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 13,  2015

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

BAFFLING – Chris Christie may or may not have dropped a hint today about his 2016 aspirations, or lack of them.  From the Washington Times:  "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vowed Tuesday in his annual State of the State Address that he would still be 'standing here in one year' — a promise sure to raise questions about his presidential aspirations in 2016.  Speaking in Trenton, Mr. Christie called for a renewal in New Jersey and across the nation, before tweaking his prepared remarks.  'So that when we stand here in one year — by the way, I will be standing here in one year,' Mr. Christie said. 'For some reason, I see less applause on this side of the room. I will be here in one year.'  The race for the GOP presidential nomination is expected to be cranking into high gear a year from now."  Some assume he was signaling that he's not running.  I'm not so sure.  He talks a great deal.

IOWA POLL – From Gravis Marketing:  "The 2012 Republican nominee for president holds a leads a broad field of GOP potential contenders in the Townhall/Gravis poll conducted Jan. 5-7 among 404 registered Republican voters queried. Note: the polls were conducted using IVR technology and weighted by historical voting demographics.  Former Massachusetts governor W. Mitt Romney has never left the hearts and minds of Republican voters and he will hold the dominant position in the race for the 2016 presidential nomination until the other candidates spin up their own campaigns, said Doug Kaplan, the managing partner of Gravis Marketing, a Florida-based pollster and call center that executed the poll. The poll carries an error rate of 3 percent.  'Romney’s name recognition and the loyalty Republicans have for their last nominee give him a opportunity that no one else has,' Kaplan said. 'The question is whether he will use or let the chance pass to others.'  After two years of dampening expectations, Romney—spooked by Bush’s momentum—is now working to the phones in order to put the band together for one more national tour.  While Romney decides what to do, the GOP race revolves around former Florida governor John E. 'Jeb' Bush, the choice of 14 percent, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott K. Walker, polling at 10 percent."  Watch Walker carefully.  The guy has a way of winning, and he's a fresh face nationally.  That's not a prediction, but Walker is relentless.

THE TRUTH OOZES OUT – From Fox:  "WASHINGTON – While the White House points to security concerns as the chief reason why President Obama skipped the anti-terrorism rally in Paris over the weekend, some suggest the Secret Service and his advance team could have made it happen -- if they really tried.  Instead, critics say the security explanation is being used as an 'excuse.' Brad Blakeman, who served on the advance team for George W. Bush’s campaign, said the Secret Service is the 'scapegoat' here.  'The president can go wherever he wants to go,' Blakeman said.  To be sure, presidential travel is a herculean task – particularly for an outdoor, international rally just days after a major terror attack – but it appears little effort was made to explore the possibility of Obama attending the show of unity in Paris, attended by more than 40 world leaders.  A Secret Service official told Fox News that they were not asked or notified about a possible trip to Paris. This coincides with reports that White House aides were caught off guard by the size of the march and didn’t ask the president if he wanted to attend."  Small timers in charge.

January 13, 2015       Permalink

A SUDDEN LOVE OF OIL – AT 1:30 P.M. ET:  Democrats have had a sudden vision, filled with the glory of oil.  Did I say oil?  And Democrats?  From Fox: 

Back when gas topped $4 a gallon, Republicans chanted "drill, baby, drill" at rallies across the country -- arguing more domestic drilling would increase supplies, reduce dependence on foreign oil and boost the U.S. economy.

Democrats, almost universally, mocked the GOP plan. In 2012, President Obama called it "a slogan, a gimmick, and a bumper sticker ... not a strategy."

"They were waving their three-point plans for $2-a-gallon gas," Obama told a laughing audience during an energy speech in Washington. "You remember that? Drill, baby, drill. We were going through all that. And none of it was really going to do anything to solve the problem."

"'Drill, baby, drill' won't lower gas prices today or tomorrow," Rep. Janice Hahn, D-Calif., echoed on the floor of Congress in 2012. "But it will fuel our addiction to fossil fuel."

Today, Democrats are singing a different tune, as increased domestic drilling has led to a record supply of domestic crude, put some $100 billion into the pockets of U.S. consumers and sent world oil prices tumbling.

The price of a gallon of regular gasoline on Monday was $2.13 nationwide, and below $2 in 18 states.

"Of course [Obama] was wrong. We've seen oil prices fall internationally now by half since last June," said American Enterprise Institute economist Ben Zycher. "The U.S. is now the biggest oil and gas producer in the world, or almost that, and the effect has been to drive prices down as we've seen."

COMMENT:  Obama also took credit for the effect of sanctions on Iran that he had vigorously opposed. No class.

