I'll be appearing on Silvo Canto Jr.'s excellent web radio show today, discussing the legacy of Harry S. Truman.  The show starts at 6 p.m. ET, and can be found here:

THURSDAY,  MAY 21,  2009

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR WARNS ON IRAN - AT 7:36 P.M. ET:  I'm getting the sense that the American military is starting to assert itself within this new administration.  It's been widely reported by good sources that President Obama is now listening closely to the advice given by military leaders, and following it.  Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, now issues a stark warning on Iran, stronger than that delivered by President Obama:

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said Thursday that the consequences of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon would be "calamitous" and that major powers must join hands and act to prevent it, Reuters reported.

Speaking a day after Iran test-launched a long-range ballistic missile, Mullen told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, "I'm one who believes that Iran getting a nuclear weapon is calamitous for the region and for the world."

"It then, in my view, generates neighbors who feel exposed, deficient and then develop or buy the capability themselves," he continued. "The downside, potentially, is absolutely disastrous," alluding to the possibility of a nuclear arms-race in the Middle East.

COMMENT:  I would have preferred that Mullen go even further, and say that the worst aspect of Iran having the nuclear weapon is that the mullahs might use it.  That is, by far, the most tragic scenario.

It's only informed speculation on my part, but I believe that the recent behavior of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the courage shown by Dick Cheney, have energized the national-defense hawks, which is all to the good.

May 21, 2009    Permalink

MORE WITH CHENEY - AT 3:22 P.M. ET:  A few gems from former Vice President Cheney's vigorous speech, reported in our post just below.  First, this has to be the quote of the day:

“In the fight against terrorism,” he said, “there is no middle ground, and half-measures keep you half-exposed. You cannot keep just some nuclear-armed terrorists out of the United States, you must keep every nuclear-armed terrorist ouf of the United States.”

And, it's about time someone said this:

In addition, Mr. Cheney, a fierce opponent of releasing information about the government’s wiretapping efforts, criticized The New York Times for its coverage of the practice, which he said “let us intercept calls and track contacts between al-Qaeda operatives and persons inside the United States.” “It impressed the Pulitzer committee,” he said, “but it damn sure didn’t serve the interests of our country, or the safety of our people.”

And finally...

As for the closing of the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, Mr. Cheney suggested that Mr. Obama was short-sightedly playing to foreign audiences. “It’s easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantánamo,” he said. “But it’s tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America’s national security.”

Did you ever expect that Dick Cheney would wind up as the most effective spokesman for the Republican Party?

May 21, 2009   Permalink

GETTING TOUGHER - AT 3:07 P.M. ET:  Buoyed by a new poll showing his popularity increasing (see our 9:25 a.m. post), former Vice President Cheney tore into the Obama administration today, escalating one of the most intriguing political battles we've seen in years.  Good on Cheney:

Accusing President Obama of giving Americans "less than half the truth," former Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday tough interrogation tactics worked, and said the tactics had the approval of members of Congress including current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The former vice president said the president's attempt to find a middle ground that angers the right and the left is compromising American security: "in the fight against terrorism, there is no middle ground, and half-measures keep you half-exposed."

Mr. Cheney said tough interrogation tactics "were legal, essential, justified, successful and the right thing to do."

And...

Without naming names, Mr. Cheney said that "some members of Congress are notorious for demanding they be briefed into the most sensitive intelligence programs. They support them in private, and then head for the hills at the first sign of controversy."

COMMENT:  Is this juicy, or what?  The tragedy is that the Bush administration never mounted this kind of defense while in office.  It should have. 

President Obama spoke earlier in the day, defending his own policies and saying he was cleaning up the mess he'd found.  But, if it was such a mess, why is he adopting so many of the same policies, including military tribunals?  He will soon learn that, no matter what he does, the left will never be satisfied.  It will never be satisfied until all our military activity ceases, the war on terror is abandoned, and we admit that it was all our fault.

