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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22,  2010

OH, THE GOSSIP WAS GOOD – AT 10:27 P.M. ET:  Now, you really feel you have to read this because I used the word "gossip."  Right?  Admit it.

Okay, here goes.  I was at a meeting tonight dealing with happenings in the academic world.  I cannot use names, but an exceedingly well informed source told me that he was in discussion with a formerly high official of Columbia University, circa early 80s, and the subject turned to Barack Obama, class of '83.  The Columbia man told this source, approximate quote, "Nothing at that time went through the Political Science Department without my knowing about it, and I never heard of Barack Obama."

Hmm.  There was a poll taken of 450 members of the class of '83, and not one person polled remembered Obama.  And, apparently, no faculty member recalls him.

What's going on here? 

I don't know, but I'd love to.

November 22, 2010       Permalink 

DIRECT FROM YOUR CHECKBOOK – AT 2:47 P.M. ET:  This is pretty incredble, but watch the sympathy that will come from the left:

The so-called Ground Zero mosque recently applied for a $5 million federal grant from a fund designed to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11, reports The Daily Beast’s John Avlon.

Developers of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center and mosque located two blocks from Ground Zero earlier this month applied for roughly $5 million in federal grant money set aside for the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after the attacks of September 11th, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The audacious move stands to reignite the embers of a divisive debate that dominated headlines surrounding the ninth anniversary of the attacks this fall, say people vested in the issue.

The application was submitted under a “community and cultural enhancement” grant program administered by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation (LMDC), which oversaw the $20 billion in federal aid allocated in the wake of 9/11 and is currently doling out millions in remaining taxpayer funds for community development. The redevelopment board declined to comment on the application (as did officials from Park51), citing the still ongoing and confidential process of determining the grant winners.

While news of the application has not previously been made public, developer Sharif El-Gamal outlined it in closed-door meetings, according to two individuals he spoke with directly. The thirtysomething, Brooklyn-born El-Gamal is motivated more by real estate ambition—one of these sources describes him as aspiring to be the next Donald Trump—than Islamic theology or ideology.

COMMENT:  Public funds?  For a religious center?  Now, just imagine if a Christian church had applied for this money.  The libs would go berserk.  They'd stamp the First Amendment on their foreheads.  I just can't wait for the revision of thought we're almost sure to see here.

The grant should be turned down.  Religious groups should raise their own funds. 

November 22, 2010       Permalink

AND THEY LECTURE US! – AT 2:41 P.M. ET:  Ireland has asked for a bailout to help solve its economic woes.  Greece came first.  And now we see the grim future.  From CNBC:

The biggest bailout the European Union will have to do if it comes to it will be Spain and it is worrying that there is not a set mechanism on how to go about it, Cornelia Meyer, CEO & Chairman, MRL Corporation, told CNBC Monday.

At the weekend, euro zone financial ministers and Irish officials agreed on a bailout of under 100 billion euros ($137 billion) for Ireland, sending stocks in Europe and the euro higher, as investors breathed a sigh of relief.

But the next in line for European Union and International Monetary Fund money may be Portugal, and then Spain, analysts said.

"We're getting near the end-game in terms of Ireland, and that was a good bailout, and we did all the right things; but hot on the heels of Ireland we have Portugal and then Spain, and Spain will be the biggie," Meyer said.

She predicted that a Spanish bailout would likely cost up to 500 billion euros; but there is no "real mechanism" to deal with it, Meyer added.

COMMENT:  The economic instability in Europe is frightening.  We know European history.  What know what economic stress produced in Germany in the 1930s.  It can happen again, in a number of places.  There is no guarantee that democracy will survive in some of these countries, especially the ones where fascism flourished until relatively recent times.

November 22, 2010      Permalink

NOVEMBER 22nd – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  This is the 47th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.  For those of a certain age, there are three dates that never leave us – December 7th, 1941; November 22, 1963; and September 11, 2001. 

