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AUGUST 6,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

MAIN DEBATE OVER – We'll have more reaction in the morning.  Initial reaction, including focus groups, seems to suggest that Donald Trump lost ground and that Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson gained some support.  There were also very good words for Mike Huckabee.   Scott Walker seemed to be a neutral, along with Jeb Bush.  The focus was on Trump, who, when seen in the company of skilled political debaters, didn't come off as either statesmanlike or knowledgeable.  But I think it will take more debates to sort out the real winners and losers.  Too many on that platform.

THE OPENING ACT – An earlier debate featured those who didn't make the poll cut, and produced a clear winner:  Carly Fiorina.  Comments by observers made clear that Fiorina stood out from the pack, and clearly deserves a place on the larger stage.  I remain amazed that, given her superb performance on the stump, she hasn't moved the numbers at all.  Maybe the GOP really is just a bit too stodgy.  Carly is the only woman running, is lightning smart, and deserves more respect.  I expect to see her in the main tent next time.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP – From Breitbart:  Thursday at a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act at the White House, President Barack Obama laughed as he said that voter fraud is not a “real problem” because “nobody wakes up and says I’m going to go vote in somebody else’s name.”  And he comes from Chicago?  I know he knows nothing about the world, but he doesn't even know about his own neighborhood.  There are many people voting in Chicago elections who haven't been on this Earth in years.

ANYONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE INTERESTED? – From AP:  Police in northwest Louisiana say an officer has died after being shot while on duty, and a manhunt for a suspect is under way.  Shreveport Police Cpl. Marcus Hines said at a press conference late Wednesday that the officer was shot while responding to a report of a suspicious person inside a home.  Hines says an armed man was apparently inside the residence, threatening to harm people.  Late report:  A suspect is now in custody.  The officer was the 20th killed this year in the United States.  I wonder if their lives matter to the people temporarily running the U.S. Government.

August 6, 2015       Permalink

AND SO IT BEGINS – AT 11:41 A.M. ET:  Iran is already showing contempt for the nuclear agreement.  And yet, Obama has no doubts about it.  A world turned upside down.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

WASHINGTON—Iran so far has refused to allow United Nations inspectors to interview key scientists and military officers to investigate allegations that Tehran maintained a covert nuclear-weapons program, the head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said in an interview Wednesday.

Iran’s stance complicates the International Atomic Energy Agency’s probe into Tehran’s suspected nuclear-military program—a study that is slated to be completed by mid-December, as required by the landmark nuclear agreement forged between world powers and Iran on July 14 in Vienna.

The IAEA and its director-general, Yukiya Amano, have been trying for more than five years to debrief Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, an Iranian military officer the U.S., Israel and IAEA suspect oversaw weaponization work in Tehran until at least 2003.

Mr. Amano said Tehran still hasn’t agreed to let Mr. Fakhrizadeh or other Iranian military officers and nuclear scientists help the IAEA complete its investigation. The Japanese diplomat indicated that he believed his agency could complete its probe even without access to top-level Iranian personnel.

“We don’t know yet,” Mr. Amano said about the agency’s interview requests. “If someone who has a different name to Fakhrizadeh can clarify our issues, that is fine with us.”

Tehran repeatedly has denied it ever had a secret nuclear weapons program.

COMMENT:  What a farce.  What a comedown for the United States to agree to a nuclear arrangement with a bunch of gangsters in Tehran.  But Barack wants it.  And Barack was sent to save us.  Wasn't he?

August 6, 2015       Permalink

VILE – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:   I will say it directly.  I was disgusted by President Obama's speech at American University yesterday, in which he tried to defend his Iran agreement.  Apparently, many others felt the same way.  The speech was cheap, deceptive, small-minded and deceptive.  Other than that, it was fine.  Brit Hume said it best at Fox:

On "Special Report" tonight, Brit Hume blasted President Obama's speech on the virtues of the nuclear agreement with Iran.

"Just because Iranian hardliners chant 'death to America' does not mean that’s what all Iranians believe," Obama said. "In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting 'death to America' who have been most opposed to the deal. They are making common cause with the Republican caucus."

