WEDNESDAY,  APRIL 15,  2009

OUTRAGEOUS JOURNALISM - AT 7:41 P.M. ET:  The AP reports on the latest diplomatic maneuvering between the United States and Iran.  Unfortunately, the AP report drifts from the facts, and is a late example of the kind of reporting that should have been corrected by an editor.  Remember editors?

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's president on Wednesday sent the clearest signal yet that the Islamic Republic wants warmer ties with the U.S., just one day after Washington spoke of new strategies to address the country's disputed nuclear program. Taken together, the developments indicate that the longtime adversaries are seeking ways to return to the negotiating table and ease a nearly 30-year-old diplomatic standoff.

President Barack Obama's administration has sought to start a dialogue with Iran -- a departure from the Bush administration's tough talk.

COMMENT:  A few facts:  First, the Bush administration, in its last year, did seek some engagement with Iran.  Second, the signal sent by Iran's president wasn't clear at all, and the AP shouldn't have gotten ahead of the story.  For all we know, this could be one more Iranian stalling tactic, a means of buying time for further nuclear development.  Attributing the most positive motives to the mullah regime was out of journalistic bounds.

April 15, 2009   Permalink

FRENCH ACTION - AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  The French have shown themselves to be more aggressive than we are in dealing with the pirate threat off Somalia.  This isn't entirely surprising.  When it comes to threats against its citizens, France can get very tough indeed, and the country's internal security measures would give the ACLU a series of heart seizures.  The latest French action, as reported by The New York Times:

French forces detained 11 suspected pirates during an assault on what they described as a pirate “mother ship” in the Indian Ocean off Somalia on Wednesday. ..

...The 11 suspects detaineed on Wednesday were being held on board a French frigate, the Nivôse, part of a European Union antipiracy task force patrolling in the area, the French Defense Ministry said in a statement.

COMMENT:  Hillary Clinton is calling for an international conference to confront the piracy issue.  Somehow, the guys on the scene in the American and French navies seem to do better without the lawyers.

April 15, 2009   Permalink

TODAY - AT 6:35 P.M. ET:  As announced here earlier, I did attend a briefing today by a high British political figure.  Unfortunately, it was all off the record, but a few things, because they have been reported publicly, can be noted: 

First, I was startled to learn that Germany is now almost entirely dependent on Russia for energy supplies.  This represents a serious security threat to the West should Russia, during a crisis, turn off the valves.  In 1948 we supplied Berlin with its essentials during the Berlin Airlift, after the Soviet Union sealed off the city.  But supplying an entire country?  Be watchful on this.

Second, not a shock to us here, we simply don't know enough about the pirate situation in Somalia - who knows what about pirate actions before they happen.  In other words, the pirates may have links that could prove very interesting.  Watch also for developments on this front.  More information is likely to come out.  I want to see names.

April 15, 2009   Permalink

NO BAMA BOUNCE - AT 6:19 P.M. ET:  Earlier in the week I arrogantly assumed that President Obama would get a popularity bounce from the Navy rescue of Captain Phillips.  Strangely, it hasn't happened.  Today's Rasmussen tracker shows the same spread between approval and disapproval - 55-44 percent - that we've seen for four days.  Just as significant, Ras's presidential approval index, the spread between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove, stands at only two points, 35-33 percent, matching the lowest numbers Obama has received.  Those numbers were registered Monday and Tuesday.

So, unless there's a change tomorrow, we will conclude, at least on the basis of this one survey, that the people of the country gave Mr. Obama no credit for a role in the rescue.

April 15, 2009   Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 6:13 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed up 109 points, to 8030.

April 15, 2009   Permalink

NO SMOOTH RIDING - AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  From the Detroit News:

Fiat Group SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne is ready to walk away from a proposed alliance with beleaguered Chrysler LLC if the automaker's union workers do not agree to concessions that would put their pay on the same scale as workers at U.S. plants owned by foreign car companies.

