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

DECEMBER 8,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

NOT A GOOD SHOW – From Newsbusters:  "According to retired ABC News journalist Ann Compton, Barack Obama launches into 'profanity-laced' tirades against the press in off-the-record meetings with reporters. In a C-SPAN interview, Compton also derided the President for leading 'the most opaque' administration of 'any I have covered.' The journalist, who retired in August after a 40-year career, revealed to C-SPAN's Brian Lamb: 'I have seen in the last year Barack Obama really angry twice. Both were off-the-record times. One, profanity-laced where he thought the press was making too much of scandals that he did not think were scandals.'"  Incredible that the president would behave that way in front of journalists.  Maybe they're onto him.  Amateur.

OH, I'M SO RELIEVED – From USA Today:  "Natural weather patterns, not man-made global warming, are causing the historic drought parching California, says a study out Monday from federal scientists. 'It's important to note that California's drought, while extreme, is not an uncommon occurrence for the state,' said Richard Seager, the report's lead author and professor with Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. The report was sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report did not appear in a peer-reviewed journal but was reviewed by other NOAA scientists.  'In fact, multiyear droughts appear regularly in the state's climate record, and it's a safe bet that a similar event will happen again,' he said."  Al Gore could not be reached for comment.

FANATICS – The big event coming up tomorrow (Tuesday) is the release by Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee of a report detailing "torture" of terrorists by the Bush administration.  It is being made public despite repeated warnings that its release could trigger the murder of Americans around the world.  Hey, what's a few deaths when compared to a chance to attack BUSH (!!) and CHENEY (!!!!)?  We'll have more on this after the release.   The intelligence community is furious, and it has a right to be.  We are at war with terror groups, and since when do you release reports like this in the middle of a war?  The main inquiry into Pearl Harbor occurred after World War II.

OBLIVION – From Breitbart:  "Despite the best efforts of Jennifer Lawrence, two big family films, some horrible bosses, and The Mighty Christopher Nolan, according to Deadline, the weekend's box office collapsed to a 16-year-low.  Box Office Mojo reports the weekend earned just $70.4 million, which Deadline says is the worst post-Thanksgiving weekend, going all the way back to 1998. Mojo adds that this weekend was the second-worst of the year and somewhere around a 20% drop over this same weekend last year."  Why is it surprising?  The movie industry (it's not Hollywood anymore) has done everything possible to drive away its audience.  Nice to see it succeeding at something.

December 8, 2014       Permalink

COMING SOON TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT NEAR YOU – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:  There are frightening stories coming out of Britain about the attempted takeover of schools by militant Muslim groups.  It's remarkable that this politically incorrect story made it into The New York Times.  Must've gotten by the commissars:

BIRMINGHAM, England — As a Sikh and second-generation Briton running a public school made up mostly of Muslim students, Balwant Bains was at the center of the issues facing multicultural Britain, including the perennial question of balancing religious precepts and cultural identity against assimilation.

But in January, Mr. Bains stepped down as the principal of the Saltley School and Specialist Science College, saying he could no longer do the job in the face of relentless criticism from the Muslim-dominated school board. It had pressed him, unsuccessfully, to replace some courses with Islamic and Arabic studies, segregate girls and boys and drop a citizenship class on tolerance and democracy in Britain.

“I suppose I was a threat, giving these children more British values, for them to be integrated into society,” Mr. Bains said in his first interview since the controversy over his departure.

His experience has helped bring to life the often deeply emotional and highly contentious conflicts unearthed by a British government investigation this year into whether organized groups of conservative Muslims were having undue influence on public schools.

The topic has become especially sensitive at a time when Britain is concerned about the radicalization of young Muslims in the country and their involvement with jihadis in Syria and Iraq. The investigation was prompted by an anonymous letter, sent last year to local officials in Birmingham, alleging an organized Islamic takeover of British schools in Muslim neighborhoods.

COMMENT:  The question is not whether some Muslim groups try to take over schools and school systems.  The question is, who's helping them?  If you look closely, I'm sure you will find the hand of the political left.  Leftists often work with Muslim extremists to tear down western societies. Ideologically, the leftists have nothing in common with Muslims, but it doesn't matter.  The main objective is to destroy.  After the destruction, leftists believe they'll pick up the pieces and replace capitalism with their version of life.

After the subway bombings in Britain in 2005, an American magazine did a study of groups supporting Muslim political activity in the United Kingdom.  It found startling examples of leftist groups working hand in glove with Muslim groups, despite vast ideological differences.

