Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum

JANUARY 26,  2012

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:15 P.M. ET: 

HILLARY ASSERTS – Hillary Clinton has now said definitively that she will get out of politics at the end of Obama's term, no matter who is elected president.  Now, she's said this before and we have the right to be skeptical.  But, look, maybe she's tired, and maybe she wants to make as much money as Bill has (tens of millions).  If Obama is re-elected (my heart just skipped four beats) his choice of a new secretary will be a key signal as to his direction in a second term.  And why do I think Hillary might be back in four years if there's no other logical candidate for president in 2016?

A GRIM CHARGE – A drama with potential political implications is being played out in New York.  Greg Kelly, the son of New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, and a Fox News personality, is being investigated on a rape charge.  A woman alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Kelly, became pregnant, and had the baby aborted.  Ray Kelly is the highest profile police commissioner in the country and has been talked about for higher office.  If the charge turns out to be true then, obviously, our first thoughts must go to the traumatized victim.  But there can then be political effects down the line.  But it is only a charge, and thus far we've seen no specific evidence.  We take no stand.

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE – Last week the Obama administration was riding high on news that jobless claims had gone way down.  What a difference a week makes.  Jobless claims were up again this week, and creeping toward the 400,000 mark that economists see as a serious danger point.  In addition, new home sales slumped, adding to worries that the housing market has years to go before it recovers from its burst bubble.  A full court press is underway to convince us that the economy is on the rebound, and that, to quote another president, "prosperity is just around the corner."  But the corner looks far away once again.

HEY, IT'S THE ARAB SPRING – Six Americans, including the son of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, are being detained in Egypt.  The six have been working on behalf of Egyptian democracy.  The administration has expressed understandable outrage, but this is a very poor omen for the Arab spring, which is turning winter-like faster than expected.  And yet, as we reported this morning, the Obamans want to increase aid to Egypt, despite the fact that the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish Muslim Brotherhood will now be in control of the country.

January 26, 2012       Permalink

THE VISIBLE JEB – AT 9:42 A.M. ET:  Have you noticed that Jeb Bush seems to be suddenly in the news a great deal?  While he denies any interest in running for president, he has certainly kept his options open by refusing to endorse any candidate in the Florida primary.  He is, of course, an influential former governor of Florida.

We noted yesterday a fine column in National Review urging Bush to run.  And now there's this, from Bush himself, in the Washington Post.  Why do I think it's kind of an advertisement for what he can do for the GOP?

In the 15 states that are likely to decide who controls the White House and the Senate in 2013, Hispanic voters will represent the margin of victory.

For the Republican Party, the stakes could not be greater. Just eight years after the party’s successful effort to woo Hispanic voters in 2004, this community — the fastest-growing group in the United States, according to census data — has drifted away.

Although Democrats hold the edge, Republicans have an opportunity. We also have a record of winning Hispanic voters in certain statewide and national elections.

By that he means Florida, where he did very well among Hispanic voters in his gubernatorial runs.  Say what you will, but this sounds very much like a campaign pitch.  Bush is proclaiming, "I've done it before and I can do it again."

We need to connect immigration to other pro-growth policies, so that new Americans can apply their talents here and succeed. The United States needs an economy that is vibrant and dynamic, open to the contributions of new entrants. We have to reduce regulations across our economy, whenever they impede economic dynamism and flexibility in the labor market. We need secure energy supplies, radical tax reform and a reduced footprint of power of the state.

Immigration reform requires economic reforms. We must be able to assure new Americans the opportunity to succeed and contribute their talents.

And when they come, as surely they will, we must welcome them, no matter whether they speak Spanish or Creole or Portuguese. When we hear foreign languages in the streets of America, that is a validation of the Republican vision to create a place where people want to come and make their lives. Hispanics here speak or are learning English — not French, Chinese or Hindi. There is a lesson in that, and Republicans should be the ones to champion it.

COMMENT:  Very well done.  Look the guy over.

