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

AUGUST 10,  2015

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

BERNIE GAINS IN IOWA – From Weekly Standard:  Hillary Clinton still leads the Democratic field in Iowa, but according to a new Public Policy Polling survey of "usual Democratic voters" in the Hawkeye state independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders is making gains there.  A majority of Iowa Democrats, 52 percent, still support Clinton, while Sanders has 25 percent. That represents what PPP calls a "decent amount of tightening" in the Democratic race since April, with Clinton's support dropping from 62 percent and Sanders's up from 14 percent.  Clinton remains highly popular among Democrats in Iowa—75 percent have a favorable opinion of the former secretary of state, down just 3 points from April. But Sanders has increased his profile in Iowa, with 61 percent of Democrats there saying they have a favorable view of the self-described socialist, while just 40 percent said that in the spring.  Sanders has continued to attract impressive crowds, including 15,000 at Seattle rally and an estimated 28,000 at one in Portland, Oregon. When the "frontrunner" is down to 52% in Iowa, against a socialist senator, the frontrunner is in trouble.  I think she'll still get the nomination, but she'll be wounded. 

GUNFIGHT AT THE NOT-OK CORRAL – From Daily Caller:   An assistant to President Obama who was recently described by a White House official as “even-keeled” has been arrested after she allegedly stole her U.S. Capitol Police officer boyfriend’s service weapon and fired one shot in his direction during a heated argument this weekend.  Police say that Barvetta Singletary, who currently serves as special assistant to the President and House legislative affairs liaison, invited her boyfriend over to her home in Upper Marlboro, Md. on Friday.  According to NBC Washington, charging documents show that after Singletary and her boyfriend had sex, she confronted him about cheating on her.  Shocked!  Shocked!  Boyfriends' lives matter!

MEGYN ROMPS – From The New York Times:   Megyn Kelly opened her Fox News program on Monday night by addressing the uproar over Donald J. Trump’s personal attacks on her, her first comments since he made a remark that many interpreted as a reference to her menstrual cycle.  “I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism, so I’ll continue doing my job without fear or favor,” she told viewers in brief comments on her show, “The Kelly File.”  “This is a tough business,” she added, “and it’s time now to move forward.”  She said she would not respond directly to any of Mr. Trump’s numerous insults and disparaging statements about her.  Megyn has gotten publicity from this that you couldn't buy.  People beyond the Fox audience are finding out why she's a star.

MAJOR HOLLYWOOD BULLETIN – From the College Fix:  The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism has found that, yet again, Hollywood appears to not care much about diversifying the ranks of its films and director corps.  The study, “Inequality in 700 Popular Films,” showed that “about 73 percent of characters in the 100 top-grossing films from 2014 were white, while less than 2 percent of directors for the same category were female.”  Invoking proportionate representation ideology, the research also determined that “less than 5 percent of all speaking or named characters in those movies were Hispanic or Latino, despite that group comprising about 17 percent of the U.S. population.”  It's all so silly.  The only color Hollywood is interested in is green.  People get hired to create money-making films.  If the audience demanded movies made by striped Asian/Hispanic directors, every striped Asian/Hispanic director would be working tomorrow.  Also, one practical way to diversity is for members of interested groups to pool their resources and start production companies.  If you run the company, you pick the cast and crew.  Basic capitalism.

August 10, 2015       Permalink

AS AMERICA FAILS ITS ALLIES – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:   American defense cutbacks are not being taken lightly by some of America's best allies.  If Field Marshal Obama won't maintain our alliances, countries will take matters into their own hands.  From the Washington Times: 

There’s a little good news from Down Under, and it comes when the West needs good news. Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia is moving up by three years the work on building a fleet of advanced frigates, at a cost of nearly $12 billion, expressed in American currency. It’s part of his plan to raise defense spending to 2 percent of Australia’s gross domestic product, up from 1.8 percent. This adds $2.6 billion a year to the current $23 billion military budget.

It’s reassuring that the United States has a solid ally, one with a clear understanding of the stakes, to oppose Chinese aggression in the region. The Australian initiative will produce a modernized fleet of 40 surface war ships and submarines to answer China’s thrust into the South China Sea. With threat to its southern shores a thousand miles away, China is scraping up and converting coral reefs and shoals to dry land in Southeast Asia, transforming them into military bases athwart one of the world’s most important sea lanes.