Whether you favored President Kennedy or not, he represented the Democratic Party when it was still the national defense party.  His soaring inaugural address, in which he pledged that the United States would "pay any price" in defense of freedom, would be laughed at and ridiculed by his own party today.  Indeed, Jack Kennedy today might be a Republican.

In 1963, when President Kennedy was murdered, his Democratic Party still had a powerful Southern wing.  It was truly a national party.  It represented the feelings of working people well because it actually spoke with them.  Today the party considers itself quite superior to the people it claims to represent.

I was being discharged from the Army the hour President Kennedy was assassinated.  I still recall the absolute silence in Pennsylvania Station as I waited for my train to my parents' home on Long Island.  We'd lost presidents before.  I can still recall, vaguely, President Roosevelt's death.  But we hadn't had a president assassinated since McKinley. 

But I also recall the outrage of some northeast liberals, who would later come to symbolize the modern Democratic Party, that Lyndon Johnson would be president.  Although he was one of the great legislators of the 20th century, Johnson was despised by a certain element that couldn't stand the way he talked or where he went to school.   He wasn't like us, and that's what counted.  I didn't know it at the time, but we were seeing the start of a fatal split in the party, a cultural split, that lasts to this day.

In a few months the last Kennedy will be gone from Congress, and the dynasty, like the Roosevelt dynasty, will probably pass into history.  No one knows what President Kennedy would think of the United States today.  I think we can guess what he'd think of his party.

November 22, 2010      Permalink

THOSE PEASANTS OUT THERE, THEY'RE SO BENEATH US – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  If liberals want to stage any kind of comeback, and if the academic and journalistic worlds want to stop alienating huge chunks of the American public, they might all take a silent pledge to eliminate the word "stupid" from their vocabulary.  This is common sense, which some of these characters just don't seem to have.  From the Washington Examiner:

Political reporters often rely on University of Wisconsin political scientist Charles Franklin for expertise. In just the past few months, his insights have appeared in articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Associated Press, Politico, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and many other publications. He's also a co-founder of the influential website Pollster.com, as well as co-director of the Big Ten Battleground Poll.

So Franklin answered with considerable authority when he was asked, at a recent forum on the November 2 election results, why Republicans emerged victorious in so many races. "I'm not endorsing the American voter," Franklin said. "They're pretty damn stupid."

Franklin was responding to a question from Bill Lueders, news editor of Isthmus, a weekly alternative newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. In an account published Thursday (H/T Ann Althouse), Lueders says he asked Franklin why "the public seemed to vote against its own interests and stated desires, for instance by electing candidates who'll drive up the deficit with fiscally reckless giveaways to the rich."

"Franklin, perhaps a bit too candidly, conceded the point," Lueders writes. "'I'm not endorsing the American voter,' he answered. 'They're pretty damn stupid.'"

Lueders writes that he responded, "Thank you, professor. That's the answer I was looking for."

COMMENT:  Well, first of all, Bill Lueders is a walking example of why Americans have lost confidence in the media.  When he said, "That's the answer I was looking for," Professor Franklin should have stopped the conference in its tracks and replied, "I don't give answers you're looking for, young man.  I give answers I think are right."  But, alas, the professor didn't.  Maybe he didn't think there was anything wrong with Lueders's approach to his craft.

Now for Professor Franklin:  I don't think I'd be too interested in anything he has to say in the future.  Clearly, he doesn't know his own country.  Isn't it interesting, but I didn't hear "scholars" using the word "stupid" to describe the American voter after the 2008 election.  I wonder why.  Could it be that they agreed with what the voters did, and that therefore the voters were suddenly intelligent?

This is cheap talk, unbecoming a professor.  American voters are far from stupid.  As a group, they're probably the most discerning in the world.  Proof:  In the face of a Republican tide, voters in several states - Nevada, Colorado, Delaware – voted down a Republican candidate for the Senate they thought was too extreme, and in Alaska voted, with write-in ballots, for the candidate they wanted to remain in the Senate.  We may not agree with their choices, but their choices were clearly made thoughtfully, not stupidly.

