Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

APRIL 13,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:54 P.M. ET: 

BAD WEEK – After being eased out of office as secretary of HHS, Kathleen Sebelius made a parting statement at the White House, in the presence of the president, and had to admit that a page was missing, reinforcing her image as less than competent.  Then came the topper, reported by Breitbart:  "Newly-retired Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius misspelled the name of her successor, Sylvia Burwell, in her final goodbye email to her HHS coworkers, reports Politico."  Details, details.  But we still wish her well.   She was handed the absurd assignment of launching and promoting Obamacare, which is like building and promoting the Titanic.

AIRLINER UPDATE – From Fox:  "PERTH, Australia – Following four strong underwater signals in the past week, all has gone quiet in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, meaning the batteries in the plane's all-important black boxes may finally have died.  Despite having no new transmissions from the black boxes' locator beacons to go on, air and sea crews were continuing their search in the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday for debris and any sounds that may still be emanating. They are desperately trying to pinpoint where the Boeing 777 could be amid an enormous patch of deep ocean." 

YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP – From the College Fix:  "Sorority sisters at The University of Connecticut are being investigated for harassing men, and 'forcing them' to do various humiliating things, Fox News reports:  [Officials will] investigate allegations that its members forced men to drink booze, eat dog treats, paint their bodies, wear women’s underwear and take alcohol shots off each other’s bodies."  As College Fix writes, "If there really are college-age men out there who feel powerless to refuse to do what some sorority sisters tell them to do, then maybe they actually belong in women’s underwear."

April 13, 2014       Permalink

GOOD GOING – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  Asian Americans are our fastest-growing minority, and there's no reason why they shouldn't be supporting our side.  The Republican Party's monumental political incompetence has let them slip to the Dems, but now some Asian Americans are trying to reverse that trend.  From Fox: 

A group of Asian Americans is starting a grassroots effort to garner support for the Republican Party and its candidates, saying the GOP most closely aligns with their core values including family, education and entrepreneurship.

The group, the Asian Republican Coalition, is co-founded by international investment banker John Ying, who during the 2012 presidential election cycle served on the Republican National Finance Committee.

“We need a forum, and this first step will go a long way,” Ying told FoxNews.com earlier this week.

He hopes the effort, which will include a May 6 kickoff event at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., will provide a “friendly front door” for both potential voters and Republican lawmakers and officials.

While much of the Republican Party’s focus has recently been to trying to connect with Hispanic voters, considering Democratic President Obama won 71 percent of their vote in his re-election victory, Asians are the country’s fastest-growing ethnic group, according to a 2012 U.S. Census report.

However, over the past three presidential election cycles, Asians have increasingly voted Democrat: 73 percent for Obama compared to 26 percent for GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 2012; 62 percent for Obama compared to 35 percent for GOP nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2008; and 56 percent for Democratic nominee John Kerry compared to 44 percent for GOP winner George W. Bush in 2004.

“How did the Republican Party lose us?” Ying asks.

Part of the problem, he concedes, is that Asian Americans have been “shy” about engaging in this country’s political process and as a race is a “complex,” non-homogenous group speaking lots of different languages.

COMMENT:  This is a very good idea.  Asians are a natural Republican constituency, as are traditional Hispanics.  It is to the party's discredit that it has been so slow in coming to the battle.

April 13, 2014       Permalink

KERRY FEELS THE HEAT – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  Even his friends in Congress are expressing dismay at the manner in which John Kerry is handling his job as secretary of state.   He seems to go from one blunder to another, although, in fairness, he is representing a cynical left-wing president.

Members of Congress are particularly agitated at Kerry's handling of the Mideast peace process.  They charge that Kerry puts too much pressure on Israel and too little on the Palestinians.  From The Hill:

As the Middle East peace talks falter, Secretary of State John Kerry is under fire from members of Congress and Israeli officials who say he is being too demanding of the Israelis and too sympathetic to the Palestinians.

The criticism is a potential headache for Kerry as he tries to save negotiations on which he has staked a significant portion of his reputation, while at the same time juggling crises from Ukraine to Syria.

It also echoes longstanding criticisms directed at President Obama, who has also been accused of siding with the Palestinians over Israel.

At the center of the controversy are comments Kerry made at a Senate hearing Tuesday, where he appeared to place greater blame on the Israelis for the breakdown in the talks. He pointed to their construction of new settlements after delaying a release of Palestinian prisoners.

"Unfortunately, the prisoners weren't released on the Saturday they were supposed to be released, and so day one went by, day two went by, day three went by, and then in the afternoon, when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem, and poof, that was sort of the moment," Kerry said.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that remark was "an unfortunate statement."

He said an earlier announcement from the Palestinian leadership that it was applying for membership in 15 international organizations was the more damaging blow to the talks.

"I think their intent was malevolent," Engel said of the Palestinians bid to join international recognition. "They had to have known that that was going to seriously cause a breakdown in further discussions."

COMMENT:  As my friend Silvio Canto Jr. said on the radio this morning, even Democrats are becoming uneasy about Obama's foreign policy.  It's a policy that seems to punish our friends and reward our enemies. 

