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JULY 12,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

WILL GOP TAKE A BATH IN DEBT TALKS? – Now, baths are good.  We're all for cleanliness here.  We're a pro-cleanliness site.  But taking a bath in politics is something else.  There's a widespread feeling in conservative circles that the Democrats are setting a trap for the GOP, which will dutifully fall into it.  The debt talks are complicated, but the Dems know how to demagogue a complicated issue, as Obama did today when he said today that, if there's no agreement, Social Security checks might not be delivered.  It's a dishonest tactic, but it always works.  As one pundit noted, congressional switchboards are immediately deluged with calls from worried seniors.  With the media on Obama's side, it's almost inevitable that the Republicans will take the brunt of the blame if the talks go wrong, unless they do a better job of explaining their anti-tax position to the American people.

WHERE RONNIE WALKED –  Ronald Reagan spent years doing ads for General Electric.  But would GE's current honcho hire him?  Probably not.  Jeffrey Immelt is Obama's poodle in big business, and he was out fronting for the president today, advising corporate leaders to stop complaining about government policies and get to work creating jobs.  Immelt is the chair of President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.  He said he'd have some ideas on job creation by the end of the year.  It's heartwarming to see such a sense of urgency.  Maybe he can explain his schedule to a middle-aged unemployed guy with kids in college.  It's like the old saying, "You go to bed with Obama, you get up with a yawn."

LIGHT BULB LAW STILL STANDS – The House failed to repeal legislation mandating that light bulbs become dramatically more efficient.  Many conservatives opposed the original legislation, asserting that the choice of light bulbs should be left to individual buyers.  I know I'll get flak on this, but I had no serious problem with the requirement for change.  Congress is tasked by the Constitution to regulate interstate commerce.  While I favor minimal regulation and free markets, sane energy standards are within reason, especially as private industry was moving so slowly.  The fact that repeal failed in the conservative House indicates that there wasn't much public passion behind it.  I hope the mandate has the effect of spurring private competition for efficiency and quality, and lowering prices, which is what real competition usually does.

ARNOLD TO GO BACK TO HOLLYWOOD – Arnold Schwarzenegger is slated to return to Hollywood filmmaking in September, according to industry sources.  He will star in a western.  This is entirely logical.  The American public has yearned for years for a western starring an aging bodybuilder with an Austrian accent who had an out-of-wedlock child with his maid while serving as governor of our largest state.  I can't wait.  I'm already standing in line for my tickets.  I think his sidekick in the film should be John Edwards.  What a team.  They could do a series, like the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby road pictures.  Hollywood is back!  Just don't take the kids.

July 12, 2011     Permalink 

MONEY WORRIES ABOUT...CHINA? – AT 9:54 A.M. ET:   We tend in the U.S. to create imaginary supermen out of adversaries.  The Russians were ten feet tall.  Then the Japanese, with their Toyotas and Hondas.  And now the Chinese.

But the fact is that, while China is growing economically, it is also plagued with problems.  My friend Gordon Chang, a real China economic expert, has cautioned that China isn't the forward-forging monolith that we sometimes make of it.  And a new concern about China is moving global markets:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- World stock markets tumbled Tuesday, after a report stoked concerns about the finances of more than five dozen Chinese companies, and as fears remain high about Europe's debt crisis spilling over into Italy.

Asian stocks finished sharply lower, with China's Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) index falling 1.7% after Moody's Investors Services warned of risky business practices at 61 Chinese companies.

The "red flags" include weakness in corporate governance, poor quality of earnings, fast-growing business strategies and opaque business models.

LDK Solar (LDK), a Chinese solar company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, fell 1.4% in premarket trading after it was listed among the 61 companies in the report.

And...

Meanwhile, talks among Europe's finance ministers spilled over into their second day Tuesday, as the group tries to find a way to contain Greece's debt crisis and prevent a debt contagion from spreading to other so-called periphery countries.

After a nine-hour meeting on Monday, the group published a six-paragraph statement pledging to enact new measures "shortly," but failed to calm investors' nerves -- who fear the debt crisis will spread to Italy next.