May 21, 2009   Permalink

MORE POLLING TO CORRECT MEDIA IMPRESSIONS - AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  There are any number of stories out there announcing the death of the Republican Party.  But wait.  Don't the voters have a say in this?  Fox News reports:

Some in the media believe the Republican Party is washed up and dying. Leslie Savan wrote in The Nation earlier this month: "What sort of psychological bent would lead people to want to be part of a dead-end political party like the GOP has become?"

But, a new Gallup poll from May 7 – 10 shows it's not quite that bad for the GOP. Thirty-two percent of participants in the survey identified themselves as Republicans, 32 percent as Democrats, and 34 percent Independents. And if you include Independent "leaners," Republicans and Democrats are also tied at 45 percent between May 7 – 10.

Compared to last month, from April 20 — 21, Republican Party identification has risen five percentage points while Democrats have fallen four. With "leaners" included, the GOP gained six and Democrats lost five.

COMMENT:  We always caution that polls are snapshots in time.  But the trend here is more than interesting.  Combine this please with the solid rejection, in California, of all ballot initiatives on Tuesday, which would have raised taxes.  California is a liberal state, and the voters knew that rejecting the new taxes would reduce services.  Yet, they turned them down decisively. 

Maybe we're seeing the start of a backlash.  Maybe not.  It will take more time and more polling, but I'm encouraged.

May 21, 2009   Permalink

CNN IS AT PAINS TO REPORT - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  You can almost sense the pain and anguish in this polling report from CNN.  Why, the writer should put in for disability leave:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As Dick Cheney prepares to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism, a new national poll suggests that favorable opinions of the former vice president are on the rise.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to give a major speech on the battle against terrorism Thursday.

But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Thursday morning, indicates that a majority of Americans still have an unfavorable opinion of Cheney.

Fifty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say they have an unfavorable opinion of the former vice president. Thirty-seven percent say they have a favorable opinion of Cheney, up 8 percentage points from January when he left office.

In the past two months, the former vice president has become a frequent critic of the new administration in numerous national media interviews.

"Is Cheney's uptick due to his visibility as one of the most outspoken critics of the Obama administration? Almost certainly not," says Keating Holland, CNN polling director.

"Former President George W. Bush's favorable rating rose 6 points in that same time period, and Bush has not given a single public speech since he left office."

COMMENT:  Some of this is very silly.  Obviously, Cheney's rise is related to his recent speeches, no matter what CNN's exalted polling director says.  What else could be the cause?  Nostalgia?  And the ridiculous statement that Bush has gone up six points without uttering a word is shallow.  If Cheney is effective in defending the Bush record, and he has been, clearly some of the gain will show up in President Bush's poll numbers. 

You just sense that CNN is choking on this story.  I am smiling.

May 21, 2009   Permalink

THE DANGER OF EMP - AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  We are properly focused on a number of potentially catastrophic threats from Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan, and on the possibility of terror groups acquiring weapons of mass destruction.  However, there is another threat looming that may dwarf the others, and that is an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) attack on the United States.  It would involve, in a typical scenario, an an enemy firing a missile from a ship off our shores, and setting off a nuclear device high above the nation.  The EMP effect would essentially destroy our electronic and electric infrastructure, and send us back to a primitive form of civilization.

William D. Forstschen, who often co-authors with Newt Gingrich, has written a novel, "One Second After," that portrays what an EMP attack would do to the United States.  There is an excellent, informed review of the book at American Spectator by John C. Wohlstetter, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and proprietor of his own website, Letter from the Capitol.  The review is here, and should get any thinking person concerned...and angry that so little is being done about this severe threat.

May 21, 2009   Permalink 

PRETTY PATHETIC, AT 7:44 A.M. ET:  When the president of the United States makes groveling a hallmark of foreign policy, can eager allies be far behind?  Now Britain, in the form of Foreign Minister David Miliband, goes into full grovel mode, weeks before Mr. Obama's much anticipated speech to the Muslim world:

David Miliband will reach out to Muslim states today, placing the Iraq war alongside the Crusades and colonialism in a list of “prejudices that British history generates”.

