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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2010

OH, NOW LOOK AT THIS.  Y'THINK THE GIRL IS RUNNING? – AT 8:35 P.M. ET:  Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog reports on a travel schedule.  A very interesting travel schedule:

Sarah Palin, her next book tour, according to publisher HarperCollins, is a 16-stop campaign starting later this month and spilling into December and designed to take advantage of early holiday gift-buying and -- who knows? -- maybe some exposure in politically significant places like Iowa.

In fact, Palin's book-signing trip for "America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag," has two stops in the early caucus state of Iowa -- Spirit Lake on Dec. 2 and Des Moines on Nov. 27, the busy Saturday after Thanksgiving.

And, oh look, the last stop on Dec. 3 is in the crucial GOP primary state of South Carolina where Palin just helped elect the state's first female governor, Republican Nikki Haley.

After an autumn spent successfully on various campaigns to "Fire Pelosi," this trip is shorter than last year's 35-city tour for the best-seller "Going Rogue." But given the title, this selling campaign is more focused on the American Heartland.

In addition to book chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, the signing stops include an array of regular American shopping places Walmarts, Costcos and Sam's Clubs.

COMMENT:  Someone better explain to the Washington press corps what Walmart, Costo and Sam's Club are. They may think they're Southern colleges.

Sarah has dropped some broad hints recently that she'd like to run.  Her approval ratings are creeping up, but still below her negatives.  She's clearly working on that.  Hey, y'never know.

November 11, 2010      Permalink

INCREDIBLE – AT 8:24 P.M. ET:  It's as if we'd let Nazis romp all over Capitol Hill during World War II.  From Fox News:

An Al Qaeda leader, the head of a designated terror organization and a confessed jihadist-in-training are among a "Who's Who" of controversial figures who have participated in weekly prayer sessions on Capitol Hill since the 2001 terror attacks, an investigation by FoxNews.com reveals.

The Congressional Muslim Staff Association (CMSA) has held weekly Friday Jummah prayers for more than a decade, and guest preachers are often invited to lead the service. The group held prayers informally for about eight years before gaining official status in 2006 under the sponsorship of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of two Muslims currently serving in Congress. The second Muslim congressman, Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., joined as co-sponsor after he was elected in 2008.

The list of characters in the story is a regular rogue's gallery.

It is unclear who else has attended these services, because there appears to be no public record of those CMSA has invited to Capitol Hill. The group’s website, included in the official congressional staff associations directory, displays an error message. And out of the more than 25 people associated with CMSA whom FoxNews.com contacted for this article — members, participants, guests, listed officers, congressional sponsors and Muslim advocacy groups — only one person was willing to speak.

“The U.S. Capitol ought to be one of the most transparent and public bodies, yet they get some public criticism about who they’re bringing in and they pull down their website," said Patrick Poole, an anti-terrorism consultant to law enforcement and the U.S. military who has written about CMSA for the conservative blog Pajamas Media.

"That’s not behavior conducive to people drawing public salaries and working in the halls of Congress,” Poole said.

COMMENT:  Fine reporting by Fox.  Let's see if the mainstream media pick up the story, or consider it "racism."  I'll bet on the latter.

November 11, 2010     Permalink

OBAMA DIVING AGAIN IN RASMUSSEN POLL – AT 9:41 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen's daily tracking poll shows a sharp drop for President Obama:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-five percent (45%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -20 (see trends).

The president continues to get strong reviews from Democrats. However, hardly any Republicans offer their approval and 52% of unaffiliated voters Strongly Disapprove.

That's strongly disapprove. Look at the "unaffiliated number."  If you add to it all those who only mildly disapprove, the figure must be staggering.  If Obama can't turn that around by 2012, it's back to community organizing.

Twenty-eight percent (28%) now believe the country is generally heading in the right direction...

...Overall, 44% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-four percent (54%) disapprove.

