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

AUGUST 11,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:32 P.M. ET: 

ROBIN WILLIAMS AN APPARENT SUICIDE – From The New York Times:  "The actor Robin Williams died on Monday morning, his publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement.  Mr. Williams, 63, had been battling severe depression recently, the statement said.  Mr. Williams was found unconscious at his home in Tiburon, Calif., around noon on Monday, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. His death appeared to be a suicide due to asphyxia, the statement said."  As I learned while working at The Tonight Show, comedians aren't, as human beings, very funny.  They're often very serious and very sad, and often angry.  Comedy is classically defined as tragedy plus time.  Today we saw the tragedy. 

WE COULD USE THIS ON OUR SOUTHERN BORDER – From the Jerusalem Post:  "A system designed to detect infiltration tunnels proved successful in laboratory tests for the first time ever and is now being tested in the field, a senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer said Monday.  If the field test proves successful, the system can be deployed around the Gaza Strip within approximately one year, the officer added."  We could use a system like this on our Southern border.  There have already been tunnels discovered.  I hope the Obamans don't turn it down on the grounds that it would offend the sensibilities of infiltrators.

CANDIDATE VS. PRESIDENT – This quote, from Barack Obama in 2008, is making the internet rounds:  "You have to understand that if you seek that office, then you have to be prepared to give your life to it. Essentially, the bargain that I think every president strikes with the American people is, ‘you give me this office, then in turn my fears, doubts, insecurities, foibles, need for sleep, family life, vacations, leisure, is gone. I am giving myself to you.’"  Yeah, what a gift we got.  As this is being written, Mr. Sacrifice is once again on Martha's Vineyard. 

HILLARY VS. THE CHIEF – From The Weekly Standard:  "White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes publicly responded to criticism from Hillary Clinton of Barack Obama's foreign policy back in June, just as Hillary's book tour was starting up. 'On the broad thrust of our foreign policy, she was fully on board,' Rhodes tells Politico.  It's worth remembering Rhodes's comments now that Hillary Clinton's recent interview has been published where she seems to be bashing elements of Obama's foreign policy."  This is becoming a really big story, with much ink expended on speculation as to why Hillary is making this move now, separating herself from a foreign policy she was ordered to carry out.  We'll have much more on the juicy split as it develops.  I love it.

August 11,  2014     Permalink

CALL THE MOVING VANS – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  USA TODAY has run a fascinating piece, with an accompanying map/chart, about the most, and least, conservative cities in America.  You might want to save this: 

Mesa is the most conservative big city in the country, according to research examining municipal politics nationwide.

And, little surprise, San Francisco is the most liberal.

The paper, "Representation in Municipal Government," analyzed public policy in cities across the country in search of trends in local ideology.

Chris Tausanovitch and Christopher Warshaw, political science professors at UCLA and MIT, respectively, authored the study. In researching the paper, the pair examined the average policy preferences of residents in the 51 U.S. cities with populations exceeding 250,000. They then compared them to the policies of those cities to see if political leanings were reflected in tax burdens and other city operations.

"The policies enacted by cities across a range of policy areas correspond with the liberal-conservative positions of their citizens on national policy issues," the professors wrote.

Most right leaning: Mesa, Oklahoma City, Virginia Beach

Only 11 cities were found to be conservative-leaning, two were neutral, and the rest were liberal. Mesa, a Phoenix-area suburb with a population of about 468,000, easily grabbed the top spot for most conservative city in the country. Oklahoma City and Virginia Beach, Va., followed as the next most right-leaning.

San Francisco held the distinction as the nation's most liberal city, followed by Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Oakland.

Two other Arizona cities, Phoenix and Tucson were on the list. While both showed up as liberal leaning, Phoenix was barely left of center and Tucson was several spots further left.

The study also took into account outside variables such as term limits and the mayorship, but found that those institutions did little to sway the majority public opinion in local settings. "These results demonstrate a robust role for citizen policy preferences in determining municipal policy outcomes," the study said.

COMMENT:  I've contacted my favorite mover in case I have to get out fast.  Always have your bags packed.

August 11,  2014     Permalink

HILLARY STILL STRONG? – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Her book rollout was a disaster.  Gossip about her vast speaking fees didn't help.  Talk about her health did further damage.  Slippage in some polls added to the mess.  And rumors that Barack Obama was making moves to support Elizabeth Warren suggested that Hillary was not at all the sure thing that had been advertised.

