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FRIDAY,  APRIL 23,  2010

GIVE THE MAN A REST, FOR ABOUT FIVE YEARS – AT 9:37 P.M. ET:  The vice president of the United States, and its associated territories, possessions and postage stamps, has spoken on the subject of the economy.  The world listens:

WASHINGTON: Vice President Joe Biden predicted on Friday the U.S. economy would create 100,000 to 200,000 jobs next month, with a rise to 250,000 to 500,000 jobs per month soon afterward, according to a press pool report.

"We caught a lot of bad breaks on the way down. We're going to catch a few good breaks because of good planning on the way up," Biden told a political fundraiser
in Pittsburgh, the pool report said, as he hailed the Obama administration's recovery efforts.

President Barack Obama has insisted that boosting jobs is his top domestic priority, mindful that persistently high unemployment could mean heavy losses for his Democrats in November's congressional elections.

COMMENT:  One to two hundred thousand jobs next month?  We also understand that Iran will disarm, Al Qaeda will become a synagogue-building contractor, and Bill Ayers will enlist in the Marine Corps.  I've checked all this out. 

The vice president needs time in Disney World.  Wait.  He lives in Disney World.

April 23, 2010    Permalink

NOT LEFT ENOUGH – AT 6:23 P.M. ET:  The left, apparently dissatisfied with the extreme right-wing tendencies of the Obama administration, is gearing up for a fight over the next Supreme Court seat.  Well, let's see – Lenin isn't available, Judge Judy is working...  Well, there's Garland, but I don't mean the other Judy:

Unlike several other possible candidates to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick B. Garland probably won't face conservative opposition. Instead, it could be liberals lining up against him.

A small but vocal group of activists is privately saying that Garland is not liberal enough to replace the legendary Stevens, whose opinions defended gay rights and abortion rights and opposed the death penalty. They say Garland is a centrist who won't champion liberal concerns, too often finds middle ground with his conservative colleagues on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and showed great deference to President George W. Bush's indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

COMMENT: It's either about abortion or the prison in Cuba.  Is there anything else this crowd is concerned about?  Garland is considered in those circles who live outside the padded cells as a liberal guy.  But these people want 100%, and people who want that generally lose.  At least we hope so.

April 23, 2010     Permalink

TWO DOWN, OR UP – AT 6:12 P.M. ET:  A second Navy SEAL has been cleared in a case that fairly drips with political correctness.  Justice is done:

BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. military judge on Friday cleared a Navy SEAL of any wrongdoing in the alleged beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding the grisly 2004 killings of four American contractors.

The Blackwater contractors' burned bodies were dragged through the streets and two were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates river in the former insurgent hotbed of Fallujah in an attack that shocked Americans and galvanized U.S. support for the war.

After a daylong trial and fewer than two hours considering the evidence, Navy Judge Cmdr. Tierny Carlos found Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe of Yorktown, Virginia, not guilty of dereliction of duty, a spokesman said.

It was the second verdict in as many days to throw out charges against a SEAL accused in the abuse case. Three SEALS, the Navy's elite special forces unit, face charges in a case that has drawn fire from at least 20 members of Congress and other Americans who it see it as coddling terrorists to overcompensate for the notorious Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

The trial against the third and final SEAL to be charged is slated for May 3 in Norfolk, Virginia.

COMMENT:  This case seems to have been brought to satisfy the Muslim world.  We must not treat harshly those who burn and drag American bodies.  It's a cultural thing, you know.  Why, in some cultures burning Americans is considered a fine art.  Don't you understand?

Let's get the third guy cleared.  These are heroes. 

April 23, 2010     Permalink

HOME STATE?  WHAT HOME STATE? – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  Well, I guess when you're a citizen of the world you don't need to show much loyalty to the boys back home.  Barack Obama stiffs the Illinois machine, er, organization.  From The Politico:

Sen. Dick Durbin slipped into the West Wing last week to ask Rahm Emanuel for White House help in saving Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.

But he didn’t leave with any ironclad commitments.

Durbin told Emanuel that Democratic nominee Alexi Giannoulias could use some serious presidential intervention in his uphill race against Republican Rep. Mark Kirk.

Yeah.  Apparently he could also use some help in keeping the law off his tail.  He's involved in a "family" bank, the Broadway Bank, that has a reputation for servicing some mighty interesting "depositors" – the kind who sometimes deposit dead bodies.

