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FEBRUARY 10,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

BRIAN'S SONG – Brian Williams has been suspended by NBC News for six months because of his sins.  If the industry was completely consistent, probably half of its journalists would face one suspension or another.  Williams seems to have taken unusual liberties with the truth, but I'm sorry to say that fibbing of different kinds is an industry problem.  The most common form, from what I've seen, is the sin of omission – leaving out critical facts that could change a story.  The problem is worse with the BBC, which some people wrongly think is a great news organization because its on-air people sound so good.  Problem is, they don't think so good.

JON BE GONE – Jon Stewart is leaving Comedy Central's "Daily Show" after 16 years.  Whether we like his opinions or not, he has become a major figure in political humor.  Clips from "The Daily Show" are used regularly on other programs as current examples of political humor, and Stewart has become a household name.  It will be very hard to replace Stewart, as "The Daily Show" is completely identified with him.  Large dollars will be paid to anyone who succeeds.

SOUL FOOD – From CNS:  "CNSNews.com) - Rep. Elijah Cummings (D–Md.) says, “so many people come to government knowing that they are not going to make the kind of money they would make in the private sector but they come to government to feed their souls.”  Will someone inform the esteemed congressman that many jobs in the federal government now pay more than their equivalent in the private sector.  And the Washington real estate market sizzles because of the amount of money available through government employment and contracts.

UNDER THE HEADING, "YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP" – From The New York Times:  "Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks, has joined The Guardian newspaper as a contributing opinion writer.  Ms. Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley E. Manning, will write on war, gender and freedom of information, said Katharine Viner, the editor in chief of Guardian US, the newspaper’s American operation.  She had contributed to the newspaper on a casual basis, a spokesman said, but the agreement has now been made formal. She will write when stories come up, and not on a set timetable or schedule."  I guess her/his prison schedule might be an inconvenience.  Geez.

February 10, 2015       Permalink

KISSINGER ON IRAN – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:05 A.M. ET:   It was largely overlooked by the mainstream media, which was far more interested in an attack on Kissinger by Code Pink, but the former secretary of state gave incisive Congressional testimony last week on Iran.  Clearly he, like a growing number of other experienced experts, is very worried.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

Here’s how he (Kissinger) described the talks in his prepared remarks:

“Nuclear talks with Iran began as an international effort, buttressed by six U.N. resolutions, to deny Iran the capability to develop a military nuclear option. They are now an essentially bilateral negotiation over the scope of that capability through an agreement that sets a hypothetical limit of one year on an assumed breakout. The impact of this approach will be to move from preventing proliferation to managing it.” (The italics are Mr. Kissinger’s.)

Mull that one over. Mr. Kissinger always speaks with care not to undermine a U.S. Administration, and the same is true here. But he is clearly worried about how far the U.S. has moved from its original negotiating position that Iran cannot enrich uranium or maintain thousands of centrifuges. And he is concerned that these concessions will lead the world to perceive that such a deal would put Iran on the cusp of being a nuclear power.

Administration leaks to the media have made clear that Secretary of State John Kerry ’s current negotiating position is that Iran should have a breakout period of no less than a year. But as Mr. Kissinger told the Senators in response to questions, that means verification and inspections become crucial. “In the space of one year, that will create huge inspection problems, but I’ll reserve my comment on that until I see the agreement,” Mr. Kissinger said.

COMMENT:  In the end, it's all about Obama, a monumental egotist, and his legacy.  He wants an agreement with Iran.  He wants Iran to become the key player in the region, and something of an ally of America.  It is an illusion, but the man has either lived his whole life pushing illusions, or he is fully aware of what he's doing, and doesn't care that it's an illusion.   Replacing American power with Muslim power does seem to be one of his objectives.  And he has the results to prove it.

February 10, 2015       Permalink

BULLETIN – AMERICAN HOSTAGE DEAD – AT 10:09 A.M. ET:  The White House has just confirmed that Kayla Mueller, an American hostage held by ISIS, is dead.  Her family made the first announcement.  From Fox: 

The parents of Kayla Mueller, the Arizona woman who was taken hostage by ISIS in August, 2013, have confirmed their daughter died while in the hands of the terror group.

"We are heartbroken to share that we've received confirmation that Kayla Jean Mueller, has lost her life," Carl and Marsha Mueller said in a statement. "Kayla was a compassionate and devoted humanitarian. She dedicated the whole of her young life to helping those in need of freedom, justice, and peace."

It was not clear how the confirmation was made. ISIS claimed last week she was killed by a Jordanian airstrike, but offered no immediate evidence.

President Obama issued a statement Tuesday, also acknowledging the death of the 26-year-old.

