I have a new piece up at Hudson New York called "The Money Myth."  It's here.

I also have a new piece up at Power Line, on the death of major newspapers.  It's here.

WEDNESDAY,  MARCH 11,  2009

HILARIOUS - AT 7:22 P.M. ET:  Look, if you think we're exaggerating when we say some newspapers are in the tank for the left, you really have to read this.  I mean, really.

So, The New York Times has hired a new "conservative" columnist to replace Bill Kristol, who was shown the door several months ago.  Their choice is - the envelope please - Ross Douthat of The Atlantic magazine.  And this is the way The Times's own story describes him:

His writing steers away from partisanship — he frequently criticizes Republicans — or doctrine, showing a concern for income inequality that is usually the terrain of more liberal writers. On abortion, he said in an interview, “I’m sort of a squishy pro-lifer,” interested in finding areas of compromise. He initially favored the war in Iraq, but later opposed it.

That's the new conservative columnist.  He was for the war before he was against it, and all the rest.  The other "conservative" columnist is David Brooks, who supported Barack Obama.

Are you laughing out loud.  I can't stop. 

March 11, 2009   Permalink

THE TRUTH IS TOLD! - AT 7:15 P.M. ET:  Moonbat author Alice Walker is in Gaza, which seems to be attracting a lot of moonbats these days.  Britain's pro-Saddam Hussein sweetie George Galloway just visited.

Walker is generally introduced to us as the Pulitzer-prize-winning author of "The Color Purple."  It's one of those stock journalistic introductions that leaves out the fact that she's absolutely certifiable, and has joined the army of 9-11 "Trufers," spouting conspiracy theories about the U.S. Government being behind the attacks.

Now Walker finally rips bare the truth about why Americans support Israel.  You cannot make this stuff up:

"We were indoctrinated to the song in that film Exodus, you know, 'This land belongs to us, this land is our land,' meaning the Israelis, the Jews, and for so long, we were told that nobody lived here, that it was a land without people, for a people without land," she said.

Now you know.  It was film music.  That's what it was.  It's amazing what an author's insight can show us.  Problem is, she apparently never saw the movie.  It has indigenous Arabs running all through it.  Maybe she saw the edited version, starring Albert Einstein and directed by Joe Lieberman.

And some people still take this nutbag seriously.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

IT'S NOT TOO DARNED HOT - AT 7:02 P.M. ET:  From the Gallup organization: 

PRINCETON, NJ -- Although a majority of Americans believe the seriousness of global warming is either correctly portrayed in the news or underestimated, a record-high 41% now say it is exaggerated. This represents the highest level of public skepticism about mainstream reporting on global warming seen in more than a decade of Gallup polling on the subject.

COMMENT:  This is what happens when people like Al Gore simply ridicule the doubters rather than engage them.  People come to reasonable conclusions as to why the debate is being ducked.  The doubters have done a good job of raising intelligent questions that go unanswered.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED TO SOME STOCKS ON THE WAY TO... - AT 4:33 P.M. ET:  From the New Post:

If the US government assumes greater control over US bank Citigroup or automaker General Motors, that might "trigger" their removal from the Dow index, the Dow Jones Indexes said yesterday.

John Prestbo, editor and executive director of the DJ Indexes, which selects the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, said he tracks both companies "every day to see what the status is."

COMMENT:  Just a second.  Wasn't Citigroup the stock that triggered that huge rally yesterday?  And it may be delisted?  Can we get together on this?

March 11, 2009   Permalink

DOW NOT WOW - AT 4:24 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed up only four points, to 6930.  Yesterday's dramatic rally fizzled. 

DOW NOW - AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  The Dow is up 25, to 6951.  There'd been some hope that yesterday's huge rally would be continued, but thus far the results are modest.  "Investors" need more good news, like learning that some major banker didn't sneeze today. 

MORE ON MODERATE TALS - AT 11:29 A.M. ET: 

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban on Tuesday turned down as illogical U.S. President Barack Obama's bid to reach out to moderate elements of the insurgents, saying the exit of foreign troops was the only solution for ending the war...

..."This does not require any response or reaction for this is illogical," Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a purported spokesman for the insurgent group, told Reuters when asked if its top leader Mullah Mohammad Omar would make any comment about Obama's proposal.

"The Taliban are united, have one leader, one aim, one policy...I do not
know why they are talking about moderate Taliban and what it means?"

