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JUNE 4,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:14 P.M. ET: 

PLEASE HELP – From the Washington Times:  "Hillary Clinton’s campaign is asking supporters to offer up their New York City residences for staffers who need a place to crash.  The campaign sent an email Wednesday asking supporters to sign up to host Clinton campaign workers arriving in the city, Fox News reported.  'Got a spare room (or couch!) that another supporter could sleep on for a few days?' asks the sign-in form.  Marlon Marshall, director of State Campaigns and Political Engagement at Hillary for America, wrote in the email that the campaign needs its new hires to start 'right away' at the Brooklyn headquarters."  Of course, the Clintons wouldn't offer any couches in their own home, a bit upstate.  Royalty doesn't do that.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – From the Washington Times:  "Most of the illegal immigrant criminals Homeland Security officials released from custody last year were discretionary, meaning the department could have kept them in detention but chose instead to let them onto the streets as their deportation cases moved through the system, according to new numbers from Congress.  Some of those released were the worst of the worst — more than 3,700 'Threat Level 1' criminals, who are deemed the top priority for deportation, were still released out into the community even as they waited for their immigration cases to be heard."  And if they commit horrible crimes, Obama will blame the Republicans, or Bush.

GOOD MAN – Rick Perry is back in presidential politics.  From Reuters:  "Former Texas Governor Rick Perry announced on Thursday he will pursue the Republican presidential nomination again in 2016, seeking redemption for a fumbled White House bid in 2012 and adding to a crowded field of conservative candidates.  Perry said at a rally in Addison, a Dallas suburb, that he would boost the US economy and improve homeland security.  'We don't have to resign ourselves to debt, decay and slow growth. We have the power to make things new again, to project American strength again, to get our economy going again. And that is exactly why today I am running for the presidency of the United States of America,' Perry said. 'If you elect me your president, I will secure that border. Homeland security begins with border security.'"  Perry gave a very good speech.  Sadly, temperatures in the hall soared into the 90s, and he appeared sweaty and grimy, instead of cool and fresh.  First rule of campaigns:  Get an advance team that knows what it's doing.

REMARKABLE – From The Times of Israel:  "An extremely unusual public meeting of high-ranking Israeli and Saudi officials took place in Washington on Thursday, when the incoming director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry shared a stage — and shook hands — with a retired Saudi general who is a former top adviser to the Saudi government.  In their back-to-back addresses to the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations think tank, Dore Gold and Anwar Eshki both espoused Israeli-Saudi peace and identified Iran as the chief threat to regional stability."  Things are happening in the Middle East, mostly as a response to America's weakness and Obama's bizarre cozying up to Iran.  It is clear that Israel and Saudi Arabia are in touch, as the Saudis realize they can no longer depend on the United States.

June 4, 2015       Permalink

OUTRAGE! – AT 10:10 A.M. ET:  Consider this case of a wonderful Asian-American kid, and how he was treated in college admissions.  There is now a lawsuit underway against Harvard for discrimination against Asian Americans in admission decisions. 

Despite their remarkable record of accomplishment, Asian-Americans are not loved by some elite colleges.  They refuse to play the victim role, and their achievements, despite they being of a different race, go against the accepted leftist narrative of a racist society.  If there's anything the left hates in a minority, it's achievement.  How dare they wreck the accepted party line?  From the College Fix: 

Even his perfect ACT score, 13 Advanced Placement courses, a 4.67 weighted grade point average (second in his class), a 2230 on his SATs, participation in national speech, debate and math competitions, plus his piano and choir talents – all that – could not land Michael Wang a spot in the Ivies, Business Insider reports.

“An Asian-American, Wang suspected his race might work against him,” Business Insider notes, “but he was still shocked when he was rejected by Stanford and every Ivy League school except for the University of Pennsylvania.”

As The College Fix reported, Wang filed complaints against Yale and Princeton in 2013 after they rejected him, and he stated at a press conference in Washington D.C. last month announcing a new complaint by other Asian Americans against Harvard that his accomplishments – second in his class, high scores all around and many extracurriculars – should have made him a lock for admission.

“I’m not here to brag about my achievements,” Wang said, describing the “helpless” feeling he had reading rejection letters.

COMMENT:  I hope he wins his case.  Merit should determine college admissions, not quotas.

June 4, 2015       Permalink 

THE QUEEN COMMANDS – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton's behavior toward the press is outrageous, and dangerous.  No matter how flawed the press is, we depend on it to bring us at least some useful information.   The queen apparently feels no obligation to submit herself to routine press questioning.  From Daily Caller:

Reporters attending a Hillary Clinton speech in Houston on Thursday must remain within the confines of barricade and will not have a chance to interview the Democratic presidential nominee, they were informed in a note with big, bold red letters.