COMMENT:  The grass isn't always greener in the other guy's yard.  Europe is in trouble.  And Gordon Chang tells me that parts of China are proving ungovernable, and can even turn to revolution.

Of course, China buys our debt.  I don't know who'll buy it if they run into trouble, but, given how much Al Gore has earned in the global-warming business, maybe he can be prevailed upon.

July 12,  2011     Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  Newsweek is running a remarkably fair piece on Sarah Palin this week, with a superb cover photo.  Steve Bannon, who made the new, positive film on Palin called "The Undefeated," is quoted in the article, as follows:

“I call her a McLuhan-esque character,” Bannon says. “She is saturated in media, and yet nobody knows her story. It’s hidden in broad daylight.”

Bannon, 57, was reared in a working-class Catholic family in Richmond, Va., and served in the Navy before making his way to Harvard Business School. There and later, working in mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs, he acquired a lasting skepticism of the Eastern establishment. “At Harvard, and then on Wall Street, I noticed something: guys had academic credentials, and quantitatively, they’re very smart,” he says. “But I still never met anybody as smart as my grandfather, and he was a guy who went to the third grade. That’s kind of what I see in Sarah Palin—this combination of lived experience and intellectual curiosity. At Harvard, they didn’t have the lived experience; they avoided it. And by the way, that permeates the elite culture today.”

COMMENT:  That is absolutely spot-on.  I've seen it myself, especially in Hollywood, which has sawed itself off from the rest of the country.  I've seen it in universities, largely populated by people who've never been outside school walls.  I saw it in reporting from Vietnam, when I was on The New York Times – often smug reports written by Ivy League graduates who thought they knew more than Creighton Abrams.  I've seen it in the cultural establishment, which considers itself just a little bit better than those flyover people out there.

At the University of Chicago, in my day, it was accepted that the best students the place ever had were the veterans, right after World War II.  They had lived real lives.  They had seen tragedy.  They had matured.  And they had an adult perspective honed by experience.

We need that experience today.

(Hat tip on the above quote to reader Chris Corbett.)

July 12, 2011     Permalink

NEW YORK STUNNER – AT 8:50 A.M. ET:  One thing about former New York City Mayor Ed Koch – he calls him as he sees 'em.  Although a lifelong Democrat, Koch has never hesitated to take on the Dem establishment.  He won his spurs in New York by taking on and defeating former Tammany Hall boss Carmine DeSapio.

More spurs were awarded when Koch took on small-time President Jimmy Carter, leading a frustrated Carter aide to comment that Ed Koch represented all that was wrong with the Democratic Party.  No, he represented all that was right. 

Now Ed is doing it again, sticking his aging thumb right into the eye of Barack Obama.  There'll be a special election in New York to replace the highly unusual and embarrassing Congressman Anthony Weiner, who recently resigned when fine-art photos of him appeared on the internet.  And Ed Koch is suggesting that he may back...the Republican.  Read all about it, from The New York Post:

In "a shot across President Obama's bow," Democratic former Mayor Ed Koch yesterday urged voters in Queens and Brooklyn to make "history" by voting for the Republican candidate to replace randy ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner in the Sept. 13 special election -- as a protest against the White House's policy on Israel.

Koch -- a staunch ally of Israel -- said he would "vote for Bob Turner" if the Republican-Conservative candidate backs Israel and opposes cutbacks to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Turner can get that done.  This is New York.  Those programs are popular here, even with Republicans, who generally don't go near them.

"If Jewish New Yorkers and others who support Israel were to turn away from the Democratic Party in that congressional election and elect the Republican candidate to Congress in 2011, it might very well cause President Obama to change his hostile position on the state of Israel and to re-establish the special relationship presidents before him had supported," Koch said in his weekly commentary.

That's pretty strong medicine.  Actually, most American supporters of Israel are Christians, including large numbers of evangelicals.  If Koch's message reaches them, and if they consider support for Israel a key issue, this thing could snowball.

