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JANUARY 4,  2016

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

BILL'S OPENING NIGHT  Why do we often have to depend on British journalists for the hard truth about American politics?  From London's Daily Mail:   Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made his first solo campaign appearance in support of his wife's White House bid on Monday in Nashua, New Hampshire, but the female voters standing behind him on stage – and one eighth-grader – were stone-faced and unimpressed.  They stood on risers through his 28-minute speech at Nashua Community College, alternating between frowns, grimaces and eye-rolls, even looking uninterested as they applauded a few of Clinton's lines.  I saw the same thing on the TV screen.  Bill comes off as an interloper, trying to steal the show and turning his wife into his assistant.  I'm not even sure he wants her to win. 

I HOPE THIS DOESN'T TURN INTO A MOVEMENT – From Fox:   NEW YORK – New York City police say the stepdaughter of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was taken into custody after an argument with an Uber taxi driver over an unpaid fare.  Kia Absalom was riding in the car Dec. 28. Police say she believed her fare was automatically paid via the Uber app. But the driver tells the Daily News she hadn't paid.  Police say the two argued and the driver took her to a Brooklyn police station. They say after it was determined she owed the driver about $20 she was detained in a cell while her boyfriend went to pay the fare.  Well, we'll just wait for the facts...and the full FBI investigation of the Uber driver and the oppressive presence of the NYPD. 

GUN SALES SOAR – From the Washington Free Beacon:  The FBI processed a record number of firearms-related background checks last year, indicating that more guns were sold in 2015 than in any previous year in American history.  More than 23 million checks were processed through the National Instant Background Check System in 2015, an all-time record.   The all-time record for yearly sales comes after May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2015 each set sales records for their respective months. In December the FBI conducted 3,314,594 checks, an increase of more than half a million checks over the previous single-month record set in December 2012.  This is due, I feel, to an increased sense of security on the part of the American public.  Many people no longer believe they're well protected by government agencies.  They want their own protection.

January 4, 2016       Permalink

STRANGE PRIORITIES – AT 2:56 P.M. ET:  Ms. Hillary announces one of the first tasks for her administration.  From the Washington Times:

It was an unusual question, but the candidate answered it. During a campaign stop late last week in New Hampshire, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was asked her opinion about UFOs and whether the U.S. government would ever acknowledge the existence of such unearthly craft.

In a casual conversation with the Conway Daily Sun, a local paper, Mrs. Clinton vowed, “Yes, I’m going to get to the bottom of it.” She later added, “I think we may already have been visited. We don’t know for sure.” Mrs. Clinton also suggested that a future task force could be assembled to investigate Area 51, a top secret military installation in Nevada long rumored to have had dealings with UFOS.

It did not take long for the global media to pick up on the exchange. The British press in particular have seized upon the story, which also has a role for former President Bill Clinton - who joins his wife on the campaign trail this week - and former White House adviser John Podesta.

During a 2014 appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Mr. Clinton chatted about possible alien encounters, telling his host, “It may be the only way to unite us in this incredibly divided world of ours. If they’re out there, we better think of how all the differences among people on Earth would seem small if we felt threatened by a space invader.”

COMMENT:  And imagine:  we've had such doubts about Hillary's judgment.  I guess they're all relieved now. 

Geez.

January 4, 2016       Permalink

BILL IS BACK – AT 11:22 A.M. ET:  Ace political reporter John Fund weighs in on Bill Clinton's return to the campaign trail, on behalf of his sometime wife.  From NRO: 

Bill Clinton, perhaps the best natural campaigner of his generation, will stump for his wife’s presidential campaign in New Hampshire on Monday. He will inject an energy into her sometimes lackluster campaign, but bringing Bill back comes with a price.

Bill Clinton made a famous 1992 campaign promise that if people voted for him, it would be a package deal that included Hillary: “Buy one, get one free.” Now Hillary is in danger of reminding voters that in voting for her, they also get Bill Clinton and what he brings with him — from the dubious dealings of the Clinton Foundation to his “woman problem” and his renowned talent for evasion (“It all depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”). Democratic primary voters aren’t likely to care much, but polls show many independent voters in a general election would be leery of the baggage the couple drags with them. In a new Quinnipiac national poll, only 23 percent of independent voters view Hillary Clinton as “honest and trustworthy.”

