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DECEMBER 21,  2015

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

OH, THE TIMING – From USA Today:  Chelsea Clinton announced on Twitter that she is pregnant with her second child, due sometime next summer.  Absolutely perfect.  The birth will come about the same time as the Democratic convention.  If they name the baby Barack you'll know who's running things.

TRUMP AHEAD IN LINCOLNLAND – From the Chicago Sun-Times:  Trump, at 30 percent, is the top GOP presidential candidate in Illinois, according to a new poll, with double the points of Sens. Ted Cruz at 15 percent and Marco Rubio at 13 percent.  Okay, but 30% is far from a majority.  There are many more people who are not for Trump than for him.  As the field thins, competitors will start to rise.

THE FALL OF OUR CIVILIZATION – From Newsmax:   In the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal but regulated, the government has ruled that it is legal for driving instructors to accept sexual favors in return for driving lessons, Great Britain's The Telegraph reports.  Students and instructors must be over age 18 – and the ruling is a one-way street: Instructors can ask to be paid with sex, but students cannot offer to pay with sex.  The arrangement is legal, though "undesirable," Transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen and Justice minister Ard van der Steur said.  That is called a "progressive" country.  Coming soon to Obamaland.

GRAFFITI BACK IN NYC – From CBS:   NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Graffiti was an infamous symbol of the decline and decay of New York City in the 1970s and ’80s, and some now say it appears to be making a comeback.  As CBS2’s Scott Rapoport reported Monday, residents have noticed and they want it gone.  Bold graffiti lines parts of walls, ramps and pavement at the Forest Hills Long Island Rail Road station in Queens.  “It’s awful,” one man said.  “Most of the time it’s ignored,” said City Councilmember Karen Koslowitz (D-29th).  This is what happens when a city elects a far-left, "tolerant" mayor like Bill de Blasio.  Do voters ever learn?

December 21, 2015       Permalink

GRAHAM OUT – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has pulled out of the GOP presidential race.  From CNN:

Senator Lindsey Graham is ending his presidential campaign, he told CNN during an exclusive interview airing Monday.

"I'm going to suspend my campaign. I'm not going to suspend my desire to help the country," the South Carolina senator said in a wide-ranging and candid discussion in which he acknowledged: "I've hit a wall here."

He made the official announcement in an email to supporters and Youtube video posted Monday morning.

Graham is known for his quick wit and famous for his one-liners (just ask Princess Buttercup about his retort from the last debate), but he was sober, serious and emotional as he described his decision to leave the race just weeks before the voting begins.

One thing is clear: Graham still wants his voice heard on the direction his party is headed, especially with regard to the Middle East.

"Here's what I predict. I think the nominee of our party is going to adopt my plan when it comes time to articulate how to destroy ISIL," he said. "We've fallen short here, but the fight continues. To those who are doing the fighting, I want to be your voice. To those in the Republican Party who want to win, check my plan out. Hillary, if you get to be President, I'll help you where I can. I hope you're not. But if you are, I'll be there to help you win a war we can't afford to lose."

Graham's decision -- which leaves a field of 12 main GOP candidates (CNN had 13 at its last Republican debate, including Graham) -- comes just days after the CNN Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, where he was widely viewed as dominating the undercard debate.

COMMENT:  Graham has been controversial in the Republican Party.  Some consider him a RINO (Republican in name only) because of his willingness to compromise with the other side.  But on foreign and defense policy I think he's been superb, and his voice will be missed.  He has a clear view of who are enemies are and why they must be decisively defeated. 

We don't have to agree with someone on every issue to realize his value on the most critical issues.  I hope Graham, despite disagreement on some things, continues to be an active voice on national security.

December 21, 2015       Permalink

CHILLING – AT 9:19 A.M. ET:  The president says we must keep terrorism in perspective.  Okay, Field Marshal Obama, how about providing some perspective on this!  From The Wall Street Journal:

Iranian hackers infiltrated the control system of a small dam less than 20 miles from New York City two years ago, sparking concerns that reached to the White House, according to former and current U.S. officials and experts familiar with the previously undisclosed incident.

The breach came amid attacks by hackers linked to Iran’s government against the websites of U.S. banks, and just a few years after American spies had damaged an Iranian nuclear facility with a sophisticated computer worm called Stuxnet. In October 2012, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called out Iran’s hacking, prompting fears of cyberwar.

