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SATURDAY,  FEBRUARY 13,  2010

OH DEAR, OH DEAR, CALM DOWN – AT 6:08 P.M. ET:  There is already a Scott Brown for president movement:

He's only been a U.S. senator for a week but the drumbeat already has begun for Scott Brown to run for president in 2012, Fox News reported today.

After the Massachusetts Republican captured the seat previously held by Ted Kennedy in an upset election last month, ending the Democrats supermajority in the Senate, Brown's supporters have launched a Facebook page devoted to discussing a potential presidential bid.

They've also scooped up several "Scott Brown for President" domain names, including scottbrown2012.com, scottbrown2016.com and scottbrownforpresident.com -- a Web site that offers "Scott Brown for President" bumper stickers.

A new Gallup poll ranks Brown fourth among 11 potential GOP presidential contenders who voters would like to see as the nominee.

"He is the fresh face, and he's new," Republican strategist and pollster Kellyanne Conway told Fox News. "The whole idea that you don't have enough experience, I think that went out the window with the age of the Obama presidency."

COMMENT:  I wish they wouldn't do this.  They will only damage Brown by calling too much attention to him and making others envious.  He'll become an immediate target, even within the Republican Party.  Competition and envy have predictable effects.

The man just arrived.  We don't even know how he'll perform in the Senate.  Saying that Brown, if he runs in 2012, will have about the same level of experience that Obama had when he ran for president is no great compliment. 

Back off.  This does no good.

February 13, 2010   Permalink

TRAGIC, AND REMARKABLE – AT 5:18 P.M. ET:  This is one of the most fascinating, and most tragic, stories we've seen recently.  And it underscores an important public-policy issue.

Most readers probably know by now of yesterday's shooting at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus.  A faculty member is accused of shooting three professors dead, and wounding three others, allegedly in a dispute over tenure.  But there is a history, as Fox reports:

A University of Alabama professor accused of fatally shooting three colleagues at a faculty meeting this week shot her younger brother dead at their home in the Boston suburbs more than 20 years ago, but records of it are missing, police said Saturday.

Amy Bishop shot her brother in the chest in 1986, Braintree police Chief Paul Frazier said at a news conference. She fired at least three shots, hitting her brother once and hitting her bedroom wall, before police took her into custody at gunpoint, he said.

Before Bishop could be booked, the police chief back then told officers to release her to her mother, Frazier said.

The shooting of the brother, Seth Bishop, was logged as an accident, but detailed records of the shooting have disappeared, he said.

"The report's gone, removed from the files," he said.

He said people who worked for the police department then remember the shooting and he planned to meet with the district attorney over the possibility of launching a criminal investigation into the report's disappearance.

COMMENT:  The keeping of public records, and access to them, are major public-policy issues.  Many Americans don't realize what "missing" records can cover up, and how easy it is for corrupt officials – not that I'm implying that in this case – to make files vanish.

Also, records that can involve life-and-death issues are often barred from public view because of pressure by commercial interests, professional societies and the education establishment.  There have been many documented reports of physicians who get in trouble in one state simply going to another and setting up a practice because files are sealed.  The same with lawyers.  The same with teachers who've had to be removed from classrooms.  The same with violent offenders whose records are sealed because of age, although these criminals are still dangerous.

We'll follow this story because of its tragic implications.  A woman who allegedly killed her own brother by a direct gunshot to the chest more than 20 years ago was released, and all records are missing.  Now she allegedly murders three people by gunshot.  The college where she was employed had no way of knowing of the earlier incident.  We assume there will be a full investigation.

February 13, 2010   Permalink

APPLAUSE FOR THE TIMES – AT 4:37 P.M. ET:  The liberal New York Times is to be commended for a hard-hitting piece on the fundraising activities of the Congressional Black Caucus.