Donna Brazile, a CNN commentator who was Al Gore’s 2000 campaign manager, has bluntly said that “one of the most important things [Bill Clinton] can do in this election cycle is basically stay out of the way. Let Hillary Clinton make the case for herself.”

But Hillary is prone to tactical stumbles. Last month she accused Donald Trump of “sexism,” prompting the real-estate mogul to fire back. Saying that Hillary’s attack left him “no choice” but to bring up Bill’s colorful past with women, he went on the attack — over and over again. He not only brought up Bill’s 1997 affair with Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern, but he referenced three women who had accused Clinton of sexual harassment or worse. “I hope Bill Clinton starts talking about women’s issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women!,” he tweeted Saturday.

COMMENT:  It is staggering that after 24 years in the public eye, Hillary Clinton can only get 23 percent of independent voters agreeing that she is "honest and trustworthy."  I can't imagine that number getting any better.  After all, they've known her all these years.

If Hillary is sworn in as president, she'll have been in the public eye for as long as FDR had been on the day he died.  He became a public figure in 1920, when he was the Democratic Party's vice-presidential candidate.  He died in 1945, during his fourth term as president.  Some 25 years.  Hillary became a national figure in 1992, when her husband became the Democratic nominee for president.  The inaugural year of 2017 will mark 25 years.

January 4, 2016       Permalink 

DEVASTATING – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  Michael Barone, one of our sharpest political observers, has another take on Hillary Clinton, based on his vast knowedge of American election history.  From the Washington Examiner:   

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton's career predates the Obama presidency by a lot. At Yale Law she worked for Joe Duffey's Senate campaign in the election of 1970, when Obama was nine and Rubio and Cruz were not yet born.

But this year Clinton is running more on, or to the left of, the platform of Obama (who has 44 percent job approval) than on that of Bill Clinton (who left office with 65 percent job approval). She is obviously, though not particularly deftly, responding to a leftward lurch among Democratic voters, an impulse often seen in the final years of Democratic administrations: Bernie Sanders 2016 follows Gene McCarthy 1968, Ted Kennedy 1980 and Ralph Nader 2000.

Clinton hopes to replicate Obama's 51 percent coalition at a time when partisan preferences have been stubbornly stable for two decades. But turnout generally has been falling during the Obama presidency, Clinton is unlikely to match Obama's turnout and percentage numbers among blacks and Republican debate viewership has set new records. It's possible that the Obama presidency, having reshaped the nomination contests, may be reshaping the general electorate — and not to Democrats' benefit.

COMMENT:  I truly hope that Barone is right.  The election is now ten months away, a hundred lifetimes in politics.  And the unexpected can happen.  It is going to be the most exciting election since 1980.  And we have to win, or this country will lose.

January 4, 2016        Permalink

THIS IS REAL – AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  The holidays are over.  No more excuses for the political class to take time off.  Today starts the real presidential campaign, the campaign of 2016, the campaign for actual votes cast by people who don't have "pundit" stamped on their foreheads. 

And the Democrats are worried.  From the Washington Times: 

Democratic Party activists are conflicted over whether Hillary Clinton can take on Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in the general election, with some fearing she provides too much ammunition for the flamboyant businessman’s style of attack.

While Mr. Trump is leading the national polls and calling the shots in what’s become a circuslike GOP primary season, Mrs. Clinton tops a sedentary Democratic race with two other opponents respectfully nipping at her without doing much damage — and party stalwarts are happy to have it that way.

“I hear a lot of people saying, ‘You know, I’ve watched the Democratic debates and the Republican debates, and they’re so different. I’m sure glad I’m on the Democratic side and they’re talking about the issues. They don’t always agree with one another, but they explain why,’” said David Allen, a Democratic Party leader in Barnstead, New Hampshire. “Democrats have resolved themselves to not go into a circus and tear one another down.”

But Mr. Allen said he does worry about how the eventual Democratic nominee will stand up to the sort of withering barbs Mr. Trump has dished out to his own side.

