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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas last night.  It's here.

MAY 30,  2011

LUCKY TO BE AN AMERICAN – AT 11:14 P.M. ET:  And it's a good day to reflect on that.  Consider this story, which reflects the horrible deterioration of conditions in Egypt:

Cairo (CNN) -- A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks.

At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests."

But now a senior general who asked not to be identified said the virginity tests were conducted and defended the practice.

"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."

The general said the virginity checks were done so that the women wouldn't later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.

"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," the general said. "None of them were (virgins)."

None?  Yeah, I'll bet.  This is what is happening to the Egyptian revolution.  And yet our president, and his interns in the mainstream media, still talk about the Arab spring as if it's real.

Be glad you're an American.

May 30, 2011       Permalink

BY THE NUMBERS – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  Next year's election may well turn on registration, and the latest trends give the GOP an opening in many states.  From AP:

While Democratic registrations ballooned prior to the 2008 election, the numbers have declined in several important states, including:

- Florida: Democrats added more than 600,000 registered voters between 2006 and 2008, giving Obama about 4.8 million registered Democrats to help his cause. Registered Democrats now number 4.6 million in the Sunshine State. Republican registrations have slipped from 4.1 million in 2008 to about 4.05 million in mid-March, the most recent data available. Nearly 2.6 million voters in Florida are unaffiliated.

- Pennsylvania: Democrats maintain a 1.5 million voter advantage in registrations over Republicans, but their numbers have dwindled since Obama's election. There were 4.15 million registered Democrats through mid-May, compared with about 4.48 million in 2008. Democrats added about a half-million voters to their rolls in the two years prior to the 2008 election. Republicans currently have more than 3 million registered voters, compared with 3.2 million in 2008. About 500,000 Pennsylvania voters are unaffiliated.

- Iowa: Republicans have gained ground in the state that launched Obama's presidential bid. GOP registrations increased from about 625,000 voters in 2008 to nearly 640,000 in early May. Democrats, meanwhile, have fallen from about 736,000 voters in 2008 to about 687,000 in May. Nonpartisan voters remain the largest bloc in the Hawkeye State, representing more than 762,000 voters.

Democrats' numbers have also fallen in North Carolina, where Obama became the first Democratic nominee to carry the state since 1976, and Nevada, a high-growth state that has been battered by the recession.

Several Democratic-friendly cities have not been immune, either. Philadelphia had 880,000 registered Democrats in 2008; that number has fallen below 800,000. Denver, where Democrats held their 2008 convention, had about 200,000 registered Democrats in November 2008 - that's now down to about 120,000. In Mecklenburg County, N.C., whose county seat, Charlotte, is the site of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, Democrats' numbers have fallen after major gains leading up to the 2008 election.

COMMENT:  Of course, these are tentative figures, pending registration drives this year and next...and Democrats are very good at registration drives.  Why, in Chicago, even the dearly departed come out to register.  Well, they don't exactly come out.  They stay in, but they register anyway. 

The keys for the GOP will be an outstanding presidential candidate and a set of policies that are clear, convincing, and easily explained.  This election can be won, but we can never count on a political pro like Obama to lose it.

May 30, 2011       Permalink

NO HOLIDAY IN THE MIDEAST – AT 10:39 A.M. ET:  We commemorate (not celebrate) Memorial Day here, but there is no holiday in the Mideast.  The "Arab Spring" is turning into a very bad farce.  From Fox:

A Yemeni medical official says soldiers loyal to Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, have stormed a protest camp in the southern city of Taiz and fired on the crowds indiscriminately, killing at least 20.

After the attack on the anti-government protesters, residents say Yemen's air force launched an offensive against Al Qaeda and Islamic militants who overran the city of Zinjibar. Residents also told Reuters that Zinjibar was being shelled with artillery.

Hospital sources told Reuters that at least 120 were wounded in the Taiz attack.

The crowds gathered to demand the release of a fellow protester who was arrested Saturday, Reuters reports.
Security forces first tried to clear the square in Taiz with water cannons, tear gas and sound bombs, sending thousands rushing for shelter.

At last report, Al Qaeda was still in control of Zinjibar, the first town in the Mideast it has taken outright.  The death of bin Laden has not stopped the Al Qaeda crazies.  Their movement is built on an ideology, not a person.

From the Israeli prime minister:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that Egypt's new military government was having a "hard time" controlling the rise of international terror organizations in the Sinai Peninsula.

"Egypt is having a hard time realizing its sovereignty in Sinai," Netanyahu said during a meeting of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "International terror organizations are stirring in Sinai and their presence is increasing due to Sinai's connection to Gaza."

And the quote of the day belongs to columnist Ben Stein, who tells it like it is, unlike some journalists who are career-invested in boosting the "Arab Spring":

Now, I am going to tell you the truth about the so-called "Arab Spring," and about the Middle East generally right now.

First, the "Arab Spring" as a force for democracy, human rights and peace in Egypt seems to me to be a fraud.

