THURSDAY,  MAY 7,  2009

IS THE AMERICAN SUN SETTING? - AT 10:21 P.M. ET:  A disturbing note from one of our most reliable allies, from The Wall Street Journal:

Since World War II, U.S. military dominance has underpinned the Asia-Pacific region's prosperity and relative peace. So it's cause for concern when one of America's closest allies sees that power ebbing amid unstable nuclear regimes such as Pakistan and North Korea and the expanding military power of China.

In the preface to a sweeping defense review released Saturday, Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon writes: "The biggest changes to our outlook . . . have been the rise of China, the emergence of India and the beginning of the end of the so-called unipolar moment; the almost two-decade-long period in which the pre-eminence of our principal ally, the United States, was without question."

COMMENT:  The Australians don't predict an imminent collapse of American power, but they do see a trend, and are beefing up their own defenses. 

It's very sad to see this.  We did not see reports like this until Barack Obama took office.  Are the Australians being alarmist, or have they identified a reality that many in our own country, obsessed with feeling good about themselves by having a minority president, refuse to see?

May 7, 2009   Permalink

MORE ON IRAN, AND DON'T BE SHOCKED - AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Reality walks in, from The Washington Times:

Iran has dramatically increased the amount of low-enriched uranium produced by its growing number of centrifuges that are part of its nuclear fuel production system.

According to a CIA report to Congress, "During the reporting period, Iran continued to expand its nuclear infrastructure and continued uranium enrichment and activities related to its heavy water research reactor, despite multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions since late 2006 calling for the suspension of those activities."

The little-noticed report covering 2008 was released without comment by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on March 12. It was produced by the CIA's Weapons Intelligence, Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center, known as WINPAC, and approved by the National Intelligence Council.

COMMENT:  It was released on March 12th and is only being noticed now?  Is Washington completely nuts, or only partially nuts?  The media should be focusing on this every day.  Instead, we continue to talk about "engaging" Iran, but there is no sense of urgency.  And the Iranians are making clear that, when we do "engage," there'll be a lot of negotiations about what we'll then be negotiating about.  Time is critical here, but you'd never know it.

May 7, 2009   Permalink

MISPLACED BUDGET PRIORITIES - AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  The president released his $3.4-trillion budget today, and grandly announced that it contains $17-billion in savings, or, as it's called in the restaurant business, a tip.

Half the savings will come from the Pentagon, not encouraging when you look at what we're facing internationally.  And there's this:

In addition to the F-22 and presidential helicopter programs, proposed cuts include halting a $19 billion transformational satellite program and trimming $1.2 billion from missile defense.

COMMENT:  Trimming missile defense now is like trimming anti-submarine warfare in 1941.  North Korea and Iran are serious, fanatical, emerging missile powers.  Pakistan's missiles, or some of them, may fall into Islamist hands.  We could soon find hostile missiles based in Latin America.  We should be expanding the missile-defense program, not contracting it.

Budgets are often DOA in Congress, and we hope that enough of the honorable members take a good look at the defense budget, making adjustments where sanity requires.

May 7, 2009   Permalink 

SURPRISED AGAIN (AND AGAIN AND AGAIN) - AT 8:31 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

WASHINGTON -- Congressional investigators say some foreign intelligence analysts believe U.S. intelligence is underestimating Iran's progress toward designing a nuclear warhead before Tehran halted its program in 2003.

The foreign analysts believe that Iran ended its work because it had made sufficient progress, not because of international pressure, as the 2007 U.S. national intelligence assessment concluded.

The report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not identify its sources, referring only to "intelligence analysts and nuclear experts working for foreign governments." It says some research was conducted in Israel, which has been publicly critical of the 2007 U.S. assessment.

COMMENT:  John Kerry heads the Foreign Relations Committee, and I have to give him credit for releasing this.  (We always give credit where it's due, as readers know.)  If the story is accurate, then we must worry, and worry constantly, about the state of our intelligence agencies.  That 2007 National Intelligence Estimate was scandalous, and undercut this country's efforts to get international support for sanctioning Iran over nuclear weapons development.  Maybe a congressional investigation is in order.

May 7, 2009   Permalink

A PARTY WITH WORK TO DO - AT 8:03 A.M.  The Republican Party, that is.  The Politico reports on some late polling:

Gallup’s polling in the first quarter of 2009 shows that Democrats hold a strong advantage over Republicans among female voters, and more men than ever are identifying as independents.

