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Wednesday's Angel's Corner is here.

MAY 10,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET:

ROYAL SNUB – Via reader Joseph J. Gallick, from The Wall Street Journal:  "WASHINGTON—Saudi Arabia’s monarch pulled out of a summit to be hosted by President Barack Obama on Thursday, in a blow to the White House’s efforts to build Arab support for a nuclear accord with Iran.  King Salman’s decision appeared to ripple across the Persian Gulf. Bahrain said on Sunday that its ruler, King Hamad bin Isaa Al Khalifa, had opted not to travel to Washington."  What a snub to the American president.  What a tribute to American weakness.

NEW HAMPSHIRE LATEST – From Bloomberg:  "There's no clear Republican front-runner in the New Hampshire presidential nominating contest, while Hillary Clinton retains an overwhelming advantage among Democrats in the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.  Clinton's advantage over her potential Republican rivals has narrowed, however, and the general election in the battleground state looks increasingly competitive, according to a new Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm New Hampshire Poll.  The poll also shows that Senator Marco Rubio is rising while support for his fellow Floridian, former Governor Jeb Bush, has fallen off. Rubio and Bush both were the first choice of 11 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the poll, while Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky each scored 12 percent."  See the statistical charts here.  The Dems cannot be pleased with Hillary's performance.  Her numbers keep eroding.

SICK – From the New York Post:  "A Subway sandwich shop worker sparked outrage on Twitter with her social media posts celebrating Saturday’s killing of two Mississippi cops—and now she’s been fired.
'This behavior is unacceptable & does not represent our brand’s values & ethics,' Subway tweeted Sunday night, in response to the backlash. 'The franchise has terminated the employee.'  Sierra 'C-Babi' McCurdy, of Laurel, Mississippi, ultimately lost her job because she praised the cold-blooded murders of Hattiesburg cops Benjamin Deen, 34, and Liquori Tate, 25, after they were gunned down in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop Saturday night." Watch.  Someone will turn this into a free speech issue.

May 10,  2015     Permalink

MOTHER'S DAY – AT 2:50 P.M ET:   I wish all a happy Mother's Day.  By "all" I mean all.  It is the age of Obama.  We choose our identities.  I ask, isn't restricting Mother's Day to women with children a bit sexist, classist, and indicative of the elitist views of the oppressor?  I ask you that.

If you're a man who always wanted to be a mother, happy Mother's Day.

If you're a 12-year-old girl, happy Mother's Day.

If you're a cocker spaniel, but always wanted to be human, and a mother, happy Mother's Day.

If you're a Democrat who rejects assigned gender roles, happy Mother's Day.  But not too happy.

We are inclusive here.  Be anything, as long as you vote right.

May 10, 2015       Permalink

OH DEAR, THEY'RE FIGHTING ON THE LEFT; ENJOY, ENJOY – AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  Did you know that Barak Obama and Elizabeth Warren are having a spat?  Oh yes, and it's getting worse.  From Fox: 

A growing feud between President Obama and Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren kicked up a notch Saturday, with the president rejecting her recent warnings about a long-sought trade deal and saying in an interview, “Elizabeth is a politician just like everybody else.”

I never would have known.

The president and the liberal Massachusetts senator have been sparring amid an internal Democratic battle over Obama’s trade push.

The administration wants Congress to give the president so-called “fast-track” authority, which would ease the ability of the president to secure trade pacts – in this case, a major agreement with Pacific nations called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Most recently, Warren has argued that giving Obama the new authority could open the door for a future administration to strike a deal rolling back provisions of the landmark 2010 financial industry regulatory overhaul.

The president, in an interview with Yahoo News, said that’s “wrong.”

He challenged the notion that he would have had “this massive fight with Wall Street” and then sign a provision to undo that legislation.

“I'd have to be pretty stupid and it doesn't make any sense,” Obama said. “There is no evidence that could ever be used in this way. This is pure speculation. She and I both taught law school and one of the things you do as a law professor is you spin out hypotheticals and this is all hypothetical, speculative.”

Asked if this is personal, Obama said, “You know the truth of the matter is … Elizabeth is a politician just like everybody else, and she has a voice that she wants to get out there and I understand that, and on most issues she and I deeply agree. On this one, though, her arguments don't stand the test of fact and scrutiny.”

COMMENT:  Let them fight. It distracts them both from doing more damage.  Send them suggestions of other things to fight over.

May 10,  2015     Permalink

ANOTHER WARNING – AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  Yesterday we noted the huge parade of military hardware in Red Square, bringing back the good old days of Soviet displays of power.

