I have a new piece up at Hudson New York, called "The Uncertain Trumpet."  For those who might be interested, it's here.

TUESDAY,  AUGUST 4,  2009

A REMINDER OF THE REAL WORLD - AT 9:58 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union all but eliminated the ability of the Russian Navy to operate far from home ports, making the current submarine patrols thousands of miles from Russia more surprising for military officials and defense policy experts.

COMMENT:  Why is it that virtually every enemy and potential enemy of the United States has become more aggressive, even reckless, since Obama took office?  Do you think there's a reason, or is it just, oh, coincidence? 

August 4, 2009   Permalink

THE BETRAYAL - AT 6:21 P.M. ET:  It took President Obama long enough to give grudging support to the freedom fighters of Iran.  Now Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi alerts us to the current American policy toward the Iranian government, as AP reported:

WASHINGTON — White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is "the elected leader" of the Islamic republic.

Gibbs was asked Tuesday if the White House recognized Ahmadinejad as the country's legitimate president.

"He's the elected leader," Gibbs responded.

Iranian opposition to Ahmadinejad's re-election claimed he stole the vote, and there have been massive street demonstrations that have shaken the religious leadership of the country. Ahmadinejad reports to the religious establishment. Dozens of demonstrators were killed or wounded in the uprising.

COMMENT:  Gibbs could've used some diplomatic language like "the de facto president," or "the local authority."  To refer to Ahmadinejad as the "elected leader" is a gratuitous insult to Iran's freedom fighters.  He is not the elected leader if the election, as charged, was rigged.

Again, the Obama administration shows its supreme contempt for democracy. Obama comes from an "intellectual" crowd that makes little distinction between democracy and dictatorship, as long as "cultural sensitivity" is maintained.

Disgraceful.

August 4, 2009   Permalink

SO MUCH FOR THE "PRIVATE TRIP" - AT 5:21 P.M. ET:  The White House, representing an administration that said it would be the most transparent in history, says that Bubba's trip to North Korea was "private."

Apparently not.  From The Hill:

The Obama administration asked former President Bill Clinton to travel to North Korea meet with leader Kim Jong-Il to negotiate the release of two American journalists who were imprisoned for entering the country illegally, according to a congressional source briefed on the matter.

Clinton was accompanied on the trip by John Podesta, his former White House chief of staff, who is an informal adviser to the Obama administration.

John Bolton, whose common sense is rejected by the fashion plates of the diplomatic establishment, has a very tough take on what's happened.  From AFP:

John Bolton, an outspoken hardliner in the previous administration of George W. Bush, told AFP that Clinton's mission to Pyongyang undermines a number of public stands held by his own wife, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"It comes perilously close to negotiating with terrorists," Bolton told AFP when asked about Bill Clinton's trip to secure the release of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

And...

"I think this is a very bad signal because it does exactly what we always try and avoid doing with terrorists, or with rogue states in general, and that's encouraging their bad behavior," Bolton said.

In a US television interview here on July 26, Secretary Clinton warned North Korea that even its traditional allies had turned against it and that the communist state's rogue behavior will no longer "be rewarded."

Bolton has more to say:

The visit also undermines Secretary Clinton's public remarks in which she separates the case of the two journalist from efforts to force North Korea to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, he said.

"Hillary has said she wanted to delink the two but (Bill) Clinton was met at the airport by Kim Kye-Gwan who is the lead and has been for 15 years or more the lead North Korean nuclear negotiator," he added.

So much for our foreign policy.  What do a few contradictions mean when Obama can now have this "victory" and a great photo-op, with CNN toasting the great moment in history.

We really do have Carter II.

August 4, 2009    Permalink

JOURNALISTS FREED - AT 3:29 P.M. ET:  News has just come that North Korea, that gracious, compassionate state, has ordered the pardon of the two American journalists they've been holding.  Apparently, the two will return to the U.S. with former President Bill Clinton, who is visiting North Korea.  (See our story just below.)

Of course, this was a done deal.  Clinton wasn't going to North Korea unless he knew he'd come back with the two women.  It's a spectacular photo op which means...absolutely nothing.