Both sides bear responsibility for problems in the Israel-Palestine peace talks, however there's no question but that Kerry has come down hardest on the Israelis.  They're easier to criticize because they're an ally, and won't abandon us.  The Pals might do something crazy.  But allies around the world notice this administration's treatment of America's friends, and they no longer take us seriously.

April 13, 2014      Permalink

ACTION IN THE UKRAINE – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:  The crisis that won't go away.  From Fox:

Ukrainian forces exchanged gunfire with a pro-Russia militia in an eastern city Sunday, according to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.

The minister said one Ukrainian security officer was killed and five others were wounded. It was the first reported gunbattle in east Ukraine, where armed pro-Russia men have seized a number of law enforcement buildings in recent days.

Sky News reported that a group of up to 100 civilians gathered outside the police headquarters to express their support for the separatists. Sky also reported that gunmen also took control of a police station in the nearby city of Kramatorsk following a shoot-out.

Avakov said in a Facebook post that a Security Service officer was killed in Slovyansk, where the police station and local Security Service office were seized a day earlier by camouflaged armed men. He also reported an unclear number of casualties among the militia.

Avakhov wrote that "all security units" were involved in an "anti-terror operation" in an attempt to take back the building that had been seized Saturday and advised the city's residents to stay indoors and away from windows.

"There were dead and wounded on both sides," Avakov said in the post, according to Reuters.

COMMENT:  There are an estimated 40,000 Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.  The question is whether they will invade the Eastern Ukraine, which has pro-Russian elements.  The United States has warned Russia that there will be serious consequences if it does invade, but this administration doesn't exactly have high credibility when making threats.

April 13,  2014     Permalink

APRIL 12,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:38 P.M. ET:

SARAH NAILS IT – From Breitbart:  "Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin blasted President Barack Obama for nominating as his new Health and Human Services Secretary the same woman who ordered the shutdown of the war memorials during the so-called government shutdown last year.   After accepting Kathleen Sebelius's resignation Friday, Obama nominated Sylvia Burwell, the former Office of Management and Budget director. This is the same person who sent the email initiating the barricading of the memorials, even as veterans were arriving in D.C. on their 'honor flights' to see the memorials that they built. Palin, along with Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT), joined veterans as they protested the barricades."  Sarah gets plenty of flak.  For exposing this she deserves cheers.

WHY MSNBC IS SINKING – From Mediaite:  "After remarks he made at the National Action Network conference this week and various actions on voting rights and equality he’s taken over the past several months, MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry is starting to wonder if Attorney General Eric Holder is 'the Obama we had been hoping for.'  Even though she admitted it’s not entirely fair to 'separate' Holder from President Barack Obama, that’s the question the host posed to her panel Saturday morning."  At MSNBC, even Obama isn't left-wing enough.  How many people are in their audience?  How many have a pulse?

IRAN STIFFENS – Iran says it has no intention of backing down in its choice of ambassador to the UN, even though the Obama administration calls the choice inappropriate and unworkable.  The nominee participated in the taking of American hostages in 1979.  Iran says it will go to the UN and whine.  As I understand it, the US is technically obligated to issue a visa to any UN ambassador named by any member.  But I wonder how enforceable that agreement is if we give compelling reasons to turn down the choice.  A nice little confrontation shaping up.  I hope Obama doesn't cave.

April 12, 2014       Permalink

ON THIS DATE – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  It is April 12th.  For some of us of a certain age the date is significant.  President Roosevelt died on this day in 1945.

I was thinking about that last night, and took down a book my parents got for me when I was ten, when we were visiting the Roosevelt home and library in Hyde Park, New York.  It's called "My Friends," a book of Roosevelt's speeches.

Whether you like FDR or don't, or have mixed feelings, he was one of the most important presidents in our history, the only one to be elected for more than two terms.  (That was before the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution established the current two-term limit.) 

I grew up in a fairly typical pro-Roosevelt New York household.  My paternal grandfather had a picture of the president on his office wall.  I still recall the reaction of my mother when a telephone call informed her that FDR had died:  "I feel my fingers just fell off."  He had that much impact.

But why?  It wasn't simply the four terms, or even the perilous times in which FDR served.  It was that Roosevelt had a magic in the way he spoke to the American people.  Of all the presidents since, only Reagan equaled that magic.  Obama had it as a campaigner, but lost it as president, in part because he couldn't rise to the office. 

I received a question last night from a distinguished reader, Charles Morgan.  He asked, "Do you have any ideas as to how the conservative message can be better explained and propagated?"  I think the answer is clear, but the execution is extremely difficult.  To address Americans effectively, and convincingly, a leader has to be honest and direct about conditions in the country – you can't tell people they don't see what they actually see – and yet must be optimistic about the future of the nation.  (Thus Reagan's campaign theme, "It's morning in America."  He didn't invent it, but used it effectively.)  Americans are an idealistic people, not an ideological people.  They want to hear practical solutions and direct descriptions, not doses of ideology.  And that's what they've been getting from both parties.

