WEDNESDAY,  DECEMBER 17,  2008

AUTO SHUTDOWN - AT 7:23 P.M. ET:    From The New York Times:  DETROIT — Chrysler said Wednesday that it would close all its factories for at least one month, starting at the end of this week, in response to plunging vehicle sales in the United States.  The company said the plants would resume production no sooner than Jan. 19. Some plants will remain closed for several more weeks. Normally, the Detroit automakers close their factories for about two weeks at the end of the year.

COMMENT:  Could be very serious, but could also be a gambit to put pressure on the president to hand over some bailout cash.   Combined with OPEC's decision to cut production of oil, though, we haven't had a great day of economic news.

SERIOUS WARNING - AT 6:35 P.M. ET: 

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is warning that if Iran acquires a nuclear weapon, it could try to attack the United States.  Barak said the world should press Iran to stop it from building nuclear weapons.

He spoke at a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. He said, "If it built even a primitive nuclear weapon like the type that destroyed Hiroshima, Iran would not hesitate to load it on a ship, arm it with a detonator operated by GPS and sail it into a vital port on the east coast of North America."

Indicating the possibility of a military strike, Barak said, "We recommend to the world not to take any option off the table, and we mean what we say."

COMMENT:  Politics of fear, that's all it is.  Why, Iran is just misunderstood, and a victim of BUSH.  That's right, isn't it?  Ask Arianna Huffington.

UNBELIEVABLE - AT 5:43 P.M. ET:  From ABC News:  The Federal Reserve Bank is drawing jeers for hiring a former top executive from the now-defunct investment bank Bear Stearns to help it gauge the health of other banks.  "How's this for sweet irony?" business publication Portfolio.com needled the pick.

COMMENT:  The hiring was done by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, headed by the same gent who was just selected as secretary of the treasury by Mr. Obama. 

A BIT OF PROGRESS IN ILLINOIS - AT 5:01 P.M. ET: 

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is facing federal corruption charges and the state’s first impeachment in 175 years, won’t appoint anyone to President- elect Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich, who was accused last week by federal prosecutors of trying to auction Obama’s vacant post, has decided it’s pointless to name a successor because Senate leaders would reject the appointment, Edward Genson, the governor’s attorney, said today. He made the comments to reporters after addressing an Illinois House impeachment panel.

BRONWBACK TO LEAVE SENATE - AT 4:58 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:  As expected, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) will announce tomorrow that he plans to retire from the Senate when his term ends in 2010, CNN reports. The second-term senator has been eyeing a run for governor for years now and will likely file official papers to do so next month.

COMMENT:  A good, decent man, a loss to the Senate.

LOVELY INTRIGUE - AT 11:19 A.M. ET:  From the New York Post: 

Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday called off the dogs, telling loyal surrogates to quit sniping at Caroline Kennedy with questions about her qualifications to serve in the US Senate, sources told The Post.

COMMENT:  Why don't I believe that?  Maybe because of this, which follows:

But even as Clinton warmed to the notion of JFK's daughter filling her Senate seat, she had not returned Kennedy's Monday-morning phone call as of yesterday afternoon, sources said.

Both camps last night declined to say whether the call was returned.

The grinding sound you hear is knives being sharpened.

AH, CHANGE - AT 9:03 A.M. ET:  The president-elect ran on a platform of change.  This is from The Politico: 

His secretary of state will be Hillary Clinton, the wife of the former president. The Senate seat she’ll vacate is being pursued by Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of a president and the niece of two senators. Joe Biden’s Senate seat may go to his son Beau. Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar, Obama’s pick for Interior Secretary, could end up being replaced by his brother, Rep. John Salazar.

And Obama’s own seat could go to the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. – less likely now in light of developments in the Rod Blagojevich scandal – or to the daughter of Illinois’ current House speaker.

COMMENT:  I can't wait for the spin on this.  It'll probably be something like, "Well, at least we know the families."

PRAISE TO BUSH

Posted at 8:16 a.m. ET

The press has been utterly stingy about offering any praise to outgoing President George W. Bush.  But his transition team has apparently done an outstanding job of handling national-security issues for the Obama administration.  A New York Times story outlines the threats the Bush people see, and this is important reading for all Americans:

WASHINGTON — The White House has prepared more than a dozen contingency plans to help guide President-elect Barack Obama if an international crisis erupts in the opening days of his administration, part of an elaborate operation devised to smooth the first transition of power since Sept. 11, 2001.

