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NOVEMBER 12,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:19 P.M. ET:

THIS IS RIDICULOUS – President Obama said today that the United States seeks a common response – with Russia – to the Iranian nuclear program.  Wha..?  It has been reported all week that Russia opposes further sanctions on Iran.  Russia is helping Iran build nuclear reactors, and announced that it might actually build more.  Vladimir Putin, no friend of the United States, will probably return to the top spot, both formally and not, in the Russian hierarchy.  Russia got what it wanted from the U.S., the cancellation of our missile shield in Eastern Europe, and we got nothing in return.  And Barack Obama gives us this faculty-lounge talk about a common response.  Someone should remind our in-the-clouds president that American lives are at stake.

REPUBLICANS DEBATE – The Republicans debated foreign policy in South Carolina tonight.  It was sort of broadcast on CBS, but WCBS in New York, the network's flagship station, only carried the first half.  If you wanted to see the second half, you had to do it on a computer.  What great devotion to public service.  The debate itself was uneventful.  There were no disasters, and I thought Mitt Romney still demonstrated that he is the most "presidential" of the candidates.  Rick Perry turned in his best performance, but still couldn't answer detailed questions to our satisfaction.  Neither could Herman Cain.   The most disappointing performance was by Jon Huntsman, who has served as ambassador to China, and sounded more like a Democrat than a Republican.  All theory, no backbone.

CHANGE IN ITALY – Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has resigned, a casualty of the debt crisis that has overtaken his country.  He is a boisterous, larger-than-life figure, and has been a good ally of the United States, something we should remember.  We have few enough of them.  It is widely expected that an economic technician will take over the premiership, at least for a time.  The debt crisis in Europe is far from solved, despite the passing of austerity legislation in both Greece and Italy.  There is clear worry in Washington that continuing convulsions in Europe will affect the U.S. economically, and threaten President Obama's reelection, which is clearly highest on his agenda.

ARAB CONFLICT – Crowds in Damascus attacked the Saudi embassy today and French and Turkish consulates after the Arab League suspended Syria.  Don't you love it when Mideast "friends" fight?  Syria is an ally of Iran, and the Saudis, in particular, loathe the Iranian regime.  Incidents like this might make the Saudis cooperative in possible military action against Iran in response to the Iranian nuclear program. 

November 12, 2011       Permalink

CHILLING – AT 10:14 A.M. ET:  This is another story that has dropped from most front pages, but has the potential to be devastating.  We will follow it.  From Fox:

Weapons smuggled from Libya after the collapse of Muammar Qaddafi's government are flowing through the surrounding region, the president of neighboring Niger said, a development that threatens to destabilize a swath of the continent already struggling against ethnic unrest and a regional branch of Al Qaeda.

"Arms were stolen in Libya and are being disseminated all over the region," Niger's president Mahamadou Issoufou said following a meeting with South African president Jacob Zuma. "Saharan countries are facing terrorist threats, arms and criminal trafficking. The Libya crisis is amplifying those crises."...

...The stretch of desert between Libya and West Africa already ranks among the world's principal smuggling routes, according to officials and locals. It is maintained by militants from the local Tuareg tribe who help to traffic arms, Europe-bound cocaine from Colombia, cigarettes and even household merchandise like diapers, these people say, over the ancient caravan route.

The inflow of missiles "adds a whole level to the arsenal," Peter Pham of the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, said. "The one area where governments that are trying to assert control of this large, ungoverned space have had the advantage is on air superiority. If that's taken away, it's very difficult to control the ground."

COMMENT:  This is only the beginning.  The theft of surface-to-air "manpads," shoulder-launched missiles, is especially frightening, and can result in an airliner horror, even in the United States.  These are small weapons, easily broken down and smuggled across our southern border.

And Libya itself has become a huge question mark.  As in other Mideast countries, the Arab spring is turning out to have very mixed weather, with the flag of Al Qaeda flying from too many flagpoles in that ragged country. 

Many Americans think the killing of bin Laden made this country safer.  I'm glad he's gone, but I'm afraid we're in greater danger now than at any time since 9-11, with an Iranian nuclear bomb on the way, instability in the Mideast, and a flow of Libyan weapons around the world.

