To Readers:  Many of you are fans of John Batchelor, who runs one of the finest radio talk shows in America.  John will now be broadcasting Saturday night on ABC, as well as Sunday night.  His Saturday-night program begins tonight at 9 p.m. ET.  His first guest will be our friend, and supplier of the best information on Iran, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi.  If you can't get the show on your local radio, you can listen on the internet here.  Well worth it.

SATURDAY,  JULY 18,  2009

CAPTURED U.S. SOLDIER IN VIDEO - AT 8:59 P.M. ET:  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The American soldier who went missing June 30 from his base in eastern Afghanistan and was later confirmed captured, appeared on a video posted Saturday to a Web site by the Taliban, two U.S. defense officials confirmed.

The soldier is shown in the 28-minute video with his head shaved and the start of a beard. He is sitting and dressed in a nondescript, gray outfit. Early in the video one of his captors holds the soldier's dog tag up to the camera. His name and ID number are clearly visible. He is shown eating at one point and sitting on a bed.

The soldier, whose identity has not yet been released by the Pentagon pending notification of members of Congress and the soldier's family, says his name, age and hometown on the video, which was released Saturday on a Web site pointed out by the Taliban. Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that the man in the video is the captured soldier.

COMMENT:  Many Americans are unaware that the Taliban is holding a U.S. Soldier.  We must not forget him.

The key question is what the Tals will want in return for the soldier, and whether they will turn him into a propaganda weapon, as was done by the enemy during the Korean and Vietnam wars.  Stay tuned.  We may get to know this unlucky American very well in the months ahead.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

OUR GOVERNMENT DECIDES - AT 8:43 P.M. ET:  A great example of what happens when the government takes care of us.  From The Washington Post:

Washington's wordsmiths are at it again. A new federal program seems to have changed the very definition of the word "clunker."

A vote, a stroke of the pen, a desire to get Americans buying cars and a mandate to shrink greenhouse gas emissions have turned a fleet of old Audis, BMWs, Acuras and other luxury cars into clunkers overnight.

The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 -- also known as "Cash for Clunkers" -- will offer vouchers of up to $4,500 for car owners who trade in their old fuel-slurping cars for new models that can really stretch a tank of gas.

Like all new age religions, the church of global warming has something for the trendies and the affluent:

But if you imagine a clunker as that old, rusted piece of junk that can barely accelerate on the interstate, think again. The list of potential clunkers includes a zippy 1997 Lexus SC 400 coupe and even a luxury 1998 Mercedes-Benz M-Class sport-utility vehicle.

They are improving society and saving the Earth, don't you understand?  Why, without the cash for clunkers program, there will be floods, earthquakes, natural disasters, starvation. 

Get that car into the dealer, would you?  Do your part.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

RASMUSSEN - PAIN FOR OBAMA - AT 11:27 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen's daily tracker does not provide any relief for an increasingly beleaguered president.

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows that 28% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-six percent (36%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of –8.

COMMENT:  Some 43% of independents strongly disapprove.  And the president's overall approval rating, at least in the Rasmussen survey, hovers at 51%, with 48% disapproving.  This wasn't in the "yes we can" plan.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

DEMS, ON TOP MONTHS AGO, START TO SHAKE - AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Three of the five Congressional committees working on legislation to reinvent the nation’s health care system delivered bills this week along the lines proposed by President Obama. But instead of celebrating their success, many Democrats were apprehensive, nervous and defensive.

Even as Democratic leaders and the White House insisted that the nation was closer than ever to landmark changes in the health care system, they faced basic questions about whether some of their proposals might do more harm than good.

And...

Democrats had three reasons for concern. The director of the Congressional Budget Office warned Thursday that the legislative proposals so far would not slow the growth of health spending...

...Second, even with House committees working in marathon sessions this week, it was clear that Democrats could not meet their goal of passing bills before the summer recess without barreling over the concerns of Republicans and ending any hope that such a major issue could be addressed in a bipartisan manner.

Third, a growing minority of Democrats have begun to express reservations about the size, scope and cost of the legislation, the expanded role of the federal government and the need for a raft of new taxes to pay for it all. The comments suggest that party leaders may not yet have the votes to pass the legislation.

COMMENT:  And what is President Obama's reaction to all this?  Why, push on.  The president apparently misread the election laws and thinks he was elected for one year, rather than four. 

And push on with cap 'n trade.  Hey, who cares about the facts.

And push on with the stimulus, although it's bankrupting the country.

And push on with engagement with Iran, even though they may be within six months of a nuclear bomb.

