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JULY 30, 2014

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

MAJOR DIVERSITY NEWS – From the Washington Times, URGENT:  "MSNBC host Ronan Farrow took to his panel Tuesday to discuss what he perceives as a lack of racial diversity among emoji characters.  Emoji, originating in Japan, describes the ideograms or smiley faces used in electronic messages, such as texting and social media.  'Do you think there’s a limitation we’re suffering from in terms of the racial diversity of these emojis? Mr. Farrow asked linguist John McWhorter, who is black, Newsbusters reported.  'No, I think that actually what we’re going to see more is a gender skew,' Mr. McWhorter argued. 'Apparently women are more likely to use them and more richly.'"  McWhorter is a good guy, with common sense.  Farrow plays in a sandbox.  This is what it's come to.

CYNICAL – President Obama plays a softer version of the race card.  From Breitbart:  "In Kansas City today, President Obama complained that Republicans continued to oppose his agenda in Congress.
'C’mon and help out a bit,' he said, addressing the GOP. 'Stop bein’ mad all the time. Stop just hatin’ all the time. C’mon, let’s get some work done together.'"  I love it when he reverts to that "just folks" accent, pretty much like Hillary when, as first lady of Arkansas, she developed a Southern accent.  His reference to hate is outrageous.  No one hates him.  They disagree with him.  But the Dems are using charged language to ignite their base, to warn that the people in the white sheets are just around the corner.  Disgraceful.

FAREWELL – From Fox:  "ATLANTA – The last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age, has died in Georgia.  Theodore VanKirk, also known as 'Dutch,' died Monday of natural causes at the retirement home where he lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia, his son Tom VanKirk said. He was 93.  VanKirk flew nearly 60 bombing missions, but it was a single mission in the Pacific that secured him a place in history. He was 24 years old when he served as navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb deployed in wartime over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945."  I have no doubt that he was the subject of abuse all his life from the fashionable leftists.  The use of the atomic bomb was painful, but tragically necessary.  It ended the war quickly and prevented a further bloodbath. 

CORRECTION – Quoting from the Washington Times, Short Takes reported last night that "for the first time in U.S. history, a Middle Eastern-based firm is poised to manage a strategic U.S. port on Florida’s Atlantic coast, rekindling national security concerns inside Congress."  Sharp-eyed reader Muriel Goldberg pointed out today that this was an error.  In 2006 a controversy arose over a proposal to have Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates, manage six American ports, including Miami.  The proposal, backed by the Bush administration, was vigorously opposed by many others on national-security grounds.  Eventually the proposal lost significance when Dubai Ports World sold its American interests. 

July 30,  2014     Permalink   

FOX ROMPS – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  Can anyone stop Fox News Channel?   Like Old Man River, it just keeps rolling along.  From Hollywood Reporter: 

Perennial ratings victor Fox News Channel celebrates a new milestone this week: It just wrapped its 50th consecutive quarter (and 150th consecutive month) as the most watched cable news network in both total day and primetime. It's a record only matched by ESPN, which has enjoyed a similar dominance in the sports category.

Though FNC, like all cable news networks, saw year-to-year losses in the second quarter, its average 1.6 million viewers and 267,000 adults 25-54 still gives it large margins of victory in primetime — where its biggest competition might be itself. In recent weeks, 9 p.m. anchor Megyn Kelly has out-rated her lead-in, reigning cable news champ Bill O'Reilly, on several occasions.

COMMENT:  Fox News is classic capitalism.  They found a need, and filled it.  In this case, the need was for a news channel that wasn't slanted to the left, did stories others weren't doing, and appealed to the great American middle. 

Megyn Kelly is very solid.  A trained lawyer, she didn't let good looks stand in her way.  Her interviews are informed, neutral, and tough.  Fox has placed great faith in her, and that faith seems justified.