I may have told this story before:  I once interviewed Charles Kuralt, the CBS reporter who did the "On the Road" series for years, driving around the country and interviewing ordinary Americans.  I asked him for the single most important thing he learned in all those years.  Without hesitation he replied, "I'm always amazed at how well informed Americans are."  And Kuralt was right.  Americans are probably the best informed voters in the world, and, as a group, they do care.  Watch tracking polls during election campaigns.  As soon as anything important happens, the polls change.  Americans are listening.

There's a whole tier of elites who love to make fun of their fellow Americans.  It makes them feel superior, more important, and more knowledgeable.  And they love words like "stupid."  Many of these people are in the knowledge industry.  Their greatest fear is that someone else may know as much as they do.  Harry Truman said it best:  "You can't tell an expert anything because then he's not an expert anymore."

Professor Franklin, like many other professors, might do well to temper his rhetoric, and demonstrate some becoming modesty.  The great professors who taught me were always the first to tell students what they didn't know.  And never, and I mean never, did I hear one of them use the word "stupid." 

November 22, 2010      Permalink

GERMANS TAKING TERROR REPORTS VERY SERIOUSLY – AT 7:54 A.M. ET:  As the holiday season approaches, we must be especially vigilant about terror.  Remember last year's Christmas Day bomber?

Apparently, Germany is taking terror warnings very seriously.  From Fox News:

BERLIN—Germany is bracing for possible terrorist attacks amid growing signs that Islamic extremists are preparing at least one assault somewhere in the country in the coming weeks, possibly in the capital, Berlin.

Authorities in Berlin are racing to track two suspected suicide bombers believed to be planning to strike a prominent location, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Police are combing through travel and visa records and scrutinizing arrivals from the Mideast and South Asia as they hunt the pair, this person said.

Meanwhile, a second group of terrorists, is reported to be planning to travel to Germany in the coming weeks to launch a small-arms attack on one or more urban centers in the next three months, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The threats have unnerved many Germans after government officials played down similar warnings from U.S. intelligence in recent months. Concerns of an imminent attack prompted a rare public warning Wednesday by Germany's interior ministry that terrorists plan to strike one or more crowded public locations in major German cities by the end of this month.

The warnings have put a damper on planned holiday festivities. Cities across Germany have begun opening their traditional Christmas markets, but many citizens are worried the fairs offer terrorists key targets.

COMMENT:  This dovetails well with the report we published yesterday that Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula boasts that it's planning a series of small attacks, instead of one large one, the better to bleed its enemies over time.

German authorities clearly regard the terror threats as extremely credible.  It is very difficult to stop a small group of terrorists, if they are successful in entering the country, unless you know exactly where and when they plan to strike.  The Germans apparently have only a small piece of the puzzle.

November 22, 2010       Permalink

TRAVEL NEWS – AT 7:47 A.M. ET:  Provided as a service, just so you'll know:

TRENTON, New Jersey (AP) — A national study finds St. Louis overtook Camden, New Jersey, as the nation's most dangerous city in 2009.

Congratulations to St. Louis.  We knew you could do it.

The study released Sunday by CQ Press found St. Louis had 2,070.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, compared with a national average of 429.4. That helped St. Louis beat out Camden, which topped last year's list and was the most dangerous city for 2003 and 2004.

So it's five times the national average.  So what.  Take a cab, hire a bodyguard, pack a Smith&Wesson.  You'll be fine.

Detroit, Flint, Michigan, and Oakland, California, rounded out the top five.

Each one a garden spot of the world.

For the second straight year, the safest city with more than 75,000 residents was Colonie, New York.

Frankly, I never heard of it, and I'm a New Yorker.  No crime, no publicity.