“There will be NO opportunities to interview Hillary Clinton,” a press blast from Texas Southern University reads. “Her speech will be her interview.”

After attending fundraisers in Dallas and Austin, Clinton will head to Texas Southern University in Houston to talk about voting rights and to receive the first inaugural Barbara Jordan Public-Private Leadership Award, named after the late Texas congresswoman.

The award goes to “a deserving woman anywhere in the world who shall have made the highest achievement during the preceding year or years in any honorable field of human endeavor in the public or private sector.”

Oh, Hillary certainly deserves it.  All those achievements.  Name one.  These awards are generally given to attract a famous person as a speaker, and call attention to the organization.   Cynicism on steroids.

The strict rules imposed on reporters attending the event are par for the course so far for Clinton’s campaign. She has been criticized repeatedly for choking off reporters’ access and refusing to take questions.

COMMENT:  Criticized, yes.  But, if she is the nominee, the mainstream media will do its ideological duty and work to get her elected.  She'd be a first, you know.

June 4, 2015       Permalink

NEW FOX POLL – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  A Fox poll just out seems to ratify other polls.  The disappointing number is for Carly Fiorina, whose campaigning has gotten almost universal praise, but who can't seem to gain traction among the voters...at least not yet.  From Fox: 

National security is a much bigger issue for Republicans this time than during the last primary. And more GOP hopefuls make it official -- yet they barely move the needle. Bernie Sanders nearly doubles his numbers and support for Hillary Clinton dips -- even as Democrats say they’re not concerned about allegations of her dishonesty.

These are some of the findings from the latest Fox News poll on the 2016 presidential election.

There’s no true frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination - and not all the candidates in the poll have declared yet. The new poll, released Wednesday, finds three Republicans receiving double-digit backing from GOP primary voters: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker each receive 12 percent and neurosurgeon Ben Carson gets 11 percent.

They are followed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul at 9 percent, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 8 percent, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio at 7 percent, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 6 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 5 percent.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will make his candidacy official Thursday, and businessman Donald Trump get 4 percent each.

Three Republicans officially threw their hat in the ring recently. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham announced June 1, former New York Gov. George Pataki announced May 28 and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum declared May 27. Each receives 2 percent.

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich also each garner 2 percent.

COMMENT:  At this stage polls are heavily influenced by name recognition.  There's been a lot of press on Bush, Walker and Ben Carson, who's become very well known in recent years.  Rubio should probably be higher, and I'm confident that will come as more and more Republicans get to know him. 

A fear is being expressed in some Republican circles that Carly Fiorina will be kept out of the initial debates because of her low poll standing.  That would be a political tragedy.  As a speaker she outshines most of the other candidates. 

There are so many GOP candidates that a debate becomes almost silly.  The audience won't be able to remember the names.  Maybe several debates, over several nights, each one featuring a different group, might be an answer.  An independent panel would choose the matchups.

June 4, 2015       Permalink

NOTHING TO SEE, NOTHING TO SEE – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  At least according to Field Marshal Obama and the Obama Singing Chorale.  But the fact remains:  Iran continues to build its nuclear program.  From ace defense reporter Bill Gertz at Washington Free Beacon: 

Iran is continuing to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons despite an interim agreement on its nuclear programs, according to a Pentagon report.

“Although Iran has paused progress in some areas of its nuclear program and fulfilled its obligations under the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), it continues to develop technological capabilities that also could be applicable to nuclear weapons, including ballistic missile development,” a one-page unclassified summary of the report says.

A copy of the report was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The report was due to Congress in January but was not sent to the Armed Services Committee as required by law until this month. Analysts said the delay appeared designed to avoid upsetting Tehran and the nuclear talks.

Disclosure of the continuing development of nuclear delivery capabilities comes amid reports that Iran increased the amount of nuclear material that could potentially be used to build nuclear weapons despite the JPOA.

The State Department sought to challenge International Atomic Energy Agency reports on the increase in Iranian nuclear material, despite President Obama’s claim that the nuclear agreement had halted Iran’s nuclear program.

COMMENT:  President Obama, who this last week took on the character of a P.R. guy for the Iranian regime, told us that the Iranians are sticking to every letter of their obligations.  (He did this while relentlessly bashing Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, America's ally.)

Obama sees a nuclear agreement with Iran as a key part of his legacy, no matter how bad or deceptive the agreement is. 

Countries don't develop long-range ballistic missiles to carry conventional warheads.  They are useful only as nuclear-tipped delivery systems. 