Hume pointed out that it's the Iranian leaders who are chanting "death to America," not some insignificant minority group.

He said the speech was completely characteristic of the president.

"It was dishonest, it was partisan, it was insulting," Hume stated.

Steve Hayes said it wasn't only a bad speech, it was the worst of Obama's entire presidency and maybe the most un-presidential speech he's ever heard.

And Cliff May and Jonathan Schanzer, at NRO online, demolish Obama's attempt to compare himself with John F. Kennedy:

Speaking at American University in defense of his nuclear deal with Iran, President Obama twice invoked President John F. Kennedy. To paraphrase Lloyd Benson, while we did not serve with Jack Kennedy, here are five reasons why President Obama is wrong to compare himself to Jack Kennedy:

1. For one, JFK never forked over $100 billion in sanctions relief to the Soviets as an inducement to make an arms-control deal. Obama plans to do exactly that.

2. JFK never expunged hundreds of KGB operatives from our sanctions list. Obviously, we didn’t sanction KGB agents back then, but Obama is now preparing to ease strictures on hundreds of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members and businesses. They were put on the sanctions list not only for their role in nuclear proliferation, but also for terrorism, human-rights violations, and more.

3. JFK never agreed to a deal that would guarantee a stronger USSR in ten years. President Obama is preparing to do just that by providing Iran with a “patient pathway” to a nuclear weapon. All Iran needs to do is wait out the terms of the agreement, and in ten years it will be in possession of an industrial-sized nuclear program with the blessing of the international community. If Iran violates the agreement — and Iran has violated many agreements in the past — it can have nuclear weapons much sooner.

4. During his speech, Obama said the world was “more dangerous” during the Cold War. True, the threat of mutually assured destruction (MAD) was a palpable fear. But however aggressive and even evil the Soviets might have been, they did not believe in martyrdom — they did not believe that sacrificing their lives for their revolution would bring great rewards in the afterlife. The fundamentalists of Iran — and their Arab proxies, such as Hezbollah — most emphatically do. As historian Bernard Lewis has pointed out, for religious extremists, mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent — it’s an inducement.

5. President Obama ended his remarks by citing President Kennedy’s “wisdom” and lauded Kennedy’s “warning” that we should see conflict as inevitable. But President Kennedy also said that there was “one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.” Iran’s rulers have caused thousands of Americans to be killed and maimed in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. They continue to openly proclaim their long-term goal: “Death to America.” They believe that the U.S. has indeed submitted. If Congress approves this agreement, that perception will not be without justification.

So much for following in the footsteps of JFK.

COMMENT:  Absolutely dead on.  Kennedy actually ran to the right of Nixon on national defense in the 1960 election campaign.  And he never hesitated to call up reserves when a military threat warranted it.  He confronted the Soviet Union directly during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Compare please to Obama's behavior regarding Russia's actions in Ukraine.

Obama is so inadequate.  He is, at best, a student-government president.

August 6, 2015       Permalink

GAME ON TONIGHT – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  The first debates of the 2016 presidential campaign will take place tonight, when Republican candidates debate each other.

There will actually be two debates, both on Fox.  The preliminary round will feature the candidates who didn't make the cut to get into the top ten.  That was based on polling numbers.  The main event, later in the evening, will feature the "top ten," but only according to those polls.  There is substantial controversy over how the candidates were picked.  It is noted, for example, that Carly Fiorina, whose appearances thus far have brought perhaps the most favorable press of any of the candidates, didn't make the cut for the main event.   She is also the only female candidate.  And Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, one of the most successful governors in the country, also didn't make the cut.  But Donald Trump did. 

A just-released poll gives some indication of Republican voter thinking before the debates.  From The Hill:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has the most positive image among Republican voters going into the first GOP presidential debate, according to a new poll.

A Gallup sampling released early Thursday shows Rubio getting the warmest reception from his party’s voters heading into the Fox News debate Thursday night.

Rubio receives a 52 percent favorability rating from potential GOP voters in 2016. That’s contrasted by a 14 percent unfavorability scoring.

Rubio is also well-recognized among Republicans, Gallup found, netting 66 percent familiarity with his party’s voters.