Australia is the canary in the Asian coal mine. Its economy is feeling the effects of China’s slowing economy and the collapse of commodity prices. If China descends further into crisis, a strong possibility, the effects will eventually be felt by all of China’s trading partners, and at a time when Australia’s allies — Britain, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States — are cutting defense spending.

The growing integration of American, Australian and Japanese strategies in East Asia now will be accomplished by the American Navy, which once bore almost alone the responsibility for keeping the vast sea lanes of the region free for all. President Obama has shrunk the Navy to its smallest size since the end of World War I, and with it, responsibility.

COMMENT:  I'm glad that some other countries, although too few, are adding to their defense.  That, however, does not excuse the drastic, dangerous cuts that our leftist president is making here.  Our children's generation may pay the price, and it may be a painful one.

August 10, 2015       Permalink

DONALD – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:05 A.M. ET:  I can't deny my concern at the rise of Donald Trump.  Yes, he can be refreshing.  Yes, he's raised some important issues.  Yes, he's entertaining.  But the fact is that his ego is out of control, and he is not the kind of man we'd want representing the United States.

Yes, he'd be tough in negotiations, something desperately needed in American foreign policy right now.  But Ronald Reagan was tough in negotiations, extremely tough at times, without coming off as an adolescent bully.  Trump must understand that negotiating with Moscow or Tehran is not the same as negotiating with the electricians union. 

John Fund, one of the best political reporters around, gives an assessment of Trump, and it isn't pretty.  From NRO:   

Someone who is so thin-skinned that he can’t move on from a slight. Someone who refuses to accept reality and then act accordingly. Someone who has a form of attention-deficit disorder, in which he constantly craves attention. Someone who is constantly boasting about past glories, like an ROTC officer describing his last weekend-warrior experience. Someone who can’t control his language and constantly belittles and bullies everyone he doesn’t like by flinging insults such as “loser,” “stupid,” “worthless,” “fat,” and “slob.”

And...

The closest model for him I can think of is Douglas C. Neidermeyer, the bullying ROTC student leader in the 1978 classic college film Animal House.

We might learn a lesson from how the Delta Tau Chi fraternity dealt with Neidermeyer in Animal House. They never granted him the aura of authority he claimed, they constantly ridiculed his pomposity, and they provided him with opportunities to self-destruct. No matter how isolated in his own reality Donald Trump is, the outside world will eventually bring him down to earth.

COMMENT:  I think that's right.  My fear, though, is that Trump may well run as an independent candidate in 2016, making it virtually impossible for a Republican to be elected.  He won't care.  He'll just tell us that the Republican Party is unfit to govern, and convince himself that he's performed a public service.  Or, he'll really believe that he can be elected.

President Eisenhower was instrumental in bringing down Joe McCarthy by exposing Joe's antics to the public through the Army-McCarthy hearings.  McCarthy was ultimately proved right on many things, but his methods and personality hurt his own cause.  The same is true of Trump, and I hope the public will realize it.

August 10,  2015     Permalink

RECOMMENDED PIECE – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  Ray Takeyh, of the Council on Foreign Relations, has written one of the best pieces I've seen on the Iran nuclear agreement.  Takeyh clearly demonstrates the fallacy behind the reasoning that President Obama and Secretary Kerry are using to sell the deal.  From the Washington Post: 

The nuclear deal between the United States and Iran is already proving to be one of the most controversial arms-control agreements in history. All key aspects of the accord, from its enforcement mechanisms to its sunset clauses to its verification system, are subjects of contention. However, in the end, the viability of this deal rests not so much on technical formulations but on something as ephemeral as hope: the hope that once the deal’s essential restrictions fade in a decade, Iran will have been transformed into a responsible member of the global society; the hope that with the passage of time, the theocratic state will shed its revolutionary attire and become a reliable member of the international community. This is a big bet to place on one of the most peculiar regimes in modern times.

The notion that revolutionary regimes evolve to accept the legitimacy of the international order has many precedents. Indeed, most revolutionary states eventually concede their animosities for the sake of commerce and trade. Pragmatism often overwhelms rigid orthodoxy. Today, for instance, China’s foreign policy is hardly shaped by Mao’s call for Marxist mobilization against the world order. President Obama is seemingly convinced that once Iran’s interests are taken into account by the world and its coffers filled, it too will find the temptations of pragmatism difficult to resist. But this view displays little understanding of the clerical state and the unique role that religion plays in its self-image.

Finally...