Look for the same here.  On college campuses, the most radical Muslim groups – who would relegate women to a third-rate status in society – are often given aid and comfort by the old Marxists, who then march for free abortion on demand.  Same logic applies:  bring it down, bring it down!

December 8, 2014       Permalink

OBAMACARE DISASTER – AT 9:15 A.M. ET:  Some of the destruction wreaked by Obamacare is obvious – people losing their plans, dramatic increases in costs for the middle class, loss of ability to choose your doctors.  Other effects are longer term, but could be just as devastating.  From AP:

MIAMI (AP) — When Olivia Papa signed up for a new health plan last year, her insurance company assigned her to a primary care doctor. The relatively healthy 61-year-old didn't try to see the doctor until last month, when she and her husband both needed authorization to see separate specialists.

She called the doctor's office several times without luck.

"They told me that they were not on the plan, they were never on the plan and they'd been trying to get their name off the plan all year," said Papa, who recently bought a plan from a different insurance company.

It was no better with the next doctor she was assigned. The Naples, Florida, resident said she left a message to make an appointment, "and they never called back."

The Papas were among the 6.7 million people who gained insurance through the Affordable Care Act last year, flooding a primary care system that is struggling to keep up with demand.

A survey this year by The Physicians Foundation found that 81 percent of doctors describe themselves as either over-extended or at full capacity, and 44 percent said they planned to cut back on the number of patients they see, retire, work part-time or close their practice to new patients.

At the same time, insurance companies have routinely limited the number of doctors and providers on their plans as a way to cut costs. The result has further restricted some patients' ability to get appointments quickly.

One purpose of the new health law was connecting patients, many of whom never had insurance before, with primary care doctors to prevent them from landing in the emergency room when they are sicker and their care is more expensive. Yet nearly 1 in 5 Americans lives in a region designated as having a shortage of primary care physicians, and the number of doctors entering the field isn't expected to keep pace with demand.

COMMENT:  Ah, the march of progress.  See how wonderful liberalism is.  You may be sure that one proposal that will be made to increase the supply of physicians will be to lower standards.  And that notion may well begin with a demand for greater "cultural representation" in medicine.

And don't be shocked if nurses are asked to take over some of the functions normally reserved for physicians.  That may not be a bad thing at all.  There are many superb, well-trained nurses.  But we'll be spreading things awfully thin.

And you also may be sure that voices will be heard demanding full socialized medicine, with medical colleges run by the government.  After all, doesn't nanny know best? 

Some will say these are just the growing pains of a new, national health system.  But Obamacare was sold as a means of solving problems, not creating them.  Yes, there are people who now have health insurance who depended on emergency rooms before.  But how many Americans have lost insurance, or can't pay for new policies?  We're not given a full story by the mainstream media.

December 8, 2014       Permalink

NOT SO FAST – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:  Already the 2016 spin machine has been plugged in.  We're being told that the Democrats will almost certainly retake the Senate that year because Republicans will face as difficult a map as Democrats faced in 2014.  Not so fast says ace political reporter Michael Barone: 

Even as Republicans are about to regain a majority in the Senate after eight years in the minority, the conventional wisdom around Washington is that Democrats are likely to win back that majority again in 2016. That’s certainly possible, but it’s short of a slam dunk.

Superficially, the field of Senate seats up in 2016 looks as unfavorable for Republicans and the field of Senate seats up this year looked for Democrats. Of the 36 seats up in 2014, Democrats were defending 21, including seven in states carried by Mitt Romney. Of the 34 seats currently up in 2016, Republicans will be defending even more, 24, including seven in states Barack Obama carried in 2012.

In a nation that increasingly votes straight ticket, there is a high correlation between voting for president and voting for Senate. Harry Enten and Dhrumil Mehta of fivethirtyeight.com calculate that “it explained over 75 percent of the variation in results across the [Senate] races this year. That’s the highest ever.”

But...

However, Republicans don’t face the peril in 2016 that Democrats faced in 2014. Six of the seven Democratic seats up this year in Romney states were in states where Obama lost by double-digit margins. Only North Carolina was close, and Republican Thom Tillis won there by the same 2-point margin by which Romney carried the state in 2012.

In contrast, six of the seven seats Republicans will be defending in 2016 are in states which Obama carried with between 50 and 52 percent of the vote — states that are no more heavily Democratic than Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and Virginia, where Republican non-incumbents were competitive this year.

In three of these Obama states, Republican incumbents have shown a capacity to run well ahead of their party — Charles Grassley in Iowa (52 percent Obama), Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire (52 percent) and Rob Portman in Ohio (51 percent). They may well do so again.

