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MONDAY,  FEBRUARY 8,  2010

IRAN – GOING CRITICAL – AT 7:04 P.M. ET:  We've had a lot of distractions in recent days, including the president's political decline, the election of Scott Brown, and even the Super Bowl, but, in the meantime, the Iranian situation is becoming a full-blown crisis.  From AFP:

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

The country's top cleric was marking the occasion when Iran's air force gave its support to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a key event which led to the toppling of the US-backed shah on February 11, 1979.

His comments came as Iran said it would begin to produce higher enriched uranium from Tuesday, in defiance of Western powers trying to ensure the country's nuclear drive is peaceful.

This year's anniversary is expected to become a flashpoint between security forces and supporters of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who charge that the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was rigged.

COMMENT:  Secretary of Defense Gates, who is sane, is expressing increasing concern over the rapidly expanding Iranian nuclear program.  So are French and other European officials.

From the White House, silence.  Not even an expression of interest.

It would be appropriate for the president of the United States to warn Iran against using violence to repress freedom demonstrators this Thursday, the 11th, the key day in the "anniversary" celebrations.  I don't think it will happen.  I don't think Obama particularly cares. 

As to the punch we'll get, we'll have to see.  It may be a new plane or missile.

Iran is the single greatest foreign-policy challenge of this administration.  So far, Obama can claim no success.

February 8, 2010    Permalink

DISGRACE IN BRITAIN – AT 6:42 P.M. ET:  It's hard to believe that this is the Britain that fought alone, with Winston Churchill at its head.  From London's Daily Mail:

A Christian teacher yesterday claimed he was forced out of his job after complaining that Muslim pupils as young as eight hailed the September 11 hijackers as heroes.

Nicholas Kafouris, 52, is suing his former school for racial discrimination.

He told a tribunal that he had to leave his £30,000-a-year post because he would not tolerate the 'racist' and 'anti-Semitic' behaviour of Year 4 pupils.

The predominantly Muslim youngsters openly praised Islamic extremists in class and described the September 11 terrorists as 'heroes and martyrs'.

One pupil said: 'Don't touch me, you're a Christian' when he brushed against him.

Others said: 'We want to be Islamic bombers when we grow up', and 'The Christians and Jews are our enemies - you too because you're a Christian'.

Mr Kafouris, a Greek Cypriot, taught for 12 years at Bigland Green Primary School in Tower Hamlets, East London.

COMMENT:  I'm sorry to say it, but I'm afraid we're seeing some of this in American schools.  It begins in the left-wing colleges, then drifts down to the high schools, orchestrated by teachers who are graduates of those same left-wing colleges.  Although conservatives complain, they do little to stop it.  Conservatives are much too polite.

February 8, 2010   Permalink

STOCKS SLUMP – SIGN OF THE TIMES? – AT 6:35 P.M. ET:  One of the supposed bright spots in the economy in the age of Obama has been a healthy stock market.  Now even that seems to be in doubt:

The Dow Jones industrial average, one of the most watched metrics of the financial world, dipped below the 10,000 threshold on Monday, delivering a psychological setback as investors sought to overcome fears of a faltering global recovery.

At the close of trading on Monday, the Dow settled at 9,908.39, its lowest close in three months.

Lingering fears over a debt crisis in Europe helped trigger the Dow’s fall. As several countries across the Atlantic grapple with swelling deficits, investors spent Monday trying to gauge how seriously American banks would suffer if European governments could not pay back their debt.

Analysts said the Dow’s drop below 10,000 probably did not mean much for the future of the stock market, but they noted it had a deeper psychological effect for Wall Street.

COMMENT:  We should remember that there was a stock market rally between 1933 and 1937, but it had no effect on the real economy.  There is, though, as the story points out, a psychological effect.  It impacts not only Wall Street, but Main Street, because so many Americans have some connection to the stock market, often through retirement funds.

If the market starts to slump again, it can have a nasty effect on everything else, including employment.  We'll watch this.

