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For those interested in my appearance on "The Conservative Hispanic" yesterday, it's here.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16,  2010

GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM – AT 8:44 P.M. ET:  General Electric has sold NBC, which is a good thing, because the conflicts of interest between the parent and NBC News have become flagrant.  NewsBusters reports:

On Sunday, NBC Universal launched its annual "Green Week," as part of the company's "Green is Universal" environmental awareness campaign.

As NBC embarks on yet another week of "environmentally themed programming," it falls to media watchdogs to point out the massive conflict presented by NBC parent company General Electric's significant financial interests in the policies "Green Week" indirectly advances.

GE stands to make millions from Democrats' "clean energy" agenda. The company has invested massive amounts of money in technology that can only be profitable through government intervention or subsidization.

Chief among federal policies from which GE would enormously benefit is cap and trade.

A cap and trade regime would establish a previously-nonexistent market for carbon credits. GE, which was a lead lobbying force for cap and trade and is a member of the pro-C&T "Climate Action Partnership," established what it called "Greenhouse Gas Services," a venture that invested in carbon credits. Those credits are completely useless unless the government, through a cap and trade scheme, establishes a market for them by requiring that all carbon-emitting businesses buy those credits to be allowed to pollute.

In other words, GE spent millions of dollars on a venture whose profitability depends on policies that its media arm, NBC Universal, shills for under the guise of "environmental awareness."

COMMENT:  NewsBusters nails it, as it usually does.  You'd think there'd be greater outrage over this clear-cut conflict, but ethical standards in mainstream media aren't exactly rigid.  (You may have noticed.)  Also, most people in media think of environmentalism as a religion, not a business, and therefore entitled to a special place.  Other religions, like Christianity or Judaism, don't rank quite so high.

Well, NBC will soon be operating under the Comcast label, so the particular conflict noted above may not apply.  There is, of course, the matter of collusion with liberal Democrats, and being in the tank for Obama, and being a decidedly left-wing outfit.  You may be sure those things are not on NBC's "to take care of" list.

November 16, 2010       Permalink

ELITES OUT OF TOUCH – AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Dem pollster Mark Penn, in a Politico column, reveals a shocking Obama "reelection" number, and notes how out of touch the elites in Washington are:

The midterms not only dealt a big shock to Democrats but also sent a message to President Barack Obama. According to the new POLITICO Power and the People poll, only 26 percent of the public believes he will be reelected as president in 2012. Inside the Beltway, however, expectations are quite different, with D.C. elites saying he will have a second term by a reverse 2 to 1 margin. (49 percent say re-elected; 23 percent say not).

This difference in expectations could mislead the president if he is listening to the Beltway chatter — right here in D.C., he may just find a lot of comfort in this assessment by insiders, and that may lead to actions that don’t fully adjust for the sea change that has occurred among the general public.

This big difference can partially be explained by the different ways that the two groups see the economy and the world today. Seventy percent of D.C. elites admit that they have been affected less than the average citizen when it comes to the economic downturn. The elites see the tea party as purely a fad (70 percent). In contrast, those who say that the president will not be reelected see the country as headed in the wrong direction by 82 percent, see the economy as headed in the wrong direction by 81 percent and overwhelmingly want repeal of the health care law at the top of the agenda. The quarter of the public who consider Obama's reelection probable see the economy turning around by nearly 3-to-1. They are the outliers of the electorate, suggesting that the president has a lot more work to do to get back on track for a second term.

COMMENT:  Aren't you glad that D.C. doesn't have voting senators or congresspeople?  Sometimes I wonder whether D.C. is the capital of the United States, or some other country unlisted in the phone book. 

The problem, of course, is that Obama listens to the D.C. elites because he feels comfortable with them.  He doesn't feel comfortable with we rabble, we gun and religion clingers. 

John F. Kennedy is remembered partly by the song "Camelot," from the musical of the same time.  Jackie Kennedy thought it summed up her husband's time.  But there was another song from that musical play called "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" sung by the king.  Barack Obama might check out the lyrics.  Then start singing.