And yet, as Jay Cost of The Weekly Standard observes, she's still there, still the one to beat.  And, I suspect, many of the more mature members of the Democratic Party, who have not joined the commune on the far left, are starting to realize that Hillary, with all her faults, is still the grown-up in the room:

The rollout of Hillary Clinton’s new memoirs, Hard Choices, was not a resounding success for the former secretary of state. She stuck her foot in her mouth regarding her family’s vast fortune. She had trouble answering questions about her evolution on gay marriage. Critics, on the whole, found the book tired and shopworn.

Yet her poll numbers remain surprisingly solid. Surveys conducted by Quinnipiac University, Fox News, and Rasmussen Reports—all taken since the book’s release—show her with comfortable leads nationally over Rand Paul, Chris Christie, and Jeb Bush. A mid-July CNN poll shows her with generally strong favorable ratings, although not as positive as they were when she wrapped up her tenure at State. Even so, respondents said they thought her to be a “strong and decisive leader” who “generally agrees” with them on the issues, can “manage the government effectively,” and “cares about people” like them.

What lessons are there to draw from these numbers? The first, and probably most obvious, is the disconnect between the political class and the greater public. Clinton’s book rollout was a disaster among politicos and cable news obsessives, but people who do not dedicate inordinate time to politics and policy hardly seemed to notice. While this might be disappointing for conservatives, who would like to see Clinton’s numbers brought back to Earth, it is nevertheless a good reminder that what matters in the Beltway does not necessarily play in Peoria.

COMMENT:  Clinton's foreign-policy comments yesterday, drawing some distance between herself and Obama, were excellent, a true statement of what foreign policy should be.  If she continues on this course, running center-left, rather than bowing to the crazies, she might just pull out the 2016 election...if she can win the nomination.  I think she can.  I'm not sure she has any real competition.  Elizabeth Warren, the darling of the left, may not actually run.  She may be reluctant to take on "the first woman..."  If she runs and gets the nomination, and then loses the election, she knows she will be held responsible for denying a woman the presidency. 

Warren is also a poor campaigner.  She was elected from Massachusetts, please remember.   In most elections getting elected as a Democrat in Massachusetts is about as easy as a corpse remaining dead. 

Also, while it's true that Hillary might have to fight the increasingly powerful left in her party's establishment, it's also true that two of the greatest presidential elections in our lifetime – 1960 and 1980 – were won by candidates who had to fight the party establishment for their nomination.  Both Jack Kennedy and Ronald Reagan went on to November victories.

The Dems are getting interesting.  But our side is a lot more interesting.

August 11, 2014       Permalink

WISCONSIN WARNING – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  No governor has done more for his state in recent years than Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin.  He saved Wisconsin from the financial fate being experienced by his distraught neighbor to the south, Illinois. 

He also led a battle to tame the public-service unions.  In retaliation, they led a campaign to recall him.  He won his recall election by a greater margin than he'd achieved in his gubernatorial election. 

But now, running for re-election, Walker is in a tight race, and may be defeated.  It would be an enormous loss for Wisconsin and the country, and proof, once again, that no good deed goes unpunished.  From TIME:

There are few Republicans who Democrats hate more than Scott Walker. Two years ago, Democratic groups spent $20 million trying to recall the Wisconsin governor, unsuccessfully. He has since raised a staggering $19 million and seems untouchable. So how is Walker is in the race of his life against Democrat Mary Burke?

After winning a close election in 2011, Walker drew the ire of unions and Democratic groups after he passed Act 10, which took collective bargaining away from government workers. His 2012 recall made him the champion of fiscal conservatives and free market right wingers. So much so that a year ago, when Walker made a trip to Iowa, he ignited a storm of 2016 presidential speculation. For awhile, Walker looked poised to sail through reelection and on to bigger and brighter things.

Then federal prosecutors announced in June that Walker, his chief of staff and others around him participated in a “criminal scheme” to illegally coordinate with outside groups during his campaign and recall. That case fizzled and a special prosecutor announced that Walker was not the target of an investigation and that there was not yet sufficient evidence to charge anyone with a crime. Walker dodged a bullet, but it was only the beginning of what has become a tough summer for him.

Walker’s approval rating has slid down below 50%, and his disapproval rating has crawled up to 48%. His stated second term agenda has underwhelmed pundits, who accused him of coasting. And Wisconsin’s job situation, while improved, is still struggling. Walker’s job creation record hasn’t lived up to his hype and his new created Economic Development Corporation has been mired with problems. Enter Mary Burke. “She’s running a very disciplined campaign essentially saying: I’m not Scott Walker,” says Mordecai Lee, a University of Wisconsin Milwaukee political science professor. “She has really positioned herself as a no name moderate Democrat—fiscally conserve but socially liberal.”

COMMENT:  Essentially, Burke is running as a nothing, and has kept her distance from Barack Obama.

