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MAY 23,  2014

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

OUT THERE – From London's Daily Mail:  "Aliens are real - not little green men visiting Earth as depicted in movies, but rather microbial life in our own solar system and intelligent life beyond.  That’s according to two leading Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (Seti) researchers, who yesterday took part in a hearing at the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology in Washington DC.  During the talk dubbed ‘Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Universe’, the scientists laid out the evidence and reasoning for believing we are not alone."  And you may be sure Obama will include the aliens under the Affordable Care Act, and will allow them to keep their spaceship if they want to.

CUTIE PIE – From London's Daily Mail:  "President Barack Obama made a rare visit to his hometown yesterday.  The President jaunted over to Chicago, Illinois, last night for a pair of Democratic Party fundraisers after a trip to Cooperstown, New York, to visit the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  At the fundraisers, Obama noted how nice it was to finally see his friends. 'All of you look the same and I look like Morgan Freeman,' the president told attendees of a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event, according to the White House pool report.  'So the job has been wearing me down a little bit, I admit, gray hair and all that. But Michelle still thinks I'm cute. She’s not ready to trade me in yet.'"  Unlike most of the country, according to the polls.

HE'S PROBABLY RIGHT – From AP:  "WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's former president and Nobel Peace laureate, Lech Walesa, said Friday he plans to urge President Barack Obama to take a more active world leadership role when he visits Poland in June.  Speaking to The Associated Press, Walesa said 'the world is disorganized and the superpower is not taking the lead. I am displeased.'  The former Solidarity leader said that when he meets Obama in Warsaw, he wants to tell him that the U.S. should inspire and encourage the world into positive action.  'The point is not in having the States fix problems for us or fight somewhere, no,' Walesa said. 'The States should organize us, encourage us and offer programs, while we, the world, should do the rest. This kind of leadership is needed.'"  It is amazing how quickly we have slipped downhill in the eyes of the world's freedom fighters.  I'm sure the Muslim Brotherhood thinks Obama is just swell.

APPALLING – From the Washington Times:  "President Obama is taking a swipe at the Founding Fathers, blaming his inability to move his agenda on the 'disadvantage' of having each state represented equally in the Senate.  At a Democratic fundraiser in Chicago Thursday night, Mr. Obama told a small group of wealthy supporters that there are several hurdles to keeping Democrats in control of the Senate and recapturing the House. One of those problems, he said, is the apportionment of two Senate seats to each state regardless of population."  I guess successful presidents didn't have these problems.  We must have had a different Constitution somewhere along the way.  The president might note that the name of the country is The United States of America.  It's not the People's Republic of America.

May 23, 2014       Permalink

AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  From Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit: 

This is just shameful.  Former Pentagon spokesman JD Gordon, who made 30 trips to Guantanamo Bay Prison, told Eric Bolling Thursday on Hannity that Gitmo terrorists get better healthcare than US veterans.

“Well, at Guantanamo there is about 150 detainees there right now and they have a medical unit of about 100 doctors, nurses, aides and support staff. Now it’s about 1.5 detainees to one medical official. But if you look at veterans in this country, there are 21 million veterans. And, of those 21 million veterans, 9 million are receiving VA care. But, if you look at VA employees, it’s 267,000. That’s a 35 to one ratio. So, I think President Obama has a flawed sense of priorities. He’s taking better care of Al-Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo than our own veterans.”

COMMENT:  For Obama, that's probably just right.  Considering his background, he probably buys into the thesis that the detainees at Guantanamo were driven by American militarism, adventurism, colonialism, and any other ism that comes to mind.

But the contrast cited in the story tells you where we are.

May 23, 2014       Permalink

I LOVE IT! – BRITAIN STRIKES GOLD, KNOWN AS OIL – AT 9:02 A.M. ET:   From London's Daily Mail: 

Billions of barrels of oil have been found in the ground beneath the south of England, according to a report out today.

The official analysis by the British Geological Survey (BGS) revealed the vast scale of energy reserves lying under parts of Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.

The BGS report, commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change and released this morning, estimates that there are 4.4billion barrels-worth of oil in the ground under the Weald Basin in Kent and parts of Sussex and Surrey.

How much of this is recoverable is not yet known - further drilling and testing of new wells will be needed to establish this, but the discovery is set to spark a new stage in the battle between environmentalists and energy firms over the controversial topic of fracking.

Green MP Caroline Lucas condemned news of the findings as 'disastrous' from a climate change perspective in general, and for those living in the south east in particular.

COMMENT:  Yeah, right.  Those people might actually have a stable, booming economy.  Must avoid that.  Not good for Marxist ideology.