November 16, 2010      Permalink

MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  President Obama wants to see his new nuclear treaty with Russia ratified, but one Republican senator is, thank goodness, standing in the way.  Senator John Kyl of Arizona, a stand-up guy on national defense, is demanding concessions from the Obamans before he gives his approval, which will heavily influence other Republicans.  This is what a good, alert senator does.  From WaPo:

As President Obama pushes for ratification of his signature nuclear treaty with Russia in coming days, all eyes are on one Republican.

Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) has been his party's leading voice on the treaty and has pressed the administration to commit to a major modernization of the country's weapons labs in exchange for approval of the pact.

The administration sent a delegation that included Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of U.S. nuclear forces, to Arizona to woo Kyl on Friday, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will meet with Kyl this week to try to seal a deal, according to two officials.

Why does it take a GOP senator to demand modernization of our weapons labs?  Huh?  That should have been done already.  Americans would be shocked to know just how far behind we've fallen in modernizing our nuclear arsenal.

The high-octane lobbying - and the administration's offer to spend an extra $4 billion on the nuclear complex - reflect Obama's belief that the treaty is crucial to his nuclear agenda and the U.S.-Russia relationship. The effort has taken on even more urgency because Democrats will have fewer seats in the next Senate.

Well, at least we've got the four bil.  More is needed.  Obama has no emotional commitment to this improvement in our weapons program.  None.  It has to be pulled out of him.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) said Kyl was working with the administration on how to modernize the aging labs and to ensure the ratification resolution clarified that the treaty didn't inhibit U.S. missile defense.

"If those two issues are resolved - and I think they can be resolved - then I think we could move forward with the ratification to the START treaty," McCain said at a conference sponsored by the Foreign Policy Initiative, a think tank.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on ABC's "This Week" that if those two issues were addressed, "I would vote for the treaty."

And...

The administration has said the treaty doesn't limit U.S. missile defense, but some senators are worried by Russian statements suggesting otherwise.

Let's nail these things down before we start committing slow suicide.  Kyl is performing a superb service by blocking ratification of the treaty until he is satisified that it is in our interest. 

I don't see any similar concern from the Democratic side.  The Dems don't have any Henry Jacksons, of Washington state, anymore.  That state just reelected Patty Murray, who, I assure you, doesn't sit up nights worrying about the strength of our nuclear deterrent.

November 16, 2010      Permalink 

GREAT REPORTING – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  The new conservative site, Daily Caller, does some superb reporting on a story we carried last week – that the Justice Department seemed to be going after Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, in an attempt to destroy him before he became a major candidate for president.  This is what solid journalism is about:

The Daily Caller has learned that the author behind the recent report from the Department of Justice that targeted five former U.S. attorneys for excessive travel expenses has had, according to our sources, a troubled history in the DOJ and attempted in the past to use her position to smear conservatives.

When the report surfaced last week, the investigation’s timing and targeting especially of New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, who has steadily been raising his national profile, raised red flags.

And...

The report’s author, Maura Lee, began her DOJ career in the civil rights division, but now works in the DOJ Office of Inspector General. Hans von Spakovsky, former counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, supervised Lee and told TheDC that he was “astonished” when he found out she was the author of the report.

According to von Spakovsky, Lee was “one of the most belligerent, unprofessional lawyers” he encountered during his time at the DOJ. “Because of her,” he said, “we had to completely change our security protocol.”

Von Spakovsky described one case where Lee was caught breaking into the e-mail of a colleague, Joshua Rogers, specifically because Rogers was conservative and Christian. “Lee was radically left. She made it plain that she didn’t like Rogers,” von Spakovsky said.

COMMENT:  Read the whole story.  It is startling, and another reason for Attorney General Eric Holder to be replaced.  Too often in our history, attorneys general have been appointed primarily to protect the president.  That was certainly the case when Jack Kennedy named his baby brother to the post, despite Robert Kennedy's lack of experience.  We have that situation again today.

We're hoping, and expecting, that the new, Republican-run House Judiciary Committee will begin oversight hearings aimed at the Justice Department as soon as the new Congress is sworn in.

November 16, 2010       Permalink

WELCOME TO SANITY – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:   We've never quoted Bob Herbert of The New York Times, the reliably left-wing African American op-ed columnist.  But today Herbert writes a satisfying column that squarely tells the truth about the tragedy of black America.  He sounds like a...a...I'm choking....a conservative:

The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.