We're delighted, of course, that the women are free.  But this is nothing more than manipulation of American public opinion.  It says nothing about the North's nuclear weapons program, its missile development, or its sharing of deadly technology with other countries.  But it may result in a boost for President Obama, who can now say, "This is what engagement brings."

Fact is, we've been "engaged" with North Korea for decades, with nothing to show but some agreements that they've violated.

Iran is watching, and may well learn how to manipulate, and keep us off guard, by making small concessions that the Obamafied press will distort.

August 4, 2009   Permalink 

THE CLINTON TRIP - AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  As The New York Times notes, Bill Clinton is in North Korea, and apparently is meeting with Mr. Big:

SEOUL, South Korea — Former President Bill Clinton met on Tuesday with Kim Jong-il, the reclusive and ailing leader of North Korea, while on a visit to negotiate the release of two imprisoned American television journalists, North Korean state media reported.

Mr. Clinton flew into Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in an unmarked jet early Tuesday morning local time, Central TV, a North Korean station, reported. The White House confirmed the visit on Tuesday, but said it was a private mission.

Private mission?  Consider this:

Mr. Clinton relayed a “verbal message” from President Obama to Mr. Kim, the report said, without revealing its content.

If it's a private mission, how come there's a message from Obama?

Look, this is desperation territory.  Nothing else has worked with North Korea.  The danger here, as we pointed out last night, is that Clinton will report a "new atmosphere," and that we'll get strung along again, as North Korea continues to develop its nuclear weapons and missiles.

August 4, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 9:22 A.M. ET:  From the great Thomas Sowell, who analyzes the motivation behind what passes for "liberal" policies:

"Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of freedom is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political savior, then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating the catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or "social justice."

Now that is a thought worth keeping.  Here's more from Sowell:

Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our freedom. This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not yet faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and don't have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.

Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable part of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must bear with infirmities until they fester into crimes."

And...

There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke said long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the most tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared to kiss your freedom goodbye.

COMMENT:  As the teachers used to say in the once-great New York City school system:  "Discuss."

August 4, 2009   Permalink

THE DANGER SIGNS - AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  If you're concerned about the real economy - not the paper economy, but the economy of jobs, people and products - and if you're concerned about the requirements of national defense - this should disturb you:

California is shedding manufacturing jobs faster than any other state thanks to heavy regulation and high taxes, according to a new study.

A report out of the Milken Institute found that California has shed nearly 80,000 manufacturing jobs over the past five years, as neighboring states gained 62,000 jobs in the same sector.

The new numbers suggest that the federal government might want to think twice before following in California's footsteps and instituting sweeping regulations on the energy industry and elsewhere.

Otherwise the Golden State might not be the only one that's losing its luster.

And...

...American manufacturing has been on a steady decline for decades and some economists say they fear that if the trend is not addressed soon the U.S. industrial base will disappear for good.

After World War II, manufacturing accounted for one in every three American jobs. Now it's one in 10 and falling.

The Milken report blamed California's exportation of manufacturing jobs on heavy regulation, a hostile legislature and the highest tax rate in the United States.

COMMENT:  The tragedy here is that there's a major segment of the American population, college graduates who've been indoctrinated in enviro-religionism, that rejoices in the decline of American manufacturing.  Can you smell that pure, impoverished air?

Great nations make things.  Industrial dreamers make industrial products.  MADE IN USA used to be a label we saw every hour of every day.  Now there are whole product lines where it never appears.

The threat to our economy is clear.  The threat to our national defense is dire.  Who will make the planes, the ships, the tanks, the vehicles, if our manufacturing base disappears under the weight of the ideologists?  The ideologists, of course, don't care.  But the rest of us should.

There was a time, not many decades ago, when it was said that what happened in California would soon spread across the country.  We used to welcome that.  Now we should dread it.

August 4, 2009   Permalink

THE CORRECT COURSE - AT 7:52 A.M. ET:  We have pledged to give credit here when we think the Obamans do something right.  Now, true, there hasn't been an excess of opportunity to prove our fairness, but one has come along.  It turns out that the administration - yes, breaking another pledge - is pursuing tough policies on illegal immigration, policies that resemble those of...well, you know who.  The New York Times reports:

After early pledges by President Obama that he would moderate the Bush administration’s tough policy on immigration enforcement, his administration is pursuing an aggressive strategy for an illegal-immigration crackdown that relies significantly on programs started by his predecessor.