"It is with profound sadness that we have learned of the death of Kayla Jean Mueller," Obama said. "On behalf of the American people, Michelle and I convey our deepest condolences to Kayla's family - her parents, Marsha and Carl, and her brother Eric and his family - and all of those who loved Kayla dearly. At this time of unimaginable suffering, the country shares in their grief."

COMMENT:  We may never know exactly how the United States learned definitively of her death.  Sources and methods used by intelligence agencies are closely guarded. 

And so the president who yesterday mocked those who emphasize terrorism is once again made the fool by international events.  The next foolmakers may be Iranian diplomats, who manipulate us into a very bad deal over Iran's nuclear program.

February 10, 2015        Permalink

MEAD ON OBAMA AND IRAN – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  If there's one writer I urge you to consult regularly, it's Walter Russell Mead, who teaches at the very liberal Bard College and yet has survived.  Mead, in my view, sees things that others just don't see.

For example, Mead recently wrote that never before have so many American institutions been under liberal control, and yet never before have these same institutions had so little influence.  Think about it.  He's on to something.

Now Mead tackles the president and his bizarre approach to Iran.  From the American Interest: 

Suddenly, we seem to be having the conversation the administration didn’t want to have: a conversation about just where President Obama’s approach to Iran is taking us. A Washington Post editorial has put the issue on the agenda in a way that it will be hard for the spinners and Iran-apologists to dance past, and there are signs that bipartisan concerns are beginning to grow.

The Post, in one of the most important newspaper editorials of recent years, signals out three important concerns with the President’s approach:

First, a process that began with the goal of eliminating Iran’s potential to produce nuclear weapons has evolved into a plan to tolerate and restrict that capability.

Second, in the course of the negotiations, the Obama administration has declined to counter increasingly aggressive efforts by Iran to extend its influence across the Middle East and seems ready to concede Tehran a place as a regional power at the expense of Israel and other U.S. allies.

Finally, the Obama administration is signaling that it will seek to implement any deal it strikes with Iran — including the suspension of sanctions that were originally imposed by Congress — without seeking a vote by either chamber. Instead, an accord that would have far-reaching implications for nuclear proliferation and U.S. national security would be imposed unilaterally by a president with less than two years left in his term.

As the Post points out, a cavalcade of distinguished American foreign policy voices, including Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, have issued warnings that the White House seems to have lost its way as it tries to navigate the complex minefield that is U.S.-Iranian relations. As my colleague Michael Doran has recently pointed out in an article that contributed to the rising disquiet about the administration’s Iran strategy, the approach to Iran has been the centerpiece of the administration’s Middle East strategy from 2009 to the present day.

What’s interesting is that the growing disquiet about our Iran policy isn’t over the basic decision to negotiate with Iran. Although as usual the White House tries to portray its opponents as hot heads whose unreasoning hatred of Iran combines with a love of war to create a blind opposition to the President’s sensible and rational preference for diplomacy, the debate is not about whether to negotiate with Iran. It is about how to ensure that those negotiations advance important American interests.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  You won't be disappointed.  Mead ends with a severe criticism of the manner in which Obama is pursuing his Iran policy, if in fact he has one.  The alarm is being raised.  We can never say we didn't know.

February 10, 2015       Permalink

AND AGAIN – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  In the latest of a series of obnoxious statements, Field Marshal of the United States (including Vermont) Barack Obama said yesterday that the threat of terror is greatly exaggerated, and is hyped by the media.  He suggested that profit motive was behind the media's attention to the problem.

As James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal might have put it, the people who died on 9/11 couldn't be reached for comment.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

An Islamic-State-linked group beheaded 10 men accused of spying for Israel and Egypt in a gruesome video posted online, Egyptian media reported Tuesday.

The video shows terrorists from Welayat Sinai [Supporters of Sinai], which was formerly known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, decapitate the men, then dump their bodies on a road in northern Sinai.

Before the beheading, the accused were also made to confess on camera that they were collaborators with the Israeli Mossad and the Egyptian military.

The group said that the killing was a response to the Egyptian army's destruction of homes in the northern Sinai.

On January 4, the Egyptian army began the evacuation and destruction of at least 1,200 homes along its border with the Gaza Strip. It is part of a plan in order to expand the existing security buffer zone from 500 meters to one kilometer, as a result of subterranean tunnels that were discovered in the area being used to smuggle arms from Gaza to terrorists in Sinai.

COMMENT:  Field Marshal Obama has been particularly obnoxious recently, lecturing Christians last week, making insulting remarks about the prime minister of Israel at a joint meeting with Angela Merkel of Germany yesterday.  I do wish we'll see the day when the field marshal treats America's enemies as badly as he treats our friends.