The legacy of the nuclear agreement will not be a transformed Iran but a revolutionary regime possessing an elaborate nuclear infrastructure and seeking to dominate the Middle East. In the end, the shadow of this deal is likely to haunt the United States’ interests in the region for years to come.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It's brilliantly persuasive.

August 10, 2015       Permalink

BERNIE PACKS 'EM IN – AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  Bernie Sanders had a great night last night, especially for a socialist.  Unfortunately, it occurred in Portland.  For a socialist to have a great night in Portland is about as surprising as a Republican getting a hearty welcome in Nebraska.

But, as WaPo reported, Bernie did pack them in:

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, who has been drawing eye-poppingly large crowds on the campaign trail, on Sunday night attracted his largest audience yet: about 28,000 people in Portland, Ore., according to his campaign.

Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont who has emerged as the leading alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, appeared at a Portland arena with a capacity close to 20,000, aides said. An additional 8,000 people gathered in overflow areas set up for the event, aides said, citing numbers provided by officials from the venue.

“Whoa! Unbelievable!” Sanders said as he took stage at the Moda Center arena, where the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers play.

COMMENT:  I suspect that these Sanders rallies are more anti-Hillary than pro-Bernie.  Hillary is just not terribly popular in her own party.  Have you sensed any yearning for Hillary, a "wanting" of Hillary?  Every day brings more bad Hillary news.  She may take the oath of office in the prison cafeteria.

The question is whether Bernie can go the distance.  It's unlikely, but there have been miracles in politics.  Joe Biden is in the wings.  However, it's been pointed out that Joe ran for president twice before, with disastrous results, and has a history of gaffes. 

The race for the nomination on the Democratic side may become as exciting as the one on the Republican side.  Even Donald Trump may be tempted to jump in.

August 10, 2015        Permalink

AUGUST 9,   2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

NICE, HUH? – From USA Today:   FERGUSON, Mo. — Police came under heavy gunfire late Sunday, sending both officers and demonstrators scrambling for cover during protests marking the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer.  The eruption of violence came as tensions between police and protesters mounted during the night after a day of peaceful protests. Before the shots rang out, some protesters began screaming at the line of police. Officers then moved to close the streets and demanded demonstrators move off the road.  "We welcome peaceful protests," an officer said on a loud speaker. "You must leave the roadway and remain on the sidewalk or be subject to arrest."  You'd think a little leadership from the president of the United States would be in order.  Oh, he's on vacation.

THEY LEFT MORE THAN THEIR HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO – From AP:   SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco Examiner photographer Mike Koozmin was on a routine assignment at the city's Hall of Justice in the middle of the day when he was robbed of his camera equipment.  "They pulled me into an alley and were tugging on my camera strap," Koozmin said of his two assailants, who ended up with $10,000 worth of equipment last month. "I was resisting at first, but then I saw how desperate they were and gave it to them."  It was the latest of at least a dozen robberies of television news crews and still photographers that has plagued the San Francisco Bay Area in recent years.  Camera crews from major Bay Area television stations and photographers from two newspapers have been robbed of their pricey gear. Two have been pistol whipped. An Oakland Tribune photographer lost five cameras in two incidents. Ah, the wonders of progressive government.  I'm sure the robbers are simply misunderstood.  They are artists trying to master their craft.  Stop laughing.

SO GOES SWEDEN – The romantic left likes to rhapsodize about Sweden.  In fact, the country is in trouble, and, essentially, can no longer defend itself.  From Gatestone Institute:  A couple of decades ago, Sweden had a strong military. Its air force was one of the most capable in the world, its navy had dozens of ships and submarines, and artillery guarded the coastlines from a multitude of secret mountain hideaways.  Now, after a number of fatal decisions, based on the belief that wars in Europe were a thing of the past, most of its military is gone and Sweden has virtually no means of protecting itself.  According to Sweden's Supreme Commander Sverker Göransson, we can, at best and in five years, defend ourselves in one place for one week.  Sweden is a large country: with 447,435 square kilometers, it is the fifth largest in Europe. It also has one of the longest coastlines in Europe (3,200 kilometers), which not easily defensible.  Another gift of socialism.  Sweden is not a member of NATO, and certainly cannot depend on the Obamasized United States to help with its defense.  It no longer is the innovative country it used to be.  As a Swedish friend told me, half of Stockholm takes care of the other half.  If Obama gets his way, this is what we'll be like.

