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JULY 9,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET:

IRAN LATEST – If reports are to be believed, the atmosphere at the nuclear talks is getting worse and worse.  From AFP:  Iran lashed out at Western powers, accusing them of changing positions at the 11th hour in intense nuclear talks, as the EU warned it was time Friday to say “yes or no” to a deal on the table.  With a 13-year international standoff over Iran’s suspect nuclear program coming to a head, global powers leading the negotiations sought to ramp up the pressure for a deal.  But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back, saying Western countries among the so-called P5+1 group on the other side of the talks were backtracking on previous commitments.  Looks like assorted chickens are coming home to roost.  And I don't consider that a slur against the chicken community, gay or straight.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE CRAZY – From The Hill: "Young girls across this country will soon be able to see an inspiring woman on the ten dollar bill who helped shape our country into what it is today and know that they too can grow up and do something great for their country," she said in a statement last month.  Shaheen has led the charge in the Senate to get a woman on U.S. currency. She previously introduced legislation to direct the Treasury Department to establish a panel to pick a woman who's portrait would appear on the $20.  She also backed the "Woman on the 20s" campaign which announced in May that Tubman had won its online poll of who should replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.  Tubman, who was born in Maryland, was also one of the four female New Yorkers included in a poll by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to help pick which woman will be on the $10 bill.  Harriet Tubman, a 19th-century African-American activist, and a Union spy during the Civil War, was an accomplished woman.  No doubt about that.  But the aura of political correctness hangs over the campaign to put her on the twenty.  Shouldn't the first woman to grace American paper currency be someone of almost presidential stature?  Eleanor Roosevelt is the obvious choice.  Or Frances Perkins, the first female Cabinet member.  Or Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross.  Or Susan B. Anthony.  But I suspect it will be Harriet Tubman, to satisfy political interests. 

MURDER MAKES A COMEBACK – Pretty much expected, considering that "progressivism" is the current rage in many big cities.  From USA Today:    After years of declining violent crime, several major American cities experienced a dramatic surge in homicides during the first half of this year.  Milwaukee, which last year had one of its lowest annual homicide totals in city history, recorded 84 murders so far this year, more than double the 41 it tallied at the same point last year.  Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said the mounting homicide toll in his city of 600,000 is driven by Wisconsin's "absurdly weak" gun laws – carrying a concealed weapon without a state-issued concealed carry is a misdemeanor in the Badger State – as well a subculture within the city that affirms the use of deadly violence to achieve status and growing distrust of police in some parts of the city.  Milwaukee is not alone.  The number of murders in 2015 jumped by 33% or more in Baltimore, New Orleans and St. Louis. Meanwhile, in Chicago, the nation's third-largest city, the homicide toll climbed 19% and the number of shooting incidents increased by 21% during the first half of the year.  Why is it that, whenever "progressives" show up, so many people die?  Seems to happen a great deal, especially in foreign policy.

July 9, 2015       Permalink

CRACKDOWN – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  There are reports that the Republican National Committee, concerned that Donald Trump is destroying the party's attempts to appeal to minorities, is reading Trump the riot act.  The RNC was very effective last year in winning elections, which, I think, is pretty important in politics.  From Fox: 

The head of the Republican National Committee reportedly told presidential contender Donald Trump Wednesday to tone down his comments on immigration amid his controversial remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico.

The Washington Post reports Chairman Reince Priebus spent an hour on the phone with Trump about his comments, which has apparently alarmed Republicans across the country.

Trump made his inflammatory remarks on the heels of his presidential campaign announcement on June 16.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending the best,” he said during the announcement. “They're not sending you, they're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards and they're telling us what we're getting."

Since then, Trump has received immense backlash from other Republicans, top Democrats and even television stations. However, he said Saturday he was surprised by the outrage and that is comments are causing financial concerns.

NBC and Univision decided last week not to air the Trump-owned Miss Universe Pageant, Macy’s is dropping his signature clothing line, New York Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered a review of Trump’s city contracts and NASCAR is moving an annual banquet from the Trump National Doral resrt in Miami.

"I didn’t know it was going to be this severe,” Trump said Saturday, adding that he was surprised by the NASCAR decision, considering he has a good relationship with the group. “I am a whipping post.”

I think he meant a whipping boy.

Even with the scrutiny surrounding Trump, he has still managed to draw support from Americans who say he is openly confronting the severity of the immigration problem that others won’t publicly acknowledge, which some fear will plague the GOP down the line.