This could be a great moment for Britain, if the country can balance the obvious economic and energy benefit with thoughtful environmental protections.

May 23, 2014       Permalink

CLINTON FUMBLE – AT 8:36 A.M. ET:  The mainstream media is playing it down, as they're slipping into "protect Hillary at all costs" mode, but the Clintons took a battering this past week.  From crusty old Wes Pruden, an experienced Washington hand: 

These are not happy times for Hillary Clinton. Nor Bubba, either. They got a wake-up call Tuesday that was less a call than a fire bell in the night. Neither has slept a wink since.

The fire bell is not about Hillary’s fragile health or even, at the moment, about what she did — and more important, didn’t do — as secretary of state. It’s far more serious than that.

The Clinton mojo isn’t working. This is two in a row on the losing end of selected congressional races. Bubba still has the impish smile, the ingratiating cock of the head, the schoolmaster’s bony index finger stabbing the air to punctuate his talking points, the calculating eyes that sent some women into a swoon and other women looking for a place to hide. None of that was working on this election night.

The disappointment in Pennsylvania follows the Democratic debacle in Florida, where a Republican lobbyist from Washington defeated a Democratic golden girl, who two years earlier had come within a whisker of being elected governor. She collected millions for her congressional race, and her opponent collected thousands. Bubba raced in with robo-calls just in time to crack open the champagne. Only the champagne turned out to be beer, and it was flat.

Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, which includes Philadelphia suburbs, seemed ready-made for swooning at the feet of Bubba and the lady. Swooning at the sight of a Democrat is what the district’s voters regularly do on cue, and Marjorie Margolies, a liberal’s liberal, was attempting a comeback 20 years after she was bounced out of the seat. Name recognition was out of sight, and she led in the early polls by a ton-and-a-half.

Enter Bubba and Hillary, with television commercials urging Pennsylvanians to do the right thing and send Mrs. Margolies back to Washington. Bubba made robo-calls with the usual boilerplate blah-blah, reprised from the Florida failure, about the need to send someone to Washington who would dutifully eat her organic vegetables, do good and work “across the aisle.” Voters heard the familiar good-ol’-boy accent in their very own telephones.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  It's a gem.  Marjorie Margolies is, of course, Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law, but the Clinton "magic," or "tarnish," didn't quite rub off.  (Or maybe it did.)  Marjorie was swamped by a little-known state senator who favors abortion restrictions, in a heavily Democratic district.  Bill and Hill had no impact at all.  We're talking a former president and a maybe president-to-be, although we hope not.

Why are we hearing the word "inevitable" less and less?

May 23, 2014        Permalink

SMOKING GUN – AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  The Feds have released the note found in a boat where one of the two Boston Marathon terrorists hid.  It proves the point that these were jihadists, and that they must be considered part of a worldwide movement.  From The Hill:

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev expressed anger at the United States and jealousy that his brother had died a martyr in a note written while hiding from authorities, according to court documents released Wednesday.

Officials found the note Tsarnaev wrote in a boat he hid in just before he was captured last year following the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

His brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who prosecutors say planned the attack with him, had just died. The younger Tsarnaev wrote that his brother’s soul was still alive and that he was in the Islamic paradise.
“I’m jealous of my brother who ha[s] [re]ceived the reward of jannutul Firdaus (inshallah) before me. I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive,” wrote Tsarnaev.

“God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions,” he continued. “I ask Allah to make me a shahied (iA) to allow me to return to him and be among all the righteous people in the highest levels of heaven.”

Tsarnaev also wrote that he did not like killing innocent people, but believed his actions were justified because the U.S. was killing Muslims.

“The US Government is killing our innocent civilians but most of you already know that,” he said. “I can’t stand to see such evil go unpunished, we Muslims are one body, you hurt one you hurt us all.”

Tsarnaev said U.S. actions had “awoken the mujahideen."

"[K]now you are fighting men who look into the barrel of your gun and see heaven, now how can you compete with that,” he continued.

COMMENT:  The usual explainers say that these two guys were "lone wolves."  That must be rejected.  The people who radicalized them didn't expect them to sit around and do nothing, or watch old prints of "Lawrence of Arabia."  The radicalizers, who use the internet effectively, train for action.  And they got it in Boston.