For years the CBC, which claims to represent African-Americans, has been an "untouchable" on the political left.  Eric Hoffer, the legendary longshoreman-turned-philosopher, once remarked that all movements eventually become businesses, and then rackets.  We may well be seeing that here, as The Times reports:

WASHINGTON — When the Congressional Black Caucus wanted to pay off the mortgage on its foundation’s stately 1930s redbrick headquarters on Embassy Row, it turned to a familiar roster of friends: corporate backers like Wal-Mart, AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Altria, the nation’s largest tobacco company...

...Most political groups in Washington would have been barred by law from accepting that kind of direct aid from corporations. But by taking advantage of political finance laws, the caucus has built a fund-raising juggernaut unlike anything else in town.

And...

The caucus says its nonprofit groups are intended to help disadvantaged African-Americans by providing scholarships and internships to students, researching policy and holding seminars on topics like healthy living.

But the bulk of the money has been spent on elaborate conventions that have become a high point of the Washington social season, as well as the headquarters building, golf outings by members of Congress and an annual visit to a Mississippi casino resort.

The sad fact is that many African Americans, and their sincere allies, have been duped into believing that the CBC actually helps the disadvantaged.  Get this:

In 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation spent more on the caterer for its signature legislative dinner and conference — nearly $700,000 for an event one organizer called “Hollywood on the Potomac” — than it gave out in scholarships, federal tax records show.

There has always been, in my view, a tendency within the black community to be too trusting of leaders.  It may come from the black church tradition.  But the result in politics is pretty predictable, and we're seeing that result laid out in this story.

There have been credible charges that the fundraising has brought the CBC too close to companies whose products may actually be harmful to the black community.  And the response:

Caucus leaders said the giving had not influenced them.

“We’re unbossed and unbought,” said Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the caucus. “Historically, we’ve been known as the conscience of the Congress, and we’re the ones bringing up issues that often go unnoticed or just aren’t on the table.”

Barbara Lee is the most left-leaning member of Congress, an ally of Fidel Castro, and the only member of Congress to vote against military action after the 9-11 attacks. 

Conscience of the Congress indeed.

This is great reporting, and brave for The Times.  Give credit where it's due.  Why don't I think the Pulitzer committee will notice?

February 13, 2010   Permalink

CLIMATEGATE – THE CONTINUING SCANDAL – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  The British press is leading us on this one, although some American newspapers have started coming out of their hibernation to acknowledge that maybe there's a story here.

The story is the continued stonewalling by the global-warming establishment in the face of scandal after scandal.  From London's Telegraph:

If there’s one thing that stinks even more than Climategate, it’s the attempts we’re seeing everywhere from the IPCC and Penn State University to the BBC to pretend that nothing seriously bad has happened, that “the science” is still “settled," and that it’s perfectly OK for the authorities go on throwing loads more of our money at a problem that doesn’t exist.

There is now an official inquiry in Britain into serious concerns about the Climatic Research Unit, one of the world's leading research centers in "global warming."

The latest example of this noisome phenomenon is Sir Muir Russell’s official whitewash – sorry “independent inquiry” into the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) scandal.

The inquiry has not even begun and already it has told its first blatant lie – seen here on its official website.

"Do any of the Review team members have a predetermined view on climate change and climate science?

"No. Members of the research team come from a variety of scientific backgrounds. They were selected on the basis they have no prejudicial interest in climate change and climate science and for the contribution they can make to the issues the Review is looking at."

The story goes on to point out that several appointees to the "investigative" panel have long, detailed histories as advocates for the conventional global-warming theories, despite the clear denial on the investigation's website.  One has now resigned from the panel in embarrassment.  But the handling of the "investigation" echoes, as we reported yesterday, our Penn State's whitewash of its leading star in warming research, leading some students actually to hold a rally to force a clean, neutral investigation.  They won't get it.  There's too much money involved in this kind of research for Penn State to risk it.

And the Obama White House shows no sign that it has any doubts about the "settled science" of global warming.  The scandal continues.  We are dealing with a religion.

