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SEPTEMBER 4,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:42 P.M. ET: 

THE BOTTOM – President Obama has hit 38% approval in the Gallup Poll, tying the worst previous number in his presidency, hit in October of 2011.  However, please note that Obama bounced back from that previous low to win re-election.  However, he's not entering the last two years of his presidency, and recovery is more difficult.  The question is how his standing will affect Democratic candidates in November's midterm elections.

THE MARCH OF CIVILIZATION – From the New York Post:  "Check in married — check out single!
An upstate resort famous for its lavish weddings will ironically serve as the venue for 'Divorce Hotel' — a business that promises couples a painless split in an idyllic setting.  For a flat $5,000 fee, the divorcing parties are put up in separate rooms at Saratoga Springs’ Gideon Putnam Resort for a weekend and work with a mediator to finalize the details into a signed agreement.  'Practically, they are divorced after signing on Sunday,' founder Jim Halfens, who already runs similar projects in his native Netherlands, told The Post. 'After signing, all work is done and we send it to a judge who only puts a stamp on it to make it official.'"  I'd imagine divorce lawyers, a thriving industry in New York, might have something to say about this major cultural refinement.

JOHN'S SACRED MISSION – From White House Dossier:  "Secretary of State John Kerry today deployed logic to the effect of, God 'created the heavens and the earth' and therefore God wants him to stop global warming and especially to do this to help Muslim countries, which are particularly imperiled.  Now, you ask me, has Kerry gone bananas.   I really don’t know. I just hope Muslims and God appreciate everything he’s doing for them.  And if only ISIS could get this message. If only they could get themselves on the State Department press release list, they’d at least read what Kerry has to say, and how he wants to make the desert less hot for them."  There's the Nobel Peace Prize.

THE MARKET DECIDES – From the L.A. Times:  "Electric car sales are not charging the marketplace. A new study by online automotive research company Edmunds.com suggests the segment may have run out of gas.  Sales of electric drive vehicles are stuck at about 3.6% of all new car sales for 2014, Edmunds senior analyst Jessica Caldwell said.  That's below the 3.7% market share for 2013, and it's not likely to grow any before the end of the year.  And that's during an otherwise robust sales season. Total figures for August were higher than any time in the last decade.   Automakers sold about 1.6 million vehicles in the U.S. in August, an increase of about 3% from August 2013, according to initial industry estimates released Wednesday.  'The whole automobile market has grown,' Caldwell said. 'We’re not seeing electric vehicles as part of that growth.'"  I suspect people feel that the extra cost just isn't worth it. 

September 4, 2014       Permalink

ANOTHER "WHOOPS" – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:   It was supposed to be a Republican shoo-in, the re-election of Pat Roberts to the U.S. Senate from Kansas, a solid Republican state. 

But there are doubts.  Roberts, an old-time member of the establishment, got rather comfortable in Washington and is encountering headwinds on his way back to the capital.  But until yesterday he was expected finally to prevail.  Now there's a problem.  His Dem opponent has dropped out, and an independent with greater popular support suddently looms large.  From Fox: 

The Democratic candidate in the race against Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas ended his campaign Wednesday, leaving an independent candidate and a Libertarian candidate to face off against the three-term Republican incumbent.

Chad Taylor, a district attorney, informed the Kansas Secretary of State Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the race. Originally, his statement said "suspended," but the word was lined through and replaced with a handwritten "terminated."

Taylor issued a separate statement saying he made the decision after consulting with his staff, supporters and Democratic Party leaders. He did not give a reason.

Kansas.com reported Wednesday that Taylor's move could lead to broader support for the independent candidate in the race, Olathe businessman Greg Orman. There is also a Libertarian candidate, Randall Batson, of Wichita.

Roberts' executive campaign manager Leroy Towns called the move a "corrupt bargain" between Democratic leaders and Orman's campaign and said Orman's independent status is "a smoke screen."

Recent polling data from Real Clear Politics shows Roberts is favored to win the race in GOP-leaning Kansas.

