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SEPTEMBER 20,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:46 P.M. ET: 

DEBATE POLLS – We're starting to get "scientific" poll responses to the Republican debate.  From the NY Post:   WASHINGTON — Carly Fiorina surged to second place behind Donald Trump in a new national poll after her blockbuster debate performance.  Trump’s lead has eroded from 32 percent in early September to 24 percent after the second Republican debate, while Fiorina jumped from 3 percent to 15 percent, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.  In third place is Ben Carson is at 14 percent, while Marco Rubio jumps to fourth at 11 percent followed by Jeb Bush at 9 percent.  Rounding out the top 10 are Ted Cruz (6 percent), Mike Huckabee (6 percent), Rand Paul (4 percent), Chris Christie (3 percent) and John Kasich (2 percent).  The worst news was for Scott Walker. Once the front-runner in Iowa, the Wisconsin governor now registers less than 1 percent after the debate watched by 23 million people.   Another poll says that Trump's lead actually increased, and that Fiorina's improvement was more modest than in the poll we just cited.  It will take several more debates before the numbers shake out.  The Walker collapse is tragic.   The next debate is October 28th.

CULTURAL CHANGE – From AP:   CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Standing in a small, sterile booth high above the turf at Memorial Stadium, David He's voice reaches a near-shout any time the Illinois football team makes a big play against Kent State.  He is a Chinese student at the University of Illinois, and with partner Bruce Lu, part of a new and very experimental online Mandarin Chinese-language broadcast team for Illini football.  They are, best as anyone on campus can tell, the only Chinese-language college football broadcasters in the country. And they're a small piece of the University of Illinois's effort to reach a large segment of their student population and perhaps help crack a problem at colleges around the country: how to get students back into football stadiums on Saturdays.  That's unique.  I'd love to hear a broadcast, although I won't understand it. 

ANOTHER STEP FOR BIDEN – From London's Daily Mail:  Joe Biden has gained another supporter in his potential run for president, and this one might be the most important yet - his wife, Jill.  While rumors had it that Jill Biden was against her 72-year-old hubby running for the position of most powerful man in the world - NBC News reports that Jill is '100 percent on-board' with a Biden bid for POTUS.  Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Biden was edging closer to joining the already-crowded race, saying that it was a matter of 'when not if.'  I wonder how the Bernie Sanders run is being seen by the Biden people.  They may think Bernie will just fold, but I don't think he will.  He's tasted rising poll numbers, and his movement has taken on a religious fervor. 

September 20, 2015       Permalink

MIDEAST REALITY – SUPERB – AT 9:24 A.M. ET:  If you read one article on the Mideast this week, read this one.  It is one of the best expositions on what's happened to the Mideast that I've read...and it isn't even long.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

The Arab Muslim world has been going through a civilizational crisis for decades with low economic and educational performance, but the chaos in recent years has brought the region to a nadir.

The refugee crisis in Europe is evidence that the Arab world cannot deal with or contain what appears to be the collapse of the regional order.

For a region that is quick to blame the West or colonialism for its ills, it now appears that without a helping hand, the region will sink even further and bring Europe down with it.

“At bottom, we are witnessing the consequences of a civilization’s failure either to overcome or to accommodate the forces of modernity,” argued Walter Russel Mead in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend.

Historian Bernard Lewis, trying to explain this crisis more than 20 years ago in What Went Wrong? described it this way: “The proud heirs of ancient civilizations had got used to hiring Western firms to carry out tasks that their own contractors and technicians were apparently not capable of doing.

Now they found themselves inviting contractors and technicians from Korea – only recently emerged from Japanese colonial rule – to perform these same tasks.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It is clear and convincing.  It also gives the lie to the standard line that "it's someone else's fault."  But articles like this will not, I guarantee you, find their way into college courses on the Mideast.