COMMENT:  You see, we insulted their culture by using a term they don't understand.  If only we'd sent in Code Pink first, this wouldn't have happened.  We're so insensitive.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

GOOD SPEECH - AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  President Obama spoke about education yesterday, and we must concede that it was a solid speech, with ideas that conservatives could applaud:

President Barack Obama remains in exceptionally strong standing with his own party, and as if to prove it, he gave an unvarnished education speech Tuesday with some tough talk aimed at failing teachers — and the teachers unions held their fire.

Obama proposed spending additional money on effective teachers in up to 150 additional school districts, fulfilling a campaign promise that once earned him boos from members of the National Education Association.

“Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools,” the president said in a wide-ranging education speech before a meeting of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

COMMENT:  All right, that's the speech.  Now how about some action.  Democrats in Congress, under the thumb of teachers' unions, have just destroyed a Washington, D.C. scholarship program that benefited two friends of the Obama children.  The president declined to intervene.  It's going to take much more than a good speech to convince the nation that this president will defy pressure and work to improve education. 

We watched, in New York City, as the greatest urban school system in the United States was destroyed before our eyes.  Sadly, the destroyers remain entrenched.  We also watched as Dunbar High School in Washington, which produced so many outstanding African-American scholars, was also destroyed, also by entrenched political forces.

We know how to educate youngsters.  We've done it before.  We can do it again.  But it means taking back the schools from bureaucracies that run them for their own good, rather than the good of students.

March 11, 2009  Permalink

REVELATION - AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama firmly resists ideological labels, but at the end of a private meeting with a group of moderate Democrats Tuesday afternoon he offered a statement of solidarity.

“I am a New Democrat,” he told the New Democrat Coalition, according to two sources at the White House session.

The group is comprised of centrist Democratic members of the House, who support free trade and a muscular foreign policy but are more moderate than the conservative Blue Dog coalition.

Obama made his comment in discussing his budget priorities and broader goals, also calling himself a “pro-growth Democrat” during the course of conversation.

White House officials stressed that Obama was not making any declarations, but rather pointing out that he was in sync with many of the group's principles.

COMMENT:  So, he's a New Democrat?  This will come as a surprise to those who've reviewed the stimulus package, the budget, the naming of ideologists to handle environmental issues and a foreign policy that punishes our friends and rewards our enemies.  But wait.  This meeting was on Tuesday.  By the end of the week there'll be a new statement.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

AND MORE WARNING - AT 7:52 A.M. ET:  From London's Daily Mail:

A Muslim preacher of hate today ridiculed British soldiers who were abused during a homecoming parade - branding them cowards who have an 'uncanny knack for death by friendly fire.'

Firebrand preacher Anjem Choudary praised the Muslims who had protested at yesterday's parade for the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment in Luton.

And in an inflammatory message posted on an Islamic extremist website, Choudary viciously mocked their comrade who was killed by friendly fire in Iraq.

His words came as police charged a man who allegedly shouted abuse at the Muslim anti-war protesters.

The preacher of hate, who has links with banned Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, likened the soldiers to Nazis and branded yesterday's homecoming a 'vile parade' of 'brutal murderers.'

COMMENT:  In fairness we should note that some Muslim leaders in Britain denounced these fanatics.  But all it takes is a small number to radicalize others and form deadly plots.  That is our problem.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

ANOTHER GRAND ILLUSION - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  Vice President Joe Biden has joined President Obama in advocating that we reach out to "moderate" elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan, hoping to neutralize them through the Obama-blessed magic of negotiations.  Others, perhaps a bit closer to the problem, dissent:

"Obama's comment resemble a dream more than reality," Waheed Mozhdah, an official in both the Taliban and the Karzai governments, told Reuters.

"Where are the so-called moderate Taliban? Who are the moderate Taliban?" asked Mozhdah, who has also written a book on the Taliban.

"'Moderate Taliban' is like 'moderate killer.' Is there such a thing?" asked writer and analyst Qaseem Akhgar.

COMMENT:  It reminds me of the story of U.S. Senator William Borah, who, after Germany invaded Poland in 1939, reportedly said that the whole thing could have been prevented had he had just a few minutes with Adolf Hitler.  There are illusions in every generation.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

THE WARNING - AT 7:17 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

Senior U.S. counterterrorism officials are stepping up warnings that Islamist extremists in Somalia are radicalizing Americans to their cause, citing their recruitment of the first U.S. citizen suicide bomber and their potential role in the disappearance of more than a dozen Somali American youths...

