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

MAY 4,  2015

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

NEW CHIEF – From The New York Times:  "President Obama plans on Tuesday to name Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., a former top commander in Afghanistan who now serves as commandant of the Marine Corps, to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to officials briefed on the selection.  If he is confirmed by the Senate, General Dunford, 59, will take over the top military leadership position at a time of daunting challenges for the armed forces. It would fall to him to complete Mr. Obama’s troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of next year while prosecuting a grinding air war against the Islamic State."  I don't know much about him.  He will succeed Army General Martin Dempsey, who is widely considered a favorite of Obama.  Why am I not thrilled?

TIN EAR – Bill Clinton is often called a superb politician, but the reality is that he's often had a tin ear.  The tin is showing again.  From The Hill:  "Bill Clinton is refusing to step away from the paid speaking circuit despite the political risk the appearances could pose for his wife’s presidential campaign.  'I got to pay our bills,' the former president said in an interview with NBC News. 'And I also give a lot of it to the [Clinton] Foundation every year.'  Democrats have long fretted about the role the former president would play in Hillary Clinton’s second White House bid, fearing a repeat of 2008, when he was at times seen as a liability on the campaign trail."  He'll be a liability again if he doesn't understand the image he's developed as a man who's made tens of millions after leaving the White House, trading on his public position.

SACRIFICE – From the New York Post:  "Thousands of mourners gathered to remember slain NYPD cop Brian Moore Monday night during a vigil at Plainedge High School on Long Island.  'He was a great friend. He always had a smile on his face,' said detective Mike Cerullo, who is working on the case.  'I helped pull him out of the car. It was devastating seeing a guy I went to high school with looking like that.'  Moore, who was shot in the face Saturday, died at Jamaica Hospital when he was taken off life support following brain surgery."  He is the fifth NYPD officer to be killed this year.  Police lives matter.

MAJOR JOURNALISTIC DISCOVERY – From CNBC:  "Credit cards can carry more than high interest rates—they actually might increase your chances of depression.  It's common sense that high levels of debt can stress you out. Now researchers have found a statistically significant link between short-term household debt, such as credit card debt and overdue bills, and increases in symptoms of depression.  The link between depression and debt was strongest among unmarried people, people near retirement and those who are less educated, according to the new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The study also found that, on average, people's depressive symptoms tend to increase as their short-term debt rises."  I never would have known.  I do appreciate hard-hitting journalism.

May 4, 2015       Permalink

INCIDENT IN TEXAS – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  As most readers know by now, there was a shooting last night in Garland, Texas, outside a meeting hosted by anti-Islamists.  Both perpetrators were shot dead by police.  We're now learning more.  From Fox: 

Police in Texas were still checking a car for possible explosives early Monday and authorities reportedly were searching the Phoenix home of the two suspects who were killed in an attack on an art exhibit that inflamed radical Muslims.

The City of Garland, Texas said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that the men drove up to the Curtis Culwell Center on Sunday night and began shooting at a security officer. Garland Police Department officers returned fire, killing both gunmen, the statement said.

And...

One of the suspects was known to U.S. intelligence and had been part of a recent terror investigation for allegedly trying to travel to Africa, home of the Al Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab, sources told Fox News.

Officials have been at the Phoenix apartment complex – some 1,100 miles from the Garland, Texas, crime scene -- since late Sunday night and are reviewing computer records from materials found at the residence. Police tape continues to surround the area, KSAZ reports.

Authorities also are investigating Twitter messages from overseas posted prior to the event calling for violence. The tweets were posted by a 25-year-old American jihadi with al-Shabaab, investigators told Fox News.

FBI spokesman Perryn Collier on Monday confirmed that the Phoenix residence is being searched for indications of what prompted the shooting.

COMMENT:  Some news outlets are reporting a possible ISIS connection to the episode, but we can't confirm that yet.  There have been a number of recent stories speculating that ISIS was trying to become active in the United States.

May 4, 2015       Permalink

THE INEVITABLE DIVIDE – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  The violence in Baltimore has widened the racial divide in America, something that was supposed to narrow under Barack Obama.  Obama can count his successes on the fingers of one ear.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

Americans are bracing for a summer of racial disturbances around the country, such as those that have wracked Baltimore, with African Americans and whites deeply divided about why the urban violence has occurred, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found.

