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SEPTEMBER 12,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

NEW YORK WEIRDNESS – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Mayor de Blasio cruised to an easy victory in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, trouncing little-known former City Council member Sal Albanese and other long-shot hopefuls in a race that was never competitive.  De Blasio, who garnered 74.6 percent of the votes with 99 percent of precincts reporting, was declared the winner less than 20 minutes after polls closed. Albanese trailed far behind, with 15.2 percent in the five-way race.  Hizzoner will now face off against GOP mayoral nominee Nicole Malliotakis on Nov. 7.  “This city has been great over generations because it was a city for everyone. It was never meant to be a city just for the real-estate developers or just for the landlords or just for the titans of Wall Street. It was meant to be for everyone,” de Blasio told a crowd of about 200 supporters and staffers at Roulette Intermedium, an event space in Downtown Brooklyn.  I calculate that fewer than 400,000 voters cast ballots in a city of eight million.  Which means five percent of the citizens made this decision.  This is New York democracy.

POSSIBLE UPSET – FROM THE HILL:   Alabama Democrat Doug Jones is running just a few points behind his potential Republican opponents for a Senate seat in the deep-red state, according to a new poll.  The poll from Emerson College finds former Alabama state Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore leading Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) by a 14-point margin ahead of the GOP's special election primary runoff on Sept. 26.  But both Republicans would hold only a slim advantage over Jones, according to the poll — Moore leads Jones by 4 percentage points, while Strange leads him by 3 points.   The poll is a surprisingly strong result for Jones, who was expected to have no chance in the December general election for the rest of Attorney General Jeff Sessions's Senate term. Alabama voters traditionally back Republicans in statewide elections, with President Trump winning the state by nearly 30 percentage points in 2016.  This is alarming, and a wake-up call to Republicans.  Clearly, the Republican candidates in Alabama aren't very attractive.  A loss in Alabama would be devastating to GOP attempts to retain control of the Senate next year.  Are you listening, Mitch McConnell?

THE CANADIANS ARE NUTS, TOO – FROM THE WRAP:   The indigenous peoples of Canada were thanked at every gala screening to play the Toronto International Film Festival this year.  Gala screenings are starry affairs with long red carpets, held at Toronto venues like Roy Thompson Hall and the Princess of Wales Theater. This year, before audiences got to see names like Margot Robbie or Jake Gyllenhaal introduce their movies, festival executives read the following statement:  “To begin, we would like to acknowledge the Mississaugas of New Credit, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat, the original keepers of this land, for hosting us today and for hosting TIFF on their land every day.”    Wait a second.  Why is it their land?  Maybe there was someone there before them.  I mean, like Brooklyn Dodger fans.  It is so phony.  We really aren't sure who the real indigenous peoples were, going back in history.  Why don't these phony liberals just admit that migration is a fact of life all over the world, and that new people move into old territories, and sometimes become majorities.  I really have never seen any of these intellectual frauds give up his swimming pools to an "indigenous" teenager.

September 12,  2017     Permalink   

ARE YOU SURPRISED? – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:  The American media continues its bashing of the president, losing its credibility in the process.  From Newsbusters: 

The broadcast network evening newscasts remain as hostile as ever towards President Trump and his agenda, although the networks appear to be easing up on their obsessive wall-to-wall coverage of the administration.

Since Inauguration Day (January 20), Media Research Center analysts have reviewed every mention of President Trump and top administration officials on ABC’s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News, including weekends. As of August 31, coverage of the administration has totaled nearly 74 hours (4,418 minutes) of airtime, or about 39 percent of all evening news coverage.

For comparison purposes, coverage of the Obama administration in all of 2015 and 2016 totaled 59 hours (3,544 minutes), or roughly 10 percent of the available broadcast airtime. In other words, Trump has already received more coverage in his first 224 days in office than Obama received in his final two years as President.

Analyzing the networks’ spin makes it clear that the goal of all of this heavy coverage is not to promote the President, but to punish him. In June, July and August, broadcast evening news coverage of Trump was 91 percent negative — worse than the astounding 89 percent negative spin we calculated during the first three months of the administration, usually a traditional honeymoon period for new presidents.

COMMENT:  When news organizations lose their credibility, it takes years to get it back.  Some never do.  Current polls show that most Americans have lost confidence in the media.  And yet, the news organizations don't seem to care.  They are on a mission to purify the nation and uplift its deplorables.

I never thought that's what freedom of the press was about.  I guess I was misinformed.