Having previously apologised for using the phrase War on Terror, the Foreign Secretary will acknowledge the damage that the Iraq war caused to Britain’s standing.

“The invasion of Iraq, and its aftermath, aroused a sense of bitterness, distrust and resentment,” he will say as he appeals for a “new coalition of consent” between the West and the Islamic world.

Although he will not apologise for voting for the war in 2003, he will say that it is “well to be clear” about how Britain is viewed as a consequence of its decision to back George Bush, adding that it reinforces a prejudiced view created by British history.

Thus has Obama wrought.  It goes on:

“Decisions taken many years ago in [the Foreign Office] are still felt on the landscape of the Middle East,” he will say. “Ruined Crusader castles remain as poignant monuments to the religious violence of the Middle Ages. Lines drawn on maps by colonial powers were succeeded, among other things, by the failure to establish two states in Palestine.”

COMMENT:  Thus has Obama wrought.  All the problems in the Muslim world were caused by the West.  There never was any bigotry or conquest that came from Islam.  We are at fault.

It is pathetic and sad.  There are certainly things the West did in the Muslim world that are, by today's standards, wrong.  But Islam has often been narrow, aggressive, and bigoted.  However, one does not get invited to the right Washington or London parties by pointing that out.

May 21, 2009   Permalink 

ISRAEL DISTANCES ITSELF FROM OBAMA IRAN VIEWS - AT 7:31 A.M. ET:  While the talks between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel apparently were civilized, there are clear differences in perception over several issues, especially Iran.  The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is asserting an independent position:

Israel will not sit on the sidelines and watch while Iran attains nuclear weapons capability, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's senior security advisor said Thursday, adding that the US was aware of Israel's security needs and knew that it would not necessarily receive forewarning of an Israeli strike against Teheran's nuclear facilities.

Israel maintains its liberty to operate against Iran, Netanyahu's National Security Adviser Uzi Arad told Army Radio. During this week's visit to Washington, Arad said, the prime minister "clarified that Israel reserves itself operational freedom, and several of the most senior figures in the administration said 'of course.'"

COMMENT:  Hard to determine how much of the Israeli official's statement is policy and how much is meant for domestic consumption.  It's difficult to believe that high administration officials said "of course" to Israel's assertion of operational freedom.  A few days ago, CIA Director Leon Panetta confirmed that he visited Israel and told the Israelis there'd be major trouble if Jerusalem attacked Iran's nuclear facilities without American approval. 

This story is still evolving.  It comes at a time when some Israeli observers believe that President Obama has accepted the idea of a nuclear-armed Iran, although Obama denies it.  Some of the problems emerging between the U.S. and Israel are a direct result of the Obama administration's failure to develop a clear, consistent Iran policy.  Can anyone describe our Iran policy?  There may be a generous reward for anyone who succeeds.

May 21, 2009   Permalink

WEDNESDAY,  MAY 20,  2009

BULLETIN AT 11:18 P.M. ET:  From NBC: 

WASHINGTON - Four men have been arrested in a plot to attack several targets in the New York City area, including synagogues, federal and local authorities told NBC News Wednesday.

Authorities said the four men have long been under investigation and there was little danger they could actually have carried out their plan, NBC's Pete Williams reported.

Investigators say the four, described as Black Muslims from the Bronx, had planned to place bombs at various targets. But New York city police and federal agents got wind of the plot and kept the men under careful surveillance.

COMMENT:  Repeat after me:  The danger from terrorism is exaggerated. 

Apparently, according to another report, the leader of the group has ties to a terrorist group in Pakistan.

