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NOVEMBER 9,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

SCIENCE NEWS – From Britain's Independent:  "A virus that infects human brains and makes us more stupid has been discovered, according to scientists in the US.  The algae virus, never before observed in healthy people, was found to affect cognitive functions including visual processing and spatial awareness.  Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Nebraska stumbled upon the discovery when they were undertaking an unrelated study into throat microbes."  Now we know what's affected the White House staff. 

HINTING – Much presidential talk surrounds Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who won his third gubernatorial election Tuesday.  He's not discouraging it.  From The Hill:  "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is staying tight-lipped about his plans for 2016, but said on Sunday that a governor like himself would have a better chance of beating Hillary Clinton than a member of Congress.  'Overall, I believe governors make much better candidates than members of Congress,' Walker said in an interview with 'Meet the Press.' "  I think he tastes it.  He saved Wisconsin.  His sights are high.  There is buzz about a ticket with Walker at the top and Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico in the vice-presidential slot.   Strong ticket, though neither is a great speaker.

AGAIN? – From WaPo:  "With the next time to buy health plans under the Affordable Care Act starting in less than a week, the Obama administration is expressing confidence that HealthCare.gov is no longer the rickety online insurance marketplace that exasperated consumers a year ago.  Behind the scenes, however, federal health officials and government contractors are scrambling, according to confidential documents and federal and outside experts familiar with this work. They have been making contingency plans in case the information technology or other aspects prove less sturdy than the administration predicts. And some preparations are coming down to the wire."  You'd think that after all this time, they'd have a foolproof system.  But this is the Obama administration.

November 9,  2014     Permalink

THE NEW ARCHITECT – AT 12:32 P.M. ET:  One of the great heroes of this last election was Reince Priebus, the Republican National Chairman.  For once, the party has a leader who knows what "win" means.  For once, losing isn't standard.  Now Priebus, in dealing with the Louisiana runoff, shows us that you take nothing for granted.  From Daily Caller: 

Look out everyone: the RNC is going all out in Louisiana for Bill Cassidy.

Less than a week after their nationwide drubbing of the Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections, the RNC is flooring the car and putting all of their efforts into the Louisiana Senate race in an effort to propel Rep. Bill Cassidy to victory over yet another Democrat incumbent, Sen. Mary Landrieu.

In a Friday interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, RNC chairman Reince Priebus detailed the party’s efforts over the next month as they look to increase their majority in the Senate.

“Are the Democrats trying to head fake us in Louisiana by pulling the money out of Mary Landrieu? Or have they really given up? And are you going to take that head fake?” asked Hewitt.

“I just saw that all the ad buys for starting on Monday in Louisiana, every single market in Louisiana, there is not a single ad pro-Landrieu booked in Louisiana – not from her campaign, not from the Dem Senate Committee, no 527,” said the RNC chairman.

“If you look at the pro-Cassidy ad buys…every media market’s full. So I don’t know exactly how she’s going to compete,” Priebus questioned. “The RNC is sending 220 full-time staffers this weekend on planes. We’ve got hotels, meal plans, cars…”

COMMENT:  Right on!  Always fight as if you're 20 points behind.  The election isn't over until the votes are counted.  This is what the party has needed for years.

November 9, 2014      Permalink

THE DAMAGE – AT 12:20 P.M. ET:   The Democratic Party has been badly wounded by losses in two midterm elections.  Ace political reporter Dan Balz has the story in WaPo: 

When President Obama was elected in 2008, his victory signaled a generational change and the prospect of renewal for the Democratic Party. Instead, the opposite has occurred. Over the past six years, the party has been hollowed out.

The past two midterm elections have been cruel to Democrats, costing them control of the House and now the Senate, and producing a cumulative wipeout in the states. The 2010 and 2014 elections saw the defeat of younger politicians — some in office, others seeking it — who might have become national leaders.

As the post-Obama era nears, the Democrats’ best-known leaders in Washington are almost entirely from an older generation, from the vice presidency to most of the major leadership offices in the House and Senate. The generation-in-waiting will have to wait longer.

Presidential campaigns and open nomination contests help bring new leaders to national prominence. That appears unlikely in 2016. For all her positive attributes, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton is a suffocating presence when it comes to intraparty presidential competition. Her command of the Democratic machinery, from fundraising to grass-roots organizing, is so extensive that almost everyone else is understandably intimidated about even testing their talents against her.

COMMENT:  My heart breaks, and I'm anguished at their loss.  You know, you can send flowers.   Think kindness.

