FOURTH SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE

Today we launch our fourth, and most critical, subscription drive.  Subscriptions are the lifeblood of Urgent Agenda.  Without them, we cannot function.  With them, we remain posted at the barricades.

This is crucial.  We're not in danger of going dark, but, unless we expand our subscriber base, we are in danger of contracting.

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You can subscribe for a year, or six months, or donate what you wish.  At the request of readers, we're also introducing a family plan.  For little more than a year's subscription, you can have a second sent to someone else - like a kid at school whom you want to save from political correctness.

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MONDAY,  JUNE 1,  2009

WHERE IS OBAMA WHEN WE NEED HIS RHETORIC? - AT 9:41 P.M. ET:  Most Americans are unaware of it, but two U.S. journalists go on trial in North Korea this week.  Their families are breaking their silence:

(CNN) -- After nearly three months of maintaining their silence, the families of two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea are taking to the airwaves this week to lobby for their release as the women go on trial Thursday.

Analysts said they think Pyongyang will convict the journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, on spying charges and hand down long sentences in the communist nation's labor camps.

"I suspect they will be used in some kind of pawn in future negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. to gain concessions," said Brian Bridges, a professor at Hong Kong's Lingnan University who specializes in the politics and foreign policies of the two Koreas.

COMMENT:  There are, of course, the usual tough words coming out of Washington.  Hillary Clinton:  "We believe the charges are baseless and should not have been brought and that these two young women should be released immediately."

Boy, that'll get 'em.

Once again we see the result of our "talk tough, then cave" policy toward North Korea.  The North Koreans have see that there are no serious consequences to defying the United States.

It's ironic that that these women go on trial the same day President Obama delivers his can't-we-all-get-along speech to the Muslim world.  The Muslims are watching North Korea as well.  In their world the "strong horse" is the one that's respected.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

TALKING THE TALK - AT 7:46 P.M. ET:  President Obama has given an interview to the viscerally anti-American BBC.  He talks the talk about democracy:

...in his first interview with a UK broadcaster, he said the rule of law, democracy and freedoms of speech and religion were "universal values."
"These are values that are important, even when it's hard," he said.

The president will be in the Mideast this week and will deliver a major address to the Muslim world, from Egypt, on Thursday:

Mr Obama told BBC North America Editor Justin Webb that he wanted to deliver the message "that democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion ... are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries."

So far, so good, but then comes the escape clause:

"The danger, I think, is when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture," he said.

He's drunk the leftist Kool-Aid.  Out comes the "culture" excuse.  But if democracy is a "universal value," how can anyone give "culture" as an excuse for not having it?

Also, how does one "impose" freedom?  Do we say, "You're free...or else"?

This is the old "Who are we to impose our values?" game that you hear in the leftist salons of Washington and Manhattan, and, of course, in our less-than-splendid universities.  It is an excuse for "respecting" other cultures, and doing nothing.

But he said that the most important thing for the US was to "serve as a role model."

"That's why, for example, closing Guantanamo from my perspective is as difficult as it is important....

"Part of what we want to affirm to the world is that these are values that are important even when it's hard, maybe especially when it's hard and not just when it's easy."

He got that line from Jack Kennedy, who often liked to say that we do something because it's hard, not because it's easy.  No attribution, of course.

And he always manages to shift the discussion back to the alleged sins of the United States, another part of the "Who are we...?" routine.

However, here's some potential good news:

But Mr Obama is not apologising for the actions of the Bush White House, our correspondent adds.

Well, there's some progress.  Maybe Obama's gotten the message that Americans don't like the Bush-bashing.

COMMENT:  The president speaks good words about democracy, but his administration has been awfully short on action or commitment.  He will deliver his speech to Muslims from a dictatorship.  Will he say anything about that? 

More democracies have been established on America's watch than at any time in human history.  We hope the president is aware of that, and sensitive to what his own country has contributed.  He might begin his awareness by ending the automatic condemnation of America's actions.