January 13,  2015     Permalink

JUST WHAT WE NEED – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:   We present this as an example of awful timing.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Muslim leaders from across America will gather in Texas this weekend to hold the annual Stand With the Prophet in Honor and Respect conference, a weekend forum that is being billed as a “movement to defend Prophet Muhammad, his person, and his message,” according to event information.

The Saturday event, which seeks to combat “Islamophobes in America” who have turned the Islamic Prophet Muhammad “into an object of hate,” according to organizers, comes just a week after radicalized Islamists in France killed 17 people.

The victims died in events that began with the shooting attack on French newspaper Charlie Hebdo for its satirical cartoons that skewered the prophet.

Organizers of the event place the blame for Islam’s bad reputation on the media and so-called American Islamophobes who have “invested at least $160 million dollars to attack our Prophet and Islam,” according to the conference web page.

Keynote speakers at the event will include Georgetown University professor John Esposito, founding director of the school’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, which has come under fire for, among other things, hosting 9/11 Truthers and a member of Egypt’s Nazi Party.

Also scheduled to attend the forum is controversial New York-based Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who was an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings trial. Wahhaj has called the FBI and CIA the “real terrorists” and expressed a desire for all Americans to become Muslim, according to the New York Post.

COMMENT:  How to win friends and influence people.  I don't think these people have a clue to gaining respect.  This isn't going to make them any more popular.

January 13, 2015       Permalink

OBAMA AND TERROR – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  There is still general dismay over the way Town Councilman Obama botched America's response to the vast anti-terror rally in Paris.  Byron York nails it, at the Washington Examiner: 

The White House reaction to the attacks in France, going back to the first reports of shots fired at Charlie Hebdo, has been noticeably subdued. Obama had scheduled last week as a time to roll out some upcoming State of the Union proposals in trips to Michigan, Arizona and Tennessee. When world events intruded, the president stubbornly stuck to his schedule, mentioning France only briefly before introducing his plan for free tuition at community colleges.

Then came the unity march. No, it was not essential that Obama himself attend. But there's no doubt he should have sent Vice President Joe Biden — why is there a VP, if not to go to big foreign events? — or at least Secretary of State John Kerry.

Even as the march wound its way through Paris, the White House sent out yet another sign of its unseriousness. On Sunday morning, the press office announced the president will host a "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism" on Feb. 18. The plan is to bring together "social service providers, including education administrators, mental health professionals, and religious leaders, with law enforcement agencies to address violent extremism as part of the broader mandate of community safety and crime prevention."

As the world watched images of black-clad, AK-47-wielding terrorists killing Parisians, Obama proposed to meet the threat with social service providers.

So when the president chose not to attend the Paris march, nor to send the Vice President or Secretary of State, the problem wasn't a tin-ear sense of public relations. It was Obama's actual attitude toward the terror threat facing not only Europe but the United States. We've dealt with the big stuff, Obama has declared, now let's move on.

It sounded good — until the bullets started flying.

COMMENT:  Yup.  That's it.  Obama isn't the "pragmatist" we were sold in 2008.  He isn't even a liberal.  He's a leftist, but the conventions of liberal journalism make it impossible for the mainstream media to admit it.  I suspect that, while world leaders were marching on Monday, Obama was watching a football game.  All that terror stuff is beneath him.  It's so, so BUSH!

What struck me was that even Obama's own partisans wouldn't back him in his blunder, his indifference to events in Paris.  Now the White House admits that not sending a major figure to the march was a mistake.  I'd like to know how that conclusion was reached.  Did a grown-up sit down with Obama and explain reality to him?  Or did a pollster intervene while Valerie Jarrett was out of the room?

January 13, 2015       Permalink

GERMANY WARNED – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  There is a general belief that other countries, especially in Western Europe, are in line to be hit by terror attacks.  Germany is one of them.  From Gatestone:

German police have evidence "that key European cities could be attacked at any time." — Der Spiegel.

"This is a serious situation." — German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

"You will pay the price as you walk on your streets, turning right and left, fearing the Muslims. We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah." — Jihadist video threatening Italy.

"The Islamists... showed France that they are incapable of democracy and rather look to violence and death as an answer! Our politicians want us to believe the opposite. Must such a tragedy happen here in Germany first???" — Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West [PEGIDA].

COMMENT:  Americans also have reason to be on guard.  John Miller, who is in charge of counterterrorism for the NYPD, said yesterday that New York City, while vulnerable, also has many layers of protection.  Other cities might not.  Targets outside cities certainly do not.  And I fear for schools. 

January 13,  2015     Permalink

JANUARY 12,  2015

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

ADMISSION – The White House admitted today that it had made a mistake in not sending a senior American official to the anti-terror rally in Paris yesterday.  It was a startling admission for a White House known for ego and arrogance.  But the criticism of the blunder was, politically, across the board, and the admission may now mute the uproar.  But the American people will remember how Obama blew the moment.

