I have a new piece up at Hudson New York this morning, called "Losing Quietly."  It's about how America can lose its international struggle quietly by simply giving up its freedoms.  It's here.

THURSDAY,  APRIL 30,  2009

GREAT MOMENTS IN RHETORIC - AT 7:47 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued an apology Thursday for Vice President Joe Biden’s comments that he wouldn’t recommend taking a commercial flight or riding in a subway car because swine flu virus can spread in confined places.

“Obviously, if anybody was unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would apologize for that. And I hope that my remarks and remarks of people at CDC and Secretary Napolitano have appropriately cleared up what he meant to say,” Gibbs said during the daily briefing at the White House.

Biden’s office later sought to clarify his remarks by saying he was only urging sick people to avoid planes and trains.

Gibbs said President Barack Obama had not spoken to Biden about his remarks.

COMMENT:  Oh, by the way, under the new Obama health plan, Joe Biden will be chief internist. 

I love his explanation - that he was only urging sick people to avoid planes and trains.  How about buses, elevators, libraries, classrooms, restaurants?  You get the picture. 

April 30, 2009

AUTOS USA? - AT 7:01 P.M. ET:  The president announced the bankruptcy of Chrysler today, assuring us that the company, with a lot of nannying by government, will come out stronger.  (Yeah, right.  Just follow the advice of all those people reading "The Audacity of Hope.")

The New York Times ran a series of interviews with economics gurus, asking whether we even need a car industry.  Disturbingly, only one of five experts mentioned national defense as a reason to maintain our ability to produce cars, and that was Mark Thoma at the University of Oregon.  He said:

But there is another rationale for policies preserving certain kinds of production: protecting industries vital to national defense...

...The question is the degree to which a country can outsource the manufacturing of goods needed for national defense. If we do not have the capacity to produce engines, cars, tractors, and other goods that can be quickly converted to building military vehicles and aircraft, and war breaks out and those supplies are cut off, where does that leave us?

Some goods can be safely outsourced since they aren’t vital to national defense, or because the barriers to restarting production are small. But assembly lines used to produce automobiles cannot be constructed in an instant, so losing this industry would make us more vulnerable.

COMMENT:  The good professor is correct, and will probably now be called a nationalistic warmonger by the anthropology majors.  But the fact that no other interviewee mentioned defense shows how far that critical factor has drifted from public consciousness. 

Every time a defense-related plant closes, we lose expertise, equipment, and innovation.  Defense used to be so central to our thinking as a nation that when President Eisenhower, in 1956, announced the new interstate highway system, he called it the National Defense Highway System.  Today it would be called the Multicultural Reach Out and Touch Someone Community Interconnection Adventure.  You know what I mean.

April 30, 2009

OBAMA POLL NUMBERS - STEADY BUT NOT SPECTACULAR - AT 6:42 P.M. ET:  Rasmussen's 100-day numbers for Obama show him steady, but hardly spectacular.  Percent approving - 54%; percent disapproving - 45%.  That's a difference of only nine points, and an approval rating of 54% after 100 days in office is nothing to brag about.  Ras's presidential approval index - the gap between those strongly approving and those strongly disapproving, has settled back again to two points - 34-32. 

These numbers vary from day to day. Obama was stronger earlier in the week, and he is stronger in other polls.  We use Rasmussen because of his excellent track record and the fact that he polls daily. 

April 30, 2009

OH, THIS IS PRECIOUS - AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  Reader Dennis Losness alerts us to a post by Mary Katherine Ham at The Weekly Standard.  She notes that Jake Tapper of ABC tried to get Mr. Obama to answer a question about "torture" at his news conference:

Obama obfuscated for 5 minutes before answering Jake Tapper's question, but eventually and mercifully used just seven words to wrap things up: "I do believe that it is torture." He also asserted that vital information for preventing terror attacks could have been gleaned from hard-boiled mass murderers through other means, the guidebooks for which are hidden in the sugarplum grove at the foot of the gumdrop tree in the Mythical Forest of Prosperity from which Obama's domestic plans come. Convenient!

