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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas yesterday.  It's here.

FEBRUARY 23,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

A DATE TO REMEMBER – It was on this date, February 23rd, 70 years ago that five U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman planted the American flag on Mount Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima.  The photograph of the flagraising, by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, is one of the most reproduced photos in history.  It electrified the American people and inspired the Marine Corps memorial near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.  The original negative is still maintained under climate-controlled conditions at AP headquarters in New York.  A color motion picture of the flagraising was taken by Marine photographer Bill Genaust, who was killed on Iwo Jima, and whose body was never found.

OH DEAR, ANOTHER ONE – From Fox:  "Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald has admitted that he lied about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year.  McDonald made the claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces. 'Special forces? What years?' McDonald responded. 'I was in special forces.' The exchange was broadcast on 'The CBS Evening News' Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first reported by The Huffington Post."  Some investigation is due here before a final judgment is made.  It turns out he was a graduate of the Ranger school, but never served in a special ops unit.  Was this a bit of an exaggeration or an outright lie?  Whatever it was, it isn't good, especially for a West Point graduate.  He may have to go.

KEYSTONE – Congress has completed approval of the Keystone pipeline and has sent the legislation to the president, who has promised a veto.  The pipeline has great public approval, would please our nearest ally, Canada, and will provide jobs.  But Obama is more interested in the approval of the environmental fanatics who oppose it.  It has taken years to get to this veto, and I doubt if Obama has the slightest interest in any of the "studies" that have been done along the way.  Disgraceful.

A WRIGHT HAS WRONGED – From Gateway Pundit:  "In September 2013, Jeri Wright, daughter of Reverend 'God Damn America' Wright, and 12 other Democrats were charged with embezzling $16 million in Federal health grants that should have gone to AIDS charities and other programs for the poor and needy.  More than one of the defendants had direct ties to President Barack Obama.  In March 2014 Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s daughter Jeri was found guilty on eleven counts that included money laundering and lying to federal agents.  This week US District Judge Sue E. Myerscough sent Jeri Wright to prison."  The rev should have spent more time one his daughter and less on hate crusades.

February 23, 2015       Permalink

THE PC POLICE – AT 11:26 A.M. ET:  No police department in America has been more successful than the NYPD.  It has reduced the murder rate in New York, over the last two decades, by 80%.  It has saved thousands of lives, most of them black.  When it comes to "black lives matter," the NYPD can point to a proud record.

But still, there are elements on the political left who despise the NYPD.  First, these elements have no problem with high crime rates.  In fact, they rather like them.  High crime rates confirm their corrupt view of society.  Second, Rudy Giuliani, who initiated the anti-crime programs that actually worked, refused to bow down before black "leaders" who want a cut of any action, and have little interest in improving the lives of their constituents.  Third, there have been some mishaps and errors that have been vastly exaggerated by the left in its anti-cop crusade. 

As the great African-American writer Thomas Sowell has said, if you eliminate every killing of a black by a police officer nationally, the number of murders of blacks would decline by less than one percent.

Now, though, New York has a radical leftist mayor, and he's determined to put the brakes on the police.  And this is one of the results.  Prepare to laugh.  From the New York Post:

Cops should “take a deep breath’’ — and close their eyes — when dealing with angry people, according to the NYPD’s new “retraining’’ program.

The potentially dangerous advice is part of a $35 million “smart policing’’ primer by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton that most of the cops who have gone through it say is completely useless.

One cop who sat through two full-day programs called them “not realistic’’ and “pretty silly.”
At one point during the lectures, the cop said, those in attendance were given breathing exercises to learn how to calm down — even when facing someone who could pose a threat to their safety.

“They said if you find yourself in a situation that’s getting heated, take a step back, close your eyes and take a deep breath,” he said.

“That’s pretty funny — that I would close my eyes in a tense situation.”

Another cop called the lectures “smoke and mirrors” to appease the public.

“They want you to stop and think about everything before you do anything, but a lot of times cops have to make a split-second decision, and they don’t have the luxury of stopping and thinking,” the cop said.

The officer said he was paid overtime to attend the retraining program. Other cops have been going to training sessions instead of their regular shifts, sources said.