U.S. INCREASES VIGILANCE – From the Washington Times:  "The Department of Homeland Security is stepping up precautions in wake of the attacks in Paris, Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday.  'Recent world events call for increased vigilance in homeland security,' he said in a press release.  Included in the changes are an increased guard presence at federal buildings and more random security screenings at airports. Mr. Johnson said DHS is continuing to work with French authorities to track extremists and those responsible for the attacks.  He said there was 'no specific, credible intelligence of an attack of the kind in Paris last week being planned by terrorist organizations in this country,' but asked the public to remain vigilant."  I doubt if we'll have specific intelligence the next time.  The terror groups are learning how to come in under the radar, and with few people.  The purpose of terrorism is terror.  Four or five terrorists tied up Paris for almost a week.

ON THE LOOSE – From Fox:  "PARIS – As many as six members of a terrorist cell involved in the Paris attacks may still be at large, including a man who was seen driving a car registered to the widow of one of the gunmen, police officials said Monday.  Two French police officials also told The Associated Press that authorities were searching the Paris area for the Mini Cooper registered to Hayat Boumeddiene, the widow of Amedy Coulibaly. Turkish officials say she is now in Syria."  It's pretty clear that French security forces are overwhelmed by the sheer number of jihadists returning from the Mideast.  France's absurd immigration policies, championed by the trendy left, are coming home to haunt Paris, but you may be sure that the leftists will never acknowledge their blunders.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL NEWS – From Reuters:  "DUBAI - A prominent Saudi Arabian cleric has whipped up controversy by issuing a religious ruling forbidding the building of snowmen, described them as anti-Islamic.  Asked on a religious website if it was permissible for fathers to build snowmen for their children after a snowstorm in the country's north, Sheikh Mohammed Saleh al-Munajjid replied:  'It is not permitted to make a statue out of snow, even by way of play and fun.'    Quoting from Muslim scholars, Sheikh Munajjid argued that to build a snowman was to create an image of a human being, an action considered sinful under the kingdom's strict interpretation of Sunni Islam."  Better take that statue of Lincoln out of the memorial.  Let's not offend.

January 12, 2015       Permalink

THEY NOTICED! – AT 10:26 A.M. ET:  During Barack Obama's administration the Democratic Party has lost 70 seats in the House of Representatives.  You think something might be wrong?  Well, at least some Dems think so, and they want action.  Whether the action they want will improve things for them is another question.  From The Politico:

A growing faction of House Democrats wants to bring back term limits for the crew of party leaders who sit atop the chamber’s most influential committees.

The effort follows a series of bruising fights among Democrats over seniority, a split that pits younger lawmakers who feel shut out from decision-making versus powerful voting blocs like the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The latter groups have long favored seniority as the surest way for their members to rise in the ranks, while term-limit supporters lament that Republicans are outflanking Democrats in promoting young leaders to carry their message.

California Rep. Anna Eshoo, a close ally of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said a growing number of lawmakers want the caucus to have a serious discussion about term limits.

“I think there should a very thorough and thoughtful examination, not only of this but several rules of the caucus,” said Eshoo, who unsuccessfully challenged more-senior Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey last year for the top Democratic spot on the Energy and Commerce Committee. “I think it would be healthy for the members, all of the members, to really understand what the rules are [and] the history behind them.”

Former Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson, who was term-limited from that slot in 2013, agreed. He praised House Republicans’ six-year limit for people to serve atop committees, although Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has allowed some exceptions.

“A number of people would say Republicans have struck a better formula for advancement,” the Connecticut Democrat said. “And I don’t think it’s a bad thing for leadership at all. I mean, it’s verboten to say it, but it’s true and I think even our current leaders would recognize it, all of whom I support.”

COMMENT:  It's true.  The Republican Party looks young and vibrant, whereas the Democratic Party has become the party of the past. 

But there's a trap here.  If the Dems go to term limits, many of those who'd benefit by moving up are members of the party's leftist fringe.  That will not win the Dems many points nationally. 

The Democratic Party never planned for the future.  Barack was to save it and build a Dem coalition that would last 50 years.  That didn't happen.  Now there is anger.

January 12, 2015       Permalink 

SICKENING – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  Some of the worst Islamist terrorism is taking place in Africa.  Note the great interest of the political left.  From Gateway Pundit: 

Last spring First Lady Michelle Obama was all about rescuing girls kidnapped in Nigeria by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram.

This weekend Boko Haram forced three girls, each reportedly around ten years old, to be human bombs in attacks in Nigeria. Reuters reported the first child bombing was Saturday followed by two on Sunday. One contradictory report says one of the girls was fifteen.

“The blasts struck around mid-afternoon at an open market selling mobile handsets in the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, which has frequently been attacked by the Sunni Muslim jihadist group Boko Haram.