By the way, the BBC piece is entitled "Obama Gives Pledge on US 'Values.'"  The word "values" is put in quotes, as if there's some doubt that we have any.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

WHY, THE PORTFOLIO OF OUR PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC IS GROWING - AT 2:20 P.M. ET:  I know that all of us are so proud today to own a failing car company.  It's just what we always wanted.  And we know that, with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden at his side, Barack Obama will do wonders for Buick.  You just know they have a feel for the road.

But why stop there?  The workers in our car company need a place to deposit their paychecks, don't they?  Why shouldn't we have a bank to go with our company?  You know, it's heartwarming to realize that others are thinking the same thing:

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- When financial stocks slumped in February to the lowest level in at least 17 years, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress the government might end up owning “substantial” stakes in the country’s biggest banks.

Three months later, New York-based Citigroup Inc. may be the only large bank that has to accept his offer.

Oh, why not?  We're sports.

Citigroup was found by the Fed to need $93 billion more in common equity as of the end of 2008, the biggest gap among the 19 U.S. banks that underwent the stress tests.

Pocket money.  Loose change.  In the age of Obama, $93-bil is a tip. 

And while we're at it, let's use our imaginations.  What else would we like to own?  A hotel would be nice.  Maybe some department stores.  I think we should all write the White House, and wish upon a star. 

At the rate we're going, a star may be the only thing left that isn't under federal control.

This is the most serious transformation of the United States since the great Depression, and the American people seem utterly unaware of the danger to their freedom and independence.  Some media we have, ay?

June 1, 2009   Permalink

A LITTLE REMINDER OF WHO WE'RE DEALING WITH - AT 1:28 P.M. ET:

(CBS/AP) Taliban militants armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons abducted at least 400 students, staff and relatives driving away from a boy's school in a northwest Pakistani tribal region on Monday, police and a witness said.

The brazen abduction came amid rising militant violence in Pakistan's tribal belt - actions the military says are partly aimed at distracting it from its offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Swat Valley.

Police were negotiating with the Taliban for the release of the captives taken in North Waziristan, said Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister. He said around 500 people were taken and that they were being held in the Bakka Khel area.

COMMENT:  The president will address the Muslim world from Egypt on Thursday.  Maybe someone, like an adult, should slip this story to him before he starts apologizing for our democracy.  Islamo-fascism remains a severe threat, especially with the potential spread of nuclear and biological weapons.  No outreach will change that.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

UPDATE AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  Latest on the French airliner missing over the Atlantic with 228 aboard:

PARIS, France (CNN) — The pilot an Air France plane that disappeared off radar screens with 228 people aboard reported electrical problems before it lost contact with air traffic controllers between Brazil and France Sunday, an Air France spokesman said. The plane was experiencing turbulence, the spokesman added.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

DEVASTATING - AT 7:55 A.M. ET:  Last week, Barack Obama's Justice Department (Eric Holder, proprietor) dropped a case against the Black Panthers, some of whose members engaged in blatant voter discrimination during the November election. 

Now, Bartle Bull comments on this disgrace.  Who is Bartle Bull?  He is a man with impeccable civil rights credentials - a civil-rights lawyer in Mississippi in 1966, New York campaign manager for Robert Kennedy in 1968.  His words count:

On May 15 Obama’s Department of Justice quashed a civil rights case involving voter intimidation by blacks in Philadelphia on election day, 2008...

...As New York chairman of Democrats for McCain, I had gone to Philadelphia on election day to work as a volunteer at polling places...

...never until I went to Philadelphia on November 4 had I seen a man with a weapon blocking the entrance to a polling place...

...Two men dressed in black combat boots, black berets and black uniforms blocked the door to the polling place at 1221 Fairmount Street. One was brandishing a large billy-club, intimidating anyone who approached. The two were members of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP). Our campaign called the police and the press. The press filmed the incident...