...Since November, the FBI has raced to uncover any ties to foreign extremist networks in the unexpected departures of numerous Somali American teenagers and young men, who family members believe are in Somalia. The investigation is active in Boston; San Diego; Seattle; Columbus, Ohio; and Portland, Maine, a U.S. law enforcement official said...

...intelligence officials said the recruitment of U.S. citizens by terrorist groups is particularly worrisome because their American passports could make it easier for them to reenter the country.

COMMENT:  We have an image in our heads that terrorist threats come primarily from the Middle East.  In fact, Pakistan and Somalia are emerging as major centers of concern.  The fact that young Somali men here could suddenly vanish is chilling.  The war on terror, discredited in some smug circles, is far from over.

March 11, 2009   Permalink

TUESDAY,  MARCH 10,  2009

MORE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES WE MUST UNDERSTAND - AT 9:37 P.M. ET: 

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The self-professed mastermind and four other men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks declared they are ''terrorists to the bone'' in a statement that mocked the U.S. failure to prevent the killings and predicted America will fall like ''the towers on the blessed 9/11 day.''

COMMENT:  But who are we to question their dedication to their sacred causes?  They have grievances, serious grievances.  We feel for them.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

JUST THE GROWING PAINS OF MULTICULTURALISM - AT 9:25 P.M. ET:  From AP:

Britain's defense minister has condemned a group of Muslim anti-war demonstrators who disrupted a parade for soldiers returning home from Iraq.

Police say they arrested two people Tuesday after a small group of Muslims was involved in an unspecified disturbance in the town of Luton, just north of London.

They were protesting a parade of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment hat has just returned home from service in southern Iraq.
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Some of the protesters held placards reading "Anglian Soldiers Go To Hell" and "Butchers of Basra," the BBC reported on Tuesday.

COMMENT:  We must understand and respect cultural diversity, mustn't we?

No.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

BACK IN BUSINESS - AT 7:10 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication for the Obama administration's efforts to close the prison. U.S. authorities handed over the detainee to the Afghan government, which in turn released him, according to Pentagon and CIA officials.

COMMENT:  Great, isn't it?  What if we'd released Nazi or Japanese prisoners during World War II?  We still are not taking the war on terror seriously enough.  Too many see it as a law-enforcement problem, and see detainees as petty thieves whose rights must be protected above all else.  This released prisoner is planning operations that will kill Americans, but I doubt if the ACLU cares.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 5:33 P.M. ET:   From The Washington Times:

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced Tuesday that his choice to head a key intelligence body, Charles "Chas" W. Freeman Jr., has withdrawn from the post.

The terse two-sentence announcement that Mr. Freeman would not chair the National Intelligence Council (NIC) followed mounting questions from members of Congress and others about the former ambassador's financial ties to Saudi Arabia and China and views about the Middle East and human rights.

COMMENT:  As readers know, we've been following this story.  Freeman's appointment was a disgrace.  The man holds views that would be repugnant to the overwhelming majority of Americans.  He never met a dictatorship he didn't like.  The usual suspects will attribute Freeman's withdrawal to the "Israel lobby."  If they do, so be it.  People have a right to petition their government.  But fair-minded people will realize that a man who praised the Tiananmen Square massacre and who has no problem with the worst of the Arab tyrannies, should not be in a position of influence.

We hope this episode sends a message to the "realists" in the Obama administration that their views are being scrutinized. 

Freeman's withdrawal comes on top of increasing criticism of the Obama administration for its seeming coldness toward democracy and human rights.  The good guys are getting active, and angry.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

DOW WOW - AT 4:22 P.M. ET:  In a spectacular day filled with irrational exuberance, the Dow soared 379 points, to 6926.  This, according to financial reporters, was based almost entirely on news that Citicorp made a little bit of profit in the last two months.  Thus, once again we see the cool, calm, experienced "investors" make their moves.  Please remember that the Dow was at 14,000 before the economic collapse.  The "investors" back then certainly were shrewd and prescient.  Same today.  Don't take today's gain too seriously. 

CHEERS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST - AT 2:56 P.M. ET:  We give credit where it's due here, and the Washington Post today shows that, among liberal papers, it has the most thoughtful editorial page.  It slams the Obama administration's indifference to human rights, and nails Ms. Hillary directly.  We thank reader Tom Wharton and Gateway Pundit for alerting us to this great editorial:

SECRETARY OF STATE Hillary Rodham Clinton continues to devalue and undermine the U.S. diplomatic tradition of human rights advocacy. On her first foreign trip, to Asia, she was dismissive about raising human rights concerns with China's communist government, saying "those issues can't interfere" with economic, security or environmental matters. In last week's visit to the Middle East and Europe, she undercut the State Department's own reporting regarding two problematic American allies: Egypt and Turkey.

