WEDNESDAY,  JULY 1,  2009

LET'S NOT FORGET - AT 9:45 P.M. ET:  The Iranian freedom fighters are still fighting, not that the White House seems to care.  The president appears far more concerned that his leftist pal has been ousted (properly and legally) from the presidency of Honduras.  Now that's a crisis!  But in Iran:

TEHRAN, July 1 -- Three opposition leaders, including a former president, openly defied Iran's top political and religious authorities Wednesday, vowing to resist a government they have deemed illegitimate after official certification of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection.

Their defiance in the face of harsh official denunciations and threats of arrest and prosecution appeared to dash the government's hopes of pressuring the opposition into accepting the disputed June 12 election.

Rather than dropping his complaints of extensive vote-rigging, leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi took his fight to a new level Wednesday, risking arrest by urging followers to continue their protests. After formal certification of the election results Monday night by the Guardian Council, a top supervisory body of Shiite Muslim clerics and jurists, Iranian authorities warned that no further protests would be tolerated.

COMMENT:  The insurrection of 1979, which unfortunately brought the mullahs to power, took months to develop.  The Iran story is far from over.  How it develops, though, will be influenced by the behavior of the United States.  Will we send the right signals, or join the so-called "realist" school, and deal with the regime as if nothing has happened?  That kind of "realism" generally turns out to be unrealistic, but don't tell its advocates. 

July 1, 2009   Permalink

CAR SALES STILL GRIM - AT 7:50 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

DETROIT — June sales figures released Wednesday showed another difficult month for automakers, yet provided a hint that demand for new vehicles in the United States might finally be on the upswing.

The Ford Motor Company said its sales were down 11 percent from June 2008, the smallest decline any of the six largest automakers has reported since last summer.

In contrast, sales fell 34 percent for General Motors, which has temporarily shut many of its factories to pare inventories, and 42 percent for Chrysler, which closed all of its United States plants while it operated in bankruptcy protection. The plant closings cut sharply into both companies’ sales to car rental companies and other business customers.

(May sales for G.M. were down 30 percent from a year ago while Chrysler’s were down 47 percent.)

COMMENT:  Ford's results were actually "strong" compared with the rest of the industry, including foreign makers.  Ford, of course, was the only U.S. auto company that did not take federal bailout money.  Hmm.  I wonder...   No, no, no, mustn't have capitalist thoughts in the age of Obama.

But the overall picture is still grim.  The CEO of a major American company told me a few days ago that the earnings just aren't there to sustain a recovery right now.  People don't want to spend their money, an observation confirmed by a dramatic increase in the savings rate.

I don't think the story's slant that there are hints of an upswing is supported by the facts presented.  Declines in sales may be lower this month than in earlier months, but they're still declines.  You don't win anything by continuing to lose.

With all the stimulus talk, and even talk of a Stimulus II, the sequel, we don't seem to be getting out of the doldrums.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

GOP AHEAD IN GENERIC RASMUSSEN POLL - AT 7:28 P.M. ET:  It doesn't happen too often, but the Republicans have pulled slightly ahead of Democrats in the latest Rasmussen generic poll of preferences for Congress:

Republican congressional candidates rebounded this week and pulled ahead again of Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. The last time the GOP held a lead was in early May.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 41% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 39% would choose the Democratic candidate.

COMMENT:  The Republicans do have a great chance next year, a chance that will increase as Americans learn more and more about the zaniness of the Democratic program.  But the GOP has a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.  It's got to organize, and come up with an alternative, appealing program, as it did in 1994.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

AN AVERAGE AMERICAN SHOPPER - AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  Talk about the imperial presidency.  First Lady Michelle Obama has been raising eyebrows recently with some moves toward acquiring more power.  Apparently, she wants her children to be dressed for the part when she gets there:

PARIS - Michelle Obama and her girls enjoyed a special Sunday shopping trip in Paris this month thanks to friends in high places who bent France's Sunday store-closing rules.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said Tuesday that calls were made to open a swanky children's boutique, usually closed by law on Sundays, where the First Lady and her two daughters perused racks of $200 summer dresses and $100 sweaters.

"Is it normal that on a Sunday when Madame Obama wants to go to the Paris shops with her daughters, that I have to make phone calls to have them open?" said Sarkozy, who is pushing to change the law.

"Who is going to explain to them why France is the only country where shops are closed on Sundays?"

It was actually the U.S. Embassy that arranged for opening of the shop, Bonpoint, a store spokeswoman said.

COMMENT:  Not good thinking.  We're in a deep recession.  It's bad enough that the first lady went on a separate plane to Paris, not Air Force One, costing taxpayers a mint.  The additional image of her shopping at an ultra-upscale store while Americans are hurting is doubly troubling. 