A resounding 96% of adults surveyed said it was likely there would be additional racial disturbances this summer, a signal that Americans believe Baltimore’s recent problems aren’t a local phenomenon but instead are symptomatic of broader national problems.

When asked to explain recent events in Baltimore and other cities that have seen confrontations between police and members of the African-American community, blacks and whites viewed the situation differently.

Asked to choose between two possible explanations for recent events, 60% of blacks said they reflected “long-standing frustrations about police mistreatment of African Americans.” Some 27% of black respondents said the disturbances were caused by people who used protests over an African American man dying in police custody “as an excused to engage in looting and violence.”

But among whites, the balance of opinion flipped: 58% said people were seizing an excuse to loot, while 32% said the events reflected long-standing frustrations with police.

While most people in the survey predicted further racial disturbances this summer, a smaller share expected them to hit close to home. The poll found that 53% of whites and 46% of African Americans said it was likely there would be a racial disturbance in the metropolitan area nearest to them.

COMMENT:  What a grim prospect.  Back to the sixties.  I'd like to hear Hillary Clinton say something about the situation, but she's probably still deciding what she thinks, or is supposed to think.

May 4, 2015       Permalink

AND BIG BEN, TOO – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  And Dr. Ben Carson has also just announced for president.  From CBS News:   

Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson is running for president, he said in an interview aired by CBS News affiliate WKRC in Cincinnati Sunday.

Carson said, "I'm willing to be part of the equation and therefore, I'm announcing my candidacy for President of the United States of America." Carson will follow up with an announcement event in Detroit Monday.

Though he may not yet be a household name, a draft-Ben Carson movement has already raised over $13 million, and Carson himself has a simple answer for why it is he should run. "I began to ask myself why are people clamoring for me to do this? I represented a lot of the same thoughts that they have," Dr. Carson says. "I'm not 100% sure 'politics as usual' is going to save us. I think we are in a severe problem...a problematic situation."

Dr. Carson joins the race the day before businesswoman Carly Fiorina. Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida have already declared their candidacies.

A recent CBS News poll found that 34 percent of Republicans said they would consider voting for Carson for the nomination, tying him for fourth place with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (those who would be more widely considered include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Rubio). Only 10 percent of Republicans said they wouldn't consider voting for him, and more than half - 56 percent - said they still didn't know enough about him.

COMMENT:  Carson has actually been speaking for some time.   He presents himself well, but his lack of political experience, and unfamiliarity with some issues, have hurt him.  He is given to gaffes, but, at base, he's terrific, and shows the depths of the Republican field.

One by one, that field grows – governors, senators, a former corporate leader, a distinguished neurosurgeon.  Now compare please to the Democratic field:  Well, there's Hillary Clinton.  Then there's H.R. Clinton.  There's Hillary Rodham Clinton.  And, oh yes, there's H. Rodham Clinton, and here comes Hillary R. Clinton.  What a lineup!  Impressive, isn't it?

May 4, 2015       Permalink

WELCOME CARLY – AT 8:56 A.M. ET:  Carly Fiorina has just formally declared her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.  From The New York Times: 

Carly Fiorina became the second woman and the first former chief executive to enter the 2016 presidential campaign when she announced on Monday that her private-sector background and conservative credentials make her best positioned to capture the Republican nomination and take on Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“I think I’m the best person for the job because I understand how the economy actually works,” Ms. Fiorina told George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Monday. “I understand executive decision making which is making a tough call in a tough time with high stakes.”

Ms. Fiorina’s long-shot campaign — polls show only a sliver of Republicans would support her at this stage — has nevertheless attracted the attention of conservatives in early nominating states, largely because of her increasingly pointed attacks on Mrs. Clinton and her impassioned anti-abortion position. (“Liberals believe that flies are worth protecting but that the life of an unborn child is not,” she said in January.)

Ms. Fiorina said in a conference call with reporters that her experience working her way up from secretary to the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard made her stand out in a packed Republican field consisting mostly of senators and governors.

“Our nation was intended to be a citizen government, and somehow we’ve come to this place in our nation’s history where we think we need a professional political class,” the former chief executive said of her corporate background. She added that it is a “pivotal point for our nation” and therefore “totally reasonable to look outside the political class.”

