Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

JANUARY 7,  2015

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

FRANCE – The attack today was the worst terror attack in France since the Algerian war of the 1960s.  The question being asked by Americans is whether such an attack is imminent here.  It's inevitable that our enemies are planning one or more.  A second question is whether this attack, no matter how ugly it was, will actually move the elites of the European Union to change their "sophisticated" views and admit that Europe has a serious problem with radical Islam.  Don't hold your breath. 

THE OBAMANS SPEAK – Both President Obama and Secretary Kerry condemned the Paris attack, but in language that was strangely distant.  It took hours for the administration to inject the word "terror" into its language.  Obama's attitudes have made it harder to fight terror around the world since allies look for American leadership, which has been unenthusiastic.

OPEN IT UP – From Fox:  "Congressional lawmakers on Wednesday ramped up efforts to get President Obama to release 28 top-secret pages from a 9/11 report that allegedly detail Saudi Arabia's involvement in the terror attacks.  Lawmakers and advocacy groups have pushed for the declassification for years. The effort already had bipartisan House support but now has the backing of retired Florida Democratic Sen. Bob Graham, a former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman whom supporters hope will help garner enough congressional backing to pressure Obama into releasing the confidential information."  It's about time.  But the Saudi lobby, which has much power in Washington and in the oil industry, may still be able to prevent a release.

A SIGNAL – From The Hill:  "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is staffing up for a potential 2016 White House bid, hiring a potential campaign manager and reportedly planning to launch a new political organization.  Walker has hired former Republican National Committee political director Rick Wiley to pull together a political operation, CNN reported Wednesday afternoon.  Wiley, a national political strategist, has left his position at the consulting firm Mercury LLC, a source confirmed with The Hill. He worked there since March 2013, along with Michael DuHaime, chief political strategist for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a likely presidential rival to Walker should both enter the race."  Game on.

January 7, 2015       Permalink

IT'S ALREADY STARTING – AT 10:30 A.M. ET:  It doesn't take long for the political left to organize in response to a terrorist attack.   Start rolling your eyes now.  From NewsBusters:   

Howard Dean—that celebrated scholar of Islam—has weighed in on today's murderous rampage in Paris, declaring that he refuses to call the shooters in this and similar cases "Muslim terrorists." According to Dean, the disregard for the lives of others that these terrorists display "is not what the Koran says." Dean's denial of the obvious puts him in the company of many liberals, most notably including President Obama, who after the beheading of James Foley declared that ISIS "speaks for no religion."

Their illogic is dangerous. How do you defeat an enemy if you refuse to acknowledge what it is? Note: Dean goes on to decry the fact that the shooters had Kalashnikovs despite France's "tremendous" gun control laws. Does "when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns" ring a bell, Howard?

COMMENT:  We await comments from the crew at MSNBC and from "Mideast experts" who will probably blame American dislike of ISIS or Israeli apartments in Jerusalem for the terror attack in Paris.  Oh, and include Fox News and the Tea Party.

January 7, 2015       Permalink

FIRST U.S. RESPONSE – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  The White House has now responded to the Paris terror, although I wish the press secretary hadn't chosen the left-wing network, MSNBC, on which to do it.  From Fox: 

The White House is condemning the attack on a satirical Paris publication that left at least 12 people dead.

Press Secretary Josh Earnest, in an interview Wednesday morning, called it a "terrible act of violence" that the U.S. government condemns in the strongest possible terms.

Speaking on MSNBC, he said U.S. security officials are in close contact with their counterparts in France. Asked if the U.S. Embassy in Paris might be evacuated, Earnest indicated he's not aware of any such plans.

The attack was carried out against the Charlie Hebdo weekly, the publication known for challenging Muslim terrorists with a 2011 caricature of Prophet Mohammed on its cover and which recently tweeted a cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Earnest also told CNN the French have been "stalwart allies" in the U.S. fight against Islamic State extremists.

"We know they are not going to be cowed by this terrible act," he said.

Earnest also said Washington will work hard to protect Americans at home and abroad.

COMMENT:  That's a pretty standard response.  Not much more they can say right now.  However, I would hope that the president himself would make a formal, in-person statement later in the day.  This is a particularly vicious terror attack, an attack on a free press itself.