If most Americans knew this is what the Obama administration would be, do you think they would have voted Obama into office?  Don't expect The New York Times to raise the question.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

THE END OF THE BEGINNING - AT 9:54 A.M. ET:  A funny thing happened to Barack Obama on the way to immortality.  He ran into facts and reality, those two curses of fast-hustling politicians.

A hard-hitting op-ed piece in the Washington Post, by two guys from Reason magazine, tells the story very well, and delightfully grim it is:

Barely six months into his presidency, Barack Obama seems to be driving south into that political speed trap known as Carter Country: a sad-sack landscape in which every major initiative meets not just with failure but with scorn from political allies and foes alike. According to a July 13 CBS News poll, the once-unassailable president's approval rating now stands at 57 percent, down 11 points from April. Half of Americans think the recession will last an additional two years or more, 52 percent think Obama is trying to "accomplish too much," and 57 percent think the country is on the "wrong track."

Hey, you can't say that about a messiah, can you?

So far, he seems to be skipping the chapter on Bill Clinton and his generally free-market economic policies and instead flipping back to the themes and comportment of Jimmy Carter...

...And perhaps most important, as with Carter, his specific policies are genuinely unpopular. The auto bailout -- which, incidentally, is illegal, springing as it has from a fund specifically earmarked for financial institutions -- has been reviled from the get-go, with opposition consistently polling north of 60 percent. Majorities have said no to bank bailouts and to cap and trade if it would make electricity significantly more expensive.

But the Obama crowd, inspired by previous messiah Al Gore, wants electricity to be more expensive.  It's good for us, don't you understand?  If you can't pay for A/C, you'll turn to wind.

Such is the extent of Obama's magical realism that he can promise to post all bills on the Internet five days before signing them, serially break that promise and then, when announcing that he wouldn't even try anymore, have a spokesman present the move as yet another example of "providing the American people more transparency in government."

By the way, these guys were just as rough on George W. Bush, a man we generally like here, so they have some street cred. 

What the new president has not quite grasped is that the American people understand both irony and cognitive dissonance. Instead, Obama has mistaken his personal popularity for a national predilection toward emergency-driven central planning. He doesn't get that Americans prefer the slower process of building political consensus based on reality, and at least a semblance of rational deliberation rather than one sky-is-falling legislative session after another.

Finally, on Obama:

As a political animal, he has always resembled Clinton more than Carter. This might help him avoid the Carteresque pileup he's driving into. Far more important, it just might help the rest of us.

Problem is,Obama is a creature of his party's left wing, which is absolutely unyielding in its fanaticism, has contempt for the very people it claims to care about, and wants it all done in ten minutes.

Welcome to the real White House, Mr. Obama.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

FROM HONDURAS - AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  With all that's been happening domestically, we forget that there's an ongoing crisis in Honduras.  An ousted president, thrown out using full constitutional mechanisms, wants his old job back.  He's an ally of Castro, Ortega and Chavez, that Communist vaudeville act.  Incredibly, the Obama administration is backing this bad dude's claim to his old office. 

Hunter Schultz is a friend of Urgent Agenda in Panama.  He's also the man who introduced us to the wonderful Renee Nielsen, who sent us those superb dispatches during the terror attack in Mumbai, India.  Today Hunter gives us a letter he just received from a friend, Rodger Harrison, who runs the charity, "Paramedics for Children," in Honduras:

Wow, are events changing fast in Honduras. With all the economical
troubles stateside, and other big events like the death of Michael
Jackson, the breaking news of little Honduras is just a byline in most
newspapers. But, believe me when I tell you that there is some real
trouble brewing in Honduras for our children.  Deposed President Zelaya will seek to openly return to Honduras in total defiance of the
new government if mediation talks on Saturday (tomorrow) fail to
reinstate him. Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says toppled Honduran President Manuel Zelaya will return to Honduras, with his full support, and he said there will be a "bloody civil war."

The facts:

Right now Zelaya is in Nicaragua which is only a small skip and jump from Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. Rumors run as numerous as opinions, but one thing is for sure:  The poor of Honduras are going to suffer, and I personally believe there will be real bloodshed. From what sources I have acquired over my last 12 years in Honduras,  I firmly believe that civil war in Honduras is a real possibility. I pray that this is not so, but, as a good friend once told me, "Pray for the best and plan for the worst." 