Both cops said they — and everyone they know — gave the lectures low marks on surveys they filled out after the program.

The Post reported exclusively on Sunday that many cops have been falling asleep in their seats as they listen to the lectures at the brand-new, $750 million Police Academy in Queens, and that about 80 percent gave the program negative reviews afterward.

COMMENT:  As they say, you can't make that stuff up.  I assume that this training program will fade into history, although Obama may hire it for the U.S. military.

February 23, 2015       Permalink

BRILLIANT – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:   Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of the Washington Post, has written a superb piece on President Obama's lack of credibility in international affairs.  This is a must-read.  From WaPo:

Can President Obama sell an Iran deal at home?

If his negotiators strike an agreement next month, we already know that it will be far from ideal: Rather than eradicating Iran’s nuclear-weapons potential, as once was hoped, a pact would seek to control Iran’s activities for some limited number of years.

Such a deal might be defensible on the grounds that it is better than any alternative, given that most experts believe a military “solution” would be at best temporary and possibly counterproductive.

But making that kind of lesser-evil defense would be challenging in any circumstances. Three conditions will make it particularly hard for Obama to persuade Congress and the nation to accept his assurances in this case: the suspicious, poisonous partisanship of the moment here, with Israeli politics mixed in; worries that he wants a deal too much; and the record of his past assurances.

Hiatt then goes into a devastating report on Obama's actual record, a record filled with false assurances and failure.  One phony assurance after another.  He concludes: 

That record includes successes, such as the killing of Osama bin Laden, warming ties with India and a potentially groundbreaking agreement with China on climate change. By most measures, though, the world has not become safer during Obama’s tenure. Islamist extremists are stronger than ever; democracy is in retreat around the globe; relations with Russia and North Korea have worsened; allies are questioning U.S. steadfastness.

COMMENT:  Wonderfully stated.  Please read the whole thing and send to friends.  This is the best summary of Obama's abysmal record that I've seen published.

February 23, 2015       Permalink

MORE DISGRACE – UKRAINE – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  The cease-fire in Ukraine, which was supposed to go into effect more than a week ago, never got off the ground.  Not too many people seem to care.  We are back in the late 1930s, with some of the same actors.   From The Hill:

Sen. John McCain on Sunday said he is “ashamed” of the U.S., President Obama and himself for not arming Ukraine’s military in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.

“I believe that the German chancellor and the president of France legitimized for the first time in 70 years the dismemberment of a country in Europe. It's shameful,” McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “Vladimir Putin has not paid any price. Even the ceasefire was violated.”

McCain said that “Ukrainians aren't asking for American boots on the ground.”

“That's not the question here. They're asking for weapons to defend themselves. And they are being slaughtered. And their own military's being shattered,” he said.

“This is a shameful chapter. I'm ashamed of my country, I'm ashamed of my president, and I'm ashamed of myself that I haven't done more to help these people,” he added. “It is really, really heartbreaking.”

McCain said the U.S. should give the Ukrainian military “weapons with which to defend themselves.”

“There are Russian tanks in eastern Ukraine that they have no weapon to fight against. Some of the best Russian special forces are there. And they will continue this aggression for as long as they can get away with it. And it's not just the military side,” he said, adding that Ukraine is on the verge of collapse economically as well.

“Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine not to be part of Europe. And he is succeeding in doing so. He's put enormous pressure on the Baltics, not to mention Moldova and continued occupation of Georgia as well. This is really a dark chapter in the history of our alliance.”

COMMENT:  I love the way McCain takes personal responsibility.  It's McCain at his best.

I know there are some conservatives who don't care for John McCain, and he did run a poor campaign in 2008.  But on national defense he is a treasure, and I fear the day when he retires. 

February 23, 2015       Permalink

THIS IS APPALLING – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Some outlines of a possible deal with Iran are emerging, and they are deeply troubling.  From AP:

GENEVA (AP) — The United States and Iran are shaping the contours of a deal that would initially freeze Tehran’s nuclear program but would allow it to slowly ramp up activities that could be used to make nuclear arms over the last years of the agreement’s duration.

