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MARCH 4,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:06 P.M. ET: 

STRIKEOUT – From The Hill:  "The Senate failed on Wednesday to override President Obama’s veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, falling five votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in a 62-37 vote.  It’s the first time Congress has voted on whether to override a veto from Obama and could be a sign of things to come, with Republicans in charge of the House and Senate.  Eight Democrats voted with Republicans to override Obama: Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Mark Warner (Va.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.), Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Tom Carper (Del.) and Jon Tester (Mont.).  Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who backs the pipeline, missed the vote."  Disgraceful, just disgraceful.  The nation backs the pipeline in every poll.  Congress voted it.  Workers need it.  And Obama vetoes it to satisfy environmental extremists.  Too bad there weren't more independent-thinking Democrats who would buck this radical president.

DEPRESSING – Dem Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate to succeed the retiring Barbara Mikulski.  Van Hollen is typical of the "progressive" Democrats who now dominate the once-responsible Democratic Party.  He's a favorite of Nancy Pelosi and favors the Palestinian side in the Mideast.  (His daughter lives in Ramallah, on the West Bank.)  Not good news for those who wish the Democratic Party would grow up.  Maryland is a Democratic state, although it just elected a Republican governor.  Anything can happen in the Senate race.

DUMP HILLARY? – Latest revelations about Hillary Clinton maintaining a private, unapproved, insecure e-mail account, with a private server, while secretary of state, are adding to Dem apprehensions about her as a candidate.  It's clear the base of the party would prefer someone to her left.  Clinton is still well ahead of any challenger for the nomination, but that could change if more comes out that reinforces an already bad image of her as secretive, dishonest, and someone who doesn't believe the rules apply to her.  If Clinton's presidential effort should weaken, Dems would be hard pressed to come up with a winning candidate.  Elizabeth Warren would be the quick favorite, but watching Warren campaign is about as exciting as emptying the dishwasher.

COLD CAUCUS – From The Hill:  "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Wednesday that senators were launching an Arctic caucus, which will focus on helping build U.S. leadership in the region.  The Alaska Republican and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) are forming the caucus, which will include discussions on a range of issues including defense, energy, environment and trade.  'I'm calling on colleagues in the Senate to join me, to step up, to help us not only build out policy initiatives, but really take that leadership role we should be doing as an Arctic nation,' she said from the Senate floor. 'Embrace your inner-Arctic self.'"  I think they should make Al Gore an honorary member, and prove to him that there's still ice in America.

March 4, 2015       Permalink

BE PREPARED – AT 11:08 A.M.  ET:  I don't know if it's based on specific intelligence, but the New York Police Department is preparing for a possible ISIS attack.  From the New York Post: 

The NYPD has quietly spent the last six months making preparations for a potential ISIS assault in Manhattan, which police fear could be similar to the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, sources told The Post.

Cops have been trained to deal with coordinated bombings and shootings, as in the four-day terror assault that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai, the sources said.

Police trainers have even placed a map of Manhattan over a map of Mumbai to show the geographical similarities, one source said.

Several hundred cops have been reassigned to counterterrorism duties, and some have been trained to use high-powered rifles to take out potential terrorist snipers.

Concerns about an ISIS attack against New York have escalated ever since the US military recently announced plans to help drive the terrorist group out of its stronghold in Mosul, Iraq, a source said.

COMMENT:  It's encouraging that this kind of training is going ahead, and isn't being stopped by New York's left-wing mayor's office.  Sooner or later, we'll be hit again.  Remember that the purpose of terror is to terrorize a population and force it to live in fear.  A series of small attacks against America on the same day may do just that.  New York is still one of the major and logical targets.

March 4, 2015       Permalink

WHOOPS – AT 10:44 A.M. ET:  Have the talks with Iran hit a dead end?   There are reports today that they've gone wobbly, and that even the massive concessions already made by Washington are not enough.  From Reuters:

(Reuters) - Iran rejected on Tuesday as "unacceptable" U.S. President Barack Obama's demand that it freeze sensitive nuclear activities for at least 10 years but said it would continue talks on a deal, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Iran laid out the position as the U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers met for a second day of negotiations and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a stinging critique of the agreement they are trying to hammer out.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met a day after Obama told Reuters that Iran must commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear work for a landmark atomic deal to be reached.

"Iran will not accept excessive and illogical demands," Zarif was quoted by Fars as saying.

"Obama’s stance ... is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases," he was reported as saying, adding that talks with Kerry in Switzerland would nonetheless carry on.

