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FEBRUARY 4,  2011

IT'S A WONDERFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, A WONDERFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD – AT 8:14 P.M. ET:  Calling Mr. Rogers.  Come in, Mr. Rogers.  We need him to add to the glowing reports of how our glorious president is calling the shots in Egypt, after a peaceful day of protests.  Riots and hell-on-Earth violence failed to materialize:

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama said Friday that talks between the Egyptian government and its political opponents were in the initial stages, but warned that the mere "pretense of reform" would not be enough to resolve that country's deepening crisis.

Please recall Obama's deep concern for reform in Egypt about, oh, two weeks ago.  Never mind.

The transition of power "must begin now" and lead to "free and fair elections," he declared. Negotiations must "include a broad representation of the Egyptian opposition," he told reporters.

That is world-class inept.  Why should there be a "broad representation"?  This will be interpreted as Obama inviting in the Muslim Brotherhood, a fascist, ultra-fundamentalist organization.  Why?  Why?

Asked if embattled President Hosni Mubarak needs to step down now -- as opposed to waiting for a successor to be chosen in Egypt's September elections -- Obama said Mubarak needs to consult with advisers and listen to what's "being voiced by the Egyptian people."

There are 85 million Egyptians.  Who knows what they're actually thinking?  As a professional community organizer, Obama is very huge about street demonstrations.  You know, the old socialists liked to write in their diaries, "They are in the streets," when they saw four members of the peasantry carrying placards.

The Egyptian leader is "proud" but also a "patriot," Obama said. Mubarak needs to make a judgment about his legacy and the best "pathway forward." Violence and repression have no role in the "orderly transition process," he added. "The whole world is watching."

Yup, there it is.  The leftist slogan from 1968:  "The whole world is watching."  You can take the lad out of Chicago, but you can't take the 1968 Chicago Democratic convention out of the lad.

I think we know what Obama really believes. 

We'd all like to see democracy and freedom in Egypt, assuming it's a rational democracy.  But Obama's posturing is too much, really too much.

Mr. Rogers, a really decent guy, could have done much better.

February 4, 2011      Permalink

IF THIS IS TRUE, IT'S STUNNING – AT 8:02 P.M. ET:  This is guaranteed to create an uproar, both in the UK and here.  There'd better be a fast explanation, and it had better be good.  From London's Telegraph:

The US secretly agreed to give the Russians sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent to persuade them to sign a key treaty, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Information about every Trident missile the US supplies to Britain will be given to Russia as part of an arms control deal signed by President Barack Obama next week.

Defence analysts claim the agreement risks undermining Britain’s policy of refusing to confirm the exact size of its nuclear arsenal.

The fact that the Americans used British nuclear secrets as a bargaining chip also sheds new light on the so-called “special relationship”, which is shown often to be a one-sided affair by US diplomatic communications obtained by the WikiLeaks website.

Details of the behind-the-scenes talks are contained in more than 1,400 US embassy cables published to date by the Telegraph, including almost 800 sent from the London Embassy, which are published online today.

COMMENT:  There is nothing more to say about this.  We await further information.  It is perfectly obvious that Barack Obama has a deep hostility to Britain, and, frankly, to many of his own countrymen.  But if he's giving away British military secrets for his own treaty needs – and his own greater glory – that is grave business indeed.

February 4, 2011     Permalink

IS THIS SERIOUS? – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  Well, we have this tradition.  Before World War II we sold scrap iron to Japan, and it came back in the form of warships.  And some American companies had major interests in Nazi Germany, with which they shared technology.  But, you know, our weapons were made here.  We didn't farm out B-17 production to potential enemies.  Apparently, times have changed.  From Fox News:

BEIJING—The maker of China's new stealth fighter jet has teamed up with a tiny, unprofitable California company to try to launch bids for U.S. defense contracts, possibly including one to supply Chinese helicopters to replace the aging Marine One fleet used by the president, according to people involved in the partnership.

Any Chinese bids for this or another contract under discussion would be certain to meet intense political resistance and would appear to have very little chance of success given mounting U.S. concern about China's military power and long-term strategic goals, and the often-prohibitive opposition in the past to Chinese attempts to enter other strategic U.S. sectors, such as energy and telecommunications.