The dictator and his entourage who were kicked out in Egypt were pro-West, a bit restrained on Israel, open to free enterprise, and resistant to Iranian-sponsored terror.

Egypt is now rapidly becoming anti-Israel, pro-Iran, pro the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group Hamas, and very far from being pro-human rights. They are arresting businessmen right and left in Egypt just for the crime of being successful. They have arrested Mubarak's sons, and have said they plan to try Mubarak.

The most potent of the political forces in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, hates the United States, loathes Israel, condemns the killing of bin Laden (whom they praised as a martyr), and have been wedded to terror for their entire existence.

COMMENT:  And what does our president have to say about all this?  Well, just about everything and anything.  He's made so many contradictory remarks that you can pick any of them out of a hat.  But I do hope he has someone on his staff who knows what's actually happening on the ground in Egypt and elsewhere, and cares.

May 30, 2011        Permalink

OUR LATEST DELUSIONS – AT 10:29 A.M. ET:  Our last post last night dealt with the price of gasoline.  One way to (eventually) bring that price down is more drilling for the plentiful oil we have in the United States.  But wait.  There are risks.  There are sins.  There are...lizards.  From the Houston Chronicle:

People in Midland like to say God felt such remorse for the dry, dusty landscape that he decided to give it oil.
He also gave it the dunes sagebrush lizard, and now, the tiny, sand-dwelling reptile could put a halt to oil and gas exploration and production in parts of West Texas and harm school budgets across the state.

The federal government has proposed that the lizard, which has all but disappeared from these parts, be listed as an endangered species — a designation that could save it from extinction but slow the pace in one of the nation's most prolific oil patches.

Oilmen and some state and local officials fear that adding the lizard to the list could put the brakes on drilling, road and pipeline construction and other activities - at least while the federal government studies their impact on the habitat in seven West Texas counties, including the top two oil-producing counties in the state.

"It's reptile dysfunction," said Jerry Patterson, the state's land commissioner, who has filed comments with federal officials in opposition of the proposed listing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking legal protection for the lizard because of the dramatic loss of its habitat due to oil and gas activity and cattle grazing.

COMMENT:  I knew cattle were evil and disruptive.  Cattle and people.  If only we didn't have to have them, we could have such an environmentally perfect world. 

We are in the midst of an energy crisis that impacts not only our economy, but our national security.  I'm all for lizards.  I've known a number of them in Hollywood.  But maybe this one time we can ask not what we can do for lizards, but ask instead what lizards can do for our country. 

I'm afraid, though, the lizards will win.  Look at who's in power.

May 30, 2011     Permalink

MAY 29,  2011

DRIVE NOW, PAY LATER – AT 11:36 P.M. ET:  Better get your warm-weather travelin' in early this year.  Credit-card blues are coming for those who visit the gas pump: 

The forecast for the summer driving season: Hit the road early. Not to beat the traffic, but to beat the higher gas prices expected in mid-July.

Goldman Sachs' crystal ball is proclaiming that oil will soon soar to $135 a barrel, and likely have service stations jacking up fuel prices to $5 a gallon in New York just like the summer of 2008 that preceded the recession.

Indeed, analysts say Goldman and the other oil trading giant that also has the might to move prices, JPMorgan Chase, have already placed their energy bets for the summer. JPMorgan predicts oil hitting $130 a barrel in the coming weeks.

There has actually been some downward pressure on oil prices in recent weeks, but the financial people see that as the proverbial calm before the storm:

"Drivers try to do what they can, but they have to go almost all the places they go," says energy researcher David Greene of the Department of Energy Web site fueleconomy.gov. "There's no magic gizmo that will drastically change someone's gasoline use."

And for that reason, as well as global uncertainty, Goldman and JP analysts see a return to high oil and gas prices in the coming months. Without a significant decrease in American demand -- or a sudden desire not to commute or drive to the shore -- $5 a gallon is likely on the horizon.

COMMENT:  But remember, those high gas prices are good for you.  Why, members of the Obama administration have actually said that, and we know that they are much wiser than we are, and got high test scores and lived in better dorm rooms.  So they have to be right.

I hope the GOP comes up with an imaginative energy policy that can convince Americans that they don't have to pay five bucks a gallon forever.  This is an issue handed to Republicans on a silver platter.  It is also an issue that can mightily help Texas Governor Rick Perry if he jumps into the race, Perry being from a large energy-producing state, and someone who knows the subject. 

In the meantime, happy motoring.  Just don't look at the gas gauge.

May 29, 2011       Permalink

THOSE WHO SERVE – AT 11:41 A.M. ET:  On this Memorial Day weekend, we reflect on those who serve in the armed forces of the United States.  Retired Marine Colonel Mark F. Cancian, in the Kansas City Star, gives us some poignant facts about service today:

The Memorial Day weekend is a time when we remember the nation's shared sacrifices in war. All told since 1775, more than 1.2 million Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice in our nation's conflicts.

