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FEBRUARY 15,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

SOUTH CAROLINA POLL – GOP – From The State:  Donald Trump still is leading the S.C. Republican presidential race after the weekend’s explosive GOP debate in Greenville.  But the race for second place in Saturday’s primary appears to be narrowing.  Behind Trump, who has 35 percent support in a new poll, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are tied for second place — at 18 percent each, according to a Public Policy Polling survey released exclusively Monday to The State.  Ohio Gov. John Kasich is in fourth at 10 percent support, followed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, tied with 7 percent support each.  If those numbers hold it isn't great news for Trump.  He can't get out of the mid-thirties, and is a frontrunner in name only  The numbers mean that 65% of those polled are not for him, not good news for the "frontrunner." 

SOUTH CAROLINA POLL – DEMS – From The State:   In the Democratic race, frontrunner Hillary Clinton still holds a double-digit lead — 55-34 — over U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, according to a separate poll of 525 likely Democratic primary voters.  Sanders and Clinton are tied among white S.C. voters, the poll said. But Clinton has a strong lead among African-American voters, expected to make up more than half of Democratic primary voters. Among those voters, 63 percent said they back Clinton compared to 23 percent for Sanders.  Fourteen percent of black Democratic voters said they were undecided.  If the numbers hold, Clinton will have a respectable victory.  But will they hold?  Sanders has made substantial progress against Hillary in every state in which the two have campaigned.  The Dem Nevada caucuses are this weekend.  South Carolina votes a week later.  If Bernie upsets Hillary in Nevada, he could get a bounce in Nevada. 

MADDENING – From Gallup:  PRINCETON, N.J. -- Americans are evenly split when asked if the U.S. is No. 1 in the world militarily, with 49% saying "yes" and 49% saying "no." The current percentage who view the U.S. as No. 1 is, by a small margin, the lowest Gallup has recorded in its 23-year trend. It also marks a significant downturn from last February, when 59% said the U.S. was the world's top military power.  Ah, the effects of one president.  I'm sure he'll be pleased with the poll.  Why be number one in military power?  It's so...so...unprogressive.

February 15, 2016       Permalink

OBAMA BLASTED FOR SILENCE WHEN COPS ARE KILLED – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party is increasingly an anti-police party.  It is, under Obama, drifting further and further to the political left.  We are seeing the same pattern we saw in the 1960s, relentless criticism of the police, with no serious criticism of criminals.  Police are noticing.  From the Washington Examiner: 

President Obama's silence on a wave of recent killings of police officers is being ripped by law enforcement, with one Maryland sheriff taking to Facebook to mock that he will "save you a spot next to me!" at this week's funerals for two deputies.

"Mr. President, your silence about these events SPEAKS VOLUMES!!!!  PS: I'll be standing outside in the cold next week with my deputies for the funerals of the Harford Co deputies; I'll save you a spot next to me!" Facebooked Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees.

His post, blasted throughout law enforcement social media and highlighted by the National Sheriffs' Association, has become part of the rallying cry among cops that the president is ignoring attacks on them, and even fostering anti-police feelings.

The Fraternal Order of Police even called on Obama to expand hate-crime laws to those targeting police. In a letter also posted on Facebook, FOP President Chuck Canterbury wrote, "Mr. President, that is eight officers–six in less than a week–who have been gunned down by assailants striking from ambush or career criminals with active warrants who decided they would not be taken into custody, no matter the cost. Enough is enough! This must end."

DeWees made public the belief among many in law enforcement that the president is only concerned about violence when somebody is shot by a police officer.

His Facebook posting came after two nearby Harford County deputies were gunned down.

"I understand that you are a busy man and are being pulled in multiple directions every day of the week," wrote DeWees. "But, when my president doesn't take the time to openly recognize the sacrifices that brave men & women of law enforcement make each day to keep domestic peace, I'm disappointed! I suspect that if these same deputies walked in to a restaurant, and without provocation shot and killed an innocent man, you and your staff would quickly whisk their family away to Washington for a future speech to make an example of police officers nationwide," he added.

In interviews with Secrets, other national sheriffs expressed similar concerns. "We are the Vietnam Veterans of this generation," said Oakland County, Michigan Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

"What is everybody else's responsibility?" when it comes to reacting to police, he said. "This administration has done nothing to say, 'What's your duty as a citizen when the officer says stop.'"

COMMENT:  Very well said.  No one is suggesting that every police officer is perfect, but the good far outnumber the bad, and some good officers were gunned down recently.  The White House remained silent.

Obama is a petty little man who probably won't respond to the pleas on behalf of police.  He's the same petty little man who refused to attend Margaret Thatcher's funeral, or even send a high-ranking representative.

Consider what Reagan would have said in response to the murder of police officers.

February 15, 2016       Permalink

McCAIN ROASTS OBAMA ON FOREIGN POLICY – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:   I realize that John McCain is not universally popular in the Republican Party, and he faces a serious primary challenge in his re-election bid.  But on foreign- and defense policy he's been the party's leading, and eloquent, spokesman – a man who knows the lessons of the 20th century.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Speaking at a conference in Germany Sunday, Sen. John McCain issued a sharp critique of the Obama administration's diplomacy in what amounted to an unusual attack while overseas of President Obama's leadership.