All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children...

...Black men need to be in the home, providing for their children. The community at large — including the many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or upper classes — needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to those still struggling.

Dorothy Height, the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of 98, always insisted that blacks “have survived because of family.” And she counseled: “No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself.”

And...

Black children can’t wait for Washington to get its act together. They don’t have time to wait for the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community to act now, to do the right thing without delay.

This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself.

Thank you, Mr. Herbert.  Now if you can only get white liberals, safe in their homes and universities, to agree, maybe we'll make some progress.

And, by the way, maybe you should now go on to confront frankly and honestly the subject of crime, and ask readers, "Why is it that New York has substantially solved its crime problem, but Chicago hasn't?"  A tale of two cities, one that threw the libs out of City Hall many years ago, and Chicago, which didn't.

November 16, 2010     Permalink

WELCOME TO THE RECOVERY – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  This story is coming in under the radar.  People aren't noticing.  From Fox:

WASHINGTON -- The disarray stemming from flawed foreclosure documents could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government's effort to keep people in their homes, according to a new report from a congressional watchdog.

Revelations that several big mortgage issuers sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already has raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report issued Tuesday. The full impact is still is unclear, the report cautions.

COMMENT:  It was the mortgage crisis, created in part by the reckless mortgage policies of liberal icons Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that helped bring on the 2008 financial panic.  Looks like the dry rot has not been dealt with by this administration.  Watch out for tomorrow.

November 16, 2010     Permalink

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15,  2010

MEDIA NEWS, RIGHT AND LEFT – AT 7:48 P.M. ET:  Sarah Palin's new series premiered last night on TLC, and received the highest rating in the network's history, attracting some 4.6 million viewers.

It is not known whether Chris Matthews watched, or whether the tingle up his leg is reserved for Barack Obama.  The tingle does not show up on MRIs. 

I have to admit that I didn't have time to watch the show, but it is certainly a unique vehicle for a potential presidential candidate.  Then again, Ronald Reagan did "Death Valley Days" and "Bedtime for Bonzo."  I'll try to grab an episode.

Meanwhile, back in the lower 48 states, there is major trauma involving the left's favorite website, The Huff-and-Puff, or is it Huffington Post.  There is a charge, my friends, of plagiarism.  Against Arianna, that pristine political operator?  Why, they've got to be kidding.  From The Politico: 

Two Democratic consultants are accusing Arianna Huffington and her business partner of stealing their idea for the powerhouse liberal website Huffington Post.

Peter Daou and James Boyce charge that Huffington and partner Ken Lerer designed the website from a plan they had presented them, and in doing so, violated a handshake agreement to work together, according to a lawsuit to be filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The complaint is a direct challenge to the left’s most important media property from two stalwarts of the progressive movement. And it challenges Huffington’s own oft-told story of coming up with the idea in conversation with Lerer and other friends.

“Huffington has styled herself as a ‘new media’ maven and an expert on the effective deployment of news and celebrity on the Internet in the service of political ends,” says the complaint. “As will be shown at trial, Huffington’s and Lerer’s image with respect to the Huffington Post is founded on false impressions and inaccuracies: They presented the ‘new media’ ideas and plans of Peter Daou and James Boyce as their own in order to raise money for the website and enhance their image, and breached their promises to work with Peter and James to develop the site together.”

Arianna Huffington has reinvented herself so many times, she ought to patented.  Now she is charged with stealing her most visible creation.

Frankly, it sounds like a tough case to win.  First, ideas themselves are not copyrightable.  To win an infringement case like this, you have to prove that a detailed plan was presented to Huffington, and that all, or a convincing chunk of it was stolen, literally word for word.  Similarity doesn't go far in convincing courts.

The plaintiffs have a greater chance of winning a moral victory than a legal one, and you know how much moral victories are worth in the media world.  Arianna, not the plaintiffs, has the star power on the left, and the cash to go with it.

In Hollywood, plagiarism suits are rarely won because of the need for excruciating detail, and because juries tend to side with stars and studios. 

This isn't to say that the plaintiffs aren't right.  They may be entirely right.  Winning in court is another story. 

This will be a fascinating case to watch, though, but I don't think it will affect HP's operations. 