However, the fact that state-run China Aviation Industry Corp., known as AVIC, is even considering bids for these contracts, which industry insiders expect to be awarded in the next two to three years, reflects the rapid development and lofty ambitions of China's aerospace industry.

COMMENT:  If this president starts flying around in a Marine One made in China, I think he should be denied landing rights.  Or maybe he could come down in a bed of chow mein, and walk through it.

Geez.

February 4, 2011       Permalink

WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 9:34 A.M. ET:  He stands as one of the most polarizing presidents on record, according to a new poll reported in The Politico:

President Barack Obama’s approval ratings during his second year in office were the most partisan and polarized they’ve ever been at two years into a presidency, with a nearly 70 percentage point gap between how Republicans and Democrats evaluated his performance.

Obama’s approval among Republicans averaged just 13 percent, while Democrats’ approval of Obama’s second year averaged 81 percent.

The 68-point differential is the fourth-largest on record, behind years four, five and six of George W. Bush’s presidency, when the partisan gap was between 70 and 76 points. Gallup’s data reaches back to 1954-1955, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s second year in office.

Before Obama, only Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton saw gaps of more than 50 percentage points between Republicans’ and Democrats’ approval during their second years in office. Between January 1982 and January 1983, Reagan’s approval averaged 79 percent among Republicans and 23 percent among Democrats – a 56 percentage point difference. Clinton’s approval averaged 19 percent among Republicans and 73 percent among Democrats between January 1994 and January 1995, a 54-point margin.

COMMENT:  Obama is making a concerted effort to appear centrist these days.  That may work for a time, but two things will clearly be decisive in next year's presidential election.  (Yes, I said next year's.)  Those are the state of the economy and the choice of a Republican nominee.

This morning's job report was mediocre.  Canada, a country whose population is only 33.7 million, created 69,200 jobs last month.  The U.S. created 36,000.

The excuse brigade is out in force in D.C. this morning saying our poor performance was due to the cold weather.  Have any of these gents noticed where Canada is located?  So what did they have up there in January?  A heat wave?  Calling Al Gore.

February 4, 2011       Permalink

WE MUST NOT FORGET THIS – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:   A Senate committee has now given its report on the Fort Hood massacre, conveniently swept under the rug by the Pentagon, and it's devastating.  Our soldiers, killed on American soil, were failed by the Army and by the FBI, and at the core of the failure was the disgrace of political correctness.  From the Washington Post:

A Senate investigation of the Fort Hood shootings faults the Army and FBI with missing warning signs and not exchanging information that could have prevented the massacre.

The report, released Thursday, concludes that systemic and cultural problems caused military officials to miss signs that the suspect, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, was becoming increasingly radical before the 2009 attack.

It also concludes that the FBI did not share information with the Army - notably, e-mails that Hasan, an Army psychiatrist and practicing Muslim, exchanged with a "suspected terrorist," a likely reference to Anwar al-Aulaqi, an Islamic cleric known for his extremist views. The report says the agency may have dismissed such clues to avoid "a bureaucratic confrontation."

At a news conference Thursday, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) said the probe's "painful conclusion is that the Fort Hood massacre could have and should have been prevented."

In particular, Lieberman said the report, issued by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, indicates that the FBI had compelling evidence of extremism that should have led to Hasan's military discharge and made him the subject of a counterterrorism investigation.

And the bureaucrats answer:

The Army and FBI said in separate statements that they have implemented numerous preventative steps since the shootings. The military, for example, has begun requiring troops to report behavior by fellow service members that might indicate extremism.

Douglas MacArthur said that all military disasters begin with two words:  Too late. 

I'm sure the families of those murdered GI's and civilians at Fort Hood take comfort in knowing that the government is now taking "numerous" steps to prevent a recurrence.  We recall that agencies weren't exchanging much information before 9-11 either.

Read the whole story.  Well worth it. 