A recent blitz of measures has antagonized immigrant groups and many of Mr. Obama’s Hispanic supporters, who have opened a national campaign against them, including small street protests in New York and Los Angeles last week.

Now, of course, there's an ulterior motive, as admitted by Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano:

Ms. Napolitano and other administration officials argue that no-nonsense immigration enforcement is necessary to persuade American voters to accept legislation that would give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants, a measure they say Mr. Obama still hopes to advance late this year or early next.

Well, we'll take a very hard look at that proposal when it comes along.  But enforcing immigration rules is basic to a society that calls itself a nation of laws.  Illegal immigration is, correctly, a hot-button issue.  The idea of people entering this country by breaking its laws offends not only our sense of justice, but our sense of fairness.  Who among us hasn't had some friend, relative, or ancestor who's waited years to come here by following the rules and acting correctly?

August 4, 2009   Permalink

THE REVOLVING DOOR - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  Washington has many revolving doors.  Through these doors pass people who have worked for the government, then wind up working for industries they presumably should have been watching or regulating as government employees.  Through other doors march people who've worked for companies, unions, interest groups and the like, who wind up working for government for a few years, then go back to their original base, conflict-of-interest and all.

There's a new revolving door - journalists who worked for the MSM, and are now joining the Obama administration.  Brent Baker of Newsbusters reports this morning:

Roberta Baskin, a veteran of CBS News, ABC News, PBS and Washington, DC's ABC affiliate, with a stint at the Center for Public Integrity mixed in, “will join the Department of Health and Human Service's office of inspector general as a senior communications adviser in mid-August,” Washington Post “Federal Eye” blogger Ed O'Keefe reported late Monday...

...My list of journalists who have jumped to the Obama administration -- plus one who traveled through the revolving door from helping the Obama campaign into a news media slot -- is now up to thirteen. Not counting Baskin: Three each revolved through CNN and the Washington Post; two through ABC News; and one each via the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and Time magazine.

COMMENT:  There have always been some journalists who have joined administrations, most famously the legendary Edward R. Murrow, who became head of the U.S. Information Agency under Jack Kennedy.  But the sheer number of scribes who have joined the Obama crusade is disturbing.  The relationship is too close, and clearly unhealthy for this democracy and for the already rusted image of the media.

August 4, 2009   Permalink

MONDAY,  AUGUST 3,  2009

BUBBA ON THE WAY - AT 11:08 P.M. ET:  There are reports all over that former President Bill Clinton is on his way to North Korea to handle the release of those American journalists seized by the North Koreans some months ago, tried, and convicted as spies.  Apparently, a deal has been worked out.

Look, we want our people back.  But what are the details here?  What kind of "deal" are we talking about?  What did we give up to get back what shouldn't have been taken in the first place? 

The greatest danger is that Clinton will return with the two young women and announce that he'd detected a "new atmosphere" or "new flexibility" or "more cooperative tone" (take your pick) in North Korea. 

We've been down this road with the North Koreans many times.  They do something outrageous, then make a glorious concession for "humanitarian" reasons, and we fall all over ourselves hailing a new day that hasn't arrived, and never will.  You see, you belligerent Yankees, engagement works.  The One says so.

The Iranians are watching.  They're now holding three Americans who apparently strayed across their border from Iraq.  They're studying how the North Koreans milk the situation.  Then maybe they'll do the same. 

How to manipulate the United States.  Textbook cases.

August 3, 2009   Permalink

OBSCENITY IN PAKISTAN - AT 8:19 P.M. ET:  The New York Times, not always our favorite here, should be commended for running this story on anti-Christian persecution in Pakistan.  This kind of persecution goes on in many parts of the Muslim world, but goes largely ignored by our aloof-to-religion press:

GOJRA, Pakistan — The blistered black walls of the Hameed family’s bedroom tell of an unspeakable crime. Seven family members died here on Saturday, six of them burned to death by a mob that had broken into their house and shot the grandfather dead, just because they were Christian.

Attacks began in Gojra over a claim that a Koran had been defiled.
The family had huddled in the bedroom, talking in whispers with their backs pressed against the door, as the mob taunted them.

