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NOVEMBER 19,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:02 P.M. ET: 

THE PUNISHMENT IS CORRECT – From Newbusters:  Politico's Hadas Gold revealed on Thursday that CNN suspended correspondent Elise Labott for two weeks, after she decried the 289 to 137 vote on Syrian refugees by the House of Representatives: "House passes bill that could limit Syrian refugees. Statue of Liberty bows head in anguish."  Gold cited an unnamed source at the cable network in her short item, "CNN reporter suspended after tweet on refugees." She pointed out that "several critics, including the Washington Post's Erik Wemple, said the tweet showed bias," and noted that "Labott did not respond to a request for comment."  The punishment is appropriate.  Labott expressed clear political bias.  Of course, if CNN were consistent, some others would face suspension, but at least an effort is being made to advance professionalism.

OBAMASNARE – From The Hill:  One of the country’s largest health insurers warned Thursday that it may leave the ObamaCare exchanges within two years, delivering a shock announcement that could ripple through the marketplace.  At a shareholder meeting Thursday, UnitedHealthcare cast doubt on its ability to carry plans on the healthcare law’s exchanges beyond 2016, offering a more grim financial outlook than it had previously expected.  Little by little, Obamacare is unraveling.  But, true to Obama's style, the mess will probably be left for the next president.  Premiums are soaring.  Enrollment is disappointing.  Amateurism is front and center.  Obama's main domestic legacy is having a nervous breakdown.

A CRUZ SURGE – From PJ Media:  According to a new poll by Public Policy Polling, Donald Trump continues to be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. The billionaire businessman has 26% support among Republican voters. He's followed by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 19%.  In PPP's last poll from early October, Carson had 17% and Trump 27%.  This is a positive development for those who want Trump to fail, but it's a far cry from the inevitable Trump collapse many experts predict. If one thing is clear, it's that he certainly has staying power. That doesn't mean he will actually win, but he certainly has a better chance than most.  The two frontrunners are followed by Ted Cruz, who's positively surging. Six weeks ago, Cruz was at 7% according to PPP; he's now at 14%.  The conventional wisdom is that Trump will eventually be battling either Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz for the nomination.  This has been such a weird political year that it's impossible to test that proposition with any accuracy.  I'm more intrigued by the possibility that the Republicans won't be able to decide on a candidate before the nominating convention, and that a brokered convention will result.  Now that would be exciting.

HURRAH FOR YALE – From the College Fix:  Residents of Yale’s Silliman College will have to put up with leaders who believe in robust freedom of expression for the indefinite future.  Yale University President Peter Salovey and Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway rejected calls to fire Nicholas Christakis, master of Silliman, and his wife Erika, the associate master, in response to student outrage over their defense of (supposedly) offensive Halloween costumes.  Indeed, their email to residents doesn’t even acknowledge content of the dispute – or the stunning public attack on Nicholas Christakis and his abject apology in front of students (and administrators) massed in his living room – except to say that the members of Silliman have “differences” among each other.  We're starting to see some pushback by sane people at some colleges.  And the "protesters" really aren't getting that much support.  In a time of terror, their concerns seem awfully trivial.

November 19, 2015       Permalink

A REVEALING COLORADO POLL – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  A new poll in Colorado reveals some serious problems for Hillary Clinton...unless the poll is way out of line.  We're cautious about polls, but this one is particularly interesting.  From redalertpolitics.com:

A new Quinnipiac University poll of Colorado voters shows that millennials — at least in this state — are skeptical of Hillary Clinton.

Only 28 percent of those ages 18-to-29 have a favorable view of her; 61 percent hold an “unfavorable view.”

She loses to all Republican candidates tested, while Sen. Bernie Sanders defeats all GOP candidates among young voters.

This poll shows two things:

Millennials don’t trust Hillary; she is viewed as a politician of the past mired by scandal — who tries too hard to “relate” to young voters.

Millennials are major swing voters for 2016. The same young voters said they would vote for a Republican against Hillary, yet vote for Sanders if he were the nominee. Clearly, they are not motivated by hardline ideology. Literally, some voters in this survey said they would vote for Trump if he were to run against Hillary, but they would vote for Sanders against Trump.

No one can take young voters for granted, and this poll shows these campaigns have work to do to solidify support. The good news is that young voters are persuadable; the bad news is Democrats are trying harder to win their support.

