SUBSCRIPTION DRIVE - WEEK TWO

Today we start the second week of our critical subscription drive.

We got off to a slow start, had a spurt toward the end of the week, and turned a bit sluggish again.  But there was some new life yesterday. 

However, most of the subscriptions and donations we're receiving are still from loyal readers who have ALREADY subscribed.  Their devotion is deeply appreciated.  They are the heart of URGENT AGENDA. 

But we need NEW subscribers.  If we don't double our subscription base, we'll be in trouble, and service may have to be cut back.

It is costly to run an all-day website.  Subscriptions make it possible. 

We want to keep Urgent Agenda as a daily, high-quality site.  We have had a 40% increase in membership since May, but subscriptions must also grow.

So, if you intended to subscribe, please do so today.  If you're on the fence, give it a shot.  The weekly cost of a subscription is less than a candy bar.   Pro-rated money-back guarantee.  You can't go wrong.

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MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 9,  2009

FORT HOOD PROBE GROWING, AS IS ANGER - AT 9:51 P.M. ET:  We are fortunate to have some gutsy legislators, and some journalists who still seek the truth.  They will not let the forces of political correctness, including some in the Army and the FBI, to bury the Fort Hood incident with its victims.  There are truths coming out, and we hope they will wake up this nation.  From tomorrow's Washington Post: 

FORT HOOD, TEX. -- Maj. Nidal M. Hasan exchanged e-mails late last year and this year with a radical cleric in Yemen, but the contact did not lead to an investigation, federal law enforcement officials said Monday.

Can you imagine if, during World War II, an Army officer had contact with Nazi groups, and no one saw fit to investigate?

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here last week, will be tried in military court, the officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted 10 to 20 e-mails from Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshiped, said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the top Republican on the House intelligence committee.

Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, Hoekstra said, but he described the responses as "innocent," and a terrorism expert cautioned that the exchanges may have been part of Hasan's academic research.

Academic research?  Really?

The FBI determined that the e-mails did not warrant an investigation, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Obviously, a very bad decision, especially when you look at the rest of Hasan's troubling record, especially the poor evaluations he'd received.

"For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said in an interview, adding: "Al-Qaeda and radical jihadists use the Internet to spread radical jihadism. . . . So how much of his lashing out is as a result of . . . his access to radical messages on the Internet and the ability to interact?

"I believe that the responses from Aulaqi were maybe pretty innocent," Hoekstra continued. "But the very fact that he's sent and communicated to this guy and got responses would be quite a concern to me."

Correct.  It's the contact, and its voluntary nature, that's troubling.

The revelations came as Hoekstra and other congressional leaders complained about a lack of information from the intelligence community in the days since Thursday's shootings and raised questions about whether government agencies had paid sufficient attention to warning signs about Hasan.

Does the term "cover-up" come to mind?

On Capitol Hill, several investigations of the shootings are taking shape, with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announcing the first public hearings on the matter. Federal authorities are continuing to review Hasan's computer and electronic correspondence.

COMMENT:  Ironic, but I have greater faith in Congress to conduct a good investigation than I have in the intelligence agencies.  Our intelligence agencies continue to have a worrisome record, and not much is being done about it.

November 9,  2009   Permalink

GREETINGS FROM THE EMPIRE STATE - AT 7:57 P.M. ET:  Ah, New York.  My home state.  Home of Wall Street...which is booming, and generating enormous tax revenue.  Why, all is well, all is well.  The market is back.

Not so fast, Jones.

According to the governor, we're a month away from going broke: 

ALBANY (CBS) — Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.

To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.

"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.

And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature.

The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else. The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.

COMMENT:  Why do I burden you with our woes?  Because there's an ominous sign here:  If we're in trouble, with all the revenue being generated by Wall Street, we can only imagine what's happening in other states.

And what will have to happen here?  Budget cuts...or tax increases.  New York is already facing an outmigration of some of its most talented people, fed up with high taxes, poor services, and a cost of living that's through the roof.