September 12, 2017       Permalink

TRUMP TO UNVEIL NEW IRAN POLICY? – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  There have been whispers about this for a long time, that President Trump intends to leave Obamaville and pursue a much tougher line on Iran.  From Reuters: 

President Donald Trump is weighing a strategy that could allow more aggressive US responses to Iran's forces, its Shi'ite Muslim proxies in Iraq and Syria, and its support for militant groups, according to six current and former US officials.

The proposal was prepared by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other top officials, and presented to Trump at a National Security Council meeting on Friday, the sources said.

It could be agreed and made public before the end of September, two of the sources said. All of the sources are familiar with the draft and requested anonymity because Trump has yet to act on it.

In contrast to detailed instructions handed down by President Barack Obama and some of his predecessors, Trump is expected to set broad strategic objectives and goals for US policy but leave it to US military commanders, diplomats and other US officials to implement the plan, said a senior administration official.

"Whatever we end up with, we want to implement with allies to the greatest extent possible," the official added.

The White House declined to comment.

The plan is intended to increase the pressure on Tehran to curb its ballistic missile programs and support for militants, several sources said.

"I would call it a broad strategy for the range of Iranian malign activities: financial materials, support for terror, destabilization in the region, especially Syria and Iraq and Yemen," said another senior administration official.

The proposal also targets cyber espionage and other activity and potentially nuclear proliferation, the official said.

The administration is still debating a new stance on a 2015 agreement, sealed by Obama, to curb Iran's nuclear weapons program. The draft urges consideration of tougher economic sanctions if Iran violates the 2015 agreement.

COMMENT:  We await the fine print.  Given the number of Obama holdovers hanging around Washington, the print may be very fine indeed.  When the story says that implementation will be left to US military commanders, diplomats and other officials, I get a bit of a chill.  That's fine if they're all on the same page.  But what happens if the Trump page falls out of their policy books?  I understand the rings in those notebooks are very weak. 

Trump can go any number of ways.  There is enormous pressure from Deep State to keep him following Obama's policies, with maybe a little bit of intermittent tough talk to keep the deplorables happy.  We expect better, and I think Trump does too.

September 12, 2017       Permalink

THE DETAILS – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  We began this story in "Short Takes" last night.  Here are the details of the sanctions imposed on North Korea by the UN Security Council last night.  There is no guarantee that nations will abide by these sanctions, and sanctions have never stopped the Norks from expanding their nuclear and missile programs.  From France 24: 

The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea, slapping a ban on textile exports and restricting shipments of oil products to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test.

With backing from China and Russia, the council adopted a US-drafted sanctions resolution just one month after banning exports of coal, lead and seafood in response to North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

And...

During tough negotiations, the United States dropped initial demands for a full oil embargo and a freeze on the foreign assets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in a bid to win support from China and Russia.

The resolution instead bans textile exports, cuts off natural gas shipments to North Korea, places a ceiling on deliveries of refined oil products and caps crude oil shipments at their current level.

It bars countries from issuing new work permits to North Korean laborers sent abroad and seeks to phase out the practice by asking countries to report on the date for ending existing contracts.
Some 93,000 North Koreans work abroad, providing Kim's regime with a source of revenue to develop its missile and nuclear programs, according to a US official familiar with the negotiations.

Under the measure, countries are authorized to inspect ships suspected of carrying banned North Korean cargo but must first seek the consent of the flag-state.

Joint ventures will be banned and the names of senior North Korean official and three entities were added to a UN sanctions blacklist that provides for an assets freeze and a global travel ban.
It was the eighth series of sanctions imposed on North Korea since it first tested a nuclear device in 2006.

'Big mistake' to avoid talks

The United States and its allies argue that tougher sanctions will pile pressure on Kim's regime to come to the negotiation table to discuss an end to its nuclear and missile tests.

Russia and China are pushing for talks with North Korea, but their proposal for a freeze on Pyongyang's missile and nuclear tests in exchange for suspending US-South Korean military drills has been rejected by the United States.

COMMENT:  The sanctions look impressive, but really aren't.  A full oil embargo would have been jolting, but we had to drop it.

And that's the problem.  The things that might work will never be approved by Russia or China.  Now we'll see if these new sanctions are actually applied, and what effect they will have.  It is the policy of North Korea to pursue its dreaded weapons programs, regardless of economic damage to the country.  So don't expect much.

We await the next North Korean missile test or nuclear explosion.  What will Trump do?