November 9, 2014        Permalink

THE REVELATION – AT 12:08 P.M. ET:  The president of the United States, and distinguished professor of Constitutional law, has now given a revised assessment of the election.  From the Washington Examiner: 

President Obama for the first time provided a concise analysis of Tuesday’s election results: “We got beat.”

Obama, in a taped interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired Sunday, also tried to demonstrate that he is taking the blame for the dramatic Democratic losses at the polls.

“The buck stops right here at my desk,” he said, borrowing a phrase from President Harry Truman. “And so whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn’t do well, I’ve got to take responsibility for it.”

The actual phrase was, "The buck stops here." 

The message Obama said he was taking away from the midterm loss of Democratic control of the Senate and historic GOP gains in the House is that “people want to see this city work.”

Despite the chastened general tone of the interview, Obama didn’t specify how he would approach the job any differently in terms of policy, repeating his pledge to issue a new executive order on immigration by the end of the year. He also pointed out that Congress could override his action by passing a comprehensive immigration bill.

COMMENT:  It would have been nice had Obama taken responsibility immediately.  Clearly, this new statement was issued in response to criticism.  Compare please to President Kennedy's response to a reporter who asked who was responsible for the debacle at the Bay of Pigs.  "I am the responsible officer of the government," Kennedy replied, and he didn't need coaching.

November 9, 2014     Permalink

NOVEMBER 8,  2014

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

CARSON ON HIS WAY – From WaPo:  "Following an ABC News report that Fox News contributor Ben Carson is set to air an hourlong ad/documentary “introducing himself to the American people” as part of a 2016 Republican presidential bid, Fox News has cut ties with him, according to a Fox spokeswoman."  This is not a hostile act.  It's standard.  It's clear that Dr. Carson is running for high office, and news organizations cannot really have candidates as contributors.

NERVE – From CNN:  "(CNN) -- A former University of North Carolina football player has become the first to sue the university over an 18-year academic scandal that kept athletes eligible to play sports by taking classes that never met.  Mike McAdoo was a football player who lost his eligibility in 2011 when he was accused of getting too much help with a paper, and was one of the first athletes revealed to have taken part in 'paper classes,' for which the only requirement was completing a single paper.  Now he's suing the university in federal court, saying UNC broke its promise to give him an education in return for playing sports. His lawsuit is a class-action suit that the other 3,100 students who enrolled in the fake classes -- nearly half of whom are athletes -- could easily join."  So he gets a degree while exerting little effort, and now he's suing?  You mean, at the age of 20 or so he didn't realize the whole system was a racket, and that he was benefiting from it?  Oh come on.

HILLARY WEAKER? – There's a sense among pundits that Hillary Clinton was made weaker by this week's elections and may be permanently damaged.  Her presence on the campaign trail seemed to have no positive effect on her favored candidates.  George Will writes that it's time to rethink Hillary as a presidential candidate.  Problem is, who would replace her?  The sentimental favorite of the Democratic Party's left wing is Elizabeth Warren, but this last election wasn't kind to her wing.  Her own state of Massachusetts elected a Republican governor.  If Hillary falters, or decides not to run, the Dems can be in real trouble.  Maybe Michelle can run on a Fair Lunch platform.

November 8, 2014       Permalink

DISGRACEFUL COVER-UP – AT 7:16 A.M. ET:  It is remarkable that so little attention has been paid to this story, which started to surface recently.  I guess a lot of people don't want to know the full truth.  Might help Bush.  Or Cheney.  Can't have that.  From, ironically, The New York Times: 

More than 600 American service members since 2003 have reported to military medical staff members that they believe they were exposed to chemical warfare agents in Iraq, but the Pentagon failed to recognize the scope of the reported cases or offer adequate tracking and treatment to those who may have been injured, defense officials say.

The Pentagon’s disclosure abruptly changed the scale and potential costs of the United States’ encounters with abandoned chemical weapons during the occupation of Iraq, episodes the military had for more than a decade kept from view.

This previously untold chapter of the occupation became public after an investigation by The New York Times revealed last month that although troops did not find an active weapons of mass destruction program, they did encounter degraded chemical weapons from the 1980s that had been hidden in caches or used in makeshift bombs.

The Times initially disclosed 17 cases of American service members who were injured by sarin or a sulfur mustard agent. And since the report was published last month, more service members have come forward, pushing the number who were exposed to chemical agents to more than 25. But an internal review of Pentagon records ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has now uncovered that hundreds of troops told the military they believe they were exposed, officials said.