COMMENT:  I don't know how our negotiators can deal with such a red line without making even more catastrophic concessions.  My fear is that is exactly what Obama might do, just to get a piece of paper.  It should be the fear of every American.

March 4, 2015       Permalink

THE HEART OF THE MATTER – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:  With all the controversy over Bibi's speech yesterday, it took the editorial page of the Washington Post finally to get to the heart of the matter, and make a reasonable demand of the administration: 

THE CONCERNS about a prospective nuclear agreement with Iran raised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a speech to Congress on Tuesday are not — as the White House was quick to point out — new. They had, for example, been spelled out in Senate hearings, as an editorial we published last month recounted. Mr. Netanyahu’s decision to repeat this case before a joint meeting of Congress in defiance of the White House and leading Democrats risked turning what should be a substantive debate into a partisan scrimmage.

Nevertheless, Mr. Netanyahu’s arguments deserve a serious response from the Obama administration — one it has yet to provide. The White House has sought to dismiss the Israeli leader as a politician seeking reelection; has said that he was wrong in his support for the Iraq war and in his opposition to an interim agreement with Iran; and has claimed that he offers no alternative to President Obama’s policy. Such rhetoric will not satisfy those in and out of Congress who share Mr. Netanyahu’s legitimate questions.

Excellent point.  Obama told us that Netanyahu's speech distracted us from the substance of the Iran negotiations, but then tells us almost nothing about the things being negotiated.

In discussing Netanyahu's argument, the Post says: 

In essence, this was an argument that Iran must be sanctioned and contained while its clerical regime remains in power. That has been the explicit or de facto U.S. policy since 1979, but Mr. Obama appears to be betting that detente can better control Iran’s nuclear ambitions and, perhaps, produce better behavior over time. Yet he has shied from explicitly making that case; instead, his aides argue that the only alternative to his approach is war.

Mr. Netanyahu strongly disputed that point. “Iran’s nuclear program can be rolled back well beyond the current proposal by insisting on a better deal and keeping up the pressure on a very vulnerable regime,” he said. Is that wrong? For that matter, is it acceptable to free Iran from sanctions within a decade and allow it unlimited nuclear capacity? Rather than continuing its political attacks on Mr. Netanyahu, the administration ought to explain why the deal it is contemplating is justified — or reconsider it.

COMMENT:  The Washington Post is a liberal paper, but its editorial page is fiercely independent, and proves it once again.  I'm surprised that Post editors are still invited to Washington parties. 

The president owes us more than glib little comments.  The Iranian nuclear program is a direct threat to tens of millions of people.  Some seriousness please.

March 4, 2015       Permalink

IN HISTORY – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  I was struck by the constant references to history in Netanyahu's speech before Congress yesterday.   Bibi knows history, unlike our current president, who only thinks he does. 

I was also struck by Bibi's powerful presence as a leader.  Like him or not, and there is a valid debate about the man, he filled the room.   We are reminded of another figure who filled the room on this day in 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt took the oath of office, the last president to be inaugurated on March 4th.  In 1937 he would be sworn in for his second term on January 20th, the inauguration date we still maintain. 

Leadership has a style.  The presidency has a style.  Peggy Noonan, one of Ronald Reagan's key speechwriters, once said of Reagan that he knew how to be president.  He had a largeness, a reassuring presence.  When Roosevelt spoke to the nation by radio, in his "fireside chats," he had that same reassuring presence.  Whether one agrees or disagrees with Roosevelt's policies, he had the instinct of leadership that even his opponents conceded.

They said of Harry Truman that he did the biggest things in the biggest ways and the littlest things in the littlest ways.  Our current president does everything in the littlest ways.  He is a petty, small-minded man, a local politician.  In his response to Netanyahu's eloquent address, Obama's smallness was on its usual display.  Bibi never uttered a word of criticism of Obama, but for months we have been embarrassed as Americans by the petty slights and insults toward the prime minister coming from the White House.  No comment was deemed too crude, no insult too severe.  A high official referred to the prime minister of Israel as a "chicken s..."  As one commentator said yesterday, he wished this president could be as angry at those who behead Christians as he is at the prime minister of of Israel, an important ally.

But of course this is the president who sent the bust of Winston Churchill back to Britain.  This is the president who refused to have lunch with the leader of France during a D-Day commemoration.  This is the president who went out and played golf only minutes after being informed of the beheading of an American by ISIS. 