However, a recent poll from Democrat-leaning Public Policy Polling showed Orman had a 43 percent to 33 percent lead over Roberts if the race was just between the two of them.

On the other hand, if all three candidates were in the race, 32 percent of voters picked Roberts, 25 percent picked Taylor and 23 percent picked Orman, according to a Public Policy Polling poll.

Orman had positioned himself as Roberts' most formidable opponent, and his fundraising was more robust than Taylor's. Orman issued a statement calling Taylor "a committed public servant."

Orman, the co-founder of a business capital and management services firm, ran for Roberts' seat in 2007 as a Democrat but dropped out early in 2008. He said he grew unhappy with both parties.

On Wednesday, Orman received the endorsement of Traditional Republicans for Common Sense, a group of former moderate GOP state legislators unhappy with the party's conservative leanings.

COMMENT:  Looks like some kind of a backroom deal.  If Orman is elected, he'd probably caucus with the Democrats, his old crowd, possibly denying Republicans control of the Senate. 

The Republican drive to take over the Senate is hitting some bumps, but there's still a good chance that it can succeed.  There are states where the Dem candidates have run into unexpected trouble as well, like Alaska, Montana, and Louisiana.  The real action in the campaign starts this week.  The election is in two months.

September 4, 2014       Permalink

NO WONDER BRITAIN IS SCARED – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   This is stunning, and reflects the danger that Great Britain faces from Islamic extremists.  From London's Telegraph: 

More than 50,000 illegal immigrants told to leave the country have been granted a "de-facto amnesty" after officials admitted they have no idea where they are.

Mandie Campbell, director general of Immigration Enforcement at the Home Office, said that immigration enforcement officers are not even looking for the individuals because of limited resources.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee described the lack of information about the immigrants as "scary" and "complacent".

The Home Office has hired Capita to track down migrants whose application to remain in Britain has been refused but their whereabouts were unknown.

Mrs Campbell said that 121,000 of them were tracked down but disclosed that they had lodged new cases to remain in Britain. However, it had no information about the location of 50,000 individuals.

COMMENT:  You're left speechless by this.  This is what happens in welfare states.  The political left runes things, and demands "sensitivity" to "the other."  The hell with the lives of citizens. 

It shows once again that when the left talks about "the people," it ain't us they're talkin' about.

I'd imagine Britain is in for a shocking surprise.

September 4, 2014       Permalink

DISGRACEFUL – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  The Department of Justice is perhaps the most important federal agency.  Presumably, it symbolizes equality before the law, and pursuit of the truth.  Presumably.   Under Obama, the department has become a political arm of the administration.  Get this, from Fox: 

The Department of Justice will launch a civil rights investigation into the Ferguson (Mo.) Police Department after the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teen by one of its white officers.

A government official briefed on the planned investigation told Fox News that the Justice Department's civil rights division would be in charge of the probe. The inquiry is referred to as a "pattern and practice" investigation and will focus on the department's policies, not possible individual wrongdoing.

The civil rights division is known for its radicalism.

The Justice Department is conducting a separate, narrower investigation into the August 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson. A grand jury is also considering whether to indict Wilson for the shooting, which which set off about two weeks of unrest in the streets of Ferguson and became a flashpoint in the national discussion of police treatment of minorities across the country. Two weeks ago, Attorney General Eric Holder visited the St. Louis suburb, where he met with investigators and Brown's parents and shared personal experiences of having himself been mistreated by the police.

Holder is expected to formally announce the investigation at a press conference Thursday. The investigation was first reported by The Washington Post. The Associated Press reported that Missouri officials were notified of the new investigation Wednesday.

COMMENT:  This is pure politics.  Holder is a racialist.  He is the same attorney general who dropped an open-and-shut case against the Black Panthers for voter intimidation.

This "investigation" is part of a pattern designed to energize the black vote in the coming election.  It's the "Ferguson outrage," akin to the "Republican war on women."  All the Democrats have left is racial, ethnic, and gender politics.  All else is gone.