COMMENT:  I love the way The Times still assures us that troops "did not find an active weapons of mass destruction program."  Actually, our inspectors did find that program.  What they didn't find were stockpiles of weapons.  But, clearly, chemical weapons were present and did damage. 

Oh, why were those chemical weapons kept?  For holiday decorations?  And what other weapons were kept that we didn't discover?

Anyone interested?  Might affect some journalistic and university careers.

November 8, 2014        Permalink

PROUD MARY – AT 7:09 A.M. ET:   Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana has almost no chance of winning the December 6th runoff in her state that will decide whether she keeps her Senate seat.  You must get 50% of the vote in Louisiana to win, and no candidate did that on Tuesday.  While Landrieu came in first, Republican challenger Bill Cassidy's victory was prevented only by a Tea Party candidate who split the conservative vote.  That candidate has been eliminated from the runoff, so Cassidy is pretty much a sure thing.

But that hasn't stopped proud Mary from descending pretty low to try to pull it out.  She started, actually, before the vote, by whining that blacks and women have always had it tough in the South.  Gee, she's really had it rough – elected to the U.S. Senate, and living in a mansion.  But we don't know da trouble she's seen.

Now she descends again.  From the Daily Caller: 

In the fight of her political life, Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu took the gloves off on day 1 of the runoff election between her and Republican candidate Bill Cassidy. Fewer than 24 hours later, the attack Landrieu launched went horribly wrong.

The day after neither candidate reached the 50 percent plus 1 vote threshold, Sen. Landrieu held a press conference where she slammed her opponent as absent during the devastation from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Standing in front of a VA Medical Center construction site, Landrieu called Cassidy “wishy-washy, unreliable, undependable, not sure who he is, not sure who he was and not sure who he wants to be.”

Landrieu then proceeded to ask, “When this hospital needed a champion to build and rebuild, literally out of the rubble of Katrina and Rita, where was Sen. Landrieu? Standing here and fighting. Where was Bill?”

She even tweeted, “When the New Orleans #VA hospital needed to be rebuilt out of the rubble of Katrina & Rita, #WhereWasBill?” with a link to a press coverage of her news conference.

The attack was an odd one to make, considering Cassidy wasn’t involved in politics at the time. He wasn’t elected to Louisiana’s state Senate until 2006 and Congress until 2008, while hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the state in 2005.

The next day, Rep. Bill Cassidy told Louisianans where he was. At the time of Katrina and Rita, Cassidy was a medical doctor in Baton Rogue, he wrote on Twitter. Moreover, immediately after Katrina hit, Cassidy took the initiative in setting up a makeshift emergency hospital in an abandoned K-Mart to administer aid and care for victims.

COMMENT:  That does it.  Mary is cooked, finished, through, done.  She'd be better off not even campaigning and accepting defeat graciously.  I guess that's just not her style.

November 8, 2014       Permalink

IRAN TALKS STALLED – AT 7:02 A.M. ET:  The deadline for finishing the Iran nuclear talks is November 24th.  Obama dreams of an agreement by then that will seal his legacy.  But things aren't going well.  Maybe there'll be nothing.  From AP, via Times of Israel: 

VIENNA — The UN nuclear agency said Friday that its attempts to probe allegations that Tehran worked on nuclear weapons were deadlocked — a finding that all but rules out hopes of full nuclear deal between six world powers and Iran by the November 24 target date

Iran agreed in February to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency, in what was seen as a test of Tehran’s professed new willingness to reduce tensions over its nuclear program.

Since then, the agency has sought information on alleged experiments with detonators that can be used to set off nuclear explosions; work on high-explosive charges used in nuclear blasts, and alleged studies on calculating nuclear explosive yields.

Iran denies wanting — or ever working on — nuclear arms. Since February, it has provided information only on the detonators, insisting that they were used for oil exploration or non-nuclear military purposes. The agency says interconnected information suggests that they were being tested for nuclear weapons use.

“Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures,” said the confidential report from the IAEA obtained by The Associated Press.

The finding is significant in recording where the investigation stands for the US and five other world powers negotiating with Iran.

The US and its allies say no final agreement will be reached until the IAEA says it’s satisfied with its inquiry. With the IAEA investigation stalled, the agency has little hope of reaching final conclusions by Nov. 24.

COMMENT:  And now we have a Republican Senate and a strengthened Republican House that will ride herd on the Obama administration's antics.  It's better to have no deal than a bad one.  I'm not so sure Field Marshal Obama agrees, but he may be compelled to agree by political circumstances.

November 8,  2014     Permalink