January 26, 2012       Permalink

HOW SMART IS THIS? – AT 9:19 A.M. ET:   When he came to office, President Obama, believing his own press clippings, promised a "smarter" foreign policy.  As yet, we fail to see how all this brainpower has actually benefited us.  Maybe a list could be provided.

And now we have this:

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to accelerate the pace of American aid to Egypt, a top State Department official said on Wednesday, as the most populous Arab nation reaches a critical stage in its uncertain transition away from autocratic rule.

Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a U.S. delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide "more immediate benefits" to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades.

"During this period, we want to be as supportive as we can. This is an historic moment. Egypt's a country of enormous importance," Hormats said.

Wait, wait a second.  Don't you think we ought to be sure where the money is going before the American taxpayers write the checks?  The Muslim Brotherhood is not exactly a Yank-friendly fraternity. 

Under the plan, some non-urgent U.S. aid slated for other countries - he did not name them - would be redirected to Egypt. And funding in the pipeline for long-term programs in Egypt would be shifted to quick-impact projects, he said.

Hormats, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum, emphasized that the White House had not made any final decisions, and that he was providing Washington's "broad thinking" on the subject.

And...

Congress approved $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt for the current fiscal year, but with conditions attached. It also approved $250 million in economic aid, as well as an "enterprise fund" of up to $60 million.

For the money to flow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must certify that the Egyptian government is supporting the transition to a civilian government, including holding free and fair elections, and implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.

Yeah, fat chance.  Freedom of religion?  The Christian population of Egypt, about 10%, is shaking in its boots, and a number of Christians are leaving.

In addition, the law says that none of the aid, military or economic, can be spent unless Egypt is meeting its obligations under the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty.

COMMENT:   For the record, the Muslim Brotherhood has announced, in no uncertain terms, that it will not have any dialogue with Israel.

You can be sure, though, that Hillary will do what she is told by the White House, and certify anything that Obama wants certified.

Another triumph of "smartness."  Choke.

January 26, 2012        Permalink

NEWT STUMBLES – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Newt Gingrich goes through regular crises.   Like an experimental rocket, he roars off, flies high, then crashes.

It seems to be happening in Florida.  We reported in "Short Takes" last night that Romney is gaining on Gingrich in that state, which votes in its primary on Tuesday.  From Fox:

A two-man fight for Florida is emerging ahead of the state's final Republican presidential debate Thursday, with polls showing the race neck and neck as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich pound each other over personal and professional vulnerabilities.

A new Time magazine/CNN poll had the race in a virtual tie between Romney and Gingrich, 36-34 percent among 369 registered Republicans who are likely to vote in the Florida presidential primary. The survey was taken between Jan. 22-24. Rick Santorum had 11 percent and Ron Paul was taking 9 percent of the vote.

The latter two candidates are far back in Florida, in part because they have been concentrating on other states.
According to the latest American Research Group poll of 600 likely GOP primary voters, Romney leads his rivals with 41 percent followed by Gingrich with 34 percent, Santorum with 9 percent and Paul with 7 percent.

With the race tight, Romney's campaign may be benefiting from a decision to concentrate on early voting. The ARG poll found 17 percent of likely primary voters said they had already voted absentee or early. Among this group, Romney was leading Gingrich 51-39 percent. For those who haven't voted yet, the race was 39-33 percent Romney to Gingrich.

One of the benefits of America's long presidential campaigns, routinely criticized in other countries, is that it allows voters a second and third look at candidates.  Gingrich was gaining dramatically in Florida, but a second look is giving voters some hesitation. 

Yesterday, Gingrich conceded he had made a false claim, not a good development:

After nearly a week on the defensive, CNN's John King reports tonight that Newt Gingrich's claim about offering witnesses to ABC News in his defense — to rebut the network's interview with his second wife, Marianne Gingrich — was not true.

"Tonight, after persistent questioning by our staff, the Gingrich campaign concedes now Speaker Gingrich was wrong — both in his debate answer, and in our interview yesterday," King said on tonight's edition of John King USA. "Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond says the only people the Gingrich campaign offered to ABC were his two daughters from his first marriage."