September 20, 2015       Permalink

A MAJOR SCANDAL – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  The scandal over the rigging of intelligence information, which could affect the lives of millions of Americans, is growing.  It should become, if Republicans are smart and alert, a major issue in the presidential campaign.  I said if Republicans are smart and alert.  From Fox:   

The alleged manipulation of intelligence to downplay the strength of terror groups is far more extensive than previously reported and goes back to at least 2012, according to the Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee.

The Defense Department inspector general and congressional investigators are reviewing claims that intelligence on the Islamic State was manipulated to present a more positive picture of the U.S. strategy's effectiveness. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said these practices, though, extend to how intelligence on Al Qaeda was handled as well.

"I know for a fact this was going on in 2012, because I was told by informants that this was going on back then," Nunes, head of the intelligence committee, told Fox News. "We thought this was foolish, to pull all of our troops out of Iraq, because we thought, just from our own work, that this would be bad, but the administration was able to say, 'No, well, this is what the intelligence says.'"

COMMENT:  Recall that the Bush administration was accused of rigging intelligence on Iraq's WMD.  It was a huge story.  There were outcries and anguished television interviews.  And yet, no proof of impropriety ever turned up.

Here there appears to be direct evidence that intelligence was rigged.  But the lapdog media seems little interested.

September 20, 2015       Permalink

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG – AT 9:05 A.M. ET:  One great fear in Europe is that the refugees pouring in from the Mideast will try to change European culture.  It's happening already.  From the American Mirror: 

It was only a matter of time before the “refugees” pouring into Europe and their sympathizers would begin to impose their Islamic will.

Morad Almuradi, writing from the Netherlands, has created a petition on Change.org asking that the city council of Munich, Germany end the traditional 16-day Oktoberfest event.

He writes:

Dear City council of Munich,

I am writing this letter to bring to your attention something that I and many Muslims believe is unfair and requires attention.

I would like to inform you that the Oktoberfest is an Intolerant and Anti-Islamic event. We tried to ignore the event, but there too many Un-Islamic acts done at the Oktoberfest. Such as alcohol consumption, public nudity etc.

We understand that the Oktoberfest is a yearly German tradition, but we, Muslims, can not tolerate this Un-Islamic event, because it offends us and all Muslims on the earth.

We are requesting the immediate cancellation of the upcoming Oktoberfest event.

We also believe that the Oktoberfest might also offend all the Muslim refugees coming from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. The cancellation of the Oktoberfest event will help refugees not to forget their Islamic history. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Morad Almuradi

So far, Almuradi’s petition has over 250 signers.

Munich has been inundated with refugees, with 13,000 arriving Saturday alone, the Independent reports. The city, in the south of Germany, has been a main entry point for the refugees. City leaders say they are at capacity. Munich mayor Dieter Reiter has been described as “trembling with rage” because other cities haven’t helped him.

Now, he’s contending with those who are trying to change his culture.

Munich began holding Oktoberfest in 1810.

COMMENT:  We will have the same problem here.  The issue is not whether we should be kind to refugees, many of whom are fleeing desperate conditions.  The issue is whether they are willing to accept the traditional conditions of citizenship in their new countries

In America, we've always expected immigrants to want and work for American citizenship.  But some immigrant groups don't want to integrate into American society.  They want to change it to their specifications.  The same is true in Europe.  Left-wing groups, which already despise their own countries, are enthusiastic about this new immigrant philosophy.  They call it "multiculturalism," and it's already a disaster in many European nations.

We have a right to impose reasonable standards of loyalty and respect on new immigrants.  We are, after all, giving them a new home and a new chance at life.  And it is not "bigotry" to say so. 

September 20,  2015     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 19,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:55 P.M. ET: 

BIDEN READY TO ROLL? – From Fox:  Vice President Biden’s aides in recent days called Democratic donors and supporters to suggest he is more likely than not to enter the 2016 race, and their discussions have shifted toward the timing of an announcement, said people familiar with the matter, according to The Wall Street Journal.  While the Biden team is still debating the best time to jump in, the vice president met Monday with his political advisers and talked about the merits of an early entry that would assure him a place in the Democratic debate scheduled for Oct. 13. They also are honing his campaign message and moving ahead with plans to raise money and hire staff, the people said.  Biden's position is not that great.  He's a fine man personally, with a moving story, but he's never inspired much confidence as a presidential prospect.  He'll be seen mainly as an alternative to the faltering queen.  And that may be enough.