The still-classified dam intrusion illustrates a top concern for U.S. officials as they enter an age of digital state-on-state conflict. America’s power grid, factories, pipelines, bridges and dams—all prime targets for digital armies—are sitting largely unprotected on the Internet. And, unlike in a traditional war, it is sometimes difficult to know whether or where an opponent has struck. In the case of the dam hack, federal investigators initially thought the target might have been a much larger dam in Oregon.

Many of the computers controlling industrial systems are old and predate the consumer Internet. In the early digital days, this was touted as a security advantage. But companies, against the advice of hacking gurus, increasingly brought them online in the past decade as a way to add “smarts” to U.S. infrastructure. Often, they are connected directly to office computer networks, which are notoriously easy to breach.

These systems control the flow in pipelines, the movements of drawbridges and water releases from dams. A hacker could theoretically cause an explosion, a flood or a traffic jam.

COMMENT:  Of course, now with the Iran nuclear agreement, the Iranians are our pals.  They'd never do something like this again, would they?  Please give the approved answer, as certified by Valerie Jarrett.

December 21, 2015       Permalink

TRUMP AT HIS WORST – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  Vladimir Putin praised Donald Trump last week.  Trump, a man with a monumental ego, has now responded with some of the worst, most incompetent statements I've ever heard from a presidential candidate.  From The Hill:

Donald Trump is defending Russian President Vladimir Putin against allegations that he has given orders to kill journalists in his country.

“As far as the reporters are concerned, obviously I don’t want that to happen, I think it’s horrible,” Trump said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “But, in all fairness to Putin, you’re saying he killed people, I haven’t seen that. I don’t know that he has. Have you been able to prove that?

Does the name "Ukraine" come to mind?

The Republican primary front-runner, who has complimented Putin as “highly respectable,” said there is no evidence that the Russian strongman has killed reporters out of political motivation.
“Now, I think it would be despicable if that took place, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he’s killed anybody in terms of reporters,” he said.

Reporters just have a way of disappearing in Moscow.  Must be a coincidence.  Or the flu.

Trump acknowledged that there are allegations of nefarious activity against the Russian president, but said Putin has “always denied it.”

“He’s always denied it. He’s never – it’s never been proven that he’s killed anybody. So, you know, you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, at least in our country. It has not been proven that he’s killed reporters,” he said.

The billionaire businessman has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats for his congenial rhetoric about Putin.

COMMENT:  This is embarrassing.  It's just disgraceful.  A man with this judgment must never be president.   I just hope the voters see it clearly.

December 21,  2015     Permalink

DECEMBER 20,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:48 P.M. ET:

MADNESS – From Britain's Independent:   One third of all the fire brigade vehicles that would be called out if terrorists set off a “dirty bomb” are being scrapped to save money.  The decision – which has provoked protests because of the secrecy surrounding it – comes at a time when the Government has been warning of the danger of terrorists threats to the UK, after the 13 November attack on Paris. The Incident Response Units (IRUs), with their distinctive red colouring with yellow stripes, were introduced at a cost of £54m in 2004, when the government feared that terrorists would strike in revenge for the Iraq war.  Equipped to deal with a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, the vehicles are distributed around fire stations so that they would never have to travel far to an incident, though they do not belong to the fire brigade but to the Department of Communities and Local Government.  This is complete craziness.  But, if truth be told, Britain, despite some tough words from some prime ministers, has consistently reduced its defenses over the years, the better to pay for the welfare state.  Do not underestimate the pervasive power of the British left.

ISIS HAS PASSPORT POWER – From the Jerusalem Post:   BERLIN – Islamic State obtained tens of thousands of blank passports in Syrian, Libyan and Iraqi towns since 2014, according to Western intelligence agencies.  The Welt am Sonntag paper cited intelligence officials in its report Sunday on Islamic State selling “real fake documents” to raise money. The terrorist organization is offering passports for between $1,000 and $1,500 on the black market.  In addition to the blank passports, Islamic State seized machinery for the production of passports and personal identity papers.  Security officials are concerned that jihadists will use the passports to disguise themselves as refugees and infiltrate Europe, the paper reported.  Now why would anyone think that?  These are simply misunderstood people with a colorful point of view.

GAS PRICES PLUNGE – From Bloomberg:   Just as Americans start to hit the road for the holidays, the average price of gasoline at the pump has dropped below $2 a gallon for the first time in more than six years as global oil supply continues to surge.  The average pump price fell to $1.999 a gallon at about 4 p.m. New York time on Saturday, according to data from GasBuddy Organization, a price tracker based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. That compares with an average price of $2.11 a month ago and $2.44 one year ago.  Low oil prices tied to overproduction and to lower seasonal demand are “the main catalyst” for the decline, said Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, in a phone interview.  Good news for consumers, but the caution signal must be sounded.  An oil price that is too low can stifle exploration, and roll back the progress we've made in oil production in the United States.  We're becoming energy independent, and we don't want that process to be frustrated by prices so low that the profit incentive disappears.

