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TUESDAY,  JUNE 2,  2009

OBAMA'S DELUSIONAL WORLD - AT 10:48 P.M. ET:  Apparently the Muslim world, which the president will address in his speech from Egypt on Thursday, has a bit of a jolt waiting for him when he touches down.  Mr. Obama's middle name doesn't seem to carry much weight with the militant mullahs and their murderous mentors.  Even The New York Times concedes that:

CAIRO — President Obama starts his much anticipated Middle East tour on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to press the Arab nations to offer a gesture to the Israelis to entice them to accelerate the peace process.

But when he meets in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with King Abdullah, he should be prepared for a polite but firm refusal, Saudi officials and political experts say. The Arab countries, they say, believe they have already made their best offer and that it is now up to Israel to make a gesture, perhaps by dismantling settlements in the West Bank or committing to a two-state solution.

And truth-telling isn't part of the president's tour plan:

Before leaving Washington, Mr. Obama signaled that while he would mention American concerns about human rights in Egypt, he would not challenge Mr. Mubarak too sharply, calling him a “force for stability and good” in the Middle East.

In an interview with the BBC released by the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Obama said he did not regard Mr. Mubarak as an authoritarian leader. “No, I tend not to use labels for folks,” Mr. Obama said.

Huh?  He doesn't regard old Hosni as authoritarian?  Does Obambi know what happens to democracy advocates in Egypt? 

I love this:   "No, I tend not to use labels for folks."  No, he leaves that for his aides to do in their leaks to the press.  Count the number of leaks that use "hard line" to describe the Israeli prime minister.

Bottom line:  Mr. Obama is likely to be disappointed by the Arabs.  Given his administration's trendy mentality, that will probably translate into more pressure on Israel.  Let's just get a lot of signatures on a piece of paper and wave it before the public.

Peace in our time, you know.

June 2, 2009   Permalink

COUNT ANOTHER ONE IN FOR 2012 - AT 10:17 P.M. ET:  Mitt Romney, who often appeared stiff and uninspiring during his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination last year, has emerged since as a thoughtful, articulate spokesman for the party.  Clearly, his hat is in the ring, if only informally, for 2012.

As the president wings toward those great Mideast democracies he's about to visit, Romney reminds us of Obama's fairly appalling style while overseas:

"It’s not because America hasn’t made mistakes -- we have -- but because America’s mistakes are overwhelmed by what America has meant to the hopes and aspirations of people throughout the world," he said, adding: "Britain’s Guardian newspaper noted that Mr. Obama has been more critical of his own country, while on foreign soil, than any other president in American history. That would be a most unfortunate distinction at any time."

Seeking to bolster his national security credentials, especially if he makes another White House bid, the one-term Massachusetts devoted much of his speech to calling for more defense spending. "We cannot allow the economic crisis to conceal the very real threats to our nation’s security," Romney said. "We cannot ignore the intentions of competitors who would replace America’s leadership with their own, and set back the cause of freedom."

And...

"I fear ... that he will look to the military budget to find the biggest cuts and finance his domestic priorities.”

The potential 2012 presidential candidate detailed a litany of other criticisms of the Obama administration -- including its handling of North Korea. “Arrogant, delusional tyrants can not be stopped by earnest words and furrowed brows. Action, strong bold action coming from a position of strength and determination, is the only effective deterrent.”

COMMENT:  Romney on target.  Polls are showing that, while President Obama is personally popular, his policies are less so.  While that was also true of Ronald Reagan, Reagan had a strong, effective foreign policy.  Obama's foreign policy is foundering, and he often seems naive, even uninformed.  Carteresque is the word.

If the economy improves, it will probably blind Americans to Obama's foreign inadequacies.  But if the economy continues to drag, as it apparently will, foreign weakness can do to Obama what it did to Carter.

Then The New York Times can call Obama the best ex-president in history...and we won't care.

June 2, 2009   Permalink

COUNT ONE IN FOR 2012 - AT 6:23 P.M. ET:  The Republican governor of Minnesota has made a political move with national implications, as the Washington Post reports:

Update, 3:15 p.m.: Gov. Tim Pawlenty formalized his decision not to seek a third term in 2010 moments ago even as he acknowledged: "I still have a lot of ideas and energy left."

In response to suggestions from Democrats that he was leaving because he could not win a third term, Pawlenty insisted he "could have and would have" won in 2010, rattling off a series of recent polls showing his electoral strength.