COMMENT:  It's Trump's manner and choice of words that are damaging, not his concern about criminals crossing the border.  Eventually, personalities like his wear out their welcome, which is what has happened with Chris Christie.  Americans still want a president who is "presidential." 

I'm guessing that Trump's time in the spotlight will be short-lived, but I admit that I could be very, very wrong.

July 9, 2015       Permalink

IRAN LATEST – AT 9:05 A.M. ET:  Today is the latest "deadline" for the nuclear talks with Iran to conclude.   It looks like we'll whiz by this one as well.  From the Jerusalem Post:

VIENNA -- Negotiations between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program continued on Wednesday with hardly a murmur from diplomats as they ran through their thirteenth straight day at the effort.

Meetings, mostly between US and Iranian delegates, maintained pace and resulted in some progress, according to one State Department official, after a late evening of meetings the night before featured a series of tense exchanges.

One such moment, according to Russian press, saw the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, state her intention to depart the talks here in Austria's capital. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif allegedly shot back a warning against "threatening" Iranians.

The Iranian delegation did not deny the incident, but in comment to its press corps, expressed Zarif's respect for Mogherini and her foreign minister colleagues.

Without a breakthrough, diplomats have entered a new deadline that presents a whole new set of challenges for the Obama administration. The United States Congress will have double the time beyond July 9— from 30 to 60 days— to review any final nuclear agreement that emerges from Vienna.

And the deal may not be done, but Washington is preparing as if it is. Congressional committees are scheduling hearings, several leadership members are readying statements and leadership, from both parties, are defining the goalposts for success in the negotiations.

"We’ll be looking to see how the administration has done on Congress’ red lines," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce (R-California) said on Wednesday. "Did we get anywhere, anytime inspections? Full Iranian transparency regarding its past nuclear activities? No large-scale, immediate sanctions relief, but guaranteed, workable sanctions snap-backs? Meaningful restraints on Iran’s nuclear program that last decades?"

COMMENT:  There's something revolting about this.  We are talking about the lives of millions at risk if Iran gets the bomb, and yet this "agreement" is being negotiated, as we've noted before, like a labor contract.  False deadlines.  Showmanship.  Little wisdom.

There are no signs that Iran is budging on the main issues of enrichment, inspections, and lifting of sanctions.  Our fear is that Obama will order the American delegation to make still more concessions, in hope of building some vague notion of a "legacy."  Our children may feel the impact of that "legacy."

July 9, 2015       Permalink

DEATH OF A CITY – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Once Motor City, Detroit has become the symbol of urban decay.  Baltimore and Chicago are right up there.  And New York, under socialist Mayor Bill de Blasio, is vying once more for the title.  Consider this, from CBS local: 

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – The Detroit Police Department is suffering from its worst manpower shortage in nearly a century.

There are currently fewer officers patrolling the city than at any time since the 1920s. At one point, the Detroit police force was over 5,000. Today, the force is just 1,590 officers strong — and not all of those are on the street.

The city has lost nearly half its patrol officers since 2000 and ranks have shrunk by 37 percent in the past three years alone, according to the Detroit News. It’s so bad that precincts are reportedly left with only one squad car at times.

“This is a crisis, and the dam is going to break,” Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, told the newspaper. “It’s a Catch-22: I know the city is broke, but we’re not going to be able to build up a tax base of residents and businesses until we can provide a safe environment for them.”

COMMENT:  We're often told by the faculty lounge that socio-economic breakdown leads to crime, but often it's the reverse – it's the crime that leads to the breakdown.  But don't tell that to the leftists who often get the chance to run these places.  They have their political religion, and that's it.

July 9,  2015     Permalink

JULY 8,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET:

REPUBLICANS OPPOSE COURT ON GAY MARRIAGE – From Reuters: Almost two-thirds of Republicans oppose the Supreme Court’s backing of gay marriage, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which gives hope for conservative presidential candidates who have come out strongly against marriage equality.  Republicans would struggle to make opposition to same-sex marriage a winning issue in next November’s general election because more than half of Americans support it, according to the online survey.  But there is still a clear majority of Republicans - 63 percent - who think the court’s historic decision last month to legalize gay marriage nationwide was wrong.  This is not a good issue for Republicans in a general election.  Statistically, it's at best a wash, and it's unlikely the Supreme Court will reverse its decision on the matter.  Republicans should focus on carving out religious-protection exceptions, which I think most reasonable Americans would support.

