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SATURDAY,  MAY 22,  2010

NOT SURPRISING – AT 8:49 P.M. ET:  This is really about assassination, but with a jihadist twist.  From The Times of London:

SCOTLAND YARD is preparing to embark on a wide-raging review of the security of all 650 MPs in light of intelligence that lone Muslim “self-radicalisers” may be targeting politicians.

Well-placed police officials said yesterday that the perceived security problem has now extended across all MPs, with the possibility of an attack by a self-radicalised Islamist extremist now being raised in recent intelligence reporting.

The latest intelligence coincides with growing concern in the Metropolitan police and Whitehall about David Cameron’s decision to jettison much of his personal-protection detail and his insisting on walking around and travelling without motorcycle outriders.

Terrorist “chatter” is said to have spiked recently as the England football team prepare for next month’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

But senior security sources say the real threat is also growing closer to home, with individual politicians among high- profile individuals at risk of being singled out for a shooting or stabbing attack similar to that involving Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch film-maker, in 2004.

COMMENT:  If there's concern in Britain, there's got to be concern here, the land of the Great Satan.  We've already taken an airliner strike on the Pentagon.  And remember that another airliner on 9/11 was headed for Washington before crashing in Pennsylvania.

It is awfully hard to protect all members of Congress or the administration, given the freewheeling nature of American politics. 

On March 1, 1954, four Puerto Rican nationalists fired 30 rounds inside the chamber of the House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.  A repeat, even something on a larger scale, is well within the realm of possibility.

May 22, 2010     Permalink

LET THE HYPOCRISY BEGIN – AT 8:33 P.M. ET:  What do you say about a guy who announces for governor, then tells a tale of woe about how his state has been run, lo, these many years, when his own father was governor during many of those years, and his own party has been in power the last four?

Does the word "hypocrite" come to mind?  From AP:

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo declared his candidacy for governor Saturday, delivering a full-throated call for political reform and pledging to make the notoriously dysfunctional state government more accountable to its citizens.

The announcement by Cuomo to seek the governorship once held by his iconic father, Mario Cuomo, had been widely expected. The Democrat disclosed his candidacy in a video released on his website before appearing before supporters later in the day.

Iconic?  What's iconic about Mario Cuomo?  No one here can recall what he did.  Oh, he was a liberal Democrat.  I guess that's what makes him iconic.

Cuomo made the announcement on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse in lower Manhattan, named for the leader of the city's corrupt 19th century Tammany Hall political machine. Cuomo said he did so because "Albany's antics today could make Boss Tweed blush."

And it wasn't thus while daddy was in the governor's chair?  Did these problems just begin?

"Enough is enough," Cuomo declared. "It's time for the people of the Empire State to strike back."

I guess that's a play on the movie, "The Empire Strikes Back."  How cutey.

Cuomo promised to cap the state's property taxes, which are among the highest in the nation, and to consolidate local governments and create a more favorable environment for job growth.

When did Dems like Cuomo ever have a problem with high taxes?

With his father standing nearby, the younger Cuomo cast himself as a populist crusader who would lead a "citizen's coalition" to restore integrity to state government.

"New York wasn't always like this. This isn't New York at its best," he said. "I represent the people of the state of New York and we want our government back."

When did you notice it was stolen, Andy?

Cuomo's effort to run as an outsider to reform state government will have to overcome some skepticism, given his deep ties to Albany and his membership in one of New York's most storied political families.

COMMENT:  That is one of the great understatements that I've read recently.

May 22, 2010     Permalink

NEW GUY IN TOWN – UH, NO, MAKE THAT OLD GUY STILL IN TOWN – AT 12:54 P.M. ET:  Continuing the Obama no-diversity policy, a good-old-guy is being named number two chap at Eric Holder's Justice Department.  Graduate of Hastings College of Law.  That's Berkeley.  Aren't you shocked?  From WaPo:

The White House nominated James M. Cole as deputy attorney general Friday, turning to a veteran Washington lawyer to fill a critical position that has been vacant for months.

Cole, 58, is a white-collar defense lawyer and longtime friend of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

That's all we have to know.  "Longtime friend of..."  I'm sure we'll all sleep more soundly.