In a story posted today on The Toronto Globe and Mail's Web site, Marchionne said not getting concessions from the UAW and CAW are a breaking point for talks.

"Absolutely we are prepared to walk," he said in the story. "There is no doubt in my mind. We cannot commit to this organization unless we see light at the end of the tunnel."

Fiat and Chrysler have been in talks in which Fiat would give Chrysler billions of dollars of small-car and engine technology as part of an alliance that could keep Chrysler out of bankruptcy.

COMMENT:  With GM being moved toward bankrupty by its federal nannies, we could see a doubly whammy in the coming months - a bankrupt General Motors and a Chrysler with no partner for the future.  The psychological effect on the economy could be enormous. 

You hear many people saying it:  Who wants to buy a car from a bankrupt company?  This is the view, even as President Obama assures us that the government will back warranties.  Can you imagine what the trade-in value of a car made by a bankrupt firm would be?  And Obamacare has yet to fix its first transmission.

April 15, 2009   Permalink  

INEVITABLE - AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  Here it comes.  Reader Alan Weick alerts us to comments by a University of Maryland law professor on the rescue of Captain Phillips.  Naturally:

... it's dispiriting to see this very complicated issue immediately transformed into material for America's insatiable and childish desire to render all events into allegories about evil and heroes. The hijacking of this ship is an opportunity to learn more about the very volatile and complicated events unfolding in Somalia (which most Americans couldn't find on a map and know for only two things - famine, and the brutal murder of 18 U.S. soldiers in 1992 by Somali ganglords).

COMMENT:  The professor is Sherrilyn Ifill, cousin of super lib Gwen Ifill, of PBS fame.  Runs in the family.

April 15, 2009   Permalink   

PAKISTAN ON THE BRINK? - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  As a nation we tend to ignore what's happening in Pakistan.  It's too confusing to summarize.  We don't know the players very well.  Pakistan never attacked us.  But Tony Blankley, writing at Real Clear Politics, has done a fine reporting piece warning that Pakistan may be on the brink of collapse, or takeover by Islamists.  If it happened, Islamists would be in control of Pakistani nukes:

Last week, David Kilcullen, a former Australian army officer who was Gen. Petraeus' senior counterinsurgency strategist and is now a consultant to the Obama White House, said Pakistan could collapse within months.

"We have to face the fact that if Pakistan collapses, it will dwarf anything we have seen so far in whatever we're calling the war on terror now," he said.

Kilcullen said time is running out for international efforts to pull both countries back from the brink. "You just can't say that you're not going to worry about al-Qaida taking control of Pakistan and its nukes," he said. "The Kabul tail was wagging the dog." He described the war in Afghanistan as a campaign to defend a reconstruction program. "It's not really about al-Qaida," he continued. "Afghanistan doesn't worry me. Pakistan does." He said that maybe we can manage Afghanistan and Richard Holbrooke can cut an international deal, but there is also a chance that Washington will fail to stabilize Afghanistan, that Pakistan will collapse, and that al-Qaida will end up running what he called "Talibanistan."

COMMENT:  Will President Obama take the necessary action to reverse this alarming trend?  How can he when the left wing of his party is even opposing the small things he's done up to now. 

I suspect that, if things deteriorate, the leftists and their friends in the press will simply spout the line that even a radicalized Pakistan is "entitled" to have nuclear weapons, and that we must respect cultural change.  After all, we have nukes.  The Israelis have them.  India has them.  We must be more tolerant.  Believe me, if things get bad, that line is coming.

April 15, 2009   Permalink  

STUNNING - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  This is outraging a number of military officers.  From the great Bill Gertz at the Washington Times:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied permission for the U.S. Northern Command to use the Pentagon's most powerful sea-based radar to monitor North Korea's recent missile launch, precluding officials from collecting finely detailed launch data or testing the radar in a real-time crisis, current and former defense officials said.