GONE – From the AP: BALTIMORE — Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she has fired Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, 2½ months after riots broke out in the city following the death of a man who was injured in police custody.  Rawlings-Blake announced her decision in a three-paragraph news release that also noted she has named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as interim commissioner.  The mayor scheduled a news conference with Davis for later Wednesday afternoon.  Rawlings did not give a reason, but the move comes amid a spike in the city’s homicide rate.  Cosmetic change.  The crazed appeasement of criminals in Baltimore will probably continue.  It's the current party line of the left.

MADNESS – From AP: NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of New Yorkers accused of low-level or non-violent crimes won't face the prospect of raising cash for bail under a plan that seeks to keep such suspects out of the troubled Rikers Island jail complex.  The $18 million city plan, detailed to The Associated Press ahead of the announcement on Wednesday, allows judges beginning next year to replace bail for low-risk defendants with supervision options including daily check-ins, text-message reminders and required drug or behavioral therapy.  What about book contracts?  Guaranteed access to literary agents?  Look, there may be good reasons for canceling bail for some crimes, but the change is one of many that have the effect of creating an image of a city that's gone soft on criminals.  That can only bring back the bad old days, before Rudy Giuliani cleaned up the city.

TRUMP ROMPS – From Breitbart:  GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump is the leading choice among North Carolina Republican primary voters in a recent Public Policy Poll. Trump received 16 percent, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush received 12 percent.  I wouldn't take that to the bank.  These are early polls, and Trump is making a lot of noise and saying some things that are popular.  Bottom line, though, he isn't very presidential and has little to say beyond the headline-grabbing zingers he throws out.  Many Republican strategists worry that he's taking attention away from candidates who have a serious chance to win the general election.

July 8, 2015       Permalink

BALTIMORE AGAIN – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  A multiple murder in Baltimore.  Does anyone care?  The press is doing handstands to avoid mentioning anything about the backgrounds or group-identities of the victims, or shooters.  From WaPo: 

Three people were killed and one wounded late Tuesday in a shooting a few blocks from the Baltimore campus of the University of Maryland, according to a Baltimore law enforcement source.

In the incident, campus police said, two vans pulled to the side of the road. One person got out of each of the vans, and opened fire at a group of people on the corner.

Baltimore police said two of those shot were male and two were female.

The matter was under investigation early Wednesday.

According to the campus police, the shooting occurred just before 11 p.m. in the 900 block of W. Fayette Street, near Poppleton Street. The intersection is in a residential area of modest two- and three-story brick houses.

There was no immediate indication that any of the four were students at the campus, which provides graduate and professional education on a 71- acre campus in West Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor. During the academic year it enrolls more than 6,000 students.

It is in a neighborhood that lies about a half mile west of the campus, and separated from campus buildings by Martin Luther King Boulevard, a six lane thoroughfare with a wide median.

Homicides in Baltimore increased sharply in the weeks after rioting broke out in April following the death of Freddie Gray who was injured while in police custody.

However, there have been few if any recent occasions in which as many as three people were killed in a single incident.

COMMENT:  Obviously, this was a coordinated attack.  Two of the three dead are female.  Will the dead be mentioned, their names read out?  That will depend on whether their deaths are politically useful to some "leader."

July 8, 2015       Permalink

APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE – AT 9:08 A.M.  ET:  One of the standard lines of the climate-change left is that those who question global warming are kooks, crackpots, oil-industry shills, and worse.  But what do you say about a Nobel laureate in physics who asks questions, and takes intellectual aim at President Obama?  I love this.  From Daily Caller: 

In 2008, Dr. Ivar Giaever joined over 70 Nobel Science Laureates in endorsing Barack Obama for president, but seven years later the Nobel Prize winner now stands against the president on global warming.

“I would say that basically global warming is a non-problem,” Giaever, who won the Nobel for physics in 1973, told an audience at the Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting earlier this month.

Giaever ridiculed Obama for stating that “no challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” The physicist called it a “ridiculous statement” and that Obama “gets bad advice” when it comes to global warming.

“I say this to Obama: Excuse me, Mr. President, but you’re wrong. Dead wrong,” Giaever said.

Giaever was a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Engineering and School of Science and received the Nobel Prize for physics for his work on quantum tunneling. Giaever said he was “horrified” about the science surrounding global warming when he conducted research on the subject in 2012.