Someone should have a chat with Michelle.  She's riding high in the polls right now, but that could change.  She might call Nancy Reagan and ask Nancy about the public reaction when Mrs. Reagan tried to get more china for the White House.  Michelle is getting a little too high-toned.  As her husband's poll numbers decline, watch for hers to slip as well if she continues with these big-spender outings.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

AMERICANS SPLIT ON OBAMA HEALTH PLAN - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Despite some heavy pro-Obama spin in the reporting, a new CNN poll on Obamacare can't be great news for the president.  It shows only a bare majority - 51% - in favor of the Obama plan, with 45% opposed:

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday morning indicates that most people worry that their health care costs would go up if the administration's proposals passed and only one in five thinks that his or her families would be better off under the Obama plan.

Fifty-one percent of people surveyed say they favor the president's health care plan, with 45 percent opposed.

COMMENT:  Those numbers are likely to worsen for the president as the debate proceeds and more Americans learn the shaky details of the plan.

This is an opportunity for Republicans.  They can't simply opposed the plan on the table.  They must come up with an alternative that will improve current conditions without breaking the bank.  They're not going to get far simply saying no. 

The poll does provide some ammunition for Republicans opposed to the president's proposals, however. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed say their medical insurance costs would increase if the Obama plan became law, with 17 percent saying their costs would decrease.

All right, GOP.  Let's see if you're alive.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

   
WHY OBAMA GOT "TOUGH" WITH IRAN - AT 8:35 A.M. ET:  Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion once said that Golda Meir was the best man in his Cabinet.  Obama might soon have to say the same about Hillary Clinton, if today's story in the Washington Times is accurate:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President Obama for two days to toughen his language on Iran before he did so, and then was surprised when he condemned Iran's crackdown on demonstrators last week, administration officials say.

At his June 23 news conference, Mr. Obama said he was "appalled and outraged" by Iranian behavior and "strongly condemned" the violence against anti-government demonstrators. Up until then, Mr. Obama and other administration officials had taken a softer line, expressing "deep concern" about the situation and calling on Iran to "respect the dignity of its own people."

Behind the scenes, the officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing internal deliberations, said Mrs. Clinton had been advocating the stronger U.S. response, but the president resisted. When he finally took her advice, the aides said, he did so without informing her first.

COMMENT:  There may be some Clinton camp spin here, but the story appears to echo some other reporting.  Hillary, despite her many deficiencies, has a clearer head on foreign policy than does Obama, and a certain toughness, although she has been blind on Honduras (or just taking orders).

The fact that Obama blindsided Clinton when he decided to follow her advice, yet not alert her to his decision, doesn't surprise me.  It's the way Obama treats people.  He certainly wasn't going to acknowledge a major shift in tone and give someone else credit.  Obama, even when eloquent, lacks graciousness.  He wouldn't even acknowledge President Bush's contribution to victory in Iraq.  Make no mistake about it:  This administration is about The One. And with Michelle now making her well-publicized move toward greater power, it will be about The One and The Other One.

July 1, 2009   Permalink 

FUND RAISING AT THE WSJ - AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  The excellent John Fund of the Wall Street Journal continues that paper's fine reporting on Honduras.  Fund explains why the Obama administration is wrong (alas, again).

Many foreign observers are condemning the ouster of Honduran President Mel Zelaya, a supporter of Hugo Chavez, as a "military coup." But can it be a coup when the Honduran military acted on the orders of the nation's Supreme Court, the step was backed by the nation's attorney general, and the man replacing Mr. Zelaya and elected in emergency session by that nation's Congress is a member of the former president's own political party?

Some things for the collective White House - an appropriate term for the age of Obama - to think about.

Mr. Zelaya had sacked General Romeo Vasquez, head of the country's armed forces, after he refused to use his troops to provide logistical support for a referendum designed to let Mr. Zelaya escape the country's one-term limit on presidents. Both the referendum and the firing of the military chief have been declared illegal by the Honduran Supreme Court. Nonetheless, Mr. Zelaya intended yesterday to use ballots printed in Venezuela to conduct the vote anyway.

And this man is being treated like a hero by the Obamans.  As Fund points out, Zelaya is channeling Chavez's tactics.

No one likes to see a nation's military in the streets, especially in a continent with such painful memories of military rule. But Honduras is clearly a different situation. Members of Mr. Zelaya's own party in Congress voted last week to declare him unfit for his office. Given his refusal to leave, who else was going to enforce the orders of the nation's other branches of government?

Fund's piece is a fine example of what fact-based reporting can do.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

NORTH KOREA MYSTERY - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:   From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials said Tuesday that a North Korean ship has turned around and is headed back toward the north where it came from, after being tracked for more than a week by American Navy vessels on suspicion of carrying illegal weapons.