COMMENT:  I hope that gets tacked up over many Washington desks.

April 30, 2009   Permalink

IS THIS SERIOUS? - AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  I'm surprised this hasn't gotten more play, but I suspect it will.  Members of Congress, including some of President Obama's closest allies, recently advised him to place a time limit on talks with Iran, to make clear that our patience is limited, and to be sure Iran doesn't use the talks to stall any changes in its ongoing nuclear program.

The White House apparently wasn't listening.  From The Jerusalem Post:

The White House rejected the notion of putting timelines on its engagement with Iran Wednesday and indicated that its efforts could take a significant amount of time.

Say what?

White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer told foreign journalists Wednesday that "it's not appropriate at this time to be trying to establish timetables, but rather seeing how the engagement can move forward."

He said the US was not looking for "talk for the sake of talk," but that "there are opportunities there for us to engage with the Iranian government."

And...get this one:

"We are in a process that we expect will take some time," he said. "We've had a difficult - at best - relationship in the past with Iran, and we're looking to see what is possible. But we're under no illusions that there will be any change in the near term."

COMMENT:  Are these people real?  The president has just telegraphed to our enemies what the limits of our interrogation techniques will be.  Now we hand Iran a splendid victory on a silver platter.  We are saying, "Take your time, we know this isn't easy."  No time limits means no results.  Why should Iran do anything if it now knows it can just run out the clock and develop its bomb?

This is just a ridiculous policy, guaranteed to fail.  The Obama administration is fundamentally saying that it doesn't regard the Iranian nuclear threat that seriously.  I wonder what our allies are thinking, what they're really thinking, not what they're saying publicly.  I can imagine what the Israelis are thinking, and what Arab nations frightened of Iran are thinking. 

Awful, awful, awful.  But let's see if the Obamamaniacs in the mainstream media have any questions today.

April 30, 2009   Permalink 

OBAMA FUMBLES ON INTERROGATIONS - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  In what the Chicago Tribune calls a "strikingly defensive" explanation of his stand on enhanced interrogations, President Obama fumbled his way through the issue at his press conference last night:

WASHINGTON -- In a strikingly defensive explanation of his stance on Bush-era anti-terrorism tactics, President Barack Obama acknowledged Wednesday that the harsh interrogation techniques he has banned might have yielded useful information but said he was nonetheless willing to rule them out on moral grounds.

Thanks, Barack, for playing with our lives.  You weren't elected to be national philosopher, but to be president.  Remember?

By conceding that intelligence was in fact gleaned from harsh techniques, however, Obama was in effect acknowledging that he may be vulnerable to arguments coming from former Vice President Dick Cheney and other conservatives that his decisions could make the country less secure.

At least one new survey this week showed that Cheney's arguments may have broad support -- and that the shadow of Sept. 11 still looms larger in the public mind than Obama might initially have realized.

A majority of Americans, 53 percent, said they opposed the release of the interrogation memos, while 40 percent supported it, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey. The poll also found that half of Americans opposed Obama's order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects, and that a clear majority opposed the idea of prosecutions for harsh U.S. interrogations.

And there was this whopper:

"London was being bombed to smithereens [and] had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, 'We don't torture,' " the president said. "Churchill understood: You start taking shortcuts, and over time, that corrodes what's best in a people. It corrodes the character of a country."

In war you say a lot of things.  And then you do things.  And you try to understand what war is, its horror.  And then you try to rebuild your civilization after defending it. 

No one wants to torture.  No one wants us morally degraded.  But saving the lives of thousands or millions has its own morality, something the president refuses to address.

(For those interested in the orthodox liberal mindset on this, please read last night's Angel's Corner, where we announced the Pompous Fool Award.)

April 30, 2009   Permalink

THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS, I THINK - AT 7:19 P.M. ET:  Mr. Obama's news conference, or commercial, last night was free of any real news, which is usual for these affairs.  But I think it was revealing in other ways.  Mr. Obama clearly believes he's on a mission from some higher authority - either the Lord or the Chicago City Council, to remake America, to transform what he believes is a society that must learn from our betters.