Let's see if the mainstream media will ask any questions about the impropriety here.  If Ferguson didn't have political value, would Holder be investigating?

September 4, 2014       Permalink

WHY AM I SKEPTICAL? – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  Obama and our allies are moving, really moving, I mean really, really moving.  The world is being saved.  Why am I not convinced?  From Fox: 

President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron will use this week's NATO summit to press for a multi-national coalition to carry out military action against the Islamic State militant group, formerly known as ISIS.

The summit began Thursday in Wales with a session on Afghanistan, with the Islamic State threat looming over the discussion.

The two leaders, ahead of the session, began laying the groundwork for their Middle East mission in a joint op-ed published in Thursday's edition of The Times of London. In the piece, Obama and Cameron vowed that their leaders would "not be cowed" by the extremists who have beheaded two American journalists and threatened a British aid worker with the same fate in recent weeks.

"We will be more forthright in the defense of our values, not least because a world of greater freedom is a fundamental part of how we keep our people safe," the op-ed states.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that over the past day, Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials have reached out to leaders from Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Israel to discuss how to combat ISIS. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the discussions focused on what each country might contribute -- including weapons, humanitarian aid and other resources -- and noted that some nations already have.

COMMENT:  It's interesting that the Obama/Cameron op-ed was published in a British paper, not an American paper.  Probably tells us something – that the intellectual leadership of the anti-ISIS forces is coming from David Cameron.

But Cameron has few military resources.  The force that Margaret Thatcher sent to the Falklands a generation ago was larger than is the entire Royal Navy today.  Britain, basically a welfare state, continues to cut its defenses, even as its prime minister speaks with greater clarity than any other leader about the threats before us.

Will anything actually happen at the NATO summit?  I hope so, but doubt it.  Obama really doesn't have the interest.  But we can hope, and then hope that the November elections force some change on our drifting, weak administration.

September 4,  2014     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 3,  2014

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

TRAIN WRECK – Much buzz on the internet and on TV today about Field Marshal Obama's confused statements in Estonia about the Islamic State and the Ukraine.  No one knows what our foreign policy is.  I'm not so sure the field marshal cares.  I really don't think he has any desire to take on the IS or Russia.  I think he's the political Greta Garbo.  He wants to be alone.  And he is.

MADNESS – The saying goes that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.  Looks like they're heading in the same direction.  From the Jerusalem Post:  "Hamas's popularity has skyrocketed in the wake of Operation Protective Edge to the point where its deputy political bureau chief, Ismail Haniyeh, would win the presidency of the Palestinian Authority if elections were held today, according to a new survey of West Bank and Gaza residents.  The poll, which was overseen by Dr. Khalil Shikaki of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, indicates that Haniyeh would attract 61 percent support among prospective Palestinian voters, easily outpacing incumbent Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah (32 percent)."  This would be like the Germans in 1945 entrusting their future to Adolf Hitler.  All Hamas has brought to the Palestinians is death.  I think even many Arab nations are tired of Palestinian delusions. 

AMERICANS DOWN ON THE ECONOMY – From The Hill:  "People in the U.S. remain generally pessimistic about the state of the economy, according to new data from Gallup. The polling company said Tuesday that its economic confidence index remained at -16 in August, and has hovered within a three-point span for all of 2014.   Gallup's latest numbers underscore that the economy might not give Democrats the assistance that party leaders had hoped for this midterm year.  Democrats are much more likely to be bullish on the economy than Republicans or independents, Gallup found. Higher earners are also more confident than lower earners, a finding consistent with other consumer surveys."  People must see their own circumstances improve before they'll believe that the economy itself is improving.  Most people don't see it.

