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MAY 5,  2012

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:25 P.M. ET:

TRIALS BEGIN – Arraignment proceedings began today at Guantanamo against five men accused of being co-conspirators in the attacks of September 11, 2001.  The group included Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the attacks.  The irony of holding the sessions at Gitmo was not lost.  Obama, appealing to his left-wing base in 2008, promised to close the facility, but apparently thought better of it.  Today's show was weak on participation.  Mohammed refused to answer questions.  The "defense lawyers" put on the best show.  One female defense lawyer, dressed in Muslim garb, asked that women on the prosecution team do the same, to show "cultural sensitivity" toward the defendants.  We assume that our American women will politely decline.

FRANCE ABOUT TO VOTE – Election of the French president is about to begin.  We should know the result in less than a day.  Virtually all experts predict the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy, the pro-American incumbent, and the election of Francois Hollande, who would become France's first Socialist president in 17 years.  Financial observers dread the prospect of a socialist as chief executive of France.  If socialist policies are pursued, it's possible France could go the way of Greece, with repercussions to the American economy.

OBAMA CAMPAIGN OFFICIALLY BEGINS – President Obama officially began his 2012 campaign today, although he's been campaigning since taking office in 2009.  He launched this latest crusade at Ohio State University, underlining the important he attaches to the youth vote, which seems apathetic now, in contrast to its delirious love of Obama in 2008.  But the president's launch occurred in a half-empty stadium.  Obama has drawn much larger crowds at the university in the past.

May 5, 2012       Permalink

ABSURDITY – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  President Obama mines the absurd in his weekly radio address.  He is sounding more and more like George McGovern, whose foreign policy views set the mold for the modern, and failing, Democratic Party.  From The Politico:

After more than a decade of war, President Barack Obama called on Americans to turn their attention to the homefront and honor the “new greatest generation” by building a country worthy of their sacrifices in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Invoking the spirit and the nickname of the generation of Americans who fought and won World War II, Obama called on Americans to focus on rebuilding at home.

“As a new greatest generation returns from overseas, we must ask ourselves, what kind of country will they come back to?” Obama said in his weekly address released Saturday.

You'd think the struggle was over.  It is not.  This is a remarkably cynical statement by the president, designed to appeal to his so-called "anti-war" base.  It comes close to being an isolationist speech.

“Will it be a country where a shrinking number of Americans do really well while a growing number barely get by? Or will it be a country where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules — a country with opportunity worthy of the troops who protect us?” Obama said.

“After more than a decade of war, it is time to focus on nation building here at home,” Obama said.

Oh please.  You'd think this was the end of World War II.  This president has spent gazillions in taxpayers' money "here at home."  Does anyone not know that?

Expanding on his remarks in Afghanistan this week, Obama said the defeat of Al Qaeda was within the reach of the United States — thanks to the sacrifice of countless troops during a decade of war in Afghanistan.

“The goal that I set — to defeat Al Qaeda, and deny it a chance to rebuild — is within reach,” Obama said.

The goal that he set?  As Johnny Carson used to say, "I did not know that."  I thought it was Bush who set that goal.  As usual, Obama is thoroughly ungracious in giving credit.  Even Richard Nixon, never the class of the field, gave credit to President Kennedy when we landed men on the moon.

It's so intellectually dishonest.  Al Qaeda, while weakened, is still very much alive.  So are groups sponsored by the Iranian regime.  We are being sold a bill of goods.

May 5, 2012       Permalink

POLITICAL THREAT TO OBAMA – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:   The Obama campaign is trying desperately to rebuild the coalition that brought victory to Obama in 2008, but not everyone is enthusiastic.  Reports show that registration among minorities is down, something that could prove critical on election day.  From the Washington Post:

The number of black and Hispanic registered voters has fallen sharply since 2008, posing a serious challenge to the Obama campaign in an election that could turn on the participation of minority voters.

In the 2008 election, robust turnout among black and Latino voters is credited with putting Obama over the top in key swing states, including Virginia and New Mexico.

Voter rolls typically shrink in non-presidential election years and registrations among whites fell at roughly the same rate, but this is the first time in nearly four decades that the number of registered Hispanics has dropped significantly.

That figure fell 5 percent across the country, to about 11 million, according to the Census Bureau. But in some politically important swing states, the decline among Hispanics, who are considered critical in the 2012 presidential contest, is much higher: just over 28 percent in New Mexico, for example, and about 10 percent in Florida.

For blacks, whose registration numbers are down 7 percent nationwide, and Hispanics, the large decrease is attributed to the ailing economy, which forced many Americans to move in search of work or because of other financial upheaval.

COMMENT:  The lack of enthusiasm among elements of Obama's base is being regularly reported.  The response of the Obamans is to start scare campaigns, charging, for example, that Republicans are engaged in a "war on women."