“Among women, Democrats maintain a solid double-digit advantage in party identification over Republicans, 41 percent to 27 percent,” the polling company reported. “In contrast, men are equally divided in their party loyalty between Republicans (28 percent) and Democrats (30 percent) and are currently most likely to say they are politically independent (40 percent).” Twenty-nine percent of women identified themselves as independents.

COMMENT:  This doesn't mean the GOP should abandon its principles.  It means it must explain them better, relate more closely to the legitimate concerns that people have, and not try to be a pale imitation of the opposition. 

To a degree, these poll results are probably skewed somewhat by the economic crisis.  Other surveys suggest that Democratic policies are not particularly popular, and that the "generic ballot" preference between congressional Republicans and Democrats is actually quite close:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 40% would vote for their district’s Republican candidate while 39% would choose the Democrat. 

The GOP has a good shot next year of denting Democratic control of the House and Senate, but must explain itself better to voters, especially women. 

May 7, 2009   Permalink

JOHN KERRY REPORTING FOR DUTY - AT 7:48 A.M. ET:  From Andrew Malcolm's superb Top of the Ticket blog, at the L.A. Times:

With several print newspapers already dead in recent months, others failing or under financial threat and a crass crowd of brash, disrespectful online journalists attracting millions of readers, the jut-jawed senator from Massachusetts John Kerry is worried about the future of said journalism.

Why is it his business? some might ask.

Well, for one thing, as a youngster Kerry delivered the Washington Star. That newspaper died. As an adult Democratic candidate for president five years ago, Kerry got some rough treatment from opponents and journalists both on- and offline. His campaign died. Does anyone see a pattern here?

COMMENT:  What a record.  And if Kerry holds hearings on the crisis?  What happens to the publishers who testify?  Given Kerry's history, I shudder to think.  Maybe he'll throw the party and no one will come.  There are whispers of the Kerry Curse.

This is not government's business, but the fact is that the Dems would love to keep alive papers like the Boston Globe, which have signed onto the Age of Obama.  When the subjects are in trouble, the kings and princes must act.

Recommend Andrew's entire blog on this.  Very witty. 

May 7, 2009   Permalink

DESPICABLE - AT 7:41 A.M. ET: 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Pressure is mounting against two former Bush administration attorneys who wrote the legal memos used to support harsh interrogation techniques that critics say constituted torture. John Yoo, a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, is fighting calls for disbarment and dismissal, while Judge Jay Bybee of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals faces calls for impeachment.

Justice Department investigators have stopped short of recommending criminal charges, but suggest in a draft report that the two men should face professional sanctions. A number of groups across the country agree, and some want even stronger action.

COMMENT:  The so-called pressure is coming from the hard left, which prefers to call itself "progressive."  It is disgraceful that men who gave honest legal advice in a drive to keep this country safe should be treated like this.  If you list the people behind this despicable campaign, and list the people who think the United States committed war crimes in, check any or all, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Iraq War, I suspect the lists would be identical.  Who will serve this country honestly in times of crisis if this is the result?

And when will we realize the extent of the influence of the hard left on American politics, especially now that their ilk has been invited in the White House door?

May 7, 2009   Permalink

DEPENDING ON GOVERNMENT TO GET IT RIGHT - AT 7:29 A.M.  From the Washington Post:

The Department of Homeland Security is dismantling a next-generation biological attack warning system in New York City subways because of technical problems, U.S. officials said.

Robert Hooks, a deputy assistant secretary, said the department no longer believes it is necessary to expand the pilot program, as he told Congress in July, because of resource and technology limits. Hooks said a long-planned alternative sensor system, set for initial deployment late next year, also will not be available nationwide until 2012, to allow for more testing.

COMMENT:  How long has it been since 9-11?  And why do we announce things like this, so an enemy knows we won't have sensors in the New York subway system, a prime target?

Our vulnerabilities seem to grow.  They don't diminish.  Enemies grow more technically capable every week.  Will someone please show some urgency.

