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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr.'s talk show from Dallas yesterday.  It's here.

APRIL 19,  2011

DEFENSE CUTS – POSSIBLY DANGEROUS ONES – ARE COMING – AT 11:04 P.M. ET:  One of the things that, naturally, is not being emphasized by the mainstream media is the reality of sizable defense cuts that Barack Obama wants make inevitable.

Now, there may well be things that can be cut, and surely the Pentagon can do a better job on procurement.  However, after years of deployments and active post-9/11 operations, the defense budget doesn't have all that much fat.  There are enormous international challenges ahead, and American influence will depend, as always, on America's perceived strength.  Obama is increasingly seen as a weak, leftist president, but America still has a powerful military.  The dream of the left is to weaken that, too.  From The Hill:

Defense insiders on and off Capitol Hill increasingly acknowledge more cuts are ahead for the Pentagon as lawmakers and the administration intensify their efforts to reduce the nation’s deficit.

They say the political battle will focus on the size and nature of spending reductions and that major weapons programs could be spared from the cuts.

President Obama has set a marker of reducing defense spending by $400 billion through 2023.

This promises new cuts to his 2012 budget request, made just a few months ago, of $553 billion for the Pentagon.

While the president demagogues any cuts in social programs, and has no problem with the federal government subsidizing National Public Radio, he is proposing severe cuts to our national defense.  He represents a branch of hjis party that has historically been hostile to defense. 

Our Navy has already been cut severely, and many of our ships are worn out.  We have pilots flying planes that are older than they are. 

I'd like to point out that this president has already shattered many of NASA's dreams. 

As each day goes by, it becomes clear that Obama is what we feared he is – a man who will weaken this country, yet pursue social programs that produce dubious results.  The mainstream media will be indifferent.  Will the American people catch on in time?

April 19, 2011      Permalink

CHILDREN'S PLAY NEWS – AT 10:41 P.M. ET:  New York State is protecting its citizens again.  We are inspired:

Syracuse, N.Y. -- State health officials today yanked proposed rules that defined childhood games like tag, Whiffleball and Red Rover as posing a significant risk for injury – a definition that would have forced some summer day camps to follow more costly and stringent state regulations.

The proposed regulations were part of a new law, which took effect April 1, meant to ensure safer policies at camps that now fall outside of health officials’ scrutiny.

But by attaching certain activities – like Dodgeball, Capture the Flag, and Steal the Bacon – to a list that also included scuba diving, archery and shooting rifles, health officials admitted they had gone too far.

“We believe that it would be appropriate for us to withdraw it and redraft it,” said Claudia Hutton, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Health.

In recent days, health department officials were slow to respond to questions about the policy, issuing brief written statements and advising those with concerns to make public comments on the proposed rules.

COMMENT:  I'd love to be there at some of those meetings where they draw up those rules, wouldn't you?  "Now we come to Whiffleball, a serious threat to our youth."  And can you imagine the discussion about "Capture the Flag"?  Not only can someone get a knee scrape, but the sheer nationalistic fervor that can be generated!  I mean, these kids in camp can start a war.  Or a Fourth Reich!  Don't tell me that "Capture the Flag" is just a game.

Only in places like New York and California, folks.  I know this crowd well.

But remember, it's for the children.

April 19, 2011       Permalink

FAILURE IN LIBYA – AT 11:04 A.M. ET:  When you have amateurs in charge, this is what happens.  From the Los Angeles Times:

Reporting from Washington and Benghazi, Libya— A month ago in Libya, troops loyal to Moammar Kadafi were advancing on opposition-held areas, tens of thousands of civilians feared for their lives, and rebel forces appeared in disarray with little prospect of driving Kadafi from power.

After four weeks and hundreds of airstrikes by the U.S. and its NATO allies, in many ways little has changed.

Kadafi's tanks and artillery no longer threaten the de facto rebel capital of Benghazi in eastern Libya, and Kadafi's combat aircraft and helicopter gunships are grounded. But the disorganized rebel forces are still outmatched and outnumbered by Libyan army units, which, along with their leader, show no sign of giving up.