September 12,  2017     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 11,  2017

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

NOT MUCH – We'll be doing more on this.  The U.S. was able to get a resolution through the UN Security Council today increasing sanctions on North Korea.  China and Russia went along, but only after our original draft was gutted.  What was left was the usual raising of some sanctions, but nothing that would hit North Korea in the gut, like an oil embargo.  And we can't even be sure that China and some other countries will even honor the sanctions that were approved.  I have to believe that Trump has more up his sleeve, unless the Obama holdovers will ultimately convince him that nothing much can be done about the North Korean nuclear and missile programs.  That's not the Trump the people elected.

HURRICANE – Now that Irma has passed through Florida, the post mortems have begun.  I am amazed at how few casualties there were.  There is great credit to be given both to President Trump and Governor Scott, for their remarkable organizational abilities.  Add to that the professionalism of emergency services and local police departments.  There was some looting, but much less than might have been expected.  And the forecasters got it mostly right.  I can't find serious fault with most of the TV coverage.  Yes, there was some of the "worst thing to ever happen" stuff, but very little.  And most of what I saw was very fair to the president.  I can't imagine the good feeling will last, but the unity and capability shown by this country in the two recent hurricanes – Harvey and Irma – were memorable.

DO WE WANT THIS? – FROM THE TELEGRAPH:   Robots will begin replacing teachers in the classroom within the next ten years as part of a revolution in one-to-one learning, a leading educationalist has predicted.  Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, said intelligent machines that adapt to suit the learning styles of individual children will soon render traditional academic teaching all but redundant.  The former Master of Wellington College said programmes currently being developed in Silicon Valley will learn to read the brains and facial expressions of pupils, adapting the method of communication to what works best for them.  You mean, no more remembering Miss Berger and what she taught us?  I don't like that world.

September 11, 2017       Permalink

THE ROAD TO MADNESS – AT 11:40 A.M. ET:  Bernie Sanders is alive and mentally unwell, and living in Washington.  But he really wishes he were living in one of those "progressive" countries where the government decides when you can sneeze.  From Fox: 

A leading ObamaCare architect is the latest Democratic figure to get behind the push for single-payer health care, as Sen. Bernie Sanders prepares to unveil his “Medicare for all” bill this week – kicking off a campaign sure to put immense pressure on senior Democrats and 2020 presidential hopefuls to support the costly proposal.

The push for government-funded health care once was relegated to the fringes of the Democratic Party but has made its way into the mainstream. The latest example of this was former Sen. Max Baucus saying last week that lawmakers should start looking at single-payer.

"I just think the time has come," he told NBC News, after making similar remarks at a public event in his home state of Montana.

Baucus led the Senate Finance Committee during ObamaCare talks and acknowledged he opposed single-payer at the time, because it was “branded as socialistic by too many people.” 

Times have changed – at least among Democratic lawmakers.

Sanders plans to introduce his bill on Wednesday, along with “Senate co-sponsors.” Sanders recently confirmed one of them – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. – and another, California Sen. Kamala Harris, also revealed to constituents she plans to co-sponsor the bill.

Harris is considered a potential 2020 presidential candidate and her early endorsement of Sanders’ plan indicates how the legislation could emerge as a litmus test for other 2020 candidates – demonstrating their alignment with the liberal wing of the party. 

And...

Democrats do not have the numbers to pass any such legislation right now, but the issue could become a focal point of the party’s efforts to win back one or both chambers in the 2018 midterms. A majority of House Democrats already support “Medicare-for-all” legislation. 

COMMENT:  It would destroy American medicine as we know it, and create a tax burden that would break the backs of most families. 

Much of the financing would probably come from shrinking national defense to way below the minimum requirement for national survival.  Who cares?  All men are brothers, right?

We would have equality of mediocrity, and long waits for procedures that, today, you can get immediately.  The government will decide your life for you.

But the Dems are very good at describing things as "free stuff," and something as crazy as socialized medicine, which is what this is, might just come to this country.

September 11, 2017       Permalink

THE FUTURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY – AT 9:47 A.M. ET:  We are entering an intense and combative political season.  The 2018 midterms are a bit more than a year away.  Will the Democratic Party, now at its weakest, statistically, in 90 years, mount a comeback?  Or will it further decline into the dustbin of history? 

The party itself is changing.  From the Washington Times:   

An extensive new Pew Research Center analysis finds that 48 percent of Democratic voters overall now identify as liberals. A decade ago, that number was 32 percent. There is an interesting ethnic dynamic at work, however. Currently, 55 percent of white Democratic voters say they are liberal — compared to 28 percent of black Democrats and 41 percent of Hispanic Democrats.

While 8 percent of white Democrats now identify as conservative, that number is 30 percent among black Democrats and 22 percent among Hispanic Democrats.