Pawlenty did not directly address questions about whether he would run for president in 2012 but did note that he was "not ruling anything in or out" in regards a national bid.

COMMENT:  Pawlenty is an attractive, intelligent guy who handles himself well in debate.  If present trends continue, any GOP candidate will have a hard time in 2012, but present trends might not continue.  Pawlenty would be a welcome addition to the field.  By declining to run for a third time, he clears his calendar and avoids a political battle in which he would be targeted by the Democratic National Committee, hoping to knock him off.  The 2012 race has begun.

June 2, 2009   Permalink

LESS HUM FOR THE HUMMERS - AT 4:48 P.M. ET:  The Hummer is, in a way, a symbol of American power and patriotism.  It's the civilian version of the Army's best-known transport vehicle.  Hummers are made by GM.  Well, they were made by GM.  Seems there'll be some changes made, and they may say a lot about the decline in American industrial power.  From The New York Times:

UANGZHOU, China — General Motors has reached a preliminary agreement for the sale of its Hummer brand of large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks to a machinery company in western China with ambitions to become a carmaker, a person with knowledge of the Chinese government approval process said Tuesday.

The Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd., based in Chengdu, concluded the agreement with G.M., said the person, who insisted on anonymity.

COMMENT:  Maybe I'm being irrational, but I find this sad.  It's like the Chinese buying Boeing.  It reminds me of all those great European and British companies that had to be sold because they failed under socialism.  Is history telling us something?

June 2, 2009   Permalink 

WILL OBAMA'S POPULARITY GET A FLAT TIRE? - AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  To our dismay, we've been watching President Obama's popularity rise in recent weeks, and, according to Rasmussen, even get a bump upward following the selection of Sonia Sotomayer to the Supreme Court.  We've asked ourselves if we have a Teflon president, who rises in popularity no matter what he does, or its outcome.  We've also asked ourselves whether the media's love affair with the president has now become a serious barrier to any rational discussion of the Obama record.

But Byron York, writing in the increasingly important Washington Examiner, believes the GM bankruptcy may be a tipping point, the moment when the tire starts to deflate:

Observers across the political spectrum have marveled at Barack Obama's ability to maintain a high job approval rating even as the public grows skeptical about some of his key policy initiatives. There's a feeling, among Republicans at least, that sooner or later he’s going to reach a tipping point between his personal popularity and the unpopularity of his proposals, and that his job approval rating will suffer.

And...

We might be catching a glimpse of Obama’s tipping point with his handling of General Motors' bankruptcy, and Chrysler's before it. The government takeover of the automakers is by far the most unpopular thing Obama has done so far. And it's not just unpopular -- it is partisan, appealing to the base of his party and virtually no one else.

Trouble is, the base of  his party includes a good chunk of the media.  However...

Among Republicans, 72 percent disapproved. Sixty-six percent of independents -- a group key to Obama's success -- disapproved. The only group to approve of continued bailouts to the automakers was Democrats, by 57 percent to 42 percent.

And...

At the moment, the auto situation seems not to have affected the president's job approval rating. It's still high -- around 60 percent in the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls. But opposition is slowly solidifying. The RealClearPolitics average shows the number of those who disapprove of Obama's job performance has grown from 20 percent in his first week to 32 percent today.

Now, with the government takeover of the car companies, we have a major policy initiative from the Obama White House. And people don't like it.

In the months to come, we'll have more major initiatives. Besides health care and energy, there will be education and a decision on the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Can Obama stay at 60 percent approval through all that? The tipping point draws nearer.

COMMENT:  Dick Morris predicts that the popularity crunch for Obama will come in about four months, when the results of his own policies kick in, and he can no longer blame Bush.  The key issue will be whether the press completely collapses and becomes part of the Obama rescue mission.  You can be sure NBC will be there, and probably The New York Times. 

June 2, 2009   Permalink

GETTING OUR ATTENTION - AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  We continue to follow the strange story of the loss of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic yesterday.  The mainstream media is reporting it as an accident, and is a bit ho-hum about the tragedy.

We stress that we do not engage in conspiracy theories here, but we do ask questions.  The report as of now:

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Searchers raced against the clock Tuesday to find wreckage of Air France Flight 447, which disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people aboard. French investigators said a series of extraordinary events likely brought the airliner down.

