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

MONDAY,  JUNE 29,  2009

A POLITICAL RESURRECTION? - AT 9:21 P.M. ET:  High on the list of George W. Bush's contributions, for which the press will give him no credit, is the strengthening of our tie with India, the world's most populous democracy.  Here, an Indian columnist writes a column called "Bush was Right After All."  Thus comes the start of a political resurrection, if the media will let it happen:

It is ironical the North Korean leader’s muscle-flexing has taken place only months after a new and supposedly conciliatory resident arrived at the White House. After all, US President Barack Obama’s team made effusive noises about the conduct of foreign policy that would be different from President George W Bush’s sledgehammer, “with us or against us”, approach.

How did North Korea behave in the Bush years? As far back as 2002, Mr Bush named the Pyongyang regime as part of the “Axis of Evil”. In 2003, Pyongyang withdrew from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and in 2006 tested a nuclear device. The then American President pushed for economic sanctions and used China — the one country with influence on Mr Kim — to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.

North Korea did not give up its clandestine mission. Nevertheless, it checked itself. There were no overt displays of aggression. Mr Kim agreed to shut down some nuclear facilities. He recognised that in Mr Bush he had an implacable foe, one who would hit back and hit back hard if provoked.

Six months after the Republican President left Washington, DC, the North Korean megalomaniac has triggered an East Asian crisis. He has reneged on his promise to close nuclear installations and reverted to Bomb-making.

And the money quote:

What does this tell us about Mr Kim and about political adventurism in general? The North Koreans have indicated they don’t think much of the Obama crowd, they see America’s resolve as weakening. They have also paid a left-handed compliment to Mr Bush —acknowledging he put the fear of god into them.

There are three implications to the crisis. First, it will give others ideas. Teheran has already more or less rebuffed Mr Obama’s offer of talks...

...Second, Mr Obama is being put to test. He came into office with limited experience and with the reputation of being a foreign policy lightweight...

...Third, Afghanistan or Pakistan, North Korea or Iran, even India or China: The more Mr Obama tries to distance himself from the Bush template, the closer he moves towards it.

COMMENT:  This Indian commentator gets it.  A few in the U.S. do, too.  But mountains will have to be moved to get George Bush and Dick Cheney the credit they deserve.  They weren't perfect, and Bush's second term saw him drift from the determination of his first.  But other nations knew there were lines that couldn't be crossed.  I wonder if they think that today.

June 29, 2009   Permalink

SHOCK!  MY SALTS, MY SALTS, PLEASE - AT 7:37 P.M. ET:  What a surprise, from the wise and virtuous rulers of Iran:

CAIRO — Iran’s powerful Guardian Council certified the results of the country’s disputed presidential election on Monday, according to state television, an unexpectedly rapid move that set the stage for more clashes in the streets of Tehran.

The announcement came even as the government continued its efforts to try to quell public anger over the election, with a parliamentary committee reaching out to religious leaders. The government went to far as to extend a deadline for considering complaints of vote rigging — just hours before confirming the vote.

When news of the certification broke, witnesses said, security and militia forces flooded the streets, and protesters who were already out marching down Tehran’s central avenue, Vali Asr, broke into furious chants. Other Iranians, urged on by Web site pleas, went to their rooftops to yell “God is great!” in a show of defiance.

COMMENT:  You'd think that our president, so exercised over Honduras, would express daily outrage at this farce in Iran.  But, you know, certifying an allegedly crooked election probably so much reminded Obama of Chicago that he just got a little dreamy, maybe homesick.  Cut him some slack, will you?

June 29, 2009   Permalink

ANGER, PASSION, DRAMA, ROLL 'EM - AT 7:16 P.M. ET:  The president of the United States and all its territories and possessions is angry.  He is livid.  His emotions overflow.  And the cause?  Why, he doesn't like what was done to the president of Honduras, a leftist wannabe who started acting unconstitutionally and got tossed into the dustbin of history.  Even the mainstream media is trying to get the facts right:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed.

"We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the president of Honduras, the democratically elected president there," Obama told reporters after an Oval Office meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Zelaya, in office since 2006, was overthrown in a dawn coup on Sunday after he angered the judiciary, Congress and the army by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek re-election beyond a four-year term.

The Honduran Congress named an interim president, Roberto Micheletti, and the country's Supreme Court said it had ordered the army to remove Zelaya.