The most striking part of the performance was Mr. Obama's denial that he really, truly, cross-his-heart, wants to expand government.  He would have been happy to have just a few problems on his plate when he took office, the president said, but economic conditions forced him into sweeping-change mode.  But gosh darn, I don't want to expand government, or run car companies, or manage banks.

Then why, sir, are you doing it?

We have the political equivalent of "the Devil made me do it."  But the Devil didn't make Barack Obama do anything.  By substantial numbers, the American people have rejected, in polls, major parts of his economic program, yet these decisions go unreversed.  He just has to do it.  Nobody knows the trouble he's seen, nobody knows his sorrow.

More and more, you get the feeling that Obama is a gifted, yet cynical Chicago politician who knows how to speak middle and govern left.  Dick Morris has predicted that this cynicism will yet bring Mr. Obama down, as the American people inevitably assess what he's actually done:

...if voters differ so fundamentally with the president on the very essence of his program, why do they accord him high ratings? They are like the recently married bride who took her vows 100 days ago. It would be a disaster for her life if she decides that she really doesn't like her husband. But she keeps noticing things about him that she can't stand. It will be a while before she walks out the door or even comes to terms with her own doubts, but it is probably inevitable that she will.

For Americans to conclude that they disapprove of their president in the midst of an earth-shaking crisis is very difficult. But as Obama's daily line moves from "I inherited this mess" to "There are faint signs of light," the clock starts ticking. If there is no recovery for the next six months - and I don't think there will be - Obama will inevitably become part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Morris isn't always right.  After all, he wrote a book predicting that the 2008 election would be between Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton.  But I think he's right this time.  The question is whether Obama's clear personal appeal, especially to women, will win out over unpopular policies.

April 30, 2009   Permalink

WEDNESDAY,  APRIL 29,  2009

THE BIAS CONTINUES - AT 6:14 P.M. ET:  I regularly monitor the cable news channels during the day to see what they're doing.  I must tell you that the level of bias and unprofessionalism at some outlets has become intolerable.  I switched to CNN today to hear one of its anchors, Rick Sanchez, interviewing a reporter from The Hill, on the Specter spectacle.

You would think that Arlen Specter's defection means the end of the Republican Party, maybe even the two-party system.  Sanchez was absolutely joyous.  Are we in Heaven, or what? 

There was, as usual for today's journalism, no historical perspective.  Party switches occur regularly.  Former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado switched to the GOP while in office.  Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama did likewise.  The Democratic Party did not collapse.

What is remarkable is that the media joy comes at the same time that Rasmussen, one of the more accurate and responsible pollsters, is reporting that congressional party preference among voters has tilted slightly to the Republicans, placing the party in good shape to make gains next year if it can capitalize on its advantage.  But you'd never know it watching CNN.

April 29, 2009   Permalink   

HE'S DOING WHAT TO AMERICA? - AT 4:48 P.M. ET: 

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama marked his 100th day in office by telling Americans that “we’ve begun the work of remaking America.”

The president, speaking at a town hall meeting in the St. Louis suburb of Arnold, Missouri, said that while the U.S. still faces challenges in recovering from a recession, the country is making progress.

“We have begun to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off,” Obama said. “I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made, but I’m not satisfied. I’m confident in the future, but I’m not content with the present.”

COMMENT:  I wonder how many Obama voters in the last election, especially independents, thought they were voting to "remake" America.  I don't recall that in the game plan.

April 29, 2009   Permalink

DOW DETACHED - AT 4:31 P.M. ET:  There was some very bad economic news today, especially the report on dramatic contraction during the last quarter.  And how did the Dow react?  Why, it went up 169 points, to close at 8186.  We seem to be repeating at least part of the pattern of the great Depression.  Between 1933 and 1937 there was a sustained stock market rally, which had absolutely nothing to do with the real economy.  The Wall Street casino proceeds.

