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

FEBRUARY 3,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:48 P.M. ET: 

NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MARXISTS – From the New York Post:  "JOHANNESBURG — The executors of Nelson Mandela’s estate say he left behind about $4.1 million and that the will’s beneficiaries include his family, members of his staff, schools that he attended and the African National Congress, the liberation movement during white rule that now governs South Africa."  And I'll bet not one of the beneficiaries will question whether some of the cash came from "dirty capitalist" sources.

WENDY'S WAYS – Wendy Davis, until recently the Dems' great hope for the governorship of Texas, is having a tough time with her carefully cultivated image as brave Wendy, come to save us.  First, we learned that she had some previously unreported "assistance" along the way.  (Does the term "Sugar daddy" come to mind?)  Now we find that Wendy, when using other people's money, has very expensive tastes.  From NRO:  "The gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Wendy Davis filed its January semiannual finance report with the Texas Ethics Commission, detailing how much donors have given the campaign and how it’s being spent.  She may have once been 'living in a tiny trailer' – at least for four months – but Wendy Davis’s campaign ensures she sleeps in better places these days.  When in New York, she stayed at the Sofitel, running up $1,545.55 in charges from October 22 to 24.   When in San Francisco from August 17 to 19, she stayed at the Fairmont Hotel, running up $1,015.27 in charges."  She'd be great with the budget of Texas, wouldn't she?

A FEW TECHNICAL PROBLEMS – From Fox:  "Thousands of people who tried to sign up for a health plan via the federal health-care exchange website, Healthcare.gov, have seen their appeals to fix site issues go unanswered.  The Washington Post, citing internal government data, reports that approximately 22,000 Americans have filed appeals to try and get site errors corrected. The complaints range from being denied coverage altogether to being overcharged for coverage to being steered into the wrong program.  So far, months after the site launched October 1, the appeals have been untouched. What's more, the Post reports, people who have tried to call the marketplace directly for assistance, have been told that the Healthcare.gov computer system is not yet allowing workers to correct enrollment records.  In theory, error appeals can be filed through the site itself, by phone, or by mail. However, only the mail appeal is currently available. But according to the Post, the appeal by mail process only goes as far as scanning the seven-page forms and transferring them to a computer system, where they currently sit unread and uncorrected."  We're talking about life-and-death issues here.  Note the deep concern on the part of the Obama press.

HIS INSPIRATION – From Breitbart:  "President Barack Obama's home state, which has been governed by Democrats throughout his national political career, has slipped in the rankings and now has the third-worst unemployment rate in the nation. Though the jobless rate was the same in December 2013 (8.6%) as in December 2012, the state's labor force declined by a staggering 80,000 workers, according to Michael Lucci of the Illinois Policy Institute."  But the Republican-run states nearby, Wisconsin and Indiana, are doing well.  Is there a lesson there?

February 3, 2014       Permalink

THE GAME – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:   It is over.  The Seattle Seahawks devoured the favored Denver Broncos to win the Super Bowl. 

Various wireless reports inform me that the result has thrown Seattle into deep crisis.  As you know, it is a leftist city made up largely of Maoists from San Francisco seeking cheaper housing.  It has a socialist on its city council.  I do not wish to live there.

I understand that the socialists are traumatized by their city's "victory."  That is a word they hate, a word they associate with oppression by capitalist societies and the warmongering ruling classes.  They wish they hadn't won.  They are comfortable being losers.  Losers are the good people.  A petition is being circulated by the Lenin Lions, a local booster group, to declare both Super Bowl teams winners, in the spirit of multiculturalism and inter-city equality, and to suppress nationalist cravings.

There is also deep upset in Seattle because the intelligentsia has discovered that the team's name is the Seahawks.  If that isn't militarism, I don't know what is.  City nurturers (they don't call them fathers) are demanding a probe into how that name was adopted.  They want it changed to the Seattle Peace Pigeons.   And they don't want players to have numbers any longer.  Numbers suggest elitist rankings.  They want every player to wear the number "0." 

I've already seen e-mails from some prominent Seattle leftists demanding that the cheerleaders wear burkas.  I can't wait for the group photo.