February 4, 2011      Permalink

EGYPT STILL BOILING – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  There are mass demonstrations again in Egypt today.  There are fears that many Egyptians will go to Friday prayers at their mosques, hear fiery sermons, and then go out and get reckless, a polite way of putting it.

The real action is not in the streets, and some of it is intriguing.  First, the story circulated yesterday that President Obama has reprimanded his intelligence chiefs for not warning about what was about to happen in Egypt.  But then, an intelligence official testifying before a Senate committee revealed that Mr. Obama was warned of instability in Egypt late last year.  Leave it to Barack Obama to try, in the midst of a crisis, to put the blame on someone.  That big bus is still parked outside the White House.  Hosni Mubarak was thrown under it earlier this week, joining Reverend Wright of Chicago and other unworthies.  Now the intelligence bigs are apparently headed for the space under the rear axle.  Maybe the president, after he watches the Super Bowl on Sunday, will put in some serious thought on how to salvage our Mideast policy.

And we're getting a gentle slap in the face from some European leaders, as the Jerusalem Post reports.  Not everyone is as gung-ho for dumping an ally as quickly as Obama has been.

European Union leaders arriving for the summit Friday called for a "national dialogue" between the government and opposition in Egypt amid escalating violent protests.

But they shied away from supporting the Obama administration's effort to persuade President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said it was essential that the government and people "move forward together." Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said it would be "gratuitous and arrogant" to call for Mubarak's resignation.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that he hoped Egypt could move towards a democracy without having to part with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Boy, aren't you impressed with the clout Obama has.  Outside the teen market, and the faculty lounges of the Ivy League, the man can't convince anyone of anything.  When you dump allies quickly, and flash weakness toward enemies, there is a result.

Stand by for more.  This story continues to develop.

February 4, 2011     Permalink

FEBRUARY 3,  2011

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 7:49 P.M. ET:

From ABC News:  The president this weekend will host his annual Super Bowl party at the White House to watch the Green Bay Packers take on the Pittsburgh Steelers. But among the usual guests, including members of Congress, Cabinet Members and White House staff are J-Lo and Marc Anthony, the First Lady’s Office confirmed today.

What was Nero doing while Rome burned? 

February 3, 2011       Permalink

EGYPT UPDATE – AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  Not a good tourist day in Egypt.  There was more violence, generated, we're told, by the pro-Mubarak forces.  Washington, of course, righteously condemned the violence.  There has been the sudden discovery that Mubarak is dictatorial.  Who knew?  From Fox:

CAIRO – Protesters and regime supporters fought in a second day of rock-throwing battles at a central Cairo square while new lawlessness spread around the city. New looting and arson erupted, and gangs of thugs supporting President Hosni Mubarak attacked reporters, foreigners and rights workers while the army rounded up foreign journalists.

As bruised and bandaged protesters danced in victory after forcing back Mubarak loyalists attacking Tahrir Square, the government increasingly spread an image that foreigners were fueling the turmoil and supporting the unprecedented wave of demonstrations demanding the ouster of Mubarak, this country's unquestioned ruler for nearly three decades.

"When there are demonstrations of this size, there will be foreigners who come and take advantage and they have an agenda to raise the energy of the protesters," Vice President Omar Suleiman said in an interview on state TV.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned "in the strongest terms" the pro-government mobs that beat, threatened and intimidated reporters in Cairo.

Attacks on peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists, foreigners and diplomats were "unacceptable under any circumstances," she said.

COMMENT:  Another development today:  Journalists have begun to "examine" the Muslim Brotherhood, and some are starting to rationalize its participation in any new Egyptian government, despite its radical and dark past.  We're being fed the line that the Brotherhood is less extreme than Al Qaeda (gee, thanks), and has forsaken violence.  Of course, its offshoot in Gaza, Hamas, never got that e-mail.

And once again we find silence among "feminist" groups, which should be outraged that the misogynist Brotherhood (no sisterhood there) might come to power.  Once more we find that left-wing politics, not women's rights, form the agenda for many "women's" groups. 