May 23,  2014     Permalink

MAY 22,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:38 P.M. ET: 

GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM – "'NBC Nightly News' anchor and managing editor Brian Williams traveled to Moscow this week for an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Edward Snowden. The former NSA contractor's first-ever American television interview will air in an hour-long NBC News primetime special on Wednesday, May 28 at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central.  Williams's in-person conversation with Snowden was conducted over the course of several hours and was shrouded in secrecy due to Snowden's life in exile since leaking classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs a year ago. Williams also jointly interviewed Snowden and journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has reported stories based on the documents in media outlets around the world, about how they came to work together and the global debate sparked by their revelations."  Hmm.  Something doesn't look right here.  Why would Snowden agree to an exclusive with Brian Williams?  Is it that Williams has something of a liberal reputation?  I don't know.  I'll judge the interview by the toughness of the questions, but I'm not expecting much.

KENTUCKY DERBY – From AP:  "Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes on Wednesday twice refused to say whether she would have voted for President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
Asked two times whether she'd have voted for the 2010 overhaul, the Kentucky Democrat who is challenging Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told The Associated Press: 'I, when we are in the United States Senate, will work to fix the Affordable Care Act.'  Grimes added: 'I believe the politically motivated response you continue to see from Mitch McConnell in terms of repeal, root and branch, is not in reality or keeping ... with what the facts are here in Kentucky.'"  An amateurish answer.   Lundergan Grimes is the new Wendy Davis.  Davis began a Texas liberal darling with a filibuster on abortion rights, and is now the Dem candidate for governor.  Along the way she self-destructed and is given no chance at election.  So Lundergan Grimes is now getting mucho money from out of state.  McConnell is already applying the heat, and let's hope he can end this threat early.

A MUST SEE – It's gone viral.  Admiral William McRaven gave the commencement speech at the University of Texas, his alma mater.  First, it's great that a university can invite a serving officer without the campus left driving him away.  Three cheers for UT.  Second, the speech was terrific, a kind of guide to life as seen by a Navy SEAL.  Watch it here.  You won't regret it.  There are still guys like this, and graduates willing to listen to them.

HOW LONG WILL HE LAST? – From PJ Media:  "FBI Director James Comey agreed at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today that Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was inspired by al-Qaeda.  The massacre at the Texas base is still branded an incident of 'workplace violence,' despite longtime efforts within Congress to have it properly designated as a terrorist attack.  'In your opening statement you mentioned al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism and I know you’re familiar — if not specifically, generally — with the facts of the 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, when Major Nidal Hasan shot and killed 13 people, injured a couple dozen plus more,' Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said when questioning Comey. 'Do you agree with the intelligence community’s assessment that Hasan was inspired by al-Qaeda to conduct that attack?'  'Yes, sir,' Comey responded. 'Based on everything I’ve read, again, I wasn’t in office at the time, but I’ve read about it since, and I do.'"  I suspect Obama regrets appointing Comey, who's made some terrific anti-terrorist statements recently.  He doesn't buy the company line. 

May 22, 2014       Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – BABIES IN COLLEGE – AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  We're finally beginning to see a backlash against the antics on American college campuses.  I think that the excesses this year – especially forcing out commencement speakers not approved by the fringe left or Muslim groups – have created a bit of an awakening.  This, combined with the vastly inflated cost of a college "education" may well stir the pot.  From conservative educator Chester Finn Jr. at The Politico: 

It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry over the demand by U.S. college students for “trigger warnings” to alert them that something they’re about to read or see in one of their classes might traumatize them—apparently a new trend, according to the New York Times. Ditto for off-beat campus sculptures, placards displayed by protesters and more.

Poor dears. These are the same kids who would riot in the streets if their colleges asserted any form of in loco parentis when it comes to such old-fashioned concerns as inebriation and fornication. God forbid they should be treated as responsible, independent adults! After all, they’re old enough to vote, to drive, even (though it’s unlikely) to join the army.

Yet they want their professors to shield their precious eyes from anything potentially offensive. In the words of a course-syllabus guide produced by Oberlin College’s Sexual Offense Policy Task Force, that means flagging “all forms of violence” and examples of “racism, classism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, ableism, and other issues of privilege and oppression.” Although the Oberlin faculty has temporarily tabled the document, the school’s Office of Equity Concerns already admonishes instructors to “take steps to make the classroom more inclusive for … individuals of all genders, gender identities, gender expressions and sexual orientations.”

COMMENT:  This is juicy stuff.  Read the whole thing.  Parents are paying $60,000 a year to expose their children to other children with the title "professor." 

May 22 2014       Permalink

THE REAL WORLD – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  From CBS: 

"CHICAGO (CBS) — The principal of Curie High School has put out a warning to students and parents to leave immediately after school and use a different route after six shootings in 48 hours in nearby neighborhoods. 

The school is located at 49th and South Archer.

The warning was enough to worry people headed inside the school Wednesday night for an evening workout. 