The annual rankings are based on population figures and crime data compiled by the FBI. Some criminologists question the findings, saying the methodology is unfair.

Yeah, they adctually count the number of crimes.  They should be weighing the socio-economic aspects that underpin the anti-social behavior of oppressed peoples.  That's right, isn't it?

COMMENT:  New York City addressed its crime problem with considerable success.  Why can't these other cities do the same?  And why isn't that question asked by the politically correct press? 

November 22, 2010       Permalink

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21,  2010

AL QAEDA SPEAKS AGAIN, BUT WILL WE LISTEN? – AT 9:10 P.M. ET: 

Printer bombs planted on two cargo flights last month cost only a few thousand dollars and were intended to affect the American economy, according to a newly published Al Qaeda-affiliated magazine.

The attempt was called "Operation Hemorrhage," boasted the magazine, and the entire plot cost al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, only $4,200.

Yesterday, a special edition of Inspire magazine -- an English-language propaganda publication produced by AQAP -- gave a detailed description of how the attempted attack was conceived and produced.

"Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200," one article said. "That is all that Operation Hemorrhage cost us. In terms of time, it took us three months to plan and execute the operation from beginning to end."

The magazine also revealed the attack was not meant to kill more than the plane's pilot and co-pilot, and was meant to force the U.S. government to spend billions of dollars on preventive security screening measures.

The strategy, the magazine said, was "of attacking the enemy with smaller, but more frequent operations is what some may refer to as the strategy of a thousand cuts. The aim is to bleed the enemy to death."

COMMENT: Some of this may be bravado, but it makes sense.  AQAP may not be capable of a 9-11 type attack, but it is capable of the "thousand cuts."  And of course they are right.  If several of these attacks succeed, we will have to ramp up security, if only to satisfy public demand. 

And what if attacks are conducted in shopping malls?  Aboard trains and buses? 

Israel responded to attacks like that by building a security fence, and it worked.  We aren't even serious about securing our southern border, which could easily be used to transport small bombs.

Our enemies can't fail forever.

November 21, 2010      Permalink

ANOTHER FAMOUS VICTORY – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  While the administration exhibits no particular urgency about North Korea (see post just below), it is absolutely adoring about another problematical country, the rinky-dink kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

In fact, the Obamans are pursuing the largest arms deal in American history with the country that's sponsored more Muslim extremism than any other.  And it tried to get the deal in under the radar.  From ABC News:

The Obama administration has quietly forged ahead with its proposal to sell $60 billion worth of fighter jets and attack helicopters to Saudi Arabia unhampered by Congress, despite questions raised in legislative inquiries and in an internal congressional report about the wisdom of the deal.

The massive arms deal would be the single largest sale of weapons to a foreign nation in the history of the U.S., outfitting Saudi Arabia with a fully modernized, potent new air force.

"Our six-decade-long security relationship with Saudi Arabia is a primary security pillar in the region," Defense Sec. Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote in a Nov. 16 letter to congress. "This package continues that tradition."

But some critics are questioning the deal, and the stealthy effort by the Obama administration to avoid a more probing congressional review by notifying Congress last month, just as members were headed home for the November elections. Congress had 30 days to raise objections -- a review period that concludes Saturday. With most members leaving Washington today, any significant effort to block the deal appears dead for now, officials said.

"I do not think there will be any action" to hold up the sale, Rep. Howard Berman, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Bloomberg News Thursday.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, submitted a resolution this week to try and block the deal, and was among those who objected to the way the administration approached the required congressional review.

"Hiding this in a recess announcement is a sign of how unpopular it is," he said. "It's bad policy that now is further tainted by shameful process."

COMMENT:  As one observer noted, as long as Saudi Arabia remains stable and considers itself an ally of the U.S., if a troublesome ally, there may not be much danger to the deal.  But Saudi Arabia is run by 80-year-olds, and is facing instability in the south, which borders on the hot terrorist base of Yemen.  It also is home to a corps of radical Muslim teachers and propagandists.   