“We’re going to start to have to look at how the [Democratic] candidates play against Donald Trump, because he’s certainly holding onto his lead in the Republican Party, and he has certainly played the Republican candidates in a way that has hurt some of his opposition, and I think people are going to start asking, ‘All right, who’s going to stand up under his type of campaigning?’” Mr. Allen said. “If Bernie [Sanders] is the candidate, Trump will play up how un-American socialism is, and if Hillary gets it, he will dig up everything in the past 40 years and use it — and won’t mince words in using it.”

Other activists say there’s a sense that, while it’s Mrs. Clinton’s turn to run, there’s no swell of on-the-ground enthusiasm for her to carry the party’s banner into the general election.

COMMENT:   Hmmm.  Her turn.  Yeah, that's the way the old Republican Party used to work, but not this year.

It is true that there's no "wanting" of Hillary, except maybe among her legion of mink-coat 1960s feminists.  Her record is poor, her campaign style boring.  Bill Clinton is now out campaigning for her, which makes her look weak and needy.

Republicans can win, if they don't mess it up.

January 4, 2016     Permalink

JANUARY 3,  2016

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

THIS IS NUTS – From the L.A. Times:  Their fear: The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite will be trending on social media again.  The academy found itself on the defensive last year when white actors earned all 20 of the nominations in the lead and supporting categories. The topic came to define the Academy Awards so much that host Neil Patrick Harris opened the ceremony by quipping: "Tonight we honor Hollywood's best and whitest. Sorry, brightest."  Yet there's a strong chance this year's acting awards will once again be heavily, perhaps exclusively, white, despite the efforts of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to diversify the organization.  In the four acting categories, only Idris Elba ("Beasts of No Nation") sits among the forecasted nominees at Gold Derby, a website compiling the predictions of two dozen Oscar pundits.  I've got an idea.  How about making excellent movies that the American people actually want to see?  Diversity will generally come along with that.  The issue in Hollywood isn't color.  It's survival.  The feature industry is becoming a sideshow.  Fix that first.

HE'S BAACK – Obama is back from still one more Hawaii vacation.  Notice the difference?  From AP:   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hawaiian vacation over, President Barack Obama says he is energized for his final year in office and ready to tackle unfinished business, turning immediate attention to the issue of gun violence.  Obama scheduled a meeting Monday with Attorney General Loretta Lynch to discuss a three-month review of what steps he could take to help reduce gun violence. The president is expected to use executive action to strengthen background checks required for gun purchases..."I am fired up for the year that stretches out before us. That's because of what we've accomplished together over the past seven," Obama said his weekly radio and Internet address.  I hadn't noticed.  Please fill me in.

SHARP DONALD – As I've noted several times, and again earlier today, I don't favor him for president, but I've become increasingly impressed by his sharpness and his un-Republican ability to strike quickly and effectively.  From Breitbart:   On January 3 Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump used a Facebook post to call out Hillary Clinton’s hypocrisy in telling the American people that guns “don’t keep you safe” while simultaneously surrounding herself with “heavily armed bodyguards.”  On December 19 Breitbart News reported that Clinton reacted to the surge in gun sales that followed the San Bernardino terror attack by saying, “Guns, in and of themselves…will not make Americans safer.” She then listed the number of gun-related deaths each year in a way that appeared to suggest guns actually make America less safe.  On January 3 Trump responded with: “Hillary said that guns don’t keep you safe. If she really believes that she should demand that her heavily armed bodyguards quickly disarm!”   It may not be the most intellectual or reasoned argument, but it sure gets attention.

January 3, 2016       Permalink

PRAY FOR BOTH OF THEM TO LOSE – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:   Lots of hot stuff between Mideast rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia, those two great democracies.  From CNN: 

(CNN) Since Saudi Arabia executed 47 people in one day, exasperation has poured in from human rights activists and sectarian anger has spread in the Middle East -- over the death of one man.

Shia Muslim cleric Nimr al-Nimr was a fervent dissident against the Sunni Muslim Saudi royal family and called for their deposal during the Arab spring uprisings in 2011.

He died on Saturday alongside 46 terrorism convicts. Later that night, in predominantly Shia Iran, Molotov cocktails smashed into the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Protesters shouted as it caught fire. Some went inside and ransacked offices.