Obviously, these are just misunderstood people with legitimate grievances against American 1) imperialism, 2) racism, 3) colonialism, 4) Zionism, 5) rheumatism, and 6) failure to honor Buick warranties.  We do understand.

May 20, 2009   Permalink

FAMILY AND POLITICAL NEWS - AT 7:40 P.M. ET:  As we learned in the 1960 election, the Kennedy family has political connections in Illinois, so much so that still one more Kennedy wants to, gosh darn, help the people of the state in any way he can.  Andrew Malcolm, at Top of the Ticket (L.A. Times), explains the delicious irony:

In their master plan to have a family member elected to federal office from every state in the Union, another Kennedy is considering a run for the U.S. Senate.

Word out of Chicago today that Chris Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, once of New York, nephew to Ted Kennedy currently of Massachusetts, cousin to Caroline Kennedy, also of New York, is seriously pondering a run at the Illinois Barack Obama Senate seat in next year's election.

And no one, absolutely no one, is suggesting that the fix is in:

Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose father Mayor Richard J. Daley was not a Kennedy either but loved them and did provide the 8,000 or so votes from somewhere that gave John F. Kennedy his narrow White House electoral win over Richard M. Nixon in 1960, has already said Chris Kennedy is a big name.

So that signal has gone out.

We're sure he just meant to be helpful, maybe to inform school children that this young Kennedy is a member of a famous family.  That's all.  The Daleys always look for opportunities to teach various lessons.

Young Kennedy, son of Robert, runs the huge Merchandise Mart in Chicago, once run by Sargent Shriver, husband to President Kennedy's sister, Eunice, and father to Maria.

A sensitive point:  The Kennedys identify with the civil-rights movement, when useful.  The man holding the seat Kennedy covets is Roland Burris, an African-American appointed by disgraced former Governor Blago after the elected senator, Barack Obama, acquired another job.  This will have to be handled with, as they say, sensitivity.  As Andrew Malcolm puts it:

So if he's smart -- and there's no guarantee of that once you spend time in D.C. -- he'll step out of the way next year and let the next generation of Illinois Democrats march in. And he'll get put in some lucrative commission job or reap a pile of state legal business to shut up about it.

Senator Burris, beware of any phone call from Mayor Daley, or, indeed, President Obama, that begins with, "Roland, let's talk about your great future..."

May 20, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 2:55 P.M. ET:  From Michael Gerson, in the Washington Post:

To stanch the CIA's bleeding morale, Democrats have tried reassurance. President Obama, speaking at CIA headquarters, took the Fred Rogers approach: "Don't be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we've made some mistakes. That's how we learn." Yes, children, hypocritical congressional investigations and foreign kangaroo courts are really our friends. House intelligence committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes sent a sympathy note to Langley: "In recent days, as the public debate regarding CIA's interrogation practices has raged, you have been very much in my thoughts." There should be a section at Hallmark for intelligence operatives unfairly accused of war crimes.

COMMENT:  That says it.  So far, the president has done a poor job of controlling the hard leftists in his party, but I suspect he knows the damage they can do him.  We await the next chapter.

May 20, 2009   Permalink

AND THE ANSWER FROM THE MULLAHS - AT 12:23 P.M. ET: 

TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday Iran had tested a missile that could hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf, in a move likely to add to Western concern about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Ahmadinejad announced the test on the same day campaigning for the June 12 presidential election officially started. A U.S. defense official also confirmed the launch.

One Western expert saw the missile test as Iran's response to the Israeli prime minister's U.S. visit this week.

Coming a day after Iran's supreme leader accused the United States of promoting terrorism, the test may further disappoint U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, which is seeking rapprochement with Iran after three decades of mutual mistrust.

COMMENT:  When will we ever learn?  The mullah regime is not going to do a thing for us.  Oh sure, they may bend a bit and make some noises to keep negotiations going, and stall for time, and that will give the trendies an excuse to demand more talks.  But if anyone thinks the mullahs built all those nuclear installations, just to give them away in a negotiation, that person is delusional.

