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DECEMBER 29, 2010

OBAMA'S CONTINUED STRENGTH – AT 9:22 P.M. ET:  Supporting the theme of our first post today, a new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows President Obama still very much in the game as far as the American people are concerned, demonstrating once more how much work Republicans have.  At the same time, belief in a Republican Congress vastly exceeds belief in Democratic control of Congress.  From The Politico:

Americans are less supportive of President Barack Obama’s policies than they were a year ago, but a majority of those surveyed in a new poll still hope his policies will be successful.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Wednesday, 61 percent of Americans surveyed said they hope Obama’s policies succeed. A year ago, 71 percent hoped for Obama’s policy success.

Those surveyed were also less confident that the president’s policies would succeed, with 44 percent saying they would and 47 percent saying they would fail. A year ago, 52 percent of Americans said they thought Obama’s policies would be successful, while 41 percent said they thought his policies would fail.

Fifty-one percent of Americans said they think the GOP majority in the House of Representatives will be a good thing for the country, while 42 percent said they think it will be a bad thing.

And get this:

Forty percent of Americans said they are most confident in Republicans in Congress, while 35 percent said they are most confident in Obama and 15 percent said they are most confident in congressional Democrats.

COMMENT:  We see, as we've seen before, that the GOP isn't winning any popularity contests.  The year 2011 will be a year of bitter political battles.  One Republican ace:  public resentment if Obama starts imposing regulations, not backed by legislation, that raise the costs and burdens of the American people.

December 29, 2010      Permalink

AND ANOTHER ONE – AT 10:47 A.M. ET:  One by one, the terror plots are coming to light.  Fortunately, good security services are stopping them.  But there's a law of averages at work here.  And everyone in counter-terror work knows it.  From Fox:

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Denmark's intelligence service on Wednesday arrested four people suspected of planning an "imminent" terror attack against a newspaper that printed the controversial Prophet Muhammad cartoons.

Swedish police said they arrested a fifth suspect.

The Danish Security and Intelligence Service, known as PET, said three of the four men were residents of Sweden and had entered the country during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday. The fifth suspect was a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin living in Stockholm.

Jakob Scharf, the head of PET, said the arrests in Denmark were made after close cooperation with Swedish police.

"An imminent terror attack has been foiled," Scharf said, describing some the suspects as "militant Islamists." He said that more arrests could not be ruled out.

COMMENT:  They actually say, "militant Islamists."  Our official Pentagon report on the Fort Hood massacre never mentions the ideology of Major Hassan, the murderous terrorist who committed the act.  Is it possible that trendy Europe is actually getting ahead of us?  With Obama running things, it's possible.

December 29, 2010      Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:

A gun-wielding man wearing a Hillary Clinton mask robbed a Sterling bank on Dec. 27, authorities said.  The man walked into the Wachovia bank in Community Plaza about 9:14 a.m., approached a teller, brandished a firearm and demanded cash, according to Loudoun County sheriff’s office reports.  The robber then fled the bank in an unknown direction with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Ridiculous.  My informants tell me it was actually Hillary herself, raising campaign funds.  She's running.

December 29, 2010      Permalink

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MAYBE – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  Leave it to the Obamans to start something absurd while Americans are still wishing in the new year.  From The Politico:

Jan. 2 isn’t just your ordinary Sunday.

It’s the day the Obama administration will officially start regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and critics have issued dire predictions of economic destruction.

With all the fiery rhetoric about how damaging the regulations could be, the White House is under pressure to fulfill its pledge to tackle climate change while avoiding the appearance that it’s hindering job growth.

The fanatics still accept the "science" of climate change.  Facts on the ground don't matter.

GOP lawmakers have already launched a series of efforts to hamstring the Environmental Protection Agency — and that’s before the rules have even officially kicked in. Those efforts are expected to increase in frequency and in force in the next Congress as Republicans claim the House majority and industries continue to lobby furiously against the greenhouse gas regulations.

Incoming House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) last week accused EPA of advancing a “long regulatory assault” against domestic energy producers. “The EPA has its foot firmly on the throat of our economic recovery,” he said. “We will not allow the administration to regulate what they have been unable to legislate.”

The fact is that the rules are opposed by almost all Republicans and by a number of Democrats as well.  They will do enormous economic damage and raise the price of energy, as well as other products.  They will make the United States less competitive. 

Yesterday, we ran a piece containing predictions by knowledgeable people that gas at the pump may rise to five dollars a gallon by 2012.  The administration doesn't seem to care.  There are a number of environmental religionists who want high energy prices, to drive us away from carbon-based fuels.  They think they're being smart, not understanding that the economic damage by these premature actions, without new fuels in place, will harm the very people they claim to care about. 

This reminds me of the banning of DDT, a move the environmental "community" claimed would improve the health of the planet.  The result has been a catastrophic rise in malaria in Africa, far overshadowing any good the ban might have done.  The environmentalists remain unmoved.