Rather, Kadafi has intensified his counteroffensive in recent days. Human rights groups accused Kadafi's military of using cluster bombs and truck-mounted Grad rockets to bombard residential areas of Misurata, the only city in western Libya still in rebel hands.

"We rushed into this without a plan," said David Barno, a retired Army general who once commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. "Now we're out in the middle, going in circles."

The failure of the international air campaign to force Kadafi's ouster, or even to stop his military from shelling civilians and recapturing rebel-held towns, poses a growing quandary for President Obama and other NATO leaders: What now?

COMMENT:  And they don't have an answer.  Imagine being the government of North Korea and Iran today, looking at the United States.  What would you see?  You'd see weakness and indecision.  This is what gets nations into trouble, and we are in deep trouble.

April 19, 2011       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:40 A.M. ET:

From London's Telegraph:  A group called Muslims Against Crusades has applied for permission to protest outside Westminster Abbey on the day of the royal wedding, Scotland Yard said.

They're right!  These Crusades have got to stop!  Do you know what it's like to see a guy on a horse, in armor and carrying a spear, charging right at you?

April 19, 2011      Permalink

YOUR U.N. AT WORK – SEND IN THOSE DOLLARS – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  Who cares about revolutions in the Mideast?  Who wants to be distracted by nuclear proliferation?  Terrorism?  What's that?  The U.N. has more important things to do, as Fox reports:

United Nations diplomats on Wednesday will set aside pressing issues of international peace and security to devote an entire day debating the rights of “Mother Earth.”

A bloc of mostly socialist governments lead by Bolivia have put the issue on the General Assembly agenda to discuss the creation of a U.N. treaty that would grant the same rights found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Mother Nature.

Treaty supporters want the establishment of legal systems to maintain balance between human rights and what they perceive as the inalienable rights of other members of the Earth community -- plants, animals, and terrain.

I'm especially passionate about giving voting rights to terrain.

Communities and environmental activists would be given more legal power to monitor and control industries and development to ensure harmony between humans and nature. Though the United States and other Western governments are supportive of sustainable development, some see the upcoming event, “Harmony with Nature,” as political grandstanding -- an attempt to blame environmental degradation and climate change on capitalism.

Y'think?

“The concept ‘Mother Earth’ is not universally accepted,” said a spokesman from the British Mission to the U.N. about Bolivia’s proposal. “In general, our view is that we should focus on tackling important sustainable development issues through existing channels and processes.”

What?  You mean not everyone agrees that plants should have freedom of the press?  These Brits.  Colonialist exploiters of plants!  Pass it on.

April 19, 2011       Permalink

WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  A new Washington Post/ABC News poll actually provides better news for Obama than some other recent surveys, but the numbers will still not provide much happiness at the White House.  It's clear that the president must depend primarily on the Republicans nominating a weak, unexciting candidate, something Republicans are adept at doing:

Deepening economic pessimism has pushed down President Obama’s approval rating to a near record low, but he holds an early advantage over prospective 2012 rivals in part because of widespread dissatisfaction with Republican candidates, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

In the survey, 47 percent approve of the job Obama is doing, down seven points since January. Half of all Americans disapprove of his job performance, with 37 percent saying they “strongly disapprove,” nearly matching the worst level of his presidency.

But...

In hypothetical matchups for the general election, the president runs ahead of all seven potential GOP rivals tested in the new poll.

If the election were held now, Romney and Huckabee would mount the stiffest challenges, trailing Obama by four and six percentage points respectively, among all Americans as well as among registered voters.

Obama has double-digit leads over the other five tested — a dozen points against Trump and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), 15 against Newt Gingrich and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and 17 points over Palin.

Despite his current advantage over the Republican field, Obama remains vulnerable with an approval rating again less than 50 percent. A majority of those younger than 40 give the president positive ratings, but most of those 40 and older disapprove.

COMMENT:  The political facts are taking shape:  Obama is not a popular president, but the GOP doesn't have any candidates currently seen by the voters as compelling.