It isn't only Russia on the march.  China is building its military even faster.  And its rising economy, helped enormously by trade with the United States, is a major factor.  Now it is extending its defense line to artificial islands.  From Fox: 

China's mysterious campaign to build artificial islands in disputed waters of the South China Sea has grown to cover roughly 2,000 acres, a senior defense official said Friday, as the Pentagon issued a report warning the sites could be used to bolster the country's military infrastructure.

The assessments provide an unprecedented level of detail on what China is suspected of pursuing with its so-called "land reclamation" project, which the Defense Department now describes as "extensive."

The U.S. military initially called out China for the project in March, explaining that the country was "pumping sand on to live coral reefs" and then paving over them with concrete.

The construction, though, has apparently proceeded at a rapid and alarming pace. The new Defense Department report on China's military activities said that as of late December, China had reclaimed about 500 acres of land in this way.

A senior defense official told the Associated Press on Friday that the land mass has since grown to about 2,000 acres and could keep growing as the year goes on.

The DOD report warned that while Beijing's island construction intent is unclear, five emerging outposts in the Spratly Islands could be used for surveillance systems, harbors and logistical support. The report said they could also hold "at least one airfield." According to the Defense Department, work at four of the five sites has shifted to mainly development and construction.

COMMENT:  I doubt that these islands are designed as tourist attractions.  Disney has shown no interest.  China is also building a major naval presence, which has generated naval shipbuilding in Japan. 

Obama spoke of his intent to "pivot to Asia."  We haven't seen much of a pivot.  But, let's face it, we haven't seen much of a foreign policy.

May 10,  2015    Permalink

MAY 9,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:35 P.M. ET: 

RUSSIA SHOWS OFF – Ah, the good old days.  Major military displays in Red Square.  From the L.A. Times:  "Western boycott of Russia's Victory Day parade Saturday did little to chasten the Kremlin as Russian President Vladimir Putin rolled out fearsome new armor and weapons in a thundering message that might makes right.  In the absence of Russia’s World War II allies who stayed away in protest of Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, Putin was surrounded at the Red Square event largely by leftist foreign leaders for his display of the military power that has made Russians proud and their neighbors nervous.  Under blue skies and sunshine befitting a postcard, the Kremlin marked the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany by parading 16,000 troops, nearly 200 tanks and armored vehicles, truck-mounted ballistic missiles and 140-plus aircraft before thousands of Russian dignitaries, Soviet war veterans and about two dozen foreign leaders."  Russian rearmament should be one of our two or three greatest concerns.  But we don't focus on it too often, and the Dems are so far to the left that many of them really don't care.

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – From Fox:  "A University of New Hampshire professor will be teaching the ins and outs of the recent scandal surrounding the New England Patriots this fall.  Michael McCann, a sports law professor, will teach a course on 'Deflategate' in the fall term. McCann has designed the four-credit undergraduate class to take a look at the legal underpinnings of the scandal.  The class will be about the 'interplay between those footballs…and the legal, regulatory and journalistic systems governing sports,' the course description says. The class will be open to about 75 students.  McCann is a sports law contributor for Sports Illustrated and is an attorney in Massachusetts."  Actually, it sounds like fun.  But I await the moment when discussion will turn to the nickname for a football – the pigskin – and an impassioned debate over whether this is hate speech directed at an oppressed animal minority.

THE CLOONEY VOTE – Hillary Clinton is running as the candidate of the little people.  She publicly frowns on big money in politics, then collects three hundred grand for a speech.  And look at the peasant-like contributions she's getting.  From fusion.net:  "It looks like Hillary Clinton’s got the #TeamClooney vote on lock. In a new interview with Fusion’s Jorge Ramos, George Clooney says that he’ll assist Clinton, whom he describes as a 'tremendous candidate,' in 'whatever way [he] can help.'  Clooney’s full support could be huge for the Clinton campaign, given its primary fundraising goal of $100 million. Back in 2012, the Academy Award-winning actor held a fundraising event for Barack Obama at his Studio City, California, home that ultimately raised $10 million for the incumbent—the largest amount of money raised at a single Obama campaign event up to that point."  Oh, Clooney once referred to Hillary as "polarizing."  I guess he's gotten the message from the Clinton syndicate.

May 9,  2015     Permalink

THE THREAT GROWS – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  North Korea plunges ahead with advanced weapons, any one of which can be exported to countries like Iran.  Obama will of course "study" the matter, and maybe even appoint a commission.  From businessinsider.com:   

North Korea announced Saturday the successful test-firing of a submarine-based ballistic missile — a technology that would offer the nuclear-armed state a survivable second-strike nuclear capability.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who personally oversaw the test, hailed the newly developed missile as a "world-level strategic weapon," according to a report by the official KCNA news agency.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the test, which would mark a major breakthrough for the North's missile programme and violate UN resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang from conducting ballistic missile tests.