The results show that Rubio is both well-known and well-liked among likely voters, no small feat given the GOP’s crowded presidential field next year.

Republicans are currently weighing 17 options of their party’s presidential nomination.

Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) trails Rubio in the new poll, scoring 45 percent favorability and 7 percent unfavorability ratings.

Walker is also recognizable among potential GOP voters, nabbing a 52-percent familiarity rating among those polled.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson took third in Gallup’s sampling. He scored 42 percent favorability and 49 familiarity ratings from possible Republican voters.

COMMENT:  There are too many candidates, and it's hard to see how anyone can break out after one debate.  But we'll be eager to see how numbers change after tonight's events.

The news on the Dem side is that Hillary might face an indictment over her private e-mail server.  But why should that stand in her way?  If she becomes president they could put the red phone in her jail cell.

August 6, 2015       Permalink

ON THIS DAY – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  On this day, 70 years ago, the world's first operational atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. 

Several days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.  On August 14th the Japanese surrendered.  A war that had begun with their invasion of Manchuria in 1931 ended within days of history's first use of atomic weapons.

We must be prepared for the intellectual hand-wringing that today's anniversary will bring, especially on the academic and political left.  No doubt there are still some "scholars" hanging around who will announce their finding that the use of the bomb was unnecessary, that Japan would have surrendered without it.  Actually, the number of people arguing that position has declined over the years, as more and more information has come to light.  The people who held the real power in Japan had no intention of surrendering, and a continuation of the war would have produced casualties in the millions.  In addition to the dropping of the two atomic bombs, the Soviet invasion of Korea that same week figured in the Emperor's decision to end the war on American terms.

At a time when we're examining possible "breakout" times for Iran to have an operational nuclear weapon after a decision to produce it, let us not forget that the first nuclear test took place in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945.  Hiroshima happened only three weeks later.  And this was 1945, before the age of high-speed computers that can cut development time.  Three weeks from first test to operational use.

The political left, which had no problem at all with the saturation bombings of Germany and Japan, when they were helpful to the Soviet Union, has for decades tried to send America on a guilt trip over the use of nuclear weapons.  Of course we regret the lives that were lost, as we always regret death and destruction in war, but guilt is not required.  In what is sometimes called the bloody arithmetic of war, the nuclear bombs reduced the ultimate death toll of World War II dramatically.  And as the late historian Paul Fussell, a soldier in the Pacific at the time of Hiroshima later wrote, recalling his thoughts when he learned of the atomic bomb's use, "We were going to live.  We were going to grow to adulthood after all."  For that we can be grateful.

August 6,  2015     Permalink

AUGUST 5,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

NEW HAMPSHIRE MOVES AGAINST PP – From Daily Caller:  New Hampshire legislators stripped the state’s six Planned Parenthood clinics of state funds Wednesday, deleting roughly one third of their public funding.  The state’s Republican-led Executive Council rejected a $639,000 funding contract with Planned Parenthood, reported local ABC affiliate WMUR9. The Council cited a series of undercover videos in the meeting, which show top Planned Parenthood doctors discussing and participating in the harvesting, dissection, and distribution of aborted fetuses.  The Center for Medical Progress plans to release more footage, and has alleged Planned Parenthood is illegally selling the aborted baby parts for profit. But Planned Parenthood maintains the fees it charges are legally legitimate and that they do not profit from the exchange.  Hard to know how this issue will develop.  Planned Parenthood's support is down since the videos surfaced, but not by much.  The organization is extremely powerful, with wide political support, especially on the feminist left.  But it has handled the videos arrogantly.  Let's see what the GOP candidates say about the subject in tomorrow's Fox debate.

