FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY 13,  2009

TREATING ALLIES LIKE ENEMIES - AT 7:52 P.M. ET:  I've quoted it before.  There used to be a saying, pre-Reagan, that one of the worst things you can be in this world is an ally of the United States.  We had, at one time, a nasty tendency to punish our friends and reward our enemies.  Turning our back on South Vietnam in 1975 stands as a symbol of the style.  Apparently, there is nostalgia in Washington for a return to those good old days. 

We learn, via Andrew Malcolm's "Top of the Ticket," that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is none too pleased by comments made by President Obama, who said that Karzai, essentially an American ally, has a "bunker mentality."  Karzai taped an interview that will appear on CNN Sunday, and replied:  "So I was surprised to hear that statement. Perhaps it's because the administration has not yet put itself together. Perhaps they have not been given the information yet. And I hope as they settle down, as they learn more, we will see better judgment."

This may not be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

And we learn from the Israeli press that the Obamans have ham-handedly interfered with Israel's attempts to form a new coalition government, following that country's elections:

The U.S. official position is that it looks forward to "working with any government," but in back-channel messages the Obama administration has made it clear it would like to see a unity government in Jerusalem over a narrow right-wing government which would in all likelihood result in a freeze in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Not exactly wise to interfere in the free processes of a friendly nation.  Any proud country would be offended. 

COMMENT:  The Democratic Party's left wing regularly ridiculed President Bush's interest in, and respect for, democracy.  Apparently they meant it.

PRIORITIES - AT 5:41 P.M. ET:  In the midst of all the trivial news - economic depression, nuclear threats, famine - Illinois shows us what's really important.  From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Can't get enough of Barack Obama? How about an Obama license plate?

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White today unveiled an "Illinois Salutes Barack Obama" temporary license plate, which can be used for 60 days beginning Tuesday.

The plates feature a smiling President Obama, seemingly gazing towards your temporary numbers. A waving American flag fills the background.

COMMENT:  And just imagine - your personal license plate may be made by a former governor!  What a bargain.

THE WALL STREET SALUTE - AT 3:09 P.M. ET:  Such enthusiasm on Wall Street over the House passage of the stimulus bill.  Such confidence.  Yeah, right.  At this moment the Dow is down 51 points.  They barely noticed how stimulating things were.

BULLETIN AT 3:01 P.M. ET:  The House has passed the Senate/House negotiated version of the stimulus package, without a single Republican vote.  The battle is now joined.  If it works, the Dems will take the credit.  If it fails, the GOP can boast of its warnings and its principled stand.

COMMENT:  The problem will occur if the economy revivives for entirely different reasons.  The Dems will still take the credit, then break the bank again with another huge spending bill, earmarked for their constituent groups.  They can make the country entirely dependent on the federal government.  This is getting frightening. 

MORE SOUTHERN BORDER - AT 2:48 P.M. ET:  From the Washington Times:

One of the 16 illegal immigrants allowed by a federal court to sue an Arizona rancher for stopping them at gunpoint after they sneaked across the U.S.-Mexico border is a convicted felon deported from this country after a 1993 arrest by U.S. authorities on drug charges, court records show.

Gerardo Gonzalez, described in a lawsuit brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) as a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, was convicted in September 1993 for possession of a controlled substance for sale and ordered deported to his home country.

COMMENT:  This can grow into a major story, the kind Fox News or Rush will champion, and more power to them.  This is an outrage.

OBAMA AND TERROR

Posted at 10:15 a.m. ET

The Wall Street Journal analyzes Obama's first moves in the war on terror, and actually finds them good:

President Obama has done a masterful job disguising his Administration's growing antiterror maturity, but this week produced further evidence that he is erring on the side of keeping the country safe rather than appeasing the political left. The Justice Department filed to dismiss a federal appeals case involving rendition, embracing an argument developed by . . . the Bush Administration.

BUSH?  You mean that BUSH(!!)?