...In early May the Federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered a default judgment versus King Shabazz enjoining him from again appearing at a polling place with a weapon. But on May 15, with victory certain because the other defendants (including the national NBPP) had not answered the proceeding, the new leadership at the Department of Justice dropped the case by filing a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal...

...The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describe the NBPP as a hate group, and the original Black Panthers have denounced it, but the new administration is protecting it.

Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy did not die to have thugs dressed like storm troopers and carrying weapons block the doors of polling places, nor to have the Attorney General of the United States protect the thugs instead of the voters.

COMMENT:  You will notice the lack of interest by the mainstream media in reporting this story and probing Mr. Obama's Justice Department.  The press is too busy telling us the life story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and relating that diners were thrilled this past weekend when Barack and Michelle showed up on their romantic date in New York - a date that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

It is Bartle Bull's conclusion that really gets to us.  Please read it:

What will our next elections be like? ACORN, the principal instrument of voter fraud in 2008, has now been lavishly funded by the “Stimulus Package”. Intimidation at the polls is designed in part to prevent poll watchers from challenging the fraudulent voters registered by Acorn. The new census is to be overseen by the political office in the White House. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants have been registered under the “Motor-Voter” Bill, which mandates voter registration at Motor Vehicle Bureaus. The New Black Panthers will be at the door.

Change we can believe in.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

A SYMBOLIC DEATH - AT 7:24 A.M. ET:

LONDON — Millvina Dean, who as an infant passenger aboard the Titanic was lowered into a lifeboat in a canvas mail sack and lived to become the ship’s last survivor, died Sunday at a nursing home in Southampton, the English port from which the Titanic embarked on its fateful voyage, according to staff at the home.

She was 97 and had been in poor health for several weeks.

COMMENT:  Those who are turning America into a new Titantic are still alive and well, and living in Washington.

June 1, 2009   Permalink


GENTLEMEN, DON'T START YOUR ENGINES - AT 7:16 A.M. ET:   This is the fateful day for GM.  Washington Post:

The Obama administration plans to take the next step toward resuscitating the American auto industry today, sending General Motors, the storied manufacturer, into bankruptcy protection.

The court filing will mark the end of financial independence for the 100-year-old industrial leviathan that once conflated its interests with the country's and that employed well over 1 million people, counting jobs at the company and at its suppliers.

COMMENT:  Myths die hard, don't they?  The story says that GM "once conflated its interests with the country's..."  That is a reference to a statement made by GM's chief, Charles E. Wilson, at his confirmation hearings for secretary of defense in the Eisenhower administration.  A less-than-responsible news report quoted Wilson as saying that what was good for General Motors was good for the country.  The quote produced an immediate uproar.  What was left out is that Wilson also said that what was good for the country was good for General Motors.  By the time the whole quote came out, Wilson's reputation was damaged.

We can only read this story with dismay, but we should be asking questions that the mainstream media is not asking.  If anyone told you a year ago that this would be happening, would you have believed it?  How did all this economic damage occur so quickly, culminating in a remarkable, if fearful opportunity for the most leftist president in American history to remake the economy of the United States?  I am not engaging in a conspiracy theory, but I've noted before that the economic meltdown of last September occurred right in the middle of a presidential campaign, and could only have helped Obama.  Now we have the Obama crowd running car companies.

Another question, unasked:  How will the operation of GM by the federal government impact the rest of the auto industry, and the design of its products?  Remember, Ford is functioning.  So are Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and European companies.  All can take up the slack.  But what if Washington, under pressure from radical environmentalists with a lock grip on the Democratic Party, reshapes the GM product line and is able, with an infusion of taxpayer money, to cut the prices of the cars and knife the competition?  Will other companies be forced to follow, making Washington the decider of what America buys, rather than the American customer?