COMMENT:  Usually, when the president is abroad, his numbers tend to go up.  With Obama, they're down.

Conventional wisdom has it that Obama, like Clinton, Reagan and Roosevelt before him, will emerge from a midterm defeat and win the next presidential election.  But I really wonder.  First, Reagan's midterm losses in 1982 were far, far lower than Obama's.  And Roosevelt and Clinton knew how to pivot.  Obama?  Not exactly a master of governing.

Great politics ahead.  The 2012 campaign is already underway.

November 11, 2011      Permalink

WE CAN'T WAIT – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  We give you this news bulletin.  We're out of breath:

The Obama Administration is on the verge of making a decision about where to try alleged September 11 plotters including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday.

"We have been working on it and I think we're close to the decision," Holder told reporters during a press availability in connection with a U.S.-Canada meeting at the Justice Department.

"I would hope that whatever the decision is, it would be one that would be judged on the merits," Holder said. "What is best for the case, and for justice in that case will be thing that will guide a decision."

It was nearly a year ago that Holder announced plans to charge five Guantanamo prisoners, including Mohammed, in civilian federal court in Manhattan. The White House nixed that plan in January after an outcry from local officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

During the spring, Holder said he expected the issue to be resolved within a matter of weeks, but no decision was announced and eventually Holder began telling reporters who inquired that he wouldn't want to put a timeline on it. So, the new statement is a change. Many observers, including some who favor a military commission trial for the five men, said they suspected the Obama administration intentionally put the issue on ice to avoid it becoming an issue of dispute in the midterm elections.

COMMENT:  How's that for speed?  This has taken a year, and we still don't have a decision.  And yet, Holder's Justice Department found time to accuse red-hot Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey of overspending on official trips while a U.S. attorney, to the whopping tune of $300 a year over three years.  Well, there goes the economy.

We hope that incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith of Texas, no softy, will give the Justice Department the intense oversight that he's promised.  Smith said a few days ago:

"Part of that checks and balances is in fact holding the administration accountable, is in fact insisting on more transparency, is insisting on more honesty, and getting the facts,” Smith said.  “Right now, because of the one party monopoly, the Administration has been able to dodge any kind of supervision, any kind of oversight
committee action, and they refuse to testify, and that is no longer acceptable.”

Right on.

November 11, 2011       Permalink

CHILDREN MUST BE CHILDREN – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:   Hey, do I qualify?  I have a Stop 'n Shop card:

DURHAM, NC (WTVD) -- Durham's city council is getting an earful over a controversial plan to allow Mexican immigrants to use a special Mexican ID card for Mexican citizens living outside Mexico.

If approved, Durham would be the first city in the country to accept the Matricula Consular. It's an identification card issued by the Government of Mexico through its consulate offices to Mexican citizens residing outside of Mexico regardless of their emigration status.

According to an opinion from the Durham City Attorney, "the official purpose of the card is to demonstrate that the holder is a Mexican citizen living outside of Mexico. It includes an official Government of Mexico issued ID number and bears a photograph and address of the Mexican National to whom it is issued."

If Durham approves the resolution, city officials and police officers would accept it as a legal form of ID and banks could also accept it for financial transactions.

COMMENT:  Yeah, Durham.  Home of Duke University, where three innocent lacrosse players almost got lynched, and where the so-called "women's center" actually cancelled an event about motherhood in March because the sponsor was pro-life.  It figures that Durham would want to be "the first" to go along with this sham.

What is it about college towns, like Durham and Cambridge? 

This is a corrupt scheme to get around the status of illegals.  Valid ID, almost by definition, should be issued by an American authority to those who qualify.  If we accept something like the Matricula Consular, we should insist that it contain the immigration or visitation status of the holder.  That's a minimum requirement.