In other words, the anti-antiterror lobby is being exposed as more radical than its putative banner carrier. As Mr. Obama is learning, the left's exertions to disarm the country's counterterrorism arsenal are as dangerous now as they were prior to his election.

And they're intentionally dangerous.  The left wants us to lose.

The Obama Administration says it will invoke the state secrets privilege more sparingly than its predecessor. But it is really admitting that lifting the hood on classified intelligence-gathering would let terrorists know what to expect, and to shift their operations to avoid detection.

No brainer.

The game of the left is now to sue private companies for cooperating with the government in anti-terror activities:

The left has failed to achieve its policy ambitions through Congress or by directly challenging the government in court. So the latest tactic is suing third parties...to hamstring the executive branch via the courts. These companies thought they were doing their patriotic duty by lending a hand.

The ACLU apparently defines patriotism a bit differently.

The larger story here is that the anti-antiterror lobby is losing the man it thought was its strongest ally. During his campaign, Mr. Obama talked as if he really believed that the Bush Administration was uniquely wicked on national security.

On the left, that is the religion, the gospel, the Commandments.

Now it seems that the Bush Administration's antiterror architecture is gaining new legitimacy, just as Eisenhower validated Truman's Cold War framework. Mr. Obama claims to have banned coercive interrogation techniques, except in those cases where more extreme measures are necessary to save lives. He says he'll shut down Gitmo in a year or so, but his subordinates -- including Elena Kagan during her confirmation hearings for Solicitor General this week -- admit that indefinite detention will still be necessary for some terrorists. He walked back his wiretap absolutism even before he was elected. Now the Administration has endorsed the same secrecy posture that he once found so offensive, merely saying that it will be used less frequently. We'll see.

And finally...

These are all laudable signs of Mr. Obama's antiterror progress. Perhaps some day he'll acknowledge his debt to his predecessor.

Don't hold your breath, unless he does it once he leaves office.  He still can't risk enraging the entire left.

February 13, 2009.      Permalink          

DOW NOW - AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down 50, to 7884.

LINE OF THE DAY - AT 9:34 A.M. ET:  About the economic crisis, from Victor Davis Hanson: 

Our best educated, wealthiest, and most-connected in matters of finance proved our dumbest—and our political leaders were less than ethical in meeting their moral responsibilities as citizens.

COMMENT:  Throw in the mainstream media.

MAKING A LIST, NOT CHECKING IT EVEN ONCE - AT 9:14 A.M. ET:Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, sometimes known as Coupe Deval for his extravant spending on himself when he first took office, apparently has a shopping list to be paid for by the stimulus packing coming from Washington.  From the Boston Herald:

The Patrick administration’s list has funding requests for swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, and even to restore fairways at the Ponkapoag Golf Course in Canton.

Some listed items fall into the gray area between public and private projects.

The New England Patriots [team stats] might one day want to develop 150 acres, now parking lots, across Route 1 from Gillette Stadium and the new Patriot Place shopping center in Foxboro.

The land has been designated by the state as a potential “growth district” for biotech companies - so a $6 million pedestrian overpass bridge is on the governor’s list.

COMMENT:  There are some respectable projects as well.  But somehow I think much of this huge package could have been more intelligently spent. Oh, by the way, Deval Patrick has been widely reported to be on Obama's short list for the Supreme Court.

THE SOUTHERN BORDER - AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  From Fox News:

As drug cartels continue to terrorize Mexico, Texas officials are planning for the worst-case scenario: how to respond if the violence spills over the border, and what to do if thousands of Mexicans seek refuge in the United States.

Katherine Cesinger, a spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said a multi-agency contingency plan is being developed, and it will focus primarily on law enforcement issues, including how to handle an influx of Mexicans fleeing violence.

COMMENT:  This story is not getting the attention it deserves.  It's the kind of thing that suddenly blows up, while our eyes are focused somewhere else.  We have to be awfully careful about identifying those who "seek refuge" from violence.  We could wind up with "asylum seekers" holding Al Qaeda membership cards ,listing their death benefits.  