ELEANOR WINS POLL FOR FIRST WOMAN ON BILLS – From The New York Times:   Eleanor Roosevelt, who spent 12 years in the White House as first lady and traveled the world as a human-rights advocate, is the front-runner for the new face of the $10 bill, according to a poll.  Released on Wednesday, results from a Marist poll show that 27 percent of those surveyed would choose Mrs. Roosevelt. Harriet Tubman, the African-American abolitionist, was the second choice, with 17 percent. Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who served as a translator and guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition, garnered 13 percent of the vote.  There were no numbers for Hillary Clinton  or Nancy Pelosi.  On balance, I think the respondents got it right.  Regardless of politics, Eleanor Roosevelt was a towering figure in American life until her death in 1962.  She was also a firm anti-Communist who worked to keep the ultra-left from controlling the Democratic Party.  She's the right person for the honor, although I would have loved to see Margaret Chase Smith, the great Republican senator from Maine, and Oveta Culp Hobby, the founding director of the WAC, in the running. 

JON STEWART OUTFOXED – From Hollywood Reporter:   As Jon Stewart's final Daily Show approaches, the comedian has mercilessly mocked Fox News Channel, even comparing Roger Ailes to Death. It’s almost like he’s daring the network’s chairman and CEO to respond. Now, he has.  "He’s been after us for years. Occasionally we pay attention. We think he’s funny. We never took it seriously and he never made a dent in us," Ailes told The Hollywood Reporter after being contacted on Wednesday.  The Fox News chief added: "As he faces the end of his career, he’s beginning to wonder: ‘Is this as popular as I’m ever going to get? Is this as much power as I’ll ever have? The one person I could never get rid of was Roger Ailes. I tried. I did everything I could.’ This was all a plea to his lefty friends. I think he’s disappointed that he didn’t accomplish that goal, and we, of course, supplied him with half of his comedy. It’s just a matter of disappointment."  Bye, bye, Jon.  You're a fairly funny guy at times, but don't start taking yourself seriously.  Then you'll truly see the end of your career.

OUTRAGEOUS – President Obama, showing his usual smallness, made a speech defending his Iran deal.  He made a number of ridiculous statements, but one in particular has outraged many.  From Gateway Pundit: Barack Obama pushed his Iranian nuclear deal today in a major speech in Washington DC.  During his speech he compared the Iranian “hardliners” to the Republican Caucus.  What an offensive remark. Indeed it was.  Obama, in the seventh year of his unfortunate presidency, still comes off as a minor Chicago politician with a golden voice. 

THE NEW YORK REVOLUTION BEGINS – From the New York Post:   Mayor de Blasio would be booted from City Hall if it were Election Day, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.  Forty-seven percent of New York City voters polled said de Blasio doesn’t deserve a second term, while 41 percent believe he does.  De Blasio also scored the lowest Q Poll approval ratings of his mayoral career, with a split of 44 percent giving him a thumbs down and 44 percent of voters saying he’s doing a good job. The rest were undecided.  That’s a 4-point increase in voters dissatisfied in his performance compared to earlier Quinnipiac polls this year.  His election was a fluke.  He's up for re-election in 2017, if he decides to run again.  He's proving a radical, unpopular mayor, anti-cop and pro-socialist, and he must go.  He won't get all that much support from his own party.  Governor Cuomo loathes him, and he refuses to endorse Hillary.  He can become mayor of Havana.

August 5, 2015       Permalink

REAL TROUBLE – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton may be facing serious legal problems over her now famous e-mail server.  From the Washington Post: 

The FBI has begun looking into the security of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private e-mail setup, contacting in the past week a Denver-based technology firm that helped manage the unusual system, according to two government officials.

Also last week, the FBI contacted Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, with questions about the security of a thumb drive in his possession that contains copies of work e-mails Clinton sent during her time as secretary of state.

The FBI’s interest in Clinton’s e-mail system comes after the intelligence community’s inspector general referred the issue to the Justice Department in July. Intelligence officials expressed concern that some sensitive information was not in the government’s possession and could be “compromised.” The referral did not accuse Clinton of any wrongdoing, and the two officials said Tuesday that the FBI is not targeting her.

Kendall confirmed the contact, saying: “The government is seeking assurance about the storage of those materials. We are actively cooperating.”

COMMENT:  Scandal follows the Clintons.  They are sloppy and arrogant, and they have no class.  Other than that, they're wonderful. 

Despite all the assurances that the FBI is not targeting Clinton, the fact remains that the e-mail server was hers, personally.  She is responsible for it.