Have you ever heard anyone say of Obama, "He knows what to do"?  Even his partisans shy away from that.

The party follows the leader.  Some, not all, Democratic responses to yesterday's speech followed the pettiness of Barack Obama, including Nancy Pelosi's childlike comment that she was "near tears" because she felt Bibi was insulting the intelligence of Americans.  No he wasn't.  He was showing respect for that intelligence by addressing the American people in a mature, thoughtful manner.

It's just that we're not used to that style any longer.

March 4,  2015     Permalink

MARCH 3,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET:

OBAMA THE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER – From CNS:  "(CNSNews.com) - President Obama said his Task Force on 21st Century Policing has presented him with 'a very specific set of recommendations,' including the need for police officers to be 'seen as enhancing the life of the community beyond law enforcement.'  To build trust, Obama's task force suggests that police officers 'be engaged with the community, not just in a (police) stop but also in a school, also working with children, also being seen as enhancing the life of the community beyond law enforcement.'"  I'm sure this will deeply impress the gang bangers.  Just what they've always wanted, cops teaching volleyball. 

BRAVE NANCY FIGHTS THROUGH THE TEARS – From The Hill:  "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hammered Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, saying the Israeli prime minister's speech to Congress was an 'insult' to the country.  'The unbreakable bonds between the United States and Israel are rooted in our shared values, our common ideals and mutual interests,' Pelosi said in a statement just after the speech.  'That is why, as one who values the U.S. — Israel relationship, and loves Israel, I was near tears throughout the Prime Minister’s speech — saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United States as part of the P5 +1 nations, and saddened by the condescension toward our knowledge of the threat posed by Iran and our broader commitment to preventing nuclear proliferation.'"  I suspect that what really drove Nancy to tears was the realization that Netanyahu blew Obama away.  What Congress saw was a real leader, not the imitation brand in the White House.

A NEW DAY – Earlier today we quoted a Saudi columnist praising Netanyahu's appearance before Congress.  In fact, there's more support from Bibi coming in from the Arab world.  From Truth Revolt:  "Even the Editor-in-Chief of Al Arabiya English believes that when it comes to Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is right and President Obama is wrong. Faisal J. Abbas, whose leftist credentials are impeccable (he blogs for the Huffington Post) said that in a recent ceremony to thank IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, Netanyahu correctly estimated the threat. Abbas wrote on Al Arabiya, 'The Israeli PM managed to hit the nail right on the head when he said that Middle Eastern countries are collapsing and that 'terror organizations, mostly backed by Iran, are filling in the vacuum.'"  Abbas continued, 'In just a few words, Mr. Netanyahu managed to accurately summarize a clear and present danger, not just to Israel (which obviously is his concern), but to other U.S. allies in the region.'"  I hope that, over at the White House, Captain Ridiculous read those comments.

PETRAEUS ENTERS PLEA – From The New York Times – "WASHINGTON — David H. Petraeus, the best-known military commander of his generation, has reached a plea deal with the Justice Department and admitted providing his highly classified journals to a mistress when he was the director of the C.I.A.  Mr. Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, a misdemeanor. He is eligible for up to one year in prison, but prosecutors will recommend a sentence of probation for two years and a $40,000 fine.  The plea deal completes a spectacular fall for Mr. Petraeus, a retired four-star general who was once discussed as a possible candidate for vice president or even president. He led the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and was the architect of a counterinsurgency strategy that at one time seemed a model for future warfare."  I cannot prove it, but I've always felt there was something suspicious about the way Petraeus has been pursued, as if this administration wanted to hold something over him because they saw him as a political threat.  But I have no documented evidence. 

March 3, 2015       Permalink

THE BILL IS IN THE MAIL – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:   The cost of "higher" education is now in the realm of madness.  Get this, from AP: 

Duke University students will pay higher tuition bills next fall, with undergraduates paying 4 percent more and those seeking graduate or professional degrees seeing similar increases.

The Durham school's Board of Trustees on Saturday approved the higher costs for the next academic year.

Undergraduate tuition will be nearly $48,000. The total cost including room, board and fees will be almost $63,300. Duke gives half its students some kind of financial help. The private university expects to spend more than $130 million on undergraduate financial aid.

Tuition for Duke's graduate and professional schools will go up an average of 4.4 percent next academic year. Pursuing a master of divinity degree will cost $21,500 and an MBA nearly $61,000.

A year of law school will cost $56,500 and medical school nearly $54,000.