“They said, ‘If you come out, we’ll kill you,’ ” said Ikhlaq Hameed, 22, who escaped. Among the dead were two children, Musa, 6, and Umaya, 13.

The attack in this shabby town in central Pakistan — the culmination of several days of rioting over a claim that a Koran had been defiled — shows how precarious life is for the tiny Christian minority in Pakistan.

And...

“We were afraid because the clerics had been railing against us in the mosques,” said Riaz Masih, a Christian and retired math teacher whose house was gutted. “They said, ‘Let’s teach them a lesson.’ ”

COMMENT:  Questions:  Where is the U.S. Government, which is quick to condemn any slight against Muslims?  Where are the "human rights" groups?  Where is the U.N.?  And where, of course, are the "multiculturalists" in our colleges and universities, who would be at the barricades if one of the left's favorite groups was offended? 

I think we all know where.  Hear the silence.

August 3, 2009  Permalink

READ THE FINE PRINT - AT 6:17 P.M. ET:  Most economic predictions are worth ignoring.  One economist who always gets attention, though, is Nouriel Roubini of NYU, who predicted the global financial crisis.  Now he is predicting the easing of the recession by year's end...but you have to read the fine print:

Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics and a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, predicted on July 23 that the global economy will begin recovering near the end of 2009 before possibly dropping back into a recession by late 2010 or 2011 because of rising government debt, higher oil prices and a lack of job growth.

Ah, there's the fine print.  We can get out of this...temporarily.  But we may slip right back into recession after a brief period during which CNN pays homage to Obama and space is cleared on Mount Rushmore.

We have deep economic problems, and they won't be solved by a cash for clunkers program or a stock market rally.  People forget that there was a sustained rally between 1933 and 1937, in the heart of the great Depression, followed by another dive and continued unemployment.  It wasn't until World War II that we recovered economically.

August 3, 2009   Permalink 

WASHINGTON ECONOMICS - AT 5:32 P.M. ET:  We're getting propagandized about the "end" of the recession and the dawning of the age of Obamius.  The figures tell a different story:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation's plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab.

The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.

Other figures in an Associated Press analysis underscore the recession's impact: Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago. Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent. Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever.

COMMENT:  Two major presidential advisers suggested over the weekend that new taxes, including taxes on the middle class, will be considered.  (See story just below.)  Today, presidential news secretary Robert Gibbs played down their remarks, reiterating Obama's "commitment" not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $250,000 a year. 

Now wait.  If that commitment still stands, how do we account for the advisers' comments?  Don't they know the policy?  Have they met the president?  Chatted with him?  It's inconceivable that advisers on the level of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers would make the comments they made unless they were on firm ground.  They're bright guys.  They know the impact of the word "taxes."

So, we're spending like crazy, taking in very little, and may need new taxes, except the White House says we won't.  This is the economic policy of the new administration.  Yes they can.

August 3, 2009   Permalink

NOW THEY TELL US - AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  It's the tax thing.  It's with us again.  Someone figured out that the government doesn't have enough money to write all those checks that are being written.  Cash for clunkers may run out of cash.  Cash for medical care will certainly run out of cash.  And Band-Aids.  Here is the latest on the tax question:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul.

As the White House sought to balance campaign rhetoric with governing, officials appeared willing to extend unemployment benefits. With former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan saying he is "pretty sure we've already seen the bottom" of the recession, Obama aides sought to defend the economic stimulus and calm a jittery public.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both sidestepped questions on Obama's intentions about taxes. Geithner said the White House was not ready to rule out a tax hike to lower the federal deficit; Summers said Obama's proposed health care overhaul needs funding from somewhere.

And...

During his presidential campaign, Obama repeatedly vowed "you will not see any of your taxes increase one single dime." But the simple reality remains that his ambitious overhaul of how Americans receive health care -- promised without increasing the federal deficit -- must be paid for.

COMMENT:  A British commentary today notes that Obama needed the Reagan Democrats to win the election.  If he raises taxes, though, in defiance of his pledge, he will almost certainly lose them, fracturing the already strained Democratic coalition. 

The tax issue is going to erupt.  Not only would the president be breaking a pledge if he attempts to raise taxes on the middle class, he'll be raising taxes in a weak economy, a prescription for disaster. 