August 9, 2015        Permalink

MORE TROUBLE FOR THE "FRONTRUNNER" – AT 11:44 A.M. ET:   Hillary Clinton's longtime aides are being sucked into her scandals.  From Fox: 

Huma Abedin -- a close aide to Hillary Clinton at the State Department and now a top campaign official -- is facing more questions about her activities at the agency, causing potential problems for Clinton’s presidential bid.

A federal judge ordered the State Department to have Clinton, Abedin and Cheryl Mills, another Clinton aide when she was secretary of state, confirm they have turned over all government records and describe how they used Clinton’s private server to conduct official business.

They had until Friday to turn over the information “under penalty of perjury.”

Clinton is already facing questions about using the server and private email accounts while she was the country’s top diplomat from 2009 to 2013.

The former secretary of state has turned over about 55,000 pages of private emails but deleted those she deemed personal, resulting in voters increasingly doubting her trustworthiness, according to recent polls.

Some emails show the extent to which Clinton's closest aides managed the details of her image. Abedin, for example, sent her an early-morning message in August 2009 advising Clinton to "wear a dark color today. Maybe the new dark green suit. Or blue."

COMMENT:  The potential for these problems to derail Clinton is substantial, especially if one accepts the idea that President Obama does not want her to succeed him.  Obama has great power, through his highly politicized Justice Department, to make life miserable for Hillary, which would probably delight him.

August 9, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA BLASTED BY FORMER NATO CHIEF – AT 10:54 A.M. ET:  Obama has cut our defenses dangerously.  From The Hill: 

Former NATO Supreme Commander James Stavridis criticized President Obama, his former boss, for recent cuts to military spending while U.S. troops are still engaged on multiple fronts around the world.

“We have already cut defense … about 30 percent over the last 10 years, and we’re still at war,” Stavridis told radio show host John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable” Sunday on New York’s AM 970. “We’re actively involved on multiple continents in real combat operations. We should not be drastically reducing our troop levels.”

Stavridis, a retired U.S. admiral and the current dean of Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, also disagreed with the president’s recent decision to pull the sole remaining aircraft carrier patrolling the Middle East out of the Arabian Gulf.

“We have 11 active nuclear aircraft carriers today in the United States Navy,” Stavridis said. “It is hard for me to understand why we cannot manage a fleet of that size to maintain an aircraft carrier at all times in regions as dangerous as the Arabian Gulf.”

Stavridis called for increased NATO involvement in the conflict in Crimea. 

“We need to push back against that kind of Russian advancement, that Russian aggression, to show them that that’s simply not appropriate behavior in the 21st century,” Stavridis said, adding that Russian forces are not nearly as capable as NATO forces.

“They’re not as capable, but within small, tactical spaces, they can still be extremely disruptive. We have to stand firmly against them to deter them.”

COMMENT:  Obama wants to weaken American defense and strengthen some of our enemies, especially in the Muslim world.  He believes America is the source of many of the world's problems.  He lied about his views to get elected, but those views come out in his policies, which have become dramatically more radical since the 2014 Congressional elections.

August 9, 2015       Permalink

HORRIBLE, BUT IT CAN'T BE CONFIRMED – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:  An attack on the Queen?  From Britain's Sunday Express:

Police and MI5 are said to be desperately racing against the clock to foil the assassination plot by British jihadis, which is being masterminded from Syria by ISIS commanders.

The terrorists are reportedly looking to strike next Saturday by detonating a pressure cooker bomb in Central London – during events marking the 70th anniversary of Victory in Japan (VJ) day, which effectively ended World War Two.

Sources said that a specific threat has been made against the Queen, prompting police to make an urgent review of security arrangements for the events.

Other Royal Family members are due to attend the anniversary events – including Prince Charles who has been highlighted as another possible target in intelligence reports.

Police are reportedly fearing carnage on a massive scale as thousands of people are expected to line the streets around Whitehall and Westminster Abbey.

David Cameron will also be attending the events, alongside numerous dignitaries, over 1,000 veterans of the Far East campaign and their families and even members of the Armed Forces.

Senior figures of Scotland Yard's Royal Protection arm, SO14, along with S01 Specialist Protection - which provides security for the Prime Minister and dignitaries - and the Home Office have learned that attendees are considered to be "under threat from terrorist attack".

COMMENT:  We have no way to confirm the accuracy of the story, but I would not be shocked if ISIS had such a plan.  It's a logical step, from their point of view.  There were reports recently that ISIS is trying to up its game and try for mass-casualty attacks, to compete with Al Qaeda.

August 9,  2015     Permalink