July 30, 2014       Permalink

ANOTHER KIND OF ELECTRICAL JOLT – AT 9:29 A.M. ET:  Remember when candidate Obama said his energy policies would drive up electric rates.  Nobody seemed to notice at the time.  Well, his dream of higher rates is coming true.  Change we can't believe in.  From CNS: 

(CNSNews.com) - For the first time ever, the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity in the United States has broken through the 14-cent mark, climbing to a record 14.3 cents in June, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Before this June, the highest the average price for a KWH had ever gone was 13.7 cents, the level it hit in June, July, August and September of last year.

The 14.3-cents average price for a KWH recorded this June is about 4.4 percent higher than that previous record.

Typically, the cost of electricity peaks in summer, declines in fall, and hits its lowest point of the year during winter. In each of the first six months of this year, the average price for a KWH hour of electricity has hit a record for that month. In June, it hit the all-time record.

COMMENT:  These rates will go much higher.  They affect every American, and hit the poor and lower middle class highest.  The mainstream media doesn't show much interest.  Eventually, though, people will realize that this is money you don't get back.  They'll start looking at energy policies that are hurting families.  Not that this White House really cares.

July 30, 2014       Permalink

THE ONLY POLL THAT COUNTS – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  Related to our post just below.  As they say, the only poll that counts is the one on election day.  Dems are worried.  From The Hill: 

Record-low primary election turnout is threatening to magnify Democratic midterm worries.

Both parties have made their “get out the vote” programs a top priority for November, investing millions in building bigger ground operations earlier than ever before.

The challenge is most dire for Democrats, who are defending a fragile six-seat Senate majority that relies on a handful of races in hostile, GOP-leaning territory — and trying to pick up House seats in a difficult year, politically.

Their push this week to raise the alarm — and campaign cash — over the GOP lawsuit against President Obama and to stoke fears of impeachment shows just how worried Democrats ar

And...

A Pew poll out last week showed 45 percent who said they planned to vote Republican reported being more enthusiastic about voting this year than in years prior, while only 37 percent of those who supported a Democratic candidate said the same.

And GOP operatives note that in other states soon facing a vote, like Tennessee next week, early voting is on the rise — an encouraging sign they see as indicative of Republican enthusiasm this fall. An operative engaged in House races pointed in particular to GOP turnout in the special election in Florida’s 13th District, when more than 40 percent of Republicans went to the polls, as evidence of strong enthusiasm from their party.

COMMENT:  The Republican Party does seem to be getting into the modern era.  There really has been an effort to recruit good candidates and to avoid the embarrassing types who cost the party easily winnable elections in places like Missouri, Indiana and Delaware in recent election years. 

And the Republican ground game – getting out the vote – has been improved dramatically.  It's that poll on election day that we're aiming for.

July 30, 2014       Permalink

WE HOPE SO – AT 8:43 A.M. ET:  The New York Times, in a major breach of the party line, actually has some good news for our side.  Maybe religion is coming to the old paper.  From the Weekly Standard: 

If the midterm elections were held today, the Republican party could expect a three-seat majority in the Senate next year, according to the new poll from the New York Times, CBS News, and YouGov. The poll, which surveyed voters across the 34 states with Senate races via an online panel, finds GOP candidates leading in 8 races for seats currently held by Democrats. The Times gives the Republican party a "60 percent chance" at wresting control of the Senate.

Three races are relatively solid for the Republican candidates—Mike Rounds of South Dakota (27 points ahead), Steve Daines of Montana (16 points) and Shelley Moore Capito (8 points). In Arkansas, Republican congressman Tom Cotton has a 4-point lead over Democratic senator Mark Pryor. In Michigan, Louisiana, Iowa, and North Carolina, the Democratic candidates, including two sitting senators, trail the Republicans by only a point. Meanwhile, the Democrat in Colorado, Mark Udall, leads GOP challenger Colorado by just four points, and Republicans appear to be within striking distance of vulnerable Democrats by trailing by 10 points or fewer in New Jersey, Virginia, and New Hampshire.