February 8, 2010   Permalink

CLINTON ON TERROR – AT 10:15 A.M. ET:  There is considerable speculation that Hillary Clinton may leave the administration to take a different route to a possible presidential run in 2016, or even 2012, if Obama goes completely off the rails. 

She is talking tough on terror, which she should be.  Associating with this administration's softness may get her votes in the Iowa caucuses, but not beyond.  From The Washington Times:

Obama administration figures took to Sunday's political talk shows to rebut charges of White House weakness on Islamist terrorism, with the nation's top diplomat saying such networks pose the greatest threat to national security.

While one of the White House's top national security advisers criticized lawmakers for politicizing national security threats, including the Christmas Day attack over Detroit, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said even a nuclear-armed North Korea or Iran isn't as great a threat to the U.S. as al Qaeda and allied jihad groups.

"The biggest nightmare that any of us have is that one of these terrorist member organizations within this syndicate of terror will get their hands on a weapon of mass destruction," she said in a Sunday appearance on CNN. "So that's really the most threatening prospect we see."

COMMENT:  In that she's correct.  A nuclear weapon in the hands of a terror group is the most severe threat because no jihadist group would acquire a nuclear weapon for any purpose other than using it.  And we might not be able to trace the source.

With all the talk of ICBM's, the most probable means of delivery of a nuclear device to an American city is a small truck, if the weapon can be smuggled to this continent.  Another means would be to mount it on a crude missile fired from a rogue freighter 50 miles off our shore. 

It's more than unlikely that a terror group could develop a nuke on its own.  It would have to acquire one from a friendly regime, or subversive elements within some other regime.  The most likely suspects are Pakistan and Iran., which is why it's imperative that the Iranian nuclear program be stopped. 

I suspect we may see Ms. Clinton making her own foreign-policy statements independent of the White House, as long as she doesn't stray too far.  She knows a sinking ship when she sees it, and she'll secure her own lifeboat.

February 8, 2010   Permalink 

OUR POLITICAL HERITAGE – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Another Democrat heads for the hills:

CHICAGO (AP) - The Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor has dropped out of the race less than a week after winning the nomination amid a political uproar about his past.
Scott Lee Cohen announced his decision Sunday night at a Chicago bar.

The pawn broker and owner of a cleaning supplies company won the nomination Tuesday. Since then, it has become widely know that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend.

The girlfriend herself had been charged with prostitution. He also admits using steroids in the past.

COMMENT:  It's those steroids again.  So unfair.  Now everything the man has done, all the abuse complaints against him, will have an asterisk next to them because of steroids.

You know who caused his problems?  Bush.

No replacement has been named.  A number of inmates have applied.

February 8,  2010   Permalink

HUH? – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  This, apparently, is the gang that can neither shoot nor talk straight, or even think straight.  From The Hill:

President Barack Obama on Sunday said that he has not yet ruled out the possibility of holding a trial for Guantanamo Bay terror suspects, but appeared bearish on the possibility of actually holding them.

In an exclusive interview with CBS News that aired before the Super Bowl, the president said that his administration must take into account the growing opposition to the trials among lawmakers and public officials in New York as well as the public.

"I have not ruled it out but I think it's important to take into account the practical, important issues at hand," Obama said of the trials.

COMMENT:  What, precisely, is the purpose of a statement like that?  The arrogance just overwhelms.  Why not just "rule it out," Mr. President?  Kill it.  It's a failed plan.  Nobody wants it except the prissy types from your Ivy League Justice Department, and the left wing of your party.  The mayor of New York City has spoken.  So has the governor.  So have the two senators. 

There's a time for even this president to understand that he answers to the people.  Apparently, that e-mail hasn't arrived.  Shall we all send?

February 8, 2010   Permalink

JOBS PROGRAM – AT 8:28 A.M. ET:  Who says the government doesn't know how to defeat unemployment?  From The Washington Times:

While Washington legislators debate what role the government should play in job creation this year, the government itself is poised to go on a major hiring spree this spring.