December 20, 2015       Permalink

LATEST POLL – AT 11:22 A.M. ET:  The latest CBS News/Battleground Tracker poll, as reported in The Hill, shows a split situation in the GOP primaries:

Donald Trump enjoys a comfortable lead in New Hampshire, according to a CBS News Battleground Tracker poll released Sunday morning that also shows Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) holding the top spot in Iowa.

Trump has 32 percent support in New Hampshire, followed by Cruz with 14 percent, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) with 13 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie with 11 percent.

Christie had just 5 percent support in the Granite State last month, CBS noted.

Cruz holds a 9-point lead over Trump in Iowa, 40 to 31 percent, pollsters found. Rubio holds third place with 12 percent. Evangelicals have boosted Cruz, the network said, as have former backers of Ben Carson, who has slipped to fourth place in Iowa with 6 percent.

Cruz easily tops Trump among respondents in Iowa who say “faith and religion” matters more than terrorism and the economy, CBS added.

Trump also holds a 15-point lead over Cruz in the early voting state of South Carolina, according to the poll.

COMMENT:  The fact is that neither Iowa nor New Hampshire has been particularly accurate predictors of the ultimate nomination winner.  The key question, it seems to me, is whether Trump can be sufficiently wounded in early primaries to freeze his position and allow others to climb.  Whether those others climb may well depend on low-ranking candidates dropping out and permitting a true race among four or so survivors, where voters can actually concentrate on individuals.

December 20, 2015       Permalink

MORE APPEASEMENT – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  President Obama continues his rush to "normalize" relations with Cuba, music to the ears of the Marxist left, but the people of Cuba are still held in a prison.  From the Latin American Herald Tribune:   

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the economic embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba in 1962 is “the legacy of a failed policy,” once again urging Congress to lift it on the first anniversary of the launching of a process of rapprochement and bilateral normalization of relations.

In a statement issued on the anniversary of the policy shift, Obama also reiterated that “change” in Cuba will not occur “overnight” and that full normalization of relations “will be a long journey.”

Obama emphasized the “important steps” that have been taken over the past year to normalize relations, including reestablishing diplomatic ties with the opening of embassies in Washington and Havana, facilitating more travel and trade with Cuba and “connecting more Americans and Cubans.”

In addition, thanks to the change in U.S. policy toward Cuba, Washington is “in a stronger position” to engage “the people and governments of our hemisphere,” Obama said.

That's nice, but we could have demanded more for the Cuban people in the face of their dictatorial government.  We did not.

“We continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but we raise those issues directly, and we will always stand for human rights and the universal values that we support around the globe,” the president added.

What values could those possibly be?  This man has done nothing to advance human rights.

On Dec. 17, 2014, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the start of an historic process to normalize bilateral relations after more than half a century of enmity.

Today, the two governments announced that they had reached an agreement to resume direct commercial flights between the two countries, and last week they said they had agreed to reestablish direct postal service via a pilot plan for transporting mail and packages.

COMMENT:  It's still the Castro regime.  The kind of people around Obama have no real problems with that regime, just as they are untroubled by Iran.  Most Americans think otherwise.

December 20, 2015        Permalink

HILLARY MESSES IT UP – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  You just can't let her out of the house.  From The Hill: 

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton asserted that the U.S. is "finally where we need to be" in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) — and she is getting pilloried by conservatives for saying so.

"We now finally are where we need to be. We have a strategy and a commitment to go after ISIS," the former secretary of State said in the Democratic presidential debate on Saturday night.

"And we finally have a U.N. Security Council resolution bringing the world together to go after a political transition in Syria," she added.

With most Americans disapproving of President Obama's handling of terrorism, Clinton risks appearing out of touch with her comments.

Republican Party operatives were quick to post the video of Clinton's statement on YouTube, and the remark also ignited a storm of protest from conservatives on social media.

COMMENT:  I feel her pain.  She's living in two worlds – the real world, where we're losing to ISIS on virtually every front, and Obama's world, where we're doing everything right.  She has to show the public that she's independent of the administration, but she must bow to Obama's fantasies to keep his support. 

What's a mother to do?

December 20,  2015     Permalink