COMMENT:  But there is still no joy in the Republican Party, with a widespread belief that none of the candidates arouses enthusiasm.  While many "professionals" dismiss the idea, a growing number of Republicans, in surveys, say they want more choices.

January 26, 2012       Permalink

GROW UP – AT 8:39 A.M. ET:  Someone once wrote of Harry Truman that "he did the biggest things in the biggest ways and the littlest things in the littlest ways."

It was those big things we remember, which is why Harry is now regarded as a great or near-great president.

But Obama does Truman one better.  Obama does both the biggest things and the littlest things in the littlest ways.  I mean, do you get this one, from Fox?

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- President Obama and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had what was described as an intense encounter on the tarmac after the president arrived in the Grand Canyon state on Wednesday.

Brewer greeted the president as he arrived off Air Force One, as governors often do when the president visits a state, and handed him a letter that she described as a “welcome” note to the state, and an invitation to talk about a comeback for her state.

"He immediately took umbrage, if you will with my book, 'Scorpions for Breakfast,' and was somewhat disgruntled, if you will, by the way he was portrayed," Brewer later told Fox News in an interview with Greta Van Susteren. "He's very thin-skinned."

And...

Reporters who witnessed the exchange Wednesday more closely described that the two spoke “intensely” and chatted longer than the typical meet and greet on the runway. The pool report also says Brewer was pointing her finger at him at one point and they seemed to also being talking over one another in another instance. Obama also appears to be walking away from her while they were still talking, and she later said she didn’t finish her sentence in the exchange.

COMMENT:  This is what's on Obama's mind?  He doesn't like the way he was portrayed?  So he confronts a governor on the tarmac? 

The president of the United States has risen to the level of a student government leader.  Maybe that's progress.

January 26,  2012     Permalink 

JANUARY 25,  2012

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:49 P.M. ET:

CONVERSION – Liam Neeson says he is considering abandoning his Catholic faith and converting to Islam.  He apparently got the idea while filming in Turkey and hearing all the calls to prayer.  Convert to Islam?  An actor?  In Islam they call this a coming to the faith.  In Hollywood they call it a career ender.

THE GREAT PHILOSOPHER SPEAKS – Fidel Castro has rendered his opinion on the 2012 Republican presidential contest, calling it  “the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been."  This is in contrast to the wise policies Castro has enacted in Cuba, keeping hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in jail, maintaining a complete dictatorship for more than half a century, and aligning Cuba with such winners as Soviet Russia, the mullahs of Iran, and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. 

GINGRICH SLIPS BACK – The topsy turvy GOP race just got topsier and turvier.  Late polls now show Mitt Romney either catching up to Newt Gingrich in Florida, or going ahead of him.  Romney has engaged in a sustained TV attack on Gingrich, and it's beginning to bite, just as it bit in Iowa.  In addition, a number of conservative pundits are expressing reluctance about Newt, and that apparently is having an effect.  One well-known writer, R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., is referring to him as William Jefferson Gingrich, which is not meant as a compliment.  Further, opposition research on Gingrich is reaching its peak, revealing a man with a sharp tongue who's made many enemies, and who engaged in some spirited attacks on...Ronald Reagan.

WE SAW NOTHING – A stunning new poll in Germany reports that one in five young Germans has no idea that Auschwitz was a Nazi death camp, and that one third of Germans do not know that Auschwitz is in today's Poland.
The memories of World War II are fading, and, I'm afraid, so are its lessons, such as the importance of preserving the peace by being ready for war.  It was perhaps naive of us to believe that all the horrible ideas of Nazism died in Hitler's bunker in 1945, or that the rottenness of Communism died with the Soviet Union...or that the hateful philosophy of Al Qaeda died in the raid that killed bin Laden.

