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MAY 15,  2011

THE NEW EGYPT – AT 9:22 P.M. ET:  Welcome to the fruit of the revolution.  How much discussion do you see of this in the mainstream media?

CAIRO (AP) — An angry mob attacked a group of mainly Christian protesters demanding drastic measures to heal religious tension amid a spike in violence, leaving 65 people injured, officials said Sunday.

The Christian protesters have been holding their sit-in outside the state television building in Cairo for nearly a week following deadly Christian-Muslim clashes that left a church burned and 15 people dead.

More than 100 people rushed into the sit-in area, lobbing rocks and fire bombs from an overpass and charging toward the few hundred protesters sleeping in the area. Vehicles were set on fire and fires burned in the middle of the street.

COMMENT:  Please note the deep concern among "human rights" activists.   There was far more concern for the "rights" of Osama bin Laden.

The word from Egypt is not very encouraging.

May 15, 2011      Permalink

A WARNING TO FELLOW AMERICANS FROM THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF NEW YORK – AT 9:03 P.M. 

This is what happens when you mess things up too badly:

ALBANY - Escape from New York is not just a movie - it's also a state of mind.

A new Marist College poll shows that 36% of New Yorkers under the age of 30 are planning to leave New York within the next five years - and more than a quarter of all adults are planning to bolt the Empire State.

The New York City suburbs, with their high property values and taxes, are leading the exodus, the poll found.

Of those preparing to leave, 62% cite economic reasons like cost of living, taxes - and a lack of jobs.

"A lot of people are questioning the affordability of the state," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

An additional 38% cite climate, quality of life, overcrowding, a desire to be closer to family, retirement or schools.

The latest census showed New York's overall population actually increased, though parts of upstate shed population and jobs.

A full 53% think the worst is yet to come for the state's economy, while 44% say things should start improving.

COMMENT:  We started to see this trend several decades ago.  The most creative, imaginative people are leaving New York.  These are the entrepreneurs, the dreamers, the risk takers.  They simply can't afford to dream in New York, and New York isn't paying much for dreams these days. 

New York, New York.  If you can make it here, you'll probably still prefer to live somewhere else.

May 15, 2011     Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  I don't think we've ever quoted Ted Koppel here.  He's a journalist about whom I've had some mixed feelings.  But in a Washington Post piece Koppel makes a great deal of sense, and I hope other journalists read his words:

"Democracy." Let's dump it; toss it on the scrap heap of history. The concept remains worthy, but the word is rapidly being exhausted of all residual value.

Democracy is much more than the elimination of an undemocratic leader. What we have seen this year, unfolding on our television screens and laptops, looks like democracy, but as any Parisian schoolchild can recount, the path from the barricades to a functioning parliament can be tortuous. After the Jacobin terror sent more than 14,000 victims to the guillotine, France (and most of Europe) got Napoleon, whose excesses ultimately led to a restoration of the monarchy. Five years from now, we are more likely to see another Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, or another Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, than to see a functioning representational government in any of the countries now undergoing the "Arab spring."

The instant transfer of political power is intoxicating, but it should not be confused with democracy itself. Neither can a functioning democracy exist without fair elections, and a social compact that accepts representational government and the discipline of abiding by its decisions.

Koppel is right, and let's remember what he says.  Before we shout "democracy is coming" as we watch images on television, let's find out what the "democracy demonstrators" are really for.  We might wind up horrified.  We became horrified over Iran, but by that time it was too late.

May 15, 2011         Permalink

REVERTING TO FORM – AT 10:54 A.M. ET:  I've seen improvement in CNN's international reporting recently, probably reflecting the departure of Christiane Amanpour, who now bores us on ABC.  But today, sadly, CNN seemed to revert to form in some real third-rate reporting from the Mideast.  Christiane would be proud:

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces in multiple locations along the country's borders Sunday as tensions flared on a Palestinian mourning day marking the birth of the Jewish state.

Whenever you see a lead like that, the reporter either isn't doing the job or has his thumb on the scale.  Clashes don't "erupt."  They're started by one side.  But, too, often, biased reporters don't want to tell you which side started the action.

Syrian state television said four protesters were killed by Israeli gunfire in the Golan Heights area, where Israeli's military said dozens were wounded.

The idea that anyone can seriously quote Syrian state television after what we've seen in Syria recently is ridiculous.

The conflicts broke out on "Nakba Day." Nakba, meaning catastrophe in Arabic, marks the period when more than 700,000 Arabs were displaced from their homes during the fighting following the creation of Israel in 1948.

Again, conflicts "broke out."  And the Arabs were displaced not "during the fighting," but as a result of the Arab invasion of the new state of Israel in 1948. 

Different accounts were emerging Sunday of clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border, where ambulances stood by as the steady crackle of gunfire filled the air.