That is because of the granddaddy of all government programs — the census, a house-by-house head count of the population conducted every 10 years since 1790. The Census Bureau is starting to hire 1.4 million people to man offices and go door to door collecting information about everything from household income to health status.

The beginning of the Census Bureau's massive but temporary hiring binge was evident in the Labor Department's report released Friday that showed federal employment expanded by 33,000 in January, including the addition of 9,000 census workers. But economists say that trickle of jobs will turn into a gusher in the months ahead.

COMMENT:  Now, here is the question:  When this happens, will it be reported honestly, as a temporary government program?  Or, will the spin machine claim that the economy is growing, and unemployment is being defeated?  Would you trust MSNBC on this?

We'll monitor and tell you.

February 8, 2010   Permalink

BULLETIN – BREATHLESS REPORT – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  A major breakthrough in government.  Read all about it, from The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats and Republicans try to break their political impasse.

Or, as the philosopher Irving Berlin once wrote, "There's no business like show business."

Mr. Obama made the announcement in an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show, capitalizing on a vast television audience.

This is about life and death matters.  What more important time to announce it than during the Super Bowl pre-game show.  That's what the pre-game is for.

He set out a plan that would put Republicans on the spot to offer their own ideas on health care and show whether both sides are willing to work together.

Oh come on.  They've been offering ideas for months, and have been ignored.   The Times is in high bias this morning.

Mr. Obama challenged Republicans to attend the meeting with their plans for lowering the cost of health insurance and expanding coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans. Republican leaders said they welcomed the opportunity and called on Democrats to start the debate from scratch, which the president said he would not do.

That is hilarious.  Freely translated, all the ridiculous notions that Dems have come up with this last year will still be there.  Just what the public is demanding.

COMMENT:  Look, this is the definition of a publicity stunt.  And half a day?  That's what health care gets?  Let the record show that the president probably devoted more time to the Super Bowl.

Joke.

February 8,  2010   Permalink

SUNDAY,  FEBRUARY 7,  2010

BULLETIN – AT 10:01 P.M. ET:  The New Orleans Saints have won the Super Bowl, 31-17.  The White House is reassuring all Muslim nations that a victory by saints does not imply disrespect for Islam.

February 7, 2010   Permalink

BRIT ATTITUDES ON GLOBAL WARMING START TO CHANGE – AT 5:11 P.M. ET:  From the notoriously leftist BBC.  The scandals are having their effect:

The number of British people who are sceptical about climate change is rising, a poll for BBC News suggests.

The Populus poll of 1,001 adults found 25% did not think global warming was happening, an increase of 10% since a similar poll was conducted in November.

The percentage of respondents who said climate change was a reality had fallen from 83% in November to 75% this month.

And only 26% of those asked believed climate change was happening and "now established as largely man-made."

COMMENT:  The number of believers is still higher in the UK than in the US, where many people caught on to the "science" of global warming much earlier.  But at least Britain is moving.

February 7, 2010   Permalink

ARRESTS IN HAITI – AT 4:41 P.M. ET:  I saw something disturbing last night.  P.J. Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs, was interviewed by Geraldo Rivera.

Rivera asked Crowley about the American missionaries arrested in Haiti recently, and now charged with trying to smuggle Haitian orphans out of the country illegally after the earthquake.  The missionaries claimed they were just trying to give the kids a new home.

I don't have any direct knowledge of the facts.  The missionaries may have knowingly broken the law.  Or, more likely, they could have been naive about procedures for adopting orphans from Haiti.  But they are American citizens under arrest in a chaotic, corruption-strewn country where law and order have largely broken down.  They deserve some expression of concern by their own government.

They didn't get it.  Crowley's cold remarks – even Rivera seemed taken aback – simply reiterated the State Department's position, that this is a matter for the Haitian judicial system.  Not a single word of compassion, no description of what State might be doing to insure that these Americans are given the full rights, and defense, to which they're entitled.

Rivera made the point that thousands of dangerous Haitians escaped from the country's jails in the aftermath of the earthquake – murderers, rapists, drug dealers – and yet the Haitian "government" seems far more determined to pursue these American missionaries.  Crowley had virtually no reaction, and this after the United States poured in aid and troops to keep people alive. 