August 5, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA BEHIND POSSIBLE BIDEN RUN? – AT 9:33 A.M. ET:   It seems entirely logical, but I'd still chalk this up to informed speculation.  From Newsmax: 

President Barack Obama and those closest to him are "doing everything they can" to encourage Vice President Joe Biden to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, former New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief Edward Klein tells Newsmax TV.

In a panel discussion Tuesday on "Newsmax Prime" with host J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan, the author of "Blood Feud: The Clintons vs. The Obamas," said the push is coming from the president, First Lady Michelle Obama and Obama's senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett.

"[They] are doing everything they can at this point to encourage Joe Biden to throw in his hat," he said.

Klein said he also believes Clinton is in "a kind of race against time."

"Which is going to come first, is she going to be able to sew up the nomination by just throwing more money, more organization at the primaries so that she is unbeatable – or will a criminal indictment come down from the Justice Department [over her personal email system while Secretary of State] before that fact?" Klein said.

"And they're very concerned about which is going to come first."

Political commentator Dick Morris said if a possible Biden candidacy doesn't signal any animosity between the Obama and Clinton camps, "there sure will be if Biden runs, because the inevitable dynamos of the race are going to cause it, even if nobody wants it."

COMMENT:  The possible indictment of Queen Hillary is intriguing.  It would have to come from Obama's Justice Department, which is highly politicized.   Attorney-General Loretta Lynch is not going to move toward a Clinton indictment without an approving wink from the White House, and it may just come.  Clearly, Obama would prefer to be succeeded by his own vice president than by the Clintons, for whom he has no love. 

Absolutely fascinating presidential race, on both sides.  I love it, I love it.

August 5, 2015       Permalink

THREAT IN THE AMERICAN HEARTLAND – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:   Relates to the post just below.  They are here.  From CBS: 

DENVER (CBS4) – An alert has been issued by the FBI to all law enforcement agencies in Colorado and Wyoming involving U.S. military families and concerns about who may be watching them.

The alert says Middle Eastern men are approaching families of U.S. military members at their homes in Colorado and Wyoming. It mentions Greeley and Cheyenne, Wyoming as the specific areas.

In one case last May the wife of a military member was approached in front of her home by two Middle Eastern males. The men stated that she was the wife of a U.S. interrogator. When she denied their claims the men laughed. The two men left the area in a dark-colored, four-door sedan with two other Middle Eastern males in the vehicle.

“The woman had observed the vehicle in the neighborhood on previous occasions,” the alert states.

Similar incidents in Wyoming have been reported to the FBI throughout June 2015.

“On numerous occasions family members of military personnel were confronted by Middle Eastern males in front of their homes.”

The FBI’s alert says Middle Eastern men attempted to gain personal information about military members and family members through intimidation. Those family members reported feeling scared.

COMMENT:  This is pretty chilling.  Service families have plenty of reason to feel apprehensive.  This is a new one.

There needs to be increased security in areas where service families are housed, and the schools their children attend must be hardened, and right now. 

This new threat should be investigated immediately by Congress, which should pass needed legislation mandating extra protection for service families.

August 5, 2015       Permalink

THE TERROR REALITY – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  We are not winning the war on terror.  From the Washington Times: 

There have been more U.S.-based jihadi terrorism cases in 2015 than in any full year since 9/11, according to a “Threat Snapshot” released Tuesday by the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, who asserted that U.S. officials must “do more to take the fight to the enemy overseas at its source.”

“Otherwise, we’re going to see the threat picture here at home steadily worsen,” Rep. Michael T. McCaul, Texas Republican, said in a statement with the report, which maintains that the number of U.S.-based jihadi cases has increased three-fold over the past five years — from 39 in July 2010 to 122 at present.

Counterterrorism analysts outside the government caution against drawing broad conclusions from such statistics, but Tuesday’s report suggests the surge can be tied to the rise of the Islamic State in Syria, Iraq and beyond.

COMMENT:  The danger to Americans is growing, not decreasing.  The Iran nuclear deal, which will result in the infusion of vast wealth into Iran, the world's largest terror sponsor, will not improve things.

It is only a matter of time before the next major terror attack within the United States.

August 5,  2015     Permalink