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MONDAY,  FEBRUARY 16,  2009

FAIRNESS? - AT 10:33 P.M. ET:  An intriguing survey from Rasmussen on the fairness doctrine:

Just 38% of U.S. voters think that the government should require all radio stations to offer equal amounts of conservative and liberal political commentary.

Forty-seven percent (47%) oppose government-imposed political balance on radio stations, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure which course is better.

These findings are a dramatic nine-point drop-off in support for the Fairness Doctrine from a survey last August when 47% said the government should require all radio and television stations to offer balanced political commentary.

Only 26% of voters believe conservatives have an unfair advantage in the media, the argument several senior congressional Democrats use in pushing for the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine. Sixty-four percent (64%) disagree.

COMMENT:  The American people are beginning to learn the truth about the so-called "fairness" doctrine.  But will this influence the left-wing ideologists who are determined to diminish talk radio?

FROM A READER - AT 6:32 P.M. ET:  Yesterday we ran a report on financial experts who caught on to Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme, but failed to report their concerns to the authorities.  Reader Jon Chambreau responded with a provocative note, which might interest other readers:

Regarding Leon Gross and others who knew Madoff's claimed returns were specious:

Their lack of action may have involved the knowledge that the SEC would do nothing.   Heavens, Harry Markopolous, a Boston-based money manager, gave the SEC an iron-clad case and nothing was done.  

For a peek at the SEC's culture, take a look at this piece of puffery, (found at  http://www.sec.gov/news/press/sec-actions.htm):

During the current turmoil in the credit markets, the SEC has worked closely with the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and other regulators in the U.S. and around the world to protect investors and the markets.  (emphasis added)

Not.

Realistically, doing nothing was the only possible option, unless Gross was able to burst through door, photographer in tow, and somehow catch Bernie in flagrante. That was not going to happen.  The Grosses of the world are not the problem.  The problem is enforcement officials who see their task as mantaining order rather than catching crooks.  This remains the SEC's attitude, if we are to judge from the weak tea served up on the SEC's website.

Jon Chambreau
Ilwaco, WA

DISGUSTING AND DESPICABLE - AT 6:12 P.M. ET:

GENEVA (Reuters) – Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11 attacks has eroded human rights worldwide, creating lingering cynicism that the United Nations must now combat, international law experts said on Monday.

Mary Robinson, who was the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights when al Qaeda militants flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001, said the United States caused harm with some of the ways it responded.

"Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and repeal abusive laws and policies," the former Irish president said, warning that harsh U.S. detentions and interrogations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba gave a dangerous signal to other countries that could easily follow suit.

COMMENT:  This relates to the story just below.  Mary Robinson presided over Durban I, the infamous "human rights" conference held a few days before 9-11, and hijacked by America haters, dictator nations and professional anti-Semites.  The U.S. walked out.  Robinson stayed.  She is more a fool than an evil person, but fools can do a great deal of damage.

DISTURBING TREND

Posted at 11:12 a.m. ET

Why would the United States Government make an important announcement late on a Saturday night?  The reason, of course, is to make sure it doesn't get too much attention.

On Saturday night the Obama administration announced it is sending a delegation to assist in the planning of Durban II, a UN project known formally as the World Conference Against Racism.  Sounds innocent enough, but recall that Durban I was held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, a few days before the 9-11 attacks, and descended into an orgy of hatred, blatant anti-Semitism, and open season on Israel.  The Bush administration walked out of that conference, refusing to lend it the dignity of America's name.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, before she took her new office, that the U.S. should boycott Durban II as well.  And, indeed, planning for the conference signals a meeting even more degenerate, anti-freedom and bigoted than Durban I.

But there are apparently other voices in the administration.  From the AP:

The State Department said it would send diplomats next week to participate in preparatory meetings for the World Conference Against Racism, which is set to be held in Geneva, Switzerland in April and which some countries including Israel have already decided to boycott.

In a statement released late Saturday, the State Department said the U.S. delegation to the planning discussions would review current direction of conference preparations and whether U.S. participation in the conference itself is warranted.  