April 29, 2009   Permalink

DEMS NOT THRILLED WITH SPECTER DEAL - AT 3:37 P.M. ET:  Reader Joseph J. Gallick alerts us to a report in The Hill indicating not all Dems are happy with the deal welcoming Arlen Specter into the party:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) deal to allow Sen. Arlen Specter to retain his seniority after he switches to the Democratic Conference has not been received well by senior senators in the party.

Several Democrats are furious with Reid for agreeing to let Specter (Pa.) keep the seniority accrued over more than 28 years as a Republican senator. That could allow him to leap past senior Democrats on powerful panels — including the Appropriations and Judiciary committees.

"I won't be happy if I don't get to chair something because of Arlen Specter," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who sits on the Appropriations Committee with Specter and is fifth in seniority among Democrats behind Chairman Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), Sens. Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Tom Harkin (Iowa). "I'm happy with the Democratic order but I don't want to be displaced because of Arlen Specter," she said.

COMMENT:  Not a good idea to antagonize the senior members of your party, Harry.  Arlen, when you walk into that Dem caucus, check your seat for tacks.

April 29, 2009   Permalink

AND NOW FOR THE REAL NEWS - AT 9:11 A.M. ET:  Seems that predictions of prosperity just around the corner are taking on Hooveresque dimensions.  From The New York Times:

The American economy shrank rapidly in the first three months of the year, the government reported on Wednesday, a signal that the economy is likely to remain a dominant issue as the Obama administration looks beyond its first 100 days.

The gross domestic product shrank at an annual rate of 6.1 percent from January through March, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported, its third straight quarter of declines.

Economists had predicted a drop of 4.7 percent, and the steep dip could dampen expectations that the pace of economic declines had begun to ebb. The decline was almost as sharp as in the previous quarter, when the economy shrank at a pace of 6.3 percent, its worst drop in a generation.

COMMENT:  Obviously not a report to send anyone on a shopping spree.  It's too early to charge Mr. Obama with this, but clearly his jawboning in the first hundred days hasn't had much effect.  We look forward to his news conference tonight to see if he's challenged on this news.

April 29, 2009   Permalink

WELCOME PONTIFF, BUT WE MAY RIOT - AT 8:43 A.M. ET: 

NAZARETH, Israel (AP) -- A banner across the main square in Jesus' boyhood town condemns those who insult Islam's Prophet Muhammad -- a message by Muslim hard-liners for Pope Benedict XVI during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land next month.

The pontiff may have to tread carefully with his visit to Nazareth. Many Muslims are still angry over a 2006 speech in which Benedict quoted a medieval text depicting the prophet as violent.

Even some Christians are nervous that Benedict could stir up trouble for them. They worry that if he says anything contentious about Islam again, Muslims might lash out.

And...

The banner was put up by followers of Nazem Abu Salim, a radical Muslim preacher, right next to the Church of the Annunciation, where tradition says the Angel Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to Jesus.

It is there for the pope, Abu Salim said. ''He is not welcome here.''

COMMENT:  This is nothing more than a naked threat.  I have no problem with religious groups protesting an insensitive remark by a religious leader.  It happens all the time.  But the suggestion of violence is implied, a common practice among Islamists.  It's been reported that Israeli authorities are concerned about the Pope's security.  We hope this concern is not used as an excuse to cave in to the demands of the most extreme Muslim elements. 

April 29, 2009   Permalink

NORTH KOREA THREATENS AGAIN - AT 8:27 A.M. ET: 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea threatened Wednesday to conduct nuclear and missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes for criticizing its April 5 rocket launch, dramatically raising its stake in the worsening standoff over its atomic programs.

Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said in a statement the country ''will be compelled to take additional self-defensive measures'' unless the U.N. Security Council apologizes immediately. ''The measures will include nuclear tests and test-firings of intercontinental ballistic missiles.''

COMMENT:  The North Korean style is to make an agreement, break it over some perceived grievance, then return to the negotiating table to negotiate again about the same things they negotiated about before.  North Korea knows that it has a compliant, talk-obsessed administration in Washington.  Why shouldn't it do what it's doing?  Have there been any consequences?  Will there be any?