February 3, 2014       Permalink

HACKS AT WORK – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:   You'd think the Obama administration, with its base in the seaminess of Chicago politics, would try to demonstrate some sensitivity in its appointments.  Just last week we were treated to the spectacle of President Obama's nominee to be ambassador to Norway.  He appeared for his confirmation hearing...and demonstrated that he knew nothing about Norway.  But he had raised many dollars for the Obama campaign. 

The Department of Homeland Security is an extremely important division of the government.  Its task is to protect us, to preserve lives, to keep the homeland safe.  And look at its latest pride and joy.  From the Washington Times:

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s newest appointee to his inner circle, chief of staff Christian Marrone, rose to Washington power player via the streets of Pennsylvania’s pay-to-play politics.

Mr. Marrone acknowledged in court that as a Pennsylvania legislative aide he oversaw the private renovation of his politician boss’s mansion — all while drawing paychecks from taxpayers, according to court records reviewed by The Washington Times.

Mr. Marrone was never charged, but prosecutors estimated that he spent 80 percent of his first year and a half in his state job doing the private work of state Sen. Vince Fumo, the records show.

The job afforded him a steady salary right out of college and the opportunity to court and eventually marry Mr. Fumo’s daughter. It also allowed him to help land his father a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission that lasted 10 years, records show.

Ultimately, father and son were ensnared as cooperating witnesses in corruption trials, testifying about pay-to-play schemes and diversion of tax dollars.

Christian Marrone agreed to become a central witness in the 2008 federal trial that sent his father-in-law, Mr. Fumo, to prison for four years on 137 corruption charges.

In court, Mr. Marrone blamed the culture of south Philadelphia politics for his actions, saying he was young and didn’t know any better at the time. But he also acknowledged that he was so concerned about the activities in Mr. Fumo’s office that he kept a stockpile of documents for his own “protection” because he expected one day to land in court.

COMMENT:  Couldn't they have gotten anyone better for Homeland Security?  And what does this say about the department's new head, Jeh Johnson? 

Apparently, the White House doesn't take the department seriously.  It's being used as a political dumping ground.  Feel safer?

February 3, 2014       Permalink

MR. CREDIBILITY – AT 7:53 A.M. ET:  The Obama White House, that bastion of American strength and freedom, assures us that the Syrians won't get away with the pretty obvious cheating they're engaged in regarding their chemical weapons.  From The Wall Street Journal:

The White House said Sunday it would “make sure” the Syrian regime complies with an accord to give up its chemical arsenal, insisting the deal can still be salvaged despite implementation delays and missed deadlines.

“It’s not falling apart, but we would like to see it proceed much more quickly than it is,” White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Mr. McDonough said the U.S. isn’t dependent on Russia to bring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime into compliance. Moscow is the regime’s main arms supplier and key international backer.

“We’re going to make sure that the Syrians live up to their obligations. They have an obligation to the international community to do exactly what they said they’d do,” Mr. McDonough said.

Mr. McDonough stopped short of saying what the U.S. would do if the Assad regime doesn’t change course. “I’m not going to get into any ‘or whats’ here,” he said.

Of course not.  That's because his boss, President Obama, really doesn't intend to do much of anything.  That's been the pattern.

Secretary of State John Kerry has raised U.S. concerns about the Assad regime’s conduct with international counterparts during a trip to Europe this weekend. “We’ll keep pushing on that,” Mr. McDonough said.

COMMENT:  Yeah, you push, fella.  We're being laughed at all over the world as a paper tiger.  Some in the "international community" may have disliked George W. Bush, but they took him seriously.  They knew he meant what he said, at least in his first term.  Obama avoided military action in Syria, even after it was proved that Syria had used chemical weapons. 

No one wants to see U.S. troops committed to Syria's civil war.  But an international military coalition could have been built, and Syria's ports could have been blockaded.  Now the Syrians are cheating on their agreement to dismantle and destroy their chemical weapons.  And we're pledging to "get tough."  Right.  Ask the North Korean nuclear program chiefs just how tough we are.

February 3, 2014       Permalink

ADVENTURES OF A YES-WOMAN – AT 7:48 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton has now put her weight behind President Obama's opposition to any new sanctions on Iran.  From The Politico:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made clear she supports President Barack Obama’s call to allow the current negotiations over ending Iran’s nuclear development and that new sanctions being debated by Congress should be shelved while those talks take place, according to a late-January letter she wrote obtained by POLITICO.