A SHOT IN ALASKA – There's a close Senate race in Alaska, with incumbent Dem Mark Begich holding his own in the polls.  But Begich just blundered badly, opening a chance for his Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan:  "Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is retracting a television ad that an Alaska family said was exploiting a tragedy for political purposes, according to KTVA in Anchorage.  The controversy began Friday when Begich published a TV spot which blamed his opponent, former state attorney general Dan Sullivan, for reducing the sentence of Jerry Active, a 25-year-old man accused of murdering an Anchorage couple and sexually assaulting their 2-year-old granddaughter on May 25, 2013.  In a rebuttal ad, Sullivan vehemently denied Begich’s accusation, pointing out that he was not attorney general in Jan. 2009 when Active committed a series of crimes for which he should have been sentenced to at least eight years in prison Instead, a state database search failed to find that Active had a previous felony which would have triggered the minimum sentence."  Some observers sense trouble in the Begich camp.  Sullivan is up in the latest poll by two points.

September 3, 2014        Permalink

HOMELAND INSECURITY – AT 10:24 A.M. ET:  On guard for America.  From the Daily Signal:

More than 6,000 foreign nationals in the United States on student visas have vanished after overstaying their time here, raising alarm at the Department of Homeland Security. The federal agency is now working to find them after losing track of their whereabouts.

I'm sure they're "working" to find them.  And they'll be working to find them ten years from now, too.

Officials at the federal agency told ABC News there are more than 58,000 students who overstayed their visas over the past year. Approximately 6,000 of those foreign nationals were referred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for “follow-up,” as they’re of “heightened concern.”

“My greatest concern is that they could be doing anything,” Peter Edge, deputy associate director for Homeland Security Investigations, told ABC News. “Some of them could be here to do us harm.”

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the 9/11 Commission recommended Homeland Security impose tighter controls on the student visa program. The group determined Hani Hanjour, the hijacker who flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, was in the country on a student visa. Hanjour, however, never showed up for school.

Despite the commission’s recommendation 10 years ago, Edge said “we really have a lot more work to do” to fulfill it. ICE agents, he continued, are working to locate the 6,000 students.

Since the 9/11 terror attacks, 26 foreign nationals in the United States on student visas have been arrested on terrorism-related charges.

James Carafano, a leading authority on national security at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal that Homeland Security’s failure to keep track of foreign nationals in the country on student visas is “disheartening.”

COMMENT:  Pretty chilling, isn't it?  This country isn't wide open, but the security situation is worrying.  We saw what a couple of homegrown idiots could do to the Boston Marathon. 

September 3, 2014       Permalink

THE WEIRDNESS CONTINUES – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  President Obama has just made a speech to Estonian students.  And again, commentators are baffled.  What is he actually saying?  From the Washington Examiner: 

President Obama in a speech in Estonia on Wednesday sought to assure the Baltic nations that the U.S. military would come to their defense if Russia tries to extend its reach beyond eastern Ukraine.

“We will stand firm and united to meet the test of this moment,” Obama told Estonian students on the eve of a NATO summit in Wales.

“We will defend the territorial integrity of every single ally,” the president pledged. “An attack on one is an attack on all.”

Hey guy, that's part of the NATO treaty.  You're not telling me anything.

Obama and western allies at the NATO summit this week will attempt to unite behind a blueprint to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from stoking tensions in neighboring countries, following his repeated incursions in Ukraine.

The president touted the heightened American military presence in Europe and efforts to bolster the defense capabilities of NATO allies, saying that western nations were sending an unmistakable signal to Putin.

Unmistakable?  Really?  Then how come Putin just keeps on going.

“Make no mistake: Russia is paying a price,” Obama said Wednesday. “Russia’s actions in Ukraine are weakening Russia.

The Russian expert speaks.

"Justice will win because might does not make right," the president added.

Oh please.  Did he really say that?  Pop quiz tomorrow.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday announced a “lasting cease-fire” with Russia, but the Kremlin later denied such a development — and the Ukrainian president’s office retracted the original statement.

Still, Obama sought to allay Baltic fears over Russia’s actions.

“We’ll be here for Estonia,” Obama promised. “We’ll be here for Latvia. We’ll be here for Lithuania.”