Look, when you actually do anything, you make enemies.  Walker has a host of them, especially those who want a chunk of the public treasury.  His defeat would send the worst possible message to governors trying to prevent their states from going under. 

We root for Scott, and my hunch is that he'll pull it out.

August 11, 2014       Permalink

IT'S ABOUT TIME – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  The Kurds are a pro-American people who are theoretically part of Iraq, but essentially live independently.  Despite their loyalty to America, we have treated them badly, often taking them for granted.  Maybe that's about to change, although I wouldn't trust the long-term plans of this administration.  From WaPo: 

The United States is sending weapons to Kurdish forces in Iraq who have begun to roll back gains made by Sunni militants, a senior U.S. official confirmed to Fox News.

Long, long overdue.

A senior State Department official told The Associated Press that the Kurds are "getting arms from various sources. They are being rearmed."

Providing weapons to Kurdish forces is a reversal of U.S. policy, which previously had only allowed for selling arms directly to the Iraqi government. In recent days, the U.S. military has been helping facilitate weapons deliveries from the Iraqis to the Kurds, providing logistical assistance and transportation to the north.

Sources say the weapons from the U.S. will not be provided directly from the Pentagon. Officials wouldn't say which agency is spearheading the effort, though the CIA historically has done similar arming operations.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf noted that the administration previously mentioned the new arms deliveries, which she suggested are being made to contend with the "heavy weaponry" obtained by Islamic militants.

"The Kurds need additional arms and we're providing those," she said in a statement.

The move to directly aid the Kurds underscores the level of U.S. concern about the Islamic State militants' gains in the north, and reflects the persistent administration view that the Iraqis must take the necessary steps to solve their own security problems.

COMMENT:  The Kurds will fight.  And events in Syria have shown that when the Islamic nuts are confronted by a well-disciplined group of troops, they run into trouble. 

But I hope it's not too late.  So much of Iraq has been overrun by ISIS.  The Iraqi government is in turmoil, and nominal allies of the United States are being turned into refugees, not fighters.  Also, no one knows when Obama will pull the plug on aid.  The only long haul he's ever hauled is his own career.

August 11,  2014     Permalink

AUGUST 10,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:43 P.M. ET: 

MORE BUZZ – Major eyebrow raising throughout the day over Hillary Clinton's dig at Obama's foreign policy, with Hillary saying that simply avoiding bad stuff doesn't exactly make the foreign policy of a great nation.  It's being reported, no confirmation yet, that Clinton informed the White House in advance of her statement.  I've got to believe there's so much bad blood between the Obamas and the Clintons that the Red Cross would turn down their blood donations.  I love this little soap opera.  I think America will come down on Hillary's side if push comes to vote.

KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE – While the world burns.  From the Martha's Vineyard Times:  "The presidential vacation got off to a late start Sunday. At approximately 1:10 pm, under blue skies and with barely a breeze wafting across the up-Island fields, President Obama’s motorcade left his Chilmark vacation home and took a circuitous route to Farm Neck Golf Club in Oak Bluffs, arriving at 1:33 pm.  The drive across the Island was an uneventful ride past wooded hills, cedar-shingled homes and a farm stand, pool reporter Kathleen Hennessey of the LA Times reported. A woman on a scooter honked enthusiastically as the presidential motorcade rode by. One man, a beach towel hanging around his neck, thrust his fist in the air.  According to pool reports filed by MV Times reporter Steve Myrick, the President’s playing partners today are Cyrus Walker, the cousin of White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett; sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, and friend Robert Wolf. This is the second consecutive day the president has played Farm Neck."  I went to the hardware store today.  Tomorrow, I'll make a dental appointment.

OBAMA THE HAWK? – From The Hill:  "The president's expansion of the U.S. military mission in Iraq is conjuring up two dirty little words for anti-war Democrats:  Mission creep.  Just two months ago, when Obama announced he was going to send up to 300 American troops to Iraq, he emphasized that they would only have an advisory, non-combat role.  On Friday, however, U.S. fighters bombed terrorist targets in northern Iraq. Hours before, the president had announced he was authorizing such strikes as well as the airdropping of aid to Iraqi refugees stranded on a mountaintop.  The White House has stressed that the two missions — the airstrikes and the airdrops — are narrow and discrete. But neither has an end-date, prompting concern from some Democrats and liberal anti-war groups."  Yeah.  These are the same people who allow failing social programs to go on for decades, at escalating cost, without worrying about mission creep.  Hypocrites. 