When numbers don't add up, something is wrong.  And the numbers aren't adding up.

August 3, 2009   Permalink

A POLITICAL WARNING - AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  Republicans are becoming more optimistic that they can put a stop to the Obama steamroller, and they appear to have about half the American people with them.

But a warning:  The name of the game in politics is "win."  We don't give out prizes for second place.  Having a good argument isn't enough.  Strategies must be well executed, with the right candidate, and even experienced candidates can falter.

Consider what's happening to the very popular and supremely experienced Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, who will resign from the Senate soon to run for governor, a post that could be a steppingstone to the presidency.  Apparently, as they say, mistakes have been made:

AUSTIN — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison began this year as “Kay the Invincible.” But as she prepares to officially launch her bid for governor later this month, that aura is gone.

Hutchison entered the year with the ability to make other politicians quake. She had two re-election victories under her belt with more than 60 percent of the vote in each. Her popularity ratings in polls put her at the top among Texas politicians. And public polls showed her leading Gov. Rick Perry by anywhere from 6 to 27 percentage points.

Then Hutchison went silent — leaving the field of Texas politics to Perry for more than four months.

The senator “squandered her opportunity,” Republican political consultant Mark Sanders said. “She ceded the Republican base to Governor Perry.”

Perry focused a message on conservative Republican primary voters. He railed against the federal government, against stimulus funding, against federal health care plans and for states' rights. Hutchison's advantage in the polls was eliminated, and Perry took a lead of more than 10 percentage points in three separate polls in June.

COMMENT:  Douglas MacArthur once warned that all defeats begin with two words:  Too late.  Rudy Giuliani squandered his chance at the presidency by waiting too long to get into the race.  Mario Cuomo squandered his chance by waiting, then not getting in at all.

Hutchison may recover.  But she forgot that the right to remain silent is reserved for accused criminals.  If you're not going to be in the fight, the other guy wins.  And this is a lesson for Republicans, who have a tendency to be very casual about getting into the fight and winning.

Proof?  Remember President Dewey?  He thought he had it in the bag also.

August 3, 2009   Permalink

THIS IS NUTS - AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  As an example of some of the worst journalism I've read recently, I proudly give you this column by Juan Cole, leftist Mideast observer and professional Bush hater, here writing outside his field, not that it matters:

Aug. 3, 2009 | Is Sarah Palin America's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? The two differ in many key respects, of course, but it is remarkable how similar they are. There are uncanny parallels in their biographies, their domestic politics and the way they present themselves -- even in their rocky relationships with party elders.

Both are former governors of a northwest frontier state with great natural beauty (in Ahmadinejad's case, Ardabil). Both are known for saying things that produce a classic Scooby-Doo double take in their audiences. Both appeal to a sort of wounded nationalism, speaking of the sacrifice of dedicated troops for an often feckless public, and identifying themselves with the common soldier. They are vigilant against foreign designs on their countries and insist on energy and other independence.

COMMENT:  This is what happens when commentators realize they have nothing to write about, and start to panic.  I wasn't aware that Sarah had organized goon squads to shoot demonstrators, nor has she rigged any elections recently.  Last time I looked, she's not a Holocaust denier, nor has she threatened to wipe another country off the face of the Earth. 

Sometimes, it's best to call in sick and walk away from the word processor.

August 3, 2009   Permalink

IRANIAN POLITICAL BLESSING - AT 7:13 A.M. ET:  Big week for Iranian politics, with the Ahmadinejad scheduled to take the presidential oath on Wednesday:

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's supreme leader formally endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president Monday in a ceremony that sought to portray unity among the country's leadership but was snubbed by prominent critics of the disputed election.

After Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave his official seal of approval, he received an awkward kiss on the shoulder from Ahmadinejad. It cleared the way for Ahmadinejad to take the oath of office Wednesday in parliament, where many pro-reform lawmakers have echoed the claims of fraud in the June 12 election.

COMMENT:  Wouldn't you love to be at that inaugural ball Wednesday night - all guys, all kissing each other, then blowing each other up?  It'll be a blast.

But just remember - this dysfunctional family is within reach of nuclear weapons.

August 3, 2009   Permalink