In Alaska, leading GOP candidate Dan Sullivan trails Democratic senator Mark Begich by more than 10 points, while another GOP candidate, Mead Treadwell, is within 2 points of Begich. But the Times’s Nate Cohn urges caution with the poll’s Alaska results, noting that poor Internet penetration in the state made it much more difficult to get a representative sample, and a few other polls show a closer Sullivan-Begich race.

What else does the Times/CBS News/YouGov panoramic snapshot reveal about the state of the race four months out? Overall, the Democrats’ firewall appears to be eroding. While South Dakota, Montana, and West Virginia have been long gone as far as Democrats were concerned, the objective for the GOP has always been to win at least three of the four reddest states with Democratic incumbents—Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Alaska—in order to win an outright majority. Already Republicans are ahead, by a little, in the requisite three, which tracks with other polls of the races in Arkansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina.

COMMENT:  Well, okay, that's soothing news.  The idea now is not to take it seriously, as President Dewey might have advised.  Fight as if we're 30 points behind.  The glass isn't only half empty, there's no glass.  Fight for every seat, even New Jersey.

July 30,  2014     Permalink

JULY 29,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:05 P.M. ET: 

MAJOR CULTURAL ADVICE – Sent by my Iranian dissident friend, Banafsheh Zand.  From Britain's Independent:  "Women should not laugh in public in Turkey, the Deputy Prime Minister has said in a speech on 'moral corruption' in the country.  Bülent Arinç used a meeting for Eid al-Fitr on Monday to condemn perceived moral regression, consumerism and even excessive mobile phone use."  It's all those night and weekend minutes.  That's what's destroying us.  I always knew it.  And women laughing in public?  Read any history of civilizations that die and you'll find it.

GOOD FOR FRANCE – From Reuters:  "France said on Monday it was ready to welcome Christians from northern Iraq who have been told by the al Qaeda offshoot group now ruling the region to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death.  Islamic State insurgents seized large swathes of northern Iraq last month, prompting hundreds of Christian families in Mosul to flee a city which has hosted the faith since its earliest years."  I don't recall that devoted Christian, Barack Obama, saying anything about this.

MORE FROM THE STREETS OF CHICAGO – From CBS:  " In broad daylight, two older men armed with guns held up a medical clinic on the West Side and made off with hundreds of dollars’ worth of Viagra and other drugs.  Causing little attention, two men entered a West Side medical center Saturday on the pretense of wanting to see the dentist. But as soon an employee opened the door of the office, he was met with two bandits brandishing a semi-automatic and a handgun. They told him to put up his hands and get on his knees.  Minutes later, the robbers started filling a box with drugs. They took 56 Viagra pills worth $1,700. "  That's what you call optimism.

SUICIDE – From the Washington Times:  "For the first time in U.S. history, a Middle Eastern-based firm is poised to manage a strategic U.S. port on Florida’s Atlantic coast, rekindling national security concerns inside Congress. Rep. Duncan Hunter, the California Republican who oversees port security as chairman of the House Transportation’s maritime transportation subcommittee, demanded Tuesday that the Obama administration conduct a full national security review of the decision last month by Gulftainer to sign a 35-year contract with Florida’s Port Canaveral.  The firm is a privately owned cargo terminal operator based in the United Arab Emirates, a confederation of governments friendly to the U.S. but which has also been identified as a source of terrorist funding over the years. The 9/11 commission, in fact, reported that much of the money for the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington flowed through UAE’s open financial sector."  This is madness, but expected in the age of Obama.  One great national-security fear is that weapons of mass destruction could be infiltrated into the United States through our harbors.

July 29,  2014     Permalink

CAN WE JUST GET ALONG? – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  I hope I'm sensitive to issues of religious freedom.  Indeed, I'm always moved when I visit Jefferson's grave in Charlottesville, Virginia, and note the reference on his gravestone that he authored the"statute of Virginia for religious freedom."