Rescuers scanning deep waters in a vast zone extending far off northeast Brazil toward West Africa have not turned up confirmed signs of the plane, or any survivors. The 4-year-old Airbus jet was last heard from at 0214 GMT Monday en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Investigators on both sides of the ocean worked through the night to determine what brought it down - wind and hail from towering thunderheads, lightning, or a catastrophic combination of factors.

The French government minister overseeing transportation, Jean-Louis Borloo, said French police were studying passenger lists.

COMMENT:  It's that last sentence that got our attention.  Why would they be studying passenger lists?  Well, we all know.

Here are some issues:  Some are speculating about lightning, but lightning strikes airliners all the time.  Others are speculating about turbulence.  But this was a modern, almost-new airliner, designed to take heavy turbulence.  There were reports of transmissions from the plane indicating electrical problems.  But it turns out they were routine maintenance transmissions alerting Air France that there were some problems that had to be dealt with.  There was no mayday call from the plane, indicating either a total loss of communications capability - highly unlikely - or some rapid event.

Some experts are suggesting a combination of things might have brought the plane down.  But the absence of a distress call is a deep mystery.  Was the crew incapacitated?  Wounded?  Dead?

That is speculation, but it is exceedingly rare for a plane to just fall out of the sky.  Presumably, the plane is now at the bottom of the ocean.  We may never know the cause, but we will follow this.  We'd also like to know who was on the passenger list.

UPDATE AT 9:20 A.M. ET:  

(CNN) -- Wreckage has been found in the Atlantic Ocean that could have come from a missing Air France jet that disappeared Monday with 228 passengers and crew on board, Brazilian aviation officials said Tuesday.

Floating objects and seats were found 720 kilometers (447 miles) from the island of Fernando de Noronha, said Brazilian Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.

June 2, 2009   Permalink

A LITTLE LATE, NO? - AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  As Mr. Obama jets off to Egypt to address people who danced in the streets after 9-11, he's having some trouble with people who came to our side after 9-11.  Confusion, confusion.  It must be a language problem, but this administration appears to treat enemies better than friends.

After Egypt, and a lovely trip to the free, democratic kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the president will visit Normandy to commemorate D-Day.  But someone, gosh darn, forgot to invite Queen Elizabeth, the only reigning leader who participated in World War II.  Now, a few days before the trip, the White House tells us it is just so upset, as The Politico reports: 

President Obama is trying to score Queen Elizabeth an invite to the D-Day commemoration ceremony at Normandy ...

... that he will attend this week with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Queen, the only surviving head of state who served in World War II, was snubbed by the French when she didn’t make the guest list.

Asked today if Obama believes Her Majesty should be officially invited, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters, “He does.”

“And we are working with those involved to see if we can make that happen,” he said.

You know, making sure there's a hotel room available, a seat on a British airliner - that kind of thing.

It was a bit different last week, before the scriptwriters around the president agreed on the shooting script:

Last week the White House wasn’t so sure about the Queen and Normandy. Gibbs brushed off a question about whether Obama could intervene on her behalf.

“We are not in charge of the guest list,” Gibbs quipped. “I can assure you of that.”

No, but the president of the United States can make an itty bitty suggestion.

The president has expressed affection for the queen before.  But the president is very good with words.  It's the actions that worry us.

June 2, 2009   Permalink

OUTRAGE - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  An American soldier died yesterday - not in Iraq or Afghanistan, but right here at home, and under circumstances that cry out for further investigation...and some real journalism.  From Fox News:

A man with "political and religious motives" killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center in Arkansas, police said.

The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, reportedly had been under investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force after he traveled to Yemen and was arrested there for using a Somali passport.

According to ABC News, the investigation was in its early stages and was based on Muhammad's travel to Yemen. While there, Muhammed, a recent convert to Islam, studied jihad with an Islamic scholar, Jihadwatch.org reported.

We're getting the standard assurance:

Interviews with police show Muhammad "probably had political and religious motives for the attack," Police Chief Stuart Thomas said.

Muhammad, previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, was not part of a larger group nor was his attack part of a larger conspiracy, Thomas said.

"We believe that it's associated with his disagreement over the military operations," the police chief said.

No, they're never part of a "larger group."  They always "act alone."  In this case, we're assured, the gent was just upset over military operations.  But who got him upset?  Where did he learn to be so upset that he was willing to kill American soldiers...in the United States?

Nothing to see, folks, nothing to see.  Just move on.