Like that famous song by the Beatles....'Talk about a revolution'
....what perfect timing for a revolution in Honduras, a revolution
that will end in either a democracy or "something else."  Facts...the
USA is pretty much on the skids with the recession and really can't
afford to get involved. Honduras is on the bottom of the food chain
when it comes to current news, and right now our donors and supporters have their financial backs against the wall. The USA has cut off all aid to Honduras, as have most all of the other world powers including the World Bank.  Honduras is in a "third world" of big trouble.

I cannot tell you what others will do, but I can tell you what Paramedics for Children will do. I am leaving for Honduras this Sunday, July 19, to return to Copan Ruinas for the express purpose of showing solidarity with our fellow Americans (Central Americans) in Honduras.  By whatever means, we will maintain a presence in Honduras. We will keep our clinic open, we will treat patients, we will save lives, and we will do our very best to keep the programs of PFC in full operation. We will not run, and we will not give up.

Incredible times call for incredible measures by incredible people
like you. As always, thanks for your support. Help us if you can, and
please take the time to tell others.

God Bless,

Rodger Harrison
Paramedics For Children

There will be action in Honduras in the next few days as this self-styled Napoleon, Mel Zelaya, tries to return to the cheers of his "followers," who, like the "followers" of Hugo Chavez, don't realize what's being done to them.

July 18, 2009   Permalink

FRIDAY,  JULY 17,  2009

WALTER CRONKITE - AT 10:49 P.M . ET:  Walter Cronkite has died.  Without question, he had a profound effect on the formative years of television journalism, and set a high standard for the term "anchor."  He was the first reporter who, in my memory at least, provided serious, on-the-scene coverage of national political conventions.  He narrated "Air Power" and other CBS documentaries.  His calm, factually based reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy, was memorable, and a reminder of what true journalists do under intense pressure.  His coverage of the space program was a balance of solid news presentation and just enough personal, boyish excitement to give his work the human touch.

In every life there is a ledger.  We must sadly include the one disturbing moment in Cronkite's career, and, tragically, a critically important one - his famous 1968 report from Vietnam in which he declared that America was stuck in a quagmire, and that only a negotiated settlement would get us out.  In fact, it was the enemy that was stuck in a quagmire, as its own written history of the war freely admitted, and it was looking for a way out.  In fairness to Walter Cronkite, his report was modestly presented, and lacking in the arrogant dogmatism that characterizes much of more recent journalism, but it turned out to be misleading nonetheless.  It must be included in the legacy of a generally distinguished career.

July 17, 2009   Permalink

GREAT SENSE OF PRIORITIES - AT 7:21 P.M. ET:  We refer readers to the story just below, reporting that Iran may well be within six months of an atomic bomb.  Now consider this, from the representatives of the people:

The House intelligence committee decided today to launch an investigation into allegations that the CIA broke the law by not informing Congress about a program launched in late 2001 to capture or assassinate al-Qaeda leadership.

"The committee must be kept fully and currently informed of significant intelligence activities as required by law," Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a statement.

The story notes:

For decades Congress and the CIA have battled over the 1947 law that formed the agency and what it requires in terms of congressional briefings. It included a provision mandating that the committees be kept "fully and currently informed" of intelligence issues. Even for covert actions, lawmakers on the committees generally must be notified.

But the law also says such briefings should be done "to the extent consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters."

COMMENT:  This is all about Democratic Party politics, especially appeasing the precincts of the dingy left, which thinks al-Qaeda represents just one more lifestyle choice.

And the centrifuges in Iran keep spinning.

July 17, 2009   Permalink

IRAN - SIX MONTHS TO A BOOMER - AT 6:20 P.M. ET:  "Boomer" is slang for a nuclear bomb.  And now even foreign diplomats are saying that Iran could have a boomer in six months:

VIENNA (AP) - Iran is blocking U.N. nuclear agency attempts to upgrade monitoring of its atomic program while advancing those activities to the stage that the country would have the means to test a weapon within six months, diplomats told The Associated Press Friday.

The diplomats emphasized that there were no indications of plans for such a nuclear test, saying it was highly unlikely Iran would risk heightened confrontation with the West—and chances of Israeli attack—by embarking on such a course.

No, but computer simulations can tell the story.  No vulnerable country, like Israel, would relax simply because Iran didn't carry out a full test. 

And our president, showing signs of chronic adolescence, still talks about "engagement," even though the Europeans have been engaged for seven years, with no result. 

July 17, 2009   Permalink

GROSSLY IRRESPONSIBLE  - AT 5:59 P.M. ET:  What a contrast.  In the story just below we report that six senators are calling for more care, more consideration, in dealing with the health-care "reform" bill now before the Senate. 