COMMENT:  I've never trusted young voters because...they're young.  They're inexperience and immature in an increasingly immature society.  I'll say cynically that I'd be more comfortable if the voting age were raised to 50.  Okay, okay, it won't happen.

But it's clear that Hillary, unlike Obama in 2008, doesn't have the young vote in the bag.  She isn't young, hip, revolutionary Hillary any longer.  But it's also clear that the GOP has to nominate the right candidate to rip the kids out of the grasp of Democrats.  And that is not a sure thing either.

November 19, 2015       Permalink

MR. SMALL-TIME – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  Andrew Malcolm of IBD says what many think, that our president is a petty, small-time operator, essentially a local politician who doesn't quite fill the office. 

Constitutionally, Barack Obama has 427 days left in his second term.

But actually, the Democrat has already abdicated his role in the highest office that his countrymen can ever bestow.

His petty, petulant remarks recently and especially abroad this week confirmed the sadness.

Obama's not even a lame duck anymore. Ironic that he controls the most power on the planet. But he stands before us and the world now as a mere shell of an American leader, bereft of any real influence or earned stature. He's ignored by Russia, defied by Iran. Instead of respect, he gets heads shaking.

Growing numbers of Americans, even fellow Democrats, are not just shocked by recent Obama behaviors. They are disturbed. Maybe even frightened for our country, their kids, like many of us facing these last 14 unpredictable months of his reign. Not that they're new Obama behaviors, but the same ones more frequent and extreme.

Obama has always tried to appear detached from events around him. He's not afraid of anything, understand. He's just so much more intelligent than mere mortals that he can't be bothered. Now, Obama's simply detached -- from world events, from political priorities, from reality.

And...

Wednesday in Manila a self-indulgent Obama took his political cynicism to a new level, acting shocked -- shocked, mind you -- that the opposition party (and, psst, leaders in Obama's own party) were voicing the concerns and fears of millions about a wave of Syrian refugees, possibly peppered with terrorists, as occurred in Paris and Boston.

Instead of trying to assuage the fears with facts as a genuine leader might, Obama fell back on petty, political posturing beneath his office.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's the best indictment of Obama that I've read recently.  And yes, I've also spoken to Democrats who are increasingly disillusioned by the glorified precinct captain from Chicago.

November 19, 2015       Permalink

BIG CHEESE MELTED – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  The suspected mastermind behind the Paris attacks has been killed.  From The New York Times:

PARIS — Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian militant suspected of orchestrating the Paris terrorist attacks, was killed in a police raid in the northern Paris suburb of St.-Denis early Wednesday, the French authorities announced on Thursday.

The confirmation of Mr. Abaaoud’s death followed fingerprint analysis, the Paris prosecutor, François Molins, said in a statement. His body was heavily riddled with wounds from gunfire and a grenade detonation during the raid. “We do not know at this stage whether Abaaoud blew himself up or not,” the prosecutor’s office added.

The raid killed at least one other person: a woman who detonated a suicide vest, whom two French intelligence officials have identified as Hasna Aitboulahcen, 26, a cousin of Mr. Abaaoud.

The death of the man suspected of being the plot’s architect ended one chapter of the intense criminal investigation that began on Friday night, after three teams of terrorists, in a series of closely coordinated raids, killed 129 people.

COMMENT:  This is mostly an interesting headline.  Another terrorist leader will take Abaaoud's place.  We sense from stories across the internet that there is finally a sense of realism building about ISIS – that it is a major terror group with international reach and very sophisticated capabilities, more of a danger than Al Qaeda.

We're also seeing, across that same internet, the usual leftist pushback by the usual leftist collaborators.  Let us understand "legitimate grievances."  Let us not make the same mistakes made by BUSH (!!) and
CHENEY (!!!!!).  Let us not turn into bigots and Islamophobes.

Hitler?  He doesn't mean those things.

Stalin?  A misunderstood agrarian reformer.

The names are changed.  The party line remains the same.

November 19,  2015     Permalink

NOVEMBER 18,  2015

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

CHILLING – From Breitbart:  Two federal agents operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are claiming that eight Syrian illegal aliens attempted to enter Texas from Mexico in the Laredo Sector. The federal agents spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity, however, a local president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) confirmed that Laredo Border Patrol agents have been officially contacting the organization with concerns over reports from other federal agents about Syrians illegally entering the country in the Laredo Sector. The reports have caused a stir among the sector’s Border Patrol agents.  We can't confirm this, but if the story is true it's frightening.  It's believed by intelligence people that ISIS is trying to infiltrate its operatives into the Syrian refugee flood. 