COMMENT:  Note the last line.  The country's Supreme Court acknowledged that it had ordered the army to remove the president.  Oh, such woe, says Obama:

"It would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition, rather than democratic elections," Obama said, noting the region's progress in establishing democratic traditions in the past 20 years.

But wait.  Hillary, who has also condemned the action, has lawyered this even further:

Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now.

Maybe the two should talk, and decide on the party line.

What's angering here - and please see our first post of the day on this - is that there's at least a reasonable chance that the ouster was legal.  Zelaya had started taking steps that were clearly ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, and there are consequences for things like that.

What's also angering is Obama's anger.  Compare please with his "we don't meddle" attitude when Iranian protesters were gunned down in the streets of Tehran.  This Zelaya is an ally of Chavez, Castro, Ortega and just about every left-wing glamour boy in the hemisphere.  Is that why Obama feels for him? 

If Obama is against military "coups," he sure could have picked a better case.  His reaction disheartens us further.  Why is our president always flirting with the wrong side?

June 29, 2009   Permalink

INCOMING MISSILES, NO DEFENSE - AT 9:26 A.M. ET:  While the liberal media shows no interest, some conservative outlets are increasingly vocal on the administration's cutbacks in missile defense, a technology just reaching fruition.  The Washington Times has an excellent editorial on the impact of the Obaman recklessness:

July 4 could be another day that will live in infamy. The Obama administration seized headlines June 18 when the Defense Department stated that the United States would deploy ground- and sea-based missile-defense assets to protect Hawaii. This was a response to North Korea's threat to launch a long-range missile on July 4 toward the islands. However, new information suggests that the administration is bluffing and our defenses are inadequate to get the job done.

And...

The Obama administration is stuck in the past on missile defense, repeating worn-out arguments about unproven technologies and destabilizing effects. The Defense Department's 2010 budget proposal cut missile defense by $1.2 billion, and congressional Democrats rebuffed Republican attempts to restore the funding. Justification for the cuts was led by Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, California Democrat, who is the newly confirmed undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Ms. Tauscher will play a major role in missile-defense policy.

That should make your day.  Ellen O. Tauscher is watching out for us.

The Obama administration also has cut funding for the European missile-defense shield, leaving our allies in Poland and the Czech Republic in the lurch after they took a major political risk to support the program.

Who cares about allies?  We have sophisticates running America now, intellectuals who go to the best parties.  They understand things that we don't.  They believe an enemy is a friend you haven't made yet.  These are the good people.  Who are we to disagree?

The Obama administration's hostility to missile defense is inexplicable. The missile threat is growing, and defensive technology is increasingly effective, yet the Obama team has dug in stubbornly behind a losing strategy that emboldens our enemies and places us in greater danger. No wonder Hawaiians are nervous.

COMMENT:  I disagree that the Obaman hostility to missile defense is inexplicable.  It's entirely explainable by the very philosophy of many in this administration.  These are people who believe the Cold War was as much our fault as that of the Soviets, that 9-11 was a reaction to our misguided policies, that national defense really exists only to help corporations, and that Vietnam is better off under the Communists.  And they think anyone who disagrees is stupid.  They don't take missile defense seriously because it just isn't part of their world.

June 29, 2009   Permalink

THE DEADLINE NEARS - AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  It doesn't seem to register with the American public, possibly because the press hasn't emphasized it, but this is a momentous week in Iraq, and for the American effort there.  Our forces have until tomorrow to withdraw from major urban centers.  We are getting some reassurance from our commander, but concern is still in order:

Gen. Ray Odierno, the American commander in Iraq, said Sunday that Iraq’s military and police units were ready to operate on their own, ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for the withdrawal of American combat troops from the country’s cities and towns.

“I do believe they’re ready,” General Odierno said from Baghdad on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “They’ve been working towards this for a long time. And security remains good.”

American troop strength is scheduled to stay at roughly 130,000 until September, with most of the forces living in operating bases away from cities, military officials say. The Iraqis will be able to call on American support if needed.

There's been an upsurge in terror attacks in Iraq as the deadline nears:

The deadline for the pullout from cities has concerned some Iraqi officers and provoked uncertainty among Iraqis who worry that the withdrawal of American troops will invite more violence.