January 7, 2015        Permalink

SCATHING – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  In an early, scathing response to the Paris carnage has been written by British conservative columnist James Delingpole, who has been heroic in questioning the "settled science" of global warming.  A must read, from Breitbart: 

The story so far: 12 people, including two policemen, have been murdered at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo by two hooded men wielding AK47s. In 2011 the magazine was firebombed after running a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. Charlie Hebdo’s most recent tweet, before the latest attack, was a cartoon featuring the leader of Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Here’s what will happen next.

1. French authorities will urge the public not to jump to any unhelpful conclusions about the identity and motivation of the killers.

2. Politicians, police chiefs and mainstream media reports will urge restraint over what is clearly an inexplicable rogue incident which may have nothing whatsoever to do with the Religion of Peace.

3. Extensive – and largely fruitless – efforts will be made to find Muslim community leaders prepared to speak out against the incident, in the unlikely event that it proves that the killers may have had Islamist sympathies.

4. Liberal commentators will take pains to draw a distinction between Islamism and Islam, noting that the former is a malign perversion of the latter which (apparently) explicitly forbids the murder of innocents.

5. Warming to this theme – and once the bodies are sufficiently cold, so as not to offend anyone’s good taste – one or two braver liberal commentators will suggest that while, of course, they wholly condemn all such acts of violence, it’s nevertheless the case that one or two of Charlie Hebdo’s editorials and cartoons could be quite needlessly provocative and that their contribution to the current climate of Islamophobia may have been responsible for heightening religious tensions in the broader culture. There have to be limits to free speech, after all. You can’t shout fire in a crowded theatre.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's well worth it.  Then see how many of the predictions come true.  I'm hoping at least part of what Delingpole is saying will turn out to be wrong.  Maybe the hand of national-defense Republicans in our new Congress will be strengthened by this latest outrage.  Maybe even some people in our universities will come to their senses.

January 7,  2015     Permalink

HORROR! – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  There has been a terrible terrorist attack in Paris.  From Fox:

BREAKING: Black-clad gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a satirical publication known for lampooning Islam early Wednesday, killing 12 and injuring as many as 15 before escaping, French officials said.

As many as three Kalashnikov-toting shooters were being sought after the attack at Charlie Hebdo, the publication known for challenging Muslim terrorists with a 2011 caricature of Prophet Muhammed on its cover and which recently tweeted a cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Two policemen and several journalists - including the cartoonist behind the weekly publication's provocative images, were among the dead.

“We’ve avenged the honor of the prophet!” the killers shouted, according to witnesses who spoke to Sky News. The gunmen spoke French without any accent, according to Le Monde.

COMMENT:  I would have quoted the story on this run in The New York Times, but you had to go down many paragraphs before finding any reference to Islam.  Political correctness wins out even on a day of horror.

We'll watch for reactions to this ghastly attack.  Realistically, it probably will result in more self-censorship, especially in Europe, but here as well.  The excuses and rationalizations will begin soon. 

In recent days France disgraced itself by voting in favor of an absurd pro-Palestinian resolution at the UN, a resolution that ultimately failed anyway.  I guess this is the thanks that France gets. 

CNN and Fox are both covering the story live.  I haven't heard any special or unusual insights, although CNN's in-studio "experts," thus far, seemed to be all liberals.

January 7,  2015     Permalink

JANUARY 6,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:21 P.M. ET: 

CLOSE CALL – John Boehner was able to put down a revolt among House Republicans, some of whom wanted him replaced, but the result was much closer than expected.  From WaPo:  "In the end, their rebellion was not enough to unseat Boehner: The speaker won on the first round with 216 votes, 11 more than he needed. But it was far larger than a similar coup attempt against Boehner in 2013. In fact, it was the largest rebellion by a party against its incumbent speaker since the Civil War."  A warning that party conservatives will not be potted plants.