November 11, 2011       Permalink

AMATEURS, AMATEURS, SEND THEM BACK TO THE FARM TEAM – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  What is this stuff?  From The Politico:

SEOUL - President Barack Obama failed to reach agreement on two international deals to help spur the U.S. economy, unexpected setbacks on an Asia trip that was supposed to emphasize his stature abroad and change the subject from last week’s electoral drubbing.

Obama was unable to achieve a free trade agreement with South Korea, vowing to keep talking to get a better deal for U.S. auto makers. And after meeting with the leaders of Germany and China, he continued to meet resistance from the two countries about reducing their trade surpluses with the U.S. to give a boost to American manufacturing, putting the best face on a compromise that only calls for the goal of lowering them.

COMMENT:  Wait a second.  Don't I remember, from the time we had real presidents, that these deals were supposed to be sealed before the president arrived?  The president puts on a little act about negotiating, but the deals have already been made.  The president then puts on a freshly pressed suit and signs, creating a victory.

That's the way the pros do it, the kind who play big-league ball in big-league parks.

Then there are the amateurs, who are playing in big-league parks but can't quite make the standard.

Other nations read our election returns, and Mr. Obama is being treated like a guy who looks out the window of the White House and sees the moving van arriving.  Expect more rebuffs like this.  There's no fear of this chap in Tehran.

November 11, 2011     Permalink

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2010

DEM REVOLT GROWS – AT 8:11 P.M. ET:  Although neither Patrick henry nor John Hancock is available, other patriots are lining up to be heard in the Democratic revolt against Nancy Pelosi.  I think Pelosi's statements since the election – that nothing is really wrong – are energizing a party that realizes that the ship's compartments are being flooded, while the captain dines with the first-class passengers:

WASHINGTON – In a fresh sign of turmoil among defeated Democrats, a growing number of the rank and file say they won't support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a politically symbolic roll call when the new Congress meets in January.

"The reality is that she is politically toxic," said Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, one of several Democrats who are trying to pressure Pelosi to step aside as her party's leader in the wake of historic election losses to Republicans last week.

Pelosi startled many Democrats with a quick postelection announcement that she would run for minority leader. She has yet to draw an opponent for the post. Party elections are scheduled for next week, although a postponement is possible.

In the interim, Pelosi's critics have become more vocal in their efforts to retire her from the party leadership.

There's "starting to be a sense that this may not be as much of a done deal as people might have thought," Rep. Jason Altmire said of Pelosi's quest to remain the top Democrat.

COMMENT:  Since we're on the other side, we sincerely wish Speaker Pelosi good luck, and hope she wins.  Nothing would give us greater pleasure than to see her and Harry Reid...together again.  What a sequel.  That's what dreams are made of.

And while the Dems are at it, how about having Michael Dukakis and Jimmah Carter head up the party's Victory Committee. 

I feel, though, as a former Dem myself, for those brave Democrats who realize what's happening, and are trying to save their party from self-destruction, the way Ronald Reagan led a wandering GOP out of the wilderness.  I suspect, though, that the Dems will need an individual, not just a vague internal movement, to take them to the promised land.

November 10, 2010     Permalink

SAME OLD STUFF – AT 8:01 P.M. ET:  Bad ideas never die, and they don't even fade away.  They come back at "international conferences."   From Fox:

As President Obama huddles with world leaders for the G-20 summit in South Korea to weigh proposals aimed at stabilizing the global economy, one idea being pushed is a so-called "Robin Hood tax," aimed at collecting money from rich nations to give to the poor.

The Robin Hood tax -- a global financial transaction fee that could raise hundreds of billions of dollars to pay the cost of the global financial crisis and support developing nations struggling to recover -- is not popular.

While Britain, France and Germany have championed a bank tax for all G-20 nations, finance chiefs from the industrialized nations shot down the idea at a previous summit held in Toronto last summer.

Still, the tax's supporters, which include unions, environmental groups, Comic Relief, UNICEF and others in a multinational coalition, say the tax could go to canceling debt from poor nations. Or it could be used for social programs to fight hunger, diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria or other causes, programs to which the United States and other nations already donate billions.