One of the boycotting countries is Canada.  President Obama visits Canada late this week, so the decision to send diplomats to those planning meetings undercuts Ottawa.  Of course, undercutting allies has been a hallmark of this new administration since the moment it took office.  Obama has already insulted President Karzai of Afghanistan, has undercut our East European allies on missile defense, has shown indifference to Iraqi democracy, has insulted Britain by returning a bust of Winston Churchill that sat in the Oval Office, has interfered in internal Israeli politics, and has generally signaled that allies have no greater standing than some enemies.  Great stuff.

One of the leading officials pressuring Clinton on "Durban 2" is the new U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who was Obama's close campaign adviser.

Rice is also pushing for the U.S. to join the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva.

This doesn't surprise me.  It's Rice's reputation.  We'll be given the argument that by "participating" in these bodies, we can change them.  That's absurd.  It's never happened.  By participating we simply lend them legitimacy and prestige.  They will do what they wish to do.  The U.S. has one vote.  Once again we are sending a message of weakness, of accommodation to some of the worst governments in the world.

The other official pushing for American participation in "Durban 2" is Samantha Power, another Obama adviser at the National Security Council.

Power participated in the initial Durban conference as the representative of a non-government organization and is known for her strong criticism of Israel.

This is disgraceful.  Apparently, the secretary of state has been cut out of the loop.  The hard leftists are getting their way.  True, the U.S. statement said that Washington would decide at a later date whether to participate in Durban II, based on what direction the planning took, but that looks like window dressing.  If we did pull out on principle, it would be great.  But I have the uneasy feeling that this initial step will simply lead to our participation.  And that would be a slap at the very "American ideals" President Obama loves to talk about.

The AP story contains this intriguing line:

Senior State Department officials contacted Israeli diplomats and asked them to take swift action to block the Durban initiative.

The term "senior" is used carefully by experienced journalists.  In this case it would apply either to the secretary of state or to those just below her, who would act only with her approval.  One gets the sense of growing conflict in the administration, something that could flare up.  I've said before in this space that Hillary Clinton might be forced out of the administration, or could even feel the need to resign in protest over policies she opposes, setting up a new battle within the Democratic Party.

Things are getting sticky.

February 16, 2009.       Permalink          

REQUIRED READING - AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  From Toronto's Globe & Mail, via reader Ken Braithwaite:

Poor Piotr Stanczak. He's the Polish geologist who after four months of being held hostage was killed in the most ghastly way by a Pakistan branch of the Taliban over the weekend.

Well, actually, to say he was killed in a bestial manner is putting it a tad mildly. Mr. Stanczak had his head cut off by a hooded man hacking away with a knife, while two other brave, armed-to-the-teeth hooded men watched over the whole business. Minutes before, one of those three men had initiated a "conversation" with Mr. Stanczak with a cheery, "Hi. How are you?"

COMMENT:  That is the beginning of a column by Canadian writer Christie Blatchford.  It is one of the best columns on the nature of the enemy we're fighting in Afghanistan, and I urge you to read it all.

BREATH OF FRESH AIR, SO TO SPEAK - AT 9:41 A.M. ET:  From the AP:

SANTA FE, N.M. - Former astronaut Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon and once served New Mexico in the U.S. Senate, doesn’t believe that humans are causing global warming.

"I don’t think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," said Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled to speak next month at the International Conference on Climate Change in New York.

Schmitt contends that scientists "are being intimidated" if they disagree with the idea that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels.

"They’ve seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven’t gone along with the so-called political consensus that we’re in a human-caused global warming," Schmitt said.

COMMENT:  Schmitt went to Cal Tech and has a doctorate from Harvard.  Not a slouch.  He is one of a growing number of scientists, not associated with industry, who are questioning the religion of global warming. 

CHARLIE BEATS ABE - AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  From the Harvard Crimson:

The Harvard community celebrated Darwin’s 200th birthday in style with free drinks, science-themed rock bands, cake, decor, and a dancing gorilla.