Ironically, just four years earlier he signed a letter with more than 70 other Nobel winners saying the “country urgently needs a visionary leader” and that “Senator Barack Obama is such a leader, and we urge you to join us in supporting him.”

But by 2011, Giaever left the American Physical Society because it officially stated that “the evidence is incontrovertible … [g]lobal warming is occurring.” The Society also pushed for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Global warming really has become a new religion,” Giaever said. “Because you cannot discuss it. It’s not proper."

COMMENT:  He is absolutely right.  It is a new religion, or a new religious doctrine within the religion of liberalism.  One does not question.  One does not oppose.  One goes along.  Of course, if one must drive one is permitted to go to gas stations, as long as one mumbles something about carbon.  Mumbling is acceptable.

There are plenty of scientists who've expressed doubts about global warming.  They get nowhere.  The high priests of politics have spoken.

July 8, 2015       Permalink

NEWS!  COMMON SENSE FROM LIBERALS! – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:   San Francisco is a sanctuary city, meaning it doesn't extend much cooperation to federal officials, or even federal law, in the handling of illegal immigrants.  But after a young woman was murdered last week while walking with her father, allegedly by an illegal, even some liberals are walking back the sanctuary policy, which has always been embraced by the liberal trendiest.  From Fox:

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton joined the condemnation of San Francisco’s “sanctuary” policy Tuesday.

Clinton chided law enforcement officials in an interview with CNN, saying the city was wrong to ignore an Immigration and Customs Enforcement request to hold Francisco Sanchez for federal authorities. Sanchez is accused of killing a young California woman along a pier last week.

"The city made a mistake, not to deport someone that the federal government strongly felt should be deported," Clinton said. "So I have absolutely no support for a city that ignores the strong evidence that should be acted on."

Clinton wasn’t the only one criticizing the city. Both of California’s senators also slammed the city’s policy.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein called on San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to start cooperating with federal immigration officials who want to deport felons such as Sanchez. Feinstein served as San Francisco mayor from 1978-1988.

"I strongly believe that an undocumented individual, convicted of multiple felonies and with a detainer request from ICE, should not have been released," Feinstein said. "We should focus on deporting convicted criminals, not setting them loose on our streets."

The mayor’s office has said it reached out to Homeland Security officials to determine if there’s a way to cooperate while still upholding the city’s sanctuary policy.

And...

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, also a Northern California native, said she asked Gov. Jerry Brown if state law was followed in Sanchez’s release.

"For decades, I have supported deporting violent criminals, and I have always believed that sanctuary should not be given to felons," Boxer said.

COMMENT:  All this sudden law-and-order talk from liberals.  What comes next?  The Pledge of Allegiance?

July 8, 2015       Permalink

EVEN THE INTERVIEWER TURNED THUMBS DOWN – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton did her big-deal interview on CNN yesterday, and the reviews are generally awful.  Even the interviewer, who is not known as a flaming conservative, felt Hillary was a flop.  From The Blaze: 

CNN reporter Brianna Keilar appeared on the cable-news network after her interview with Hillary Clinton and sharply criticized the Democratic presidential contender’s performance.

“I did not hear a more open or transparent Hillary Clinton,” Keilar said.

Keilar listed several questions she asked Clinton in which she was not satisfied with the answer she received in return.

“I heard her not engaging on the issue of Bernie Sanders. He’s a self-described Democratic Socialist and I asked her why is garnering this support and enthusiasm you don’t seem to among Democrats. She wouldn’t engage on that,” Keilar said.

The CNN host added that she felt Clinton wouldn’t engage on other issues, including the idea of a Bush v. Clinton general election and her problem with polls showing many voters don’t find her trustworthy.

Keilar’s sit down with Clinton was the first nationally televised interview since the Democratic presidential contender announced her 2016 bid for the White House.

COMMENT:  Well, if you've lost Brianna...  Of course, I think some of the criticism of Hillary from within liberal ranks is a bit cynical.  It isn't only based on her mechanical performances and pre-programmed delivery.  It's about the fact that many in today's McGovernized, Carterized and Obamaized Democratic Party just don't think Hillary is left-wing enough.  She may even favor national defense!

No, Hillary didn't come off well.  And yet, what's the alternative in the Democratic Party?  I still think she'll get the nomination, possibly by agreeing to some really nutty left-wing stuff, then will have to struggle back to the center to win the election.  There are easier jobs.

July 8,  2015     Permalink