Three others would not have to run much ahead of party lines to prevail — Marco Rubio in Florida (where Obama got 50 percent), Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania (52 percent) and Ron Johnson in Wisconsin (52 percent).

COMMENT:  Nothing like a little good news to get the week started.  Of course, Barone is writing from today's perspective.  However, we don't see anything on the horizon to suggest that Democratic/Obama policies will be any more popular in 2016 than they are now.

December 8,  2014     Permalink

DEM DESTRUCTION – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  We are learning more and more about the weak state of the Democratic Party, following this year's election.  From the Washington Examiner: 

A new post-election map proves that many more Americans now live in states controlled by Republican governors and legislatures than all-Democratic-run states.

Americans for Tax Reform produced the map showing that 146 million Americans live in all-GOP states compared to 49 million in all-Democratic states. Another 112 million live in states where the party of the governor and legislature are different.

What’s more, ATR President Grover Norquist told Secrets that all-Republican states outnumber all-Democratic states by a whopping 24 to 7.

“This is the demographic of the future of America,” he said.

COMMENT:  Well, that may be optimistic, but we can dream, can't we?  Look at the map.  Republicans have never had the opportunity they have now to reshape the country and put the brakes on the rampant leftism of Barack Obama.

The question, though, is whether they'll use that opportunity or succumb to the traditional Republican tendency to pull back on conservative beliefs and just go along with the Georgetown cocktail crowd.  Already there are signs that Speaker Boehner wants no part of a vigorous, muscular response to Obama.  Republicans have learned well the depressing art of playing for crumbs.

December 8, 2014       Permalink

DECEMBER 7,  2014

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

THE MAYOR IS AN IDIOT – We wondered when Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York would finally show himself to be the radical leftist he'd always been.  It's now happened.  From ABC:  "Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani 'fundamentally misunderstands the reality,' New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said today on 'This Week' in response to Giuliani’s recent comments focusing on violence within African-American communities, rather than questions over police interactions with minorities that have sparked nationwide protests.  'I think he fundamentally misunderstands the reality,' de Blasio told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in his first television interview since a New York grand jury decided this week not to indict police officers in the July death of Eric Garner in Staten Island. 'We’re trying to bring police and community together. There is a problem here, there is a rift here that has to be overcome.'"  Under Giuliani's guidance, and the guidance of his successor, Mike Bloomberg, the murder rate in New York was brought down 80%.  The greatest beneficiaries were African Americans.  Apparently, this proves that Giuliani failed to understand the reality.  For de Blasio, reality is only found in far-left ideology.  Rudy's record speaks for itself.

THE OBAMA RECORD – From The Hill:  "A slim majority believes that race relations have gotten worse since President Obama took office in 2009, according to a poll released Sunday.  The poll was conducted for Bloomberg Politics in the days following a grand jury decision not to indict a white New York City police officer who killed an unarmed black man.  Thirty-six percent say relations have stayed the same, and only 9 percent say they have gotten better.  Among black people, only 45 percent say race relations have gotten worse, though that figure is still the plurality in the poll. Fifty-six percent of white people think the situation has deteriorated."  My own sense is that sensational reporting, by CNN among others, has exacerbated the problem.  But there are no polls about that.

CHECK THE PHOTO WITH THE STORY – From Daily Caller:  "At a die-in for any cause, protesters collectively get down on the ground and pretend to be dead. The tactic is a favorite of environmental activists, AIDS activists, gun control activists — the whole spectrum of leftist demonstrating, really.  But what’s a protester to do while dying in? It’s not like the world stops. You’ve still got email. There’s still Facebook and Instagram. Angry Birds and WhatsApp beckon.  And so it was that 'dead' participants at a die-in this week at George Washington University stopped being dead periodically to check their mobile phones."  The left never inconveniences itself.  I recall the "anti-war" protests in my Manhattan neighborhood in the late sixties.  The grim-faced leftists would shake their fists and demonstrate against "American imperialism," then go out and have a nice hot meal at an imperialist restaurant. 

December 7, 2014        Permalink

A SUNDAY IN DECEMBER – AT 6:38 A.M. ET:   The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on another Sunday, December 7th, in 1941.  That began the American phase of World War II.

Today the youngest veteran of Pearl Harbor would have been born about 1924 and would be 90.  There are few left.  The World War II generation will soon be gone.   That generation paid a terrible price for the mistakes that led to Pearl Harbor:  1) a failure to take foreign threats seriously and properly prepare the nation for war...which might have deterred war;  2) a failure to understand fanatical ideology, with a smug belief that "nobody really means that talk"; 3) an attitude that we could go it alone, remain in isolation, as if the oceans would protect us.

Sound familiar?