McCain addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described "a new Cold War" between Russia and the West.

McCain, a Arizona Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, blasted Russia for deceptive policies in Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere.

He also faulted the actions of the Iranian regime in the wake of the nuclear deal western states cut with the former rogue state.

McCain steered clear in the speech of overt attacks on Obama, who defeated him in the 2008 election. But the senator left clear his implicit critique of the president's foreign policy as naive and weak.

McCain faulted the planned ceasefire that Secretary of State John Kerry has helped negotiate in Syria. McCain said Russian President Vladimir Putin is exploiting the talks.

"Mr. Putin is not interested in being our partner," McCain said.

"I want to be wrong, but I fear I am not," he said.

COMMENT:   McCain is right, of course.  And Marco Rubio is right in saying that Obama knows exactly what he's doing.  Obama is a leftist, not a liberal.  He believes America is the problem, whereas we, on our side, believe America is the solution. 

We are losing everywhere.  The president does not seem to mind.

February 15, 2016       Permalink

BIG TROUBLE – 9:55 A.M. ET:  This is the kind of news that keeps security people up at night, unless they work for Barack Obama.  From the New York Post:

Islamic State militants attacked Kurdish forces in Iraq with mustard gas last year, the first known use of chemical weapons in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a diplomat said, based on tests by the global chemical weapons watchdog.

A source at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) confirmed that laboratory tests had come back positive for the sulfur mustard, after around 35 Kurdish troops were sickened on the battlefield last August.

The OPCW will not identify who used the chemical agent. But the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because the findings have not yet been released, said the result confirmed that chemical weapons had been used by Islamic State fighters.

The samples were taken after the soldiers became ill during fighting against Islamic State militants southwest of Erbil, capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.

And...

Experts believe that the sulfur mustard either originated from an undeclared Syrian chemical stockpile, or that militants have gained the basic know how to develop and conduct a crude chemical attack with rockets or mortars.

Iraq’s chemical arsenal was mainly destroyed in the Saddam era, although U.S. troops encountered some old Saddam-era chemical munitions during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation.

COMMENT:  Oh, those old WMD stories.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  In fact, there's plenty to see.  And plenty to fear.  Chemical weapons are moved very easily.  A chemical compound can be moved in a small can or jar. 

We have accepted the "narrative" that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  I'm not so sure that narrative was accurate.  There may have been some.  Or some may have been taken to Syria before the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Indeed, there were well-sourced reports of long convoys going into Syria just before the war. 

Whatever the truth, our worst enemies probably have them.  Obama will ignore the stories, and the well-trained Obama press will suppress them.  It's disgraceful.

February 15,  2016     Permalink

FEBRUARY 14,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

HILLARY HOLDS IN S.C.? – From the New York Post:   WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton’s southern firewall seems intact — for now.  Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 59-40 percent in South Carolina, which has narrowed only slightly in the last month, according to the new CBS Battleground Tracker poll.  The former Secretary of State had retained her popularity among African American voters who support her 73-26 percent, despite a huge loss in New Hampshire last week to Sanders.  Sanders has been increasing his outreach to minorities in upcoming states and is buoyed by his perception among voters as being honest and trustworthy.  The CBS poll is an online poll, where accuracy is a bit wobbly, in my view.  Also, although the South Carolina Republican primary is Saturday, the Democratic primary in the state is a week later, giving Sanders an additional week to make progress.  I don't think Hillary has it put away yet.  The Dems have caucuses in Nevada this coming Saturday.  If Hillary loses there, it could have a negative impact on South Carolina. 

I CAN'T WAIT – From Britain's Independent:   Super skyscrapers, underwater cities and 3D-printed homes will all be a reality in 100 years' time, according to a new report on life in the future.  The SmartThings Future Living Report, which was commissioned by Samsung-owned internet of things firm SmartThings, was created by a group of academics and futurologists who suggest that in a century's time humans will be able to live in 'Earth-scrapers', which will go up to 25 storeys underground.  The academics, which include future architects and urbanists as well as lecturers from the University of Westminster, suggest that 'bubble cities' will be created underwater making the depths habitable for humans.They also believe personal drones will become a staple mode of transport, as well as being used as futuristic “mules” to carry entire homes around the world for holidays.  Those bubble cities sound terrific.  Open the drapes and look out on...water.  And if a window cracks...well, you can't live forever.  I'll take a cottage in a small American town.

SCALIA – As usual, nothing goes well.  The Washington Post is reporting that Justice Antonin Scalia did not die of a heart attack, as originally reported, that he was declared dead by a justice of the peace based on a telephoned description, that the justice of the peace never saw the body, and that Scalia did not receive an autopsy.  It was also reported that Justice Scalia was found with a pillow over his head.  I don't make any claims of special knowledge, but this is outrageous.  Here in New York an autopsy would be required in the case of anyone who doesn't die in a hospital or in the presence of qualified medical personnel, or who dies under suspicious circumstances.  Families can object on religious grounds, but objections can be rejected.  It's being reported that Scalia's family did not want an autopsy, but the public interest is not being served.  The man was revered, however his opinions were controversial, and he died alone, away from home.  I'm uneasy.