At the moment, the White House seems open to the idea of losing Obama’s old seat rather than putting the president’s prestige on the line for Giannoulias, the brash and boyish Illinois state treasurer — and onetime Obama basketball buddy — whose campaign has been rocked by the financial meltdown of his family’s bank.

You know, this Obama has always had such interesting friends.  Have you noticed?

Durbin said Emanuel was sympathetic to his pleas but ultimately noncommittal, telling him that the White House was “considering the race, weighing their options and weighing a decision on what to do.”

Emanuel, a former congressman from Chicago, tried but failed last year to get Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan into the race. Now, he told Durbin, it’s up to Giannoulias to prove his campaign has enough “viability and strength” to warrant Obama’s involvement.

COMMENT:  Translated into English:  Unless the candidate can burn the records and tapes, and get rid of the evidence, the president won't be hopping onto Air Force One and ordering "Chicago.  Make it fast."

April 23, 2010    Permalink

BE CAREFUL, BE CAREFUL – AT 8:48 A.M. ET:  This will be sold to us as progress, but be careful of the details.  Looks like another UN hustle:

VIENNA (AP) -- Iran has agreed to give the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency greater inspection and monitoring rights to a sensitive site where it is enriching uranium to higher levels, diplomats said Friday.

The move -- indirectly confirmed by a senior Iranian envoy -- comes as Tehran mounts a diplomatic offensive meant to stave off new U.N. sanctions for its defiance of Security Council demands that it curb nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons.

And that's the point.  This is part of a propaganda campaign.  Nothing the Iranians have done has ever resulted in any restrictions on their nuclear program.  It's a hundred-percent record.

They said Iran agreed in principle about 10 days ago to give the IAEA the greater overview it sought, but the increased access and monitoring still had to be put in place.

''The have not agreed to the full measures sought by the agency but enough so that the agency would be happy'' after being stonewalled for two months, said one of the diplomats.

COMMENT:  The IAEA would be happy?  Really?  These people are easily pleased.  Maybe someone should ask why the Iranians aren't agreeing to all the measures requested.  Yeah, we're really wondering. 

Actually, the IAEA has a new Japanese chief, whose first report on Iran was unusually tough.  But I've observed that, over time, UN executives start sipping the Kool-Aid, and begin to conform to the world body's appeasement style, just as new members of Congress, no matter how they advertise their "independence," quickly fall into the Washington way of doing business. 

Iran will not stop its nuclear program.  And, earlier this week, a leaked memo from Secretary of Defense Gates accused the White House of not having a real strategy to deal with an Iranian bomb. 

So, while you're paying the coming VAT tax, you might ponder what the money is being used for.

April 23, 2010     Permalink

SHOCKED BY THIS, NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  Must be a mistake.  Maybe the calculator didn't have fresh batteries.  Or they hit a wrong key.  Or somethin'.  But this couldn't possibly be true...could it?  From Fox:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation.

A report by economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance -- adding 34 million Americans to the coverage rolls.

But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs, raising projected spending by about 1 percent over 10 years. That increase could get bigger, however, since the report also warned that Medicare cuts in the law may be unrealistic and unsustainable, forcing lawmakers to roll them back.

The mixed verdict for Obama's signature issue is the first comprehensive look by neutral experts.

In other words, we have to pay for it.  And you may be sure that the tab will be much higher than current estimates.  It always is.  These programs always expand.  And get this:

In particular, the warnings about Medicare could become a major political liability for Democratic lawmakers in the midterm elections. The report projected that Medicare cuts could drive about 15 percent of hospitals and other institutional providers into the red, "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.

COMMENT:  We want to see people receive proper care.  No one is against that.  But this incompetent, inflated legislation, as the last paragraph indicates, may in some cases actually reduce access. 

Oh wait.  I forgot something.  We'll be rescued by the Value Added Tax, the VAT.  Oh, you say you didn't hear anything about new taxes when the health bill was voted on?  Neither did I.  I guess we just weren't listening carefully enough.  I'm sure Barack, Harry and Nancy were honest with us.  Weren't they?

Let the outrage grow.

April 23, 2010     Permalink

SPACE INTRIGUE – AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  Let the speculation begin.  From London's Daily Mail:

A top secret space plane developed by the US military has blasted off from Cape Canaveral on its maiden voyage.

