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MARCH 8,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

OUR WASHINGTON FAIRYLAND – OVERNIGHT:  DESPITE SERIOUS INTELLIGENCE WARNINGS, WE ARE ABOUT TO MAKE A DEAL WITH ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL MONSTER.  FROM CBS:   The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Iran will threaten Americans — both directly and via proxy attacks — and that Tehran remains committed to developing networks inside the U.S., according to the intelligence community's 2022 Annual Threat Assessment, published Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).  Now, with the U.S. on the cusp of a diplomatic accord with Iran over its nuclear program, as well as a potential deal regarding the release of four American prisoners, it is not clear whether the Biden administration can extract any further concessions or convince Tehran to cease its other malign activities, including any on U.S. soil.  CBS News has obtained two persistent threat assessments submitted to Congress by the State Department in January 2022 which cited a "serious and credible threat" on the lives of former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Trump administration Iran envoy Brian Hook. These non-public assessments show that throughout 2021, and again in 2022, the State Department assessed the need to provide round-the-clock, U.S.-taxpayer funded diplomatic security details to both men.  The hefty security entourage that continues to travel with Pompeo, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has garnered attention during his public appearances including at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The size of the detail rivals one that is typical for a current cabinet member.  Would you trust Iran?  Apparently, Joe Biden does.  And, after all, Barack Obama did, and it didn't interfere with his purchasing of three mansions since leaving office.  Hey, where's the problem?

March 8, 2022       Permalink

WHAT WILL PUTIN DO? – OVERNIGHT:  COMRADE PUTIN'S DRIVE INTO UKRAINE ISN'T GOING AS SMOOTHLY AS HE'D PLANNED.  THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING, AND DYING, FOR THEIR FREEDOM.  WHAT DOES PUTIN DO NOW?  WALTER RUSSELL MEAD, ONE OF THE BEST POLITICAL ANALYSTS WRITING TODAY, GIVES US HIS INSIGHT.  A MUST READ, FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: 

Vladimir Putin is beginning to understand the immense difficulty of the war he cavalierly launched in Ukraine. He knows now that his corrupt and time-serving generals lied to him about the effectiveness of the military machine they had built. He knows that the flattering “experts” who reinforced his prejudices about the weakness of Ukrainian national identity were talking through their hats. He knows that even German fecklessness has limits and that Americans still know how to fight cold wars. He has no illusions now about the power of Western economic sanctions, and he knows that families all over Russia will soon be mourning their sons as the death toll mounts in Ukraine.

He is no doubt dismayed by the cascade of bad news but appears determined to fight on. This should not surprise us. Mr. Putin also knows that his future in power, his freedom and quite possibly his life depend on the outcome of this war.

And there is something else he knows, or thinks he knows, that many in the West discount. Westerners and especially Americans believe that freedom always wins in the end. That implies Mr. Putin will fail in Ukraine and Putinism will ultimately fail in Russia because that is the way history works.

From where Mr. Putin sits in the Kremlin, however, history seems to teach a different lesson. The empire of the czars was not built on freedom, nor did freedom result when it fell. The Soviet Union that rose from the ruins of Romanov power was not based on the idea of human freedom. Stalin wasn’t deposed by Russians hungry for freedom; he died in bed. The feeble liberals who tried to introduce Western-style democracy into post-Soviet Russia were soon sidelined in the power struggles of the Yeltsin era. Mr. Putin simply does not think that “freedom always wins” and his likely reaction to the failure of his initial strategy for the absorption of Ukraine into his domain will be to double down on repression.

We should not underestimate the power of his belief in the efficacy of the iron fist. He has seen it work in Tibet, Xinjiang and, most recently, Hong Kong. Mr. Putin knows how ugly and effective the process of restoring Bashar al-Assad’s rule across most of Syria has been. He notes that Nicolás Maduro still rules Venezuela, that the Castroite state retains its hold on Cuba, and that North Korea has defied decades of American sanctions. He recalls last year’s democratic rising in Belarus, and he remembers how easy it was for Alexander Lukashenko to crush it. Mr. Putin is unlikely to give up his ambitions in Ukraine, much less his power in Moscow, without giving repression every chance to succeed.