Welcome to the recovery.  Not on my block, I'm afraid.  Both New York and California, profligate states where policy is often made by political elites meeting in lavish apartments or mansions, are warning signs for the rest of the nation.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BRITISH INTELLIGENCE HELPED CRACK A TERROR PLOT AGAINST AMERICA - AT 7:45 P.M. ET:  Maybe Barney Frank (see story just below) should read this piece from London's Telegraph before giving military advice:

British spies have foiled a terrorist plot by a suspected al Qaeda operative to blow up the New York subway.

The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email.

The force alerted the FBI, who launched an operation which led to airport shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi, 24, being charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

The Afghan is alleged to have been part of a group who used stolen credit cards to buy components for bombs including nail varnish remover.

The chemicals bought were similar to those used to make the 2005 London Tube and bus explosives which killed 52 people.

Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet.

COMMENT:  We stopped that one.  We didn't stop the massacre at Fort Hood, which is looking more and more like an act of terror, even if it was self-generated terror influenced by an ideology.

And yet, there are congressmen who think that all we can do is fix bridges in their districts.  Shame.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

GENERAL OF THE ARMY BARNEY "FIVE STAR" FRANK SPEAKS ON AFGHANISTAN - AT 7:38 P.M. ET:  This is what's become of the party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy:

Rep. Barney Frank said he would oppose a troop increase in Afghanistan because people in his district face greater threats than al Qaeda.

Frank (D-Mass.), the House Financial Services Committee chairman, said that the federal government needs to spend its funds on domestic priorities rather than on foreign wars in light of the nation's record $1.4 trillion budget deficit. Frank said that domestic problems, such as crime and global warming, pose a greater "threat" to citizens in his district than al Qaeda does.

"There are cops in my districts who have been laid off. And there are people in my district who need more protection from criminals than they need from al Qaeda," Frank said during an appearance at Cornell University on Sunday. "That's just a fact of life."

Frank continued that "they need protection [inaudible] from urban areas where there have been foreclosures on the fire department. And they need more protection from bridges falling down when they drive over them. And from pollution in the water, et cetera."

COMMENT:  This is considered strategic thinking in some circles.  In World War II we fielded a force of 16 million, out of a population of 130 million.  Today we field a force of 1.5 million out of a population of 306 million.  And Barney Frank thinks we can't afford it.

I wish these people would just admit that they're leftists, and think the problems of the world are our fault.  I'd have more respect for them.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:23 P.M. ET:  Historian Ron Radosh, an academic who's had the courage to take on the history of Communist subversion in America, turns his attention to the flood of politically correct comments that have followed the Fort Hood murders.  He finds the worst in, no shock here, The Nation, where P.C. is standard fare:

But perhaps the single most egregious post on these events comes, rather predictably, from those good folks at The Nation magazine, in which John Nichols writes “the incident inspired an all-too-predictable explosion of Islamophobia.” Nichols perceives that what triggered Hasan’s attack was that he feared getting combat related stress as he had observed in the soldiers he had treated. Of course Hasan would have been assigned to a medical unit treating soldiers in need of psychological counseling, and he himself would not have been in a combat situation.

Yet Nichols is sure that his action “might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” or who are dispatched to what Nichols terms “occupied lands.” He is sure that in fact no one knows what motivated Hasan. He acknowledges only that the Major was “deeply troubled,” and that he might have been an “imperfect follower of Islam.”

COMMENT:  After World War II, Germans who were asked about their knowledge of the Holocaust often said, "I saw nothing."  There are plenty of souls on the American left who, today, see nothing.  They are exactly what those Germans were - collaborators.  And that's what we should call them.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 10:09 A.M. ET:  Fort Hood shooter attempted to contact Al Qaeda.  From ABC News:

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

One senior lawmaker said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan's efforts.

CIA director Leon Panetta and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, have been asked by Congress "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, according to the lawmaker.

COMMENT:  This is a can of worms.  The attempted cover-ups will fly all over the place.

Obama, obviously, wants the public to believe that this was just one stressed-out guy.  No ideology, folks.  No beliefs.  Nothing to see here, nothing to see.

And if the facts lead elsewhere?  And if someone dropped the ball because of political correctness?

You're about to see Washington at its ugliest.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  From CNN:

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran will charge three American hikers who strayed into the country with espionage, a Tehran prosecutor said Monday.

The announcement comes only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with the families Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who were detained along the Iran-Iraq border at the end of July.