What we definitely don't need in these circumstances is a second Obama administration.  Any dissent on that?

November 12, 2011       Permalink

RE-RUN – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  Didn't we see these chaps a few days ago?  Believe it or not, there's still another Republican debate tonight, this one on foreign policy.  It will be held in South Carolina and carried by CBS at 8 p.m. ET.  It will, thankfully, only last an hour.

The Republican field is disparaged for having little experience in foreign policy.  That's something of an exaggeration.  Newt Gingrich is thoroughly knowledgeable, served as speaker of the House, and has written widely on foreign policy and history.  Jon Huntsman has been ambassador to China.  Rick Perry has dealt at least with our relations with Mexico.  Michele Bachmann has shown herself to be quite knowledgeable, and Rick Santorum has a thorough knowledge.  Ron Paul has foreign policy views, but they are best left in the shadows.  He is a nutbag on foreign policy, wanting to return to the days of isolationism. 

Of course, this week's big news on the Republican side has been the lingering charges of sexual harassment against Herman Cain, and Rick Perry's blank moment in Wednesday night's debate, when he could not remember the names of all three federal departments he wants to abolish.  Perry has turned that into a joke, appearing on talk shows to laugh about himself.  That is marginally endearing, but would be more effective if he'd done well in previous debates.  The blank moment only reinforced the idea that Perry is not quite ready to be shipped,

The key subjects tonight, the ones to look for, will be policy toward Iran, now exposed before the world by a strong UN report as developing nuclear weapons.  Also look for attitudes toward the Keystone pipeline from Canada, now delayed by the Obama administration, but which many consider vital to this country's drive for energy independence.

And let's also see how a one-hour debate plays.  The problem remains that there are still too many candidates up there.  You cannot have more than three, four at the most, people on the stage for an effective discussion. 

We'll also be watching Newt Gingrich, who's making more progress in the polls than any other prospect.  It's very late in the pre-primary season, and the Republican race is far from settled, although Romney has the edge.

November 12, 2011       Permalink

CRACKDOWN ON SYRIA – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  It may be only a symbolic measure, but it's symbolic in the right direction.  Even the Arab League, not known for crackdowns on members, is fed up with the brutal Syrian regime:

CAIRO (AP) -- The Arab League voted Saturday to suspend Syria in four days and warned it could face sanctions if it does not end its bloody crackdown against anti-government protesters. The decision was a symbolic blow to a nation that prides itself on being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 18 countries agreed to the suspension, which will take effect on Wednesday. Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against it, and Iraq abstained. The Arab League also will introduce political and economic sanctions against Syria, he said.

Violence has continued unabated since Syria agreed on Nov. 2 to an Arab-brokered peace deal that called for the Syria to halt violence against protesters, pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.

"Syria is a dear country for all of us and it pains us to make this decision," bin Jassim said. "We hope there will be a brave move from Syria to stop the violence and begin a real dialogue toward real reform."

COMMENT:  Let's see if this has any teeth.  Obviously, the thing that stands out in the story is the abstention of Iraq from the vote to suspend Syria.  Iraq is an emerging democracy, we think, thanks to costly American military action.  And yet, Iraq remains close to the Syrian regime.  At least they only abstained, and didn't vote against the action, as did Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.  We are now withdrawing all our troops from Iraq, and we view with apprehension where that country will go without the American presence.  Are we, through our quick withdrawal, which is popular at home, about to turn a victory into a defeat?

November 12, 2011     Permalink

NOVEMBER 11,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:12 P.M. ET:

NEWT SHOOTS – The candidate showing the greatest rise in the polls among GOP primary voters is Newt Gingrich.  A new CBS poll has Cain at 18% and Romney and Gingrich tied at 15% each.  Rick Perry is way behind at 8%.  We should point out that different polls at this point in the campaign vary rather widely, although Newt's surge is being picked up by all the ones we've seen.  The question is whether Gingrich, who carries some political and personal baggage, has the base of support within the Republican Party, and among voters generally, to go much further.  Now that he's rising, you may be sure the mainstream media is preparing hit pieces on him.  Look for those within a week.