The laundry list:

The memorandums envision a variety of volatile possibilities, like a North Korean nuclear explosion, a cyberattack on American computer systems, a terrorist strike on United States facilities overseas or a fresh outbreak of instability in the Middle East, according to people briefed on them. Each then outlines options for Mr. Obama to consider.

That is responsible, mature planning, for which Mr. Bush will receive no credit.

The contingency planning goes beyond what other administrations have done, with President Bush and Mr. Obama vowing to work in tandem to ensure a more efficient transition in a time of war and terrorist threat.

That really is change we can believe in.  And more:

In addition to the White House contingency memorandums, the Department of Homeland Security said it had given crisis training to nearly 100 career officials who may fill in while Mr. Obama’s appointees await Senate confirmation.

And...

At the same time, senior counterterrorism officials plan to hold personal briefings for their counterparts on the biggest threats they see.

There is a recognition of reality, a reality that sometimes escapes pundits:

The attention to national security in this postelection interim period stems in part from the recognition that terrorists have struck during moments of flux in national leadership before. Al Qaeda’s first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993 came weeks after Mr. Clinton was sworn in. A series of bombings on a Madrid commuter train system in 2004 came three days before national elections. And an attack on a Glasgow airport in 2007 came days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown took office in Britain.

Finally...

While Mr. Obama’s national security résumé is relatively thin, many members of his national security team come with deep experience. He is keeping Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and has tapped Gen. James L. Jones, a retired NATO supreme commander, as national security adviser.

Yet returning Clinton veterans have not been in government since Sept. 11. There was no Department of Homeland Security then, no director of national intelligence. The world has changed, and so have the structures to cope with it.

I hope the nation recognizes that Mr. Bush put those structures on place.  Criticize him we may, for many things, but he has taken the security of this nation seriously.

December 17, 2008.      Permalink          

CAROLINE (CONT'D)

Posted at 7:35 a.m. ET

The most intriguing political story going right now, other than the president-elect's attempts to dig himself out of Illinois politics, is the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy to the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Hillary Clinton.  (By the way, Kennedy is generally known here in New York as Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg.  But Schlossberg, like Obama's middle name, Hussein, has disappeared from press coverage and is apparently gone with the wind.  Name change we can't believe in.)

Our reading of press coverage is that reaction to a possible Kennedy appointment is generally muted.  If there is a public "wanting" of Caroline, it has yet to materialize.  But ridicule and outright rejection are also spotty.

One reason for the quiet reception may well be that Ms. Kennedy's father, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated 45 years go.  Most Americans alive today don't even remember him.  While the Kennedy name still has magic in many political circles, voters are less than overwhelmed.  Ted Kennedy tried to run for president 28 years ago and failed.  Other Kennedys have been elected to public office since then, but others have been defeated. 

This story is important.  If Caroline Kennedy goes to the Senate, the presidential buzz will begin.  As noted here yesterday, she'll be only 59 in 2016.

We rarely quote New York Times editorials, but the Times today has a reasonable take on the subject:

Ms. Kennedy has much going for her. As a public figure, she carries the glamour and poignancy of her family, the only living child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, an uncle of hers, has reigned for years as the liberal clarion in the Senate. Another uncle, the late Bobby Kennedy, was a charismatic senator who represented New York 40 years ago.

But there are interesting questions for Mr. Paterson to resolve about this job applicant and her qualifications.

As someone who has guarded her privacy, is she ready for the heat and the criticisms that are about to bear down on her? How would Ms. Kennedy fare in dealing more publicly with the crowds and the media scrum? Would she really be able to open up? Her appearances are always gracious, but her interviews in recent years have been long on charm and short on information.

Hmm.  The Times points out that Ms. Kennedy has shown sharp political skills in her work on behalf of the Obama campaign.  At the same time, the paper wonders whether she has the larger skills needed to help the New York delegation effectively represent the state.

Finally, will she, as Mrs. Clinton did, do the hard political work to show she would represent New Yorkers who live outside Manhattan’s best ZIP codes? When one New York City congressman was asked recently whether he was interested in the Senate seat, he sniffed: “I don’t do Utica.” To get the job and keep it through elections in 2010 and again in 2012, Ms. Kennedy would have to do Utica. And Buffalo. And Schenectady.

The Times recommends, and we concur, that Governor Paterson take his time.

December 17, 2008.      Permalink          

TUESDAY,  DECEMBER 16,  2008

HOLD THAT HOLDER?