The birthday party, which was sponsored by the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy and held in the Queen’s Head Pub, concluded a full day’s events that celebrated Darwin, his theory of evolution, and its contributions to humanity.

COMMENT:  Charles Darwin was born on the same day, in the same year, as was Abraham Lincoln.  But there is no mention in the Crimson of any recognition of Lincoln's 200th birthday.  You know, when you're not Ivy League...

SETBACK, POTENTIALLY MAJOR - AT 8:48 A.M. ET: 

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) -- The government agreed to impose Islamic law and suspend a military offensive across a large swath of northwest Pakistan on Monday in concessions aimed at pacifying a spreading Taliban insurgency there.

The announcement came after talks with local Islamists, including one closely linked to the Taliban.

The move will likely concern the United States, which has warned Pakistan that such peace agreements allow al-Qaida and Taliban militants operating near the Afghan border time to rearm and regroup.

COMMENT:  Concern is an understatement.  If Pakistan folds, our entire position in South Asia will fold with it.  Pakistan is a nuclear power, and the possible takeover of the country by Islamic militants isn't out of the question.

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE - AT 7:24 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Times:

President Obama's blunt but little-noted statement last week that bad teachers need to be fired and that some fellow Democrats resist real change in public schools has jolted educators and education critics alike.

"It was unusual for a Democratic president to say that," said Cynthia G. Brown, director of education policy for the liberal Center for American Progress. "I applauded when I watched him say it on television."

On the right, the surprise in some quarters was just as great.

"For any nationally recognized Democratic official, let alone a Democratic president, to bluntly talk about the need to remove teachers for poor performance is unprecedented," said Frederick M. Hess, American Enterprise Institute director of education policy studies.

COMMENT:  We applaud the president for his statement.  Now the hard part:  Just what will you do about it, sir?  We remain skeptical that this president will take on the education unions, which have our schools in a lock grip.  But we'd be happy to be proved wrong.

ILLINOIS GOP SHOWS A PULSE - AT 7:14 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

CHICAGO. Feb. 15 -- Illinois Republicans called Sunday for a perjury investigation of Sen. Roland W. Burris (D), who declared that he did not try to mislead state lawmakers about his contacts with associates of former governor Rod Blagojevich.

"I can't believe anything that's coming from Mr. Burris at this point," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R). He described Burris's version of his contacts with Blagojevich insiders as a "continuously changing story."

"I think it would be in the best interest of the state if he resigned," Durkin said the day after news broke that Burris had filed an affidavit contradicting two earlier statements he made under oath.

COMMENT:  I hope the GOP goes all the way on this one.  Burris plainly lied in earlier testimony.  If Republicans can't get him to resign, at least they can wound him, making his election to a full term in 2010 less likely.  He was appointed to succeed Barack Obama, who seems not at all interested in what has become of his Senate seat.  When you come from Chicago politics, you don't ask too many questions.

REMEMBER WHEN THEY WERE TAKING OVER THE WORLD? - AT 7:05 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

TOKYO — Japan’s economy, the world’s second largest, is deteriorating at its worst pace since the oil crisis of the 1970s, hurt by shrinking exports and anemic spending at home.

The country’s real gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 12.7 percent from October to December after contracting for two previous quarters, the government said Monday. When compared with the third quarter of 2008, Japan’s economy receded 3.3 percent.

COMMENT:  Apparently they tried stimulus package after stimulus package.  Nothing has worked.  We should learn, but probably won't.

THE GOOD GUYS DON'T ALWAYS WIN - AT 7:01 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez handily won a referendum on Sunday that will end presidential term limits, allowing him to run for re-election indefinitely and injecting fresh vibrancy into his socialist-inspired revolution.

COMMENT:  Note the celebratory tone of the story.  If you read down, you find that Chavez mobilized the entire government, and Venezuela's nationalized industries, to work for his victory.  Compare please to what's happening in the United States, as the government extends its power into industry after industry.