Jamie Graybeal, Northcom public affairs director, confirmed to The Washington Times that Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, the Northcom commander, requested the radar's use but referred all other questions to the Pentagon.

COMMENT:  One reason given by sources is that the deployment of the super radar might have provoked the North Koreans.  Once again the new administration blinks.  Barely a day goes by without another story of new American softness.  You'll notice that the North Korean launch came and went, with merely a wrist tap in response by the "international community."  As the kids used to chant in the sixties, "the whole world is watching."

April 15, 2009   Permalink  

HOW KIND - AT 7:15 A.M. ET:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's president said Wednesday he is willing to forget the past and build a new relationship with the United States, adding that he is preparing a new package of proposals aimed at breaking the impasse with the West over his country's nuclear program.

The remarks by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to thousands in the southeastern city of Kerman took a conciliatory tone not usually heard in his speeches.

''The Iranian nation is a generous nation. It may forget the past and start a new era, but any country speaking on the basis of selfishness will get the same response the Iranian nation gave to Mr. Bush,'' Ahmadinejad said.

COMMENT:  Notice the spin on the story - the esteemed leader is taking a "conciliatory" tone.  There is nothing conciliatory about his remarks.  He's fundamentally saying that Iran will call the shots.  Sadly, given the first--three-months record of the Obama administration, he may be right.

The alarming thing is that there seems to be no urgency on the part of the United States or our allies.  Yet, each day brings Iran closer to a possible nuclear weapon. 

I think an agreement with Iran is actually possible, but it will involve so many loopholes as to be meaningless.  But, if we reach such an agreement, an obliging, Obamafied press can spin it as "some progress, better than war."  To an America worried primarily about the economy, that could be satisfactory.

April 15, 2009   Permalink  

TUESDAY,  APRIL 14,  2009

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE - AT 9:39 P.M. ET: 

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has made a deal to star in NBC's upcoming summer reality show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, the network confirms.

"Rod Blagojevich will be a participant on the show pending the court's approval," said NBC in a statement.

COMMENT:  Brought to you by the same people who gave us MSNBC.  Real class.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

ONE MORE TIME - AT 6:31 P.M. ET:  North Korea has expelled international nuclear inspectors and is vowing to restart its nuclear program.  This is in response to the barely noticeable slap on the wrist given by the UN Security Council in response to the recent North Korean missile test.  If North Korea responded to a nothing statement by the UN this way, we must conclude that restarting its program was always the goal, and that they would have found some excuse, no matter what our side did.

And what is the American response?  One more statement of appeasement.  Here's Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:

''We are viewing this as an unnecessary response to the legitimate statement put out -- of concern -- by the Security Counc il, and obviously we hope there will be an opportunity to discuss this not only with our partners and allies but also eventually with the North Koreans,'' she said.

COMMENT:  Take that, North Korea!  "An unnecessary response."  That's about it. 

We have to believe that there will come a point in this administration's life that it will either learn from reality or see its foreign policy fall apart, and become a laughing stock.  We hope they learn sooner, rather than later.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

MEANWHILE, IN THE EUROPEAN PARADISE - AT 3:34 P.M. ET:  From Sweden's The Local:

More than 4,000 teenagers in Stockholm are exposed on a daily basis to cultures of honour that run counter to Swedish law, according to an estimate based on a new official study.

Violence and repression are regular occurrences for a large section of 16-year-old school goers in the city centre and suburbs, according to a study commissioned by local politicians.

Ulf Kristersson (Mod), Commissioner of Social Services, is one of a number of politicians surprised and outraged by the findings.

"It's not permitted for adults, not even parents, to prevent children from living full, independent lives," he told Sverige Televsion.

The results come from a survey of a cross section of more than 2,000 pupils.

COMMENT:  Coming to a city or town near you, unless we're careful.  The story does not use the word "Muslim," which tells you something about the European press.  Instead, it simply says, "The majority of teenagers who matched the honour culture profile have parents born outside Sweden."  Okay, we'll guess, and feel good about our political correctness.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? - AT 2:56 P.M. ET:  From the AP:

A jailed American journalist charged by Iran with espionage stood trial behind closed doors and a verdict is expected within weeks, Iran's judiciary spokesman said Tuesday.

Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old dual American-Iranian citizen, was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge leveled a far more serious allegation against her last week, charging her with spying for the United States.

Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, was tried Monday in Iran's Revolutionary Court, which handles national security cases.

"Yesterday, the first trial session was held. She presented her final defense. The court will issue its verdict within the next two to three weeks," Jamshidi told reporters.

COMMENT:  Where are the international "human rights" groups?  Where is the Obama administration?  Where is Hillary Clinton?  Where is the mainstream media, so anguished over Guantanamo? 

As this is happening, we are making concessions to Iran to get the mullahs to the negotiating table.  Notice the good it's done.

There are no Navy Seals to take care of this, Mr. President.  This you do yourself.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

DOW NOW - AT 2:53 P.M. ET:  The Dow is down 113 to 7945.  The recent rally seems to be a memory.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED TO THE RECOVERY - AT 9:03 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in March, snapping two months of increases, as motor vehicle and electronic good purchases declined, according to a government report on Tuesday that indicated subdued consumer spending amid rising unemployment.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales dropped 1.1 percent after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in February, previously reported as a 0.1 percent fall.

COMMENT:  A good lesson that shows why stock market rallies are not necessarily indicative of an improving economy.  The Reuters report confirms what we sense by simply going out, looking around stores, and hearing anecdotes.  The economy is still dramatically weak.  And plans by some states to raise taxes will not help.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR - AT 7:58 A.M. ET:  Sometimes you just get caught at it.  From the Harvard Crimson:

Harvard Islamic chaplain Taha Abdul-Basser ’96 has recently come under fire for controversial statements in which he allegedly endorsed death as a punishment for Islamic apostates.

In a private e-mail to a student last week, Abdul-Basser wrote that there was “great wisdom (hikma) associated with the established and preserved position (capital punishment [for apostates]) and so, even if it makes some uncomfortable in the face of the hegemonic modern human rights discourse, one should not dismiss it out of hand.”

COMMENT:  Can you just imagine if a Christian or Jewish chaplain had written that?  There'd be candlelight vigils, petitions for removal, "interfaith" meetings, anguished denunciations, and grief counseling.

In fairness, some of the Muslim students interviewed for their reactions to the chaplain's e-mail denounced him vigorously, to their great credit.  In America we don't think too highly of death for apostates.  However, there was, inevitably, also this:

“[Abdul-Basser] was speaking as a chaplain to a student in a private e-mail exchange. One of these e-mails was misinterpreted, misconstrued, and posted on the blogosphere,” said Harvard Islamic Society spokesperson Nafees A. Syed ’10, who praised Abdul-Basser for promoting diversity within HIS and the campus at large.

“His immeasurable contributions should not be overlooked in this matter,” she said.

Diversity?  Really?  Does that include the apostates?

April 14, 2009   Permalink

MORE TRAVELS ON THE HYPOCRISY EXPRESS - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  Oh, this is just rich.  Slow death by White House invitation.  From The New York Times:

District of Columbia students are a familiar sight at the White House these days. Since Barack Obama became president on Jan. 20, they have been invited to break ground for a new vegetable garden, celebrate Black History month and, in Thompson's case, get a pep talk from the first lady on the importance of working hard to reach their potential.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the White House is reaching out to support the efforts of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and schools superintendent Michelle Rhee, who are taking aggressive steps to turn around Washington's struggling schools.

COMMENT:  What devotion, what caring, what nurturing.  Wait a minute!  This is the same White House that stood by, without a peep of protest, as the Dem congress killed a voucher program for D.C. that helped poor minority kids get a great education - because teachers' unions wanted it dead.