No more party invitations to Hillary's house for WaPo editors.  Secretary Clinton was asked if the State Department's negative report on Egyptian human-rights practices would have any impact on policy:

Ms. Clinton was then asked whether there would be any connection between the report and a prospective invitation to President Hosni Mubarak to visit Washington. "It is not in any way connected," she replied, adding: "I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States." Ms. Clinton's words will be treasured by al-Qaeda recruiters and anti-American propagandists throughout the Middle East. She appears oblivious to how offensive such statements are to the millions of Egyptians who loathe Mr. Mubarak's oppressive government and blame the United States for propping it up.

COMMENT:  What is sickening is the silence of most "progressives" about this obscenity.  What kind of country are we?  Apparently, we're going back to the days of "realism" in foreign policy.  But that "realism" wasn't very realistic, as we've found out time and again.  The Post should be praised for reminding "liberals" what liberalism is supposed to be about, but isn't.  Harry Truman, Jack Kennedy, Henry Jackson - they must be turning over in their graves.

Read the whole editorial.  Well worth it.  More "change" we can't believe in.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

YEAH, WE'D SAY SO - AT 2:20 P.M. ET:  From Fox News:

National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told Congress Tuesday that China has adopted a more aggressive military posture, according to Reuters, after the Pentagon accused five Chinese ships of harassing an unarmed U.S. Navy craft in international waters.

The top intelligence official said the incident is the worst since a U.S. spy plane and crew were detained in 2001.

COMMENT:  Oh, swell.  Blair just chose, as head of his National Intelligence Council, Charles Freeman Jr., who is on record as approving the Tiananmen Square Massacre.   Now we have friction with China.  Would you want a man with Freeman's views as head of a sensitive intelligence unit?  We've been following the Freeman selection, and it's time for Freeman to go.  But he won't go.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

WALL STREET MATH - AT 1:32 P.M. ET:  The Dow is up a whopping 287 points, to 6834.  This rally is reportedly based on the news that Citigroup is showing a small profit this quarter.  After all the billions the American taxpayer poured into that bank, I would hope so.  "Investors" are apparently impressed.  Let's see if the "mood" of these financial geniuses lasts more than 24 hours. 

BIDEN'S MATH - AT 1:27 P.M. ET:  Vice President Joseph Biden, at a press conference in Brussels, analyzed the makeup of the Taliban in Afghanistan:

In response to a question about how many of the Taliban might be considered "moderate" and therefore open to reconciliation, Mr. Biden ticked off some percentages.

"Five percent of the Taliban is incorrigible, not susceptible to anything other than being defeated. Another 25 percent or so are not quite sure, in my view, [of] the intensity of their commitment to the insurgency," Mr. Biden said during a press conference.

"And roughly 70 percent are involved because of the money, because of them being . . . paid," he said.

COMMENT:  I wonder where he got those numbers.  Only five percent are incorrigible?  How would anyone know that?  Would you buy a used military strategy from this man?

March 10, 2009   Permalink

DOW SOARS - AT 9:43 A.M. ET:  The Dow is up 153 at the opening, to 6700. 

CHINESE HARASSMENT - AT 8:45 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Chinese ships surrounded and harassed a Navy mapping ship in international waters off China, at one point coming within 25 feet of the American boat and strewing debris in its path, the Defense Department said Monday. The Obama administration said it would continue naval operations in the South China Sea, most of which China considers its territory, and protested to China about what it called reckless behavior that endangered lives.

At one point during the incident Sunday the unarmed USNS Impeccable turned fire hoses on an approaching Chinese ship in self defense, the Pentagon said. At another point a Chinese ship played chicken with the Americans, stopping dead in front of the Impeccable as it tried to sail away, forcing the civilian mariners to slam on the brakes.

COMMENT:  This follows a familiar Chinese pattern.  You might recall that, in the early weeks of the Bush 43 administration, China forced down an American patrol plane.  The Chinese are testing Obama, and letting him know who's boss in that area.  We'll be watching the administration reaction closely.

No need for missile defense.  No need.