Roosevelt understood.  In his fireside chats he referred to his audience as "My friends," the first time an American president had spoken so personally.  And in his first inaugural he confronted the national tragedy of the Depression bluntly, yet with hope for the future:

I AM certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

COMMENT:  Those are the words of a serious president, agree with him or not.  He addressed Americans both as friends and as mature adults.

That is what our side must do today.  Tell people the actual condition of their country.  Propose immediate and easily understood solutions.  Yet, inspire the nation's confidence in itself.  And treat citizens as both friends and adults.

Perhaps most important of all, a great message requires a great messenger.  Roosevelt and Reagan were the best.  And Roosevelt was Reagan's political idol.  For good reason.

April 12, 2014       Permalink

MR. SCIENCE SPEAKS – AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  The last gubernatorial election in Virginia saw two clowns running against each other.  The Republican clown was, as usual, more clownish, so the Democratic clown won.  Republicans, also as usual, worked hard to lose a winnable election.

So Terry McAuliffe is now governor of Virginia.  A political hack, fixer, and close ally of Hillary Clinton, he is now in a position to help her carry Virginia in 2016.  But Terry has other things on his mind as well.  He's become, apparently, an admirer of high science.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Recently elected Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe is warning that global warming could raise sea levels high enough to flood the Hampton Roads region, home to the world's largest naval base, without immediate and “smart decisions.”

Addressing an environmental summit this week at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., McAuliffe embraced climate change, blamed humans for causing it, and said action is needed now to protect Virginia's coast from rising ocean levels that will result from global warming.

“The first big decision of course is to accept that climate change is real,” he told the group. “I happen to believe in climate change. And I happen to believe that humans contribute to climate change.”

What’s more, he said, the science agrees with him. Scoffing at critics, including his former campaign foe, Republican Ken Cuccinelli, he said, “I think it’s pretty much settled. I think the impacts are being felt every day.”

The governor cited a recent NBC report about the growing threats of climate change and a government report that said the Hampton Roads area was second to only New Orleans in risk from rising sea levels.

“It is frightening what’s going on, so first and foremost we have to accept that climate change is real,” said McAuliffe.

COMMENT:  I take the Charles Krauthammer position on climate change.  I am neither a believer nor a denier.  I simply don't think we have enough proved information.  McAuliffe is one of the useful idiots who just accepts what he's given.  And please note that "belief" in climate change (as if it's a religion) often translates into demands that vast amounts be spent to "counter the effects" of said change.

It may well be that sea levels will rise.  But we will have ample warning to take practical steps long before the East Coast disappears.  I am concerned that we will commit trillions of dollars – funds that can be spent on health, education, infrastructure and worthy projects – because of a theory that is currently in vogue. 

This blog has long called for a Challenger-type commission to look into the whole subject of climate change, and tell us 1) what we know; 2) what we don't know; 3) what we need to know; and, just as important 4) the impact of money, including federal grants, on the whole discussion.

Note:  We recently saw a major research report from Cambridge University in England, one of the world's great universities, asserting that saturated fats have no serious impact on heart disease.  I don't know if the study is accurate.  I'm not a medical researcher.  But if it is accurate it reverses decades of "settled science" on the causes of heart attacks.  We have seen this time and time again.

Science is never "settled."  It's one of the exciting things about science.  Don't buy into "settled science" arguments.

April 12, 2014       Permalink

PICTURE OF DECLINE – AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  Like many of our point of view, I'm increasingly worried about America's military decline.  The left is joyous, of course.  But someone, down the line, is going to pay the price for the recklessness of this administration.  From the online New York Sun: 

The Obama Administration will be adding insult with its cancellation of production of the Navy’s Tomahawk and Hellfire missile programs. These decisions followed by just weeks the decision to reclassify two hospital ships, 10 coastal patrol craft and a ferry boat as “capital warships.”

The Tomahawk decision is particularly troubling, as the cruise missile has for years been the workhorse of presidents seeking to deliver limited, precise, stand-off military responses. During the 2011 Libyan crisis, the Navy flung 220 Tomahawks in support of operations. We launched more than 1,100 at Kosovo.

About 100 of these missiles are used in an average year. That means the Administration’s decision to stop production after 2015 will see the Navy's stock of Tomahawks gone by around 2018. And disturbingly, there is no proven replacement in the development pipeline.

It appears that defense decisions are being driven more by budgetary concerns than policy or world events. The President has said his goal is to reduce defense spending to 2.9% of gross domestic product in 2017 from 4.6%...

And...

How much is enough to sustain an adequately sized, trained, and maintained Navy? More than is currently being budgeted. Under the current plan, our ability to join coalitions, lead them, or take independent action is compromised. A well-funded and prepared Navy offers our chief commander a powerful yet flexible tool with which to formulate and execute foreign policy. It is something no President should be without.

COMMENT:  Unless the president doesn't care.  And a leftist president doesn't care.  Obama is a "sophisticate" who believes a strong national defense is based on 20th-century thinking.  He's right, and the thinking was correct.  Witness one Vladimir Putin, a 20th-century guy.  Gets away with it, doesn't he?

We'll have an excellent essay on this Monday morning from a very knowledgeable Urgent Agenda reader.

Americans don't realize the perils we are facing.

April 12,  2014     Permalink