But some people are so sensitive to any mention of religion in any public place that they have turned the issue of religious freedom on its head.  Thus, the motto "In God We Trust," the official motto of the United States since 1956, is under assault once more.  There are some people, who claim they feel "excluded," who want it removed from local courthouses and offices.  From Fox: 

Should “In God We Trust” adorn the chambers of Washington state’s Pierce County Council?

That’s the apparently controversial question facing councilmembers on Tuesday, a day after a council committee decided to bring the proposal to a vote of the full seven-member council, the Tacoma News Tribune reports. Councilman Jim McCune, the Republican sponsor of the measure, said the national motto is inspiring and patriotic — and he’s unclear why the proposal has created such controversy.

“’In God We Trust’ is universal,” he told the newspaper. “It doesn’t have ‘In Muhammad We Trust,’ it doesn’t have ‘In Jesus We Trust.’”

Council Chairman Dan Roach said most of the 20 emails he read as of Monday opposed displaying a plaque emblazoned with the motto, which has reportedly become part of a national movement in local government buildings, with nearly 400 cities and counties in 23 states voting to display the motto.

Councilmembers Connie Ladenburg, D-Tacoma, and Rick Talbert, D-Tacoma, both oppose the idea, saying it isn’t inclusive.

“I just don’t think that we should be here talking about religion in government,” Ladenburg told the newspaper.

Sam Mulvey, chairman of Humanists of Washington, told the Rules and Operations Committee on Monday that he felt excluded by the proposal.

“It is not inclusive,” he said, according to the newspaper. “It would be a clear sign to me that Pierce County does not care about me and does not care about the people who think as I do.”

McCune, meanwhile, is defending his proposal.

“I’m not doing this for taking a stand or making a point,” he told the Tacoma News Tribune. “I’m doing this because it is our national heritage.”

COMMENT:  McCune is correct.  The motto is not specific to any religion, there is no establishment of religion, and no one is even required to recite it or believe in it.  The term "God" is religiously neutral, as is "Creator" in the Declaration of Independence. 

I have no doubt that religion is sometimes abused in the public square.  But putting the national motto on the wall is not one of those examples.  Put the plaque up.  If people feel "excluded" by its presence, make them feel welcome by treating them equally.  But don't give up our national heritage.  We have too little of it left already.

July 29, 2014       Permalink

WELCOME TO THE RECOVERY – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  This is not a sign of a strong economy.  From AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- More than 35 percent of Americans have debts and unpaid bills that have been reported to collection agencies, according to a study released Tuesday by the Urban Institute.

These consumers fall behind on credit cards or hospital bills. Their mortgages, auto loans or student debt pile up, unpaid. Even past-due gym membership fees or cellphone contracts can end up with a collection agency, potentially hurting credit scores and job prospects, said Caroline Ratcliffe, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank.

"Roughly, every third person you pass on the street is going to have debt in collections," Ratcliffe said. "It can tip employers' hiring decisions, or whether or not you get that apartment."

The study found that 35.1 percent of people with credit records had been reported to collections for debt that averaged $5,178, based on September 2013 records. The study points to a disturbing trend: The share of Americans in collections has remained relatively constant, even as the country as a whole has whittled down the size of its credit card debt since the official end of the Great Recession in the middle of 2009.

As a share of people's income, credit card debt has reached its lowest level in more than a decade, according to the American Bankers Association. People increasingly pay off balances each month. Just 2.44 percent of card accounts are overdue by 30 days or more, versus the 15-year average of 3.82 percent.

COMMENT:  Even as we presumably create new jobs, the dirty little secret is that incomes aren't rising with the times.  We reported last week that household wealth is a third less than a decade ago.  Many of the jobs created are inferior to the jobs that have been lost.

Americans don't feel good about the economy, or optimistic about their own futures, and that's the real bottom line, at least in politics.

July 29, 2014       Permalink

AMERICAN OPINION AND THE BORDER CRISIS – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  What is striking is the number of Hispanics who agree with the majority of Americans on this issue.  From Breitbart:

If you are curious as to why the mainstream media so quickly lost interest in the still-ongoing story of our Southern border crisis, it has everything to do with public opinion and little to do with competing stories in the Ukraine and Gaza.