BLOWBACK – Follow-up to our earlier post about the disgraceful, politically motivated decision by President Obama to put off until after the election a decision on whether to permit the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to U.S. Gulf ports to be built.  Canadian sources cited by the Toronto Globe & Mail say the delay may kill the pipeline altogether, robbing the U.S. of a vital oil pipeline and safe, secure supplies from our closest friend.   And who is likely to benefit?  Why, it's China, which will be happy to buy all the oil that we cannot import because our pipeline capacity is already filled.  Smart move, Barack.

UNBELIEVABLE – Families suing for the right to have their children wear the American flag in school have lost their case in a federal district court.  The California children were told that they couldn't wear clothing bearing the flag on Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican holiday, because it might offend Mexican immigrants and cause violence.  The court found the school's position reasonable.  We find it appalling.  The perpetrators of violence, if any, should be punished, not students wearing the flag of their country.  Rulings like this award the playing field to the violent, not to the innocent.

BUS TARGETS – Fox News reports warnings by the federal governments that terror groups are targeting buses more than any other form of surface transportation.  This is entirely logical, and consistent with the experience of countries like Israel, which has seen a number of bus attacks.  Buses are very soft targets.  Terror groups are said to be trying to recruit employees of bus lines.  A bus attack includes placing explosives on or under buses, or simply ramming a bus with another vehicle.  A hijacked bus could be used in an attack on a crowd or used to ram a building.

November 11, 2011      Permalink

PENN STATE, AND ELSEWHERE – AT 4:29 P.M. ET:  I haven't commented in any detail on the Penn State scandal, but I'm now convinced, based on a gathering of available facts, that it's major and that, clearly, Penn State officials never took it seriously enough.

Sexual abuse of young people is a terrible crime, whether it involves an athletic coach, a religious institution, a political figure, or anyone else.  We stress that no one has thus far been convicted of anything, and that the presumption of innocence must prevail in the courtroom.  We have the full right to make our own individual judgments based on the facts known, since we, as observers, do not have the power to put anyone in prison.

The most famous figure to be affected by the scandal is, of course, Penn State's legendary football coach, Joe Paterno, who has now been forced out after more than four decades.  Pundits are already at work deriving great meaning from Paterno's fall.  He isn't charged with a crime right now, but he is charged, in the court of public opinion, with failing to act with sufficient seriousness when presented with evidence that a subordinate of his was engaging in outrageously improper conduct involving young boys.

It appears that the exits of both Coach Paterno and Penn State's president, ordered by the board of trustees, are appropriate, and overdue.  Neither appears to have practiced the due diligence required of his position.

But I have a bit of a problem with this episode:  Why is it that the only time we get real digging into the affairs of a university is when athletic programs are involved?  Reporters love to take digs at athletes, coaches, and those supporting the "program."  And yet our universities are plagued with problems involving inflated costs, huge tuition bills that have grown far beyond the rate of inflation, whole academic departments established for political reasons or to satisfy protesting groups, terrible bias, low standards, and disciplinary rules involving speech codes and kangaroo courts that are an insult to the concept of a free society. 

And yet, where is the reporting?  We too often have a press whose leaders seem more interested in receiving honorary degrees than in reporting on the institutions that grant them, institutions that often get vast sums in federal and state aid. 

We've referred to this before:  At Duke University, a competitive school of substantial prestige, three lacrosse players were thrown to the legal wolves based on flimsy charges of sexual assault by a woman with a very dubious past.  A corrupt district attorney, seeking votes in an upcoming election, started to prosecute them, even though evidence presented the day after the charges were announced pointed clearly to the innocence of at least one of accused.  A group of Duke faculty members, known thereafter as the Duke 88, signed a petition all but condemning these boys to a legal lynching.