We're certainly in a great place, with great leadership, aren't we?

June 4,  2015     Permalink

JUNE 3,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

THE WANTING OF CHAFEE – From Business Insider:  "Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee (D) just launched his presidential campaign in room 134 of the Founders Hall at the George Mason University School of Policy, Government and International Affairs.  Chafee's announcement took place during a previously scheduled foreign policy speech.  And though he was launching an huge political endeavor, Chafee kept things fairly low key with no accoutrements other than his campaign logo, which was projected on a screen behind him.  According to multiple reporters, the auditorium where Chafee spoke was not remotely full for the event. Fox News' Peter Doocy described it as '1/2 empty.'"  Pretty much like his head.

HILLARY'S BRILLIANT IDEA – From WaPo:  "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to call for an early voting period of at least 20 days in every state.  Clinton will call for that standard in remarks Thursday in Texas about voting rights, her campaign said. She will also criticize what her campaign calls deliberate restrictions on voting in several states, including Texas.  The former secretary of state's address at historically-black Texas Southern University in Houston comes as Democrats pursue legal challenges to voting rule changes approved by Republican legislatures in several states."  Outrageous things like having to prove that you meet voting requirements, that you're a citizen, and that you haven't voted two or three times before in the same election.  Who do these Republicans think they are, Americans?

MORE SUSPICIOUS STUFF IN BALTIMORE – From the Baltimore Sun:  "Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby plans to seek a protective order that would block the release of Freddie Gray's autopsy report and other 'sensitive' documents as she prosecutes the six police officers involved in his arrest.  Mosby told The Baltimore Sun that prosecutors 'have a duty to ensure a fair and impartial process for all parties involved' and 'will not be baited into litigating this case through the media.'  But an attorney for one of the officers said the effort shows that 'there is something in that autopsy report that they are trying to hide.'"

A SOLDIER'S BEST FRIEND – From The Hill:  "Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that aims to ensure military service dogs come back to the U.S. after their tours are over.  The proposed bill, dubbed the Military Working Dog Retirement Act of 2015, would require the Pentagon to arrange and pay for transportation of trained military dogs back to the states if they are injured or when their skills are no longer required overseas.  'The bond between these military working dogs and their handlers is unique,' Wyden said in a statement. 'By bringing these dogs that have served alongside our men and women in uniform back to the United States, this bill can provide assistance to veterans while supporting the close bond between these dogs and our soldiers returning home.'"  Good legislation, worthy of our support.

June 3, 2015       Permalink

FASCINATING – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  It is reported that some New York Democrats are approaching former Mayor Mike Bloomberg to gauge his interest in entering the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.  The move makes sense because Hillary is growing more and more vulnerable, and the alternatives seem bleak indeed.

Bloomberg's great advantage is that he could literally finance his own campaign.  That is also his great disadvantage, as it emphasizes his ties to the "capitalists."  That's a no-no on the Democratic left.

He had a decent record as mayor of New York, especially in comparison to his successor, the current mayor, who holds Karl Marx in high regard.

There also is no whiff of scandal around Bloomberg.  From ace journalist Michael Goodwin, at the New York Post: 

A dirty secret behind Hillary Clinton’s lead in the Democratic presidential race is the lack of a credible challenger. Despite rising voter disgust over sordid revelations about the Clinton Foundation, there is no appealing alternative.

The situation led some disgruntled Democrats to push Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run, an effort that folded yesterday. But now comes word of a bid to entice another big-name challenger, and this one is far more intriguing.

It aims to get former Mayor Michael Bloomberg into the race.

New York Dems friendly to Bloomberg have approached him to gauge his interest. Their argument is that Clinton’s vulnerability with general- election voters, especially independents, could result in a Republican president. They also believed Bloomberg could be interested because, as one of them told me,“Mike can’t stand Hillary.”

One visitor to the former mayor came away cautiously optimistic after a 30-minute meeting, noting that Bloomberg didn’t throw him out of the office or start fiddling with his smartphone.

“That means he wasn’t bored and was listening,” said another man who talked to the three-term mayor. They were also encouraged that Bloomberg said something to the effect that it would be “no problem” for him to drop his unaffiliated registration and become a Democrat again.

It’s far from certain that Bloomberg will run, but I can envision a scenario where he floats a trial balloon to see how people react. I’m saving him the trouble because I hope he gives the idea serious consideration.

COMMENT:  A trial balloon is necessary.  Frankly, he's not a national figure, has no experience in foreign policy, and is far from a dynamic speaker.  He is basically a clean alternative to Hillary.

Also, he has never been an active Democrat, and was a Republican at one time.

