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FEBRUARY 26,  2011

WELL DONE, RAF – AT 4:50 P.M. ET:  From AP:

British military planes entered Libyan air space in a daring rescue of more than 150 civilians from desert locations, officials said Saturday.

The C-130 Hercules planes, carrying Britons and other nationals, safely landed in Malta after picking up the civilians from desert locations south of Benghazi, UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox said.

The rescue mission was bold because few planes have been able to fly through Libyan air space. It was not immediately clear if it was a British special forces mission, but the SAS has been on stand by for an evacuation mission of those stuck in oil fields, according to UK media reports.

"I can confirm that two RAF C-130 Hercules aircraft have evacuated more than 150 civilians from desert locations south of Benghazi," Fox said.

COMMENT:  The American role so far has been to lease a ferry, which languished in a Libyan port for three days, before evacuating some Americans. 

Sometimes it feels like 1940, when the British taught the world how to act in the face of a dictator.  First, British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke out strongly against the trendy multiculturalism that is destroying his country.  Now Britain launches a daring rescue mission to save British lives.

Of course, when America has a president who considers himself a citizen of the world, this kind of macho stuff just isn't done.  Why, think of those who might be offended!  And given that our UN ambassador has taken the weekend off for a leisurely trip to a panel discussion in South Africa, the message sent is that things just aren't that bad. 

Liam Fox, whom I've had the privilege of meeting, is a great guy, a physician by training, and a strong believer in the Anglo-American special relationship.  I have no doubt that he was a key figure in getting this rescue mission going.

February 26, 2011       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 12:24 P.M. ET:

From London's Telegraph:  Motorists are now paying £6 a gallon in garages across the country as oil prices continue to soar amid the crisis in Libya.

That is more than nine dollars a gallon.  England is a country of small distances.  The U.S. is a country of large distances.  Imagine if that happened here.  It can.  Note the deep concern in the White House.

February 26, 2011     Permalink

BULLETIN!  TELL YOUR FRIENDS – AT 10:59 A.M. ET:  Can it be?  Am I reading correctly?  Is the Obama administration about to do something...intelligent?  From The Politico:

Next week, the Interior Department is likely to approve the first Gulf of Mexico deepwater drilling permit that was held up in the wake of the BP oil spill.

An announcement can’t come soon enough for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Obama administration, who have been criticized by Gulf state lawmakers for a “de facto” drilling ban long after the BP leak was plugged. Political upheaval in the Middle East has also driven oil prices upwards, creating more pressure on the administration to act.

COMMENT:  Yeah, it's that inconvenient Mideast stuff.  Mustn't let people ask questions.

It's disgraceful, just disgraceful.  We should be opening up vast areas for safe, efficient drilling, and doing it as a national emergency.  We have plenty of oil in the U.S., but environmental extremists, who never liked cars with engines, have a grip on the Obama White House.  They're waiting around for cars fueled by hydrogen, or bubble gum.  Those bubble-gum cars get 20 miles a chew.

We all want clean energy, clean air, clean ears for children.  But we're still an oil-based economy.  Until we can make an effective, efficient transition to new fuels that actually work, we will need oil, lots of it.  It is gross negligence on the part of this left-wing administration to deny the nation's needs.

February 26, 2011      Permalink

RICE CAKES – AT 10:39 A.M. ET:  Where is she now?  Our UN ambassador, I mean.   At a time of international crisis, when the UN was meeting to consider action against Libya, mild as it would be, Ambassador Susan Rice was on an excellent adventure, as the New York Post points out:

The UN Security Council convened an emergency session yesterday to draft sanctions against Libyan mad- dog Moammar Khadafy.

But as the UN struggled to put out the fires in the Mideast, America's top UN rep was nowhere to be found.
In fact, US Ambassador Susan Rice was 8,000 miles away from UN headquarters, taking tea in South Africa with fellow diplonuts.

South Africa?

What the hell?

Rice flew to sunny Cape Town this week for a "global sustainability" conference to discuss carbon emissions and green economies in the Third World.