Tough times coming with Iran.  Given the way we really stood up to North Korea over its recent missile test, don't expect much flash from Washington.

May 20, 2009   Permalink

DANGEROUS, REALLY DANGEROUS - AT 12:14 P.M. ET:  Talk about dangerous proposals, get this one, as reported in The Hill:

High-ranking House Democrats are urging the Treasury Department to prop up minority-owned broadcasters suffering from a lack of capital and lost advertising revenue amid the economic slump.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is leading an effort to convince Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to take “decisive action” by extending credit to this sector of the broadcasting industry.

Clyburn and other senior members, including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), argue that minority-owned broadcasters are sound businesses, but that the recession could undermine the government’s efforts to diversify the airwaves.

COMMENT:  No matter how noble the intent, and I'm not so sure it's noble, the idea of propping up companies with news divisions on the basis of ethnicity is volatile and dangerous.  Who's a minority?  Asians?  Hispanics?  East European immigrants? 

Minority broadcasters beam their programs to a particular audience, as do other broadcasters, and should rise or fall, based on their ability and the popularity of their product. 

May 20, 2009   Permalink

MUST PELOSI DEPART? - AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  Organ music up.  A theme of lament.  Will she go?  After all these years of working toward becoming America's first female speaker of the House, will Nancy Pelosi have to step down over her fight with the CIA?  (music stronger)  Is the end near for the woman they affectionately call San Fran Nan?  (fade to commercial).

Dick Morris says yes.  Nan must take one for the team.  From RealClearPolitics:

It's obvious that either Leon Panetta, Obama's head of the CIA, or Nancy Pelosi, his party's Speaker of the House, has to go. No administration can tolerate a permanent, public civil war between two such high-ranking officials.

Especially when their disagreement stems not from issues of policy but from matters of veracity and credibility, the battle must end in one of their resignations. You cannot have the head of the nation's first line of defense against terrorism calling the Speaker of the House a liar and being attacked by her in turn.

The key point:

Obviously, Obama cannot fire Panetta. First of all, he just appointed him. And second, to cave in to Pelosi (D-Calif.) would earn him the massive disrespect and disapproval of the very operatives on whom he must depend to keep the nation safe.

COMMENT:  Morris makes sense, as he usually does.  But I doubt if either will go, unless Panetta decides to resign in disgust, which is unlikely.  He's a beltway gut fighter with great political instincts.  Pelosi won't quit unless a release of documents completely convicts her in the court of public opinion, but even then I suspect she'd hang on.  Her court consists of flaming liberals for whom lying about the CIA is fine sport.  It's hard to imagine her being forced out by House Democrats unless there are major losses for the party in the 2010 midterms.

What's weird here is that Pelosi's crowd in the House is trying to continue her feud with the CIA.  Maybe they just know their constituency, but Obama should, as the dad in "Love Story" said, "make a couple of calls." 

May 20, 2009    Permalink

STAGGERING - AT 6:45 A.M. ET:  Remember when Japan was poised to take over the international economy?  Remember when American executives were encouraged to learn Japanese?  My, how the mighty have fallen - on their swords.  Japan is suffering staggering economic losses, with substantial implications for the United States.  Japan is a major trading partner, and holds some of our debt.  London's Telegraph tells the sad story:

Japan's economy has suffered its worst quarterly performance since records began more than five decades ago as it continues to struggle with the economic crisis.

The world's second largest economy experienced a quarterly 4 per cent shrink in its gross domestic product (GDP) reflecting the continued impact of the recession on the export-dependent nation.

Hit hard by a global plunge in demand for cars and technology, Japan's economy shrank 15.2 per cent in the first quarter compared to last year, according to Cabinet Office figures.

The contraction eclipses that of other industrialised nations: the nation's GDP slide was more than double the 1.6 per cent recorded in the US and significantly higher than Europe's record 2.5 per cent.