SUNDAY,  FEBRUARY 15,  2009

SINGALONG - AT 8:53 P.M. ET:  Sunday evening entertainment from Gerald Warner at Britain's Telegraph.  It's Warner's version, based on current happenings, of our "Battle Hymn of the Republic":

Mine eyes have been bedazzled by the coming of The One:
He is doling out the dollars that the suckers' toil has won;
He is doling out the dollars and he's only just begun -
The pork tub's rolling on.
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
The pork tub's rolling on.

A billion bucks for Amtrak and four billion more for those
Who are ramping up the franchise as the ACORN project grows;
Three hundred million extra for poor souls who've caught a dose -
The pork tub's rolling on.
Don'tcha just love stimulation!
Don'tcha just love stimulation!
Economic simulation -
The barrel's rolling on.

There's tax cuts for illegals, while six billion dollars mean
We can save the whole darn planet, turning public buildings green;
A big handout for Hollywood - who thinks that that's obscene?
The pork tub's rolling on.
Change we need is in the pipeline!
Change we need is in the pipeline!
Wealth and comfort all our lifetime!
The pork tub's rolling on.

Forget the Grand Old Party we were surely wise to spurn,
For Obama is our saviour, he has cash enough to burn;
If you're puzzled, Mr Geithner - that strange form's a tax return.
The pork tub's rolling on.
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
Glory, glory to Obama!
The pork tub's rolling on.

COMMENT:  I want to see that on iTunes.

SYMBOLISM

Posted at 12:10 p.m. ET

Symbolism is, obviously, very significant in international politics.  Therefore, this story is disturbing.  In the first month of his presidency, Barack Obama has done some things that should worry all of us - groveling to the Muslim world in a bizarre interview, insulting President Karzai of Afghanistan by saying he has a bunker mentality, and this week snubbing the king of Spain, who is on a visit to the U.S.  Apparently, Mr. Obama hasn't got time to see him.  But he had plenty of time to make his first call to a foreign leader to the president of "Palestine."  Further, the Obama administration has hinted at concessions to Russia on our missile-defense program, undercutting our East European allies.

But get this one for symbolism.  From London's Telegraph:

Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats.

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.

But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks."

An absolutely unnecessary snub.

The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington.

There's almost some justice in this.  The British lefties and chattering classes were all over themselves when Obama was elected. 

Finally...

A British Embassy spokesman said: "The bust of Sir Winston Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein was uniquely lent to a foreign head of state, President George W Bush, from the Government Art Collection in the wake of 9/11 as a signal of the strong transatlantic relationship.

"It was lent for the first term of office of President Bush. When the President was elected for his second and final term, the loan was extended until January 2009.

"The new President has decided not to continue this loan and the bust has now been returned. It is on display at the Ambassador's Residence."  

COMMENT:  Obama's action is crude.  There's been some suggestion that he returned the bust because Churchill was a colonialist, and Kenya - land of Obama's father - was a British colony.  But Churchill was half American, and Britain's stand against fascism was at least as important to "making Obama possible" as was Lincoln's victory in the Civil War. 

This is not good.  It suggests that Obama may be a small-minded, petty man, much like Jimmy Carter.  We'll have more on some strange hints about Obama's foreign policy tomorrow morning.  By the way, notice the way the American press ignored this story.

February 15, 2009.      Permalink          

HEY LOOK, YOU REMEMBER DIFFERENT THINGS AT DIFFERENT TIMES, RIGHT? - AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  From The Chicago Sun-Times: 

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother solicited U.S. Sen. Roland Burris for up to $10,000 in campaign cash before Blagojevich named Burris to the coveted post — something Burris initially failed to disclose under oath before an Illinois House impeachment panel, records and interviews show...

...Burris’ statement offers the third version of events he has given about his discussions concerning the Senate seat, to which Blagojevich appointed him in late December, after Blagojevich was hit with federal corruption charges that included an allegation he tried to sell the Senate appointment.