“Pretty scary,” said Gabriela Perez. “You can’t be safe anywhere.”  The warning specifically points to the 79th and Pulaski area. About 2 miles from there, near 8400 South Kedzie, a 17-year-old walking in an alley was shot and killed around 5 p.m Monday, a case that’s reminding other teens who travel streets in the area about the potential for deadly violence. 

“You have to walk these streets every day,” said student DeMario Falls. “I know my way around the neighborhood. And I know people and I don’t feel like they would do harm to me.” 

COMMENT:  I don't note a sense of outrage.  Indeed, there was far more anger among liberals at the firing of Jill Abramson at The New York Times.

When will blacks realize that their so-called allies don't care about them.  They care only about feeling good about themselves ,they care about their ideologies, and they care about getting blacks to the polls on election day. 

Chicago is a shooting gallery.  Mayor Rahm Emanuel does, I think, take his job very seriously, but the problems are overwhelming.  I doubt if he'll survive a re-election campaign. 

Most of the horror is on the South Side, which was Barack Obama's neighborhood.  Notice his deep concern.

May 22 2014       Permalink

BENGHAZI PROBE TO INCLUDE DEMS – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  Nancy Pelosi has decided to allow Dems to serve on Trey Gowdy's House committee that is investigating Benghazi.  One of them is Elijah Cummings, the intense Dem political hack who is correctly seen as representing the Obama White House.

Where did the pressure come from that caused Nancy to let Dems serve?  Originally we were told she was in favor of boycotting the committee.  Here's an enlightening report from The Politico: 

Hillary Clinton’s world was so worried about a Republican investigation of the Benghazi attacks, they sent a message to House Democrats: We need backup.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) publicly considered boycotting the panel, an idea that Clinton supporters feared would leave the potential 2016 candidate exposed to the enemy fire of House Republicans.

Hillary Clinton’s world was so worried about a Republican investigation of the Benghazi attacks, they sent a message to House Democrats: We need backup.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) publicly considered boycotting the panel, an idea that Clinton supporters feared would leave the potential 2016 candidate exposed to the enemy fire of House Republicans.

COMMENT:  The Dems will stall the hearings and try to turn them into a farce.  Cummings has already rendered judgment, declaring the hearings a witch hunt.  But I have great confidence in Trey Gowdy.  He handles himself well.  He's very smart and very verbal.

May 22 2014       Permalink

ARKANSAS STORY – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  One of the most critical Senate races this year is in Arkansas, and so far it has been disappointing for our side.  Congressman Tom Cotton, on paper an ideal Senate candidate, a Harvard Law graduate who gave up a lucrative career to fight as infantry in the war on terror, is taking on Democratic Senator Mark Pryor.

At first we thought this would be an easy pickup, but Cotton is not a great retail politician and Pryor comes from an old, respected Arkansas political family.  Recent polls show Pryor ahead of Cotton in the increasingly Republican state.  But data from Tuesday night's primaries give us some cause for optimism.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

The number of Republicans who voted in Tuesday’s Arkansas primary surpassed the number of Democrats “for the first time since the Civil War,” according to a memo issued this morning by Republican Senate candidate Rep. Tom Cotton’s campaign.

The number of GOP primary voters increased by 32.4 percent since 2010 and 18.3 percent since 2012, communications director David Ray wrote in the memo.

The growing numbers signal an upsurge in GOP voter enthusiasm, according to Ray:

Last night, Arkansas voters cast 176,783 Republican primary ballots to the Democrats’ 150,101. That’s a 32.4 percent increase in GOP primary voting from 2010. Even more impressive is the fact that Arkansas Republicans surpassed even their 2012 primary total by 18.3 percent last night.

As our friends at the Arkansas GOP pointed out after a lopsided special election in a traditionally Democrat district in January, the electoral ground is shifting beneath Senator Mark Pryor’s feet in Arkansas. Last night, the Associated Press wrote: ”Tuesday’s primary highlighted Arkansas’ transformation from a Democratic stronghold in the south to a state where Republicans have made gains up and down the ballot.”

Cotton is locked in a fiercely competitive race with Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor. Recent polls have shown Pryor gaining ground on Cotton, but some analysts say the surveys may underestimate the number of GOP voters who will turn out for the 2014 midterms.

COMMENT:  It will be a tough race.  Cotton has taken some unpopular stands, including support for raising the Medicare eligibility age.  His military record, and we see this often, can only get him a respectful hearing.  He's a brilliant guy who would probably, eventually, make a fine president, but he's got to travel the road first.

May 22,  2014     Permalink