What we're starting to see is what we see in every international crisis – the left is starting to re-organize, and to spout its old line, using new language.  Code Pink is already in Cairo, as is the traveling circus of leftist journalists.  Left-wing and Arabist professors are speaking out, embracing the "multiculturalism" (hah) of the Egyptian revolution. 

Funny, but many of these leftists weren't saying a word about Egyptian dictatorship a mere two weeks ago.  I guess they've spotted a new trend, a new topic for cocktail-party conversation on New York's west side.  Some things never change, including the religion called "the left."

February 3, 2011     Permalink

END GAME? – AT 7:02 P.M. ET:  Virginia, under its aggressive conservative government, is moving to get a final judicial verdict on the constitutionality of Obamacare:

RICHMOND - Virginia will ask that the U.S. Supreme Court immediately review the state's constitutional challenge to the federal health-care overhaul, a rare legal request to bypass appeals and ask for early intervention from the nation's highest court, Attorney General Ken T. Cuccinelli II said Thursday.

Cuccinelli (R) said that conflicting court decisions about the law's constitutionality have created sufficient uncertainty about implementation of the sweeping law to justify speeding Supreme Court review.

The Justice Department will oppose the motion, saying that the case should be fully heard by lower courts before the Supreme Court takes action.

The high court has granted such requests infrequently, and many experts said they think Cuccinelli's filing is a longshot. Supporters of the law said that the provision at the heart of the legal dispute - a requirement that individuals buy health insurance - will not go into effect until 2014.

COMMENT:  Eventually, this will go to the high court.   My own view, as a citizen, is that the court should grant Cuccinelli's motion because health care is so central to American life and the American economy.  Although the individual mandate, requiring that individuals buy health insurance, doesn't formally go into effect until 2014, it is at the heart of the law, and the heart of the uncertainty.

February 3, 2011      Permalink

INDIA WARNED US ON TERRORISM – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  We're a bit hypocritical on this.  While we oppose WikiLeaks, we are learning from the purloined documents it's released.  This is a warning from India.  Islamic terrorists may look very different in the future.  From The Times of India:

WASHINGTON: Some five months before the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, India had warned the US about increasing " white faces" in terrorist camps along Pak-Afghan border and the attempt by jihadi groups to acquire fissile material to "fabricate a crude bomb beyond a dirty bomb."

According to a US diplomatic cable dated May 30, 2008, released by WikiLeaks the then National Security Advisor M K Narayanan had said this during a meeting with the visiting American Senators Russ Feingold and Bob Casey in New Delhi.

According to the cable, Narayanan told the Senators that the US-India relationship amounts to much more than just trade links and defence deals, but rather benefits from a mutual empathy.

Asked about terrorism, Narayanan related that training camps on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have attracted more "white faces."

"He also noted jihadi groups have attempted to acquire fissile material and have the technical competence to manufacture an explosive device beyond a mere dirty bomb," the cable said.

COMMENT:  Readers may recall that our own coverage of the Mumbai attacks benefited enormously from the on-the-scene reporting of reader Renee Nielsen, whose work was superb.

We have two warnings here – that jihadist groups are recruiting Westerners with "white" faces, making them harder to detect, and that these groups have the competence to go nuclear, if they can get the materials. 

This is one of a number of recent warnings that Al Qaeda and allied groups are advancing their technical capabilities.  I don't think we'll take this very seriously until we're woken up one morning by the ticking of a Geiger counter.

February 3, 2011       Permalink

IF IT'S ANTI-AMERICAN, IT MUST BE CODE PINK – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  They're back.  Wherever there's a chance for a really good zinger against the United States, Code Pink shows up.  Naturally, they'll be described by the painstream media as, variously, an "anti-war" or "human rights" group.  They are, of course, neither.  They're an extreme leftist group allied with anti-American causes around the world.  Now they're in Egypt:

Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin Wednesday headed up a dozen Code Pink banner-bearing activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square -- a scene she said descended into a bloody "war zone" as "government thugs" battled pro-democracy demonstrators.

But Benjamin told us by cell phone just minutes also that while the government of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak government has now signalled it will "go down kicking and screaming,'' pro-democracy protesters are fully determined and "ready to die here."