History doesn't repeat itself, but the psychology of history does repeat itself.  And we are experiencing the same delusions today as we did before we were so rudely awakened on that Sunday in December.  We are reducing our forces as our enemies strengthen theirs.  We are dismissing radical Islam as simply a manageable police problem, and their rhetoric as "misunderstood" words.  And, even within the Republican Party, there are new isolationists.

Now, as then, our universities seem to live in their own worlds.  In the 1930s it was common for leading American colleges and universities to welcome Nazi officials and soldiers as honored guests.  In 1939, students at Barnard College in New York flashed faces filled with disappointment when conditions in Europe made it impossible for them to live their dream – to spend a year studying in Nazi Germany. 

The eminent historian Victor Davis Hanson said last week that we are approaching the conditions for a major war.  He is right.  The psychology of history repeats itself once more.  The difference is that, this time, we have a president who doesn't care.

December 7, 2014       Permalink

CHILLING – AT 6:18 A.M. ET:  It's hard to know exactly how serious the threat is, but I hope the NYPD is taking it very seriously.  From the New York Daily News:   

A tattooed gang of militants declared open season on the NYPD in the wake of the Eric Garner grand jury decision, according to a threat police verified Saturday.

Ten Black Guerrilla Family members are “preparing to shoot on duty police officers,” cops said.

The gang, formed in the 1960s in the California prison system, recently surfaced on the East Coast and Maryland, where members are at the heart of a drug-trafficking and corruption probe within the Baltimore prison system.

Members swear allegiance for life and sport “BGF” tattoos, as well as ink depicting a dragon surrounding a prison tower, according to gangs.org.

An undercover NYPD cop learned of the hit put out on officers Friday evening — three days after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in Garner’s death. Homicide cops confirmed late Saturday night that the gang was gunning for officers.

Union leaders ordered all officers, on duty and off, to take extra precautions.

“Please WEAR your VESTS and carry your firearm off-duty along with additional magazines,” Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins said in an alert. “Your priority is to go home at the end of your tour!”

COMMENT:  We can only contemplate the horror of a terror threat like this being carried out.  I believe that threat is increased by the manner in which the president, his attorney general, and the decidedly leftist mayor of New York City have fanned the flames of division during this difficult period.

December 7, 2014       Permalink

GOP ALSO TRIUMPHS IN THE HOUSE – AT 6:11 A.M. ET:  With so much attention focused on the Senate, we should not forget the Republican electoral record in the House.  It is spectacular.  From AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans will hold at least 246 House seats come January, according to election results Saturday, giving the GOP a commanding majority that matches the party's post-World War II high during Democratic President Harry S. Truman's administration.

The GOP retained control of two seats in runoffs in Louisiana, expanding the advantage for Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who can afford defections from his increasingly conservative caucus and still get legislation passed. Combined with the Republican takeover of the Senate, Congress will be all-GOP for the final two years of President Barack Obama's second term.

The latest count gives the GOP a 246-188 majority. One race, in Arizona, is still outstanding.

In Louisiana's 5th Congressional District, which extends from the state's northeast into parishes bordering Mississippi, physician Ralph Abraham defeated Jamie Mayo, the Democratic mayor of Monroe. The incumbent, Vance McAllister, had failed to advance to the runoff. Elected less than a year ago, the married McAllister saw his career undermined after a video surfaced earlier this year showing him kissing another woman.

In the 6th Congressional District, in the Baton Rouge area, former state coastal restoration chief Garret Graves turned back Democrat Edwin Edwards, a four-term governor and ex-congressman who had to overcome his 2000 corruption conviction and subsequent prison term.

One race still must be decided.

In a Democratic-held district in the Tucson, Arizona-area, an automatic recount will determine whether Rep. Ron Barber keeps his seat or Republican challenger Martha McSally prevails. McSally led by fewer than 200 votes.

If McSally wins, Republicans would have 247 seats, the largest majority since 1929-31 when the GOP controlled 270 seats in President Herbert Hoover's administration.

COMMENT:  And if Republicans put up a strong, winning presidential candidate in 2016, that House majority can even be expanded.

Most Americans are not fully aware of the disasters that have befallen the Democratic Party since Barack Obama became president.  He has now lost both houses of Congress.  Most state legislatures and governorships are in Republican hands.  And virtually the entire young leadership of the Democratic Party has been wiped out.  The party is geriatric, and is preparing to nominate a presidential candidate in 2016 who lives in the 1960s. 

When Obama was elected in 2008, some in the liberal press predicted that it would be the start of a Democratic era.  Not quite.

December 7,  2014     Permalink