February 13,  2010   Permalink

THINK OF AFGHANISTAN – AT 10:42 A.M. ET:  The largest operation in the history of the Afghanistan war is underway.  It will test the leadership of our new commander in the area, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.  From Fox:

Roughly 15,000 American, Afghan and NATO forces began an assault late Friday on the Taliban in the central Helmand town of Marjah in what senior military commanders are calling the largest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war.

Punching their way through a line of insurgent defenses that included mines and homemade bombs, ground forces crossed a major canal Saturday into the town's northern entrance.

Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, NATO commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan and coalition troops, aided by 60 helicopters, made a "successful insertion" into Marjah without incurring any casualties.

"The operation went without a single hitch," Carter said at a briefing in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

Carter said the strike force quickly gained ground as it moved into Marjah and overran disorganized insurgents. "We've caught the insurgents on the hoof, and they're completely dislocated," he said.

Unfortunately, the article doesn't identify the nationalities of the NATO troops.  We understand from other stories that they are British, Canadian and French.  I'm glad to see the French there.  The Brits and Canadians are always with us.  Some of the other NATO "allies" have troops in Afghanistan as baby minders and doorknob polishers.

One key element here is the support our forces will get from President Obama, and, especially, the left wing of his party in Congress.  It's no secret that the Democratic left is opposed to the surge in Afghanistan – well, actually it's against any war America has a chance of winning – and there have been rumblings about attempts to cut off funding.  Your move, Mr. President.

February 13, 2010   Permalink

OBAMA SLIDING AGAIN IN RASMUSSEN POLL – AT 10:27 A.M. ET:  The president makes periodic gains in the leading polls, only to slide back again to depressing numbers.  This is a depressing numbers day:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-one percent (41%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -17.

The 24% "strongly approve" number matches the lowest that Rasmussen has recorded for this president.

Overall, 45% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

I don't see where the White House is doing much to reverse these numbers.  Unless the economy shows dramatic improvement, we may well be looking at a one-term president. 

February 13, 2010   Permalink

WORMY – AT 9:55 A.M. ET:  The way to watch the Olympics is to concentrate on the athletes and forget the International Olympic Committee. 

The blunt fact is that the Olympic "movement" rides on a thin layer of sleaze.  It was in evidence yesterday after the horrible death of a luge participant from the nation of Georgia.  He was killed when thrown off the course in a high-speed training accident, and hurled into a steel pillar outside the track.

There had been a number of complaints, by athletes, about the danger of that track, one athlete saying that he feared being turned into a crash dummy. 

Olympic officials "investigated" the accident.  Their conclusion?  It wasn't the track that was to blame.  It was the dead athlete.  You can't make this up:

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Fast and frightening, yes. Responsible for the death of a luger, no.

Olympic officials decided late Friday night against any major changes in the track or any delays in competition and even doubled up on the schedule in the wake of the horrifying accident that claimed the life of a 21-year-old luger from the republic of Georgia.

They said they would raise the wall where the slider flew off the track and make an unspecified "change in the ice profile" — but only as a preventative measure "to avoid that such an extremely exceptional accident could occur again."

If the track wasn't responsible, why make the changes?  The hypocrisy flows.

Within sight of the finish line, Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed coming out of the 16th turn and slammed into an unpadded steel pole while traveling nearly 90 mph. Despite frantic attempts by paramedics to save his life, he died at a trauma center.

Concerns about the lightning-fast course had been raised for months. There were worries that the $100 million-plus venue was too technically difficult, and a lack of significant practice time by everyone but the host nation's sliders would result in a rash of accidents.

Let the record show that the concerns were ignored.

But the International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said their investigation showed that the crash was the result of human error and that "there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track."

Blame the dead guy.  Invite him to testify. 

This doesn't surprise me at all.  The Olympic "movement" never cared much about the athletes, but only about itself, the cash, and the politics.  It is a movement with an uncomfortable history of dancing with fascism, and of shady judging practices. 