And what does the "change we can believe in" guy have to say about this?  Remember, we're talking about a president who presented himself as the intelligent alternative to George W. Bush:

WASHINGTON — Hours after two House committees approved legislation to remake the health care system, President Obama delivered a stern lecture Friday afternoon to lawmakers who have said the process may be moving too fast.

The president said health care reform is closer to reality than ever, and “now we’ve got to get over the finish line.”

Get what over the finish line, Mr. President?  Get what? This isn't a college track meet, damn it.  We're talking about life-and-death decisions for an entire nation.  And this guy is only interested in meeting a deadline.

What is actually in this bill?  How will it change our lives?  Can we have some real debate, please?  Apparently not.  As with the "stimulus" package, we're expected to accept the judgment of our betters, who know what's good for us.

Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, said the bill would not provide universal coverage or reduce health costs, but would result in some Americans’ losing insurance or even their jobs. “Small business will be massively impacted,” Mr. Gregg said.

The people pushing this bill don't care about small business.  Those are the people they loathe the most - those little struggling printing shop owners in mid-sized towns and cities.  Who are these people who get in the way? 

Look at the manner in which our national business is being conducted.  This is the change we were told to believe in.

And the real losers?  The young generation that was so enthusiastic about Obama.  They will pay the bill, and see their names at the end of health-care waiting lists.  And they will someday realize that the people who put them there couldn't care less. 

July 17, 2009   Permalink

COMMON SENSE - MAYBE? - AT 4:17 P.M. ET:  Even some Democrats are starting to see that the health-care debate is insane.  The Obamanuts want a bill passed by the August recess, a bill that will change America more than any piece of legislation has in decades.  Who cares if it's right?  Who cares if it bankrupts the economy?  Who cares if it increases medical costs rather than lowering them?  Hey, it's about vengeance, isn't it?  Let's get back at those people who kept us out of power.

There are saner voices:

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- A group of lawmakers seeking middle ground on President Barack Obama’s health-care initiative is asking Senate leaders to “take additional time” to reach a compromise on legislation.

In a letter sent today to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, six senators who have cast deciding votes in previous legislative battles said the impact of the legislation will “last for generations” and that it is “imperative to proceed thoughtfully and responsibly.”

Thoughtfully and responsibly.  What a numbing, middle-class idea.  How common.  How un-Ivy-League.

Democrat Ben Nelson of Nebraska signed.

Other lawmakers signing the letter were Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Democrats Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut.

Lieberman.  He's the one behind all this responsibility stuff.  Lieberman, the neo-con.  He liked BUSH (!!)

Americans are waking up to what's being done to them.  But alas, we hope it isn't too late.

July 17, 2009     Permalink

 
MORE VIOLENCE IN TEHRAN - AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Recall, please, that overthrowing the Shah in 1979 took months.  The Iranian opposition is in its first month of protests:

Iranian pro-opposition protesters clashed with police Friday on the streets of Tehran in the first major rally since the end of last-month's post-election tensions.

Iranian police detained at least 15 people and used tear gas and batons to disperse opposition supporters outside Tehran University, a witness said.

Witnesses also said that a big crowd of Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's supporters rallied in central Tehran after the Friday prayers sermon, a witness said."

"They are wearing green wristbands and carrying Mousavi's pictures while showing the victory sign," the witness said. Green was Mousavi's symbolic color for the presidential vote.

Near the university gates, police fired tear gas at Mousavi supporters as they headed for the prayers, witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity fearing government retaliation.

COMMENT:  If we help, and encourage the opposition, which is what Michael Ledeen has been urging for years, we can, in Lincoln's words, "press the thing."  But I don't see any pressing.  The Obamans, never terribly interested in democracy to begin with, are still obsessed with "engagement."  Must not interfere, they say.  Tat.  Tat.  Of course, interfering in Honduras on behalf of an ally of Hugo Chavez a few weeks back was quite another matter. 

Are you, day by day, getting a picture of this administration? 

July 17, 2009   Permalink

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE - AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  Related in spirit to the post just below, there is personnel news this morning from the Justice Department.  Better get out the emergency kits, check the batteries, and dig your shelters.  From the New York Post:

IF you were hiring a lawyer to help protect Americans from terrorists, you likely wouldn't choose a left-wing activist who's been a champion of the killers held at Guantanamo Bay.