COMMENT:  Another slap in our faces by the government in Tehran.  Effectively, these three are now hostages.  So we have another hostage crisis with Iran. 

How will Obama react?  How would you think?

Yawn.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

MORE OBAMA GENEROSITY - FOR ENEMIES - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  The seemingly endless generosity of Barack Obama toward enemies of the United States continues this morning, with another "understanding" statement on Iran by an American diplomat.  The warmth, the kindness, the just gosh-darn decency toward a regime that shoots demonstrators in the streets:

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States is willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N. draft deal that is meant to defuse nuclear tensions with world powers but has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said on Monday.

Sure.  Take all the time you need.  No hurry here, no hurry.

The proposal for Iran to part with stocks of potential nuclear explosive material in exchange for fuel to keep a nuclear medicine facility running has stumbled on Iranian calls for amendments, but Iran has not rejected it outright.

No, and the Japanese never rejected peace outright either.  In fact, they were negotiating with us when their planes made a wrong turn and wound up over Pearl Harbor. 

...Tehran has yet to give a full, official reply on the proposal drafted by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei three weeks ago after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the United States.

"There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That's sometimes the way these things go," said Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA.

Yeah, that's the way they go.  I mean, what's really involved here?  Anything important?

"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, quite obviously, and we're hoping for an early positive answer from the Iranians."

I just love that.  I really love it.  "It's a tough issue for them..."  This guy was probably instructed by the White House to "show empathy," one of Obama's favorite words. 

We have gotten nowhere.  Iran has negotiated for seven years over this issue, without making a single concession.  If you were Iran, would you give up anything significant when faced with the Empathy Action Doll in the White House?

November 9, 2009   Permalink

THIS IS FROM...WHERE? - AT 8:40 A.M. ET:   This will do your heart good, and may even make your day.  We have done our share of press bashing here, and with great pleasure.  A good part of the media deserves bashing.  But, occasionally, even the worst sinners make an attempt at redemption.

We have a sinner that has come forward.  The Boston Globe, one of the most liberal papers in the country, owned by The New York Times, a bastion of the Obama creed, has actually gone after Barack Obama for his behavior after the Fort Hood massacre.  I never thought I'd see this day.  It proves the value of faith and hope: 

IN TIMES of national tragedy, Americans expect their president to capture the mood and moment with the right blend of emotion, empathy, and urgency. It’s a delicate act of timing and tone. And President Obama, despite his eloquence and dignity, has yet to master it, as illustrated by his awkward response to the deadly shootings at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas.

What?  WHAT?  This is the Boston Globe?  And notice that the paper even refers to what happened as "deadly shootings."  Exactly right.  Could we be seeing conversion here?

The stage was set for the president to quickly and somberly address the tragedy. Instead, a serene-looking Obama offered light introductory comments, keyed to those attending a Tribal Nations Conference that was hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. His introduction included a convivial “shout-out’’ to one of the conference attendees.

Several minutes in, Obama finally called the Fort Hood shootings “a horrific outburst of violence.’’ The words he spoke next were respectful and appropriate. But it took him too long to get to the point of delivering them.

Exactly.  The man is cold as ice.

It takes more than scripted eloquence for presidents to connect with their fellow Americans. It requires a visceral ability to grasp the scope of tragedy, calculate its impact on the national psyche, and react swiftly to it. Ronald Reagan did it after the Challenger explosion took the lives of seven crew members on Jan. 28, 1986.

Yes, the Boston Globe praised Reagan.  Please mark this day on your calendar.  Remember it every year.

When a gunman fired those shots at Fort Hood, the country immediately felt the pain. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood just how much it hurt.

Yes, and he revealed that, just maybe, he didn't feel much at all, which is the heart of the problem.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

THE HISTORIC DAY - EXCEPT FOR ONE GUY - AT 8:03 A.M. ET:  Germany today celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Many world leaders will be there.  The president of the United States is too busy.  It is a disgrace, but it reflects his real views.  The New York Post has a hard-hitting and accurate editorial on the subject this morning:

World leaders past and present will be in Berlin today for the 20th anniversary of the fall of communist repression's most visible symbol: the 112-mile concrete wall that split the city for more than a quarter-century.