I won't write a long essay about this now – maybe in the future – but cheer the athletes and ignore the sponsorship.  We have some terrific kids in these games, and the U.S. Olympic Committee is far better than it used to be.  But it's for the kids.

February 13,  2010   Permalink

FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY 12,  2010

LATVIA STEPS UP – AT 10:44 P.M. ET:  Our friend and contributor Renee Nielsen, who sent us those superb reports from Mumbai last year in the midst of the terrorist attacks – is now headquartered with her husband and kids in Latvia. 

She notes that Latvia is now a NATO member and is doing its part to assist us in Afghanistan.  Some "realists" in the American foreign-policy establishment – you've seen how "realistic" they actually are – had opposed including Latvia and other Baltic and East European nations in NATO because of Russian uneasiness.  They were wrong, and the Latvian case shows it:

Latvia is ready to ensure a transit route to Afghanistan for non-military NATO cargo, according to today's positive decision by the government to sign agreements with two international companies which will assist Latvia in ensuring the transit routes.

Defense Ministry State Secretary Janis Sarts told members of the press that the first cargo shipments to Afghanistan via Latvia will be shipped in the near future, however, he did not mention the NATO members who are intending to ship their cargo through Latvia, informs LETA.

Sarts mentioned Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands as possible countries, and said that others might send their cargo through Latvia as well.

Maersk Latvia and DSV Air&Sea were selected by the Latvian government to assist in the shipment of cargo to Afghanistan.

At the moment, Latvia ensures United States non-military cargo to Afghanistan.

The route from Latvia down to Afghanistan is a very valuable one for the West, as it avoids the security problems inherent in routes coming from the other direction, and passing through the Muslim world.

Whether foresight or just good policy, the expansion of NATO is working for us.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

WITH HELP LIKE THIS – AT 8:49 P.M. ET:  It seems that the decision on where to try the biggest terror suspects in U.S. custody will be helped by that master of governing, that ear-to-the-ground world-class executive...Barack Obama.  From the Washington Post:

President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash.

Now, of course, with Obama involved, it will be well handled.  You may laugh.

Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department.

Oh come on.  This Justice Department is as politicized as any of them.

But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder's decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.

So the very White House that couldn't anticipate what any child could, that New Yorkers would be upset by a terror trial in a crowded neighborhood, will now lend its expertise to improving the situation.  Smart move.

Administration officials acknowledge that Holder and Obama advisers were unable to build political support for the trial.

It probably took a White House team weeks of study to figure that out.

And Holder, in an interview Thursday, left open the possibility that Mohammed's trial could be switched to a military commission, although he said that is not his personal and legal preference.

"At the end of the day, wherever this case is tried, in whatever forum, what we have to ensure is that it's done as transparently as possible and with adherence to all the rules," Holder said. "If we do that, I'm not sure the location or even the forum is as important as what the world sees in that proceeding."

Administration officials said the president's involvement has to do with securing congressional funding for the costly trial before bipartisan efforts to strip financing for the case against Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators gain greater momentum. They said it was a matter of national security, not just politics.

Uh, right.

COMMENT:  Apparently, according to news reports, the Obamans are having trouble finding a city to take the trial.

Hey, what about Chicago?  This could be a substitute for the Olympics.  A new courthouse could be built.  Housing for the lawyers.  Endorsement deals for the defendants.  And, of course, since it's Chicago, they could arrange the verdicts in advance.  What could be more perfect?

Pass it on.

February 12, 2010    Permalink

THEY ARE FIGHTING AMONG THEMSELVES – DON'T GET IN THE WAY – AT 7:42 P.M. ET:  It appears that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in bit of friction with President Obama.  From The Politico:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s increasingly public disagreements with President Barack Obama are a reflection of something deeper: the seething resentment some Democrats feel over what they see as cavalier treatment from a wounded White House.