Yeah, I'll bet.  How about finding out what happened before you file the story.

These events have been long-planned by radical Palestinians and their little helpers.  It's actually been in the papers.  Someone tell CNN.

May 15, 2011         Permalink

RIDICULOUS RON – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:  Ron Paul, the certified nutbag running for president in a party whose views he rarely shares, exposes himself every time he opens his mouth.  He claims to be a libertarian, but isn't.  He is running as a Republican, but doesn't qualify there either.  His foreign policy views share much more with the hard left than any other faction.  Yet, people get sucked in.  Consider this, from The Politico:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) refused on Sunday to back down from comments last week that the United States should have informed the Pakistani government that American officials knew where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was hiding.

Right.  And the Pakistani government would have alerted bin Laden within seconds.

"Why are we having trouble with the [Pakistani] government, why are we stirring up a civil war in Pakistan? It's because we've been bombing it," Paul said on "Fox News Sunday."

No, Ron, the trouble preceded the bombing.  That's why we're bombing in Pakistan, but not in, say, England.

The libertarian Paul, who's running again for the Republican presidential nomination, said his opposition to the U.S. mission to kill bin Laden demonstrates the principles of his non-interventionist foreign policy.

"I'm saying that when you bomb a country, you violate their national security and sovereignty," Paul told host Chris Wallace. "We're doing that [in Pakistan]. At the same time, we're giving them billions of dollars. And you wonder why the [Pakistani] government gets in trouble with the people."

The Obama administration should have relied on the Pakistani government to arrest bin Laden and turn him over to U.S. authorities, Paul said.

That is the view of a child.  Or a member of some Marxist group on a college campus.

The man is dangerous.  We assume the GOP will realize that.

May 15,  2011     Permalink

MAY 14,  2011

NO HUCK TO BE – AT 10:07 P.M. ET:  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee announced tonight that he will not be a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.

Huck is gone.  So is Haley Barbour.  The GOP field narrows.  The party is waiting on Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana to decide whether Mitch will pitch.  But polls are showing that even Republicans aren't very excited about the group of candidates whom The Great Mentioner has mentioned.

As we've argued here before, it's time for the GOP to think in unconventional terms, skip a generation and go to young dynamos like Marco Rubio.  True, some of the GOP probables might make fine presidents.  But you've got to get the job first, and they'll be running against one of the most effective campaigners of our time.  Who needs to be a good president when you can talk?  From Fox:

Mike Huckabee said Saturday there would be no sequel to his surprisingly strong 2008 White House bid, in which he won the Iowa Republican caucus and finished second in the primaries to Sen. John McCain.

"All the factors say go, but my heart says no," Huckabee, who was considered the GOP frontrunner in several national polls, said on his Fox News Channel show.

The show is normally prerecorded before it airs at 8pm, but Huckabee saved the last 10 minutes of tonight’s broadcast to make his announcement live.

"The past few months have been times of deep personal reflection," Huckabee said. "Even though I wasn't actively establishing a campaign organization or seeking financial support to run again, polls have consistently put me at or near the top to be the Republican nominee."

"But I know that under the best of circumstances, being President is a job that takes one to the limit of his or her human capacity," he continued. "I can't know or predict the future, but I know for now my answer is clear and firm: I will not seek the Republican nomination for President this year."

COMMENT:   I wonder whether there might be a revolt within the party, with a possible attempt to coalesce behind "someone else."  Who would that someone else be, besides Rubio or perhaps Paul Ryan?  I have no idea.  Some have mentioned Jeb Bush, who established a fine record as governor of Florida.  But I just can't see another Bush.  Amerida does not like dynasties.   Recall President Ted Kennedy or President Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.

There has been mention of David Petraeus, but he will be newly installed as Obama's CIA director.   For him to run against his commander-in-chief would require some major policy split, and I don't see that happening. 

Republicans have a splendid chance next year, but a candidate with a pulse would help.

May 14, 2011      Permalink

LIBYA UPDATE – AT 2:05 P.M. ET:  Remember Libya?  You go to the Mediterranean and hang a right around where Italy is.  You'll hit Libya sooner or later.  We have some kind of a policy involving Libya, and it keeps getting updated, the way you update your computer.  Except in Washington they actually have to think it through, rather than hitting a button.  This is new to the Obamans. 

But, there's been a new update:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and NATO will continue military operations in Libya as long as Moammar Gadhafi keeps attacking his people, the White House said Friday as top U.S. officials met in Washington with leaders of the Libyan opposition.

Wait, wait, wait.  Didn't the last policy have something to do with Gadhafi leaving?  Or dying?  Or somethin'?