December 29, 2010      Permalink

WHEN WILL THIS STUFF STOP? – AT 8:35 A.M. ET:  The following falls under the category of, "You can't make this up."  From Minnesota's startribune.com:

As the Muslim student population grows in Minnesota, some educators detect a glaring gap: a dearth of books the students can relate to and from which others can learn.

"There wasn't a whole lot in our library that provided a sense of 'this is what's normal,'" said Julie Scullen, a reading intervention specialist at Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids, where she took stock of books about Muslims growing up in America.

When colleague Beth Braun, a Northdale media specialist, launched a full-blown national search, she didn't have much luck, either.

"The books are more about what it's like to live in another country and be a Muslim, or what it's like to be from a war-torn nation, not what it's like to be a teenager in America and be a Muslim," Braun said. "Those books are few and far between."

Librarians in some other school districts tell a similar tale.

"I have really not come across anything," said Linda Goering, library media specialist at Robbinsdale Middle School.

Oh please.

When was the last time these "educators" expressed concern about books that never depict Cuban immigrants who escaped from Castro; Vietnamese immigrants who fled the Communists; Catholic teenagers who are pro-life; teenagers whose fathers or mothers are in the military?  I wouldn't bother to ask.

I note the presence of the word "librarians."  You know librarians.  They're those nice, gray-haired ladies behind the desk.  Right?  Not necessarily.  One of the most underreported stories in education was the takeover of the American Library Association by extreme leftists, and Castroites, years ago.  Terrific investigative journalist Nat Hentoff, the best of the best (and a liberal), exposed the takeover and was greeted by silence from the mainstream media. 

The takeover of the ALA was so complete that the organization refused to condemn the imprisonment of librarians in Cuba.  Again, silence in the media.

And now we find anguish over the failure of books to include Muslim teenagers.  No anguish about the exclusion of other groups.  Why am I not shocked?

December 29, 2010     Permalink

NOTHING SUCCEEDS LIKE... – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  It's little more than a month after the Republicans scored one of the most smashing electoral victories of our era...and Barack Obama is rising dramatically in the polls.  His successes, one after the other, in the lame-duck session of Congress, has given him an enormous boost.

Scott Rasmussen reports:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 28% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-nine percent (39%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11.

While still in negative territory, the president was polling about -16 or -17 in the days right after the election.

Overall, 47% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

In the days after the election, the split was more in the area of 45-54.

This should serve as a warning to the Republican Party, which historically has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.  The Republicans had little control over the lame-duck session as it was the "old" Congress in session, run by liberal Democrats and entirely indifferent to the will of the people, as expressed in the election.

The Republicans' turn comes within days, when they will control the House, increase their numbers almost to parity in the Senate, control an increasing number of state legislatures and increase their number of governors.  The party must understand that it can't only win yesterday, it must win today, and tomorrow, and all the tomorrows after that. 

We've been reading about plans the GOP has in the House.  They look good.  The leadership is smart.  Lets start the show.

But remember, Obama is president.  The presidency carries with it enormous political clout.  We've just seen that.  We have an enormous fight ahead. 

December 29, 2010      Permalink

DECEMBER 28, 2010

THIS IS PRETTY AWFUL STUFF – AT 7:49 P.M. ET:   During the 2008 campaign, the Clintons, always close to the black community, were stunned by charges that they were fomenting "racism" during the primary battle against Barack Obama.  It was an awful charge, and absolutely untrue.

You'd think that African-American politicians would realize how terrible that was, and restrain themselves.  But it's seems we're back in the same place.  This story could have implications for Hillary Clinton if she chooses to enter electoral politics again.  From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Chicago mayoral hopeful Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) shot a warning on Tuesday morning to former President Bill Clinton, coming to Chicago to stump for rival Rahm Emanuel: Stay out.

Davis said that if Clinton did campaign for Emanuel, it would "fracture" and perhaps break his warm relationship with the African American community if he came "to town and participate overtly in efforts to thwart the legitimate political aspirations of Chicago's Black community."

Huh?  What "legitimate" political aspirations?  Does any group own a city?  Should any group be guaranteed the mayoralty?  This is machine politics at its worst. 

Emanuel spokesman Ben LaBolt declined comment.

Emanuel is the front-runner in the Feb. 22 Chicago mayoral primary, a non-partisan election where if no one gets over 50 percent, then the top two contenders face an April 5 general election run-off.

Davis and former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D-Ill.) are the leading African American candidates for mayor and neither of them, for now, shows any intention of dropping out in order to consolidate the city's African American vote. Last week, state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) quit the race in the effort to boost the chance of the city electing an African American mayor. Even if one African American were in the contest, it could be tough to overtake Emanuel's lead: he is polling well in the African American community. Emanuel is the former White House chief of staff who served under President Obama--the first African American president.