There were plenty of carbon emissions over Tripoli and Benghazi this week -- from fighter-jet and helicopter exhaust as Khadafy loyalists strafed protestors in the streets, and from exploding Molotov cocktails. Lead poisoning from stray AK-47 rounds were an issue, too.

But instead of taking the lead as the United Nations tried to force Khadafy to end his war on his own people, America's top UN official was essentially AWOL.

Rice is, as they say, "close" to Obama.  Her absence probably indicates the real importance that Obama attaches to the Libyan revolt.  After all, the chief executive was caught boogeying at a Motown party in the White House before getting around to calling British Prime Minister Cameron and French President Sarkozy.

What an administration.  Can you imagine John Bolton's response had he been US ambassador to the UN?  But Bolton couldn't even get confirmed by the U.S. Senate when George W. Bush nominated him.  A big too tough, you see.

February 26, 2011       Permalink

GUN CONTROL IN LIBYA – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:  The Libyan dictatorship is arming the people...but only some people.  Maybe a lesson here for knee-jerk "gun controllers" in the U.S.  From Fox:

The embattled regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi is arming civilian supporters to set up checkpoints and roving patrols around the Libyan capital to control movement and quash dissent, residents said Saturday.

The reports came a day after protesters demanding Qaddafi's ouster came under a hail of bullets when pro-regime militiamen opened fire to stop the first significant anti-government marches in days in the Libyan capital.

The Libyan leader, speaking from the ramparts of a historic Tripoli fort, told supporters to prepare to defend the nation as he faced the biggest challenge to his 42-year rule, with rebels having seized control of about half of the country's coastline.

"At the suitable time, we will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red with fire," Qaddafi said.

The international community stepped up its response to the bloodshed, while Americans and other foreigners were evacuated from the chaos roiling the North African nation.

The U.N. Security Council planned to meet Saturday for a second day to consider an arms embargo against the Libyan government and a travel ban and asset freeze against Qaddafi, his relatives and key members of his government.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order Friday freezing assets held by Qaddafi and four of his children in the United States. The Treasury Department said the sanctions against Qaddafi, three of his sons and a daughter also apply to the Libyan government.

COMMENT:  Don't you just love the tough response of the "international community"?  Even the term itself is ludicrous.  There is no international community, just a group of nations who occasionally act together, but usually don't.

Only the serious threat of military force will stop Qaddafi.  We just don't want to admit that. 

There is no guarantee Qaddafi will be overthrown.  It will be criminal if he is still in power two months from now because of our president's refusal to lead, and to act decisively.

February 26, 2011     Permalink

FEBRUARY 25,  2011

PATHETIC – AT 7:49 P.M. ET:  One of the major topics of discussion across the internet and on TV today has been the pathetic response of the Obama administration to the horror in Libya.  As Gadhafi continues to threaten mass murder, and our UN ambassador skips a critical session on Libya to fly off to South Africa for some obscure conference, the Obamans go into action.  From AP:

The White House says the U.S. is moving forward with plans to impose unilateral sanctions on Libya in response to violence there.

Take that, Gadhafi!  Sanctions!  You have no idea what our lawyers and accountants have in store for you.

Obama spokesman Jay Carney says the U.S. is finalizing that process Friday. He says the U.S. is also working with European partners on additional sanctions and other multilateral actions that could be taken.

"Working with," "multilateral," etc., etc.  That will stop the bloodshed.  No doubt about it.

The announcement comes as hundreds of Americans are evacuated from Libya following days of violence. Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have been firing on protesters demanding the Libyan leader's ouster.

Carney says President Barack Obama will meet with the United Nations secretary general in Washington Monday to discuss the situation in Libya.

I'm sure it will be a hard-hitting meeting, maybe preceded by a rock concert. 

It's pathetic.  It's just pathetic.  Even Britain, in far worse shape than we are financially, sent a powerful warship to rescue British civilians in Libya.  We hired a ferry that turned out to be too small.

We learned this week that the U.S. doesn't even have one aircraft carrier in the Med.  We have only a command ship and a destroyer. 

What's happened to us?  Barack Obama happened to us, that's what.  And all over the world we're being ignored. 