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, met at the White House with a delegation from the Libyan Transitional National Council, including top representative Mahmoud Jibril. While the U.S. stopped short of recognizing the Council as Libya's legitimate government, as France and Italy have done, the White House said in a statement following the meeting that the Council is a "credible interlocutor of the Libyan people."

Now, I hope the boys actually investigated these Libyan visitors from the east, and found out what they actually stand for, so we don't wind up with Iran II.  I don't think that's asking too much.

Obama did not meet with the opposition leaders.

Not a bad decision.  You don't want a photo with these chaps if they turn out to be the kind who think women should be kept in cages. 

We'll see.  So far our policy in Libya hasn't changed the government, and our policy about the brutal crackdown in Syria has been nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Obama delivers a major speech on the Mideast this Wednesday.  The world waits.  Don't expect pearls.

May 14, 2011      Permalink

ON WISCONSIN – AT 12:24 P.M. ET:  Democratic Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin has announced that he will not be running again, creating an open seat in his state, and paving the way for what could become one of the most important Senate races in the nation.

There's already speculation that Republican Congressman Paul Ryan, a rising GOP star will enter the race.  It will be a risk, obviously, because he'd have to give up the House seat from which he has won fame and praise.  There is also speculation that former Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, defeated for reelection last year, will throw his hat in the ring.

A Ryan-Feingold race would be a wonder, pitting a thoughtful, committed, creative conservative against a a respected liberal of real conviction, who established a fine reputation in the Senate.  The great issues of our time could be debated by two men capable of doing it.  If Ryan wins, as we would hope he would, the next step would clearly be a presidential run.

Wisconsin has made a lot of news recently, with the principled stand of Republican Governor Scott Walker in dealing with public-service unions.  It may make history again, as the launching ground for a president.

May 14, 2011       Permalink

WATCH, HE'LL SOON BE WEARING A COWBOY HAT – AT 12:03 P.M. ET:  Let's see, he "got" bin Laden (it was actually Navy SEALs.)   He's kept most of Bush's national security policies.  Now he wants to start the pumps going.  By the time next year's election rolls around, Barack Obama will be wearing ten gallon toppers and riding into the sunset on a horse called George W.  We await the neuroses this must be causing his base.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — President Obama, facing voter anger over high gasoline prices and complaints from Republicans and business leaders that his policies are restricting the development of domestic energy resources, announced Saturday that he was taking several steps to speed oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters.

It was at least a partial concession to his critics, who say he has shackled domestic energy development at a time when consumers are paying near-record prices at the gas pump. The Republican-led House passed three bills in the last 10 days that would significantly expand and accelerate oil development in the United States, saying the administration was driving up gas prices and preventing job creation with antidrilling policies.

Administration officials said the president’s announcement was intended in part to answer these arguments, signal flexibility and demonstrate Mr. Obama’s commitment to reducing oil imports by increasing domestic production. But in fact the policies announced Saturday would not have an immediate effect on supply or prices, nor would they quickly open any new areas to drilling.

No, but at least there's the start of some common sense, rather than the severe environmentalism that governs Mr. Obama's wing of the Democratic Party.  We are an oil-based nation, and will be for decades, until new energy sources are developed and proved, both technically and economically.

We're all for the environment.  We're also for people not starving to death in a wrecked, depressed economy.  There's an intelligent balance.

We welcome the president's baby steps in this area.  May he break into a stride.

May 14, 2011       Permalink

TRAVELING – AT 11:43 A.M. ET:  We are traveling, currently in wonderful Charlottesville, Virginia, home of the University of Virginia.

It's graduation time, and an atmosphere of festivity and relief pervades Charlottesville.  The restaurant owners are all smiles, as they know the parents are coming.  The kids are all smiles, as they know they finally made it. 

I marvel at the changes in the south since I first worked in the region, at the CIA in Langley, decades ago.  (Okay, Langley isn't exactly the South, but it is surrounded by Manassas (Bull Run) and other places that caused discomfort to a northern boy who'd thought a southern trip ended in Delaware. 

The South was always gracious, and always produced some of our finest writers, musicians, scholars, and statesmen.  It was cursed by the racial issue, which was regularly looked at by northerners through hypocritical eyes, as the treatment of minorities in the North wasn't much better. 

But the South has changed.  The graciousness remains, and the racial issue has changed dramatically.  If this country is saved, it will be by the South and the rest of America's heartland.  Values like patriotism and common sense remain strong here, and political correctness is suppressed.  That doesn't mean all northeasterners are nuts.  Even New York City, with a 4-1 Democratic registration, hasn't elected a Democratic mayor in almost 20 years, finally disgusted with the failure and phoniness.  But much of the northeast is still affected by the values of the sixties, and the heartland has largely expunged them.

It is very comfortable being here.  Even the Confederate statues don't bother me anymore.  It is a time that is long past.

May 14, 2011     Permalink