We will not accept bigotry or hatred at this site.  But it is not bigotry to express concern about the growing list of misguided Muslims who've engaged in these "isolated" acts.  Just a few weeks ago, a group of men who'd converted to Islam in prison were arrested in a plot to shoot down American military planes and bomb houses of worship in New York.  Isolated case, we were told.

Earlier, another misguided Muslim burst into a Jewish center in Seattle and murdered an employee.  Another one plunged a car into college students in North Carolina.  There was the beltway killer in Washington, D.C., who, we were assured, acted only with his young partner.  Just prior to the start of the Iraq war, a Muslim soldier in the war zone murdered an officer.  Always "isolated."

The overwhelming number of Muslims do not commit these acts.  We stress that.  But there have been enough cases to warrant real investigations of what is being taught to these people.  And yet, neither the front page of the online editions of The New York Times or Washington Post carry the story of this latest outrage.

The dead soldier was William Long.  I Googled his name.  There are only a few references to his murder.  I then Googled George Tiller, the abortionist murdered in a heinous criminal act a few days ago.  The list of stories goes on and on.  William Long was only an American soldier.  How important is he to the journalistic elites?

When Tiller was murdered, President Obama issued a statement of outrage.  We have yet to hear from the White House on William Long's killing.  Of course, the president leaves in hours for Egypt, where he will deliver a speech "reaching out" to the Muslim world.  Fine.  Make the speech.  But, Mr. President, one of your soldiers is dead.

June 2, 2009   Permalink 

MONDAY,  JUNE 1,  2009

WHERE IS OBAMA WHEN WE NEED HIS RHETORIC? - AT 9:41 P.M. ET:  Most Americans are unaware of it, but two U.S. journalists go on trial in North Korea this week.  Their families are breaking their silence:

(CNN) -- After nearly three months of maintaining their silence, the families of two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea are taking to the airwaves this week to lobby for their release as the women go on trial Thursday.

Analysts said they think Pyongyang will convict the journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, on spying charges and hand down long sentences in the communist nation's labor camps.

"I suspect they will be used in some kind of pawn in future negotiations between North Korea and the U.S. to gain concessions," said Brian Bridges, a professor at Hong Kong's Lingnan University who specializes in the politics and foreign policies of the two Koreas.

COMMENT:  There are, of course, the usual tough words coming out of Washington.  Hillary Clinton:  "We believe the charges are baseless and should not have been brought and that these two young women should be released immediately."

Boy, that'll get 'em.

Once again we see the result of our "talk tough, then cave" policy toward North Korea.  The North Koreans have see that there are no serious consequences to defying the United States.

It's ironic that that these women go on trial the same day President Obama delivers his can't-we-all-get-along speech to the Muslim world.  The Muslims are watching North Korea as well.  In their world the "strong horse" is the one that's respected.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

TALKING THE TALK - AT 7:46 P.M. ET:  President Obama has given an interview to the viscerally anti-American BBC.  He talks the talk about democracy:

...in his first interview with a UK broadcaster, he said the rule of law, democracy and freedoms of speech and religion were "universal values."
"These are values that are important, even when it's hard," he said.

The president will be in the Mideast this week and will deliver a major address to the Muslim world, from Egypt, on Thursday:

Mr Obama told BBC North America Editor Justin Webb that he wanted to deliver the message "that democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of religion ... are not simply principles of the West to be hoisted on these countries."

So far, so good, but then comes the escape clause:

"The danger, I think, is when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture," he said.

He's drunk the leftist Kool-Aid.  Out comes the "culture" excuse.  But if democracy is a "universal value," how can anyone give "culture" as an excuse for not having it?

Also, how does one "impose" freedom?  Do we say, "You're free...or else"?

This is the old "Who are we to impose our values?" game that you hear in the leftist salons of Washington and Manhattan, and, of course, in our less-than-splendid universities.  It is an excuse for "respecting" other cultures, and doing nothing.

But he said that the most important thing for the US was to "serve as a role model."

"That's why, for example, closing Guantanamo from my perspective is as difficult as it is important....

"Part of what we want to affirm to the world is that these are values that are important even when it's hard, maybe especially when it's hard and not just when it's easy."

He got that line from Jack Kennedy, who often liked to say that we do something because it's hard, not because it's easy.  No attribution, of course.

And he always manages to shift the discussion back to the alleged sins of the United States, another part of the "Who are we...?" routine.

However, here's some potential good news:

But Mr Obama is not apologising for the actions of the Bush White House, our correspondent adds.

Well, there's some progress.  Maybe Obama's gotten the message that Americans don't like the Bush-bashing.