Cole has held numerous jobs in government, including 13 years at the Justice Department. He also worked as an independent monitor reviewing the operations of American International Group, the insurance giant that was bailed out during the financial crisis. Senate Republicans said they plan to make that an issue in his confirmation hearings.

COMMENT:  Yeah, I hope they bring it up.  This is the most inside administration I've ever seen.  Anybody hired who didn't go to one of the approved liberal schools?

May 22, 2010     Permalink

SPECIAL ELECTION DAY IN HAWAII – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  There's a special congressional election in Hawaii today, birthplace (we think) of Barack Obama.  It will fill the seat left vacant by ultra-libby Neil Abercrombie, who's running for governor.  Because of special circumstances, the GOP has a shot:

Republicans may have struck out in their bid to pick up a House seat in Tuesday's special election in southwestern Pennsylvania, which they had hoped would signal they were headed toward wiping out Democrats in November.

But Republicans will get another shot Saturday, in a special election in President Obama's native Hawaii. And their chances are looking good, as Democrats remain divided on who to support.

If Charles Djou wins Saturday against two Democrats who seem to be splitting their party's vote, he will be Hawaii's first Republican congressman in decades.

Obama, who was born in Hawaii, carried the state with 72 percent of the vote in the presidential election just two years ago. But prominent Democrats acknowledge the possibility of losing the seat on Saturday.

"Yeah," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said simply when asked this week if his organization is writing off the special election.

The party is split on whether to support state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa or former U.S. Rep. Ed Case. And the infighting among Democrats locally and nationally has left the door open for Djou.

"I think the people of Hawaii are learning, just as the American people are learning, that we do not have to follow the marching orders of the old boy network and the establishment," Djou said this week in a TV interview. "This congressional campaign is an opportunity for the voters of Hawaii to say, we own this seat, not the Democratic Party."

COMMENT:  The election is to fill an unexpired term.  Even if Djou wins, he would have to run again in November, presumably against a unified Dem party.  But we can enjoy the moment.

May 22, 2010     Permalink

RANDY, WE HARDLY KNOW YE – AT 11:39 A.M. ET:  The Rand Paul problem grows for the GOP, which now realizes it has a pain on its hands.  Paul is now trying to cancel his scheduled appearance on Meet the Press, apparently under pressure from party elders afraid of another gaffe.  From the McClatchy Newspapers:

WASHINGTON — In public, Senate candidate Rand Paul's Republican colleagues have tried to contextualize his controversial comments about anti-discrimination laws and the Obama administration's handling of the Gulf Coast oil spill, but privately they bemoan the political newcomer's gaffes and wish he'd focus less on the national media spotlight and more on Kentucky and the economy.

"In any campaign there's going to be a few bumps," said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Yeah, but they all shouldn't be within 48 hours.

Paul didn't return calls requesting comment.

In an indication that he was heeding advice to limit his national exposure, Betsy Fischer, the executive producer of NBC's "Meet the Press," Tweeted late Friday afternoon that Paul said he was having "a tough week" and was trying to cancel his scheduled appearance on the show this Sunday. According to Fischer, such cancellations are rare, and only Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia have ever nixed planned appearances.

I love the way the TV guys make it seem that a scheduled appearance is a command performance.  The public won't care, but it should care about Rand Paul's candidacy.  The makes-your-blood-boil point is that Paul's views should have been examined before the Kentucky primary, but the press was AWOL on issues, reporting only the horse race.  Another great moment in journalism.

I realize we have Rand Paul supporters among our readers.  I've heard from you.  Your opinion will always be treated with respect, but on this dude I'll have to dissent.

May 22, 2010     Permalink

WELL, SHE ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT PHONY WORLDS – AT 11:06 A.M. ET:  Following on the streak of weird choices begun with the nomination of Rand Paul for the Senate from Kentucky, the GOP has now selected Linda McMahon as its Senate candidate in Connecticut.

Who's she, you ask.  You'd better.  Among other indications of refinement and class, she's the co-founder of the Worldwide Wrestling Federation, that great organizer of on-the-level wrestling events.  Uh, she will face a primary challenge, which will actually decide the nomination.