Then again, you're not President Obama. His Justice Department has raised eyebrows by tapping Jennifer Daskal, formerly "senior counterterrorism counsel" at Human Rights Watch, to work as counsel in its National Security Division and to serve on a task force deciding the future of Guantanamo and its detainees.

COMMENT:  I can just imagine "human rights" lawyers landing at Iwo Jima in 1945 and immediately demanding the arrest of United States Marines for firing indiscriminately at the enemy.

This appointment is incredible.  What are these people thinking?  It's about as brilliant as the appointment of far-left columnist Rosa Brooks to the Defense Department earlier this year. 

There are certainly some solid people in the Obama administration, much closer to the center, but there is this fringe leftist element, and it can do real damage.  The president has not shown any interest.

July 17, 2009   Permalink

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER - AT 8:49 A.M. ET:  From Fox News:

A group committed to establishing an international Islamic empire and reportedly linked to Al Qaeda is stepping up its Western recruitment efforts by holding its first official conference in the U.S.

Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global Sunni network with reported ties to confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Al Qaeda in Iraq's onetime leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has operated discreetly in the U.S. for decades.

Now, it is coming out of the shadows and openly hosting a July 19 conference entitled, "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam," at a posh Hilton hotel in a suburb of Chicago.

And...

Hizb ut-Tahrir insists that it does not engage in terrorism, and it is not recognized by the State Department as a known terror group.

But some terrorism experts say it may be even more dangerous than many groups that are on the terror list.

"Hizb ut-Tahrir is one of the oldest, largest indoctrinating organizations for the ideology known as jihadism," Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FOXNews.com.

COMMENT:  Hitler and Goebbels understood it best:  Give us the minds of youth, they said, and they will give you back soldiers for fascism.   The attacks of 9-11 didn't begin in flight school.  They began with indoctrination.

Isn't it remarkable that this conference will be held in a Hilton Hotel, a symbol of capitalism.  Lenin said that the West would sell the Soviet Communists the rope with which they would then hang the West.  Apparently, the Hilton guys never read Lenin.

July 17, 2009   Permalink

GATES WARNS OF IRAN - AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Iran the foremost threat to global security.  But the warning came with the kind of caveats that have left many people wondering what the foreign policy of the United States actually is:

CHICAGO (AFP) – Iran's nuclear ambitions are the greatest current threat to global security, according to US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

"Iran is the one that concerns me the most because there don't seem to be good options (or a scenario) where one can have any optimism that good options will be found," Gates told the Economic Club of Chicago.

The threat rests not only in Iran's apparent determination to seek a nuclear weapon, but in the "inability of the international community to affect their determination to do that," Gates said.

"All of the outcomes are negative," he said. "If they achieve one, the possibility of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East is very, very real.

"If something is done to prevent them from getting one, the consequences of that are completely unpredictable and frankly, very bad."

COMMENT:  So what is our policy?  Gates concedes that the Iranians are going for the bomb.  He concedes that the "international community," whatever that is, seems powerless to stop them.  He concedes that there is a strong possibility of a catastrophic nuclear arms race in one of the most stable, fanatic-filled regions of the world.  And then he tells us that if something is done to prevent the catastrophe, that's bad too. 

So what is our policy?  Only one man can decide that, and he sits in the White House intellectualizing the world.  There is the grim possibility, more likely a probability, that Iran will get the bomb and that we will wring our hands while "learning to live with it."  And someone will blame Bush.

July 17, 2009   Permalink

BLASTS IN INDONESIA - AT 7:55 A.M. ET:  There has been a coordinated terror attack in Indonesia, although it could have been much worse:

JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 17 -- Eight people were killed Friday in two separate explosions at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in central Jakarta, just over a week after the world's most populous majority-Muslim nation saw a peaceful presidential election.

The Jakarta police said that "low explosive" devices were used to set off the blasts. The first was heard at the Marriott around 7:45 a.m. local time (8:45 p.m. Thursday in Washington). The Marriott also was targeted in 2003 by the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah, when a bomb set off by the Islamic terrorists killed 11.

The second explosion happened shortly afterwards at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, less than 100 meters away. That bomb was believed to have gone off in the Airlangga restaurant.

And...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, en route to Asia as part of a pre-scheduled trip, said the bombings reflect the viciousness of violent extremists, and remind us that the threat of terrorism remains very real. We have no higher priority than confronting this threat along with other countries that share our commitment to a more peaceful and prosperous future."

COMMENT:  We don't yet know if the attack was timed to coincide with Clinton's trip to Asia.  Indonesia, of course, is where President Obama spent some of his younger years. 

July 17, 2009   Permalink