The move keeps the U.S. and the rest of the international community guessing: Where is the Kang Nam going? Does its cargo include materials banned by a new U.N. anti-proliferation resolution?

The ship left a North Korean port of Nampo on June 17 and is the first vessel monitored under U.N. sanctions that ban the regime from selling arms and nuclear-related material.

COMMENT:  Some liberal commentators are already billing this as a great victory for Obama, and even for the U.N.  Some caution is required.  As the article notes, we don't know where the ship is going.  Also, there are no permanent victories against North Korea, as the last ten years have proved. 

Other sources are reporting that the North Koreans, who'd been expected to launch a new missile over our July 4th weekend, don't seem ready to do so.  Again, it's a grain of salt moment.  They will eventually launch, when they're ready.  They always do, and have been especially defiant since our own Dear Leader took office.

July 1, 2009   Permalink

TUESDAY,  JUNE 30,  2009

THE VULGARITY CONTINUES - AT 5:54 P.M. ET:  Now the United Nations, that farcical hotbed of corruption, joins in the assault on the removal of the Honduran president.  The "world body" is considerably more upset about this than about the brutal suppression of the Iranian revolt, and the arrest of thousands of Iranians. 

What is so disgusting is that the United States is one of the leaders of this gang-up on the Supreme Court and Congress of Honduras, the bodies that organized the removal, apparently under Honduran law.  An American president who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to take strong stand in favor of the Iranian freedom fighters seems to have endless love for the Honduran tinhorn:

The United Nations marshaled an unusually broad effort on Tuesday to condemn the military seizure of power in Honduras, turning over the podium of the General Assembly to its ousted president and quickly passing a resolution sponsored by countries often at loggerheads, including the United States and Venezuela.

The deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, said the “brutal” coup, including what he called a threat by soldiers to shoot him dead if he did not stop talking on his cell phone, was a blow against democracy. He called it “an act of aggression attacking the democratic will of the people.”

Mr. Zelaya, greeted by sustained applause when he entered the chamber and sat in the Honduran seat on the assembly floor, said the resolution supporting him “expresses the indignation of the people of Honduras and of people worldwide.”

The one-page resolution, passed by acclamation in the 192-member body, condemned the removal of the president as a coup and demanded the “immediate and unconditional restoration” of Mr. Zelaya as president.

Please note this from Zelaya:

Mr. Zelaya also dispelled suspicions that Western nations like the United States may have instigated or tacitly approved of his ouster, an allegation that has been repeatedly put forward by his close ally, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

“The United States has changed a great deal,” he said at the news conference, noting that President Obama had not only denounced his removal as an illegal coup, but then went further, calling for his return to power.

COMMENT:  Zelaya tried to jam through a referendum, Chavez style, that would have allowed him to keep power beyond current limits.  His allies are some of the worst, most totalitarian leaders in Latin America.  And he is cheered.

Feeling proud of your country again?

June 30, 2009   Permalink

FRANKEN IN, LAUGH NOW - AT 5:17 P.M. ET:  Al Franken, once funny, once employed in show business, will be the new United States senator from Minnesota, replacing the distinguished Norm Coleman, who served one term and has been a stalwart for sane values.  Coleman conceded after the highest court in Minnesota turned down his challenge to the way votes were tabulated.

Franken will be the Democrats' 60th vote in the Senate, making theoretically possible for his party to break Republican filibusters.  However, that may not work out in practice.  Not all Senate Dems are leftists, and, two, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and the ancient Robert Byrd of West Virginia, have been ailing. 

Franken goes to the Senate after his show-business career faltered badly.  His reputation in the business, as an individual, is less than stellar.  He is often regarded as angry and spent, a man whose best days were in the 1980s.  However, it would be wrong to expect him to flop in the Senate.  He is very bright and will probably work to live down the reputation of "only a comedian."

But it is sad to lose Norm Coleman, one of the best men in the Republican Party.  It is time to start fighting back.

June 30, 2009   Permalink

OBAMA HURTING IN RASMUSSEN POLL - AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  We follow all polls, but Rasmussen in particular, as he does a daily tracker.  The Rasmussen poll has shown a gradual decline for the president in what Ras calls his presidential approval index - the gap between those who strongly approve of Mr. Obama's performance, and those who strongly disapprove.  Today that index stands at minus two, 31% strongly approving, 33% strongly disapproving.  Overall approval still favors the president, 54-46.  Ras says:

Over the past two weeks, the Presidential Approval Index has stayed in a narrow range between +2 and -2.