Billed as a small shuttle, the unmanned X-37B heralds the next generation of space exploration. It will be the first craft to carry out an autonomous re-entry in the history of the US programme.
But its mission - and its cost - remain shrouded in secrecy. The Air Force said the launch was a success but would give no further details.

However, experts have said the spacecraft was intended to speed up development of combat-support systems and weapons systems.

COMMENT:  I'm surprised the Obama crowd didn't get to cut this one.  There has been the usual whining from the usual suspects that this vehicle could contribute to the weaponization of space, as if our enemies aren't working on it. 

April 23, 2010    Permalink

CULTURE NEWS – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  I knew you'd want this first so you can order your tickets in advance.  From the New York Post:

Valerie Plame, who was outed as a CIA agent by officials in the George W. Bush White House in 2003, is heading to the Cannes Film Festival next month to hype "Fair Game," in which she's played by Naomi Watts.

Remember her?  From seven years ago?   I knew that public demand would result in a movie!

The movie, directed by Doug Liman of "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" fame, doesn't have a distributor yet and was screened for moneymen on Tuesday in Hollywood for "a packed house," Deadline Hollywood reports.

It doesn't have a distributor?  I wonder why.  I can just feel the audience stampeding to the ticket booths.

The producers are hoping to line up a distribution deal before it premieres May 20 in competition at Cannes, where the always anti-American audience is expected to give it an enthusiastic reception.

Those people know.  They are artistes.  Who needs "Gone With the Wind"?

Plame, who is as blond and beautiful as Watts, was touting the movie Wednesday night at the Museum of Modern Art screening of a scary documentary about nuclear proliferation, "Countdown to Zero."

She told one guest that Sean Penn, who plays her husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, in "Fair Game," impressed her when he "flew in on Southwest Airlines and spent three days following my husband, even wearing the same cologne."

That does it.  This movie must be seen!

COMMENT:  Excuse me while I get my seasickness pills.

April 23, 2010    Permalink

THURSDAY,  APRIL 22,  2010

FOOD PRICES UP – AT 7:43 P.M. ET:  Food and gasoline prices are among the costs that can have the greatest impact on politics.  Food prices are up sharply, and gasoline prices continue their upward march:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wholesale prices rose more than expected last month as food prices surged by the most in 26 years. But excluding food and energy, prices were nearly flat.

The Labor Department said the Producer Price Index rose by 0.7 percent in March, compared to analysts' forecasts of a 0.4 percent rise. A rise in gas prices also helped push up the index.

Still, there was little sign of budding inflation in the report. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, wholesale prices rose by 0.1 percent, matching analysts' expectations.

Food prices jumped by 2.4 percent in March, the most since January 1984. Vegetable prices soared by more than 49 percent, the most in 15 years. A cold snap wiped out much of Florida's tomato and other vegetable crops at the beginning of this year.

Gasoline prices rose 2.1 percent, the department said, the fifth rise in six months.

COMMENT:  People feel food and gasoline prices.  These are things bought every day.  They mean more to most people than the overall inflation index.  If food prices continue to rise at anything near March's rate, the president can add one more serious problem to his political list.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

OBAMA RESULTS MIXED IN NEW FOX POLL – AT 7:17 P.M. ET:  President Obama's approval rating has gone up slightly in a new Fox poll, but Americans are expressing some annoyance at his style:

Most American voters think it is time for the Obama administration to start taking responsibility for the way things are going in the country.

A Fox News poll released Thursday finds 66 percent of voters think President Obama should start taking responsibility. That’s more than three times as many as the 21 percent who think it’s right to continue to blame the Bush administration for the way things are going today.

Democrats are divided: 42 percent think Obama should step up, while 40 percent say he should continue to blame Bush.

President Obama’s job approval rating improved this week and now stands at 46 percent, up from a record low of 43 percent approval in early April. An equal number of voters disapprove of the job President Obama is doing (46 percent).

A year ago, 62 percent of Americans approved and 29 percent disapproved of the president’s job performance (22-23 April 2009).

By 46-37 percent, more voters think President Obama is keeping most of the promises he made during the campaign.