That is not a "cute" question about choices in upholstery and CD decks.  It goes to a fundamental issue of economic freedom and the discipline of the market.  Milton Friedman made the point that you cannot have political freedom without economic freedom.  Think about that today.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN AT 6:52 A.M. ET:  Air France flight 447, from Rio to Paris has disappeared over the Atlantic, the airline says.  The Airbus 330 was carrying 228-231 people, depending on the report.  A search is underway. 

That is all we know right now.

COMMENT:  It is extremely rare for a plane to just "disappear."  Planes do not fall out of the sky without reason, and there usually is some distress signal, or, if the flight was over land, smoke coming from a wreckage.

Inevitably, there will be suspicion of terrorism, but we urge caution.  Let the search continue.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

SUNDAY,  MAY 31,  2009

THE TILLER MURDER - AT 8:22 P.M. ET:  As many of you know by now, Dr. George Tiller, a controversial abortion provider and one of the few providers who still performed late-term abortions, was murdered today in Wichita, Kansas.  A suspect has been taken into custody.  First reports say he had some association with parts of the pro-life movement.  President Obama denounced the murder in a measured statement.

Now we will see how the nation reacts to this unacceptable crime.  After 9/11 we were told not to blame all Muslims for the actions of a few.  That was correct.  But let us see if that same standard is applied to the pro-life movement, which is overwhelmingly non-violent.  Don't hold your breath. 

Tiller was a public figure, often a lightning rod for protests because he was willing to perform those late-term abortions.  Some believed he was violating the law and tried to bring him to justice.  It was entirely proper for commentators to either praise or denounce him.  It was obviously outrageous for anyone to kill him. 

This was a criminal act.  It must be seen that way, not as a reflection of any movement.  The saddest thing would be for the pro-choice people to try to exploit the crime for their own ends.  The debate over abortion should continue in a civilized manner, unaffected by this single expression of lawlessness.

May 31, 2009   Permalink

OH DEAR LORD, SAVE US - AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  There are reasons why rational people resent Washington:

Legislation making its way through Congress would turn the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site into a full-fledged park owned and operated by the National Park Service. It would expand the historic inventory of structures here, pumping new life and new money into the hometown of the only president from Georgia.

The structures that would be included are the old house, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter lived in years later, after his return from the U.S. Navy; brother Billy Carter’s gas station; and the state’s Visitor Information Center on the outskirts of town.

COMMENT:  We're sure the six tourists a year will enjoy it, and both North Korea and Iran will make contributions to its upkeep.  A Saudi visitor center would also be nice.

Urgent Agenda pledges to provide maps to get around the site without losing too much time.

May 31, 2009   Permalink

THIS SNUCK UP ON US - AT 10:05 A.M. ET:  Attention this week will be focused on President Obama's trip to the Mideast and Europe, especially his "can't we all get along" speech to the Muslim world, from Egypt.  But there's another critical meeting being held, and the stakes are high:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fight over Cuba's possible readmission into the Organization of American States is set to dominate the group's meeting this week in Honduras and may put Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in an uncomfortable position.

With numerous Latin American countries pushing to reverse the 1962 expulsion of the communist island nation from the bloc, the Obama administration's willingness to engage with Cuba will be tested at the session that Clinton plans to attend on Tuesday.

Notice the phraseology.  We're being tested.

Our stated position, thus far, is the correct one:

U.S. officials say they are ready to support lifting the resolution that suspended Cuba from the 34-country group but they insist on tying the island's readmission to democratic reforms under a charter the organization adopted in 2001.

But...

Nicaragua, backed by Venezuela, Bolivia and others, wants a more dramatic approach that would declare Cuba's expulsion an error and remove all legal hurdles to it regaining its membership, even though the Cuban government has said it is not interested in rejoining.

The key point:

One senior U.S. official involved in the negotiations would not rule out the possibility that Clinton might decide to cancel her attendance at the OAS meeting if a compromise acceptable to the United States was not reached. But he said he was hopeful that one could be achieved.