Later, we learned that the charges were false, the prosecutor dishonest.  The mature, reasoned actions of the North Carolina bar resulted in the offending district attorney, Michael Nifong, being removed from office and disbarred.  But what happened to the grossly irresponsible 88 faculty members?  Nothing.  Not even an apology.  Not even a reprimand by the faculty senate or the board of trustees.  Just as awful, not even condemnation by what should have been a vigilant press.  Indeed, some of the more prominent members of the Duke 88 were offered even higher academic positions at other universities.   When the innocent players were invited back to Duke, one faculty radical resigned from all her committee assignments within the university to protest the fact that innocent boys were offered reinstatement.  No press condemnation.

Our colleges and universities need a great deal of examination.  The Penn State case is a particularly outrageous example of indifference to a serious wrong.  But there are many, many other areas that go unexplored, and that is a media failure of major proportions.

November 11, 2011     Permalink

IRAN CRISIS – AT 10:24 A.M. ET:  And it is a real crisis.  The UN report this week that Iran is likely developing nuclear weapons has been met with much handwringing and little prospect of real action.

Indeed, the American reaction has been one of the most disappointing.  While the administration talks tough about Iran, it actually does little.  Even the liberal Washington Post is taking Obama to task for his ineffectual Iran policy and demanding stronger action.  Its editorial is entitled, "Running out of time to stop Iran's nuclear program":

...there is time, but the Obama administration and other Western governments must recognize that the sanctions they have so far put in place, and covert operations aimed at sabotaging Iranian centrifuges and killing scientists, have not succeeded in changing the regime’s intentions or stopping its work. The IAEA reports that uranium enrichment continues at a steady pace — 4.9 tons of low-enriched material have been produced, enough for four bombs with further processing. Just as disturbing: Iran continues to install centrifuges in a new underground facility and says it will step up production of higher-enriched uranium, which could be quickly converted to bomb-grade material.

The Obama administration has been saying since last month, when it revealed an Iranian plot to murder the Saudi ambassador to the United States, that it intended to press for tougher sanctions. But in briefing reporters this week, officials appeared to back away from measures that would have real impact — such as a Treasury ban on transactions with Iran’s central bank. Though that step has strong support in Congress, the administration is wary that, by effectively shutting down Iran’s oil exports, it would provoke a spike in energy prices that would damage the fragile global economy.

That is a legitimate concern. But President Obama has said repeatedly that Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon is unacceptable — and the IAEA report makes clear the danger is growing, not diminishing. If Iran is to be stopped without the use of military force, the president, and the country, should be willing to bear some economic pain. The alternative — allowing Tehran to go forward — would be far more costly.

COMMENT:  Very well put, proving once again that the Washington Post has the most thoughtful editorial page of any generally liberal paper.  Compare please, if you can stand it, to the wreckage at The New York Times.

The Post argues that military force should be a last resort, and it is correct.  But it also notes the refusal of the Obama White House to impose truly painful sanctions on Iran, which makes the need for military force all the more likely.

And of course the Israelis, looking at Washington's confusion, may eventually feel that they have no choice other than to attack, to do as much damage to the Iranian nuclear program as possible.  Because that program is being relocated in underground bunkers, the Israeli decision is likely to come sooner, rather than later.

November 11, 2011       Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:41 A.M. ET:

NOVEMBER 7--Convinced that her 88-year-old husband was having an affair with her hairdresser, a Missouri woman, 87, shot her spouse in the arm with his own gun, police report.  According to a Springfield Police Department probable cause statement, Peter Desjardins told cops that his wife, Dorothy, told him Saturday evening that the woman who does her hair had claimed to be having an affair with him. He denied the allegation and told his wife that the only time he saw the hairdresser was during her beauty appointments.

We are awaiting the arrival of Gloria Allred, who will explain that Mrs. Desjardins is particularly sensitive, having once been harassed by Herman Cain.

FRANCE, TOO? – AT 9:20 A.M. ET:  The European economic crisis seems neverending.   Greece is still on the edge.  So is Italy.  And now we are warned that France may soon be in serious trouble.  The warning comes from Gordon Brown, Britain's former prime minister, whose specialty is finance.  From London's Telegraph:

France risks becoming the next victim of the sovereign-debt crisis “in the coming weeks”, Gordon Brown, the former prime minister, has warned.