February 14,  2016     Permalink   

HE NOTICED – AT 12:48 P.M. ET:  Grand Admiral Kerry has awakened, at least for a day.  Reminds me of "Brigadoon."  From AFP:

MUNICH, Germany — The mass influx of refugees and other migrants into Europe spells a “near existential threat” to the continent, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday.

“We are facing the gravest humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II,” he said at the Munich Security Conference, which has been dominated by the Syrian conflict that has been driving the mass flight.

“The United States understands the near existential nature of this threat to the politics and fabric of life in Europe,” he told the meeting.

Europe has been deeply split by how to handle the mass influx of people fleeing war-torn Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries.

Germany took in 1.1 million refugees last year, while Italy and Greece have been overwhelmed as the main arrival points from the Middle East and Africa.

Sweden and Austria have also taken in large numbers, but many EU members, especially in the east, have been deeply reluctant to open their doors.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said Saturday that the view in Paris is “not favourable” to Berlin’s call for a permanent quota system to distribute more refugees across the EU, adding that France had already agreed to take in 30,000 refugees.

COMMENT:  It is widely reported, and not disputed, that the refugee stream contains an inordinate number of fighting-age men.  That's very unusual in refugee streams, which are usually made up mostly of women and children. 

The current crisis is another nail in the coffin of Europe.  Low birth rates in native populations, nanny-state mentalities, dominance by left-wing elites, are all conspiring to reduce Europe's status, its culture, and its future.  I'm not sure it can be stopped.  And Obama is probably cheering on the decadence.

The future is in Asia, not Europe.

February 14, 2016       Permalink

THE DISGRACEFUL TRUMP – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:   I realize there are honorable Trump supporters among our very high-level readership, but I thought Trump's behavior last night was disgraceful.

Among other wild statements, Trump claimed 1) President George W. Bush was responsible for 9-11 because it happened while he was president, and 2) Bush lied to get us into the Iraq war by claiming there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Take the first.  It reminds me of the old conspiracy theories holding that FDR knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor beforehand and failed to prevent it.  We know that 9-11 was planned, and the training of the hijackers begun, long before George W. Bush became president.  While there were some warnings in the early months of the Bush administration of a possible attack on the United States, they were non-specific.  General warnings are issued all the time.  There is no evidence that Bush could have prevented 9-11.

The second charge is even more outrageous, and is false.  Two bi-partisan Congressional committees concluded that Bush never lied to get us into war.  In fact, he used the same intelligence information that Clinton had used.  Further, Saddam Hussein, Iraq's leader, had already employed WMD in Iraq's war against Iran. 

The inspector reports said that no WMD stockpiles had been found in Iraq.  But the reports also said that WMD programs were intact and were ready to be re-started, a finding never given much prominence by the anti-Obama press.  And indeed, we really don't know if WMD stockpiles had simply not been discovered, and had been well hidden.

Trump's comments were grossly irresponsible.  We are talking about war and peace, life and death, not about the cost of gold fixtures in a new casino. 

February 14, 2016       Permalink

THE NEXT JUSTICE – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:  The battle is already on.  Will Obama get to nominate a justice for the Supreme Court to replace Antonin Scalia, or will he defer to the next president?

He's pretty much given the answer.  He will nominate in due course.  Of course he will.  He would never defer.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, says he will not permit a nomination to be taken up until after the next president is chosen.  Good.  I hope he sticks to it, but I fear that some weak Republicans may be peeled off, especially if they represent swing states and are up for re-election in November.

Also, there is now talk that Obama can make a recess appointment.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed not to confirm a successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, but some Republicans worry that President Obama could install a replacement anyway.

"We're in recess, so Obama can, in theory, appoint someone," a senior GOP aide told the Washington Examiner. "He could appoint [Vice President Joe] Biden tonight if he wanted to."

Obama wouldn't be the first president to use a recess appointment to place a justice on the high court. There are have been 12 justices appointed to the Supreme Court while the Senate was in recess. Dwight Eisenhower was the last president to use that power — he did so three times, according to Scotusblog.

And...

Obama used the recess power aggressively in the past. In January of 2012, he appointed three people to the National Labor Relations Board when the Senate was not officially in recess due to pro forma sessions. In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in NLRB v. Noel Canning that those appointments are unconstitutional because the Senate, by its own rules, was not in session at the time the appointments were made.

But that's not the case now. The Senate is scheduled to be in recess until Feb. 22, giving Obama nine days to mull the idea. If Obama were to pursue that route, Republicans likely would argue that the Senate was out of session for too short a time for Obama to take advantage of the recess appointment power. But the Supreme Court has never said exactly how long a recess must be for the president to make recess appointments.

"It's a live threat," the aide said.

COMMENT:  McConnell should call the Senate back into session immediately, and the Senate should remain in session through the end of its term next January.  I would not put it past Obama to make a recess appointment tonight.

As I understand it, a recess appointment would only last until the Supreme Court goes out of session.  It would still have to be confirmed by the Senate to be permanent.

February 14,  2016     Permalink