COMMENT:  The president speaks good words about democracy, but his administration has been awfully short on action or commitment.  He will deliver his speech to Muslims from a dictatorship.  Will he say anything about that? 

More democracies have been established on America's watch than at any time in human history.  We hope the president is aware of that, and sensitive to what his own country has contributed.  He might begin his awareness by ending the automatic condemnation of America's actions.

By the way, the BBC piece is entitled "Obama Gives Pledge on US 'Values.'"  The word "values" is put in quotes, as if there's some doubt that we have any.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

WHY, THE PORTFOLIO OF OUR PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC IS GROWING - AT 2:20 P.M. ET:  I know that all of us are so proud today to own a failing car company.  It's just what we always wanted.  And we know that, with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden at his side, Barack Obama will do wonders for Buick.  You just know they have a feel for the road.

But why stop there?  The workers in our car company need a place to deposit their paychecks, don't they?  Why shouldn't we have a bank to go with our company?  You know, it's heartwarming to realize that others are thinking the same thing:

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- When financial stocks slumped in February to the lowest level in at least 17 years, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress the government might end up owning “substantial” stakes in the country’s biggest banks.

Three months later, New York-based Citigroup Inc. may be the only large bank that has to accept his offer.

Oh, why not?  We're sports.

Citigroup was found by the Fed to need $93 billion more in common equity as of the end of 2008, the biggest gap among the 19 U.S. banks that underwent the stress tests.

Pocket money.  Loose change.  In the age of Obama, $93-bil is a tip. 

And while we're at it, let's use our imaginations.  What else would we like to own?  A hotel would be nice.  Maybe some department stores.  I think we should all write the White House, and wish upon a star. 

At the rate we're going, a star may be the only thing left that isn't under federal control.

This is the most serious transformation of the United States since the great Depression, and the American people seem utterly unaware of the danger to their freedom and independence.  Some media we have, ay?

June 1, 2009   Permalink

A LITTLE REMINDER OF WHO WE'RE DEALING WITH - AT 1:28 P.M. ET:

(CBS/AP) Taliban militants armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons abducted at least 400 students, staff and relatives driving away from a boy's school in a northwest Pakistani tribal region on Monday, police and a witness said.

The brazen abduction came amid rising militant violence in Pakistan's tribal belt - actions the military says are partly aimed at distracting it from its offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Swat Valley.

Police were negotiating with the Taliban for the release of the captives taken in North Waziristan, said Mirza Mohammad Jihadi, an adviser to the prime minister. He said around 500 people were taken and that they were being held in the Bakka Khel area.

COMMENT:  The president will address the Muslim world from Egypt on Thursday.  Maybe someone, like an adult, should slip this story to him before he starts apologizing for our democracy.  Islamo-fascism remains a severe threat, especially with the potential spread of nuclear and biological weapons.  No outreach will change that.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

UPDATE AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  Latest on the French airliner missing over the Atlantic with 228 aboard:

PARIS, France (CNN) — The pilot an Air France plane that disappeared off radar screens with 228 people aboard reported electrical problems before it lost contact with air traffic controllers between Brazil and France Sunday, an Air France spokesman said. The plane was experiencing turbulence, the spokesman added.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

DEVASTATING - AT 7:55 A.M. ET:  Last week, Barack Obama's Justice Department (Eric Holder, proprietor) dropped a case against the Black Panthers, some of whose members engaged in blatant voter discrimination during the November election. 

Now, Bartle Bull comments on this disgrace.  Who is Bartle Bull?  He is a man with impeccable civil rights credentials - a civil-rights lawyer in Mississippi in 1966, New York campaign manager for Robert Kennedy in 1968.  His words count:

On May 15 Obama’s Department of Justice quashed a civil rights case involving voter intimidation by blacks in Philadelphia on election day, 2008...

...As New York chairman of Democrats for McCain, I had gone to Philadelphia on election day to work as a volunteer at polling places...

...never until I went to Philadelphia on November 4 had I seen a man with a weapon blocking the entrance to a polling place...

...Two men dressed in black combat boots, black berets and black uniforms blocked the door to the polling place at 1221 Fairmount Street. One was brandishing a large billy-club, intimidating anyone who approached. The two were members of the New Black Panther Party (NBPP). Our campaign called the police and the press. The press filmed the incident...