January 25, 2012        Permalink 

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  – From British writer Nile Gardiner, in the Daily Telegraph, on President Obama's State of the Union message:

Two words hardly mentioned in Barack Obama’s 65-minute State of the Union address to Congress: freedom and liberty. President Obama’s fourth and possibly last State of the Union speech was long on big government proposals, but short on the principles that have made America the world’s greatest power. His lecturing tone exuded arrogance, and he failed to present a coherent vision for getting the United States back on its feet after three years of economic decline. It was heavy on class-war rhetoric, punitive taxation, and frequent references to the Left-wing mantra of “fairness”, hardly likely to instil confidence in a battered business community that is the lifeblood of the American economy.

And, by contrast, Gardiner quotes Ronald Reagan, in one of his State of the Union messages.  What a difference:

… How can we not believe in the greatness of America? How can we not do what is right and needed to preserve this last best hope of man on Earth? After all our struggles to restore America, to revive confidence in our country, hope for our future, after all our hard-won victories earned through the patience and courage of every citizen, we cannot, must not, and will not turn back. We will finish our job. How could we do less? We're Americans.

I've never felt more strongly that America's best days and democracy's best days lie ahead. We're a powerful force for good. With faith and courage, we can perform great deeds and take freedom's next step… Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

COMMENT:  Like Ronald Reagan, President Obama is a fine speaker.  The difference is in the substance.  Reagan understood his country and its place in history.  Obama doesn't.  Reagan understood that Americans strive for something greater than material goods.  Obama doesn't. 

Republicans can capitalize on the depressing nature of the Obama presidency...if they can get their act together.  So far that's been a vain hope, but we can be optimists and hope that some political deliverance is in store for us sometime later in this campaign.

January 25, 2012       Permalink 

DO NOT INVITE ME, PLEASE – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  We've all had this experience:  We hear of a party, and we hope we're not invited.  The people.  The noise.  The phoniness.  The boredom.  There are times you just want to stay home and watch a Hitchcock movie.

I had that same sensation when reading this, about a party in Davos, Switzerland, where the mighty and the shallow of the Earth are meeting to contemplate our economic future:

...silent in the social networks on her trip to the confab so far is New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson. (In fact, her most recent tweet, back in December, announced her trip to Iowa for the caucuses, which hardly rates.)

Linda Zebian, a spokesperson for the Times Company, confirmed that Abramson, who's been in the top Times masthead slot since September, "is indeed attending Davos this year for the first time."

Her predecessor, Bill Keller, never attended the conference.

"I'm just not that into conferences, but I know a lot of people find them useful," he said.

Keller wasn't sure whether his predecessor, Howell Raines, had ever gone, but pointed out that Times journalists often do.

This year, the crew includes Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof and Andrew Ross Sorkin, Zebian confirmed.

Abramson will be joined by publisher Arthur Sulzberger, who's long been a fixture on the Davos circuit.

And more: Sulzberger is hosting a dinner tomorrow on Abramson's behalf, Zebian said, and Abramson will lead "a panel of women leaders" in a discussion on Thursday.

Zebian declined to offer any further details since "both are private events," but said "no news will be made" at the dinner and that Abramson's panel would be hosted by PriceWaterhouseCooper International.

Well, news is seldom made at dinners or panel discussions except for who showed up and what they said.

COMMENT:  I have personally instructed members of my family to screen my mail and incoming electronic messages for any hint of an invitation to said events, especially the dinner.  If such hints are forthcoming, they are to be kept from my eyes.

Can you think of anything so dull as the publisher of the failing New York Times holding a dinner in Switzerland to introduce his new editor, whose major claim to fame is co-authoring a hit book on Clarence Thomas? 

I'm not worried.  I don't think I'm on the invite list.  I'm going into New York this week to have a hamburger with my younger daughter, and that's far more important...and interesting.

January 25, 2012        Permalink

IRAN ON THE BRINK –  AT 8:12 A.M. ET:  While we're fighting an election, the confrontation with Iran is still building.  New sanctions are going into effect.  They're hurting the Iranian economy.  But are they having the desired effect?  The New York Times provides a surprisingly clear summary of where we are, and aren't:

WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration and its European allies toughened economic sanctions against Iran on Monday — blocking its access to the world financial system and undermining its critical oil and gas industry — officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that their last-ditch effort has only a limited chance of persuading Tehran to abandon what the West fears is its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

That leaves open this critical question: And then what?