Rivera revealed that Haiti is now asking $20,000 for every child adopted from the country, and wondered out loud where all that money would go.  Crowley mumbled something about America being committed to honest accounting, or something like that. 

It was a disgrace.  Once again we find that this administration cannot bring itself to defend Americans. 

Geraldo conceded at the end that Crowley had to speak carefully.  True, but he could have come off as an American official, not an international civil servant.  The State Department is ours, isn't it?

February 7, 2010   Permalink

SEX AND THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY – AT 4:18 P.M. ET:  What is it about the Democrats and hormones?

There was Bill Clinton and his Monica.  There was John Edwards and his, whatever her name is.  There was Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer and his paid-for harem.  And we have the newly nominated Dem lieutenant governor candidate in Illinois and his former girl friend/hooker, who claims he held a knife to her throat.

And now, newly unveiled, with skillful backing, is the latest candidate for governor of New York, Kristin Davis:

The race for governor just got a whole lot sexier.

"Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis is tossing her lacy brassiere into the political ring - with the help of one of the GOP's most fearsome strategists.

Though he's often labeled a "trickster," former Nixon, Reagan and Bushes operative Roger Stone tells us he's dead serious about getting Davis on the ballot.

"This is not a hoax, a prank or a publicity stunt," said Stone, who has been quietly huddling with Davis for months. "I want to get her a half-million votes."

Davis has spoken in the past about running against former Gov. (and alleged former client) Eliot Spitzer - to draw attention to the fact that she served nearly four months on Rikers Island while Client 9 escaped indictment.

Client 9 was Spitzer, while he was governor.

Kristin Davis won't be elected.  On the other hand, she may end up as the most honest candidate running.  A woman with nothing to hide.

February 7,  2010   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  From Jennifer Rubin at Contentions:

The chattering class was entranced with candidate Barack Obama. So literate. So polished. So cool. We were assured that his lack of executive experience was irrelevant. After all, he ran a campaign. And then there were his years as a community organizer and Harvard Law Review editor, which showed… well… it showed something about his magnificent intellectual skills. But it turns out he lacks some key abilities — executive leadership, decisiveness, deal-making prowess, flexibility, and basic people skills — that are essential to a successful presidency.

This is not simply the conclusion of conservatives. The entire country witnessed his agonizing decision-making process on the Afghanistan war strategy. Now on health-care reform, his own party is frustrated and dismayed with the non-governing president.

His floundering is not surprising, considering that Obama never ran a state, a city, or a business, and during his brief time in the U.S. Senate, he was never front-and-center in any significant legislative undertaking. Yes, he’s touted as an author, and he won the presidency (beating two flawed candidates who ran awful campaigns). But it turns out that all this was insufficient preparation to be chief executive and commander in chief.

In 2012, Republicans will look for a standard-bearer to retake the White House. And while a grounding in conservative principles will be essential to winning the nomination, Republican voters might do well to consider what experience and what talents are essential for a successful presidency. They might look for candidates who have done something – other than graduating from Ivy League schools, writing memoirs, and giving frothy speeches. By 2012, the country might be ready for someone who knows how to get something done.

COMMENT:  Well said.  I will add that the role of the media in Obama's election remains the second-greatest journalistic scandal of a generation.  (The first was the misreporting of the Tet offensive in Vietnam, which misled the nation at a critical moment in history.)  The American people are turning away from the traditional media.  That turn will be even sharper if Mr. Obama continues to flop.

February 7, 2010   Permalink

THE BOTTOM LINE – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  Is there really any doubt left as to what Iran is up to?   From The New York Times:

CAIRO — Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, ordered the nation’s atomic energy agency on Sunday to begin producing a special form of uranium that can be used to power a medical reactor in Tehran, but that could also move the country much closer to possessing fuel usable in nuclear weapons.