November 15, 2010      Permalink

SHULER TO OPPOSE PELOSI – AT 7:29 P.M. ET:  Moderate Democratic Congressman Heath Shuler of North Carolina is making it official, according to Fox News.  He will oppose Nancy Pelosi's bid to be House Minority Leader, now that she's losing the speakership.

We feel that this is a symbolic action, with little chance of success.  The Democratic House delegation is even more left wing now than before the recent election.  The liberals have the safe seats, especially those carved out for ethnic constituencies.  The moderates, representing the swing districts, which really decide the majority in the House, were wiped out.

The liberals would rather go down in flame sticking rigidly to their 1960s principles, than make reasonable compromises.  But at least Pelosi will get some opposition, reminding her that the whole country isn't San Francisco.

At the same time, formerly important filmmaker Michael Moore is urging President Obama and the Dems to go left because, according to Moore, that's really what the American people want.  Moore, who occasionally works, bases his argument on the very fact that the moderates got wiped out.  That means Americans rejected them in favor of liberals, Moore says.

Moore is not known to have a psychiatric record, but seems intent on establishing one.

November 15, 2010       Permalink 

ALREADY THE GOOD CHANGES – AT 9:15 A.M. ET:  A new Republican committee chairman, and a breath of fresh air.  From The Hill:

After a recess scare in which terrorists exposed a gaping homeland-security vulnerability, the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee is planning to hold a hearing on security procedures for U.S.-bound cargo as one of his first moves if he becomes chairman of the panel next year, as he hopes.

Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) told The Hill that when Republicans take control of the House next year, the Homeland Security panel will take a detailed look at the screening protocols the U.S. has in place for inbound cargo, in an attempt to eliminate weaknesses in the current system that could jeopardize national security. The move comes in the wake of the foiled package bombings two weeks ago.

"I intend to schedule a coordinated and detailed hearing on air cargo very early in the next Congress," said King, who added that Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) is still the chairman of the committee and in charge of its schedule.

King will make an excellent chairman.  He has never relented, in the time since the 9-11 attacks, in his concern for this nation's security.  I don't recall any contribution that Mr. Thompson has made.

We've been very lucky in thwarting terrorist attempts against the United States in recent years.  That luck won't last forever, and even greater vigilance is called for.

November 15, 2010       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:

The club of private college and university presidents earning seven figures is getting less exclusive.  Thirty presidents received more than $1 million in pay and benefits in 2008, according to an analysis of federal tax forms by The Chronicle of Higher Education. More than 1 in 5 chief executives at the 448 institutions surveyed topped $600,000.

Now you know where the $42,000 a year in tuition and fees goes.  When will we learn that colleges are businesses?

November 15, 2010      Permalink

REVOLTING, UTTERLY REVOLTING – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  Occasionally we read a story that reminds us of some things that need to be cleaned up in our society.  From a well-reported piece in The New York Times:

Large banks, hedge funds and private investors hungry for new and lucrative opportunities are bankrolling other people’s lawsuits, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into medical malpractice claims, divorce battles and class actions against corporations — all in the hope of sharing in the potential winnings.

We used to invest in building industries and establishing medical practices...and we stayed out of the marital affairs of others.  Ah yes, I remember it well.

The loans are propelling large and prominent cases. Lenders including Counsel Financial, a Buffalo company financed by Citigroup, provided $35 million for the lawsuits brought by ground zero workers that were settled tentatively in June for $712.5 million. The lenders earned about $11 million.

This is just disgraceful.  We have become the lawsuit society, and now lawsuits are investment targets.  And we wonder why Americans are disgusted with Wall Street, the "investment community," and parts of the legal profession.  These practices overshadow the genuine good that is done by many, if not most, investment houses and attorneys. 

As the story points out, these new practices do have an up side – making it possible for more people to pursue just lawsuits.  But the practices also lead to inevitable abuses that drive costs up and produce unexpected shocks for plaintiffs:

But the review shows that borrowed money also is fueling abuses, including cases initiated and controlled by investors. A Florida judge in December ordered an investment banker who orchestrated a shareholder lawsuit against Fresh Del Monte Produce to repay the company’s legal expenses, ruling that the case should not have reached trial.

