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JANUARY 28,  2016

NO "SHORT TAKES" TONIGHT SO WE CAN REVIEW THE DEBATE:

The Republicans had their final Iowa debate tonight, without Donald Trump.  It was an intelligent discussion, probably the best so far.  It still, though, suffered from a surplus of candidates.  There were seven.  Four would have been plenty.  It's hard for viewers to separate opinions when there are too many candidates onstage. 

Jeb Bush turned in his best, most vigorous performance.  He is rising in New Hampshire polls, and maybe his zest has gotten zestier.  And Chris Christie turned in his best performance as well.  He was able to exploit his experience as a U.S. attorney in answering questions about the war on terror.  The person most observers seemed to be looking at carefully was Marco Rubio, who some believe has a shot to move up if he does well in Iowa and New Hampshire.  I felt Rubio was a bit off his game in this debate.  He is usually smooth and measured.  But tonight he sounded, at times, nervous and jittery, speaking too quickly, trying to stuff too many points into too little time.  But the points he made were solid, and showed his command of the issues.

Ted Cruz.  He is presumed to be the guy in second place.  With Donald Trump taking a walk, Cruz got most of the arrows.  He has a chance to win the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday.  "Take down Ted" seemed to be the rallying cry of the other candidates.  Cruz, as usual, mastered the issues.  He is a man of unusual intellect, and a debater of consummate skill.  He is also, however, an ideologue, and often comes off as cold, even computer-like.  Mr. Warmth he is not.  But he's a solid conservative, and has strong appeal within the Republican Party.  The establishment, though, dislikes him intently, as he shows the party leadership almost no respect.  I don't think Cruz was hurt by any of the attacks tonight, but he didn't come out stronger either.

I can't say there was any clear winner, or any obvious loser.

One of the big questions of the night was the impact that Donald Trump's absence would have on the debate...and on Donald Trump.  I have to say that the decibel level of the debate seemed to be lower, but that may or may not have been due to Trump's absence.  I don't think his ideas were particularly missed.  His absence actually forced us to give more consideration to the other candidates.

But how did the episode affect Trump?  No one seems to know.  A Frank Luntz focus group leaned toward the idea that Trump owed it to the people of Iowa to show up, but I didn't sense much palpable anger about his no-show.  We'll have to wait for polls, and for the actual vote on Tuesday, to find out if Trump helped or hurt himself, or neither.

It's Iowa.  The Iowa caucuses often surprise us.  I'm looking forward to Tuesday.

January 28, 2016       Permalink

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INCIDENT NEAR PARIS – AT 5:16 P.M. ET:  A close one in a country that has seen too much.  From London's Daily Mail: 

A man has been arrested at Disneyland Paris carrying two handguns, ammunition, and a 'guide to the Koran', but police are still hunting his female companion.

Bomb disposal experts surrounded a car after weapons were detected when the luggage was put through an X-ray machine at the entrance to a hotel, 20 miles east of the French capital.

The 28-year-old man, who was not known to security services, was stopped by Disney staff who found the weapons - two semi-automatic handguns and a knife - hidden in his suitcase at about midday.

Police swooped on the four-star Hotel New York at Disney Village and the man, who had booked a room for two, offered no resistance as he was being taken into custody.

The couple's car was immediately surrounded by bomb disposal experts, and the hotel car park was shut down.

The semiautomatic 7.65-millimeter pistols were inside cloth bags, along with two magazines and 20 bullets.

Both weapons dates back to the 1980s, and there was also a small booklet entitled 'A guide to the Holy Koran'.

It follows warnings from terrorist groups including Islamic State and Al-Qaeda that Disneyland, some 20 miles east of Paris, was one of their targets.

COMMENT:  Again, we note the relentlessness of the terrorists.  We're seeing attacks, or attempted attacks, every week.  And sooner or later one or more will get through.  If there is a successful attack before the election, it can shape the outcome.

January 28, 2016       Permalink

FLAK FOR DONALD – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:   Donald Trump's plan to put on a rally tonight to benefit wounded veterans, competing directly with the Fox-hosted Republican debate, isn't getting universal applause.  It's being reported that some veterans' groups want nothing to do with a political feud.  From Fox: 

The head of an Iraq and Afghanistan veterans group says they will decline donations from the fundraising event Donald Trump plans to hold Thursday night as he sits out the Republican primary debate.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America founder Paul Rieckhoff said on Twitter Wednesday that his group had not heard from the Trump campaign and did not know which organizations would be involved in the veterans event.

He then tweeted:

If offered, @IAVA will decline donations from Trump's event. We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts.

Rieckhoff’s criticism wasn’t reserved only for Trump. He had a similar message for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after a super PAC supporting the presidential candidate offered to donate $1.5 million to veterans if Trump accepts a one-on-one debate challenge:

Now it's Cruz yanking vets into the nastiness of the presidential fights before Iowa. This is not what vets need.

COMMENT:  Applause.   Many veterans need serious help and sound policies.  They should not be used as political props.  This whole episode involving tonight's debate has cheapened our politics even further.