Conspicuously absent: the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Obama's folks say he's too busy to accept German President Angela Merkel's invitation to attend today's festivities

It's pathetic that Obama won't be there -- and telling, as well.

Very telling.  But the sad fact is that there's a large chunk of the American elite that has no problem with Obama's not going to Berlin.  In fact, this crowd is gleeful.  They had contempt for Kennedy, for Reagan, for so-called "cold warriors." 

Reagan understood that the United States was locked in an ideological battle with the Soviet Union, and that the defining issue was human freedom.

It was also, he understood, the triumph of American exceptionalism, leadership and strength.

All of which runs counter to Obama's view of America's global role -- and how to deal with adversaries.

For Obama, America is but one nation among many, no different -- or more exceptional -- than any other. Its record is one that, increasingly, he has felt compelled not to extol but to apologize for.

And, for this president, ideologies bent on America's destruction must be met not with resistance but with rhetoric, outreach and "understanding."

Well said.  But the sad fact is that, again, elements of our elites have no problem with that.

Gone, it seems, are the days when America championed freedom, led by presidents whose oratory was matched by commitment and determined action.

It's not only shameful -- but dangerous.

COMMENT:  And I fear that we're going to see more incidents like this.  The worst part would come if Obama is elected to a second term, and doesn't have anything to lose politically.  He could easily veer the foreign policy of the United States sharply left, making common cause with some of the worst dictators in the world, with the full support of the liberals in his party.  We never thought that could happen, but Carter came close.  Obama is finishing the job.

November 9,  2009   Permalink

SUNDAY,  NOVEMBER 8,  2009

TIME WAS FINALLY FOUND - AT 8:45 P.M. ET:  We're happy to announce that President Obama has agreed to meet with the head of an allied nation:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House announced Sunday that President Barack Obama would be meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's trip to Washington to address Jewish groups, ending days of uncertainty.

Netanyahu was to arrive in the U.S. capital Sunday night for a speaking engagement at the three-day 2009 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America. He will meet with Obama on Monday evening.

COMMENT:  The prime minister of Israel, like other friendly leaders, was hung out to dry for weeks.  The last leader so snubbed was President Sarkozy of France.  Before that came the insulting treatment of the prime minister of Great Britain.  And Angela Merkel of Germany was turned down when she asked Obama to attend ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

Compare please with Obama's treatment of enemies, especially his groveling to the government of Iran and his deep bows to the demands of Russia.

Did you ever think you'd see this?

November 8, 2009   Permalink

EXTRAORDINARY PIECE - AT 8:02 P.M. ET:  If there's required reading for today, this is it.  We've written here before that British writers have done some of the best reporting in the last year on America politics, as many of their American counterparts have remained deep in the tank.

This piece, by Tony Harnden of London's Telegraph, is making its way around the internet, and has already been quoted by some of the more courageous American writers.  It deals bluntly with Obama, and his problem connecting with his own country.  Expect more like this: 

During the election campaign, Barack Obama's cool detachment was a winning quality, the "No Drama Obama" a welcome contrast with the "Mr Angry" John McCain, never mind the hot-headed "I'm the decider" President George W Bush.

A year into his presidency, however, Mr Obama seems a curiously bloodless president. If he experiences passion, he seldom shows it. It is often anyone's guess as to whether an event or issue truly moves him.

Ah, well said.  The only thing that moves him is something about...him.

In a sign that the Obama honeymoon truly is over, I began to hear this week the first stirrings of a wistfulness about Mr Bush. "I never thought I'd hear myself say it," one Democrat told me. "But Obama makes you feel that at least with Bush you knew where he was on something."

The light goes on over American heads:  President Bush, despite his failings, stood for something.  And, you know, maybe it was even something noble.

When Mr Bush's Republicans were defeated in the 2006 mid-term elections, it was the President himself who stepped up and declared that his party had received "a thumpin'". The Democratic defeats on Tuesday were not on anything like the same scale but Mr Obama acted as if nothing at all had happened.

The president has the same talent as the old Soviet leaders - the ability to airbrush unpleasantries right out of the picture.

More serious perhaps was Mr Obama's strange disconnectedness over the Fort Hood massacre of 13 soldiers by an Army major and devout Muslim who opposed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, had praised suicide bombing and shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire.