February 10,  2015     Permalink

FEBRUARY 9,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

FIGHT, PLEASE FIGHT – From the Washington Free Beacon:  "Hillary Clinton supporter David Brock resigned from the board of a leading pro-Clinton Super PAC on Monday after alleging “an orchestrated political hit job” against two other prominent pro-Clinton groups.  Brock accused current and former employees of Priorities USA, a major Democratic Super PAC backing Clinton’s expected presidential bid, of working to undermine the fundraising efforts of opposition research group Media Matters for America and Super PAC American Bridge, both of which are also supportive of Clinton.  Brock made his remarks in a letter to former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the co-chairs of Priorities’ board, according to Politico’s Ken Vogel."  You may recall that Brock used to be a conservative.  Now he's a Clintonite.  Let them fight.

ANOTHER PREDICTION, ANOTHER NO-SHOW – From the American Interest:  "Global climate models have pointed to an El Niño event for nearly a year, but the massive weather event has yet to materialize. Scientists are now hard at work trying to understand why Gaia has defied our best expectations."  But, hey, they can predict global warming for 75 years.  Or maybe they can't.  Maybe it's time for a serious, Congressional look at "climate science."  While they're at it, maybe they can tell me why most of the serious storm predictions for our area never seem to materialize.

ARE THEY SERIOUS? – From StarTribune.com:  "About 16 University of Minnesota students alleging on-campus racial and ethnic discrimination took over school President Eric Kaler’s second-floor office in Morrill Hall Monday afternoon...The protesters have a list of demands that include greater racial and ethnic diversity in university hiring practices and more money for the school’s ethnic studies program. These were initiatives that Kaler had promised would be accomplished by the end of last year, the students contended.  Other demands include removing descriptions of race and complexion from campus crime alerts, making enrolling in an ethnic studies class a requirement of all students, offering greater bathroom access for 'all genders,' and removing from admissions applications any questions about criminal history of prospective students."  I feel safer already.

OH HORRORS! – From The Hill:  "A battle between Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren could easily divide entertainers, creating a showdown that might split Hollywood and force A-list stars to choose sides.  The lines are already being drawn in the fight for La-La Land’s love, with the former secretary of State not yet officially in the 2016 Democratic presidential race and the Massachusetts Democrat professing a lack of interest.  'They draw on different parts of the artistic community,' Darrell West, author of the book Celebrity Politics, tells ITK. 'Warren, being more liberal, does very well among progressive artists, various Hollywood stars who worry the Democratic Party has become too centrist.'"  Yeah, look at it.  Barack Obama.  John Kerry.  Real centrist.  It really is La-La Land out there."

February 9, 2015       Permalink

DOWN TO THE WIRE – AT 11:30 A.M. ET:   Nuclear talks with Iran are supposed to wind up next month.  Obama is desperate for an agreement, which would be a key step toward his goal of turning Iran into an ally.  The man lives his fantasies.  But there are problems, and maybe the administration is starting to feel the heat from doubtful members of Congress in both parties.  From the Daily Signal:

In an interview Sunday, Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the deadline for Iranian nuclear talks was unlikely to be extended.

“If we’re not able to make the fundamental decisions that have to be made over the course of the next weeks, literally, I think it would be impossible to extend,” Kerry said. “I don’t think we would want to extend at that point. Either you make the decisions to prove your program is a peaceful one, or if you’re unable to do that, it may tell a story that none of us want to hear.”

According to the Associated Press, the negotiations group known as the P5+1 – comprised of the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China and facilitated by the European Union – has missed two previous deadlines in their efforts to halt the development of an Iranian nuclear program.

The deadline for the framework of a nuclear deal is March 31, while the deadline for a comprehensive agreement is June 30.

According to NBC, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has also dismissed extending the deadline.

COMMENT:  The issue here is not what Kerry thinks.  He's not allowed to think.  The decision on whether America caves will be made by Barack Obama, with Valerie Jarrett in a supporting role.  My great fear, apparently shared by many others, is that Obama will make reckless concessions to get a deal.

February 9, 2015       Permalink

BLUNTNESS, AND RARE CLARITY – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   Andrew Malcolm, of Investor's Business Daily, in a blunt and brave column, writes what a lot of other people are thinking, about President Obama.  From IBD: 

Once again Barack Obama, who entered American public life a decade ago as a real good talker, has created another unnecessary verbal mess for himself by dragging the medieval Crusades into the contemporary discussion of terrorism by Islamic extremists.

But what his tortured comparison also did was add fuel to the widespread suspicion that this American president who professes to be Christian harbors some dark, hidden affinity or allegiance to Islam.