So, as Sinatra might have said, leave us we should examine how the GOP is exploiting its advantages.  Connecticut is a blue state.  Its attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, the Dem Senate candidate, was seen as a shoo-in for election in November...until this week when we learned he lied about his Vietnam War record.  That put the seat into play.  So who do the Republicans come up with, now that they've got a real shot? 

Why, of course, a lady who made her fortune in...wrestling.  That'll certainly move the foreign-policy crowd.  Well, I guess there are foreign wrestlers.  I'm assuming the GOP gave Ms. Full Nelson the nod because she can finance her own campaign.

Coming after Rand Paul, the beat goes on.  What next?  A female impersonator? 

May 22, 2010    Permalink 

FRIDAY,  MAY 21,  2010

A TRUE PARTY POOPER – AT 9:52 P.M. ET:  The Times Square plot, originally spun by the Obamans as one guy's little party, unrelated to the rest of the world, has turned into a catered affair.  From The Washington Post:

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Pakistani authorities have detained the co-owner of an upscale catering company in the capital and at least four other men in connection with the Times Square bomb plot, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday.

The U.S. Embassy issued a warning to Americans in Pakistan about Hanif Rajput Catering Service, saying that "terrorist groups may have established links" to it. The unusual alert said the company was owned by a father and son, but it did not elaborate on its alleged ties to militants.

A Pakistani intelligence source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the son, Salman Ashraf Khan, 35, was arrested about 10 days ago on suspicion of links to Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani American accused of the attempted bombing in New York. Four or five other people were also arrested in Islamabad, including at least one who was a close friend of Khan's, the official said.

Hanif Rajput has catered elite events in the capital, including U.S. Embassy functions.

COMMENT:  Be careful of who comes popping out of the cake.  And don't light any candles.

May 21, 2010    Permalink

SUPPORT FOR HEALTH LAW UNHEALTHY – AT 9:17 P.M. ET:  Obama has simply been unable to sell support for Obamacare.  Americans can add two and two.  From The Politico: 

The White House has, for weeks now, rolled out popular health reform benefits well ahead of schedule, items like coverage for young adult children and tax credits for small business, hoping these early deliverables would shore up public support.

But a new poll, released this morning by the Kaiser Family Foundation, suggests the accelerated implementation schedule has failed to sway a skeptical public — or even keep health reform’s most ardent supporters on board.

Two months after the health care overhaul became law, Americans remain as deeply divided as ever about it, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Friday.

While overall attitudes were roughly unchanged from last month, the percentage of people who reported that they have “very favorable” opinions of the legislation fell from 23 percent to 14 percent during the month. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 32 percent of people reported “very unfavorable” opinions, up slightly from the 30 percent reported last month.

The Health Tracking Poll found that 41 percent of respondents hold favorable views of the law and 44 percent hold unfavorable views, with 14 percent unsure. It’s a slight difference from last month’s poll, which found 46 percent had favorable opinions and 40 percent unfavorable.

COMMENT:  Americans have been talking to their doctors, to each other, to nurses – people who actually know something about heath care.  Obviously, the law's reviews have not been favorable enough to get people to buy tickets.  Twofers available.

May 21, 2010    Permalink

YOU JUST CAN'T GET RELIABLE MATERIALS THESE DAYS – AT 9:02 P.M. ET:  Apparently, a terrorist being watched by the U.S. has had a misfortune.  From Fox:

A man whom the U.S. described as a key figure in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula accidentally blew himself up, U.S. military officials told Fox News.

The officials say Nayif Al-Qahtani was "messing with a bomb" when it went off. U.S. officials had been watching him, but Fox News' sources insist the U.S. had nothing to do with his death.

Al-Qahtani was "a vibrant guy linked to ongoing operations planning, and his death will have an impact," one official told Fox News.

An Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula newsletter was the first to announce his death a week after the United States put terror sanctions on him. The newsletter did not say when it happened but said Al-Qahtani died in Yemen's Abyan province in the south of the country.

COMMENT:  Just watch:  Attorney General Holder will now ask that other terrorists be covered by Obamacare and by full life insurance policies.  Part of "outreach," you know.