However, an important caveat:  This poll was taken among a sampling of 1,001 "adults."   Such a sampling tends to tilt Democratic.  A more accurate sample would be "registered voters," and a much more accurate sample would be "likely voters."  So, the real numbers for the president are probably worse than the Washington Post/ABC News poll indicates, but it doesn't change the fact that the GOP contenders are not getting widespread applause.

April 19, 2011       Permalink

DOING WHAT THUGS DO BEST – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  From Fox:

BEIRUT – Syrian security forces opened fire before dawn on hundreds of anti-government protesters staging a sit-in, shooting live ammunition and tear gas before chasing them through the streets for hours, witnesses said Tuesday.

There were casualties but the exact number was not immediately clear.

"They shot at everything, there was smoke everywhere," an activist in the central city of Homs told The Associated Press by telephone, asking that his name not be used because he feared for his personal safety. "I saw people on the ground, some shot in their feet, some in the stomach."

A few days ago President Bashar Assad of Syria went on TV to announce some "reforms," none of which would loosen his grip on power.  It's pretty clear that the "reforms" satisfied no one. 

The streets were largely deserted by early afternoon, with people staying inside their homes.

Hundreds of people had gathered Monday at Clock Square in the center of Homs, bringing mattresses, food and water to the site for an Egypt-style standoff. They vowed to stay until President Bashar Assad is ousted -- a brazen escalation of the monthlong uprising against the country's authoritarian regime.

Western countries, including the United States, are putting remarkably little pressure on Assad to go – contrast please with the heat we put on Mubarak of Egypt.  This may be because of lessons learned in Egypt and Libya – that we really don't know who the opposition is, and what it will do with Syria if it takes power.  It's the Mideast, after all, where failure is not only an option, it's often the preferred strategy.

April 19, 2011        Permalink

APRIL 18,  2011

MORE ON EGYPT – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:  This is our second report today documenting the rapidly deteriorating situation in Egypt.  The middle-class revolution of only weeks ago is clearly being betrayed.  What is happening is frightening, with potentially devastating effects on American interests.  From The Wall Street Journal:

CAIRO—Iran and Egypt's new government signaled Monday they were moving quickly to thaw decades of frosty relations, worrying the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia that the overtures could upset the Mideast's fragile balance of power.

Iran said it appointed an ambassador to Egypt for the first time since the two sides froze diplomatic relations more than three decades ago, the website of the Iranian government's official English-language channel, Press TV, reported late Monday.

Also Monday, officials at Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that new foreign minister Nabil Elaraby is considering a visit to the Gaza Strip—an area controlled by Hamas, a militant Palestinian Islamist group backed by Tehran and until now shunned by Cairo.

And, from AP:

Protesters led by hardline Islamists in southern Egypt held their ground Monday, saying they won't end their campaign of civil disobedience until the government removes a newly appointed Coptic Christian governor.

The protesters, many from the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam, have been sitting on train tracks, taken over government buildings and blocked main roads in the southern city of Qena, insisting the new governor won't properly implement Islamic law.

COMMENT:  Welcome to the 10th century.  A good time will be had by some.  Women, of course, need not appyl

It is very sad to see the promise of the revolution falling apart, but we had a very early hint of this when one of the heroes of the revolt – the guy who sent messages of revolution on Facebook – was barred from speaking to crowds once the new military government took over.

It is rapidly turning into an Islamic orgy.  There will be elections in the fall, but the Islamic parties are well positioned, the truly democratic parties are not.

As is being said more and more, the Arab spring may well turn into an Iranian winter.

April 18, 2011       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 2:42 P.M. ET: 

COMPTON, Calif. - There are drive-thru burger joints and drive-thru banks but now one California city offers the ultimate in drive-thru convenience: drive-thru casket viewing.  Yes, at the Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton, south of Los Angeles, it is possible to view the deceased resting in a casket display window while cruising past in your car, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.  "It's a unique feature that sets us aside from other funeral parlors," said owner Peggy Scott Adams.

For an extra $100, if you smile at the loved one while cruising by, the loved one will smile back.