But you can always watch the president and first lady at the salute to Motown at the White House last night.  It was only after the festivities ended that the president called the British prime minister and French president to discuss Libya.  First things first.  You can watch here:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/02/25/obama_first_lady_get_their_groove_on_to_motown_hits.html

February 25, 2011     Permalink

MAYBE SOME PROGRESS – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  Public-employee unions are under intense pressure.  They will respond differently.  The unions under some of the most intense pressure are teachers' unions, and now comes a proposal from a major union leader that gives hope for reasonable compromise.  From The New York Times:

Responding to criticism that tenure gives even poor teachers a job for life, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, announced a plan Thursday to overhaul how teachers are evaluated and dismissed.

It would give tenured teachers who are rated unsatisfactory by their principals a maximum of one school year to improve. If they did not, they could be fired within 100 days.

Teacher evaluations, long an obscure detail in an educator’s career, have moved front and center as school systems try to identify which teachers are best at improving student achievement, and to remove ineffective ones.

The issue has erupted recently, with many districts anticipating layoffs because of slashed budgets. Mayors including Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Cory A. Booker of Newark have attacked seniority laws, which require that teacher dismissals be based on length of experience rather than on competency.

Ms. Weingarten has sought to play a major role in changing evaluations and tenure, lest the issue be used against unions to strip their influence over work life in schools — just as Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin and Ohio are trying to do this week.

COMMENT:  Shrewed move by Randi Weingarten.  Unions will do far better, and make important contributions, if they act wisely and rationally, rather than simply resisting.  The best union leaders do understand reality, and are often politically savvy.

At the same time, those confronting the public-employee unions, and that includes Republican governors, must proceed with sane and successful strategies.  Grandstanding is not enough.  There are several stories making the rounds this morning that point out that, while Republican governors are generally supporting Scott Walker in Wisconsin, some, including the great Chris Christie of New Jersey, are expressing reservations about the rigidity of Walker's style.  Eventually, confrontation wears thin.  Citizens want things settled, and they want reasonable concessions from public employees.  Christie has succeeded.  So has Mitch Daniels in Indiana.  Both are tough, but with a sense of what is possible and what is reasonable.  Both are immensely popular.

February 25, 2011      Permalink

A STRATEGY OF WEAKNESS – AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  The Hill has a fascinating piece this morning on some thinking inside the Republican Party – that sometimes is a contradiction in terms – about strategy for 2012.  This is not the kind of thinking that wins elections:

The GOP presidential field has weakened in recent weeks as Republicans seem to conclude they’d stand a better chance of winning the White House in 2016.

Several strategists and observers say the potential candidates are weighing their options and deciding it’s best to wait until the next cycle, when President Obama is ineligible to run and Vice President Biden, who will turn 74 that November, isn't expected to seek the Democratic nomination.

The heroism, the sense of excitement, the seizing of the moment!  Gee, I'd like to see just one of those things.  But it's the GOP, after all.  Sometimes their major exercise is yawning. 

The downside to waiting, of course, is that the 2016 Republican primary could be more competitive on account of the openness of the race.

“It’s tough fighting an incumbent president,” said Republican strategist Tyler Harber. “The people who make significant runs for office wait for when it’s an open seat.”

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  Do these people remember a fella named Reagan and an incumbent president named Carter?  Reagan turned Carter into an ex-.  And, oh, remember a guy named Clinton in 1992, and an incumbent named George H.W. Bush?  Another ex- created. 

Obama is vulnerable.  Yes, the odds are with him, but odds can be turned around. 

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have ruled themselves out of the race, citing bad timing, a lack of desire and home-state commitments.

Nonsense.  I believe that Rubio, in particular, can jump right back in.

Republicans have just come off one of the major electoral triumphs in recent political history, and some of them are already talking defeat for 2012.  Now do you see why Ronald Reagan had to fight the GOP establishment every step of the way?  Some of these contented souls are not only asleep at the switch, they don't even know where the switch is.

In the latter half of the 20th century, only two presidents have suffered defeat while seeking a second term. So the odds of winning the GOP nomination and unseating the president are slim, despite some difficult poll numbers for Obama.