COMMENT:  Please note that only half the students receive financial aid.  That means that the other half will pay about a quarter of a million dollars for an "education." 

Will someone please account for these outlandish prices? 

Will someone do some real reporting, or are journalists completely intimidated by their alma maters and their dream of someday receiving honorary degrees or invitations to give commencement addresses?

I'd imagine the middle class is being devastated by these numbers.  The rich can pay, and the poor, which often includes groups prized by the academic left, are subsidized.  It's the people in the middle who'll be squeezed out.

March 3, 2015       Permalink

THE MARCH OF LIBERALISM – AT 10:14 A.M. ET: As night follows day, crime follows liberalism.  After two decades of dramatic crime reduction under Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg, New Yorkers elected the hopelessly leftist Bill de Blasio, who immediately took on the police, who had been heroic in driving the murder rate down 80%.  Now, murder is back.  From the New York Daily News:   

The murder rate in New York City has spiked an alarming 20% in the first two months of the year, prompting NYPD brass to rethink strategy to curb the deadly trend.

Since Jan. 1, 54 murders have been recorded in the city, up nine from the same period a year ago, according to the grim stats released Monday.

Shootings have also climbed 20% — with 149 so far in 2015 compared with 126 in the first two months of 2014.

But overall, crime has dropped 11% in most major crime categories, including burglary, robbery, rape, grand larceny and auto theft.

Murder is the indicator.  It always tells the story.

The bump in killings came despite a 12-day span over the first two weeks of February when no murders were recorded.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said the rise in killings and shootings should not be taken as indications of “the bad old days roaring back.”

COMMENT:  That is a huge murder increase.  We won't pre-judge, and New York is not yet back to the bad old days.  We'll watch to see if the trend continues.  In that case de Blasio might have a hard time getting re-elected.

William Bratton was actually Giuliani's first police commissioner and did a fine job.  De Blasio brought him back, probably to ease fears that the new mayor would be soft on crime.  But de Blasio's anti-police attitude has had its impact, and I'm not sure Bratton is really allowed to do his job.   If not, he should resign.

March 3, 2015       Permalink

REMARKABLE – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:59 A.M. ET:  When a Saudi columnist applauds the prime minister of Israel, we know that something is changing in the Mideast.  There is this extraordinary quote from Ahmad Al-Faraj, in the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah:

Since Obama is the godfather of the prefabricated revolutions in the Arab world, and since he is the ally of political Islam, [which is] the caring mother of [all] the terrorist organizations, and since he is working to sign an agreement with Iran that will come at the expense of the U.S.'s longtime allies in the Gulf, I am very glad of Netanyahu's firm stance and [his decision] to speak against the nuclear agreement at the American Congress despite the Obama administration's anger and fury. I believe that Netanyahu's conduct will serve our interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents. Do you agree with me?

COMMENT:  Yup, we agree with you.  And we believe that many Arab leaders are cheering Netanyahu this morning.  On Iran, he speaks for them. 

We may be seeing the start of some new alliances in the Mideast.  They may just be alliances of convenience, but they can move the region in the right direction.

Obama would probably oppose that, too.  We learned just days ago that he has been withholding critical intelligence information from Arab and European nations, as these nations confront the Russians in Ukraine and ISIS all over the Mideast. 

What Rudy Giuliani said about Obama several weeks ago is what millions of Americans are thinking – that he's a man of strange loyalties.  Millions more are probably thinking it today.

March 3, 2015       Permalink

THE SPEECH – AT 8:43 A.M. ET:  The prime minister of Israel makes his controversial speech to Congress today.  The number of Democrats who plan to boycott the address has now ballooned to almost 60, and includes Elizabeth Warren.

It is absolutely disgraceful.  Whether one agrees or disagrees with Bibi Netanyahu, his country is one of America's closest allies, and the only nation in the Mideast that shares our culture and values.  The walkout by the spineless Dems is clearly the work of the White House, in conjunction with the Congressional Black Caucus, which has led the rudeness.

I truly believe that this walkout symbolizes the end of the Democratic Party as we once knew it.  The party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy is gone.  Now we have the party of George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, a party built upon the blind worship of the current president.  Imagine:  the prime minister has come, by invitation of the speaker of the House, to address some of the most critical issues of our time, and almost 60 members will refuse to hear him, serving instead the greater glory of Barack.  The little town councilman from Chicago has once again shown his pettiness. 

As for the 60, many come from safe Dem districts or states, so they probably won't be punished.  But they deserve to be shamed.

March 3,  2015     Permalink