Officials from some of the six-power talks with Iran said details still needed to be agreed on, with US and Iranian officials meeting Monday for the third straight day ahead of an end-of-March deadline for a framework agreement. US Secretary of State John Kerry joined the negotiations after arriving Sunday.

A breakthrough was not expected before Kerry returns to Washington later Monday. But Western officials familiar with the talks cited long-awaited progress on some elements that would have to go into a comprehensive deal. They described the discussions as a moving target, however, meaning changes in any one area would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation.

The idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement, by gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment program imposed as part of a deal that would also would slowly ease sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Why would anyone want to lift constraints, especially if the current crowd is in power?  This is fantasyland.

Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the US fears Tehran could re-engineer the program to its other potential use — producing the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

The US initially sought restrictions lasting for up to 20 years; Iran had pushed for less than a decade.

Iran could be allowed to operate significantly more centrifuges than the US administration first demanded, though at lower capacity than they currently run. Several officials spoke of 6,500 centrifuges as a potential point of compromise.

COMMENT:  This is awful.  The article notes the need for constant inspections, which can be disrupted by the Iranian regime, which has been disrupting inspections all along.

Obama might well buy this, and other reporting this morning points out that there are forces in the State Department and elsewhere that are pressuring him to establish a "special relationship" with Iran, even though Iran is a major sponsor of terror and murders its own citizens.  These things don't bother a certain class of "sophisticates."  There may also be commercial interests involved.

We are heading for serious trouble.  It is time for Congress to raise its voice loudly.  It is time for the media to wake up.  Congress may act.  I don't think the media will.

February 23,  2015     Permalink

FEBRUARY 22,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M ET:

BULLETIN – From the Washington Post:  "In 1999, Columba Bush, the famously private wife of then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was detained and fined by federal customs officials for misrepresenting the amount of clothing and jewelry she had bought while on a solo five-day shopping spree in Paris."  I'm shocked, shocked.  Why is the woman not in prison?  Remarkable, isn't it, how the liberal press is already ganging up on any Republican who has a chance for the 2016 presidential nomination?  Even family is considered fair game.  Compare please with the softballing of one Barack Hussein Obama Jr. during both of his presidential campaigns.

FROM THE OSCARS – Oh, the Oscars were on tonight.  From The New York Times:  "'Birdman' took the top prize at the 87th Academy Awards on Sunday, winning best picture. Alejandro G. Iñárritu won the award for best director for that film as well. Julianne Moore won best actress for 'Still Alice.' Eddie Redmayne won best actor for 'The Theory of Everything.' Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons won the supporting acting awards, for 'Boyhood' and 'Whiplash' respectively."  "American Sniper" struck out, not surprising in today's Hollywood.

MALL WARNING – From The Hill:  "Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson on Sunday warned the public to be 'particularly careful' if they go to the Mall of America in Minnesota after a terrorist group released a video calling for attacks on it.  'I would say that if anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,' Johnson said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'"  It's stunning to hear a federal official speak like that.  Obama will have to have a little talk with him.  Afterward, Johnson will probably say that the real threat to America comes from fracking.

February 22,  2015     Permalink

THE THREAT – AT 11:25 A.M. ET:  A new threat, focused on British nuclear plants, is being reported.  Can happen here as well.  From London's Express:   

BRITAIN’S nuclear plants are at risk from a terrorist strike by unmanned drone aircraft, writes Caroline Wheeler.

Such an attack could kill tens of thousands of people, a Government adviser has warned. But authorities are “burying their heads in the sand,” according to John Large.

His call for an urgent security overhaul comes as figures showed nuclear power plants suffered 37 security breaches last year – the highest numberalso been breached a dozen times since 2011, including by at least one drone.

Islamic State terrorists have already recruited chemical weapons specialists and counterterrorism experts say they are intent on building a “dirty bomb”.

Last night Mr Large, a nuclear engineer who has carried out work for Britain’s Atomic Energy Authority, demanded a major exercise to test the resilience of the nation’s power stations against acts of terrorism.

Mr Large, who has advised the French government after a growing number of mysterious unmanned flights over that country’s nuclear plants, said drones also pose a risk to the UK’s 16 operational reactors.