Police donned riot gear and arrested 40 people. Embassy staff was not present during the fire attack.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned al-Nimr's execution in Saudi Arabia, and he also blasted the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran and on a Saudi consulate in another Iranian city.

"In no way is this justifiable & foremost disrespects #Iran. All Iranian officials are fully committed to confront these illegal acts," he said in a tweet.

COMMENT:  Yeah, right.  An attack on a foreign embassy in Iran wouldn't happen without a wink and a nod from the Iranian government.  Our own embassy was attacked in 1979, and hostages taken.

Saudi Arabia, which has a huge lobby in Washington, is a crude monarchy with no human rights to speak of.  Iran is a growing regional power that is being courted by Field Marshal Obama, despite its sponsorship of terrorism and its regular cheating on agreements.  Our influence in the region has declined dramatically. 

I would not be shocked to see Russian influence increase, as Russia offers to "help settle things peacefully."  The new president in 2017 will have his or her hands full.

January 3, 2016      Permalink

TRUMP LAYS IT ON THE LINE – AT 11:38 A.M. ET:   As readers know, I'm not a fan of Donald Trump and don't think he should be president.  But I must admit one thing – the man openly says what millions are thinking, and he's not afraid to say them.  He stays constantly in the news, and usually is one of the top stories.  Give him credit:  He's made the usually staid Republican nomination contest exciting.  From The Hill: 

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump is daring former president Bill Clinton to talk about women’s issues on behalf of his wife’s presidential campaign.

“I hope Bill Clinton starts talking about women’s issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women,” Trump said in a tweet Saturday, referring to sexual allegations made against the 42nd president.

I hope Bill Clinton starts talking about women's issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2016

At least five women claim to have had consensual extramarital affairs with Clinton, while at least two women have accused him of sexual harassment, and one of rape.

Trump has used the former president as an avenue to attack his wife, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic primary front-runner.

After Hillary accused him of being a sexist, Trump said he “had no choice” but to bring up her husband’s past infidelities.

“She came out with the sexism which is so nonsense, but she’s playing that card, and then I hit her back, and I talked about her husband and the abuse of women and the tremendous abuse — no, it’s tremendous abuse, it’s tremendous abuse,” he said at a rally earlier this week.

COMMENT:  The guy is a great strategist.  He's compromised Hillary on the women's rights issue, and no one has been able to do that.

January 3, 2016       Permalink

I ONLY WISH IT WERE TRUE – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  Putin says we're a threat.  Is he serious?  Under Obama, we're not a threat to anyone.  From The Hill:

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the United States a threat to Russia's national security in a New Year's Eve official document.

Russia’s expanded role internationally has caused “counteraction from the USA and its allies, which are striving to retain their dominance in global affairs,” the document reads, according to Reuters.

The updated assessment, called "About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation," is the latest sign of the tension between Moscow and the West.

The previous version, from 2009, mentions neither the United States nor its NATO allies, according to Reuters.

Relations between Moscow and the West soured after the Russian forces annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. The West also accuses Russia of backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, which Russia denies.

More recently, Russia’s intervention in Syria has drawn rebuke from Western powers. Russia began launching airstrikes in September, saying it was fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). U.S. officials have said the strikes are instead bolstering Syrian President Bashar Assad and targeting Western-backed rebels.

The national security documents say Russia’s increased role in international conflicts brings it new threats.

“The strengthening of Russia happens against the background of new threats to the national security, which has complex and interrelated nature," the document says, according to Reuters.

With regard to Ukraine, the document says there is a divided society and military conflict because the United States and European Union supported an “anti-constitutional coup d'etat,” Reuters reported.

The document also cited as threats the expansions of both NATO and a U.S. network of military-biological laboratories in countries adjacent to Russia.

COMMENT:  Under Obama, we're no threat to Russia.  We're the thinnest of paper tigers.  This, in my view, is psychological warfare.  Putin is watching our reaction to Iran's violation of its international agreements.  Every time they violate, we back down.   Vladimir is playing the victim card, knowing that Obama is truly afraid of any conflict.  He'll watch as America backs down.  Some foreign policy we have.

January 3,  2016     Permalink