DANCING WITH MOSCOW? - AT 8:14 A.M. ET: 

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States is ready to look at re-modeling its missile defense plans to include Moscow, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Friday in a concession to Russian anger over Washington's plans to build a missile shield.

The Kremlin has been pressing Washington to give ground on the proposed missile shield in exchange for Russia helping supply the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan -- a priority for new President Barack Obama.

COMMENT:  We'll be watching this one with two eyes.  Our East European allies went out on a limb, and antagonized Russia, by siding with us on missile defense during the Bush administration.  What kind of a signal would it send to undercut them now?  Not enough details here to make a judgment yet.

BILL?  WHAT BILL?  THERE'S A BILL? - AT 7:51 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

As the House prepared to vote on a $789 billion stimulus bill, lawmakers and aides combed through the massive document, searching for favorite provisions and discovering that some didn't make the final cut.

COMMENT:  There have been complaints throughout the last 24 hours that no one has seen a copy of the complete bill, except maybe some lobbyists.  Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was on TV last night complaining bitterly about the recklessness of the process, the lack of reflection and examination.  Dem Senate leader Harry Reid announcement overall agreement on the bill, but The Post says, "Despite the brokered deal, confusion reigned in the Capitol's hallways. With no text circulating 30 hours after Reid's announcement, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's office sent out a half-joking e-mail to reporters last night making light of Democratic accusations that Republicans were blocking the legislation -- since none yet officially existed."

And this is the way we spend almost a trillion dollars.  Just send the bill to our kids.

SOCIAL NOTE - AT 7:39 A.M. ET:  From The New York Post's Page Six:

WHILE the hat-in-hand bankers have figured out how to get to Washington by train or commercial flights, the perks of network TV stars remain in full force. After lunch the other day at Rouge Tomate, CBS evening anchor Katie Couric (above) departed in a huge, chauffeur-driven SUV, while NBC colleague Ann Curry was picked up by a regular Town Car. Our observant spy said, "Richer-than-them-all Evelyn Lauder hoofed it."

COMMENT:  We have to wonder what mentality TV newsreaders develop when they're driven around town in limos, not mixing with us ordinary folk.  After a while, they have to believe that they're superior, somewhat superhuman, and possessed of brilliant judgment and insight.  And that's one of the reasons you see what you see.

THURSDAY,  FEBRUARY 12,  2009

TOMORROW'S CRISIS TODAY, READ ALL ABOUT IT - AT 10:55 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

Some of the nation’s large banks, according to economists and other finance experts, are like dead men walking.

A sober assessment of the growing mountain of losses from bad bets, measured in today’s marketplace, would overwhelm the value of the banks’ assets, they say. The banks, in their view, are insolvent.

COMMENT:  It seems to me that we still don't know enough about this, and yet we're asked to write huge federal checks.  How did all this happen at essentially the same time?  Are there large banks that aren't in trouble?  How did they avoid it?  Is there criminality that should be probed?  These questions, and many more, must be asked if we are to avoid this travesty again.  But no one is asking very much.

SHAME, SHAME, A THOUSAND TIMES SHAME - AT 8:59 P.M. ET:  An item for you language buffs.  The following appeared in The New York Times yesterday:

“We’ll wrap it in plexiglass and put it in someone’s office,” Mr. Marciano said. “It should forever be part of the folklore of the place.”

COMMENT:  I would have been drawn and quartered during my tenure at the old Times for something like that.  It isn't plexiglass.  It's Plexiglas.  A trade name.  Capital letter, proper noun.  The disgrace of it all. 

THE START OF TROUBLE - AT 7:27 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:

Today, radio host Mario Solis Marich asked former President Bill Clinton if it was time for "some type of enforced media accountability."

"Well, you either ought to have the Fairness Doctrine or we ought to have more balance on the other side," Clinton said, "because essentially there's always been a lot of big money to support the right wing talk shows and let face it, you know, Rush Limbaugh is fairly entertaining even when he is saying things that I think are ridiculous...."