That is not good.  And a 54% overall approval rating is hardly spectacular.  We stress that all polls are snapshots in time, and other polls may have the president stronger.  But the trend has got to worry the White House.

June 30, 2009   Permalink 

THE WHITE HOUSE WEIRDNESS CONTINUES - AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  For whatever reason, the president seems obsessed with restoring the power-grabbing, constitution-wrecking Honduran president to his post, from which he was ousted by a lawful order just days ago.

Reader Jacqueline Reckseit wisely asks, "One has to wonder why Obama is backing a dictator in Honduras and what direction our nation is going in when our president is on the same side of an issue as Chavez, Castro and Ortega. "

Some cartoonists are also asking: 

Another restoration of pride in our country, via Barack Obama.

June 30, 2009  Permalink  

QUOTES OF THE DAY - AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  From Spengler, who is actually David P. Goldman, associate editor of First Things.  Spengler has written from and about Asia for years, and his columns have been among the most astute and revealing.  He's written a new piece that, as a reader points out, is well worth examining.  Some great quotes:

Obama has not betrayed the interests of the United States to any foreign power, but he has done the next worst thing, namely to create a void in the region by withdrawing American power. The result is likely to be a species of pandemonium that will prompt the leading players in the region to learn to live without the United States.

In his heart of hearts, Obama sees America as a force for evil in the world, apologizing for past American actions that did more good than harm.

And...

It is s a bit late to offer advice to Obama, but the worst thing America can do is to apologize. Instead, it should ask for the gratitude of the developing world. Weak countries become punching-bags in the proxy wars of empires. This was from the dawn of history until the fall of the last empire - the "evil" empire of Soviet communism.

And...

By defeating Russia in the Cold War, America made it possible for governments in the global south to pursue their own interests free from the specter of Soviet subversion. And by countering Soviet subversion, America often averted much worse consequences.

Finally...

Obama's continuing obsession with America's supposed misdeeds - deplorable but necessary actions in time of war - is consistent with his determination to erode America's influence in the most troubled parts of the world. By removing America as a referee, he will provoke more violence than the United States ever did. We are entering a very, very dangerous period as a result.

COMMENT:  As we said, well worth examining.  The question is how soon the American people will wake up to the confusion in our current foreign policy, and realize that the man in the White House is different from all other presidents in his attitudes toward his own country. 

As Spengler says, we are entering a very, very dangerous period, with much of the mainstream media in the hip pocket of those creating the danger.

June 30, 2009   Permalink

SCIENCE?  WHAT SCIENCE? - AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  As the price of oil soars once more - see the story just below - there are charges of political manipulation in Washington to make sure only the "correct" point of view on global warming, and thus energy choices, gets through.  Fox News reports:

A top Republican senator has ordered an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's alleged suppression of a report that questioned the science behind global warming.

The 98-page report, co-authored by EPA analyst Alan Carlin, pushed back on the prospect of regulating gases like carbon dioxide as a way to reduce global warming. Carlin's report argued that the information the EPA was using was out of date, and that even as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased, global temperatures have declined.

"He came out with the truth. They don't want the truth at the EPA," Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla, a global warming skeptic, told FOX News, saying he's ordered an investigation. "We're going to expose it."

The controversy comes after the House of Representatives passed a landmark bill to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, one that Inhofe said will be "dead on arrival" in the Senate despite President Obama's energy adviser voicing confidence in the measure.

COMMENT:  When historians write the history of our "advanced" era, and examine the behavior of many "educated and enlightened" people, I suspect they'll be stunned at the degree to which rigorous science was suppressed or ignored in favor of trendy science and politically motivated alarmists. 

The failure to look carefully at the dissent from the global warming "consensus" is one of the scandals of our times.

June 30, 2009   Permalink

CHECK THE PUMP - AT 7:34 A.M. ET:  It's travel season, but it hasn't hit Americans yet that the price of gasoline, and eventually home heating oil, is rising dramatically again, as AP reports:

Oil prices rose to near $72 a barrel Tuesday after briefly jumping above $73 as a weakening U.S. dollar and attacks on oil installations in Nigeria helped push prices to eight-month highs.

Analysts also said prices were boosted by speculative trades and portfolio positioning by investment funds, which typically intensify at the end of a fiscal quarter.

By midday in Europe, benchmark crude for August delivery was up 23 cents to $71.72 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $73.38 earlier in the session. On Monday, it gained $2.33 to settle at $71.49.

COMMENT:  The rising oil prices can destroy any recovery we might have from the deep recession we're in.  They can also lead to stagflation - high inflation and a stagnant economy.  But Americans seem to be asleep.  Or maybe they're just waiting for an energy miracle to be delivered by The One.  Maybe our cars will be powered by presidential speeches.

June 30, 2009   Permalink