Meanwhile, who’s the most liberal among all Democrats? That award goes to those with a postgraduate school education who weigh in at 60 percent liberal, then college grads (58 percent) and millennials born after 1981 (57 percent). The analysis was based on 17 years' worth of Pew Research Center voter surveys.

COMMENT:  Fascinating.  The Democratic Party is indeed becoming a party run by white, hyper-educated elitists.  The figures give hope that an imaginative, open Republican Party can attract some of those blacks and Hispanics who are more in the conservative column than the liberal.  If that happens, the Democrats can say goodbye to national victory.

But the Democrats are experts at running scare campaigns.  They will probably be able to keep minority voters in line, at least in the short run, by conjuring up images of racist and bigoted Republicans.  It's worked well.  What else are they offering?

The future can belong to the Republicans, if they know how to exploit it.  Problem is, imagination is usually not part of their game plan.

September 11, 2017       Permalink

THE DATE – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  I watched the commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.  These ceremonies never fail to move us. 

And yet, the 16 years have undoubtedly caused some softening of the horror of that day.  Think of it in World War II terms.  Sixteen years after Pearl Harbor would have been December 7, 1957.  An entirely new era.  World War II would have been over for 12 years, its youngest American veterans about 29 years old.  We had fought, in between, the Korean War.  The man in the White House in 1957 was Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the major commanders in World War II.  One of our major allies in that war, the Soviet Union, was, in 1957, a mortal enemy who was beating us into space. 

Today we see a continuing struggle against those who attacked us on 9-11.  There is no permanent victory in sight.  And a disturbing number of those in America's chattering classes have become sympathetic to the very forces we face.  Concern about "Islamophobia" has, in these classes, replaced any worry about terrorism.   It's as if they were lamenting the fate of those poor Nazis. 

President Trump has issued an entirely appropriate statement on this day.  He has proclaimed it Patriot Day:

On Patriot Day, we honor the nearly 3,000 innocent lives taken from us on September 11, 2001, and all of those who so nobly aided their fellow citizens in America's time of need.  We rededicate ourselves to the ideals that define our country and unite us as one, as we commemorate all the heroes who lost their lives saving others.
 
September 11, 2001, will forever be one of the most tragic days in American history.  Through the unimaginable despair, however, ordinary Americans etched into our history remarkable illustrations of bravery, of sacrifice for one another, and of dedication to our shared values.  The shock from the indelible images of the smoke rising from the World Trade Center and Pentagon gave way to countless inspiring videos of co-workers helping one another to safety; of heroes running into collapsing buildings to save the innocent people trapped within; and to the unforgettable story of the patriots who charged the cockpit of Flight 93 to save untold numbers of lives.  These heroes moved us with their bravery.  They make us proud to be Americans. 
 
Throughout history, everyday Americans and first responders have done the extraordinary through selfless acts of patriotism, compassion, and uncommon courage.  Not just in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, but across our great Nation, Americans on September 11, 2001, bound themselves together for the common good, saying with one voice that we will be neither scared nor defeated.  The enemy attempted to tear at the fabric of our society by destroying our buildings and murdering our innocent, but our strength has not and will not waiver.  Americans today remain steadfast in our commitment to liberty, to human dignity, and to one another.  
 
It has been 16 years since the tragedy of September 11, 2001.  Children who lost their parents on that day are now parents of their own, while many teenagers currently in high school learn about September 11th only from their history books.  Yet all Americans are imbued with the same commitment to cause and love of their fellow citizens as everyone who lived through that dark day.  We will never forget.  The events of September 11, 2001, did not defeat us.  They did not rattle us.  They, instead, have rallied us, as leaders of the civilized world, to defeat an evil ideology that preys on innocents and knows nothing but violence and destruction.  
 
On this anniversary, I invite all Americans to thank our Nation's incredible service members and first responders, who are on the front lines of our fight against terrorism.  We will always remember the sacrifices made in defense of our people, our country, and our freedom.  The spirit of service and self sacrifice that Americans so nobly demonstrated on September 11, 2001, is evident in the incredible response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.  The same spirit of American patriotism we movingly witnessed on September 11th has filled our hearts as we again see the unflinching courage, compassion, and generosity of Americans for their neighbors and countrymen.  The service members and first responders who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and in the years of service since would be proud of what we have all witnessed over these last three weeks and what will undoubtedly unfold in the coming months of recovery.  By protecting those in need, by taking part in acts of charity, service, and compassion, and by giving back to our communities and country, we honor those who gave their lives on and after September 11, 2001.

COMMENT:  Well said.  The left will not praise it.

September 11,  2017     Permalink