Clinton said that there needs to be either "more balance in the programs or have some opportunity for people to offer countervailing opinions." Clinton added that he didn't support repealing the Fairness Doctrine, an act done under Reagan's FCC.

COMMENT:  Is the former president suggesting that the liberal message has trouble getting through the American media?  Seriously?  Conservative talk radio flourishes because that's what radio audiences have voted for on their radio dials.  The big money didn't create conservative radio, it follows it.  If a liberal talk-show host was as popular as Rush, the money would flow there too.  When I was young, it was liberal hosts who dominated the airwaves, in large measure because many of them, like Barry Gray, were first-class broadcasters.  Let the audience decide.

GREGG OUT - AT 5:44 P.M. ET:  Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, nominated by President Obama to be secretary of commerce, has withdrawn his nomination, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with the administration.  It sounds like a Hollywood divorce.  I wonder who gets the Mercedes.

COMMENT:  At least the man has principles that he wouldn't bend.  He objected, correctly, to the idea that the census be taken out of the Department of Commerce and handled in the White House, a blatantly political move.  He also could not support the stimulus bill.

For Republicans, this is a good thing.  The battle is being joined on a number of key issues.  The party is not, as Margaret Thatcher liked to put it, "going wobbly."

DOW CLOSE - AT 5:25 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed down only seven points, at 7933.

HOW THE DOW? - AT 1:55 P.M. ET:  Well, it's down 152, to 7787.  Remember 8000? 

OH REALLY?

Posted at 12:51 p.m. ET:

A funny thing happened to the Iranian nuclear bomb on the way to being downplayed by some American intelligence officials and the American press.

A new guy became president.

The Los Angles Times reports that, Soviet style, the truth just changed in Washington.  Actually, it's good news for the truth tellers:

Little more than a year after U.S. spy agencies concluded that Iran had halted work on a nuclear weapon, the Obama administration has made it clear that it believes there is no question that Tehran is seeking the bomb.

In his news conference this week, President Obama went so far as to describe Iran's "development of a nuclear weapon" before correcting himself to refer to its "pursuit" of weapons capability.

Can you imagine press reaction if Dick Cheney had said it?  Can you just imagine?

The language reflects the extent to which senior U.S. officials now discount a National Intelligence Estimate issued in November 2007 that was instrumental in derailing U.S. and European efforts to pressure Iran to shut down its nuclear program.

As the administration moves toward talks with Iran, Obama appears to be sending a signal that the United States will not be drawn into a debate over Iran's intent.

That's nice.  Where were you last year, pal?

"When you're talking about negotiations in Iran, it is dangerous to appear weak or naive," said Joseph Cirincione, a nuclear weapons expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-proliferation organization based in Washington.

Nice to know that.  This guy was a world-class Bush basher.  But how the party line changes with administrations.

U.S. officials said that although no new evidence had surfaced to undercut the findings of the 2007 estimate, there was growing consensus that it provided a misleading picture and that the country was poised to reach crucial bomb-making milestones this year.

Isn't that what President Bush and his allies - you know, the imperialist warmongers - were saying all along?

By November, Iran had produced an estimated 1,400 pounds of low-enriched uranium, not nearly enough to fuel a nuclear energy reactor, but perilously close to the quantity needed to make a bomb.

Of course, there's a lot of talk in the air about...talks.  Always talks.  There's a problem, however:

But experts said Iran was now close enough to nuclear weapons capability that it may be less susceptible to international pressure.

"They've made more progress in the last five years than in the previous 10," Cirincione said.

Scare tactics?  Scare tactics, anyone?  When BUSH (!!) said things like this, he was accused of fear mongering.  That was then, this is Obama.

February 12, 2009.      Permalink          

DOW NOW - AT 12:20 P.M. ET:  The Dow is down 119, to 7820.

HYPOCRISY DEFINED - AT 11:42 A.M. ET:  From AP:

LONDON (AP) -- A Dutch lawmaker barred from Britain because of his anti-Islamic views said Thursday he had been detained at London's Heathrow Airport and would be returned home.

Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders told The Associated Press he would be returned to the Netherlands imminently.