Over the decades, however, the shared element of this sacrifice has waned. Although Americans have been wonderfully supportive of their service members in the recent conflicts, many have also observed that, with few exceptions, the nation's elites - the politically powerful, office and rank-holders, influential, wealthy and highly educated among us - do not typically have their children at risk in today's wars.

And...

But is there is one group among our great nation's leaders and elites whose children are very much at risk. The children of those in the military itself. Many of the generals and admirals who lead our armed forces today have children who are also serving.

Indeed, studies have shown that one of the strongest indicators for whether someone will join the U.S. military today is whether they have a parent who has served. A recent government study found that more than 61 percent of the Marines serving in Iraq in 2004 had at least one parent who was or had been in the military. I saw this vividly myself during my last tour in Iraq. Half of the senior officers on our command staff had children that were in the military, many of them deployed to combat at the same time as their parent.

Military service has become a family tradition and collectively these families have formed a small "military tribe" within our broader society.

And...

I hope that on this Memorial Day we can for a moment think about our military tribe. Families that at their core are not much different from other American families, the nation entrusts them with its safety and security and its future as a free people. They comprise less than 1 percent of our citizenry but bear disproportionately the burden of sacrifice.

Very well said. 

When I was much younger, it was expected that most young men would serve at least some time in the military.  We were still under the influence of the great World War II generation.  We had learned the lessons of that war, especially the lesson of unpreparedness.  But since the 1960s, and especially since the end of the draft in 1973, most Americans have grown more and more distant from direct participation in national defense.  Today, only a small number of families send someone to military service.  I'll bet that most Americans don't know a soldier, or even a soldier's family.  It is an unhealthy situation.

We are seeing small, but encouraging, signs of change.  Three Ivy League colleges – Harvard, Yale, and Columbia – have recently welcomed back ROTC units.  We hope this is the start of a cultural shift, possibly caused by generational change, that will bring Americans closer to those who defend them. 

May 29, 2011         Permalink

McCAIN ON LIBYA – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:  Libya is rapidly becoming the forgotten war.  After some initial bravado and some intermittent chest thumping, the Obama administration let the drive to topple Gadhafi go onto a "to do next year" list.  John McCain is critical, warning that the delay in bringing down the Libyan government can produce the worst possible outcome – the taking over of the rebel forces by extremist elements:

Sen. John McCain on Sunday said Libyan civilians are dying in large part because the Obama administration has refused to commit the full weight of the nation’s military to the fight to overthrow strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

“This thing could have been over a long time ago,” Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican who was the party’s 2008 presidential nominee, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

He said he was happy to see President Obama’s position on Libya “gradually changing,” evidenced by the fact that U.S. forces remain involved in the effort, despite Mr. Obama’s earlier declaration that the nation’s military commitment would be short-lived.

Mr. McCain also said the continued standoff in Libya could allow extremists, such as al Qaeda leaders, to take control of rebel forces. A quicker end to the fighting, which must include the removal of Col. Gadhafi from power, Mr. McCain said, would make it less likely that terrorists would gain a foothold in Libya.

COMMENT:  This last point is the most important.  Even Tom Friedman of The New York Times is acknowledging that the Egyptian revolution stands a good chance of going off the rails and being lost to the Muslim Brotherhood.  Extremist elements are very active in Libya, especially in the eastern areas held by the rebels, and we could wind up with a situation worse than Gadhafi remaining in power.

Remember, most revolutions fail.  In the Mideast, they fail spectacularly.

May 29, 2011      Permalink

WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 10:55 A.M. ET:  Scott Rasmussen has done a sophisticated study of the current state of the electorate.  It finds Obama ahead, but vulnerable:

In Democratic-leaning New Jersey, both home state Governor Chris Christie and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney are within single digits of President Obama in hypothetical 2012 election match-ups...

...Nationally, the president holds a 43% to 35% lead over the first-term Republican governor among Likely U.S. Voters...

...Among all likely voters nationwide, Obama bests Romney 45% to 40%. In every matchup tested so far this year, the president’s national support has stayed between 42% and 49%.

Yes, Obama is ahead.  But he's stagnated in the mid-forties, not the place to be for an incumbent president.  Remember, Obama is essentially campaigning every day.  The Republicans haven't yet picked their candidate.  Rasmussen cautions:

All early polling for the 2012 election should be viewed with caution given the potential for change over the next year-and-a-half. “If the economy improves dramatically over the next year-and-a-half, the president will be virtually impossible to beat,” notes Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports. “However, if there is a double-dip recession, it will be hard for the Republicans to lose. If the economy shows little substantive change, the race could be very competitive.”

Let me add, however, that the role of the media, which is virtually impossible to predict by polling, will again be a major factor.  The news is filtered through the lens of the press, and that filter is pro-Obama.  Some pro-Obama outlets can make 10% unemployment look like an economic boom.

It's early.  The polls will fluctuate, sometimes wildly.  But a president who is only at 45% against Mitt Romney is beatable.

May 29, 2011     Permalink