting meme that he had al Qaeda on the run, decimated its leadership and sent Bin Laden to sleep with the fishes.

Mitt Romney was warning that indecision and lack of preparation were great threats to national security. Obama would mock him as uninformed and outdated for his prescient warnings about Russia remaining a strategic foe of the United States.

COMMENT:  A picture of a president who is a perpetual candidate, but not much of an involved president.  It is, in my view, a compelling picture. 

It is also the picture of a president who believes the United States of America is the problem, not the solution. 

As some have called him, the first post-American president.

May 5, 2014       Permalink 

UKRAINE – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  The armed combat in Ukraine increases.  There are reports of Russian warplanes flying over Crimea, which is southern Ukraine.  From USA Today: 

Ukrainian troops are battling a pro-Russia militia occupying an eastern city in an apparent escalation of a security sweep to bring the region back under government control.

Gunfire and multiple explosions could be heard Monday in Slovyansk, a city of 125,000 people that has become the focus of the armed anti-government insurgency.

The Interfax news agency cited Interior Minister Arsen Avakov as saying that pro-Russia forces were deploying large-caliber weapons and mortars.

In the beleagured city of Odessa, pro-Russian demonstrators stormed police headquarters on Sunday and won the release of 67 people detained after deadly riots there.

It was Odessa's latest clash between pro-Russian separatists and supporters of the Ukrainian government in the port city, where more than 40 people died in the riots and subsequent fire in a trade union building on Friday.

Earlier Sunday, Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk visited Odessa and accused Russia of engineering violence that left dozens of people dead in recent days.

Yatsenyuk also blamed government security forces for failing to prevent the bloodshed, calling the deaths a "tragedy of all of Ukraine."

COMMENT:  And the president of the United States is fixated on the theory of "climate change," egged on by environmental religionists and wealthy donors wanting to "give back."  Ukraine is the world foreign crisis since the presumed end of the Cold War, and look how little interested Americans are.

As some pundits are pointing out, this is not a new cold war.  It is hot war.  People are being killed.  Heavy weapons are being used.

The United States lacks the diplomatic clout to confront Russia, although Russia is a comparatively weak country.  Or is it that those running our affairs have no problem with the expansion of "The Motherland"?

May 5, 2014       Permalink

THE PARTY LINE – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  Our increasingly left-wing president is going all in on "climate change" despite serious concerns in thoughtful circles that the issue is not fully researched, that numbers may be wildly inaccurate, and that we may spend trillions of dollars on a theory that may turn out to be weak.  But who cares?  It's trendy.  From the Washington Post's true believing Juliet Eilperin: 

After years of putting other policy priorities first — and dismaying many liberal allies in the process — Obama is now getting into the weeds on climate change and considers it one of the key components of his legacy, according to aides and advisers.

He is regularly briefed on scientific reports on the issue, including a national climate assessment that he will help showcase Tuesday. He is using his executive authority to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other sources, and is moving ahead with stricter fuel-efficiency standards for the heaviest trucks.

And while he routinely brings up climate change in closed-door meetings with world leaders, according to his aides, he also discusses it in his private life, talking about global warming’s implications with his teenage daughters.

“This is really real for him, in terms of what he’s leaving,” said Cecilia Muñoz, who directs the White House Domestic Policy Council and has helped coordinate federal investment in climate-resilient infrastructure projects. “This is personal for him.”

COMMENT:   The article makes plain the influence of the rigid left on Obama's thinking.  The left not only wants to "confront" climate change, it wants to shut down all the progress that's been made in extracting traditional forms of energy, even though alternative forms are far from ready and far from proved.

We are being confronted by fanatics at a time when measurements of the so-called "climate change" are increasingly wobbly.  Indeed, these are the same people who seem to oppose anything that will make this country stronger and more energy independent.  The only criticism they have of Obama's weak, ineffective foreign policy is that it isn't weak enough. 

Are we talking energy policy here?  Or are we talking an overall political philosophy that is anti-American at its core? 

And are we talking about wealthy leftist donors, as the article does, who have an inordinate influence over what this president does?  Hmm.

May 5,  2014     Permalink