That's a faith with 1.7 billion followers, the overwhelming number of whom have nothing to do with the senseless and bloody terrorism that seared the American psyche on 9/11 and most days since.

And being a president named Barack Hussein Obama, the Democrat sees no need to address these suspicions even as, like the stubborn secrecy he wrapped around his birth certificate, the allegedly false impression is embedded in many minds.

According to at least one understandably unidentified speechwriter, Obama personally wrote the Crusade reference into his remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.

And...

Obama is quite fond of such convenient but superficial moral equivalencies. In this case, he's comparing as equals Islamic State barbarism to the Spanish Inquisition, which occurred more than five centuries ago, and to two centuries of Crusades that began almost a millenia ago.

Such facile phrasing drew immediate rebukes across a wide spectrum, including not surprisingly political opponents.

"We will be happy to keep an eye out for runaway Christians," said Gov. Bobby Jindal. "But it would be nice if he would face the reality of the situation today. The Medieval Christian threat is under control, Mr. President. Please deal with the radical Islamic threat today.”

Deborah Lipstadt, a professor of Jewish history at Emory University, said: “He has bent over backwards to try to separate this from Islam. Sometimes people try to keep an open mind. And when you have too open a mind, your brains can fall out.”

COMMENT:  Indeed, one sees falling brains all over Washington.  They often belonged to people who were only too happy to announce their own brilliance, and to coin phrases like "smart power" to call attention to their College Board scores.

Obama belongs to a class, now in charge in Washington, that believes that education equals wisdom, and that where you went to school determines your abilities and morality. 

In fact, in my lifetime I have never detected any connection between alma mater and competence, or educational pedigree and greatness.  Remember, please, that Lincoln had one year of schooling, and Reagan went to a tiny, obscure college in Illinois.

February 9,  2015     Permalink

TRUTH TELLIN' – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  A former high American intelligence official tells it like it is about American policy in the Mideast.  From the New York Post:

WASHINGTON – The former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency described President Obama’s strategy to fight ISIS as “confusion.”

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who retired last year as the agency’s head, compared the lack of clear direction to a football team not knowing where to go when they break from a huddle.

“I feel like when we say ‘ready, break,’ every player on the team is going off into other stadiums, playing different sports,” Flynn said on Fox News Sunday.

The criticism of the Obama administration’s ISIS strategy comes as the terrorists burned alive a caged Jordanian pilot and reported that US hostage, Kayla Mueller, had been killed. ISIS has marveled US leaders with its ability to recruit new members abroad, spark terror with brutal murders broadcast on social media and swiftly capture parts of Syria and Iraq.

COMMENT:  He's right, of course.  Even after the brutal murder of the Jordanian pilot, announced by ISIS while Jordan's King Abdullah was in Washington, Obama's response was lukewarm.  The president has no real strategy because he has no zeal for the fight.  He is much more comfortable condemning the West and its religions.  That is his ideology. 

John Kerry claims we're defeating ISIS.  I hope it's true, but I doubt it.  Islamist terrorism seems to grow and grow.  Our side was thrilled last week by the defiant reaction of King Abdullah of Jordan, but I really wonder how much international support he'll get after the uproar over the pilot's death dies down.  Obama has a way of selling out our allies, and enjoying it.

February 9, 2015       Permalink

MAJOR FINANCIAL NEWS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE – AT 9:16 A.M. ET:  Wait, I'm out of breath after reading this.  Must cool down.  Here it is, the definitive issue of our time.  From College Fix: 

The University of California Student Association board – which represents all 233,000 students enrolled in the UC system’s 10 campuses – approved a resolution on Sunday that calls on the system’s leaders to financially divest from the United States.

The measure cited alleged human rights violations by America such as drone strikes that have killed civilians, and claimed the country’s criminal justice system is racist, among other accusations.

The “Resolution Toward Socially Responsible Investment at the University of California” passed with an overwhelming majority vote of 11-1-3.

“The government of the United States of America is engaged in drone strikes that have killed over 2,400 people in Pakistan and Yemen, many of them civilians,” the resolution stated. “The government oversees, by far, the highest rate of imprisonment in the world, and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement agencies, particularly for drug-related offences. 400,000 undocumented immigrants are held in detention centers every year, and millions have been deported since the current administration took office, and the government is directly supporting and propping up numerous dictatorships around the world with weapons sales and foreign aid.”

COMMENT:  Please note that these "students" are enrolled at publicly supported universities – taxpayer money – and this is what they do with their time.

There are lots of "divestment" resolutions passed by college student governments, most of them directed at the energy industry or the nation of Israel.  This is the first divestment resolution directed at the entire United States.

Pathetic.

February 9,  2015     Permalink