The announcement Sunday came after several days of conflicting signals from Mr. Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials about whether they were ready to reopen negotiations about giving up much of their country’s fuel in exchange for enriched uranium from another country. The exchange would allow Iran to meet some of its energy needs, but would ease fears in the West because the fuel sent to Tehran would be in a form that would be very difficult to use in a bomb.

There are legitimate questions as to whether Iran could actually do, technically, what its president has now ordered, but we have no reason to be relaxed about it.  They've surprised us before.

Mr. Ahmadinejad is betting that the threat itself may force the United States, Europe and Russia to provide fuel on his terms; American officials have said the move would only speed the effort to impose sanctions. It may also affect Israel’s calculation about how far it is willing to allow Iran to get to a weapons capability before launching an attack on Iran’s nuclear or missile facilities.

COMMENT:  What is clear is that President Obama's "outreach" to Iran has been a complete failure.  The question is now whether Mr. Obama's tarnished tongue can convince other major nations to join in crippling sanctions.  The odds are against it.  So, Mr. Obama may have to start thinking about the unthinkable – a military strike, or series of strikes, to stall the Iranian program.  Very risky, very uncertain.  But there may be no other way.

Douglas MacArthur once said that all military failures begin with two words:  "Too late."  We're seeing that with Iran.  We have waited, and waited, and waited.

February 7, 2010   Permalink

NEW ORLEANS PLAYS, AND VOTES – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  Lost in all the Super Bowl glitter – it's the New Orleans Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts – is the fact that New Orleans elected a new mayor yesterday, replacing the unspeakable Ray Nagin, whose performance during Hurricane Katrina remains a legend.  (Yes, I am laughing and choking at the same time.)

Nagin, whose greatest pronouncement was that New Orleans would remain a "chocolate city," completely fell apart during the hurricane.  He could be found in a luxury hotel.  But the PC army in the nation's media covered for him, as it did for the equally unspeakable governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco.  All the blame for problems was placed on BUSH (!!).  Keith Olbermann, the unstable commentator at MSNBC, did manage to spread the blame a bit, also pointing the finger at Secretary of State Condi Rice.  As we all know, secretaries of state are responsible for hurricanes. 

But now a new era begins, with a family name familiar to Louisiana politics:

NEW ORLEANS - Frustrated by term-limited Mayor Ray Nagin’s leadership of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, voters elected Louisiana Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu to succeed him Saturday, turning to a political scion to speed up the city’s recovery.

Landrieu, 49, became the majority-black city’s first white mayor since 1979, the year his father Moon left the office. The mayor-elect, a moderate Democrat, won in a landslide over a field of 10 opponents in a campaign that concluded as Carnival celebrations and preparations for the New Orleans Saints’ appearance in the Super Bowl took place.

Landrieu’s victory party was a nod to both: the ballroom of a the Roosevelt hotel — recently reopened after a post-Katrina restoration — was festooned with Saints-themed black and gold balloons. A roving brass band played Mardi Gras tunes and he prefaced his victory speech by leading the crowd in the Saints’ "Who Dat" cheer.

COMMENT:  Mitch's sister is Senator Mary Landrieu, architect of the "Louisiana Purchase," which grabbed $300-million for the state in exchange for her vote on health-care reform.  Since "reform" hasn't passed, the money may stay in Washington anyway.

So a new era begins in The Big Easy.  But if there's another hurricane, they'll still blame Bush.

February 7, 2010   Permalink

THE CONTINUING COLLAPSE – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen's daily tracker continues to record the remarkable collapse of the president's poll numbers, following a brief bounce after the State of the Union message.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 26% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove which gives Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17.

And...

Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That matches the lowest level of overall approval yet measured for this president. Fifty-six percent (56%) now disapprove.

COMMENT:  The president followed the State of the Union message with a series of campaign-style appearances around the country.  We can only speculate as to why his bounce un-bounced so quickly, but maybe the American people are tired of the endless campaign, and would prefer some governing.

Also, Eric Holder's continued, and rather pompous, defense of his anti-terrorism policies at the Justice Department cannot be helping Mr. Obama, except in that vast voting block known as the ACLU.

February 7,  2010   Permalink