August 10, 2014       Permalink

GRAHAM WARNS – AT 11:43 A.M. ET:  Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, having beaten back a primary challenge, and coasting to a new term, speaks out against ISIS, a challenge that has been under the radar for too long.  From Fox: 

Sen. Lindsey Graham sounded the alarm Sunday about the growing threat of the Islamic State, the militant group formerly known as ISIS, launching an attack on American soil unless President Obama takes more decisive action to stop the terror group’s surge across Iraq and Syria.

Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” that the well-funded, swiftly-strengthening organization, which has taken control of large parts of both Middle East countries, is a “direct threat to our homeland.”

“Mr. President, be honest with the threat we face,” Graham said. “They are coming.”

Graham was critical of the president's decision late last week to order a series of limited airstrikes at Islamic State military installations in northern Iraq to stop members from killing American personnel and the thousands of Christians, Kurds and others who have fled into the Sinjar Mountains.

Graham posed no solution or his own strategy, however, as public-opinion polls show the American public is war-weary and reluctant to send U.S. troops back into Iraq.

Graham’s argument Sunday follows a Vice News video that appears to show an Islamic State militant saying, “We will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” The video was released before Obama ordered the strikes, in addition to humanitarian-aid drops.

COMMENT:  History doesn't repeat itself.  It's the psychology of history that repeats itself.  And we're seeing chilling similarities to the psychology of the 1930s – not believing what international monsters say, ignoring their threats, even their written words.  Better to stay under the covers and hope, and elect people like Obama who want to "move on." 

August 10, 2014       Permalink

HILLARY GETS IT RIGHT – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:   We know the Democratic Party is weird when Hillary starts sounding like its most reasonable leader.  But she speaks out about the Israel/Hamas battle and gets it right.  It's a risk, because the leftist base of the party is increasingly anti-Israel.  From
The Times of Israel: 

Former US secretary of state and potential presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton issued a staunch defense of Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas, placed full ultimate responsibility on Hamas for the deaths of children and other innocent people, and defended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining security control in the West Bank in the next few years.

In an interview published Sunday by Jeffrey Goldberg for The Atlantic, she also urged an “overarching” US strategy to confront Islamic terrorism, equating this struggle to the one the US waged against communism.

She spoke of the “failure” that arose from the Obama administration’s decision not to aid the initial uprising against Syria’s President Bashar Assad, which created a vacuum now filled by jihadists.

And overall, she indicated that she considered President Barack Obama’s approach to foreign policy to be too cautious. Responding to Obama’s self-described foreign policy doctrine of: “Don’t do stupid s..t,” Clinton, who served as his top diplomat for four years between 2009 and 2013, said: “Great nations need organizing principles, and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.”

COMMENT:  Wow!  That is some statement.  What caused that?  Is Hillary breaking free?  Or has she been reading the stories saying that Obama is really backing Elizabeth Warren for 2016, effectively knifing Hillary in the back?

Are we getting set for a bloody primary campaign?  If so, I think Hillary will fight.   We give credit where it's due here, and her new statements on foreign policy are fine.  Jack Kennedy rather than George McGovern.

What a primary battle that would be.  Bring it on.

August 10, 2014        Permalink

YIKES – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:  One of the truly obnoxious men in American politics is on his way out.  The Dem governor of Hawaii has been defeated in his bid to be renominated by his party.  From Fox:

Hawaii Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie, in a historic loss, was soundly defeated in Saturday's primary by a state senator, while the island's marquee U.S. Senate race remained too close to call.

Abercrombie's loss to state Sen. David Ige makes him the first sitting governor in the state's history to lose a primary for reelection. It came amid concerns about tax hike proposals and his leadership style.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Ige had received 67.4 percent of the vote to 31.5 percent for Abercrombie.

In the Democratic Senate primary, incumbent U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz held a narrow lead over Rep. Colleen Hanabusa early Sunday morning, with votes still being counted.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Schatz had 49.4 percent of the vote, while Hanabusa had tallied 48.6 percent of the vote. The two were separated by fewer than 2,000 votes out of more than 210,000 ballots cast. The election could come down to two precincts on the Big Island that have not yet voted due to Tropical Storm Iselle.

COMMENT:  Abercrombie, when he was in the U.S. House, was one of its most ultra-liberal members.  Thoroughly obnoxious, he is known for his confrontational style.  People simply tired of him.  In a way, this is a warning to Chris Christie, who is also famous for his confrontational style.  It wears thin after the 15th quote.

On the Hawaii Senate side, it almost doesn't matter.  Whoever wins the Dem primary will be elected.  One sidelight, though:  Hawaii is our only Asian-American state, yet the governor is Abercrombie and a senator is Schatz.  Shows how unbigoted Asian Americans are.  The race hustlers have been proved false.  You don't have to have a representative who "looks like you."  What you have to have is a representative who does the job.

August 10,  2014     Permalink