The Republican strategy here can't simply be denial of the charges.  Republicans must devise strategies to appeal to the very elements on whom Obama depends.  The GOP has been weak or indifferent in this regard, and that has got to change if the party is to remain competitive in coming decades.

May 5, 2012       Permalink

THE UN SPEAKS AGAIN – AT 8:49 A.M. ET:  With mass murder going on in Syria and several African states,  the UN has dispatched an investigator who has found a major human rights crisis...in the United States.  Why do we send these people are checks?  From Britain's decidely left-wing Guardian:

A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination.

James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes.

Anaya said that in nearly two weeks of visiting Indian reservations, indigenous communities in Alaska and Hawaii, and Native Americans now living in cities, he encountered people who suffered a history of dispossession of their lands and resources, the breakdown of their societies and "numerous instances of outright brutality, all grounded on racial discrimination".

"It's a racial discrimination that they feel is both systemic and also specific instances of ongoing discrimination that is felt at the individual level," he said.

Anaya said racism extended from the broad relationship between federal or state governments and tribes down to local issues such as education.

COMMENT:  S. James Anaya teaches human rights law and policy at the University of Arizona.  Like most of the "special rapporteurs" appointed by the UN's vastly corrupt Human Rights Council, he already had a record of advocacy before taking on his assignment.  So, these chaps find what they've already found.

I suspect the left will make some noise about this, but I don't think the Human Rights Council, which houses an embarrassing number of dictatorships, will have much impact.

May 5,  2012     Permalink

MAY 4,  2012

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:29 P.M. ET:

SALVATION IN LONDON – British Conservatives took a beating in yesterday's municipal elections, but there was one beam of bright light.  Boris Johnson was re-elected mayor of London, obviously Britain's most important city.  His opponent was former Mayor Ken Livingstone, a left-wing extremist with openly stated dreams of making London a major Muslim center.  Johnson now becomes a significant national figure.  There is chatter that he might someday challenge sitting Prime Minister David Cameron.

LUGAR FADING – Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana appears to be fading in his primary race for a nomination to a seventh term.  His opponent, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, is ten points ahead of Lugar in the latest statewide poll.  The primary is Tuesday.  If Lugar loses, despite the support of much of the Republican establishment, it may well be because Hoosiers feel he has lost touch with the state.  Lugar's main areas of interest are in foreign policy.

YOUNG GENIUS – A two-year-old girl with an I.Q. of 135 has been admitted to Mensa, the organization that limits its membership to those in the upper two percent on accepted intelligence scales.  I hope her parents are wise enough to keep her away from Mensa meetings until she's a well-grounded adult, though, as they must be utterly obnoxious affairs.  I've only known a few Mensa members, and they proved beyond a doubt that high intelligence and the ability to use it well are two different things.

YEAH, I GUESS SO – It is reliably reported that the now 101-year-old heiress whose cash helped John Edwards cover up his affair with a videographer and the love child that resulted from same, believed that Edwards was using her only for her money, and that he should have spent his own.  Yeah, heiresses can sometimes come to the right conclusions, when presented with the facts.  Rachel “Bunny” Mellon funneled $750,000 to Edwards during the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries.  She also gave another $6.4-million to a group tied to the Edwards presidential campaign.  She's a charitable woman and deserved better than John Edwards.

May 4, 2012       Permalink 

TWO DAYS TO FRANCE – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  The final round of voting in France's presidential election is Sunday, when the future of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is decided.  Sarkozy is the most pro-American French president in decades.  He is surging, but will it be enough?

PARIS (Reuters) - The first opinion poll conducted since Wednesday's televised election debate in France showed Socialist Francois Hollande's lead over President Nicolas Sarkozy narrowed by two points to six points, although most people found Hollande most convincing.

The poll by CSA gave Hollande 53 percent for Sunday's decisive runoff, down 1 point from his score on April 26 and compared to 47 percent for Sarkozy, a gain of 1 point.

The survey found 44 percent of respondents thought Hollande was most convincing versus 38 percent for Sarkozy.

The survey was the second to show Sarkozy inching towards his Socialist rival two days from the vote. An OpinionWay poll, conducted half before and half after the TV debate, gave Hollande his smallest margin yet of five points, with 52.5 percent to Sarkozy's 47.5 percent.

An average of other recent polls gives an 8 point margin.

COMMENT:  We can hope for a Sarkozy victory, but it doesn't seem likely.  A socialist president in France is not to our liking.  If it signals a European trend, economic conditions in Europe may become even worse than they are because socialist governments are not inclined to take painful economic steps.  In turn, that will affect our own economy.

May 4, 2012       Permalink

TROUBLE IN THE COMMONWEALTH – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:  Virginia will be a critical battleground state this November.  At one time it was considered reliably Republican, but in 2008 it went for Obama.  A new poll suggests that Romney is having a tough time in the state.  Demographic factors may be largely responsible.  The state is changing, and not in ways favorable to Republicans.  From WaPo:

President Obama leads former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in Virginia, but voters in the commonwealth are evenly divided on the White House’s major policies, a new Washington Post poll shows.