Development of a submarine-launched missile capability would take the North Korean nuclear threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula.

Satellite images earlier this year had shown the conning tower of a new North Korean submarine, which US analysts said appeared to house one or two vertical launch tubes for either ballistic or cruise missiles.

According to the KCNA report, the test was carried out by a sub that dived to launch depth on the sounding of a combat alarm.

"After a while, the ballistic missile soared into the sky from underwater," the agency said, adding that the weapon had been developed on the personal initiative of Kim Jong-Un.

COMMENT:  Extraordinarily dangerous stuff.  A second-strike capability means that a nation can absorb a nuclear attack and still have assets left – in this case missile submarines – that can strike back with its own nuclear weapons.

By the way, the American diplomat who negotiated agreements with North Korea in the 1990s that were supposed to prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power is the same person, Wendy Sherman, who's negotiating the nuclear agreement with Iran.  In Washington they fail upward.  Gives you confidence, doesn't it?

May 9, 2015       Permalink

SIGN OF THINGS TO COME? – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  There are things happening in Europe that should get our attention.  Until recently the trendy left looked to Europe for guidance.  So much more refined than the flyover people in America.  Isn't it so, Comrade? 

Uh, stuff has started happening.  Look at the British election of just two days ago.  The left got massacred.  And throughout the "progressive" countries of northern Europe there's a rethink about freewheeling abortion.  A 20-week limit is now the favored course.  And even Europe's "progressive" approach to welcoming immigrants from hostile countries is undergoing review.  More and more Europeans are saying,  "Play by our rules.  You're here now."  From Norway's Local: 

Norway has scrapped its longstanding blasphemy law, meaning it is now legal to mock the beliefs of others, in a direct response to January’s brutal attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The proposal to rush through the change was made in February by Conservative MP Anders B. Werp and Progress Party MP Jan Arild Ellingsen, who argued that the law “underpins a perception that religious expressions and symbols are entitled to a special protection”.

“This is very unfortunate signal to send, and it is time that society clearly stands up for freedom of speech,” the two wrote in their proposal.

Norway’s parliament first voted to scrap the blasphemy law back in 2009, against strong opposition from the Christian Democrat party.

COMMENT:  The problem with blasphemy laws is that they don't protect modern religions, who don't need them.  They protect mostly religious movements, like radical Islam, that have a political component.  Suddenly we find that the political component is getting special protection, which is inherently undemocratic. 

One can legitimately argue whether some kind of blasphemy laws have some value.  But Norway's act should remind us that free speech is under challenge in the West, and too many people are much too casual about it.

May 9,  2015     Permalink

THE DEFENSE DOESN'T REST – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  Lawyers defending the six cops charged in connection with Freddie Gray's death in Baltimore are striking back.  This has as much to do with the court of public opinion as a real court, and I think these lawyers will bring people to their side.  From Fox: 

Defense attorneys representing six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray filed a motion Friday to have the case dismissed, or for the city’s top prosecutor to be recused from the case and replaced by a special prosecutor, citing alleged conflict of interest.

The attorneys argue in the documents that the officers were victims of an "overzealous prosecution" by State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who they claim has personal and political motivations in the case.

Among the alleged conflicts of interest cited, the motion includes Mosby's marriage to the city councilman who represents the district where Gray died.

The motion claims that Mike Mosby had a professional and personal interest in having riots in his district that erupted after Gray's death come to an end, and that Marilyn Mosby therefore had an interest in filing charges quickly.

“...His wife, Marilyn Mosby, had a professional and personal interest in accommodating the needs of her husband – his political future directly affects her personal, professional and political interests,” the motion argues.

Defense attorneys contend that Mosby's relationship with the Gray family attorney also creates a conflict of interest. The attorney, William Murphy, is a close friend, ally and lawyer for Mosby.

The filing also cites a pending motion against her office, her office’s role in investigating the case and Mosby’s personal relationships with potential witnesses as reasons she should be recused from the case.

The defense also argues that Mosby denied the officers their right to due process by using inciting rhetoric when announcing the charges last week. Mosby told protesters: “I heard your call for ‘no justice no peace.’ Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man…You’re at the forefront of this cause and as young people, our time is now.”

COMMENT:  Of course she has a conflict of interest.  And of course this is a political case.  On the left, everything is political.  "The personal is political," they say.  A trial is simply a political event.   And we are seeing politics replace justice.

May 9,  2015      Permalink