While most Democrats (73 percent) think the president is keeping most of his promises, about one in 10 think he is breaking his promises (12 percent). Slightly more independents think the president is breaking most of his promises (39 percent) than keeping most (36 percent).

COMMENT:  While some of the president's numbers have improved, he still ranks very low.  These are not reelection numbers.

At the same time, the GOP is not exactly glowing, and there isn't a presidential candidate in the GOP stable who looks like he or she could easy defeat Obama in 2012.

Obama has been a major disappointment in his first year, but can come fighting back, especially as the media will fight on his side.  Don't put any victories in the bank.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

GET THIS SOLVED – AT 7:01 P.M. ET:  Recently, at the Angel's Corner, I gave a list of the things that can frustrate a Republican victory this November.  One of the items was corruption.  And, as they say, "Houston, we have a problem."  From the Washington Times:

Barely 6 1/2 months before the midterm elections, an internal investigation by the Republican National Committee has revealed that the organization is beset with questionable financial management and oversight and is spending more money courting top-dollar donors than it raises.

The investigation found that the Republican Party's national governing body is losing money on its major-donors' fundraising program -- spending $1.09 for each $1.00 raised, according to RNC members privy to the investigation's findings. It typically costs about 40 cents for every dollar raised from donors who give more than $1,000.

The investigation also found that the RNC has allowed employees to forge Finance Director Rob Bickhart's initials on expense-reimbursement request approvals, according to an RNC member who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The RNC's top elected and appointed management have united in defense of the committee's practices. RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele can withhold or increase RNC contributions to a state party.

The Washington Times obtained a copy of a report on the investigation -- prepared by RNC Treasurer Randy Pullen -- that he sent to the 28-member RNC Executive Committee before a conference call hastily scheduled for Wednesday afternoon by Mr. Steele's office. It includes some of the findings.

COMMENT:  This has got to be nipped in the bud.  Corrections must be put in place immediately.  And maybe it's time for Michael Steele to resign.  He's performed erratically, and, while the party shows its true lack of bigotry by having an African-American leader, he must be subject to the same standards as any other chairman.  Too many problems under his leadership, too few solutions.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

ANOTHER PUBLIC PREFERENCE THAT OBAMA WILL IGNORE – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  A CNN poll tells us what kind of person the public thinks President Obama should name to the U.S. Supreme Court, replacing Justice Stevens.  From The Hill:

Most Americans would prefer to see President Barack Obama name a "moderate" or conservative justice to the Supreme Court, a new poll shows.

37 percent of adult Americans say they would like to see Obama nominate what they consider to be a "moderate" jurist to the high court, while 36 percent would like to see a somewhat or very conservative appointee.

That's 73% for a moderate or conservative. 

25 percent of adults would like to see a somewhat or very liberal justice replaced to fill the vacancy to be left by the retiring liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday.

But, of course, in the eyes of the Obamans, that 25% is the part of the population that thinks, and brushes properly.

The poll comes as the president has begun reaching out to candidates informally to succeed Stevens, who announced that he will retire at the end of the court's current term in June.

While the president is expected to nominate a left-leaning appointee to fill Stevens's spot, Republicans have still warned that they may filibuster any nominee if he or she falls outside what the GOP defines as "mainstream."

Yeah, but unless it's a real nut case, the filibuster will fade away. 

Americans' preference for a new justice roughly mirror their preferences a year ago, when Obama named now-Justice Sonia Sotomayor to fill the retiring Justice David Souter's seat.

Right.  He took the public's advice then, too.

COMMENT:  This president, like all presidents, wants to shape the Court in his image.  (Of course, he wants to shape the Universe in his image as well.)  He'll ignore the poll and go with his liberal-to-kooky base. 

Our objective is to keep the conservatives on the current Court healthy.  Send them home remedies.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

MORE ON RUBIO vs. OBAMA JUSTICE – AT 8:22 A.M. ET:  We reported yesterday that red-hot Marco Rubio, the sure winner of the Florida GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat, is suddenly under investigation.  The Politico has more details:

A widening federal criminal investigation into the state Republican Party’s credit card usage is unsettling the Florida GOP Senate primary, raising concerns about its potential effect on GOP front-runner Marco Rubio’s campaign and providing hope to Democrats who believe it could be the story line that stalls the surging conservative’s momentum.