COMMENT:  Why is this being emphasized?  Why can't political reporters respect good fiction when they see it?  The sheer inventiveness of Illinois politicians should make them eligible for a federal arts grant under the stimulus package.  But you can be sure that the good-government crowd will block it.

REMEMBER? - AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  Reader Tom Wharton dug up this cartoon from 1980, reminding us that the smallness of Jimmah Carter was understood even then.   Thought you'd enjoy it:

PRESIDENT FOR LIFE? - AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:

Hugo Chávez appears to be everywhere, in his trademark button-down red shirt or army fatigues, singing songs of love to adoring throngs or waving from a campaign truck winding through helter-skelter slums...

...With Chávez promoting a referendum Sunday that could extend his presidency far into the 21st century, the message drummed into Venezuelans is simple: Vote for me, or risk calamity.

COMMENT:  And he might just win.  You can fool some of the people all of the time...  Where are his American pals, like Danny Glover?  Do they understand the implications of a "president for life"?  Do they care?

YOU CAN ASK, BUT DON'T TELL - AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  From The New York Post:

Senior executives at some of Wall Street's biggest firms were convinced Bernard Madoff was a fraud as early as 2005 - yet none alerted authorities, documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal.

Leon Gross, the former managing director in charge of worldwide equity derivatives research for Citigroup, told friends and colleagues on Wall Street in 2005 that he thought Madoff was being less than honest about the returns he could make for investors but did nothing to prevent the fraud.

COMMENT:  I suspect that the problem was probably fear, and the clubby atmosphere on Wall Street.  If you speak out, and some powerful figure gets hurt, your career doesn't get a gold star. 

NOT CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN - AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  From The Times of London:

The new administration's economic stimulus plan may undo reforms that cut the dole queues, critics say

RONALD REAGAN started it, Bill Clinton finished it and last week Barack Obama was accused of engineering its destruction. One of the few undisputed triumphs of American government of the past 20 years – the sweeping welfare reform programme that sent millions of dole claimants back to work – has been plunged into jeopardy by billions of dollars in state handouts included in the president’s controversial economic stimulus package.

COMMENT:  This is one of the great sleeper stories of the "stimulus" package.  The fact is, the left loves welfare.  First, it makes people dependent on government programs run by the left, thus insuring that those programs, and the salaries paid to the staffs, will continue.  Second, it ratifies the left's criticism of capitalism.  At one point in the 1960s, one in eight residents of New York City was on welfare.  The left was in ecstasy.

THE WARMTH, THE SINCERITY - AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  From AP:

North Korea is ready to improve relations with countries that "treat us friendly," the communist country's No. 2 leader said Sunday ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to Asia.

The remark by Kim Yong Nam, North Korea's ceremonial head of state, could be an olive branch to Washington before Clinton's trip - even though it came amid reports the North is gearing up to test-fire a long-range missile in an apparent attempt to grab President Barack Obama's attention.

COMMENT:  Please notice the almost identical language used by both Iran and North Korea in their response to the Obama "peace" overtures.  Both countries demand that we change our behavior before they do anything.  That's what happens when you project an image of weakness, which is what Obama is doing.

NEXT TO FALL? - AT 9:38 A.M. ET:  From Britain's Telegraph:

The unfolding debt drama in Russia, Ukraine, and the EU states of Eastern Europe has reached acute danger point.

If mishandled by the world policy establishment, this debacle is big enough to shatter the fragile banking systems of Western Europe and set off round two of our financial Götterdämmerung.

Austria's finance minister Josef Pröll made frantic efforts last week to put together a €150bn rescue for the ex-Soviet bloc. Well he might. His banks have lent €230bn to the region, equal to 70pc of Austria's GDP.

"A failure rate of 10pc would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector," reported Der Standard in Vienna. Unfortunately, that is about to happen.

COMMENT:  The way some Europeans, and their American lackeys, are talking, it's all America's fault.  Well, apparently it isn't.  There were some pretty high-flying financial gimmicks being pulled in Europe while we were doing the same here.