We caught Benjamin just after midnight Egyptian time as she retreated from the embattled square in Cairo -- in a country where Internet coverage is just returning after days of blackout. Benjamin, a longtime Bay Area progessive activist, has been in the region since Monday with Code Pink and said the lack of Internet connection has been frustrating.

But she noted it couldn't stop her and the Code Pinkers who took to the square Wednesday, parading a large banner in both Engligh and Arabic, reading: "The World Says It's Time For Mubarak to Go."

COMMENT:  Medea Benjamin must have heard that Mubarak is considered an American ally.  Therefore, she was on the next plane out.

Oh, by the way, have you noticed that no one does any reporting on this group in detail.   Like, where do they get the money for all these foreign trips they take?  Who's financing them?  What do they really believe?  If America is for it, they're against it, but no questions are asked. 

Once again we see the double standard in journalism.  If you're on the right, your whole life is examined.  If you're on the left, drive right through.

February 3, 2011       Permalink

HOTBED OF TERROISM, GROWING UNSTABLE – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  Things are also boiling in Yemen, a central recruiting and training ground for some terrorist groups.   From Reuters:

More than 20,000 Yemenis filled the streets of Sanaa on Thursday for a "Day of Rage" rally, demanding a change in government and saying President Ali Abdullah Saleh's offer to step down in 2013 was not enough.

Further anti-government protests were expected across Yemen, which Saleh has ruled for over three decades, and supporters of the president were driving around the capital urging Yemenis over loudspeakers to join pro-government counter demonstrations.

But by early morning, anti-government protesters had already gathered the largest crowd since a wave of protests hit the Arabian Peninsula state two weeks ago, inspired by protests that toppled Tunisia's ruler and threaten Egypt's president.

"The people want regime change," protesters shouted as they gathered outside Sanaa University. "No to corruption, no to dictatorship."

COMMENT:  Again, we have to be careful.  It's easy to say "no" to corruption and dictatorship.  A lot of corrupt dictatorships grew out of exactly that slogan.  Look at the results, not the words.  Yemen is an ancient country stuck in the 10th century.  Not necessarily fertile ground for a modern democracy.

February 3, 2011        Permalink

EGYPT THIS MORNING – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  An Egyptian leader apologizes for violence, and the Army moves in to quiet things:

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's prime minister apologized Thursday for the violent attacks on protesters yesterday and said the country's president has asked him to investigate the security chaos.
"This is a fatal error, and when investigations reveal who is behind this crime and who allowed it to happen, I promise they will be held accountable and will be punished for what they did," Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said on state-owned TV.

Meanwhile, the military -- which had largely remained still in the area of Tahrir Square during violent clashes between supporters and foes of President Hosni Mubarak -- took position between the clashing groups Thursday. Rocks flew back and forth in an empty construction area in front of a metal barricade that anti-Mubarak protesters set up overnight.

Shafiq and newly-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman are meeting with the opposition -- including protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, state media said Thursday.

Some opposition groups have rejected meeting invitations.

Mounir Abdel-Nour, secretary-general of the secular liberal Wafd Party, said Thursday that his party will not participate.

Ayman Nour, leader of the Al-Ghad party, said his group won't be part of the dialogue, either.

And Essam El-Erian of the Muslim Brotherhood said his group was invited, but will not participate in the talks.

COMMENT:  That's pretty much where we stand right now.  It is very difficult to figure out exactly what's happening inside Egypt.

At the same time, the usual journalistic suspects are pouring in to Egypt – Christiane Amanpour, Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times, Anderson Cooper of CNN.  Say goodbye to credibility.  Of course this crowd clearly stands with "the people," but there seems to be no clear idea what "the people" actually stand for.

The White House issued a startling statement calling for the inclusion in any new Egyptian government of "non-secular" forces, a code term for the Muslim Brotherhood.  Dutifully, some journalists have swung into action, trying to whitewash the Brotherhood, despite its militant fascist and anti-democratic history.

All predictions are off, but we should not assume this will end with anything similar to the U.S. Constitution.

February 3, 2011     Permalink