COMMENT:  This is appalling.  And now responsibility lies on the shoulder's of Chicago resident and former Illinois senator Barack Obama.  It is incumbent upon him to issue a public statement correcting or even reprimanding Davis, and insisting that anyone has the right to campaign for anyone else.

Let's see if Obama does it.  Rahm Emanuel was his chief of staff and Bill Clinton has been enormously helpful to him.  Obama owes them some decency.

December 28, 2010      Permalink

IT'S GLOBAL WARMING, COME TO GET US! – AT 10:01 A.M. ET:  I just sense that more and more people are now willing to challenge the religion of global warming, in part because the high priests of the religion constantly make fools of themselves.  Investor's Business Daily has a strong, well-reasoned editorial:

Based on global warming theory — and according to official weather forecasts made earlier in the year — this winter should be warm and dry. It's anything but. Ice and snow cover vast parts of both Europe and North America, in one of the coldest Decembers in history.

A cautionary tale? You bet. Prognosticators who wrote the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, global warming report in 2007 predicted an inevitable, century-long rise in global temperatures of two degrees or more. Only higher temperatures were foreseen. Moderate or even lower temperatures, as we're experiencing now, weren't even listed as a possibility.

Since at least 1998, however, no significant warming trend has been noticeable. Unfortunately, none of the 24 models used by the IPCC views that as possible. They are at odds with reality.

And please read this closely:

Karl Popper, the late, great philosopher of science, noted that for something to be called scientific, it must be, as he put it, "falsifiable." That is, for something to be scientifically true, you must be able to test it to see if it's false. That's what scientific experimentation and observation do. That's the essence of the scientific method.

Unfortunately, the prophets of climate doom violate this idea. No matter what happens, it always confirms their basic premise that the world is getting hotter. The weather turns cold and wet? It's global warming, they say. Weather turns hot? Global warming. No change? Global warming. More hurricanes? Global warming. No hurricanes? You guessed it.

It's the science of one-size-fits-all.

Scientists go along and even stifle dissent because, frankly, hundreds of millions of dollars in research grants are at stake. But for the believers, global warming is the god that failed.

Why do we continue to listen to warmists when they're so wrong? Maybe it's because their real agenda has nothing to do with climate change at all. Earlier this month, attendees of a global warming summit in Cancun, Mexico, concluded, with virtually no economic or real scientific support, that by 2020 rich nations need to transfer $100 billion a year to poor nations to help them "mitigate" the adverse impacts of warming.

This is what global warming is really about — wealth redistribution by people whose beliefs are basically socialist. It has little or nothing to do with climate.

Alas, I'm afraid that's right.

Dwight Eisenhower, in his classic farewell address to the nation – the famous "industrial-military complex" speech of January, 1961 – also warned about the impact of federal grants on science, the possibility that results would be bent to insure other grants.  Eisenhower's prophecy is coming true.

You'd think that we could convene a commission to get to the bottom of this.  But there are fears, and there are interests, and there's money.  And so we continue in darkness.

December 28, 2010      Permalink

THEY ALSO OWN MUCH OF OUR DEBT – AT 9:33 A.M. ET:  One of the most underreported stories of 2010 is the massive Chinese military buildup, including the development of missiles aimed at the U.S. Navy, which projects our power overseas.  Great defense reporter Bill Gertz reports for the Washington Times:

China's military is deploying a new anti-ship ballistic missile that can sink U.S. aircraft carriers, a weapon that specialists say gives Beijing new power-projection capabilities that will affect U.S. support for its Pacific allies.

Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, disclosed to a Japanese newspaper on Sunday that the new anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is now in the early stages of deployment after having undergone extensive testing.

"An analogy using a Western term would be 'initial operational capability (IOC),' whereby I think China would perceive that it has an operational capability now, but they continue to develop it," Adm. Willard told the Asahi Shimbun. "I would gauge it as about the equivalent of a U.S. system that has achieved IOC."

The four-star admiral, who has been an outspoken skeptic of China's claims that its large-scale military buildup is peaceful, said the U.S. deployment assessment is based on China's press reports and continued testing.

The new weapon, the "D" version of China's DF-21 medium-range missile, involves firing the mobile missile into space, returning it into the atmosphere and then maneuvering it to its target.

COMMENT:  There are a number of military commentators who fear that, distracted by the war on terror, we're ignoring China's military buildup.  The United States Navy today enjoys generally unrestricted passage throughout the Pacific.  If China can put in place an effective anti-carrier missile, that passage becomes substantially more difficult.

But please note that the political left in America is beating the drums for substantial reductions in our defense budget.  And they may get them.

America was the one great nation that learned the lesson of how unpreparedness helped cause the Second World War.  I'm afraid we're forgetting, and there's a whole generation of journalists "informing" us who probably never knew that lesson in the first place.