The Internal Revenue Service is now exploring the tax records of Rubio, former state party Chairman Jim Greer and former GOP Executive Director Delmar Johnson to determine whether they improperly used party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a joint report Wednesday by the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times.

The inquiry, which stemmed from the indictment of former state House Speaker Ray Sansom, will in part focus on the more than $100,000 Rubio charged to a state party American Express card during the two years he was House speaker. In addition, the FBI is looking into whether Sansom and others made false statements on their tax returns.

The probe has cast a shadow over the GOP primary, in which Florida Gov. Charlie Crist must soon decide whether to remain a candidate or run as an independent. The governor has targeted Rubio’s credit card spending for months, arguing that it undercuts his fiscal conservative credentials. To date, however, the scrutiny hasn’t registered much of an impact, as Rubio has built a double-digit lead in polls and recently raked in a jaw-dropping quarterly fundraising haul.

COMMENT:  Do you have some suspicions about the timing here?  Just days ago we learned that the banking firm of Goldman Sachs had been indicted for fraud...right in the middle of Obama's campaign to pass financial-industry reform legislation.

Now we have a probe of Rubio, right in the middle of a U.S. Senate campaign.

Are these things coincidental?

And of course the Justice Department went to work immediately to be sure that the guy who tried to blow up an airliner over Detroit in December got the PC treatment, big time.

When the justice system becomes a handmaiden of the political system, we're in trouble.  And I get the sense that we're in big trouble, with things getting constantly worse.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

LET US NOT BE JUDGMENTAL – THERE ARE WORSE THINGS THAN DEATH – AT 7:52 A.M. ET:  The proprietors of the "South Park" franchise have offended the keepers of the religion of peace, with predictable results.  Why can't these Hollywood types understand the new order?  From Fox:

A radical Islamic website is warning the creators of "South Park" that they could face violent retribution for depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode broadcast on Comedy Central last week.

They've done the same thing with Jesus and Moses, but their fans have a bit more sense of humor.

RevolutionMuslim.com posted the warning following the 200th episode of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's "South Park," which included a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad disguised in a bear suit. The Web posting also included a graphic photo of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered in 2004 after making a documentary on violence against Muslim women.

"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show," the posting reads. "This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them."

Reaching by phone early Tuesday, Abu Talhah al Amrikee, the author of the post, said he wrote the entry to "raise awareness." He said the grisly photograph of van Gogh was meant to "explain the severity" of what Parker and Stone did by mocking Muhammad.

"It's not a threat, but it really is a likely outcome," al Amrikee said, referring to the possibility that Parker and Stone could be murdered for mocking Muhammad. "They're going to be basically on a list in the back of the minds of a large number of Muslims. It's just the reality."

Large number?  Gee, hasn't Obama told us that the radicals constitute a tiny number?  Someone has a math problem.  Little Sharp calculators are available.

Al Amrikee said the website is considering a protest against the "disgusting" show, which also depicted the Prophet Muhammad in an episode on July 4, 2001.

"This is not a small thing," he said. "We should do whatever we can to make sure it does not happen again."

COMMENT:  We await reaction from the ACLU, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, PEN, and other thoroughly unreliable defenders of free speech.

April 22, 2010     Permalink

JUSTICE DONE - AT 7:30 A.M ET:  This case has drawn major attention, and is now over:

BAGHDAD (AP) — A U.S. military jury cleared a Navy SEAL Thursday of failing to prevent the beating of an Iraqi prisoner suspected of masterminding a 2004 attack that killed four American security contractors.

The contractors' burned bodies were dragged through the streets and two were hanged from a bridge over the Euphrates river in the former insurgent hotbed of Fallujah, in what became a turning point in the Iraq war.

The trial of three SEALs, the Navy's elite special forces unit, in the abuse case has outraged many Americans who see it as coddling terrorists.

A six-man jury found Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas, 29, of Blue Island, Illinois, not guilty of charges of dereliction of duty and attempting to influence the testimony of another service member. The jury spent two hours deliberating the verdict.

"It's a big weight off my shoulders," a smiling and composed Huertas said as he left the courthouse at the U.S. military's Camp Victory on Baghdad's western outskirts.

COMMENT:  The treatment of these SEALs has been shabby, but this is what happens when the military tries multicultural sensitivity and carries it too far.  We're glad he's free.

April 22, 2010    Permalink