Obama has shown disrespect for a number of American allies, from Great Britain through Canada to Israel, but, of them, only Israel has a very active and passionate group of supporters.  Ed Koch has performed another service.  Now I want to see him support the Republican candidate for president.

As far as Ed giving any serious support to Obama:  As we say here, fuggedaboutit!

July 12, 2011     Permalink

SPECIAL IN CALIFORNIA – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  There's a special election in California today to fill the seat vacated by Democrat Jane Harman, who resigned to take a position with a Washington think tank.  Harman is a decent, traditional Democrat who, unlike most of the California Democratic congressional delegation, actually understands that America has enemies.  She'll be missed by the sane elements of her party.

The election today is becoming exciting.  The Los Angeles district in play is heavily Democratic, but the Republican candidate is putting up a tremendous fight, and the election may be far closer than Democrats are used to in their safe district.  A new issue has been added:  gangs.  We wondered when the ugly phenomenon of these flash mobs running loose in many cities would enter the political arena.  Apparently today's the day.  From the Washington Times:

The hot issue of Tuesday’s special runoff election for an open House seat in Los Angeles isn’t the economy, immigration or Medicaid — it’s gangs, thanks to what may be the most jaw-dropping political attack ad ever run.

The video, “Give Me Your Cash, B****,” features two “rappers” accusing Democratic candidate Janice Hahn of coddling gang members during her 10 years on the Los Angeles City Council. The highlight is Mrs. Hahn’s red-eyed, demonic face imposed on a pole-dancer’s body as the rappers, pretending to be gang members, pull dollar bills out of her shorts.

The video, produced by an independent group not affiliated with the local Republican campaign, has been denounced as racist, sexist and just plain vile, but it may help explain why some doubt remains as to the outcome of Tuesday’s race to succeed former Rep. Jane Harman. Mrs. Harman, a Democrat, resigned from Congress in February to become the head of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The Democratic candidate ordinarily would be considered a shoo-in to win the coastal Los Angeles County district...

...But Mr. Huey, 60, has proved to be a surprisingly strong challenger. His message of limited government and job creation has earned him tea party support, while his ability to fund his own campaign — he has spent $695,000 of his own money — has enabled him to keep pace with the better-connected Mrs. Hahn.

But it’s the gang video that put the race on the map. Produced by conservative attack-ad specialist Ladd Ehlinger Jr. for RightTurn USA, the video quickly went viral on YouTube and just as quickly became the focus of attention on the campaign trail.

“The big issue is gangs, and that’s to Huey’s advantage, obviously,” said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles.

COMMENT:  We'll watch this closely.  I doubt if we'll see an upset victory (although we can hope), but we may see a conclusion that sends a powerful message to the 1960s-bound Democrats of California.

July 12, 2011     Permalink

JULY 11,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

WELL, IT WAS PROBABLY A MEMORY LAPSE (CHOKE) –  During the 2008 campaign Obama emotionally related how his mother, in her last year, spent time fighting insurance companies trying to deny her the coverage she'd paid for.  Now a new book, "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother," by a former New York Times writer, destroys that myth.  Obama's mother got the coverage required by her health plan.  What she didn't get was disability coverage, for which she was apparently ineligible.  Wonder if the press will give as much attention to this as it does to every misplaced comma by Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann.

CONGRESS STRIKES OUT IN NEW POLL – A new Gallup poll has the approval rating of Congress at 18 percent, confirming that the glow around the GOP victory last November hasn't lasted very long.  Even approval of the mainstream media is higher.  This tends to reinforce other polls showing that, although Obama's numbers are weak, the GOP isn't really very popular.  It cannot depend on Obama's lessening popularity for victory in 2012, but I'm afraid I see that attitude in too many Republican circles. 