When this story first broke at Breitbart Texas, the media jumped all over it. At first, it was obvious the media planned to exploit the story of 50-plus thousand unaccompanied Central American children illegally crossing our border as a way to pressure the GOP into caving on amnesty. A new poll from Economist/YouGov shows how badly that plan backfired -- even among Hispanics.

Rather than convince the American people that passing a mass amnesty is what's needed, the burst of border coverage earlier this month convinced 77% of the American people that the kids need to be sent back home. A full 42% want the kids sent back immediately regardless of what's happening in their home countries. Add to that another 35% who want them sent back unless their home country is deemed unsafe.

Only 11% want what Obama, Democrats, and the media want -- which is amnesty for everyone.

The numbers are not all that different among Hispanics. Only 22% want to give the children amnesty. A full 64% want the children deported. Of that 64%, 28% want them deported immediately; 36% want them deported unless their home country is deemed unsafe.

That puts Hispanics almost perfectly in line with the rest of country.

The poll also shows that the media's collective decision to, at least for now, ignore the crisis, is out of step with the American people; 81% of whom see it as a serious problem.

The biggest tell that the media's propaganda campaign backfired is that a full 57% of those polled believe that the jump in illegals is due to the belief the American government will grant children amnesty. Only 29% believe it has anything to do with increased violence in Central America.

The poll also shows that only 40% of Hispanics believe violence is what prompted the flood of illegal children. A full 51% believe it was the promise of amnesty.

What Democrats and the media fail to understand is that what's making the American people uneasy is a sense of chaos. The fact that Obama has already entered his post-presidency phase of golf, celebrity dinner parties, cash-grabs, and lavish vacations, only contributes to that sense of unease.

COMMENT:  Some way must be found to take care of these kids while they're here – we are a Judeo-Christian nation, after all – but repatriate them in an orderly manner, being sensitive to legitimate claims of persecution. 

With a little imagination we could come up with a program to increase immigration from Latin America, but immigration in line with American laws and practices.  There are millions of people, many of them Hispanic, who are waiting to get into this country legally.  What do we tell them if we open the gates to those who choose not to follow the law.

George Will surprised conservatives over the weekend by suggesting that we could absorb all the children at the border into the U.S. by spreading them around the country.  That is true, and Will is speaking compassionately.  But there is still the matter of those children who are parts of families trying to enter legally.  We need the wisdom of Solomon on this, not the wisdom of Barack.

July 29, 2014       Permalink

SERIOUS STUFF – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  The United States has – surprisingly for the Obama administration – has made a grave charge against Moscow.  From Fox: 

The Obama administration has accused Russia of violating a 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing a ground-launched cruise missile and says the U.S. is prepared for immediate high-level dialogue with Moscow over the matter.

An administration official told Fox News in a statement that the violation "is a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now." The New York Times first reported the accusation.

President Obama informed Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter Monday of the U.S.'s determination that Russia broke the agreement. The official said the U.S. is prepared to engage in "senior-level bilateral dialogue immediately" with Russia with the goal of assuring Washington that Moscow will return to compliance with the treaty.

"The United States is committed to the viability of the I.N.F. Treaty," the official said. "We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the Treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable manner."

According to the Times, Russia started testing the missiles as early as 2008, and the Obama administration flagged them as a possible violation at the end of 2011.

Russian officials have said they looked into the allegations and consider the matter closed.

COMMENT:  So what now?  That's the question.  The charge is serious enough as it affects the balance of military power.  But simply offering more "dialogue" isn't exactly going to scare the old paint off the Kremlin. 

The U.S. has imposed some sanctions on Russia over its grab of Crimea.  Western Europe is expected to do something as well, although that something may be light.  Russia's attitutes persist.

I'm glad we're speaking out.  But action must be effective in damaging the Russian economy until Moscow comes to its senses.  Don't expect Putin to yield easily when he has President Playdough in the White House.

July 29,  2014     Permalink