December 28, 2010       Permalink

RIDICULOUS QUOTES OF THE DAY – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  Readers know that I've worked in what passes for the motion-picture industry, that shadow of what used to be. 

One of the hilarities of Hollywood is the public statements of movie "executives."  Now, there are some fine executives.  But many, as a well-informed industry friend of mine likes to say, are people who are in Hollywood because it's a bit more glamorous than Wall Street.  Movies?  Do we do that?

A common characteristic of the movie business is that, as the movies get worse, the quotes get more pompous.  The New York Times today runs a piece on trends in the movie business, and some of the executive quotes are just gems.  Consider:

“We think the future is about filmmakers with original voices,” said Amy Pascal, Sony’s co-chairwoman. “Original is good, and good is commercial.” 

I wept when I read that.  It reaches the soul.  There has been the discovery that good is commercial.  Now, I'd thought that MGM discovered that about 75 years ago, during the Golden Age of the 1930s.  Apparently, I was mistaken.  It has just been found out. 

Or this one, undoubtedly from one of the college graduates who now populate Hollywood, armed with English 101 at Princeton: 

“In years past,” said Sean Bailey, Disney’s president for production, “most live-action films seemed like they had to be either one thing or the other: commercial or quality. The industry had little expectation of a film being both. Our view is the opposite.”

Profound, just profound.  So, a live action film – meaning it isn't a cartoon, but a movie with real people – can be both quality and commercial.  You know, I feel I've been intellectually elevated by that concept. 

Oh, I think I'll send Mr. Bailey a DVD of "Casablanca," or "Gone With the Wind," or "An American in Paris." 

Another one:

“Movie marketing can’t settle for good anymore — it has to be great,” said Dennis Rice, a consultant who has held senior positions at Miramax and Disney, noting that he was not speaking specifically about Fox.

Right.  So order your staff to make "great" movies.  Hey, it can be done just by saying the word.  Can't it?

Our final selection, overflowing with insight:

“I believe there is a long-term danger to moviegoing if familiarity becomes too pervasive in the films we make,” said Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination. “The industry has a responsibility to its audience and to itself to make films that allow people to have a sense of discovery in the cinema.”

I can't take it anymore.  I feel I've been inadequate all my life, until reading these statements.  I know all of you feel the same way.

COMMENT:  The dirty little secret is that most people in Hollywood don't know how to make good movies anymore.  The skills and talent don't hold a candle to what studios possessed routinely from the thirties through the early sixties.  The industry came apart in the late sixties, like many other things in our society, and never was put back together again.  David Lean, the great British director of "Lawrence of Arabia," said it best just before his death:  "Hollywood forgot how to tell stories."  Darryl Zanuck, the guiding force behind the original Twentieth Century Fox, was once asked what made a good movie.  His answer:  "Story, story, and story."

Don't tell that to the current Hollywood crowd.  They wouldn't understand.

Ah, to have worked in Hollywood during that great era.  "Ready when you are, C.B."

December 28, 2010      Permalink

TERROR MARCHES ON – AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  We put heavy emphasis here on reporting news of terror plots.  We do it not to sensationalize, but to remind readers, constantly, that terror is an ongoing threat around the world, and has the potential to cause great suffering and change and policies of nations.

From London's Telegraph:

Nine alleged terrorists plotted a Christmas bombing campaign targeting sites that included the London Stock Exchange and Big Ben, a court heard.

They are alleged to have carried out reconnaissance missions before deciding on their possible targets.
Police were said to have found a list of six sites, including the full postal address of the Stock Exchange, Boris Johnson’s London mayoral office and the US embassy.

Defendants were seen studying the tower of Big Ben, before inspecting Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Church of Scientology.

Al-Qaeda inspired books and leaflets, including instructions on making a pipe bomb, were also uncovered during the counter-terrorism operation.

Details of the alleged plot were outlined at City of Westminster magistrates’ court.

I'm sure it's just a case of cultural misunderstanding.

And from AP:

JOS, Nigeria — A radical Muslim sect has claimed responsibility for the Christmas Eve attacks in Nigeria that left at least 38 people dead.

The Islamic group, formerly known as Boko Haram, said in a press release published on its website that it was responsible for the multiple bombings in central Jos and two attacks on churches in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram changed its name after a prison break earlier this year that freed more than 700 inmates. The group's new name translates as: "The organization of followers of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and champions of Islam and holy wars."

Nigerian authorities had blamed Boko Haram for the church attacks that killed six but had not identified suspects in the bombings.

And in the United States, there is stepped-up attention being given to rail lines and hotels, as we reported yesterday.  Clearly, intelligence information points to a possible Mumbai-style attack here, in which a hotel could be held hostage by "guests" who checked in normally, but are really terrorists carrying out a coordinated attack.

December 28, 2010     Permalink