While the United States and Israel have not taken military options off the table, pursuing them is unpalatable, at least for now. Several American and European officials say privately that the most attainable outcome for the West could be for Iran to maintain the knowledge and technology necessary to build a nuclear weapon while stopping short of doing so. That would allow it to assert its sovereignty and save face after years of diplomatic tensions.

While that might seem to be a big concession on the part of the United States, Iran would first have to make even bigger ones: demonstrate that it could be trusted and drop its veil of secrecy so that inspectors could verify that its nuclear work was peaceful, steps Iran has resisted.

COMMENT:  The fact is that we've made, essentially, no progress in all the years of discussing the Iranian nuclear program.  There may well be new talks with Iran – talks are a great stalling tactic – but Iran is relentlessly pursuing nuclear development.  It would be utterly reckless to assume that its intentions are peaceful.

President Obama assures us that we will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.  How? 

The best thing that could happen would be regime change.  We had a chance at that in 2009 when democracy demonstrators took to the streets in a preview of the "Arab spring," but the president of the United States couldn't be bothered to give them any encouragement.  Now the democracy movement seems utterly suppressed.

This will be the year of Iran in foreign policy.  It's now widely believed that an Iranian bomb will change the whole balance of the region.  We have not found an answer short of a massive military strike, and we recognize the great instability such a strike would bring.

For Americans a key question is this:  Will Obama pull an October surprise with Iran?  Military action of some kind, even a naval blockade, could guarantee his re-election, although he'd lose Michael Moore's vote. 

And we must ask this question:  How will events in Syria affect Iran's nuclear program?  Syria is Iran's strongest Arab ally.  If the Syrian regime collapses, will the Iranian mullahs be frightened enough to start making compromises?  Or will they do something crazy and rash to prove their virility? 

Dull year, isn't it?  And we're cutting our defenses.

January 25, 2012       Permalink

THE NEWT SURGE CONTINUES – AT 7:49 A.M. ET:  He's like the Energizer bunny.  Newt Gingrich just continues to move.  He has devastated Mitt Romney's lead in national polls, according to Gallup:

PRINCETON, NJ -- Newt Gingrich has all but erased Mitt Romney's 23-percentage-point lead of a week ago among Republican voters nationally, and the two candidates are now essentially tied, at 29% for Romney and 28% for Gingrich. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum have significantly lower levels of support, at 13% and 11%, respectively.

Romney held a 23-point lead over Gingrich as recently as Jan. 11-15. Thus, in a matter of one week, Republicans who are registered to vote have shifted their support substantially -- with Romney dropping 8 points and Gingrich gaining 14 points. The latest Gallup tracking update covers Jan. 18-22, encompassing Gingrich's come-from-behind 12-point victory over Romney in Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary. Gingrich began to gain on Romney well before Saturday's vote, however, most likely reflecting his performance in the two nationally televised debates held in South Carolina last Monday and Thursday.

And...

Gingrich and Romney continue to exchange the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, not unlike the final quarter of a close championship football game. The most obvious implication of this back and forth is Romney's failure to consolidate and sustain his support among Republicans nationally. The virtual evaporation of Romney's 20-plus-point lead over the last week suggests that Republicans most certainly have not settled on the former Massachusetts governor as their final choice for the nominee. The fact that Gingrich has managed to resurrect his standing in the polls once again suggests that Republicans have most certainly not ruled him out.

COMMENT:  We are six days away from the Florida primary, although many voters have already voted, given Florida's advance voting system.  New polls show Newt leading Romney, although Romney led substantially only a few weeks ago. 

We commented yesterday on the "Republican crisis," and it continues.  The party is having trouble deciding between two flawed candidates, and I still maintain that there may well be a movement to bring in someone who is not yet running.

January 25,  2012     Permalink