May 21, 2010     Permalink

OH, NOT AGAIN – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  Rand Paul has opened his mouth once more.  That is unfortunate:

WASHINGTON – Kentucky's Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Gulf oil spill Friday as putting "his boot heel on the throat of BP" and "really un-American."

Paul's defense of the oil company came during an interview in which he tried to explain his controversial take on civil rights law, an issue that has overtaken his campaign since his victory in Tuesday's GOP primary.

"What I don't like from the president's administration is this sort of, 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,'" Rand said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business."

COMMENT:  Huh?  You know, you listen to this guy and you almost feel sympathy for Obama.  Boot heel?  On the throat of dear, brotherly BP? 

Look, I'm as pro-business as the next guy, but BP has screwed up pretty badly in the Gulf – it had no emergency plan in place – and portraying this British oil giant as a victim isn't exactly what a sane candidate should be doing.  Even hardened oil people are cursing BP for the way it's handled the spill.

Rand Paul proves, at least twice a day, why he should never have been the GOP candidate for the Senate in Kentucky.  He may pull it out in November, but who in the Senate will want to go near him? 

May 21, 2010     Permalink

UNBELIEVABLE – AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  It's the same old story with the Obama brigades.  They talk tough one day, then you look at the fine print and see Neville Chamberlain at work, with the umbrella hanging in the corner.

The great defense reporter, Bill Gertz, reports on the latest outrage:

A draft U.N. resolution that would impose sanctions on Iran, including limits on global arms transfers, will not block the controversial transfer of Russian S-300 missiles to the Iranian military, according to U.S. and Russian officials.

And the S-300 is the ball game.  With that in place in Iran, it would essentially checkmate any Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, and would make an American strike vastly more costly. 

The Obama administration had opposed the S-300 sale because the system is highly effective against aircraft and some missiles. The CIA has said the S-300 missiles, which have been contracted by Tehran but not delivered, will be used to defend Iranian nuclear facilities.

A key provision in the resolution made public this week states that all U.N. member states will agree to block sales or transfers of weapons. It lists tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, combat aircraft, warships and "missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms."

A close reading of the missile section of the register defines those included in the ban as missiles and launchers for guided rockets, and ballistic and cruise missiles, and missile-equipped remotely piloted vehicles. However, the register states that the missile system category "does not include ground-to-air missiles," such as anti-aircraft missiles and anti-missile interceptors like the S-300.

The State Department conceded the point:

Asked about S-300s, a senior State Department official said the draft "would not impose a legally binding obligation not to transfer S-300 to Iran" since the register does not cover defensive missiles.

State said that the Russians had shown restraint in not transferring the S-300 to Iran.  In other words, we're depending on continued Russian good will.

On this the safety of the nation depends.  Once again, our "diplomacy" has fallen way short.

And get this, reported by Andrew Malcolm in the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog today:

President Obama has decided to pre-announce to the world once-secret American ballistic missile tests and satellite launches.

The Democratic administration's goal is to show a friendlier face to other countries and to coax Russia to do the same.

It's part of a confidence-boosting initiative launched, so to speak, last fall when Obama suddenly abandoned the U.S. missile-defense system in Eastern Europe that had exercised the Russians, though it was aimed at potential future missiles from Iran.

Obama hoped such a unilateral U.S. forfeiture would encourage Russia to put pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear weapons development. So far no good on that.

COMMENT:  Don't you feel noble and clean?  Don't you just feel so good about yourself?  Why, you're part of Obama nation.

Recently, in another "gesture," the United States announced in detail how many nuclear warheads we have.  Please note that no other country has responded by doing the same.  Moscow essentially ignored our announcement.

May 21, 2010     Permalink

BLAIR GOES – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:  Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has been forced out of his position, once again throwing the intelligence "community" into chaos.  From the Washington Times:

Dennis C. Blair, the president's most senior intelligence adviser, became the first high-profile departure from President Obama's national security team on Thursday.

Mr. Blair, director of national intelligence, announced his resignation, effective May 28 in a five-sentence statement that ended with praise for the national intelligence bureaucracy he will no longer command. "Keep it up - I will be cheering for you," he said.