COMMENT:  Economic success is round.  It rolls from one nation to another.  We're now being told by economic "experts" that China will leave us in the dust.  When you hear that, remember Japan.  The last hot item to come out of Japan was the Sony Walkman, the iPod of the last generation.

May 20, 2009   Permalink 

OH, HE DIDN'T SAY IT, DID HE? - AT 6:43 A.M. ET:  We give the Pompous Fool Award periodically at the Angel's Corner to a writer or politician who has distinguished himself or herself in pomposity and foolishness.  Maybe we should add a Poor Taste Award.  The first recipient would have to be the terminally obnoxious Joe Klein, a man whose limitations are legendary.  Klein is quoted in an otherwise fair-minded piece about the brilliant Charles Krauthammer, who has emerged as one of the most important conservative voices in our time.

Klein has to get his two cents in.  He actually said this about Krauthammer:

"He became Ground Zero among the neo-cons, but he's vastly smarter than most of them," said Time's Joe Klein, an admirer and critic who praised Krauthammer's "writing skills and polemical skills" as "so far above almost anybody writing columns today."

"There's something tragic about him too," Klein said, referring to Krauthammer's confinement to a wheelchair, the result of a diving accident during his first year of medical school. "His work would have a lot more nuance if he were able to see the situations he's writing about."

Krauthammer appropriately replied, "My writing speaks for itself."

COMMENT:  If Rush had said that about anyone, the skies would have fallen, and smelling salts would have been delivered to the entire White House press corps.  But since the very liberal Joe Klein said it, I suspect it will go ignored among the pundit classes.

May 20, 2009   Permalink

US ARMS IN WRONG HANDS - AT 6:41 A.M. ET:  We chided The New York Times in the story below, so now let us have praise.  A well-reported Times story tells a troubling picture of what is emerging as America's main battlefront, Afghanistan/Pakistan:

KABUL — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.

Arms and ordnance collected from dead insurgents hint at one possible reason: Of 30 rifle magazines recently taken from insurgents’ corpses, at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, identical to ammunition the United States had provided to Afghan government forces, according to an examination of ammunition markings by The New York Times and interviews with American officers and arms dealers.

The presence of this ammunition among the dead in the Korangal Valley, an area of often fierce fighting near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, strongly suggests that munitions procured by the Pentagon have leaked from Afghan forces for use against American troops.

COMMENT:  If true, it's obviously a grim and chaotic situation.  Just as bad, stories like this, which must be reported, provide ammunition to the cut-and-run crowd, which has now transferred its passion from Iraq to Afghanistan.  Whenever America is involved in a conflict, this bunch has exactly the same policy advice - cut our losses and get out.  They had plenty of practice in Vietnam, and have used it well.

May 20, 2009   Permalink

THE SMATTERING SPEAKS - AT 6:39 A.M. ET:  California made news yesterday, but The New York Times want to convince you that, well, it really didn't amount to much.  I mean, who voted?  Get this for a slant:

LOS ANGELES — A smattering of California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected five ballot measures designed to keep the state solvent through the rest of the year.

The results dealt a severe setback to the state’s fragile fiscal structure and to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislators who cobbled together the measures as part of a last-minute budget deal passed in February.

The measures, which would have prolonged tax increases, capped state spending, earmarked money for education and involved the state in a complex borrowing scheme against its lottery, were rejected by roughly 60 percent of those who voted. The failure of the measures, combined with falling revenues since the state passed its budget, leaves California with a $21 billion new hole to fill, while foreclosure rates and unemployment remain vexing problems here.

COMMENT:  All polls showed these measures would fail.  But if they had passed, do you think The Times would have attributed the great victory to a smattering?  I suspect the lead would have read:

Californians stormed to the polls yesterday to approve a wide range of finely crafted measures that will save their state from bankruptcy.

It's so outrageous when these smatterings are allowed to vote.

May 20, 2009   Permalink