SYRIAN IMPASSE – A government-sponsored mob assaulted the U.S. embassy in Damascus earlier today (Monday).  Secretary of State Clinton declared later that Syria's President Assad has now lost all legitimacy.  But Assad is looking at similar statements the U.S. has made about Gadaffi of Libya...and Gadaffi is still there.  Assad is also looking at a general American military withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq.  There is no indication that U.S. jawboning is having any real effect on the Assad regime.  If Obama was Bush, probably a different story.

P.C. IN THE WORST PLACE FOR IT – There's growing outrage, even in parts of liberal New York, over plans for the 9-11 memorial at Ground Zero in Manhattan.  According to reports, including a TV report by the father of a fire captain killed in the 9-11 attacks, the memorial has been stripped of any meaningful remembrance of the awful day.  Parts of the former World Trade Center, such as the famous sphere that stood outside, will not be displayed, despite many requests that it be there.  And, get this, police and fire officers will not be distinguished in any way from their civilian counterparts in a plaque bearing victims' names.  Only names will be listed, no ranks or affiliations.  The heroism of the police and fire departments, many of whose members rushed into the burning buildings, will therefore not be recognized.  Apparently, the explanation for all this is that the memorial is to be a place of peace.  Yeah, right.   

July 11, 2011       Permalink

A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES – AT 9:01 P.M. ET:  What an embarrassment.  On a number of issues, Canada now has a tougher foreign policy than does the United States.  Still one more example of Obama's display of weakness and indifference, which is sure to invite trouble down the road.  From Fox: 

The U.S. won’t follow Canada’s lead in boycotting a United Nations arms control conference chaired by North Korea, even though the State Department concedes the rogue regime has flouted its own disarmament obligations to the Security Council and the international community.

"We have chosen not to make a big deal out of this because it's a relatively low-level, inconsequential event," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Earlier in the day, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird called North Korea's chairmanship at the Geneva-based U.N. Conference on Disarmament "absurd" and a "huge blow to the credibility of the United Nations."

"It's important that Canada take a stand," Baird said during a press conference. "North Korea is simply not a credible chair of a major non proliferation conference. It undermines the integrity of both the disarmament framework and the United Nations."

"We are no longer going to go along to get along," he added. Canada will not rejoin the discussion until North Korea leaves the seat on Aug. 19. It assumed leadership on June 28.

COMMENT:  Cheers for Canada and its prime minister, Steve Harper, and not for the first time.  Harper has shown himself to be a stand-up guy, just as Obama is a sit-down guy – one willing to sit down with anyone.   Today's expression of American weakness follows last week's announcement by the Obama administration that we are sitting down with the Muslim Brotherhood, despite that group's hateful ideology and history, without getting anything in return. 

Our enemies watch, and they must marvel at this.

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SNIPPET – AT 8:50 P.M. ET: 

London, July 11 : Famous psychic twins Linda and Terry Jamison have said that they think ‘Sister Act’ star Whoopi Goldberg was a nun in her previous life.  According to them, Goldberg was destined to play the role of a lounge singer who takes refuge in a convent to escape a mob boss in the hit 1992 comedy.  “You actually were a nun in 17th century Germany. You were a cloistered nun, so there’s a resonance with the Sister Act (film),” the Daily Star quoted them as telling co-host Goldberg on U.S. TV show ‘The View’.

I've suspected it for years, but just wanted to get confirmation before printing it.  It's such a relief to have this come out.

INSIDE A PLOT – AT 9:29 A.M. ET:  The great Steve Emerson, one of our leading experts on terrorism, and one of the first to warn us about the impending threat of Islamic terror, goes inside a recent plot to show how jihadists are targeting military installations in the United States.   Despite attempts to discredit Emerson, he always seems to wind up correct.  From NewsMax:

Newly unsealed court documents reveal new details about a plot to attack a military recruiting center in Seattle. Items seized by federal investigators from the home of accused lead conspirator Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif include plans to attack a U.S. military facility and motivational materials related to alleged atrocities committed by American soldiers overseas.

The attack on the Seattle military installation is yet another example of a terrorist plot in which American military personnel in the United States have been targeted by Islamist radicals opposed to U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In each case, the perceived oppression of Muslims by U.S. forces overseas and the belief that Islam is under attack from the West has been the primary motivation behind the plots.