Such financing also drains money from plaintiffs. Interest rates on lawsuit loans generally exceed 15 percent a year, and most states allow lawyers that borrow to bill clients for the interest payments. The cost can exceed the benefits of winning. A woman injured in a 1995 car accident outside Philadelphia borrowed money for a suit, as did her lawyer. By the time she won $169,125 in 2003, the lenders were owed $221,000.

It's time for responsible bar associations to intervene.

November 15, 2010      Permalink

OH, I'M SO GLAD ONE OF OUR GUYS SAID IT – AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  Hugh Hewitt, a conservative commentator and law teacher, is on the case - trying to nip in the bud a bad idea.  He is the only pundit who recognized the danger this quickly.  From The Washington Examiner:

With all due respect to Nancy Reagan, her proposal that the first Republican debate of the 2012 season be held at the Reagan Library in the spring of 2011 is worse than a nonstarter. The country needs to focus on the hugely important congressional debates this spring, not on made-for-MSM, liberal-dominated GOP wrestling matches.

The idea is itself an insult to conservative activists and new media. A quick rejection by GOP candidates of the presumptuous declaration of inevitability by Politico.com and NBC that they would be in charge would go a long way toward recognizing that these outlets, like most of the Beltway-Manhattan media elite, went in the tank for President Obama in 2008 and won't be allowed to dictate the terms of the 2012 presidential race.

Yay, team.  That says it.

...both outlets are significantly biased to the left, and not just to the president, but to the whole Beltway culture which is inherently big-government oriented and dominated by the conventional big-government wisdom about every debate. Very few Beltway media voices retain any connection to the conservative grass roots or the GOP's base, and those that do don't work at Politico or NBC.

In fact, those journalists never appear at these debates, which are instead given over to lefties like the affable Anderson Cooper, the professional but still MSM-driven Wolf Blitzer, the amiable Brian Williams or the talented-but-still-Beltway-driven John Harris or Jim Lehrer.

Can we be honest? They are all liberals. All of them. Not one of the questioners that could or would be proposed by Politico or NBC would be remotely in touch with the cares, concerns, and passions of the GOP's primary electorate. The process of choosing a GOP nominee should not be mediated by the left-wing media -- again.

Hewett has set the terms of a discussion that we, as a nation, need to have:  Who runs presidential debates?  Who chooses the questioners?  Why are there rarely any representatives of new, more conservative media?  Why do all the questioners work for large news organizations inside the beltway?

"Meet the Press," when it was run by the late Lawrence Spivack, often had reporters from small newspapers, even though they might have been assigned to Washington.  That's a good place to begin.  Then go through the staff roster of, say, National Review or The Weekly Standard.

November 15, 2010      Permalink

Y'THINK? – AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  It must've taken a headline writer at The Politico half a day to come up with something this penetrating, this revealing:

Low youth turnout likely hurt Democrats in the midterms

Yeah, guys, I think we could figure that out on our own.  And that fact reminds us of one of the most basic rules in American politics:  Never depend on the youth vote.  Kids are, well, kids.  They're immature and unreliable.  They go for fads, for the trends of the moment.  They haven't yet shouldered the responsibilities that makes real adults more careful voters.

In college towns from Durham, N.H., to Charlottesville, Va., and in university precincts as varied as Columbus, Ohio, and Syracuse, N.Y., a lack of campus enthusiasm appears to have contributed to the downfall of a group of House freshmen who rode into office in 2008 on Barack Obama’s popularity with students.

Consider Ohio: Two years ago, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy rode the Obama campus wave to win the Columbus-based 15th District by 2,300 votes, ending more than 40 years of Republican control of the seat.

This year, however, Steve Stivers, the Republican she narrowly beat in 2008, trounced her by nearly 14 percentage points — about 30,000 votes.

The showing at the polls near Ohio State University was anemic.

Let's hear it for the stay-at-homes.  I don't want this country's future being decided by college students, although I'd probably trust them more than their professors. 

As for Mary Jo Kilroy, she is one of the most extreme of the leftist Dems elected in 2008.  It's encouraging to see her returned to the private sector, where she can become a community organizer.  Very trendy, you know.

November 15, 2010     Permalink