For months, the California lawmaker has been pushing Obama hard in private while praising him in public. But now she’s being more open in her criticism, in part because she feels the White House was wrong — in the wake of the Democrats’ loss in Massachusetts — to push the Senate health care bill on the House when she knew there was no way it would pass.

Earlier this month, Pelosi criticized the president’s State of the Union call to exempt defense spending from a budget freeze. And in a White House meeting with leaders of both parties this week, she questioned the effectiveness of his plan to give small businesses tax breaks to hire workers.

“What you’re seeing now in public has been building in private,” said a top House Democratic official. “House members did their work — they did everything the president asked of them. And it gets stuck in the Senate. Or the Senate screws it up.”

COMMENT:  When you elect an amateur as president, this is what happens.  The same thing happened with Carter, who treated Congress in a cavalier, I-am-better-than-you manner. 

We've asked before whether Obama will turn out to be a Kennedy or a Carter.  Kennedy tried to learn from his mistakes, and his second year in office was far more successful than his first.  Carter never believed he made any mistakes.

I'm afraid Carter is getting the nod.  There don't seem to be any substantive changes in the way this White House does business.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

ELECTING NOBODY – AT 7:26 P.M. ET:  There's an old saying in politics that you can't beat somebody with nobody.  That saying may have to be revised.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama leads a generic Republican candidate by only 2 percentage points in a potential 2012 matchup, according to a new Gallup Poll out Thursday that also shows a continued drift of independents away from Democrats.

Obama leads 44 percent to 42 percent, a statistical dead heat, against a nameless Republican, according to the survey of 1,025 adults nationwide.

Not surprisingly, the poll shows that Democrats strongly believe the president should be reelected, while Republicans would like to see one of their own in the White House.

But among independent voters, 45 percent would back a Republican and only 31 percent would favor the president. Twenty-four percent of independents are not sure if they would vote for Obama or a Republican candidate.

COMMENT:  You know, when you're only leading "nobody" by two points, you're in trouble.  Maybe the GOP should just run "none of the above" in 2012, and give "none" the biggest buildup in political history. 

The poll was taken among registered voters, which is respectable.  However, polls among likely voters generally produce an even better result for Republicans.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

WONDERFUL QUOTE – AT 5:23 P.M. ET:  Reader Don Hodun refers us to this quote from David McCullough's biography of Harry S. Truman.  It's from the section in which McCullough describes Truman staff members' view of their boss:

And all of them, it seems, admired his  sense of history, which they saw as one of his greatest strengths.  "If a man is acquainted with what other people have experienced at this desk," Truman would say sitting in the Oval Office, "it will be easier for him to go through a similar experience.  It is ignorance that causes most mistakes.  The man who sits here ought to know his American history, at least."  When Truman talked of presidents past - Jackson, Polk, Lincoln - it was as if he had known them personally.  If ever there was a "clean break from all that had gone before" he would say, the result would be chaos.

Mr. Hodun writes, "I cannot help but think our current president's apparent disregard for history and precedent makes ol' Harry rather prescient." 

COMMENT:  I agree with Mr. Hodun.  Obama was sold to us as a highly educated man.  Well, he may be highly lettered, but educated he is not.  He actually seems rather shallow and uninformed.  And he knows nothing of real history. 

Harry Truman was hounded from office, and is now seen as a great or near-great president.  I think George W. Bush's standing will improve dramatically in years to come. 

Obama?  You decide.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

THE END OF OUR ERA – AT 4:47 P.M. ET:  From AP:

SALT LAKE CITY – Walter Fredrick Morrison, the man credited with inventing the Frisbee, has died. He was 90.

Utah House Rep. Kay McIff, an attorney who represented Morrison in a royalties case, says Morrison died at his home in Monroe, Utah, on Tuesday. McIff is from Richfield, Morrison's original hometown.

COMMENT:  He will be buried with full honors, including a Frisbee flyover. 