Mr Brown’s prediction came as the difference between French borrowing costs and those of Germany hit record levels.

EU leaders urged France to draw up further austerity measures to meet its deficit reduction targets, amid fears the eurozone’s second biggest economy could crumble if Italy’s debt crisis spirals out of control. Mr Brown, speaking in Moscow, said: “France is in danger of being picked off by the markets in the coming weeks and months.”

He urged Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president and current G20 chairman, to draw up a “global growth agreement” with major powers such as China.

Such a deal could help to support the EU, whose bail-out mechanisms are not big enough to prop up a major nation.

COMMENT:  The European crisis is roiling markets here, and can have a devastating effect on American exports to Europe if it gets worse.  When you talk about the possibility of an economy the size of France's "crumbling" you are talking about catastrophic economic news.  If it affects employment here, it affects the 2012 election.

November 11, 2011        Permalink

AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:  On a day when we celebrate heroism and sacrifice, the Obama administration provides us an example of utter political cowardice and irresponsibility.  From the Washington Post:

The Obama administration will delay action on a controversial cross-country oil pipeline in order to assess a shift in its route, officials announced Thursday, effectively putting off a politically vexing decision until after next year’s election.

The move is the latest twist in a more-than-three-year review process that has evolved from a fairly routine decision within the federal bureaucracy to a very public debate over national energy policy. It pitted environmental activists and an array of citizens along the pipeline’s proposed route against business groups, oil companies and unions whose members would be employed as part of the $7 billion project.

Officials at the State Department, which oversees the permitting process, had once promised a decision on the proposal by Alberta-based TransCanada by year’s end. But they said Thursday that they had to extend their review of the 1,700-mile pipeline to address Nebraskans’ objections to building across the state’s sensitive Sandhills region. That area provides habitat for imperiled wildlife and covers the Ogallala Aquifer, a critical source of drinking and irrigation water for state residents.

COMMENT:  Oh, come on.  We all know what this is about.  The pipeline, known as Keystone XL, and critically needed by the United States, pits two parts of Obama's base against each other – labor unions on one side, radical environmentalists on the other.

We are going to be dependent on petroleum for decades, possibly generations.  Many of the "green energy" projects will not pan out, or will take far longer to develop than advocates tell us.  The pipeline from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries will make our energy production more efficient, and less dependent on undependable foreign sources.

There was plenty of time to assess the routing and other factors.  But the administration simply wants to avoid a decision before the election, knowing that one of its key constituent groups will be angered.  I guess this is another example of "change we can believe in."  The delay is shameful, but is in keeping with this administration's practice of running a perpetual political campaign. 

The delay will hurt the nation.  But how could that possibly compare with something that hurts the Obamans.

November 11, 2011       Permalink

THE DAY – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  It is Veterans Day, and we cite an appropriate quote from Leon Kass, whom I knew as an undergraduate at The University of Chicago.  He went on to become a physician, a scholar, and one of the few conservatives who survived the academic gauntlet during the last generation.  He writes, in Weekly Standard:

...we should revisit a remarkable Veterans Day speech, delivered last year, by Marine Lieutenant General John F. Kelly to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis:

"Those with less of a sense of service to the nation never understand it when men and women of character step forward to look danger and adversity straight in the eye, refusing to blink, or give ground, even to their own deaths. The protected can’t begin to understand the price paid so they and their families can sleep safe and free at night. No, they are not victims, but are warriors, your warriors, and warriors are never victims, regardless of how and where they fall. Death, or fear of death, has no power over them. Their paths are paved by sacrifice, sacrifices they gladly make for you."

In these important respects at least, these warrior men and women are our superiors. We can honor them properly only by recognizing that fact and by not flattening or disguising their excellence in order to feel better about ourselves.

COMMENT:  Wonderfully stated.  I've always believed that many of the attacks on the military that come from the academic world are based on an unstated jealousy of the soldier's bravery and character.  But the citizens of the country understand what our military does for us, and, I believe, many students understand, despite the efforts of fashionably leftist academics.

A day to honor those who serve, and have served.

November 11, 2011     Permalink