AMERICANS REJECT OBAMA ISIS STRATEGY – From CNS:  (CNSNews.com) - Sixty-four percent of American adults said they disapprove of the way that President Barack Obama is dealing with the ISIS terrorist group, according to a Gallup poll that was conducted Nov. 4-8.  The results of the poll, which was completed five days before the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, were cited and linked in a Gallup analysis released Monday.  Only 30 percent approved.  It's hard to believe Obama's ISIS rating will go up, considering his confused and uninspiring reaction to Paris.

IDIOT – From Gateway Pundit:  Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky from Illinois told SiriuxXM radio that the Paris terrorist attacks last week were a “chilling reminder” that the U.S. needs more restrictive gun laws.  I call it the "48-hour rule," and it always works.   It takes the left 48 hours after a tragedy to regroup and go right back to the old party line.  Schakowsky is a perfect example of the rule.  France has some of the most severe gun laws in the world.  Lot of good it did for the victims.  The bad guys will always get guns.  That's why they're the bad guys. Bad guys don't follow gun-control laws.

PRINCETON HIT WITH THE PROTEST FLU – From Daily Caller:  Black Lives Matter activists at Princeton University have taken over the president’s office and say they won’t leave until the school acknowledges former U.S. president Woodrow Wilson as a racist and renames all buildings currently honoring him on campus.  This will immediately reduce the murder rate in all black communities.

November 18,  2015     Permalink

CARLY ON THE BALL – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  I don't know why Carly Fiorina has faded in the polls.  She is superb in debates – the best of all Republicans with the possible exception of Ted Cruz – and yet she has lost ground.  Pundits say she isn't warm and likeable, a hard woman.  I wasn't aware that we were electing a national mom.  But maybe that's what some people want. 

Carly shows how good she is by taking on the disgraceful behavior of our make-believe president in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.  I hope she stays in politics.  From the Washington Examiner: 

An infuriated Carly Fiorina slammed President Obama Wednesday morning for his latest criticism of Republicans, saying the president is "speaking in a way that's beneath his office."

While speaking to reporters in the Philippines Wednesday morning, Obama suggested that Republicans who oppose the intake of Syrian refugees "are scared of widows and orphans coming into the United States of America."

"At first, they were too scared of the press being too tough on them in the debates. Now they are scared of three-year-old orphans. That doesn't seem so tough to me," the president said, minutes after criticizing his opponents for "political posturing."

Reacting to Obama's comments just hours later, Fiorina told Fox News "it is outrageous that a sitting president, immediately following a terrorist attack where we know that ISIS is attempting to plan attacks here in the U.S., would use his time to attack Republicans."

"This is revealing of the fact that President Obama doesn't understand the nature of the attack," the Republican presidential hopeful said.

"I guess he's like Hillary Clinton [in that] he thinks Republicans are his enemies," Fiorina added, before declaring Obama a "politician, not a leader."

Host Martha MacCallum interjected, noting that Obama "clearly gets fired up about this issue."

"It's all he gets fired up about," Fiorina shot back.

COMMENT:  And of course she's right.  With Obama, it's all about him.  With Hillary, it's all about her.  The people of America are simply their subjects.

We need more Carly.  Even if she doesn't make it onto the national ticket, I hope there's a place for her in high-level politics.

November 18, 2015        Permalink

MEANWHILE, BACK IN TEHRAN – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:   With all that's going on, let's not forget that one of the great sponsors of terror, Iran, is waiting in the wings, and doing major mischief.  The Iran nuclear deal, the crown jewel of Field Marshal Obama's "achievements" in foreign policy, is starting to fall apart, as sane people knew it would.  From Gatestone Institute: 

Iran's hardliners are pressing their attack on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has not yet been approved by Iran. Iran's opponents of the JCPOA have succeeded in halting any steps toward implementation of Tehran's responsibilities under the July14 settlement reached in Vienna by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, the UK, France, China and Russia, plus Germany (the so-called P5+1). But who appointed them?

While some reports indicated that Iran was beginning to take off the production line some of the uranium-enrichment centrifuges in the Natanz and Fordow facilities, contradictory reports suggested that any such action was halted due to pressure from Iran's hardliners, and that dismantling the centrifuges had not been authorized by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was therefore premature. Another report suggested that only a small number of outdated centrifuges had been decommissioned.