Among the recent cases is the 2009 Fort Hood massacre carried out by Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan, the killing of an Army recruiter in Little Rock, Ark., earlier that year by a convert to Islam who described his actions as "a jihadi attack on infidel forces," and a Maryland man who hoped to attack a recruiting office.

Last month, Abdul-Latif (aka Joseph Anthony Davis) of Seattle and coconspirator Walli Mujahidh (aka Fredrick Domigue Jr.) of Los Angeles were arrested and charged with planning to use grenades and machine guns in an assault on the Seattle Military Entrance Processing Center (MEPS). The center recruits prospective candidates to the U.S. military, some of whom are subsequently deployed overseas.

Another person recruited by Abdul-Latif to join the conspiracy reported the plot to the FBI and became a paid informant. The informant promised to help obtain weapons for the attack.

In secretly-recorded conversations, Abdul-Latif said that their attack would "deter" individuals from joining the military and inspire other Muslims to carry out similar attacks.

"Imagine how many young Muslims, if we're successful, will try to hit these kinds of centers. Imagine how fearful America will be and they'll know they can't push Muslims around," Abdul-Latif said.

COMMENT:  This attack was stopped.  We've been remarkably effective in stopping attacks thus far, but we can't be 100% effective forever.  What makes Emerson great is that he pulls no punches.  He names the names (Heaven forbid!), and tells us exactly what the ideology of jihadism is all about.  For this he has won the contempt of the trendies in the media and the colleges.  But he is a national resource. 

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BACHMANN BOOMS IN IOWA – AT 8:54 A.M. ET:  Michele Bachmann is concentrating most of her attention on getting a big boost in Iowa, where she was born.  The Minnesota congresswoman, a Tea Party favorite, is now ahead in preliminary Iowa polls.  From Andrew Malcolm at the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog:

While much of the nation's political community focuses on the deficit stalemate in Washington and President Obama's scheduled news conference to control the news cycle this morning, a new poll reveals Rep. Michele Bachmann has surged to the lead among likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa.

Bachmann, an Iowa native who now represents a district in Minnesota, has built a lead over former Gov. Mitt Romney, who is focusing more on New Hampshire after a bitter and costly defeat in Iowa in 2008. Romney holds a huge lead in Granite state polls, although Bachmann has surged there too.

According to the new IowaRepublican.com poll, Bachmann has built a four point lead over Romney, 25-21. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain are effectively tied for third with about 9% each, with Ron Paul at 6%, Newt Gingrich at 4%, Rick Santorum at 2% and Jon Huntsman at 1%.

An upcoming major measure of the Republican field's standing in Iowa comes at the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13, two days after a nationally-televised debate from Iowa on the Fox News Channel.

COMMENT:  If Bachmann comes out on top in the Ames Straw Poll, she creates more buzz, but let's not exaggerate it.  The buzz only continues if polls elsewhere show her moving up.  Already she's coming under fire from other GOP hopefuls because of what they claim is a lack of executive experience and a weak record in Congress.  Both are pretty accurate criticisms.  She has also been plagued by a series of gaffes, that, unlike those of Barack Obama, get reported quickly by a gleeful press, determined to Palinize her. 

But Bachmann is a terrific campaigner, and she comes prepared.  She's smart, educated in the law, a skillful debater, and she can surprise us.  Her next big date with a national audience comes with that Fox debate on August 11th. 

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OH, THANK YOU KIND SIR FOR YOUR EXCELLENT ADVICE – AT 8:28 A.M. ET:  Apropos of the post just below, about our weakening national defense, a senior Chinese general has some, I'm sure, heartfelt advice for his American cousins.  From Fox:

BEIJING – The United States is spending too much on its military in light of its recent economic troubles, China's top general said Monday while playing down his country's own military capabilities.

The chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army, Chen Bingde, told reporters that he thought the U.S. should cut back on defense spending for the sake of its taxpayers. He was speaking during a joint news conference in which he traded barbs with visiting U.S. counterpart Adm. Mike Mullen.

The concern for us, the warmth.  Aren't you moved?

"I know the U.S. is still recovering from the financial crisis," Chen said. "Under such circumstances, it is still spending a lot of money on its military and isn't that placing too much pressure on the taxpayers?"

"If the U.S. could reduce its military spending a bit and spend more on improving the livelihood of the American people ... wouldn't that be a better scenario?" he said.

Make this man an honorary member of the Democratic California congressional delegation.  Give him the Barbara Boxer award.

The visit by Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is the first of its kind in four years. Mullen and Chen are trying to upgrade military-to-military ties after setbacks over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, cyberattacks traced to China and concern about Beijing's military plans.

COMMENT:  Hey wait.  If we're so concerned about all those things, why are we upgrading our military ties?  Why aren't our government officials warning the American people about the challenge of China?  Do you get the feeling that we're slipping into an international twilight zone?  I think we're on our way.

July 11, 2011        Permalink

SEND IN THE CLOWNS – AT 7:56 A.M. ET:  In a penetrating piece that is must reading, Max Boot, one of our best defense analysts, raises alarms about reports that the Republican Party is willing to trash its legacy as the national defense party in order to make a budget deal.  The alarms are really being sounded on this.  From the Weekly Standard: 

Opinion polls consistently show that the U.S. military is the most trusted institution in America. Republicans have benefited indirectly from that hard-won reputation because since the 1970s they have been seen as the strong, hawkish party, while Democrats have had to fight the stigma that they are weak and dovish. Republicans wouldn’t throw away that aura—one of their strongest electoral assets—just to reach a budget deal with President Obama. Or would they?

There are persistent and worrisome reports that they might. The Hill newspaper, for instance, claims that Republican budget negotiators have been discussing cutting defense by $600 billion to $700 billion—considerably more than the already indefensible $400 billion in cuts that Obama has said he would like to see over the next decade.

Obama’s proposed cuts are bad enough; as former Defense Secretary Robert Gates implicitly warned before leaving office, such deep reductions would seriously impair the military’s ability to meet its global commitments. Going beyond what Obama has proposed is simply suicidal—on both substantive and political grounds.

It's bad enough that the Dems want to gut the defense budget.  Ever since the late 60s, when the party betrayed its traditional pro-defense policies, the dominant Democratic wing has regarded defense as a right-wing thing, to be loathed and cut.  One of the reasons for the growth and ascendancy of the GOP was that it shook off its old isolationism and took the lead as the party of a strong defense and traditional American values.  That legacy, if reports are correct, is now in danger.  The Republicans may well become the party of green eyeshades again.  If it happens, they will lose a large chunk of their hard-won support.

Cutting defense won’t solve our budget woes. The “core” defense budget, $553 billion, is small as a percentage of GDP (3.7 percent) and of the federal budget (15 percent). Nor is it the reason why we are piling up so much debt. To reduce the deficit, lawmakers will have to do something about out-of-control entitlement programs.

If Republicans acquiesce in ruinous cuts to the defense budget, they will cease to be known as Ronald Reagan’s heirs. Instead they will be remembered as the party of William E. Borah, Hamilton Fish III, and Gerald Nye. Remember those GOP giants of the 1930s? They thought a strong defense was unaffordable and unnecessary. But their reputations collapsed on December 7, 1941, when we learned (not for the last time) the price of unreadiness. That is a lesson today’s Republicans should remember as they negotiate over the budget.

COMMENT:  Absolutely dead-on.   Ronald Reagan's defense buildup of the 1980s was one of the decisive factors in our winning the Cold War without firing a shot. 

President Eisenhower warned, as he was leaving office in 1961, that modern war does not give us the luxury of building up neglected forces once the conflict begins. 

At one time I thought we were the one nation that had learned the lessons of the 20th century.  Now I'm not so sure.

July 11, 2011     Permalink