COMMENT:  Hope is not a strategy.  Let's see if we stand firm, or buckle.  Now is a time for Cuban-Americans to make their voices heard on behalf of freedom for the island.  If Obama/Clinton cave on this one, what will that tell North Korea and Iran?

May 31, 2009   Permalink

THE NEW OPENNESS, NOT - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  There is a well-known reporter writing a book about the Obama administration.  The Obama administration has pledged a new openness, and end to the secrecy of the evil BUSH (!!).

Not so fast.  Apparently, we're going back to the Bush rules:

Best-selling journalist Bob Woodward has found the topic for his next book: The Obama administration. And apparently that has the Obama White House circling the wagons.

White House Counsel Greg Craig circulated a memo inside the West Wing earlier this month instructing officials hit up for information by authors or journalists writing on the administration to clear interview requests with the press office. An Obama spokesman told The New Republic that the memo was not sent in regards to a specific journalist, but Beltway insiders say the White House probably is taking pains to avoid leaks to the Washington Post icon.

COMMENT:  I have seen no evidence that this administration is any more open than any other.  They should stop claiming that they are, unless they can produce some journalistic change we can believe in.

May 31, 2009   Permalink 

I GUESS HE DISAPPROVES OF HIM - AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Military analyst Ralph Peters has become one of President Obama's severest critics.  Here, on the eve of the president's trip to the Mideast and Europe, Peters clamps down especially hard, and outlines the foreign-policy case against Barack Obama:

Around the globe, our enemies -- immediate and potential -- are testing Obama to see how far they can go. Thus far, he hasn't set a limit anywhere. Not a single dictator or terrorist leader got a single time-out.

Last week, North Korea nuke-mooned him, then spit missiles in multiple directions. Our president admonished Pyongyang. Words solve everything in Obama-World.

Not a ringing endorsement.

A pervasive flaw in Obama's approach to all foreign-policy problems is his chattering-class conviction that individuals and states will behave rationally in a crisis. History suggests otherwise (does Kim Jong-Il look rational to you?). But Obama lives in a world of contractual relations, the realm of the Harvard Law Review.

Our opponents view the world as a zero-sum game. And calm demeanors aren't their strong suit.

That is correct.  Obama, and many of those around him, believe the world is best left to those with high SAT scores.

On to Iran:

As it turns out, Tehran has plenty of reasons to be confident that Obama won't act against the regime: the administration has yanked -- hard -- on Israel's military leash while engaging in murky dealings with Iran.

And Venezuela:

Then there's Hugo "Embraceable You" Chavez, who's almost done dismantling Venezuela's once-robust democracy. Elected officials from the opposition are beaten, jailed, locked out or driven into exile. Media freedom's nearly dead. A once-vibrant economy's a disaster. Corruption and demagoguery reign. And Chavez wants nukes, too.

Out of words, for once, Obama has nothing to say.

Don't stop there:

What does democracy matter, anyway? Ballots and human rights are so Bush-Cheney. In the next few days, Obama will rush to embrace the authoritarian regime in Egypt before crawling to Saudi Arabia. (How deep will his bow to the king go this time? Will photographers be kept away?)

And...

Obama's so desperate to get an arms treaty that he's offering huge, unbalanced cuts in our nuclear arsenal. Feel safe yet?

While everything else is falling down around our president, the Obama Doctrine stands: Every enemy is a friend, or can be made into one. Let's talk about it.

Finally...

Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, our border with Mexico . . . Gitmo . . . better order some back-up teleprompters.

COMMENT:  There goes Ralph's White House invitation.  Of course, much of what he says is on target.  Few object to reasonable engagement, even with hostile nations.  However, there have to be limits, red lines, and so far we haven't seen any.  One more talk.  One more session.  One more UN meeting.  One more magical diplomacy tour by the president.

Meanwhile, technology moves forward.  Technology, in the hands of the wrong people, has become the monster in our path.

May 31, 2009   Permalink