A MINOR OMISSION – From the Washington Times:   Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top aides have belatedly turned over more than 100,000 pages of emails they had kept on personal email accounts, or accounts tied to Mrs. Clinton’s server, the government told a federal judge late Friday.  Huma Abedin turned over an estimated 23,000 pages of emails, Philippe Reines gave back 70,000 pages of messages and Cheryl Mills returned somewhere in the neighborhood of 11,870 pages, the Obama administration told Judge Rudolph Contreras in a court filing.  And unlike Mrs. Clinton’s emails, the State Department does not have plans to post online all of those three aides’ messages, instead deciding to release only select messages that are requested through particular open-records demands.  Would you look at those numbers!  Did they do anything besides e-mail?  This scandal is going to drag on and on.  It's the steady drip that will, in my view, likely terminate Clinton's campaign.

CABLE COMPANIES BUCKLING – From CNBC:   It all started with a simple sentence.  "Trends among younger audiences ... will continue to put pressure on the multichannel ecosystem," said Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company's third-quarter conference call on Aug. 4. Those comments stoked fears of cord cutting and sent shares of Disney and other media companies into a tailspin.  According to a new survey, Iger's fears may be justified. The data show that the so-called "cord-cutting" phenomenon—where consumers jettison traditional cable and satellite packages in favor of streaming services—is about to get a lot worse. A new report by Magid Advisors surveyed 2,400 consumers and found that cord cutting is not only on the rise, but it's happening much more quickly than industry watchers anticipated.  According to Magid, 3.7 percent of pay TV subscribers age 18 to 64 said they were "extremely likely" to cancel their pay TV service in the next 12 months. That number is up from 2.9 percent in 2014, and represents a 95 percent increase over results from 2011.  The changes in technological preference are simply dazzling.  It seems like yesterday that cable was cutting edge.  I get the feeling that what young viewers value most is the ability to call up programs or movies at any time, at their convenience, eliminating the traditional TV schedule.  That ability is already here with many offerings. 

September 19, 2015       Permalink

THAT'S WHAT THEY SAY IN HOLLYWOOD – IT'S NOT PERSONAL – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  Iran's leader has a kind message for Americans.  Maybe he finally hired a PR agency.  From AFP:

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has tried to reassure a skeptical American public that when crowds in Tehran chant “Death to America!” they don’t mean it personally.

In an interview with the CBS show 60 Minutes to be broadcast Sunday in the United States, the Iranian president said the famous Friday ritual is a reaction to previous Washington policy decisions that hurt Iran.

In April, US President Barack Obama’s administration signed a deal with Rouhani’s government to release Iran from many of the economic sanctions harming its economy in return for tight controls on its nuclear program.

But many in the United States are still convinced that Iran, which is ultimately led not by Rouhani but by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains bent on their country’s destruction.

In a July speech, Khanemei hailed the Iranian masses for demanding the destruction of Israel and America, and said he hoped that God would answer their prayers. A clip published by Khamenei on social media earlier this week warned the US it would be defeated in any war with Iran.

In the fierce domestic American debate over the deal, opponents have often cited the regular appearance of chanting anti-American crowds as evidence of Tehran’s true intentions.

COMMENT:  Pure baloney.   The previous Iranian president denied the Holocaust.  What did that have to do with American policy?  Iran murders its own dissidents and suppresses its women.  Also due to American policy?  And what did Israel ever do to Iran?  It was an ally of Iran before the Islamic radicals took over Iran in the late 70s.

Iran wants to dominate the region.  That is its policy.  And it doesn't bring progress or democracy.