...In early May the Federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered a default judgment versus King Shabazz enjoining him from again appearing at a polling place with a weapon. But on May 15, with victory certain because the other defendants (including the national NBPP) had not answered the proceeding, the new leadership at the Department of Justice dropped the case by filing a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal...

...The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describe the NBPP as a hate group, and the original Black Panthers have denounced it, but the new administration is protecting it.

Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy did not die to have thugs dressed like storm troopers and carrying weapons block the doors of polling places, nor to have the Attorney General of the United States protect the thugs instead of the voters.

COMMENT:  You will notice the lack of interest by the mainstream media in reporting this story and probing Mr. Obama's Justice Department.  The press is too busy telling us the life story of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and relating that diners were thrilled this past weekend when Barack and Michelle showed up on their romantic date in New York - a date that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

It is Bartle Bull's conclusion that really gets to us.  Please read it:

What will our next elections be like? ACORN, the principal instrument of voter fraud in 2008, has now been lavishly funded by the “Stimulus Package”. Intimidation at the polls is designed in part to prevent poll watchers from challenging the fraudulent voters registered by Acorn. The new census is to be overseen by the political office in the White House. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants have been registered under the “Motor-Voter” Bill, which mandates voter registration at Motor Vehicle Bureaus. The New Black Panthers will be at the door.

Change we can believe in.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

A SYMBOLIC DEATH - AT 7:24 A.M. ET:

LONDON — Millvina Dean, who as an infant passenger aboard the Titanic was lowered into a lifeboat in a canvas mail sack and lived to become the ship’s last survivor, died Sunday at a nursing home in Southampton, the English port from which the Titanic embarked on its fateful voyage, according to staff at the home.

She was 97 and had been in poor health for several weeks.

COMMENT:  Those who are turning America into a new Titantic are still alive and well, and living in Washington.

June 1, 2009   Permalink


GENTLEMEN, DON'T START YOUR ENGINES - AT 7:16 A.M. ET:   This is the fateful day for GM.  Washington Post:

The Obama administration plans to take the next step toward resuscitating the American auto industry today, sending General Motors, the storied manufacturer, into bankruptcy protection.

The court filing will mark the end of financial independence for the 100-year-old industrial leviathan that once conflated its interests with the country's and that employed well over 1 million people, counting jobs at the company and at its suppliers.

COMMENT:  Myths die hard, don't they?  The story says that GM "once conflated its interests with the country's..."  That is a reference to a statement made by GM's chief, Charles E. Wilson, at his confirmation hearings for secretary of defense in the Eisenhower administration.  A less-than-responsible news report quoted Wilson as saying that what was good for General Motors was good for the country.  The quote produced an immediate uproar.  What was left out is that Wilson also said that what was good for the country was good for General Motors.  By the time the whole quote came out, Wilson's reputation was damaged.

We can only read this story with dismay, but we should be asking questions that the mainstream media is not asking.  If anyone told you a year ago that this would be happening, would you have believed it?  How did all this economic damage occur so quickly, culminating in a remarkable, if fearful opportunity for the most leftist president in American history to remake the economy of the United States?  I am not engaging in a conspiracy theory, but I've noted before that the economic meltdown of last September occurred right in the middle of a presidential campaign, and could only have helped Obama.  Now we have the Obama crowd running car companies.

Another question, unasked:  How will the operation of GM by the federal government impact the rest of the auto industry, and the design of its products?  Remember, Ford is functioning.  So are Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and European companies.  All can take up the slack.  But what if Washington, under pressure from radical environmentalists with a lock grip on the Democratic Party, reshapes the GM product line and is able, with an infusion of taxpayer money, to cut the prices of the cars and knife the competition?  Will other companies be forced to follow, making Washington the decider of what America buys, rather than the American customer?

That is not a "cute" question about choices in upholstery and CD decks.  It goes to a fundamental issue of economic freedom and the discipline of the market.  Milton Friedman made the point that you cannot have political freedom without economic freedom.  Think about that today.

June 1, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN AT 6:52 A.M. ET:  Air France flight 447, from Rio to Paris has disappeared over the Atlantic, the airline says.  The Airbus 330 was carrying 228-231 people, depending on the report.  A search is underway. 

That is all we know right now.

COMMENT:  It is extremely rare for a plane to just "disappear."  Planes do not fall out of the sky without reason, and there usually is some distress signal, or, if the flight was over land, smoke coming from a wreckage.

Inevitably, there will be suspicion of terrorism, but we urge caution.  Let the search continue.

June 1, 2009   Permalink