However, a stern letter of warning was dispatched to President Hassan Rouhani from 20 key members of Iran's Majlis [Islamic Consultative Assembly], many of whom have close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), informing him to cease any dismantling activity.[1]

In addition, Iranian military commanders, security chiefs and conservative media outlets are coming close to questioning the competence and loyalty of those in the Iranian regime who favor the JCPOA.[2] These personal assaults have implied that some officials are trying to whitewash the reputation of the United States in order to improve relations with the "Great Satan."[3] The targets of those criticisms appear to be Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as well as President Rouhani.

The Iranian military's Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Major General Gholam Ali Rashid, said that there are two types of officials that favor the JCPOA, and that their goal is "embellishing America's despicable image -- the "simple-minded, which includes some government officials as well as spiteful, traitorous, infiltrators."

COMMENT:  This is serious.  If the hardliners stage a successful coup, or even force the "moderates" to back down, the whole agreement, which already is full of holes, can collapse. 

Some wishful thinkers believe that Iran will, over the years, become more pro-Western.  The people, we're told, love us.  Just love us.  In international politics, "the people" are irrelevant.  What counts is who has the guns, and what they're willing to do with them.  The "people" of Japan did not vote to attack Pearl Harbor.  No one asked them.

We have to watch this carefully.  We may be battling Iran and ISIS at the same time.

November 18, 2015       Permalink

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Just a rare event.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  From London's Express: 

EIGHT people have been arrested at Istanbul's main airport hub amid fears they are Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists posing as refugees on their way to Germany.

Police sources said one of the suspects had a hand-drawn picture of a planned route from Turkey to Germany, via Greece, Serbia and Hungary.

It is believed the group are Islamic State militants planning to make their way to Germany posing as refugees.

The Anadolu Agency said the group arrived in Istanbul from Casablanca, Morocco, and were interviewed by criminal profiling teams at Ataturk Airport.

Anadolu said the eight claimed to be tourists visiting Istanbul but a hotel refuted claims they had reservations there.

The arrests come as Europe is on high alert following the terror attacks in Paris which have left 129 dead and hundreds injured.

COMMENT:  Of course, that could never happen here, as Obama rushes to admit Syrian "refugees," the great majority of whom may be legitimate, but some of whom may have dreams of explosions in New York City.  Why, we'll have Susan Rice personally checking the refugees at the airport.  Maybe Hillary can join in.  They can be helped by the journalists at MSNBC.   

Don't you feel safe?

November 18, 2015       Permalink

BABIES AND WHINERS – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:   While the world is riveted on the Paris attacks, and their aftermath, and fear for the next blow, our campus children are expressing their overwhelming grief and anger...not at terrorism, but at losing the spotlight.  What trauma they must feel.  From Fox: 

The deadly terror attacks in Paris killed at least 129, but to some protesters in the Black Lives Matter movement and at the University of Missouri, it's all about them.

Student protests and outrage over the school's handling of racial issues has brought national attention to the school -- which some students have come to define as a hotbed of racism. Recent racist incidents led to protests including one student's hunger strike and a threatened boycott by the football team. The university system president and the campus chancellor resigned.

After at least 129 people were killed in coordinated attacks on Friday in Paris, several protesters took to Twitter to express anger at "losing the spotlight" in the media.

"Racist white people kill me, you want everyone to have sympathy for YOUR tragedy, but you have none for ours," wrote user Melanin Monroe under the Twitter handle @NeonElectricity in a post that has since been removed.

Others, like user "dog enthusiast," under the handle @bmahimaaa, equated the slaughter in Paris with the racial tensions in Missouri -- calling both "terrorism."

"Paris attacks were terrorism," the user wrote. "black students getting death threats on their college campuses (A SUPPOSED SAFE SPACE!!) is also TERRORISM."

COMMENT:  It turned out that the student who went on a hunger strike comes from a family with a multi-million-dollar-a-year income. 

There may be some legitimate grievances in there, but it's awfully hard to feel sympathetic for vastly immature students who don't appreciate the chance to get a good education.  The filth, the cursing, the hysteria, are not very impressive.  There is a huge backlash building against these campus protests.  My own sense is that it will lead to a complete reappraisal of our attitude toward institutions of "higher education."  I am personally prepared to support a complete cutoff of federal aid to colleges and universities outside the sciences.  If you want to have an "oppression studies" course, pay for it. 

There are millions of Americans hurting these days, and they don't have full scholarships to Yale.

November 18,  2015     Permalink