OH, THANK YOU, SIR – The president of Mexico is helping us absorb his citizens.  From the Washington Times:  "Mexico’s president told President Obama Tuesday that his government will supply the documents necessary for millions of illegal Mexican immigrants to prove they’ve been living in the U.S. prior to 2010, a move that will help them qualify for Mr. Obama’s recently announced deportation amnesty.  In an Oval Office meeting, President Enrique Pena Nieto praised Mr. Obama’s executive action on amnesty as 'very intelligent and audacious,' and said his government will do everything in its power to ensure that Mexicans who want to stay in the U.S. can do so."  Disgraceful.  You'd think he'd be ashamed that so many citizens want to leave his country, which is an oil-exporting nation.  How about trying to help your citizens stay and build Mexico?

PRESIDENT CHRISTIE? – From WaPo:  "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie watched his beloved Cowboys win a playoff game Sunday in Dallas, hugging and yukking it up with Jerry Jones in the Cowboys owner’s luxury suite.  The trip, however, is proving to be controversial. Christie flew to Dallas and accepted the ticket to the game at the expense of the Cowboys’ owner, who just so happens to have a business relationship with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey."  Look, the optics are terrible.  Christie is really not presidential material.  He's a good governor, but his state is losing an embarrassing number of businesses and people.  The party has better presidential timber. 

MAJOR CULINARY NEWS – From AP:  "Venezuela's more than 100 McDonald's franchises have run out of potatoes and are now serving alternatives like deep-fried arepa flatbreads or yuca, a starchy staple of traditional South American cooking.  McDonald's is blaming a contract dispute with West Coast dock workers for halting the export of frozen fries to the country. The dispute also caused several days of French fry rationing in Japan last month. But Sonia Ruseler, an Argentina-based spokeswoman for Arcos Dorados, which runs McDonald's restaurants in Latin America, declined to say Tuesday why Venezuela's neighbors are not suffering from similar scarcity.  Accustomed to shortages of their favorite foods, and equally in the habit of grumbling about the government as they walk away empty-handed, many Venezuelans assume the embattled socialist administration is to blame."  I'm researching to see whether cutting off French fries is an act of war.

January 6, 2014       Permalink

DEMS LOSE ON "TORTURE" – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:   Nobody, I hope, likes torture.  At the same time, bombing from 10,000 feet ain't a day in the park either.  Dems on the Senate Intelligence Committee, led by the usually grown-up Dianne Feinstein, tried to hang "torture" around the necks of Bush administration officials, but the whole thing backfired.  From Marc A. Thiessen at WaPo: 

As we begin 2015, we can take solace that the “torture” debate is finally behind us. But before we close the book on six sordid years of Democratic demagoguery and investigations, let the record show that the opponents of the CIA interrogation program were completely and utterly defeated.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, launched a six-year, 6,000-page, $40 million investigation into the CIA interrogation program, with the goal of convincing Americans that a) the program did not work and that b) enhanced interrogations were wrong and should never again be permitted.

She failed on all counts.

Just before Christmas, a Post poll revealed the American people’s final verdict. The vast majority agree with the CIA that these techniques were necessary and justified. A majority think that Feinstein should never have released her report. And — most importantly — 76 percent said they would do it again to protect the country.

Americans were asked, “Looking ahead, do you feel that torture of suspected terrorists can often be justified, sometimes justified, rarely justified or never justified?” Note that the pollsters used the loaded word “torture” (even though the CIA contends that the techniques did not constitute torture), which should have biased the question in favor of the critics. Instead, 17 percent replied they would support using the techniques “often,” 40 percent “sometimes” and 19 percent “rarely.” Only 20 percent said the techniques should “never” be justified.

COMMENT:  The maturity of the respondents came through.  They realize what war is.  They realize what the threats are.  They understand that sometimes, under strong controls, some very harsh things must be done.  We don't like it, but lives must be protected.  The Dems are pushing fairy tales.

January 6,  2014        Permalink

HOUSE GOP REVOLT – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  There is a revolt among House Republicans aimed at denying John Boehner another term as speaker.  It probably won't succeed, but it does show that conservatives will not be content with business as usual.  From USA Today:

WASHINGTON — A long-shot effort to deny John Boehner a third term as speaker gained traction before Tuesday's House vote as two Republicans jumped into the race against the Ohio leader and at least nine GOP lawmakers said they would vote for an alternative candidate.