President Obama issued a statement praising Morrison, but apologizing to foreign countries for any citizens hit in the head by flying Frisbees.  "We inherited that problem," he said.

Al Gore praised Morrison for inventing something that "blocks the sun's rays and therefore helps fight global warming."  Gore then took his pills.

February 12,  2010   Permalink

BLESS THE STUDENTS – AT 9:47 A.M. ET:  Reader Sam Indorante alerts us to a terrific story from Pennsylvania State University, showing that there's hope for the younger generation.  From campusreform.org:

Students, residents and community leaders will join together on Friday, February 12, to demand a fair and independent investigation of Michael Mann and Climategate. The University has a conflict of interest, and should not conduct an internal investigation without external oversight. The Rally for Academic Integrity will take place in front of the Hetzel Union Building (HUB) on Penn State’s University Park Campus (Pollock Road entrance) at 12:00. This Rally for Academic Integrity is jointly sponsored by PSU Young Americans for Freedom and The 9-12 Project of Central PA.

Mann is a key "climate" scientist.  He brings a fortune in grants to Penn State. 

Penn State's internal inquiry into Michael Mann's alleged scientific misconduct concluded with the virtual exoneration of his behavior, and ignored key evidence in the Climategate scandal. As feared, this inquiry was little more than a whitewash—an assault on academic integrity.

First, the university's internal review consisted of three Penn State employees who have strong incentives to protect the school's reputation and the millions of dollars it receives from global warming research grants. There was no external oversight.

Second, the review consisted of looking at a mere 47 emails (out of thousands in question), interviewing Mann, analyzing materials he submitted, and asking only two biased sources about his credibility. Penn State hardly conducted a "thorough investigation" of alleged wrongdoing by Mann.

COMMENT:  The students strike back.  Let's see if any faculty members have the courage to show up.  Then let's see if the president of the United States has the guts to call for an independent inquiry into the "science" of global warming. 

It's encouraging that students will take this initiative.  Of course, they're conservative students, so expect the usual name-calling.  But this is the first step in that thousand-mile journey. Universities will not reform themselves.  Alumni are reluctant to point out problems at alma mater, thus tarnishing the value of their degrees.  But students are naturally rebellious.  Now, maybe, that trait can be used to good purpose.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

MAJOR DEFENSE ADVANCE – AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  From Reuters:

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a ballistic missile in the first successful test of a futuristic directed energy weapon, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Friday.

The agency said in a statement the test took place at 8:44 p.m. PST (11:44 p.m. EST) on Thursday /0444 GMT on Friday) at Point Mugu's Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division Sea Range off Ventura in central California.

"The Missile Defense Agency demonstrated the potential use of directed energy to defend against ballistic missiles when the Airborne Laser Testbed (ALTB) successfully destroyed a boosting ballistic missile" the agency said.

The high-powered Airborne Laser system is being developed by Boeing Co., (BA.N) the prime contractor, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Boeing produces the airframe, a modified 747 jumbo jet, while Northrop Grumman (NOC.N) supplies the higher-energy laser and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) is developing the beam and fire control systems.

And...

"The revolutionary use of directed energy is very attractive for missile defense, with the potential to attack multiple targets at the speed of light, at a range of hundreds of kilometers (miles), and at a low cost per intercept attempt compared to current technologies," the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said.

COMMENT:  Well, we hope so.  It's only a test, and you can be sure that there will be a faction in Congress ready to cancel the funding for anything that has "missile defense" attached to it.  They will, of course, call it "Star Wars." 

But this kind of system is critical to discouraging more countries to build ICBM's.  Why build them if they can be shot down?  It's therefore a peace weapon.  We used to, as a nation, understand that concept.  I wonder if we still do.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

THE GRAND ILLUSION – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  They never learn, do they?  The United States Government continues its fiction that, in the war on global terror, we are fighting generic terrorists who have no backgrounds.  From the Washington Times:

Two new documents laying out the Obama administration's defense and homeland security strategy over the next four years describe the nation's terrorist enemies in a number of ways but fail to mention the words Islam, Islamic or Islamist.