COMMENT:  This is another test for Obama.  If we need to send troops back to some urban centers, will he do it?  Will he do everything to insure victory?  We recall that, in 1975, in an act of profound dishonor, the United States cut off aid to South Vietnam, insuring a victory by the enemy.  We were "tired" of the struggle.  It took years, and the election of Ronald Reagan, to restore American credibility.  While Democrats instigated that cutoff, appeasing their leftist base, some Republicans went along.

The months ahead will be critical in Iraq.  Obama failed miserably in his first response to the Iranian revolt.  Let's see how he does next door.

June 29, 2009   Permalink

IRAN - AT 7:29 A.M. ET:  There were new street protests in Iran yesterday, but the oppression continues even off the streets.  Reliable reporter Martin Fletcher documents Iran's agony for the Times of London:

More than 2,000 Iranians have been arrested and hundreds more have disappeared since the regime decided to crush dissent after the disputed presidential election, a leading human rights organisation said yesterday.

“A climate of terror and of fear reigns in Iran today,” the International Federation for Human Rights , an umbrella body for 155 human rights organisations, said as it released the startling figures.

Last night 3,000 protesters tried to gather outside a mosque in Tehran where they believed that Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated presidential candidate, was going to speak. The police rapidly dispersed them and Mr Mousavi never appeared.

Having largely suppressed such protests, the security forces are engaged in a purge of dissidents in an apparent effort to decapitate Mr Mousavi’s so-called green movement.

And what is America's reaction to this obscenity?  Now that the president has made some "tough" statements to strengthen his poll numbers, his appointees crave business as usual, as the Israeli press reports:

Despite questions about the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election and his belligerent anti-American rhetoric, the White House remains open to discussions with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

"It's in the United States' national interest to make sure that we have employed all elements at our disposal, including diplomacy, to prevent Iran from achieving that nuclear capacity," Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday.

COMMENT:  Yeah, right.  The Obama administration sure looks like it's willing to employ all elements at our disposal to stop an Iranian nuke.  These are really men and women of steel.  Tigers all.

The illusions continue, even as Iran arrests dissenters by the truckload.   Obama really believes the Iranian "leaders" will negotiate an acceptable nuclear deal with him, apparently because he is The One.  But they've already rejected every overture.

My own suspicion is that Obama will try to get some piece of paper out of the Iranians, Chamberlain style, to present to the American people before the 2010 midterms.  He will contrast his "success" with the "belligerence" of BUSH (!!).  Of course, the paper will have as many holes as Swiss cheese, but a compliant press will still portray it as a "successful first step."  I stress that this is my speculation, but I'd bet on it.

June 29, 2009   Permalink

HONDURAN TRUTHS - AT 7:02 A.M. ET:  The Wall Street Journal, possibly the nation's best newspaper, shines this morning with several important pieces.  Its Latin American correspondent, Mary Anastasia O'Grady (love that name) sets the record straight on the so-called "coup" in Honduras, which has been denounced by the Obamans.  (Strange, how they're suddenly meddling.  When Iran erupted, they said they couldn't get involved.)  It's also been denounced by Hugo Chavez, Daniel Ortega, and Fidel Castro, so once again Barack Obama finds himself in great company.  The Journal's report:

Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.

It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.

But Honduras is not out of the Venezuelan woods yet. Yesterday the Central American country was being pressured to restore the authoritarian Mr. Zelaya by the likes of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo himself. The Organization of American States, having ignored Mr. Zelaya's abuses, also wants him back in power. It will be a miracle if Honduran patriots can hold their ground.

The story documents Zelaya's abuse of the Honduran constitution and demonstrates that the military acted correctly in removing him, rather follow his illegal orders.  In the United States we would respect military men who refused to follow unlawful orders.  But apparently, the Obamans have a different standard for one of their cherished leftist-led nations:

Mrs. Clinton has piled on as well. Yesterday she accused Honduras of violating "the precepts of the Interamerican Democratic Charter" and said it "should be condemned by all." Fidel Castro did just that. Mr. Chávez pledged to overthrow the new government.

Saul Alinsky and the Chicago radicals who tutored both Clinton and Obama must be so proud, as they look down from Heaven or up from...well, you know.

So there we have it.  The United States, so prissy about even saying a word in support of Iranian freedom fighters, now goes full barrel in support of a power-grabbing autocrat of the left.

Ah yes, Obama will make us proud again.

June 29, 2009   Permalink