The sneakiness of the administration will once again raise the deepest suspicions about the president's apparent bias toward the Muslim world.  Even if the deal goes through, there are ways down the road for Congress to stop or reduce it.  It clearly requires extensive hearings and assurances.

November 21, 2010      Permalink

SURPRISED AGAIN – AT 10:18  A.M. ET:  If there are two words that define the recent failures in American foreign policy they are "North Korea."  Now, apparently, we've been surprised again, and in a very grim way.  These are chickens that will come home to roost.  From the BBC:

An American nuclear scientist says he was shown a vast new nuclear facility when he visited North Korea last week.

Dr Siegfried Hecker said he had been shown "more than 1,000 centrifuges" for enriching uranium, which can be used for making nuclear weapons.

The Stanford University scientist was stunned at how sophisticated the plant was, according to reported remarks.

When international weapons inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009, the plant did not exist, officials say.

Dr Hecker's discovery was first reported in the New York Times, where he spoke of being taken to see an "ultra-modern control room".

In subsequent remarks obtained by AP news agency, he said that unlike other North Korean facilities it "would fit into any modern American processing facility", and spoke of more than 1,000 centrifuges "all neatly aligned and plumbed below us".

He said the facilities appeared to be primarily for civilian nuclear power - and he saw no evidence of plutonium production.

But Dr Hecker said the new facilities he viewed "could be readily converted to produce highly enriched uranium bomb fuel", AP reported.

The North is believed to have weaponised enough plutonium for at least six atomic bombs but is not known to have a uranium-based weapons programme.

COMMENT:  I love that last line, the old leftist BBC trying to reassure us.  But the facts are clear:  North Korea is going ahead with its nuclear program despite all the years of negotiations, and there appears nothing is going to get in their way.  The North recently sank a South Korean warship, and received little more than a reprimand.

North Korea is known to export its technology.  It is also unstable and impoverished.  This is one of the most dangerous situations in the world, and we really don't seem to care much.  Democracies, as a rule, need to be jolted awake. 

November 21, 2010       Permalink

ANOTHER ECONOMY BITING THE DUST – AT 9:59 A.M. ET:  Americans are understandably preoccupied by their own economic problems.  But we should be aware that a number of European countries, including ones that regularly lecture us, are also in trouble.  Their problems might become our problems before too long if Europe slips into a deeper recession.  From The New York Times:

DUBLIN — Ireland has formally applied for a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, Brian Lenihan, the country’s finance minister, said Sunday.

Speaking on Ireland’s RTE radio, Mr. Lenihan said the application would be approved at a cabinet meeting later Sunday in Dublin.

The bailout would be in the tens of billions of euros, he said, adding that the final figure was subject to further negotiations.

His announcement ended a feverish bout of speculation on the rescue talks, which took on added urgency this weekend as the depth of the problems in the Irish banking sector became known to I.M.F. and European officials. People briefed on the talks said that the fear had grown that without swift action, a full-fledged banking panic might materialize on Monday.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Brian Cowen insisted that no form of debt restructuring would be on the table, despite a growing cry in Ireland and abroad for the bondholders — who financed the boom that has brought such a painful aftermath in this country — to share some of the pain.

COMMENT:  Yeah, what about that boom?  Where did it go?  It proves once again that economic prosperity on Monday is no guarantee of boom times on Tuesday.  Remember Japan, and how it would take over the world?  Why, the Japanese were buying American icons like Rockefeller Center and Columbia Pictures.

And today?  Japan struggles along, predicted Japanese dominance but a memory.

We're told that China will soon dominate the world's economy.  But China is plagued with problems, including an inability by the central government to control distant provinces. 

Other countries sometimes look ten feet tall to us.  It was only a few years ago when "Ireland's miracle" was being advertised.  No longer.  We wish Ireland well, and we wish ourselves well. 

November 21, 2010    Permalink