April 18, 2011       Permalink

WE'RE IN THE MONEY – NOT – AT 2:10 P.M. ET:  Standard & Poor's has some concern about the future of the United States.  Are you shocked?

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Standard & Poor's lowered its outlook for the nation's long-term debt Monday, even as it reaffirmed the agency's top-tier rating for the U.S. economy.

S&P maintained its 'AAA/A-1+' credit rating on U.S. sovereign debt, saying the nation's "highly diversified" economy and "effective monetary policies" have helped support growth.

But the ratings agency lowered its outlook for America's long-term credit rating to "negative" from "stable," based on the uncertain political debate around the nation's fiscal problems.

The outlook means that there is a one-in-three likelihood that it could lower the long-term rating on the United States within two years, S&P said.

COMMENT:  I suspect we'll see other stories like this as the gathering train wreck continues.  I like to compare this to the endless refrain of the educational establishment, in justifying out-of-control education spending, that we're doing it "for the children."

Look at the debts we're leaving to these same children.  I'm sure they'll thank us.

April 18, 2011       Permalink

TRUMPED – AT 10:04 A.M. ET:  In a head-to-head matchup, Donald Trump doesn't do very well against Barack Obama, but Obama doesn't do all that well himself.  From Scott Rasmussen:

President Obama leads Donald Trump by 15 percentage points in a hypothetical 2012 match-up, but the president is unable to top the 50% level of support even against an opponent some are deriding as a joke.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that the president earns support from 49% of Likely Voters nationwide, while Trump attracts the vote from 34%. Given that choice, 12% would vote for some other candidate, and five percent (5%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Only 65% of Republican voters would vote for Trump over Obama. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 48% prefer Obama, 25% Trump, and 20% would opt for some other candidate.

Regardless of what Republican is matched against the president, Obama earns between 42% and 49% support. Trump doesn't run as well against the president as the top tier of GOP candidates, but he does pick up more support than insider favorites Mitch Daniels and Jon Huntsman and entrepreneur Herman Cain.

COMMENT:  Trump is a celebrity candidate.  He can't beat Obama any more than Ross Perot could win in 1992, running against President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.  (But Perot probably did cost Bush the election.)  I don't think Trump could get the Republican nomination.  He could be a factor, and a dangerous one, only if he runs as an independent, taking votes away from the GOP. 

At the same time, Obama can't break 50%, not exactly a vote of confidence in a president.  If Republicans concentrate on nominating an effective candidate, they can win this thing.  If they nominate the next guy in line, or someone who's borderline certifiable, an opportunity can fade away.

April 18, 2011       Permalink

THE FUTURE LIES AHEAD (WITH A HAT TIP TO MORT SAHL) – AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  Our taxes are on their way to Washington, an annual pain, and Americans are increasingly apprehensive over the future of tax rates.  The fact is that our tax base doesn't equal the nation's financial obligations.  Tax advisers are giving some grim news to taxpayers about the future.  From The Hill:

As many Americans finish their returns to send to the IRS, some financial advisers say that, with deep budget deficits and the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of next year, they are counseling clients to prepare for a rise in their tax bill in the coming years.

“We’re going broke,” said Clint Stretch, managing principal for tax policy at Deloitte Tax. “Whenever we’ve had big deficit-reduction measures in the past, it’s always had some spending cuts and some tax increases.”

Still, the advisers say that, even as President Obama has reiterated his call to allow taxes to rise on the wealthiest Americans, it’s difficult to forecast exactly how some clients will be affected by changes to the tax code — especially given the current push for tax reform.

And, they add, while the current fiscal situation is particularly stark, it’s also just the latest example of the uncertain tax situation they and their clients have dealt with historically.

COMMENT:  I'm afraid that some higher taxes, possibly in the form of sales taxes, are coming.  It is almost impossible to figure out how such a divided nation will agree on a budget that keeps us within our means.   Once again we will turn to tax increases, if only temporary ones. 

Bottom line:  This nation faces severe economic problems.  A president with character will have to tell the truth to the American people.  They will be prepared to sacrifice...but only if sacrifice is fairly distributed across the board.  That means Democrats will have to face the ridiculous pensions and salaries of many public-service workers, and Republicans will have to face the obscenities of Wall Street fast-buck artists and their fellow travelers in crony capitalism.  Not a pretty picture for either party.