Hey, it's just like those foreign-born but culturally respected pilots over Pearl Harbor on a Sunday morning.

The 108-page Quadrennial Homeland Security Review, made public last week by the Department of Homeland Security, uses the term "terrorist" a total of 66 times, "al Qaeda" five times and "violent extremism" or "extremist" 14 times. It calls on the U.S. government to "actively engage communities across the United States" to "stop the spread of violent extremism."

Any communities, any at all.  I suggest we start with the Amish in Pennsylvania.  Threat to the peace, I tell you.

Yet in describing terrorist threats against the United States and the ideology that motivates terrorists, the review - like its sister document from the Pentagon, the Quadrennial Defense Review - does not use the words "Islam," "Islamic" or "Islamist" a single time.

Although the homeland security official in charge of developing the review insists it was a not a deliberate decision, the document is likely to reignite a debate over terminology in the U.S.-led war against al Qaeda that has been simmering through two administrations.

COMMENT:  Reignite?  It's been burning for some time.  We continue with the illusions of this administration. 

February 12, 2010   Permalink

FAINTING IN NEW JERSEY – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:  Newly sworn Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has done the unthinkable.  He's frozen spending in the nearly bankrupt state.

And Democrats are having fainting spells.  There is talk of rebellion, treason.  How dare a governor of a liberal state freeze spending?

From CBS News:

TRENTON (CBS) — The snow isn't the only thing that's causing a chill in the Garden State.

Calling New Jersey's budget a "shambles," Gov. Chris Christie announced Thursday he is immediately freezing all state spending.

Saying New Jersey is on the verge of bankruptcy, Christie declared a fiscal emergency, announcing drastic cuts. Among them, aid to school districts that have excess surpluses.

"Today we are going to act swiftly to fix problems too long ignored. Today I begin to do what I promised the people of New Jersey I would do," Christie said.

The move had Democrats in an uproar, angry the governor used his executive powers instead of working with the Legislature.

"What that's going to mean is that those school districts without that money are going to be raising property taxes in the upcoming year to make up for that shortfall," said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-19th District.

The governor also cut state subsidies to New Jersey Transit, saying it needs to become fiscally efficient.

"Revisit its rich union contracts," Christie said. "And they may also have to consider service reductions or fare increases."

COMMENT:  It is refreshing to see a governor do what needs to be done.  The question is how the people of New Jersey will react when, inevitably, there are service cuts.

By the way, Christie's predecessor, the man he defeated, Jon Corzine, left a fiscal disaster.  Corzine at one time was chairman of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street firm.  What is it about those guys?  Can't handle money...at least other people's money.

February 12, 2010   Permalink

LAST OF THE KENNEDYS – AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Democrat of Rhode Island, son of the late Edward M. Kennedy, has announced his retirement from Congress after eight terms.

For the first time in nearly five decades, there will be no Kennedy family member in Congress.  John F. Kennedy served in the House, and then the Senate, from 1947 to 1961, when he assumed the presidency.  There was a brief break in Kennedy Congressional service until Edward M. Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962. 

Unless another Kennedy emerges and is successful in achieving office, this essentially ends the Kennedy political dynasty.  Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy's daughter, made a brief effort to be selected for the Senate seat vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, but failed. 

The fact is, Americans don't like dynasties.  There are no Adams family members, or Thomas Jefferson descendants, in Congress.  The most powerful president of the 20th century, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was himself a member of a famous family, and had five children who survived to adulthood.  Two of them went to the House, but rose no higher.

There has been talk of a Bush dynasty.  Bush 41 and 43 were the only father-son presidents since John Adams and John Quincy Adams.  There has always been some presidential buzz about former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, but it's a restrained buzz.  You don't hear of any national wanting of another Bush.

I'd watch Hillary though.  She will not be denied.

February 12,  2010   Permalink