COMMENT:  Would you listen to that language!  That's the way kids talk to each other.  Remember, these foreign nations are looking at an America that is cutting its defenses in the face of major military challenges around the world.  It is looking at an America whose president drew a line in the sand in Syria, and then erased it.  And Obama says, "We'll be here for you." 

Yeah, and the check is in the mail.

September 3, 2014       Permalink

TRULY GREAT BRITAIN – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  British Prime Minister David Cameron is on a roll.  His comments about Islamic terrorism, which he named without hesitation, put Field Marshal Obama to shame.  Now Cameron is taking on Vladimir Putin, and he's just as deadly with his words.  Again, our president looks like the head of a student government in a high school for troubled teens.  From the New York Post:   

WASHINGTON — British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned European leaders against repeating the historic World War II blunder of appeasement instead of resisting Russian belligerence in Ukraine.

Cameron invoked the sellout by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to Hitler at Munich while urging his counterparts at a closed-door meeting Saturday to stand firm against Russia’s meddling in Ukrainian territory, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica said.

“We run the risk of repeating the mistakes made in Munich in 1938. We cannot know what will happen next,” Cameron was reported as saying in Brussels.

“This time we cannot meet Putin’s demands. He has already taken Crimea and we cannot allow him to take the whole country.”

Cameron’s visceral warning came as President Obama jetted to Estonia, where he will deliver a speech Wednesday intended to solidify the “steadfast” commitment of the United States to the Baltic states on Russia’s border, the White House said.

NATO obligations commit members to mutual defense, but Ukraine isn’t part of NATO.

Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the main mediator with Putin, was reported to be furious with the Russian leader, calling him “irrational and unpredictable.”

COMMENT:   No matter what Obama will say, he can't be trusted.  That is the general opinion of America's allies, and the sentiment surfaces all the time.   The question that so many are asking is whether Obama's bizarre behavior is based on indifference or on a contempt for our very civilization.  I'm leaning toward the latter.  I think what we're seeing now is the real Obama, and most Americans don't like it.

Cameron, by contrast, is positively Churchillian.

September 3, 2014       Permalink

WHAT IS THIS MAN SAYING? – AT 8:54 A.M. ET:  The president of the United States, and field marshal general colonel of the armed forces, has delivered unto us his wisdom about fighting ISIS.  I have no idea what he's talking about.  Maybe you can do better.  From Fox: 

President Obama sent seemingly conflicting signals Wednesday about his ultimate goal in the fight against the Islamic State, saying at a press conference in Europe that the aim is to "degrade and destroy" the terror group -- but moments later, claiming he wants to make it a "manageable problem."

The president spoke as lawmakers on Capitol Hill and others urge the White House and Pentagon to pursue a tough approach against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Those calls mounted after the group released another video showing the execution of an American journalist; the White House on Wednesday confirmed that video as authentic.

Speaking in Estonia during a visit to Europe, Obama at first took a hard line. He condemned the execution as "horrific" and "barbaric" and vowed "justice will be served."

After taking some heat for admitting last week that "we don't have a strategy yet" to address the militant group in Syria, Obama said they do have a regional strategy. Ultimately, he said, "our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so it is no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States."

Wait.  Stop the music.  How can you both degrade and destroy?  If you destroy, there's nothing left to degrade.  Does this guy even think about his fibs?

But later in the press conference, Obama returned to the topic and noticeably softened his tone.

He clarified that if the U.S. is joined by an international coalition, they can "continue to shrink ISIL's sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem."

Whaa?

The remarks are likely to sow confusion on Capitol Hill, and possibly among allies.

"Are we going to contain ISIS or are we going to crush ISIS? And the president has not answered that," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., told Fox News, reacting to the president's remarks.

COMMENT:  America has, very often, been lucky in its leadership during crises.  But I doubt if the names Washington, Lincoln, FDR, Truman, and Reagan will ever be found in the same sentence with Barack Obama.  We are in trouble.

September 3,  2014     Permalink