COMMENT:  I like her.  She's strong, clear and articulate.  She's been a wonderful candidate so far.

Would she make a good president?  Who really knows?  I think we may, down the line, be asking whether she'd make a strong vice-presidential candidate.  I could easily see a Rubio-Fiorina ticket, or Walker-Fiorina.  In that sense she must be careful not to slam the "political class" too hard.  She may need that class in only months.

May 4,  2015     Permalink

MAY 3,  2015

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

O'MALLEY DEFIANT – From the New York Post:  "WASHINGTON – Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley called the death of Freddie Gray and subsequent civil unrest a 'heartbreaking setback' for the city — but still plans to launch any presidential bid from Baltimore.  'I wouldn’t think of announcing anyplace else,' O’Malley said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press.'  'Baltimore — this has been a setback for us — but our story is not over. We are not defeated as a city and we are not about to throw in the towel on our country,' he said.  O’Malley, the former mayor of the city, blamed problems in his hometown on a lack of a federal agenda for cities and federal cash — something he intends to make 'central' to his likely Democratic presidential campaign against frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton."  Right back to the sixties.  Typical of what's happened to the Democratic Party.  Party of the past.

YOUTH ENDORSES AMERICAN STRENGTH – From the College Fix:  "More than half of millennials recently surveyed by the Harvard Institute of Politics backed sending ground troops to fight against ISIS, according to the poll’s results.  Specifically, nearly six in 10 18- to 29-year-olds – or 57 percent of those surveyed – said they support sending ground troops to fight against the latest war on terror in the Middle East, according to the poll, released Wednesday.  The support in fighting ISIS is part of growing millennial support toward U.S. military intervention abroad, results found.  In asking whether it is 'sometimes necessary to attack potentially hostile countries, rather than waiting until we are attacked to respond,' the poll saw a 7 percent increase from 2014 in support of the statement.  '(Millennials) desire to show a more forceful hand overseas,' said John Della Volpe, director of polling, in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday."  Maybe our side's message is getting through.

AND HE WAS FROM BALTIMORE – From the New York Post:  "...it was 100 years ago this May 6, at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, that Babe Ruth hit his first major-league home run — against the Yankees.
Ruth, a burly young left-handed pitcher then playing for the Red Sox, was the first batter in the top of the third inning. He turned on the first pitch he saw from Jack Warhop and belted it into Seat 26, Section 3 of the right-field grandstand.  It was his 18th official at-bat and fifth hit since his major league debut on July 11, 1914. His previous four hits consisted of three doubles and one single, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.  Subsequent to his home run, Ruth singled twice in the game, which he ultimately lost 4-3 in the 13th inning.  Despite the outcome, Ruth — who pitched the complete game — had proven himself both on the mound and in the batter’s box, and reporters of the day already were sensing his immense two-way potential."  George Herman (Babe) Ruth is buried not far from us.  Kids still come and leave baseball caps and baseballs at his grave.

May 3, 2015        Permalink

BRITAIN TO VOTE – AT 12:48 P.M. ET:  We don't seem too aware of it here, but Britain votes in a major national election this week.  And, dreadful thought, there is a good chance that Labor will form the next government.  That will thrill Obama, and depress mature adults.  Labor's leader is the son of Marxists.  From AFP:   

Written off as a weird Westminster insider who only became Labour Party leader by knifing his brother, Ed Miliband is now seen as having more than a sporting chance of being Britain’s next prime minister.

Despite his awkward demeanour and frequent setbacks, the 45-year-old has retained an unerring self-confidence, which a growing number of people believe could propel him to the country’s top job.

“I’ve been underestimated at every turn,” he said in a fiery exchange with a fearsome interviewer, Jeremy Paxman, during a television grilling alongside Prime Minister David Cameron at the start of the campaign.

In sharp contrast to his often insipid performances against Cameron in parliament, Miliband has appeared energetic and enthused during recent campaign appearances, displaying an appetite for risk-taking.

He took part in a debate of opposition leaders, ignoring warnings he was on a hiding to nothing, and agreed to an interview with acid-tongued comedian Russell Brand, Britain’s voice of anti-politics.

Miliband said the kitchen-table interview would make the campaign “more interesting” and he could yet have the last laugh if he manages to win over some of Brand’s nine million Twitter followers.