COMMENT:  Now, where do we begin?  Once again we're being told of the plight of "developing" nations.

Question:  How long does it take a nation to develop?  Some of these nations have been free of colonialism for 60 years, with little to show for it.  Some, like South Africa, are a complete disgrace, overridden by crime and corruption, while their "moral" leaders, like the vile Desmond Tutu, lecture the rest of the world. 

I've spoken to people who work in Africa who relate how you often have to pay a bribe to save a human life. 

And yet, we're gold to give more, more, more.  It reminds me of the domestic racket called "investment in education."  You know, we must "invest" in education.  Question:  Isn't that what we've been doing the last half century, or more? 

Before one dime is given to "developing" nations, we should demand a full accounting, with oversight bodies involved, of how our money is being spent, and why some societies, like India, are emerging, while others are not.  Some chance under this administration.

November 10, 2010      Permalink

NOT SO FAST, GOP – AT 10:23 A.M. ET:  Some of the smartest Republicans, and their supporters, are already warning the party that last week's election was not an embrace of the GOP, which remains unpopular, but a rejection of the Obama administration.  Republicans must build trust, and even affection.

A new warning comes from Scott Rasmussen, and should be taken seriously:

Voters have decidedly divided opinions about House Republican plans to investigate the Obama administration’s performance to date. GOP voters like the idea; Democrats don’t.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds that 40% favor House GOP intentions to investigate the past actions of the current administration. Forty-four percent (44%) oppose such investigations, while 16% are not sure about them. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Republican voters approve of the investigation plans, but 72% of Democrats are opposed to them. Voters not affiliated with either party are almost evenly divided over the idea.

Among all voters, 43% say House GOP plans to investigate are more about partisan policies than in making sure inappropriate or illegal things don’t happen again. An identical 43% think the plans are intended to make sure wrong things don’t reoccur.

COMMENT:  I don't want to see the Republican Party become what the Democratic Party has become – a bunch of vindictive investigators.  There may well be some investigations that are proper, and surely much greater oversight is required, especially oversight of the Justice Department and our foreign policy.  But endless investigations will simply turn off the American people.  In the midst of this deep recession, Americans want action and progress.

Republicans must establish themselves as the party of ideas.  They must come up with one imaginative proposal after the other, to position themselves for the 2012 campaign, which will soon be upon us.  Investigations are a second-tier priority.

November 10, 2010      Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY - AT 9:46 A.M. ET:

A Muslim religious channel in Britain is being censored after allowing presenters on air to condone marital rape and violence toward women, and for calling women who wear perfume in mosques "prostitutes."  The U.K. Daily Mail reports that in one program, the host told viewers that it was “not strange” and “not such a big problem” for a man to force his wife to have sex.  The U.K.'s T.V. watchdog, Ofcom, ruled the Islam Channel breached the broadcasting code in five different programs between May 2008 and October 2009.

And they're finally taking action now, more than a year later?  I wonder how many women were abused as a result of these teachings in the year it took Britain's TV "watchdog" to start watching.  And I wonder where so-called "women's" groups were.  They're certainly silent here.

November 10, 2010     Permalink

GETTING SMART – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  The Congressional Black Caucus, whose leftist credentials have never been in doubt, has now come to its senses and says it will welcome the two new black Republicans elected to the House:

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) said this week it will welcome a pair of newly elected black Republicans if they wish to join.

“Membership in the Congressional Black Caucus has never been restricted to Democrats,” the group said in an unattributed e-mail to its members. “Should either of the two African-American Republicans recently elected to the House of Representatives request membership in the Congressional Black Caucus they will be welcomed.”...

...The announcement breaks the CBC’s silence on the possibility that GOP Reps.-elect Allen West (Fla.) and Tim Scott (S.C.) be allowed to join the overwhelmingly Democratic group. West has said he’ll seek membership, while Scott reportedly hasn’t decided.