January 28, 2016       Permalink

I NEVER KNEW THIS – AT 10:23 A.M. ET:  A lot of whiz-bang technology around.  Can it be used to rig an election?  This is fascinating, I think.  From, of all sources, MSNBC:   

DES MOINES, Iowa – The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is raising questions about the involvement of Microsoft in the Iowa Caucuses, now just five days away, and has built an independent system to check the official results.

For the first time this year, Microsoft partnered with the Iowa Democratic and Republican Parties to provide a technology platform with which the parties will run their caucuses. The software giant created separate mobile apps for each party, which officials at hundreds of caucuses across the state will use to report out results from individual precincts to party headquarters for tabulation.

The arrangement has aroused the suspicions of aides to Sanders, whose regularly warns that corporate power and the billionaire class are trying to hijack democracy. Pete D’Alessandro, who is running the Iowa portion of Sanders’ campaign, questioned the motives of the major multinational corporation in an interview with MSNBC: “You’d have to ask yourself why they’d want to give something like that away for free.”

Ironically, MSNBC originally referred to Microsoft-NBC.

The Sanders campaign has built their own reporting system to check the results from the official Microsoft-backed app. It has trained its precinct captains on using the app, which is designed to be as user friendly as possible, and the campaign will also staff a hotline system as further redundancy.

“It’s just a way that our folks can have an app that we trust to get the numbers to us in a timely fashion,” D’Alessandro said. “I’m always going to be more for sure on the stuff that my people had control over the entire time… If there are any problems, we can spot them right away.”

Other Sanders aides noted that Microsoft employees have donated several hundred thousand dollars to Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton over her career, and questioned why the Iowa Democratic Party didn’t partner with a software company based in Iowa.

COMMENT:  Of course, this could be paranoia on the part of the Sanders team, but I wouldn't rule out attempts, possibly involving hackers, to rig elections.  And I'd look at foreign nations like Iran.

January 28, 2016       Permalink

THE CHAOS – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  The next Republican debate is tonight, from Iowa.  There is high drama.  Frontrunner Donald Trump is refusing to participate, claiming that one of the Fox News moderators, Megyn Kelly, has disrespected him.  Sounds like something right out of "The Godfather."

I can almost hear Ed McMahon announce, "Donny couldn't make it tonight, but sitting in..."  (If you don't get that reference, please ask anyone with a Medicare card.)

Trump will hold a rally, with proceeds going to Wounded Warriors, in direct competition with the debate.

I don't know about you, but I'm disgusted with this.  We are talking about the presidency of the United States, an office that affects the fate of hundreds of millions of people.  And what have we come to?  I watched CNN last night and their joy at Trump's attack on Megyn Kelly could barely be contained.  One "expert" spent part of his time wondering about the impact this dispute would have on Fox's advertising rates.  I kid you not.

No Iran.

No nuclear weapons.

No faltering economy.

But...Fox's advertising rates.

Seems to me we need some fast growing up.  This country is going down the drain, and some parts of the media seem determined to go with it.

Should be an interesting debate without Trump.  I have no idea how this will impact the Iowa vote on Tuesday.

January 28,  2016      Permalink

JANUARY 27,  2016

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

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – From the New York Post:   ALBANY — Many Big Apple students, including the children of several state lawmakers, can’t even sign their own names, it was revealed at an educational budget hearing in Albany today.  “Not only is it sad, but it’s a security issue,” said Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/Brooklyn).  She told Board of Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia that students have become so tech-oriented that they never learn how to sign their John Hancock, which renders them unable to properly ink contracts, checks and credit cards.  Malliotakis said the penmanship problem was brought to her attention while helping one of her constituents fill out a voter registration form. He printed his name, and when she told him to actually sign it, he insisted that was his signature.   Do you see an absence of common sense in the educational system?

GREAT MOMENTS IN SECURITY – From Fox:   Hundreds of badges, credentials, cell phones and guns belonging to Department of Homeland Security employees have been lost or stolen in recent years -- raising serious security concerns about the potential damage these missing items could do in the wrong hands.  Inventory reports, obtained by the news site Complete Colorado and shared with FoxNews.com, show that over 1,300 badges, 165 firearms and 589 cell phones were lost or stolen over the span of 31 months between 2012 and 2015.  The majority of the credentials belonged to employees of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), while others belonged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) employees.  The lost or stolen guns also mostly belonged to CBP employees, though others were cited as belonging to TSA and ICE workers. The agencies all fall under DHS.  Sleep well tonight. 

GREAT MOMENTS IN ESPIONAGE – From CNN:  Imagine Jason Bourne -- but with feathers, claws and two-meter wingspan.  A vulture that flew into Lebanon from an Israeli nature reserve has been captured on suspicion of spying, according to local media reports.  Gamla Nature Reserve tracked the bird to near the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil, which is just a few kilometers over the border from Israel -- then reports began trickling in that the bird was being held by locals who suspected it because it had Israeli tags and devices.  A series of pictures also surfaced: one of a vulture with Israeli tags and a rope tied around its leg; another of a transmitter on the same bird's back; and another of two men displaying the bird's massive wingspan.  I make no judgment.  I'm awaiting the trial.