But for a party in search of an alternative to the princess of corruption, he might look awfully good.

June 3, 2015        Permalink

A GROWING STORY – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  This episode started yesterday, but grew today with news of the arrest of a second suspect.  Boston and potential terror – again.  From AP:   

BOSTON (AP) — A man under surveillance by terrorism investigators was shot and killed outside a pharmacy Tuesday after he lunged with a knife at a city police officer and an FBI agent, police Commissioner William Evans said.

The man refused orders by the members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force to drop his military-style knife before the officer and agent both opened fire, Evans said.

"The officers asked him several times to put the knife down," Evans said.

The man had been under surveillance and confronted the investigators after they identified themselves as law enforcement and asked him to stop and talk outside a CVS pharmacy in the city's Roslindale neighborhood at about 7 a.m. The man was on foot.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The officer and agent did "what they are trained to do," Evans said.

Evans did not disclose why the man was under surveillance.

And now this, from NBC News: 

Police and federal agents arrested a man in suburban Boston on Tuesday night as they conducted a terrorism investigation involving another man who was fatally shot by officers earlier, officials said.

The man arrested was David Wright, federal prosecutors confirmed to NBC affiliate WHDH. He was taken into custody at his home in the Boston suburb of Everett. No charges were immediately announced, and Boston police said the suspect was being interviewed.

Wright's arrest came as authorities continued an investigation into the man who was killed, Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, who had been under investigation and surveillance for several weeks by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force.

A senior official told NBC News that officers were investigating whether Rahim had become radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages and they feared a terror plot was in the works.

COMMENT:  Repeat after me:  "The war on terror is over."  After all, Field Marshal Obama has won it, hasn't he? 

No, the terror threat seems to be growing larger.  And we must project down the road, when terror groups will have larger and more powerful weapons.

June 3, 2015       Permalink

ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO DESTROY OUR SWEET, INNOCENT HILLARY.  WHEN WILL THIS EVIL END? – AT 8:48 A.M. ET:  This has the makings of a major scandal, if the Republicans know how to pursue it.  From the Washington Times: 

Bill Clinton’s foundation set up a fundraising arm in Sweden that collected $26 million in donations at the same time that country was lobbying Hillary Rodham Clinton’s State Department to forgo sanctions that threatened its thriving business with Iran, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times.

The Swedish entity, called the William J. Clinton Foundation Insamlingsstiftelse, was never disclosed to or cleared by State Department ethics officials, even though one of its largest sources of donations was a Swedish government-sanctioned lottery.

As the money flowed to the foundation from Sweden, Mrs. Clinton’s team in Washington declined to blacklist any Swedish firms despite warnings from career officials at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm that Sweden was growing its economic ties with Iran and potentially undercutting Western efforts to end Tehran’s rogue nuclear program, diplomatic cables show.

“Sweden does not support implementing tighter financial sanctions on Iran” and believes “more stringent financial standards could hurt Swedish exports,” one such cable from 2009 alerted Mrs. Clinton’s office in Washington.

COMMENT:  It is vulgar.  It may well be possible to prove a direct connection between "donations" to the Clinton Foundation, and Hillary Clinton's refusal to blacklist any Swedish firms doing business with Iran.  Even if legal proof cannot be obtained, the appearances are awful. 

This is corruption.  Any decent public official would know what it looks like and avoid it.  I said any decent public official.

June 3, 2015        Permalink

EVERYONE OFF THE SINKING SHIP – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  President Obama's approval numbers, which had been rising, have done an abrupt 180.  Maybe the truth is sinking in.  From CNN:

Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama's job approval numbers are sinking as American attitudes about the nation's progress have taken a turn for the worse, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.

A majority of the public once again say things in the U.S. are going pretty badly and disapproval of Obama's job performance has climbed back above 50% as well.

Overall, 47% say things in the country are going well, 52% that they're going badly. That's a reversal from March, when 53% said things were going well, the highest share to say so during Obama's presidency. The shift comes across partisan and demographic lines, with no one group's opinions driving the overall change.

Obama's approval rating has suffered a similar blow.

While it's dropped since April, going from a near-even 48% approve to 47% disapprove split to a negative-tilting 52% disapprove to 45% approve, the rising disapproval ratings come across party lines, from both men and women, from whites and non-whites.

COMMENT:  I've always believed that poll numbers not only reflect opinions on specific issues, but feelings, gut reactions to the overall state of things.  I think that's what we're seeing here.  There is just a feeling out there – you feel it – that things aren't going well for the United States.  Maybe people are feeling that, for the last six plus years, we haven't had a real or honest leader in the White House.

June 3,  2015     Permalink