Posted at 7:52 ET

One item that's getting very little attention is the fact that Mr. Obama's Cabinet nominees will have to be confirmed, and that confirmation hearings can prove embarrassing and testy.

Ken Blackwell, the African-American former Ohio secretary of state, makes a compelling case against Eric Holder, the nominee for attorney general.  The attorney general's post is one of the most important, and sensitive, in any administration.  Past nominees have ranged from the brilliant - Edward Levi under Ford - to the outrageous - Robert F. Kennedy under JFK - to the mediocre - most of them - to the bizarre - Janet Reno under Clinton.

Holder may fall into several categories at once: 

Most of the president-elect’s Cabinet appointments have been praised...
...but even the Washington Post has raised questions about Eric Holder’s nomination as U.S. attorney general.

Eric Holder has had a very impressive career. He graduated from Columbia Law School, served as a city judge in D.C., was a federal prosecutor, and then deputy attorney general under Janet Reno.

But two of his final acts at the Justice Department are simply unpardonable: the infamous pardons of Marc Rich and the FALN terrorists.

Blackwell is correct.  These items deserve extreme scrutiny.  The Justice Department has a strict process for evaluating possible pardons.

But Holder helped Rich evade that process. Marc Rich, a billionaire, had been indicted of 65 counts of tax evasion and arms-dealing with Iran. He fled to Switzerland, where he lived an extravagant lifestyle. Holder personally worked with Rich’s attorney to get the pardon directly to then-president Clinton. Holder made clear that he did not oppose the pardon, while Rich’s wife was giving over $400,000 to the Clinton Library. She also raised significant money for the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton’s Senate race. President Clinton granted the pardon.

The pardon looked far worse than a bad idea. It looked like corruption. It looked like malfeasance in office — selling out justice for potential personal gain.

Extreme Clintonism.  But it gets worse.

As bad as that is, the FALN pardons where worse. Sixteen terrorists of the FALN group were imprisoned for felonies involving bombs, guns, robbery, and sedition. But in 1999, Eric Holder facilitated President Clinton's commuting their sentences.

These were unrepentant terrorists. America is now at war with terror, and yet when we imprisoned over a dozen confirmed terrorists involved in bombings and other terrorist acts, the man who would be our top official against acts of terror helped convince the president of the United States to let them go.  Whatever the consequences of that act may have been in 1999, in 2008 it should be political suicide.

But apparently is not. 

This nomination might also shed light on the kind of policies Obama will pursue. Despite Obama’s new lip service to the Second Amendment, Holder signed onto a brief earlier this year reaffirming his long-held position that the Second Amendment confers no rights whatsoever to private citizens, and that the Supreme Court should have upheld D.C.’s absolute ban on handguns, even in homes.

And more...

Holder also has far-left views on unrestricted abortion, and opposes the death penalty. And, in a war on terror, Holder believes that all the rights that U.S. citizens have in civilian courts should be extended to foreign terrorists captured abroad.

Hey, just the kind of guy we need right now.  Not.

Some Republicans will mount an opposition to the Holder nomination. Regardless, Holder will likely be confirmed. But GOP senators must get him on record on all these issues, and force him to fully explain under oath all of his views and his choices regarding terrorists and pardons.

This is important stuff, and it's not being publicized enough.  The left started whining, after Obama picked Hillary for State, that it wasn't getting its ideas into the new administration.  Apparently, Obama was listening when he named Eric Holder.  Tough questions please.  And full answers please.

December 16, 2008.      Permalink          

MILITANT - AT 7:32 P.M. ET:  From AFP:  Journalists and photographers at the US news agency the Associated Press (AP) are withholding their bylines to protest management's stance in contract talks, their union said.

COMMENT:  An international crisis of the first magnitude.

BEST QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:58 P.M. ET:  From The Times of London, attributed to a friend of Hillary Clinton, commenting on the possible appointment of Caroline Kennedy to fill Clinton's seat in the Senate:   “New York is in crisis with its finances collapsing, joblessness soaring and the upstate facing economic catastrophe. It needs representation rather than an episode of Dancing with the Stars.”

DOW UP - AT 4:31 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed up 360, and is approaching 9,000, after the Fed announced its dramatic rate cut. 

COMMENT:  The stock market has increasingly less to do with the real economy.  It seems more silly than smart.