A U.S. official in a position to know said, "We have been interviewing several strong candidates to be his replacement."

Among the candidates are former Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre, now president of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper, the deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence; and Michael G. Vickers, a former CIA official and currently the Pentagon's assistant secretary of defense for special operations.

The reality is that Blair never quite mastered the political arts of a high-ranking civilian officeholder.  He is a former Navy admiral.  Whether deserved or not, his departure, apparently requested in a phone call from Obama himself, will add to the portrayal of an intelligence system that is permanently broken.  Enemies are observing. 

We were lucky with the Christmas-day bomber, whose bomb, aboard an airliner in flight, failed to ignite.  We were lucky in Times Square.  We weren't lucky at Fort Hood.  The fear, of course, is that there will be more Ford Hoods, possibly with massively powerful weapons.

A replacement should be named quickly.  Then his or her background must be thoroughly vetted.  What we don't need is some politically correct water carrier. 

May 21, 2010     Permalink

PRIMARY DAMAGE – AT 8:19 A.M. ET:  In a strange way, it's good news.  Republicans are waking up to the reality that November may not quite be the pushover that some had assumed. 

The left-wing Dems are not playing dead.  Voters are not loving the GOP more than they did before, and wavering Dem voters seem to be drifting back to their rotting roots.  Maybe this is the spur the Republicans need to get moving.

In Pennsylvania, newly anointed Democratic Senate candide Joe Sestak, who slew Arlen Specter on Tuesday, has jumped into the lead over Republican Pat Toomey.  From RCP:

Coming off a high-profile, successful Democratic Senate primary against Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak now finds himself leading Republican Pat Toomey in the general election, a new Rasmussen poll finds (May 19, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%). On May 6, before both won their respective primaries Tuesday, Toomey held a 2-point lead.

Sestak 46
Toomey 42
Und 9

The post-primary bounce for Sestak is partly explained by his increasing support among Democrats, 80% of whom now back him (it was 64% two weeks ago). Toomey's support among Republicans did not change. Independents support Toomey by a 41%-32%.

Obama's approval rating is at 47%, with 52% disapproving.

COMMENT:  Now, this is a post-primary bounce.  Sestak has been in the news, and no longer has to divide favor with Specter.  But Pat Toomey, who must win in November, has work to do.  Pennsylvania is traditionally a blue state, although Republicans have sometimes won statewide.  This will be a tough, grueling fight with no result guaranteed. 

May 21, 2010      Permalink

THE PAUL PALL – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  Anyone reading Urgent Agenda knows that we are not charter members of the Rand Paul Fan Club.  And, true to form, it didn't take long for Paul to get into trouble, after winning the Kentucky GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Paul, with extreme dumbness, appeared on the Rachel Maddow program on MSNBC, a show that has an audience of six.  That was the first mistake.  Why, Rand?  Why?

He then fell into a trap marked TRAP! in big letters by answering a question designed to show that he was a racist.  He discussed his long-standing philosophical objections to parts of the 1964 civil rights law, one of the landmark pieces of legislation in American history, which passed only because Republicans supported it so strongly.

Now Paul has had to backtrack, essentially rejecting the very stand he took on the air.   The Washington Post reports:

"Let me be clear: I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws," he said.

That's nice.  But on the show he said:

Paul, who beat an establishment-backed candidate in Tuesday's GOP primary, appeared on MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show" and, in a long exchange with the liberal host, repeated his belief in a limited government that should not force private businesses to abide by civil rights law.

In other words, amateur at work.

I wish Republicans, or people who call themselves Republicans, would understand that playing the race card is a standard, almost ritualistic liberal practice.  If you are not with us, you must be a racist.  It's what they learned in college, assuming they went to one of the schools on the "approved" liberal list. 

While Paul will survive this, he is tainted.  Other Republicans immediately distanced themselves from his on-the-air views.  He's already intensely disliked by the GOP establishment.  And the press hasn't even begun to discuss his wacky foreign- and defense-policy views.

The controversy should shock anyone familiar with Rand and his father, Ron Paul.  But it is not helping the GOP cause for November, which requires reasonable unity, not distractions that the liberal media will gladly provide.

May 21, 2010    Permalink