But in a television appearance in which audience members criticized his party’s record on public finances and pro-business policies, Miliband was on the defensive and stumbled as he left the stage.

And...

His old-fashioned left-wing beliefs have also attracted criticism — the right-wing media branding him “Red Ed” — as has his record on banking deregulation while working at the Treasury in the years before the financial crash of 2008.

Perhaps most damaging, however, is the family rift that the fiercely ambitious Miliband created by taking on and beating his older brother David, a protege of former prime minister Tony Blair, for the Labour party leadership in 2010.

Ed said recently that the fraternal divisions are now “healing.”

His biographers Mehdi Hasan and James Macintyre said it was seen by some “as an almost biblical act of fratricide.”

His brother left to work in the United States shortly after the defeat, but recently tweeted a picture of his postal vote with the hashtag “Ed4PM.”

COMMENT:  The voting is Thursday.  It will be a sad day if Labor wins.  Labor would be happy to back Obama's left-wing agenda in the international arena, and reinforce Obama's reluctance to confront the new Russian expansionism.  We really don't need this.

May 3, 2015       Permalink

POLICE AFFECTED NATIONALLY? – AT 12:15 P.M. ET:  There's concern that policing around the country will be negatively impacted by the manner in which the police in Baltimore have been charged.  From AP:

ATLANTA (AP) — National outrage over the death of a black man while in police custody and the speed with which a prosecutor decided to charge the officers who arrested him could have a chilling effect on law enforcement — at least in the short term while passions are running so high.

Former law enforcement officials, prosecutors and defense attorneys say the intense scrutiny being cast on the behavior of police departments nationwide — especially regarding their treatment of minorities — could lead to a temptation to stop pursuing certain crimes and suspects rather than risk accusations of misconduct.

"If it's a not-serious street crime, they are probably going to turn and go the other way," said Frank Rotondo, a former policeman in New York state who now lobbies for police chiefs in Georgia. "They don't want to be accused."

Rotondo said such a temptation might be strongest for white police officers who must decide whether to intervene in cases involving minority suspects.

"It would allow that white police officer to think twice," Rotondo said. "It really would, because even if his actions are correct he might be second-guessed."

Rotondo isn't the only one who thinks that some officers might balk from getting into a fight or using force, even when it's justified.

"The biggest danger is that the police officer will not properly perform his duties," said Robert Leight, a former detective in Pennsylvania who has worked for the FBI and as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney. "It puts him at risk, it puts the other officers around him at risk, and it puts the public at risk. ... A police officer must react instinctively as he has been trained. If a police officer first thinks about what liabilities he will be facing, it's too late."

COMMENT:   Maybe we should start thinking about this before the next round of police bashing starts.  People may start calling 911 and finding that no one shows up at their door. 

May 3, 2015       Permalink

CURFEW LIFTED – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:  The scholarly mayor of Baltimore has lifted the curfew in effect most of the week.  Now we'll see how the population behaves.  From The New York Times: 

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore authorities announced on Sunday that they had lifted the citywide curfew that the police said helped to curb violent protests here, but that had also come under mounting criticism as days passed without new bouts of widespread rioting and looting.

“Effective immediately, I have rescinded my order instituting a citywide curfew,” Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said in a statement on Sunday morning. “My goal has always been to not have the curfew in place a single day longer than was necessary.”

It's amazing how this "mayor" always states her goal after the event is over.

The curfew, which ran from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., had been, with few exceptions, enforced since Tuesday night. Many businesses shut down hours before the curfew began each night to allow employees to return to their homes, and workers throughout the city complained of lost wages.

Maybe the city fathers can fine the rioters so some of those lost wages can be made up.

In addition to the concerns about the economic impact of the curfew, many demonstrators accused the police and the National Guard of rigorously enforcing it in predominantly black neighborhoods while white residents were allowed to flout it without fear of arrest for a misdemeanor.

COMMENT:  Now the real damage will be felt.  This is tourist season in Washington, D.C., and nearby Baltimore.  Know anyone who's enthusiastic about going to Baltimore?  It has the fifth highest crime rate in the country. 

And how enthusiastic will the police be to enforce the law?

May 3,  2015     Permalink