ROUND UP THE USUAL THREATS - AT 3:58 P.M. ET:  UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Online death threats have been made against U.N. General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, and U.S. authorities have been asked to help investigate, an aide said Monday.  Enrique Yeves, d'Escoto's spokesman, said the threats were posted within the past week. He did not say where the threats were posted or elaborate on the nature of the threats.

COMMENT:  Oh, be still my heart.  This is the old death-threat gambit, a favorite of the left.  D'Escoto is a hard-left America- and Israel-hater, a front man for the Nicaraguan Sandinistas.  He's gotten into some hot water recently for his excesses, so out comes the "death threat" card.  Have you ever noticed that these left-wing heroes who complain of death threats never get killed?

SCHOOL CHOICE - AT 3:06 P.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:  President-elect Barack Obama nominated Chicago schools executive Arne Duncan as his education secretary this morning and is expected to tap Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) later this week to serve as secretary of the interior, all but finalizing his selections for major Cabinet posts.

COMMENT:  Don't know much about Salazar, but Duncan appears to be a wise and careful choice.  He has a fine reputation among reformers, but has also shown an ability to keep peace with teachers' groups.

NEW YORK COMES DOWN TO EARTH - AT 2:58 P.M. ET:   From The New York Times:   Bankruptcy filings are accelerating in the New York metropolitan area at a faster pace than in the rest of the nation, according to figures released on Monday by the federal bankruptcy courts. In the federal courts that serve the region, filings for bankruptcy protection — by individuals and businesses — were pouring in at the rate of about 175 per day in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, the data showed. The filings in the city, New Jersey and Connecticut increased by more than 36 percent in the quarter, faster than the nationwide increase of 34 percent.

COMMENT:  This is significant because of the historic illusion that New York City was exempt from the effects of most recessions - because Wall Street would keep the city flush with money, and real-estate prices would only go up.  Yeah, right.  Wall Street is laying off 48,000 people.  Real-estate prices are still absurd in Manhattan, but softening. 

ALMOST ZERO PERCENT DOWN! - AT 2:48 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:   WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve entered a new era on Tuesday, setting its benchmark interest rate so low that it will have to reach for new and untested tools in fighting both the recession and downward pressure on consumer prices.  Going further than analysts anticipated, the central bank cut its target for the overnight federal funds rate to a range of 0 to 0.25 percent, a record low, virtually bringing the United States to the zero-rate policies that Japan used for six years in its own fight against deflation.

U.K. TERROR CONVICTION - AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:  LONDON —  A terrorism trial centering on the use of a bomb-laden Jeep to crash into Glasgow’s main airport terminal on a Saturday in June 2007 ended on Tuesday with the conviction on mass murder charges of a 29-year-old British doctor with family roots in Iraq who was one of the two men who mounted the attack.

COMMENT:  The amount of "terror" news coming out of Europe and the U.K. these days is far greater than that coming out of the U.S., and we should take note of it.

THE SOLE ISSUE

Posted at 9:26 a.m. ET:

Everyone by now has seen the tape of an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush in Baghdad.  Some news operations are repeating it with apparent glee.

But Ralph Peters has a terrific take on the incident, in today's New York Post:

When an Arab heel aimed those shoes at our president, it showed the world the extent to which Bush loosened the laces of Middle Eastern tyranny.

If an Arab journalist had thrown his shoes at Saddam Hussein or one of his guests, the tosser would've been beaten, then tortured, then killed. Today's Iraqi government is considering whether the man should be charged under the state's democratically validated Constitution.

Bush won. Even if shoe-thrower Muntadar al-Zaidi (who works for an Egypt-based media outfit) walks out in his stocking feet and becomes a hero to dead-enders, he unwittingly showed what a great thing has been accomplished in Iraq.

And...

The only countries in the Middle East where a journalist could survive after such behavior are Iraq, maybe Lebanon - and Israel. Even Jordan doesn't allow such freedom.

But the interest of the Bush bashers in human freedom is minimal.

The media have been having a ball with the video of the Great Baghdad Shoe Toss. But they've missed the point completely. Our sacrifices let that pathetic reporter muster the courage to hurl his shoes at our president: He knew he could get away with it.

Brothers and sisters, the world has changed since 2003.

And...

Terrorists will still be able to explode the occasional bomb 10 years from now, but daily life for most Iraqis has returned to commonplace concerns. The economy's booming and democracy, messy but vibrant, appears to have put down roots.