May 7,  2009   Permalink

WEDNESDAY,  MAY 6,  2009

WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL - AT 6:55 P.M. ET:  Last week, at his news conference, President Obama once more displayed his grasp of history by quoting Winston Churchill on the subject of torture.  And once more the president was wrong, as noted by distinguished author Arthur Herman, a recognized expert on British history:

Churchill recognized that torture -- the cruel, needless infliction of pain as a means of domination and control of others -- was emblematic of man's barbarism, as opposed to the values of what he called "Christian civilization." It was precisely this barbarism that he saw in the Nazi death camps and the Soviet gulag -- and that we see among the Muslim fanatics who will stone women to death for refusing to wear the veil or behead reporters.

But Churchill also understood that, if barbarism was one enemy of civilization, another was a moral cowardice disguised as moral qualms -- an instinctive flinching in the face of danger, dressed up as "upholding our values."

Churchill had seen this flinching in such 1930s appeasers as Neville Chamberlain, and he feared that he'd see it again among Britons and their leaders after the war.

There is no place for compromise in war," Churchill wrote. In choosing between civilized restraint and the British people's survival, he never hesitated.

COMMENT:  In the first weeks of his presidency, Obama haughtily sent back to the British a bust of Winston Churchill that had been in display in the Oval Office.  It was correctly seen as a slap in the British face.  Now, when convenient, he quotes Churchill.

As Arthur Herman points out, Obama has said that GI's liberated Auschwitz.  It was Russian troops.  He said that Austrians speak Austrian.  No such language.  They speak German.  Now he messes up on Churchill.

Of course, he hasn't released his college transcripts, so we don't know what grades he got in history, if he ever took history.  Books are available.

May 6, 2009   Permalink

WELL, ISN'T THAT GRAND OF HIM - AT 6:25 P.M. ET:  This is political hypocrisy at its worst, from the Washington Post:

President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher program until all 1,716 participants have graduated from high school, although no new students will be accepted, according to an administration official who has reviewed budget details scheduled for release tomorrow.

The budget documents, which expand on the fiscal 2010 blueprint that Congress approved last month by outlining Obama's priorities in detail, would provide $12.2 million for the Opportunity Scholarship Program for the 2009-2010 school year. The new language also would revise current law that makes further funding for existing students contingent on Congress's reauthorization of the program beyond its current June 2010 expiration date. Under the Obama proposal, further congressional action would not be necessary, and current students would automatically receive grants until they finish school.

COMMENT:  This is sickening.  First, note the description of the program as "controversial."  Yeah, right.  It's certainly not controversial among the parents and students.  It's only controversial when you crank in the teachers' unions, which oppose this successful project because it may reduce their clout.

It's been reported that friends of the president's two daughters are in the program.

Mr. Obama could have fought for these vouchers earlier, but chose to duck, apparently not wanting to confront unions that were key to his election.  Now he's apparently extending himself by allowing kids already in the program to continue until graduation, rather than go back to rotten schools.  Gee, that's nice of him.  But, of course, after these kids graduate, the program will be dropped.  Too successful.  Too embarrassing to the educational establishment.

And we wonder why education is in the state it's in.  And what is the Democratic Party's answer to the crisis?  More money. 

For what?

May 6, 2009    Permalink

BOSTON GLOBE IS TEMPORARILY SAVED - AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  From the financially stable Washington Times:

BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Globe and its largest employees union reached a tentative agreement early Wednesday morning on concessions that will keep the 137-year-old newspaper publishing, the union president said.

The breakthrough came at about 4 a.m., said Dan Totten, president of the Newspaper Guild. He did not release details pending a meeting with Guild members scheduled for Thursday.

COMMENT:  The Globe is a venerable newspaper, but in recent years has veered sharply to the left, and often seems out of touch with reality.  Unless this is corrected, the concessions made by unions may turn out to be meaningless in the long run.  The Globe is owned by The New York Times, which has similar problems.

May 6, 2009   Permalink

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED TO ARLEN SPECTER - AT 8:25 A.M.  Maybe he didn't read the fine print.  From The Politico:

Sen. Arlen Specter lost big under a resolution approved by the Senate Tuesday night: He won't be able to retain his seniority on five committees this Congress.

In announcing his switch to the Democratic Party last week, Specter said that Democratic leaders assured him that he would be treated as if he were elected as a Democrat 29 years ago — essentially allowing him to leapfrog most Democrats and put himself in line to become a committee chairman if he wins reelection in 2010. Several Democrats have taken exception to the notion that Specter would be taking possession of their prized real estate.

COMMENT:  How will Arlen explain this to the voters of Pennsylvania, who had, until last week, one of the most senior senators, and now have someone in Senate kindergarten?