September 19, 2015       Permalink

HEY, THIS IS GREAT! – AT 11:17 A.M. ET:  Occasionally we get to bring you good news.  This is very good indeed, and it disproves the idea that the "majority minority" country to come will inevitably tilt Democratic.  From Fox:

Conservative-minded Indian-Americans are forming a new Republican group seeking to mobilize their large and powerful community to back GOP candidates in what the founder calls “a very important time in history.”

Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, a prominent Indian-American businessman, has taken the lead in forming the Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) in order to promote conservative principles such as free markets and limited government, with a focus on how they relate to Indian Americans. The organization is modeled after groups like the Republican Jewish Coalition, and plans to spend big in next year's elections.

"This is a very important time in history. The country has suffered so much so dramatically in the last eight years, and another four or eight years of the same direction, the U.S. as we know it will come to an end,” Kumar told FoxNews.com.

“We are actually giving away our economic future to China, the world is a lot less secure today than it was seven years ago, and conservatives and Republicans have to win and take the White House. This is the time when Hindu Americas should very actively get involved,” Kumar said.

There are approximately 3.7 million Indian-Americans in the U.S. and about 50 percent of those are Hindu, according to Pew Research data. (Though the group is called the Republican Hindu Coalition, organizers say it's open to all faiths.) Kumar said that while many Hindus are ideologically conservative-leaning, they have not yet mobilized to vote for Republicans.

COMMENT:  Look for other groups like this.  The Dems assume that Hispanic-Americans are in their pocket, but the Hispanic community is diverse.  Second-generation Hispanics perform like other second-generation immigrant groups.  They don't want handouts.  They seek opportunities.

I can still recall when Catholics were considered "safe" Democrats.  That was before Reagan.  But the Democratic Party began to mock Catholic values, especially reverence for life.  Many Catholics in 1980 became Reagan Democrats, and then Republicans. 

A vibrant conservative party that takes the time and trouble to reach out to new immigrant groups can be spectacularly successful.  Ignoring immigrant groups will only lead to failure.

September 19, 2015       Permalink

"MORE DEBATES!" – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  That has become code language in the Democratic Party for "We don't want Hillary," and the chant is spreading.  It calls for the party to hold more than the six presidential candidate debates that are scheduled.  Now Nancy Pelosi joins in, a significant political development.  If you've lost Nancy...  From the L.A. Times: 

Hillary Rodham Clinton's rivals in the Democratic primary have been demanding for weeks that the party hold more presidential debates than the scant six that are planned, and on Friday they got a big boost when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said she agrees with them.

Asked in an interview with The Times whether she would like to see more debates scheduled, Pelosi responded, “I would.”

“Hillary does well -- I think they all do well on them -- and we should have more debates,” Pelosi said. She said she does not have a specific number in mind, but that the 26 debates the Democratic candidates took part in during the 2008 primary was probably too many.

“They thought 26 was too many, and I think it is, and you probably should have something in between,” Pelosi said. “But I don't know that we're going to have more debates.”

The debate schedule has become an increasingly awkward issue for the Clinton campaign as the first scheduled event, on Oct. 13 in Nevada, approaches. Clinton's primary challengers have suggested the schedule was designed by party insiders to favor the front-runner, who was so far ahead in the polls when it was drafted that there seemed to be little for her to gain in the race by sharing a stage with lesser-known opponents.

Clinton's support in early voting states has slipped considerably since then, particularly in New Hampshire, where some polls show her trailing Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Now, some longtime Clinton allies are saying it may be in her interest to have more debates.

COMMENT:  No, it would not be in her interest.  Her "allies" are knifing her, knowing that her campaign is collapsing.  They look ahead to potential legal troubles for Clinton, and they see her woeful ineptness as a campaigner.

We never thought there'd be much excitement on the Democratic side in the presidential nomination races, but politics always has surprises. 

We might also note that the Democratic field is decidedly mediocre, with not a single star. 

September 19,  2015     Permalink