January 27, 2016       Permalink

TRUMP UNRELENTING – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  Donald Trump is giving no ground today in his battle against Fox News, and he's not pulling back his decision to boycott the Fox-hosted debate later this week.  From The Politico: 

Donald Trump’s campaign manager gave no ground on Wednesday morning after a Fox News statement singled him out, suggesting that he threatened the network with "terrorizations" of debate co-moderator Megyn Kelly.

"You know, what we know is Megyn Kelly is totally obsessed with Mr. Trump," Corey Lewandowski told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" in a telephone interview. "She’s on show after show about why the media shouldn’t be having him on television."

Trump, Lewandowski continued, is "the best debater on the debate stage, we know this, he’s the clear winner, he has been by every debate poll that’s taken place."

"He’s not afraid to debate. I want to be very clear about this," he said. "He’s done more television, more radio, than all of the other candidates combined. And so, he’s not afraid to answer questions. He’s on your show all the time, he was on yesterday. But the bottom line is, you have people that aren’t going to be fair and ask questions the American people want to talk about, and instead they want to make this about themselves. And that’s what this is about, and it’s a shame.”

Asked about Ted Cruz's call for a one-on-one debate before Monday's caucuses in Iowa, Lewandowski said the Texas senator's campaign was not the only one to reach out asking if they could participate in the Trump campaign's event for wounded warriors and veterans on Thursday night in Des Moines.

COMMENT:  May I gently remind the Republican Party that the opponent will be a Democrat, not another Republican.  The GOP is at war with itself.  It was at war with itself in 1980, with the establishment opposing the nomination of Ronald Reagan.  Reagan won it fair and square, but the point is that he was Ronald Reagan.  We haven't got him to put things back together today, and I fear the party may throw away the best chance at victory it's had in years.

January 27, 2016       Permalink

ANOTHER CLOSE ONE – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  It is only a matter of time before one or more of these terrorists gets through.  From CBS: 

Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a Milwaukee man who planned a mass shooting, according to a release by United States Attorney’s Office of Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Samy Mohamed Hamzeh, 23, has been charged with possessing machine guns and a silencer.

In October 2015, Hamzeh planned to travel to Jordan, enter the West Bank and conduct an attack on Israeli soldiers and citizens living in the West Bank.

Hamzeh later abandoned those plans and began to focus on conducting an attack in the United States.

During recorded conversations, Hamzeh explained that he wanted to commit a domestic act of violence on a Masonic Temple in Milwaukee.

Hamzeh had been under investigation since September 2015.

On January 19, Hamzeh took a guided tour of the Masonic temple, during which they learned meeting schedules and where people would be located during meetings.

Hamzeh learned meeting schedules and where people would be located during meetings. In a recorded conversation after they left, Hamzeh discussed his plans.

Hamzeh reaffirmed his intention to commit an armed attack on the temple and discussed in further detail how they would carry out the attack.

Hamzeh said that they would need two machine guns so that they each would have one and also said that they would need three silencers.

COMMENT:   The FBI announced that it is conducting probes of potential terrorists all over the country, but even the FBI can't be everywhere.  As this is written, someone, somewhere in the U.S., is planning an attack that will succeed.  And the president of the United States says that the problem is exaggerated.

January 27, 2016       Permalink

THE NEW IRAN IS THE OLD IRAN – AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  The president and secretary of state don't seem to care, but Iran is not showing any signs of change since the completion of the nuclear deal with the outside world.  It is a horrible and brutal dictatorship.  From AP:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dozens of people who were arrested in Iran for crimes committed before they turned 18 remain at risk of the death penalty despite recent reforms, with many having already spent years on death row, according to a report by Amnesty International released Tuesday.

The London-based group also found that Iran has executed at least 73 juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2015, including at least four last year.

Amnesty’s 110-page report intensifies pressure on Iran at a time when Tehran is working to rebuild relations with the West following last year’s landmark nuclear deal. The agreement came into force this month after Iran took steps to curb its nuclear program, leading to the lifting of crippling international sanctions.

On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Rome at the start of the first European trip by an Iranian president in almost two decades. The visit, which will also include stops at the Vatican and France, is expected to lead to a raft of business and trade deals.

Iran is one of the world’s largest users of the death penalty, ranking second behind China in 2014, according to the most recent figures from Amnesty. Most executions overall in Iran are carried out for drug smuggling. The country straddles a major narcotics trafficking route linking opium-producing fields in Afghanistan to Europe.

COMMENT:  It won't mean a thing to Europe, which sees only money in its relations with Iran.  Obama sees only a legacy that he can present to the international left, which doesn't care a bit about human rights.

The president of Iran is waltzing around Europe, getting mostly smiles, ready to spend the more than $100-billion his country will receive from the West in previously frozen funds. 

Lenin said that the West would sell the Soviet Union the rope with which it would then strangle the West.  It didn't actually happen, but Iran is more shrewd than the Soviet Union ever was.

January 27,  2016     Permalink