The brewing rebellion is unlikely to succeed — at least 29 Republicans would have to vote against Boehner to strip him of the gavel. That would force the leadership election to a second ballot.

But having an attempted coup in the works should make Tuesday's roll call on the House floor a dramatic, tense scene as the speaker's conservative critics shout out the names of other candidates and the anti-Boehner votes add up. Even if Boehner wins a comfortable majority, the public rebellion will serve as a high-profile reminder of the opposition he faces within his own Republican ranks as the 114th Congress gets underway.

"It's not good because it shows there's dissatisfaction with him inside his own conference, and it shows he has an ideologically divided conference," said Ronald Peters, a professor at the University of Oklahoma and an expert on the speakership.

Monday, Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman became the latest Republican to announce he would oppose Boehner. He said voters "want new leadership in Congress that will stand up to President Obama's big-government policies and advance a common-sense conservative reform agenda. ... I gave my word to my constituents back home in Indiana that I would do everything I could to bring a fresh start to Washington. My word will be kept, and I am hopeful tomorrow's vote will help bring that fresh start."

COMMENT:  Actually, I think the revolt is a good thing.  Conservatives must make their voices heard.  They faced brutal opposition from the establishment in 1980, when the establishment tried to block the presidential nomination of Ronald Reagan.  Reagan won, and went on to become one of the most consequential presidents of our time. 

We don't want reckless opposition to the president.  But we want principled opposition in tune with public sentiment. 

January 6, 2015       Permalink

AND AGAIN – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  Two more cops have been shot in New York.  One is in critical condition.  It does not appear that the perps, who are on the loose, are black.  From CBS: 

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A massive manhunt is under way for two suspects after police said two NYPD officers responding to a robbery were shot and wounded in the Bronx.

The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Monday on Tiebout Avenue.

Police said a team of plainclothes officers had just finished their shifts in the 46th precinct when a call came in about a grocery store robbery.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the five officers, part of an anti-crime unit, then spotted two possible suspects in connection with the robbery.

One of those suspects then went into a Chinese restaurant on Tiebout Avenue near East 184th Street while the other remained on the street, police said.

As the officers approached the man on the street, police said the other man inside the restaurant pulled out a gun and began shooting from the doorway.

COMMENT:  The story emphasizes the danger of police work, danger that exists every hour of every day. 

January 6, 2015       Permalink

COPS AND BLACKS – REMARKABLE – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  Some remarkable research on the shooting of black suspects by cops.  Not what we're being told.  From the Washington Times: 

It’s widely assumed that white police officers are more likely to shoot black suspects as a result of racial bias, but recent research suggests the opposite is true.

An innovative study published in the Journal of Experimental Criminology found that participants in realistic simulations felt more threatened by black suspects yet took longer to pull the trigger on black men than on white or Hispanic men.

“This behavioral ‘counter-bias’ might be rooted in people’s concerns about the social and legal consequences of shooting a member of a historically oppressed racial or ethnic group,” said the paper, which went practically unnoticed when it was published online on May 22, but took on new significance in the wake of a series of high-profile police-involved shootings involving black victims over the summer.

The results back up what one of the researchers, University of Missouri-St. Louis professor David Klinger, has found after independently interviewing more than 300 police officers: While they don’t want to shoot anybody, they really don’t want to shoot black suspects.

“Across these 300 interviews, I have multiple officers telling me that they didn’t shoot only because the suspect was black or the suspect was a woman, or something that would not be consistent with this narrative of cops out there running and gunning,” said Mr. Klinger, a former cop and author of “Into the Kill Zone: A Cop’s Eye View of Deadly Force” (2006).

“When it comes to the issue of race, I’ve never had a single officer tell me, ‘I didn’t shoot a guy because he was white.’ I’ve had multiple officers tell me, ‘I didn’t shoot a guy because he was black,’ ” Mr. Klinger said. “And this is 10, even 20 years ago. Officers are alert to the fact that if they shoot a black individual, the odds of social outcry are far greater than if they shoot a white individual.”

COMMENT:  Why do I think this research will be buried rather quickly by the mainstream media and the grievance industry?  Just askin'.

January 6, 2015        Permalink