“On application to UK nuclear power plants, I believe that much the same security and vulnerability issues apply,” he told the Sunday Express.

“The accessibility of the UK plants to small UAV’s [unmanned airborne vehicles] is relatively unimpeded."

COMMENT:  That's pretty scary stuff.  I don't know of any air defense around our nuclear plants here. 

We are at a critical intersection of technology and history.  I don't think we've yet to take the technology seriously.

February 22, 2015       Permalink

MILITARY DISSENTERS SPEAK OUT – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  The Obama administration has a nasty tendency to fire military officers who dare to disagree.  But once they're out of the service they're free to speak as American citizens. 

Retired Army Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency until relieved in 2014.  He is raising serious questions about our upcoming attempt to retake Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, from ISIS.  Oddly, this is published at the liberal website, The Politico: 

American officials said this week they plan to train up to 25,000 Iraqi troops in a major mission to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, from Islamic State militants sometime this spring.

The mission is welcome, but frankly it is unlikely to succeed unless there is, at the same time, a deeper understanding on the part of our government of the real threat that the Islamic State and its adherents pose to us as a nation—and what our role in this broader fight must be. Unless the United States takes dramatically more action than we have done so far in Iraq, the fractious, largely Shiite-composed units that make up the Iraqi army are not likely to be able, by themselves, to overwhelm a Sunni stronghold like Mosul, even though they outnumber the enemy by ten to one. The United States must be prepared to provide far more combat capabilities and enablers such as command and control, intelligence, logistics, and fire support, to name just a few things.

Yet to defeat an enemy, you first must admit they exist, and this we have not done. I believe there continues to be confusion at the highest level of our government about what it is we’re facing, and the American public want clarity as well as moral and intellectual courage, which they are not now getting.

There are some who argue that violent Islamists are not an existential threat and therefore can simply be managed as criminals, or as a local issue in Iraq and Syria. I respectfully and strongly disagree.

We, as a nation, must accept and face the reality that we and other contributing nations of the world are at war, and not just in Iraq. We are in a global war with a radical and violent form of the Islamic religion, and it is irresponsible and dangerous to deny it. This enemy is far broader than the 40,000 or so fighters in the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. There also exists a large segment of this radical version of Islam in over 90 nations abroad as well as here at home. Just ask those countries from which foreign fighters are flowing into the Levant to support this “jihad.”

Nor is this enemy going away any time soon. As abhorrent as this form of radical Islam is, we must recognize and understand that it is a political ideology with the foundation of its laws emanating from the Qur’an and the Prophet’s life as its guide—and nothing else is needed. This form of radical Islam is in direct conflict with a large segment of the Islamic community; a community that must stand taller and be counted right now or they will be counted among the dead—killed at the hands of these radical militants (this includes both Sunni and Shia).

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing.  It's worth it.  Flynn ends with, "Winning doesn't come without cost and solving difficult, messy problems is never easy, but that's what leaders do.  Let's lead!

February 22, 2015       Permalink

BULLETIN – FROM NBC NEWS – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  There has been a serious terrorist call for attacks on the United States.  From NBC:

LONDON — The terrorist group al Shabab released a video Saturday calling for attacks on shopping malls in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The video, released by the Somalia-based group's official media wing, calls for attacks in the style of al Shabab's 2013 siege on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, in which more than 60 people were killed.

Minnesota's Mall of America, which was referenced in the video, said it was aware of the threat. "We will continue to follow the situation, along with law enforcement, and will remain vigilant as we always do in similar situations," it said in a statement.

A spokesman for the National Security Council said the FBI and Department of Homeland Security have been working in recent months with mall operators to prevent and mitigate such attacks. "Protecting public safety and national security is our highest priority," NSC spokesman Ned Price said.

COMMENT:  This is obviously a very real threat.  al Shabab showed its skill in the Westgate Mall attacks.

Of course, the timing is beautiful, isn't it?  Last last week the bumblers in the Obama administration were trying to convince us that the real threat to us comes from domestic right wingers.  What a bunch we have running Washington.  What a bunch.

February 22,  2015     Permalink