Obama is ahead of the presumed Republican presidential nominee by 51 percent to 44 percent among registered voters. And Romney does no better against Obama than he did in a Post poll a year ago, despite his emergence as the GOP standard-bearer.

The Democratic president has a key advantage in his bid for re­election: The coalition of Virginians that helped propel him to victory in 2008 — young voters, suburban Washingtonians, women and African Americans — is largely intact. Yet the survey shows that voters in the state are split on Obama’s signature health-care reform law and that they remain deeply pessimistic about the way things are going in the country, creating a potential opening for Romney.

Virginia’s changing electorate and Obama’s 2008 win suggested that the Old Dominion is becoming a reliably swing state.

COMMENT:  Romney does have a chance in Virginia and he should pursue it.  But one demographic, the growth of liberal northern Virginia, is unique to the state, as it is heavily based on federal-government workers, who will tolerate no talk of smaller government.

While Virginia is not absolutely critical to a Romney victory, it certainly would help.  Without it, almost everything else would have to fall perfectly for Romney for him to win. 

Romney might be tempted to put Virginia's popular governor, Bob McDonnell, on his ticket, but there is a danger:  McDonnell, although elected governor, is controversial because of comments he once made about women's proper role in American society.  Romney clearly doesn't need that.  He has enough of a problem with the women's vote.

May 4, 2012       Permalink

BULLETIN:  JOB CREATION AWFUL – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  The much-awaited job-creation figures for April have just been released, and they are awful.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

WASHINGTON—U.S. job growth slowed again in April, a fresh sign that the economy could be settling into a sluggish spring.

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 115,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, ticked down a tenth of percentage point to 8.1%.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected a gain of 168,000 in payrolls and for the jobless rate to remain at 8.2% in April.

On a positive note, March payrolls grew by an upwardly revised 154,000 from an initially reported 120,000, and February payrolls posted a gain of 259,000, compared with an earlier estimate of 240,000.

Hardly positive.  It takes 150,000 new jobs every month just to keep pace with population growth.   And the dramatic downward trend since February has just been confirmed by the new figures.

The unemployment rate has dropped since August, when it was 9.1%, though some of the decline has resulted from people leaving the work force. Federal Reserve officials have said that they expect only gradual progress the rest of this year. The Fed last week forecast that the unemployment rate would fall to somewhere between 7.8% and 8.0% by the end of this year.

One source claims that the labor-force-participation-rate has dropped to a 30-year low.

Even Bloomberg, which tries hard to help out the Obamans, puts it this way in its lead, just out:

Employers in the U.S. added fewer workers than forecast in April and the jobless rate unexpectedly declined as people left the labor force, underscoring concern the world’s largest economy may be losing speed.

COMMENT:  If we're in a recovery, we're in a jobless one.  While the administration will spin the unemployment number as progress, it really isn't.  And the underemployment number is somewhere in the teens.

Numbers like this will not guarantee Romney's election, but if Obama is re-elected with an economy like this, one would wonder about the rationality of much of the electorate. 

May 4, 2012       Permalink

Y'THINK? – AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  As the slaughter in Syria continues, the Obama administration is coming to the profound conclusion that the UN peace plan isn't working.  Don't you sleep better at night knowing this crew is in charge?  From AP:

It may be time for the world to acknowledge that a cease-fire is not holding in Syria, and that it is time to try another approach to stop the violence, the White House said Thursday.

"If the regime's intransigence continues, the international community is going to have to admit defeat," White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

If?  IF?  Is there any doubt?

It was the clearest statement yet that the Obama administration sees little chance for the cease-fire and peace plan brokered by United Nations envoy Kofi Annan last month but largely ignored by Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

"It is clear and we will not deny that the plan has not been succeeding thus far," Carney said.

The Annan plan has done little to stem the bloodshed, but so far other nations that back it have been unwilling to say it is dead.

U.S. officials have said the plain is failing because of Syrian government violations.

The Assad government and the Syrian opposition are blaming one another for torpedoing the truce, with Assad's forces trying to repress demonstrators calling for him to step down. The regime also is facing an armed rebellion that has sprung up as peaceful protests have proved ineffective against his forces.

COMMENT:  We should point out that the administration is still backing the pathetic Annan plan, which has had no effect.  Indeed, old Kofi – dictators never had a better friend – said as recently as yesterday that his plan is on track, although he concedes problems.  Like death on a major scale.

The problem is that there is no Plan B.  Obama has shown little urgency about stopping the bloodshed, and some speculate that he doesn't want to do anything to upset Iran, Syria's closest ally. 

So we are essentially nowhere.

May 4,  2012     Permalink