How about a little examination of that statement?  Truman did not seek reelection in 1952, although he was legally eligible.  Eisenhower ran and won a second term, but Ike was a political giant, essentially unbeatable.  President Kennedy, tragically, never got to run for a second term.  Lyndon Johnson bowed out in 1968, not running.  Nixon ran and won.  Ford, already president, ran for a full term in 1976 and was defeated.   Carter, running for his second term in 1980, was defeated.   The great Reagan easily won a second term in 1984 against the dull Mondale.  As noted above, George H.W. Bush was defeated for a second term.  Brilliant campaigner and so-so president, Bill Clinton, won his second term against next-in-line candidate Bob Dole in 1996. 

That history is not discouraging for a good challenger in 2012.  Wake up, boys.  Get out of our way.

February 25, 2011       Permalink

AND IN LIBYA – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  The crisis deepens as rebels press the attack.  From Fox:

BENGHAZI, Libya -- Libya's rebel movement launched a new push against Muammar al-Qaddafi on Friday, calling for mass demonstrations as it seeks to solidify its gains and loosen the longtime leader's grip on the capital.

Foreign mercenaries and Libyan militiamen loyal to Qaddafi have fought fiercely to roll back the uprising against his rule, attacking two nearby cities Thursday in battles that killed at least 17 people. But rebels made new gains, seizing a military air base, as Qaddafi blamed Osama bin Laden for the upheaval.

A Tripoli resident said people in the capital have received messages on their cell phones urging them to launch demonstrations after Friday prayers, and he said he expected thousands to comply despite fear of pro-Qaddafi militiamen who have been deployed on the streets.

The capital's central Green Square was the site of intense clashes earlier in the week between government supporters and protesters.

The resident said the government detained several activists in Tripoli late Thursday to try to prevent the demonstrations from taking place. Among those detained was Mukhtar al-Mahmoudi, a former member of Libya's Muslim Brotherhood, who in the past spent six years in jail, the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

COMMENT:  This revolt has resulted in far more violence against protesters than did Egypt's.  There apparently is still some rebel activity in Yemen and Bahrain, but the world's attention is focused on Libya.  It is a major oil producer, and its government is far more brutal than the other regimes under challenge. 

At the same time, some experienced Libya watchers are concerned that, if the violence continues and basic services are cut off Al Qaeda can take advantage of the situation in the eastern part of the country, where it already has some support from impoverished elements within the population.

February 25, 2011       Permalink

THEY CALL HIM "NO DRAMA OBAMA" – AT 8:30 A.M. ET:  And he'd better develop some drama.  Increasingly, observers are becoming dismayed at Obama's sluggishness in responding to the Libyan bloodbath.  Now, apparently, he has made it to a telephone.  From London's Daily Mail:

Barack Obama last night held an emergency crisis summit with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy to thrash out action plans over the uprising in Libya, the White House said.

The U.S. president phoned David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi to express his 'deep concern' over Colonel Gaddafi's use of violence which he said 'violates every standard of human decency'.

There were unconfirmed reports this afternoon that protesters were fired on by Gaddafi troops as they demonstrated in the Western suburbs of Tripoli.

How long did it take this president, who billed himself as "sensitive" to the world's oppressed peoples, to make the phone call?  Many days, my friends.  After all, there were apparently more important things to do:

But before making the urgent phone call, Mr Obama hosted a concert featuring stars including Nick Jonas, Seal and John Legend, to celebrate Black History Month at the White House.

Some relatives of those who are still stuck on the catamaran trying to escape Tripoli harbour and in oil-field camps inside the country might take some exception to the revelry at the White house last night to celebrate Motown music.

I would certainly say so.  During the election campaign of 2008, Hillary Clinton, in battling Obama for the Dem nomination, asked how this inexperienced man would react to a crisis call at 3 a.m.  I think we now pretty much know the answer.

Among the options under discussion was a no-fly zone over the oil-rich nation to prevent Gaddafi's air force attacking his own people.

At last report we don't have a single aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean.  But, with midair refueling, assets could be based in Italy and flown over Libya before a carrier can be placed on the scene.

Our response is pathetic.  If the protesters in Libya are defeated, we will share the blame, and any "outreach" to the Muslim world will be a joke.

February 25, 2011     Permalink