COMMENT:  This is vile.  No matter what one may think of Wilders's views, Britain permits Muslim marchers and demonstrators to make the most disgusting anti-Christian and anti-Semitic comments, and rarely does anything about it.  We cannot have free speech only for some, and call it free.  I'll be going to a meeting with Wilders in a few weeks, and will report.  His case is becoming a major international scandal. 

DOW DOWN - AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  The Dow is down 196.  Hang on to your seatbelts.  It's going to be a bumpy night.  (What movie is that from?)

TAKE THREE - AT 8:27 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

First impressions can be lasting ones. But in the case of Timothy Geithner, the White House is hoping its new treasury secretary will get a second chance.

Although his public debut was panned by the markets and members of Congress, Geithner remains one of the most critical administration players helping President Barack Obama jump-start the ever-worsening economy...

...Now, after a shaky first public appearance, the new administration is assessing what went wrong and what it can do better the next time.

COMMENT:   A second chance?  Does anyone remember Geithner's tax problems?  That was way, way back - about two weeks ago.  What about a third chance?  How many do you get in Chicago-politics-on-the-Potomac?

MESSY MURTHA - AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are “concerned” by a widening criminal probe that may involve Rep. John P. Murtha, but sources close to the leadership say there’s no move afoot to force him out as chairman of the powerful Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.

“We are watching to see what happens,” said a senior House Democratic aide. “At this point, there is nothing for us to do. There is not a clear indication yet that Mr. Murtha has done anything wrong or that the Justice Department is targeting him in any way, so there is no reason to take any action.”

The new worries about Murtha come in the wake of news of a November raid of the PMA Group, a lobbying firm with close ties to the veteran Pennsylvania Democrat.

COMMENT:  What high ethical standards, what change we can believe in.  Gee, let's wait for the Justice Department to target the guy before we take any action.  Why upset the system?  Does the president have an opinion? 

SOME PROGRESS ON TERROR - AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan acknowledged for the first time in public on Thursday that parts of the murderous Mumbai terror attacks were planned on its soil and said six new suspects were being held, including “the main operator.”

Rehman Malik, the senior security official in the Interior Ministry, said the attackers had set sail from southern Pakistan to Mumbai, where they used inflatable boats whose engines had been purchased in the southern Pakistani port of Karachi.

COMMENT:  A positive step, but a word of caution:  The acknowledgment comes just as Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is arriving in Kabul.  The statement could be serious, or just more window dressing.  Stand by.

MORE "EXECUTIVE" GENIUSES - AT 7:52 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

It's hard enough to lose a job. But for a growing proportion of U.S. workers, the troubles really set in when they apply for unemployment benefits.

More than a quarter of people applying for such claims have their rights to the benefit challenged as employers increasingly act to block payouts to former workers.

The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute.

COMMENT:  Horribly cruel, stupid, and self-defeating.  There are legitimate reasons to deny unemployment-insurance claims, but this appears to be part of a "business decision" by some companies, whose required contributions to unemployment insurance funds are based on how much is paid out to their former employees.  This is the kind of thing - punishing whole families - that will create still more backlash against the free-enterprise system, something we don't need right now.  Responsible business organizations should immediately condemn strategies like this.  Urgent Agenda is a pro-free-enterprise site, which requires that we hold executives to high standards.  Sadly, a disturbing number these days aren't making the cut.

BRACE YOURSELVES - AT 7:40 A.M. ET: 

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks in Europe and Asia slipped and U.S. index futures fell as companies from Electricite de France SA to Diageo Plc posted disappointing results and investors speculated U.S. measures won’t revive the global economy.

COMMENT:  Our stimuli and bailout-i are getting a black eye from around the globe.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ABE - AT 7:34 A.M. ET:  Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.  Scott Johnson has some wonderful stuff at Power Line.

COMMENT:  I'd love to find out just how much our high-school and college students know about Lincoln.  Have they ever read the Gettysburg Address?  The Second Inaugural?  What are they taught about our country?  Don't ask, don't tell.