May 6, 2009   Permalink

WAKE UP L'IL BARACK, WAKE UP - AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  Amir Taheri, speaking to a group of us last night for Hudson New York, made the point that no negotiation with the mullah regime has ever succeeded.  Apparently, this little bit is well known in the Mideast, but not known at all in Washington:

CAIRO (AP) -- Washington's efforts to start a dialogue with Iran have sent ripples of alarm through the capitals of America's closest Arab allies, who accuse Tehran of playing a destabilizing role in the Middle East.

The concerns being raised by Arab leaders sound strikingly like those coming from the mouths of Israeli officials.

''We hope that any dialogue between countries will not come at our expense,'' said a statement Tuesday by the six oil-rich nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who have long relied on U.S. protection in the region.

The Obama administration has been reaching out to Iran in a marked shift after the U.S. shunned contacts for decades. But U.S. allies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as Israel, say Tehran is not a positive force in the region with its support for Islamic militant groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

COMMENT:  As we've reported here, Secretary of Defense Gates is in the region to reassure our allies that we're not handing over the keys to Iran.  This is one of those remarkable situations where the Israelis and many Arab governments are on the same page. 

There is a religious belief in negotiations among the Obamans.  That belief must be tempered by maturity and realism.  Haven't seen it yet.

May 6, 2009   Permalink

THOSE INCONVENIENT LITTLE FACTS - AT 7:50 A.M.   I've always admired Howard Baker, who served as a Republican senator from Tennessee, and then, briefly, as President Reagan's chief of staff.  Today, in the Washington Post, he looks back and reminds us that the death of the Republican Party has been predicted periodically, and each prediction has failed.  So cheer up:

In 1964, when I first ran for the U.S. Senate, I was crushed beneath the Lyndon Johnson landslide that not only vanquished Barry Goldwater but also swept in a huge Democratic congressional majority -- far exceeding the numbers the Democrats enjoy today.

But Johnson overreached, tried to install too much government on the American people.

This political overreach was evident as early as 1966, and it created a rising tide for every Republican running that year, including a new governor of California named Reagan, a new congressman from Texas named Bush and myself -- that year, I became the first Republican ever popularly elected to the Senate from Tennessee.

In other words, after being declared dead in 1964, the Republican Party was vigorously resuscitated in 1966...

And...

This is a cautionary tale for anyone who believes that Barack Obama's election, or Sen. Arlen Specter's defection, or anything else we may see in the coming weeks and months augurs a permanent shift in American politics.

Finally...

The core Republican beliefs in less government, lower taxes, more liberty and greater security in a dangerous world united people as different as Mark Hatfield and Jesse Helms during my years as leader of the Senate. Those same beliefs carried Ronald Reagan into the White House in 1980 and 1984. Those beliefs still have power today. And if the American people perceive overreaching or underachieving in the Obama administration and among its allies in Congress, the Republican way may prove very attractive again in very short order.

It's happened before.

COMMENT:  The press leans to the left (shock), and it delights in writing obituaries for the GOP.  So does the academic world.  Yes, the party has to work hard to rebuild, but it has a good chance to gain seats in Congress next year, if the Rasmussen surveys are correct.  President Obama, even if he remains popular, may not have much electoral clout if the Dem Congress is perceived as messing things up, as it has a tendency to do.

May 6, 2009   Permalink

HIRING BOOM IN U.S.  READ ALL ABOUT IT!! - AT 7:29 A.M. ET:  This is a classic example of a non-news news story.  From The New York Times, natch:

Everyone knows the grim news — unemployment in the United States has jumped to 8.5 percent, a 25-year high, and is racing toward double digits. Since November, the nation has lost more than three million jobs.

But not everyone knows the brighter side to the equation: deep in the maw of the deepest recession since the Great Depression, millions are still being hired.

So, while 4.8 million workers were laid off or chose to leave their jobs in February, employers across the country hired 4.3 million workers that month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

COMMENT:  Uh, yeah.  And the Titanic sank because more water was flooding in than was being bailed out.

This story is meaningless.  There is always hiring going on.  People got jobs in the great Depression.  Want ads appeared in newspapers.  There have been many stories, just in recent weeks, about industries that are hiring, like health care.  It doesn't change the overall dynamic - a net loss of jobs.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday that he expects unemployment to peak in 2010. 

May 6, 2009   Permalink