Maybe Mr Obama had been reading the American press, much of which somehow contrived to present the atrocity as a result of combat stress due to soldiers going on repeated war deployments (though Major Nadal Hasan had not been on any) and therefore, no doubt, Mr Bush's fault.

Of course.  It was caused by BUSH (!!).  No doubt about it.

When the television networks cut to the President, viewers listened to him spend more than two surreal minutes talking to a gathering of Native Americans about their "extraordinary" and "extremely productive" conference, pausing to give a cheery "shout out" to a man named Dr Joe Medicine Crow. Only then did he briefly and mechanically address what had happened in Texas.

This has now become, on the internet at least, one of the most famous incidents in the Obama presidency.  But the networks hurried to edit the tape to make it appear that Obama had addressed Fort Hood first.  it was deceptive editing.

It was a reminder that for the past 16 years Americans have had two Presidents who would often extemporise and express emotion. President Bill Clinton could certainly "feel your pain" while Mr Bush sometimes struggled to hold back tears. Mr. Obama is more like President George Bush Sr., who famously communicated his concern for people by blurting out: "Message - I care."

And the unkindest cut of all regarding Obama:

It could do him good to show he has a bit of fire in his belly. Perhaps he might make a decision or two based on gut instinct and deep conviction. In other words, maybe he should try being a bit more like Mr Bush.

COMMENT:  There, he said it.  He actually said it.  Be more like Bush.  It's time someone said it.  Some of the British journalists are doing great work.

November 8, 2009   Permalink

JUST A COINCIDENCE - NOTHING TO SEE HERE, NOTHING TO SEE - AT 5:58 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The alleged Fort Hood shooter apparently attended the same Virginia mosque as two Sept. 11 hijackers in 2001, at a time when a radical imam preached there.

Whether the Fort Hood shooter associated with the hijackers is something the FBI will probably look into, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The family of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who killed 13 and wounded 31 at the Texas military base, held his mother's funeral at the Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., on May 31, 2001, according to her obituary in the Roanoke Times newspaper.

At the time, Anwar Aulaqi was an imam, or spiritual leader, at the Washington-area mosque. Aulaqi told the FBI in 2001 that, before he moved to Virginia in early 2001, he met with 9/11 hijacker Nawaf al-Hazmi several times in San Diego. Al-Hazmi was at the time living with Khalid al-Mihdhar, another hijacker. Al-Hazmi and another hijacker, Hani Hanjour, attended the Dar al Hijrah mosque in Virginia in early April 2001.

COMMENT:  I'm sure this is just a cultural misunderstanding.  The president will clear it up.

November 8, 2009   Permalink

A TALE OF TWO LEADERS - AT 5:39 P.M. ET:  We see a contrast between two leaders, one an experienced pro, one an inexperienced ego-tripper:

LONDON (AP) -- Queen Elizabeth II led Britain's annual ceremony for the country's war dead Sunday, honoring them with a moment of silence as the military reported that more than 200 British soldiers have been killed in combat in Afghanistan.

As Big Ben chimed 11 a.m., the queen joined thousands of troops, veterans and civilians in the traditional two-minute silence on Remembrance Sunday beside London's major war memorial, the Cenotaph. The silence was broken by a single artillery blast and the sound of Royal Marine buglers playing ''Last Post.''

COMMENT:  The president of the United States, several days after the costliest attack on U.S. soil since 9-11, spent the weekend at Camp David.  His predecessor, with Mrs. Bush, paid a quiet visit to Fort Hood.

Maybe the president should call the Queen and former President Bush, and ask them how it's done.

November 8,  2009   Permalink

 
GREAT - AT 11:44 A.M. ET:  Joe Lieberman once again proves his value.  He will not let Fort Hood drop.  From The Politico:

Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who chairs the the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, plans to begin an investigation into the killing of a dozen soldiers and a civilian at Fort Hood, Texas, to see if the Army "missed warning signs."

"This was an attack on American troops," Lieberman said on " Fox News Sunday."

Lieberman -- who was briefed after the shooting on Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who allegedly killed the 13 at Fort Hood -- said "there are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr. Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and therefore that this was a terrorist act."