Clinton made her views clear in a Jan. 26 missive sent to her former Senate colleague, Democrat Carl Levin of Michigan. It’s the first time that Clinton’s perspective on the current discussions have been laid out in detail.

Levin wrote to Clinton 10 days earlier, asking for her guidance as former Secretary of State on what effect new sanctions would have on the efforts to reach a comprehensive deal with Tehran.

“I share the opinion of you and many of your colleagues that these sanctions and the carefully constructed global consensus behind them are responsible for driving Tehran to the negotiating table. It was because sanctions worked that we are starting implementation of the Joint Plan of Action, an important step – though still only a first step – toward a comprehensive solution,” Clinton wrote in the letter.

“Now that serious negotiations are finally under way, we should do everything we can to test whether they can advance a permanent solution. As President Obama said, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed, while keeping all options on the table,” she wrote.

COMMENT:   Look, she had to say it.  What choice did she have?  Until Obama is off the stage, Hillary has to be the loyal soldier.  However, by endorsing Obama's policy, she becomes a part owner.  If it fails, Republicans will rightly go after her.  And, after all, she was Obama's secretary of state. 

Her wording, though, gives her some wiggle room.  She endorses sanctions, hoping the public will forget that the administration she served actually opposed the toughest of them.  She wants to keep "all options" on the table, making her sound tough...even though she knows Obama is determined to avoid the use of force. 

She's perfecting a balancing act, loyalty balanced with a careful independence.  It's a tough act.  It may not play if America loses this round, or more Americans are lost.

February 3,  2014     Permalink

FEBRUARY 2,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 5:09 P.M. ET: 

ANTICIPATION – The Super Bowl starts very soon.  As I understand it, two western villages – Denver and Seattle – are involved.  The game will be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the NFL wants you to think it's being played in New York.  The mayor of East Rutherford wasn't even invited.  I mean, not even an end zone ticket.  He doesn't complain, though.  It's New Jersey.  If you complain, they take you on an unscheduled trip.  THIS JUST IN:  The ultra-leftist city council of Seattle has asked that both teams be declared winners, to avoid the appearance of cultural clash and geographic oppression of western peoples.  The league is considering it.

KRISTOL TO ABC – From The Politico:  "Bill Kristol, the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined ABC News as a contributor, 'This Week' host George Stephanopoulos announced on Sunday.  A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed with ABC in a handshake agreement that they're about to sign. ABC News spokesperson Heather Riley also confirmed Kristol's move in an email.  The agreement, one source said, includes regular appearances on the Sunday show, as well as special events and other politically related events. But there's also a window that allows him to do other shows on cable television."  Good.  ABC News can use all the conservative contributors it can get.

TROUBLE IN THE RANKS – From WaPo:  "Labor leaders who have spent months lobbying unsuccessfully for special protections under the Affordable Care Act warned this week that the White House’s continued refusal to help is dampening union support for Democratic candidates in this year’s midterm elections.  Leaders of two major unions, including the first to endorse Obama in 2008, said they have been betrayed by an administration that wooed their support for the 2009 legislation with promises to later address the peculiar needs of union-negotiated insurance plans that cover millions of workers."  When are laboring people going to realize that Obama, and his elite crowd, care nothing about them?  The Democratic Party hasn't been a true labor-friendly party since the early 70s.  The party's betrayal of labor led to the Reagan Democrats of 1980.  It's time for more Reagan Democrats.

February 2, 2014       Permalink 

SOCHI UPDATE – AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  We are getting ready for the Super Bowl here in New York.  I understand two foreign villages – Denver and Seattle – are playing.  New Yorkers are shocked that no local team, even a high-school team, was invited. 

We are now told that the Seattle city council, which has a certified socialist on it, is demanding that both teams win, in a spirit of multicultural understanding and to reduce nationalistic tendencies.

But the main event, starting Friday, is the Olympics, in Sochi, Russia.  Not all is well, as Fox reports:

With less than a week remaining before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Russian Olympic officials have admitted that only six of the nine media hotels in the area are fully operational.