COMMENT:  Obviously, a very serious warning from a knowledgeable observer.  We like quick solutions in the United States, but Putin plays the long game.  He knows we will probably lose interest in his war, leaving him to suppress the Ukranians as we turn to more important pursuits, like woke studies. 

March 8, 2022       Permalink

MARCH 7,  2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

OUR EMBARRASSMENT – OVERNIGHT:   While Ukrainian students, and their teachers, join a desperate fight for freedom, in which they will probably die, some immature academics bring disgrace to our society.  Shame.  From College Fix:  Highly decorated virologist Julie Overbaugh has been forced out of a position of leadership at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and resigned her faculty affiliate position at the University of Washington School of Medicine due to accusations of racism and investigations involving her decision to wear a Michael Jackson costume to a Halloween party in 2009.  A picture of the 13-year-old incident, in which she is accused of wearing “blackface,” has prompted peers to accuse her of racism despite the fact that her research has focused on aiding Africans for the last three decades.  “Overbaugh has devoted her professional career to studying viral pathogens that cause HIV. But amid publishing papers, running her own research lab, and flying back and forth from Kenya, she has also pursued another professional passion: mentoring. Overbaugh is one of two recipients of this year’s Nature Award for Mentoring in Science, which is awarded to select scientists in one country or region each year,” a 2016 report in GeekWire reports.  Last year, Overbaugh was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.  “I am really happy to see gender balance in this year’s elected members and hope this signals a future trend,” Overbaugh said at the time. “In my field, HIV, which is a very large field, there have only been a couple of women elected — hopefully, there will be more in the future.”  But Overbaugh’s accomplishments during an age in which female STEM recruitment and retainment is a social justice priority apparently could not outweigh the 2009 incident of emulating the King of Pop at a party that was reportedly themed after Jackson’s famous “Thriller” album.   What a set of priorities that institution must have.  And outrages like this happen regularly at our houses of "higher" education.  The only way we learn about most of these incidents is through online journalism.  Our so-called "mainstream news organizations" show little interest.

March 7, 2022       Permalink

THE REAL AMERICAN SPIRIT – OVERNIGHT:  As usual, the American people are ahead of their government, politically and morally.  From Fox Business: 

Nearly three-quarters of Americans questioned in a new national poll say they’d support a ban on Russian oil to punish Moscow as it continues its deadly invasion of neighboring Ukraine, even if it triggers another steep rise in already high domestic gas prices.

According to a Quinnipiac University survey released on Monday, 71% backed a Russian oil ban even if it further increased gas prices, with 22% opposed. Eighty-two percent of Democrats, seven in ten independents and two-thirds of Republicans surveyed said they supported a ban.

"Americans are ready to put a chokehold on Russia’s key financial lifeblood, oil, no matter what the consequences are at the pump," Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy said. 

A growing number of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are calling for a ban of all oil imports from Russia, but President Biden’s administration told Fox News on Monday that "no decision has been made at this time."

The poll, which was conducted March 4-6, also indicated nearly 80% support for a U.S. military response if Russian leader Vladimir Putin extends his invasion beyond Ukraine and attacks a neighboring NATO country. According to the treaty of the NATO alliance of 30 European and North American nations – including the United States – an attack on one member will be considered an attack against all members.

Fifty-six percent of those questioned said steps taken so far by the Biden administration to punish Russia for its assault on Ukraine are not tough enough, with 30% saying they’re about right and 3% saying they’re too tough. Those findings are largely unchanged from a Quinnipiac poll released a week ago.

The poll also indicates that "Americans are divided on Joe Biden's handling of the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine with 42% approving, 45% disapproving, and 13% not offering an opinion. This compares to a week ago when 39% approved, and 47% disapproved."

The president’s overall approval rating remains underwater, at 38% approval and 51% disapproval, nearly unchanged from 37%-52% in last week’s poll.

COMMENT:  It makes sense for a president's approval to inch upward after a State of the Union message, especially if the nation is involved in a potential war situation.  It's the rally-'round-the-flag response.  But Biden's numbers, given the backdrop, are nothing to write home about.  If trends continue, and that's always a big "if," his party faces a substantial drubbing come election day. 

March 7, 2022      Permalink