The CBC’s message also seems to run counter to statements made last month by CBC Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who told The Economist that, while the group is technically bipartisan, it also “has an agenda.”

“Our agenda is about lifting people out of poverty, providing middle-class tax cuts, supporting climate-change legislation,” she said. “Do [incoming black Republicans] embrace this agenda?”

COMMENT:  Next step for the CBC, in my view:  Dump Barbara Lee.  An extreme leftist and Castro supporter, Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against military action following the 9-11 attacks.  And yet, that didn't count against her in the CBC, which shows just how far left that body is.  (It is a reflection of the Marxist influence on the civil rights movement, which is one of those unmentionable issues.)

West has said he wants to join, Scott is undecided. 

Do you know Allen West, the retired Army lieutenant colonel?  He's about as dynamic and blunt a man as you can find, a man whose personality says "win" all the way.  I'd love to be there when he goes to his first CBC meeting, and confronts the old, worn-out ideologists.  The guy's got guts, but we already knew that.

November 10, 2010      Permalink

THE LOOMING ISSUE – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  Foreign governments watch our election results very carefully.  The looming issue for Obama is Iran, and Iran is making it very clear the issue will continue to loom:

"Iran is ready to hold talks on resolving international problems, establishing peace and security in the world," says Iranian president.

Iran is not prepared to discuss the "nuclear issue" with world powers, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the central Iranian city of Qazvin on Wednesday.

According to a Press TV report, Ahmadinejad told gathered supporters:

"Iran is ready to hold talks on equal conditions to help settle ongoing problems, ease international concerns and establish peace and security in the world."

He reportedly continued: "We have repeatedly said that our (nuclear) rights are not negotiable ... We only hold talks to resolve international problems ... to help the establishment of peace."

On Tuesday, Iran responded to reports that it had agreed to meet with the "5+1" group later this month by saying that it absolutely would not be discussing a nuclear fuel swap.

COMMENT:  So what, pray, is there to talk about?  It's like, "Nazi leader Adolf Hitler told Prime Minister Churchill today that Germany would discuss bringing peace and security to the world, but that its intention to destroy Britain from the air was non-negotiable."

The trouble is that the Europeans are jumping at the chance for "more talks" with Iran, since that means not doing much, and the U.S. has been utterly passive during this period, also saying that it welcomed more talks.

At some point in the next few years, Iran is likely to have a nuclear weapons capacity.  A number of top Republicans are saying that only a credible threat of military force will stop the Iranians.  The administration has made it clear it has no intention of issuing that threat.

Another case where Obama's foreign policy can be marked, "no results."

November 10, 2010      Permalink

AND IN ALASKA – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  The election still isn't over.  There is still one Senate seat to be decided, and it's in Alaska.

The contest is between Joe Miller, who won the Republican primary, and incumbent GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski, who, after losing the primary, ran as a write-in Republican.  The Politico reports the latest:

Republican Joe Miller gained ground in the Senate race Tuesday, cutting into the vote lead for write-in candidates – most of which, presumably, are for Sen. Lisa Murkowski – by about 2,100 votes.

Miller had 35 percent of the vote and write-in candidates collectively had 40 percent, after election officials tabulated 27,000 additional absentee and early ballots Tuesday. That margin is smaller that the 7-point lead – or 13,439 votes — that write-in candidates had over Miller after election night...

...the new totals come as a major boost for Miller, who now trails the pool of write-in ballots by 11,333 votes headed into the next day's write-in vote count. Election officials will begin to open the more than 92,000 write-in ballots Wednesday to determine Murkowski’s vote totals.

COMMENT:  It may take a few weeks to sort this out.  The odds still favor Murkowski.  One element in the race is the prestige and influence of Sarah Palin, who endorsed Miller.  Alaska, of course, is her home state.

November 10, 2010     Permalink