Sure, kid, come on over to the White House.  Hear Michelle (Princeton and Harvard) give a speech.  Okay, so the schools didn't teach you to read and write.  But you can admire the furniture, can't you?  Be grateful for what you've got.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

THE OBAMA-BUSH WARS - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  Byron York, in the Washington Examiner (which we haven't quoted before) chronicles the escalating feud between the Obama and Bush administrations:

Former White House adviser Karl Rove's bare-knuckled response to recent statements by Vice President Joe Biden has brought into public view a growing resentment on the part of Bush administration veterans over what they regard as repeated and unwarranted slams from the Obama White House.

The current president and his team are being "gratuitous, slightly petty, and slightly obsessive in blaming Bush for things," one former White House adviser told me.

"Completely gratuitous," said another.

"Unfair," said a third.

The hard feelings surfaced after an April 7 interview on CNN in which Biden recounted a visit with George W. Bush. "I remember President Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office…he said, 'Well, Joe, I'm a leader.'" Biden recalled. "And I said, 'Mr. President, turn around and look behind you. No one's following.'"

A few days later, Rove accused Biden of lying. "It didn't happen," Rove said on Fox News. "He's making these things up out of whole cloth…It is a habit he ought to drop….You should not exaggerate and lie like this when you are the vice president of the United States."

COMMENT:  The constant needling of the Bush administration by the president and his team is unhelpful, and diminishes Mr. Obama.  Wouldn't it have been nice for Obama, while speaking in Europe, to give Mr. Bush some credit for our progress in Iraq and for keeping America safe after 9-11? 

Frank Luntz was on Fox last night saying much the same thing - that the Obama attacks on Bush can do Obama no good.  He alienates potential allies in the center, and even on the near right.  There is a lesson here from President Reagan who, while partisan, always maintained a gracious relationship with the opposition, especially Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill.

April 14, 2009   Permalink

OUR DIPLOMACY MARCHES ON - AT 7:10 A.M. ET:  The Navy Seals saved the week for President Obama, but two stories in today's New York Times suggest that his administration is determined to reverse the glow.  The first:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

The proposals, exchanged in confidential strategy sessions with European allies, would press Tehran to open up its nuclear program gradually to wide-ranging inspection. But the proposals would also allow Iran to continue enriching uranium for some period during the talks. That would be a sharp break from the approach taken by the Bush administration, which had demanded that Iran halt its enrichment activities, at least briefly to initiate negotiations.

And the second:

North Korea vowed Tuesday to restore the nuclear facilities that it had been disabling and boycott international talks on its nuclear weapons program to protest against the U.N. Security Council’s reaction to its recent rocket launching.

The North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued through the country’s official KCNA agency that it “resolutely condemns” the statement by the United Nations.

It was the Pyongyang’s first reaction to the Security Council’s unanimous condemnation on Monday of the April 5 rocket launch, which North Korea says sent a satellite into space. The United States and others say that it was aimed at testing long-range missile technology.

COMMENT:  Regarding the first, the change in policy would insure that Iran makes progress in its nuclear program while engaged in talks.  That progress cannot be taken back.  And other news sources report that Washington is rejecting proposals, by members of Congress and by the Israelis, that a time limit be placed on talks with Iran to prevent Tehran from exploiting them to advance its research. 

Regarding the second, North Korea is reacting to a ludicrously weak UN statement.  Yet, there appears to be no real punishment for the North Korean defiance of past resolutions.

Even the Navy Seals, great as they are, cannot make up for this march to appeasement.  The president has nothing to show for his diplomacy in his first three months in office except 1) getting a lot of applause for himself in Europe and 2) contrasting himself with President Bush.  The only time he actually gained, in anything international, is when he authorized force against the pirates off Somalia. 

It is true, as a late commander of NATO, Gen. Lauris Norstad, said, that "toughness is not a policy."  But neither is weakness.  We hope the president has learned from the last week that a bit of spine is required in international affairs.  Without it, we can easily get negotiated to death. 

April 14, 2009   Permalink