“A trader at the market, Sani Abdu Potiskum, said the bombers were about 10 years old. “I saw their dead bodies. They are two young girls of about 10 years of age … you only see the plaited hair and part of the upper torso,” the trader said.

“A source at the Potiskum general hospital said three people had been killed, excluding the bombers, while 46 were injured.”

…”Sunday’s explosions came a day after a bomb strapped to a girl aged around 10 years old exploded in a busy market place in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 20, security sources said.”

The Nigerian ambassador to the U.S. will be honoring Michelle Obama this week, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, even though Obama failed in her campaign to free the kidnapped Nigerian girls.

For some reason the media keeps calling the girls suicide bombers when it is obvious they have been forced to be human bombs.

COMMENT:  We must finally recognize that jihadism is a worldwide movement, with operatives on every continent. 

We have been focusing on the Mideast, Europe, and Africa.  We should also focus on our porous southern border.  You may be sure that jihadist groups are looking to infiltrate into this country from that border.  It is not difficult, and weapons can be broken down and transported in parts.   

January 12, 2015        Permalink

ALERT – AT 9:12 A.M. ET:  New York City, still considered the prime target in the U.S., is on high alert following the Paris attacks.  Wouldn't it be nice if the Police Department and the mayor got along?  From Breitbart:   

The New York City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies have been alerted to a new threat raised by the Islamic State terror group. The jihadist entity released a new video on Saturday urging fellow jihadists to “rise up” against the U.S. and other Western states.

ISIS spokesman Abu Mohammed al Adnani told those loyal to the Islamic State to “rise up and kill intelligence officers, police officers, soldiers, and civilians” in the U.S., Canada, France, and Australia. “Do not let the battle pass you by wherever you may be. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents,” Adnani added. He suggested that if his holy warriors did not have an explosive device or a firing weapon, they should instead “smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car.”

CNN received an NYPD internal memo that stressed law enforcement should “remain alert and consider tactics at all times while on patrol.”

“Pay attention to people as they approach and look for their hands as they approach you,” reads a memo obtained by the New York Daily News. “At least one officer must stand outside the vehicle at all times. Pay attention to your surroundings,” read an email obtained by the New York Post.

The FBI and DHS (Department of Homeland Security) have released a similar bulletin to federal officials and local law enforcement across America.

In late October, Muslim Zale Thompson attempted to kill four NYPD officers with an axe, and successfully struck one in the head. Officials believe Thompson was radicalized through Islamist social media sites.

COMMENT:  Pretty chilling.  There are other reports saying that Islamist cells are being activated in Europe, and possibly here.

The president, of course, has nothing to say about this.  I have a feeling he was watching football yesterday.

The fact is that the Paris attacks were spectacularly successful for radical Islam.  The jihadists tied up a world capital for days.  They are undoubtedly being celebrated right now among the "brothers." 

I'm afraid more attacks are probably coming.

January 12, 2015       Permalink

OH, HE FLIES, HE FLIES – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  John Kerry is going to Paris!  Say it, say it!  Our French-speaking secretary of state will now get some real practice.  I'm so excited to report this.

Apparently stung by the worldwide criticism of the absence of American officials at the Paris anti-terrorism march, John Kerry will do Paris.  From Fox: 

Secretary of State John Kerry called criticism that no top U.S. officials attended Sunday's massive march against terrorism in Paris "quibbling" Monday, even as he announced a trip to the French capital later this week for talks on countering Islamist violence.

Kerry announced his plans at a press conference in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, where he had made a long-scheduled appearance at an international investment conference Sunday ahead of President Barack Obama's planned visit to that country later this month.

"I would have personally very much wanted to have been [in Paris]," Kerry said, "but couldn't do so because of the commitment that I had here and it is important to keep these kinds of commitments."

When asked about criticism directed at the Obama administration for not sending a high-ranking official to take part in the march, Kerry said, "I really think that this is sort of quibbling a little bit in the sense that our Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was there and marched, our ambassador [to France Jane Hartley] was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched."

Nuland, in fact, attended a march in Washington.

And...

Among the world leaders who did march, under heavy security, were French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Attorney General Eric Holder did not take part, despite being in Paris for meetings on counterterrorism.

Kerry said he is going to France to reaffirm U.S. solidarity with America's oldest ally. He said as soon as he heard about the march, he asked his team what the earliest time was that he could go.

COMMENT:  Huh?  He had to ask his team when he could go?  Did he get a permission note from mama?

Look, Obama didn't care that much to go or send a high-ranking official.  Joe Biden wasn't doing much yesterday.   Obama could have also prevailed upon former presidents to attend.

The president of the United States sent a message.  A terrible one.

January 12,  2015     Permalink