"We don't know enough to say now, but there are very, very strong warning signs here," Lieberman said. "The U.S. Army, the Department of Defense has a real obligation to convene an independent investigation to go back and look at whether warning signs were missed, both the stress he was under, but also the statements he was making that have led people to believe he was an Islamist extremist."

COMMENT:  Good for Joe.  He isn't afraid to use the right vocabulary.  Of course, this will be one more reason for the liberal Dems to try to strip him of his committee chairmanship.  He represents our neighboring state of Connecticut, where the wine and Brie crowd despises him.  I hope that gives him joy.

November 8, 2009   Permalink

IN OUR DIRECTION - AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  Maybe the American voters are starting to catch on, and are realizing that a new kind of change - not the kind Obama stood for - must come.   From Scott Rasmussen:

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of likely voters say it is at least somewhat likely the next president of the United States will be a Republican, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

The number has been trending in this direction since Democrat Barack Obama took office in January and is up 14 points since then.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of voters see it as Very Likely that the next president will be a Republican.

The survey was taken on Tuesday and Wednesday nights of this past week, but the question did not specify whether the next president will be elected in 2012 or 2016. Republicans recaptured the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia in elections on Tuesday.

And...

Looking less far ahead, a plurality (49%) of voters now say it is at least somewhat likely that Republicans will win control of Congress next year. Fifty-two percent (52%) say Republicans are the party most likely to gain seats in Congress in next year’s mid-term elections.

COMMENT:  From their mouths to you-know-whose ears.  This is the most reckless government I've seen in America in my lifetime, and it must be voted out - president and Congress.

November 8, 2009   Permalink

OH PLEASE - AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  The Army chief of staff gives us the benefit of his wisdom about Fort Hood.  Wasn't this the guy who was kicked upstairs after having gotten pretty low grades in Iraq?

WASHINGTON – The Army chief of staff says it's important for the country not to get caught up in speculation about the Muslim faith of the alleged Fort Hood gunman.

Gen. George Casey says he's instructed his commanders to be on the lookout for that reaction to the killings at the Texas post.

He says focusing on the Islamic roots of the suspected shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (nih-DAHL' mah-LEEK' hah-SAHN'), could "heighten the backlash" against all Muslims in the military.

Casey says diversity in the military "gives us strength."

Casey declined to answer questions about the investigation into the shooting, but said evidence to this point shows that Hasan acted alone. He toured Fort Hood on Friday with Army Secretary John McHugh.

COMMENT:  Maybe a little more concern about the victims and their families, especially from the commander in chief, would be in order, and a little less concern about a backlash.

There is no backlash against innocent Muslims, but there damn well sure is a backlash against an ideology that has led to one incident after another in this country, and a series of recent arrests, and there should be. 

Political correctness in the Army - and I received an e-mail just recently from a serving officer, complaining about it - may well have led directly to this mass murder.  What was a man like Hasan doing in the Army at all?  Why was this wacked-out crazy allowed to treat our soldiers? 

Casey's remark pretty much guarantees that we won't get an honest investigation, at least from the Army.  And there are now reports that the Department of Homeland Security is also on the case - to protect against a backlash.  (Maybe an actual interest in security would be a good use of their time.)  The U.S. Government is also assuring Muslim countries that we're working to prevent bad feelings.  Of course, no questions are being asked of these countries about what's being taught in their schools.  Mustn't be insensitive.

November 8, 2009   Permalink

THE MORNING AFTER - AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  How are you feeling this morning?  Be honest about it.  Reach down and feel your pulse.  A little stronger, isn't it?

Now, cover one eye and read the computer screen.  A little sharper than before, isn't it?

That morning sore throat you've been getting.  Gone, right?

And do you know why?  It's because Obamacare passed the House last night.  Already the results are being felt.  And once it passes the Senate, you'll live forever.  Guaranteed by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

So throw away those pills.  Leave the crutches at home.  No need to exercise.  You're healed, by act of Congress.

Oh, a delicate matter:  If you have them, don't throw out any of those little "male" pills.  In fact, there's been an online run on them overnight - because any man who voted for that monstrosity after Nancy ordered him to do it, or believes it will actually improve the health-care system, needs those pills...desperately.  Double the dose.

And that's liberal Health Care 101 for this morning.

November 8,  2009   Permalink