April 18, 2011       Permalink

THOSE VILE PEOPLE – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:  My contempt for the so-called "anti-war" movement is total.  "Anti-war" activists, as we've pointed out before, are often nothing more than party-line leftists marching against any war America has a chance to win.  Their true nature has been covered up by the mainstream media for decades.

I well recall visiting "anti-war" demonstrations during Vietnam, when I was an editor at The New York Times.  I'd see these fools marching down Fifth Avenue in New York chanting "Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh," not exactly an anti-war chant.  I'd then return to my newspaper and see everything sanitized.  These old reds would suddenly become "anti-war activists."

They have sunk to many lows.  In May they may outdo themselves.  The prime minister of Israel, a country despised on the left because it's an ally of the United States, will be visiting Washington.  Leftist groups are combining to give him a hot reception.  These are the same groups who have remained silent in the face of the Arab revolutions.  And during this leftist insanity in Washington, Code Pink will give an award to one of its heroines.

Who will that awardee be?

It's Helen Thomas, fired from her White House press job because of open anti-Semitism, which she then followed by even more anti-Semitism.  A major journalism award named for her at Wayne State University was cancelled.

But Code Pink will honor her.

How low are these people willing to go?  Well, we know that it's pretty low.  In 1940 the hard left endorsed the Hitler-Stalin pact, essentially aligning themselves with fascism.  (One of the great myths is that the left opposes fascism.  In fact, the left will work with fascists whenever it's convenient.) 

We hope there are, somewhere in the mainstream media, some brave souls who will finally exposes Code Pink for what it is – an anti-American hate group made up of left-wing extremists, who now honor an unabashed bigot.  But we will probably hope in vain.  In all probability, we'll still see Code Pink described as an "anti-war" group.

April 18, 2011        Permalink

AS EGYPT GOES – AT 8:15 A.M. ET:  As Urgent Agenda readers know, we are increasingly worried about what is happening in Egypt, as the revolution of only weeks ago is being betrayed, day by day.  The latest report, from Britain's Telegraph, is particularly disturbing.  The trends in Egypt could have a profound effect on American interests in the Mideast:

The rapid spread of Muslim political parties ahead of September's parliamentary elections has strengthened fears that Egyptian democracy will be dominated by radical Islamic movements.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic movement and the founder of Hamas, has set up a network of political parties around the country that eclipse the following of the middle class activists that overthrew the regime. On the extreme fringe of the Brotherhood, Islamic groups linked to al-Qeada are organising from the mosques to fill the vacuum left by the collapse of the dictatorship.

The military-led government already faces accusations that it is bowing to the surge in support for the Muslim movements, something that David Cameron warned of in February when he said Egyptian democracy would be strongly Islamic.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, warned on Sunday that the direction of Egyptian politics was anti-Israeli. He told diplomats last week that Egyptian officials – including Nabil al-Arabi, the foreign minister – were pandering to political militants by branding Israel as the "enemy".

"I am very concerned over some of the voices we've been hearing from Egypt recently," Mr Netanyahu said. "I'm especially concerned over the current Egyptian foreign minster's statements."

And...

As hardliners compete for street power, Egypt's Christians – who make up 10 per cent of the population – are emigrating in growing numbers.

Al-Masry al-Youm, an Egyptian newspaper, reported last week that the Canadian embassy had been swamped by visa requests from Coptic Christians.

Others are fighting back. Naquib Swiris, a Copt who is one of Egypt's richest men, has formed the Free Egyptians Party as a rallying point for a liberal democracy.

COMMENT:  Not exactly what we had hoped for in those heady days earlier this year.  But this is the Middle East, and anything that hints of the 21st century is attacked and often destroyed.  Let's see if the mainstream media will give us the straight story about what is happening in Egypt, or will hide behind the "multiculturalism" mask.

We are in for difficult days, and look who's leading the United States.

April 18, 2011     Permalink