Unless reporters have hot towels and a bar, they won't show up.

With thousands of journalists expected to pour into the Black Sea resort in the days leading up to the opening of the games Friday, the International Olympic Committee is urging organizers to move quickly to resolve the issue. Some media have already arrived in Sochi and found themselves with no place to stay.

"There are still some issues to be solved as always just before the games," IOC President Thomas Bach said. "We are in contact with the organizing committee and we hope that the situation will be solved in the next couple of days."

The matter was being examined Sunday at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee executive board.

The Russian government has spent $51 billion on the Olympics in the hopes of turning the Black Sea summer resort into a year-round tourism destination.

While pre-games attention has focused on cost overruns, threats of terrorist attacks and the Russian law banning gay "propaganda" among minors, the hotel situation could become an embarrassment for local organizers.

COMMENT:  Sochi already has a black eye because of the terror threats.  It's getting blacker.  Maybe the young athletes should simply vote on a new place to go, and set up shop.

But we'll be watching.  Keep an eye on Gracie Gold, the American figure skater, who has a chance at real stardom. 

February 2, 2014       Permalink

ANOTHER GREAT FOREIGN-POLICY SUCCESS – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  Our agreement with Syria, that it dismantle its chemical weapons and send them away for disposal, is breaking down.  Obama recently boasted that his diplomacy, resulting in the agreement, prevented military action.  Yeah, right.  Like our diplomacy with Iran has stopped their nuclear program.  From the Jerusalem Post, quoting the Times of London: 

The Sunday Times quoted both Israeli and Russian sources as claiming that Syrian President Bashar Assad is stockpiling weapons of mass destruction in Alawite enclaves on the western coast of Syria.

According to the Times, these sources report that the work has been ongoing despite the first round of peace talks between Assad's regime and the rebels, held last week in Geneva. The talks are largely seen as having been inconclusive.

One source stated that Assad has turned over only four percent of the regime's chemical weapons and that the regime will miss this week's deadline to send all toxic agents for destruction abroad.

Israel believes that the collected arsenal is mainly consistent of chemical warheads for missiles and warheads, and that it is concealed within the Alawite enclave on Syria's western coast. One IDF source said about Assad's defense of the Alawite region between Latakia and Turkey that, "This region is now totally fortified and isolated from the rest of Syria.”

COMMENT:  This is an awful development, with profound implications for the future of the Mideast.  But does anyone really care?  Obama's pathetic weakness, his delusional view of his own diplomatic "successes," and the growing indifference of the American people, are a devil's brew.

I just hope our children don't have to pay the price for Obama's negligence in office.

February 2, 2014      Permalink

WARNING FROM THE EAST – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  At a time when we're playing nice with the Iranians, and nary a frown is issued from the White House, the Iranians apparently haven't gotten the message.  From the Daily Caller:

A top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards boasted Saturday that his forces have plans in place to attack the United States from within, should the U.S. attack the Islamic Republic.

“America, with its strategic ignorance, does not have a full understanding of the power of the Islamic Republic,” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said in a televised interview. “We have recognized America’s military strategy, and have arranged our abilities, and have identified centers in America [for attack] that will create a shock.”

Reports indicate that terrorist Hezbollah forces — allies of Iran — have infiltrated the U.S. and have mapped out targets.

“We will conduct such a blow in which they [America] will be destroyed from within,” Salami said.

This is the second warning by a high-ranking officer of the Guards in two weeks. The chief commander of the Guards, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jafari, addressing Secretary of State John Kerry, said on Jan. 24 that a direct conflict with America is the “strongest dream of the faithful and revolutionary men around the world.”

COMMENT:  I would take this very seriously.  We didn't take warnings before 9-11 seriously, and paid for it.  I have no doubt that Iran does serious target mapping here.  They know it is a hatchet to be held over our heads if we contemplate military action against them.  Infiltrating terrorists into the U.S., especially across our southern border, isn't that difficult. 

On the other hand, I doubt if Obama would ever actually use military force against Iran.  Even his periodic statements that "all options are on the table" ring hollow.  He doesn't want to end his administration with an act of hostility, even if justified, against the Muslim world, for which he has profound sympathy.

February 2,  2014     Permalink