Al Qaeda lost hugely, Muqtada al-Sadr's star is waning, the Baathists are finished and Iraqis are taking ever more responsibility for their own security. The recent status-of-forces agreement between Washington and Baghdad - which the media sought to portray as a US defeat - shows a country on the mend and gaining confidence.

Finally...

For all of our errors in Iraq, we've done a selfless, honorable thing.

Bush deserved better than the indignity of having shoes flipped at him - a serious insult in the Arab world. But the incident's real message was: Mission accomplished!

Yes indeed.  The president can be justly criticized for many things, but, as his tenure ends, we should recall the good things he has done.  It's sad that most of our news outlets will refuse to do so.  That is to their discredit, and will only hasten the demise of some of them. 

It's clear from his comments that Mr. Bush sees himself as another Harry Truman.  It's hard to know.  There are similarities - the stubbornness, the pursuit of grand goals, the poor relations with the press, the low approval ratings.  We won't be able to provide a clear assessment of the Bush 43 presidency for years.  For now, though, I do think we can reject the irrational hatred to which the man has been subjected.  It has not helped the country, the media, or the search for truth.

December 16, 2008.      Permalink          

THEY DON'T LOVE PARIS - AT 7:34 A.M. ET:  From AP:  PARIS — Police neutralized explosives discovered today in a prestigious Paris department store, and France's national news agency said it received a claim of responsibility from an Afghan group.  Officials said the explosives were found in the restrooms of the Printemps department store, a favored shopping destination for tourists and a Christmas season attraction because of its festive window displays.

COMMENT:  Reminds us there's a real world out there.

SLAMALOT CAMELOT

Posted at 7:29 a.m. ET

I don't like the whole thing.

The press this morning is loaded with the political story of the day - that Caroline Kennedy wants the U.S. Senate seat that will be relinquished by Hillary Clinton when Clinton is confirmed as secretary of state.

In my early years I worked in both New York and Illinois politics.  They had one thing in common:  Despite many decent, upstanding officeholders, they also had a culture of corruption underneath.  Favors were available.

Look at Illinois and New York today.  Together again.  Favors are available. More change we can believe in.

We know about Illinois.  A seat in the Senate is available because Senator Barack Obama has been elected president.  The governor put that seat up for sale.  Many details are still to come.

Here in New York a Senate seat is available.  There are many qualified people here - from political figures to diplomats to academics and entrepreneurs.  Caroline Kennedy, who has never held public office, and whose views on virtually every major issue are unknown, is engaged in a campaign to be appointed by Governor David Paterson (one "t") to serve the remainder of Clinton's term.  She would have to run for a full term in 2010.  As a Kennedy, in a heavily Democratic state, she would be odds-on favorite.

But Caroline offers little more than her name.  And her interest is already splitting the Democratic party.  In the primaries she endorsed and campaigned for Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton.  She then served as head of the search committee examining possible vice presidential candidates, and bypassed Clinton.  Now she wants Clinton's seat.  Some would consider that less than elegant, and more than nervy.

The Clinton people are reportedly livid.  They have a right to be. 

I have no evidence for this, but my gut tells me that Kennedy would not be taking this step without the approval, and even the encouragement, of the president-elect.  Why would he do it?  First, he'd have a new ally in the Senate, and one with name glitter.  Second, he'd be sending a message that there's a new boss in town, and that the Clintons are employees.  Having Kennedy in the Senate blocks the Clinton faction from holding the seat, and possibly keeping it warm should Hillary want it again.

Hillary may be devious, but she's no fool.  She can read the signs.  Caroline Kennedy is 51.  In 2016 she'll be 59, and Hillary will be 69.  Caroline will have had eight years in the Senate.  She could run for president, with Obama's blessing, dashing Clinton's ambitions to be the first female chief executive.

What might Hillary be thinking now?  She might be thinking that Obama had this in mind when he nominated her for State, thus opening the Senate seat.  "Why that little...#@$@"  She might be thinking that going to State is a bad move, taking her out of electoral politics and putting a prime competitor in her place.  She might be thinking that she's been had. 

She might, or might not.  But I would not be shocked to see some bare-knuckled politics played here.  Hillary may demand an ironclad commitment from the governor that he won't appoint Caroline.  If she doesn't get it, she could easily withdraw her nomination for State, and remain in the Senate.  Now that would be juicy.

Oh, by the way, having bashed a sitting governor, Sarah Palin, as unqualified to be vice president, how will Democrats defend the qualifications of Caroline Kennedy for the U.S. Senate?  Just asking.

December 16, 2008.      Permalink