Please note that Hillary Clinton was in the region just a few weeks ago, and now both North Korea and China are ratcheting up tensions.  Her trip did a lot of good.  Another victory for "smart" diplomacy.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

KOREA TENSIONS - AT 8:33 A.M. ET:  From Financial Times:

North Korea on Monday cut its military hotline to Seoul and put its million-man army at battle stations, ratcheting up tensions as South Korean and US troops began war games that Pyongyang warned could spark open conflict.

UN forces last week tried to counter North Korean claims that the exercises were a smokescreen for an invasion by promising to keep the hotline open, giving Pyongyang advance warning of anything that could cause a misunderstanding.

North Korea’s official KCNA news agency quoted an army spokesman as saying: “It is nonsensical to maintain the normal channels of communication when the South Korean puppets are in a frenzy about these military exercises, levelling their guns at fellow countrymen in league with foreign forces.”

COMMENT:  Repeat after me:  "This is a misunderstanding.  There is no need for missile defense.  No need at all.  When Ms. Hillary returns to the region, all will be made okay.  This is just some tension left over from BUSH (!!).

March 10, 2009   Permalink

ANOTHER ALLY WEIGHS IN - AT 7:57 A.M. ET:  It's perfectly evident from news reports that some of America's best allies are becoming disillusioned with the under-construction foreign policy of this administration.  The disillusionment in Britain has been widely reported.  Poland has made clear its dismay over Obama's apparent offer to suspend our missile-defense program in Eastern Europe if Moscow would just smile a little wider and give us some help with Iran.

Now the Czech Republic, another stalwart pro-American nation, is joining the group of allies who've been made to feel like unwanted cousins by the "smart" diplomacy of Obama and Clinton. From the Washington Times:

Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Monday that he is seeking a sign from President Obama as to whether the U.S. will uphold its agreement to deploy missile defenses in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Mr. Klaus, an advocate for the deployment, told The Washington Times that he is eager to learn whether Mr. Obama will be as committed to the U.S. defense system as was President George W. Bush.

Mr. Obama is due to visit Prague after a summit of major industrial nations in London early next month.

"We're looking forward to having him in Prague," Mr. Klaus said. "I hope that will be a good opportunity to understand better his views."

In New York for an environmental conference, Mr. Klaus said the Obama administration's position on missile defense is "unknown."

COMMENT:  That is a damning statement.  Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic took the risk of antagonizing Russia by signing on to missile defense.  Now they're confronted with a president who may pull the rug out from under them.

Since the administration has just appointed a head of the National Intelligence Council, Charles Freeman, who is a fan of both the Chinese and Saudi governments, we seem to see a pattern emerging.  Democracies?  Who needs them?   

This is smart diplomacy?

March 10, 2009   Permalink

MORE CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN - AT 7:23 A.M. ET:  For all the yapping about bringing a new style to Washington, troops in the Obama army seem quite willing to revert to the old style when needed.  They're developing a Nixonian enemies list, and they have a new target:

Forget Rush Limbaugh.

For all the focus on the king of conservative talk, Democrats may have found a more important villain in House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, a telegenic young Republican trying to bring life to his party on Capitol Hill.

As the Virginia Republican fights President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority on everything from spending to stem cells, the Democrats are racing to introduce him to voters before he can introduce himself.

At last month’s White House summit on entitlement reform, Obama painted Cantor as a poster child for obstructionism. “I’m going to keep on talking to Eric Cantor,” the president said. “Someday, sooner or later, he’s going to say, ‘Boy, Obama had a good idea.’”

COMMENT:  Cantor is one of the most effective Republicans on the Hill, which is why they're going after him.  I have confidence that he can hold his own.

March 10, 2009   Permalink

RUNNING IS EASY, GOVERNING IS HARD - AT 7:00 A.M. ET:  The Washington Post reports that the Democrats are being stung by dissent from within their own ranks as they try to pass their huge programs in the Age of Obama:

Democratic leaders in Congress did not expect much Republican support as they pressed President Obama's ambitious legislative agenda. But the pushback they are receiving from some of their own has come as an unwelcome surprise.

As the Senate inches closer to approving a $410 billion spending bill, the internal revolt has served as a warning to party leaders pursuing Obama's far-reaching plans for health-care, energy and education reform.

COMMENT:  The moderate Dems are making their presence felt.  This is especially critical in the Senate, where a coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats can effectively block anything they wish.  Team Obama's transformation of America into Sweden West is apparently hitting some roadblocks.  We are not all socialists now.

March 10, 2009   Permalink