April 29, 2009   Permalink 

EMBARRASSING - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  We urged readers early in the week to brace themselves for the "100 days of Obama" worship party.  It has come, it has come.  And the nation's newspaper of record has now weighed in with its grave, deeply thoughtful assessment.  (That is sarcasm.)

It is sad to see, each day, the deterioration of The New York Times.  But nothing makes that decline more clear than this morning review of the First Obama Centennial.  See the wonder.  See the greatness.  See the messianic vision.  Fall deeply asleep.

Crises, not days, is the first word that comes to mind when we think about the number 100 and Barack Obama’s presidency.

The list of failed policies and urgent threats bequeathed to him by former President George W. Bush could easily be that long.

Nothing like a little sense of proportion.  You know exactly where this is going.

He is trying to rebuild this country’s shattered reputation with his pledge to shut down the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, his offer to talk with Iran and Syria, and, yes, that handshake with Venezuela’s blow-hard president, Hugo Chávez.

Shattered reputation?  Among whom?  Yes, among the usual suspects our reputations suffered under George W. Bush.  But elsewhere we actually did rather well.  India, for example, which happens to be the world's largest democracy.  And among the countries of Africa, where Bush is highly regarded for his AIDS program.  And I suspect that many foreign ministries are suffering a bit of buyer's remorse, as they contemplate what a weak American foreign policy might be like.

There are things, of course, that even The Times concedes are standing in Obama's way - like allies:

Mr. Obama’s commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peace is already being tested by Israel’s new prime minister, who says he doesn’t believe in a two-state solution.

Rotten allies.  If only Israel could be more like Hamas and Hezbollah.  And that England!  The old colonialists didn't even appreciate the thought that went into our gift of DVDs to its prime minister. 

The economy?  Close your eyes and predict what The Times might say.  Open.

After eight dismal years, the president’s stimulus bill, his budget and even the flawed bank rescue strategy offer a welcome return to the rational proposition that some problems are so big that the government must step in.

Huh?  Eight dismal years?  I recall that seven of those years featured a vibrant, strong economy, and that the financial crisis was largely a result of a home mortgage racket brought about by Fannie and Fredddie, two Dem institutions.  But never mind.

Oh well, you can read it if you like.  Or, you can pick up a copy of My Weekly Reader, if you want something on a more stimulating level.  The Times concludes.

During the campaign, then-Senator Obama declared that “government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves.” In his first 100 days, President Obama has started to show Americans just what he meant.

Actually, it was Lincoln who said that.  But details, details.  In the presence of such a light, who cares about details.

April 29, 2009   Permalink

THE SPECTER SPECTACLE - AT 7:31 A.M. ET:  Arlen Specter has become a Democrat.  All world history has changed.  Specter, senator from Pennsylvania, faced an impossible primary battle in 2010 to keep his seat.  Better, he apparently thought, to switch parties in a state that's trending Democratic anyway. 

Does Specter have a future?  Consider:  He's a new member of his party, and there are other Pennsylvania Democrats who clearly covet a Senate seat.  They will resent giving up their shot so that this newcomer can walk in and claim their party's nomination.  However, it's widely reported that Specter negotiated for some time over his transfer of allegiance, and you can be sure that one of his key demands was that he receive Obama's support for the Democratic nomination for the Senate next year.  Please remember that the governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.  He knows national politics and the pressures that can be applied.  I suspect that old Arlen will get the nomination.

Can he win in the general?  Party statistics in Pennsylvania say yes.  And others have switched parties in other states and gone on to successful careers.  But Specter's switch is clearly based on perceived personal advantage.  Republicans in Pennsylvania will be motivated to defeat him.  Many independents may be repelled by his selfish maneuvering.  Even some Democrats may stay home.

Republicans will nominate a conservative.  The last pure conservative to run for the Senate, two-term incumbent Senator Rick Santorum, was badly defeated. 

It will be one of the most interesting races next year.  My hunch is that Specter still has an advantage, but stay tuned. 

April 29, 2009    Permalink