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MAY 1,  2015

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

BALTIMORE – There is rejoicing on the streets of Baltimore tonight at the news that six police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray are being charged with serious crimes.  We don't have all the facts of the case, but the highly politicized announcement of the state's attorney, and the subsequent celebrations, gave us a very good picture of what mob rule is like.  The state's attorney said she heard the cries for justice in the streets.  Bad statement.  She's only supposed to hear the evidence.

DERSH'S VIEW – Alan Dershowitz is one of the finest appeals lawyers in the United States, and he has never hesitated to criticize bad policing.  But his comments on today's charges in Baltimore were blunt.  From Breitbart:  "'This is a very sad day for justice in the United States, in Baltimore and in Maryland,' Dershowitz said. 'Today had nothing to do with justice. Today was crowd control. Everything was motivated by a threat of riot and a desire to prevent riots. There is no plausible, hypothetical, conceivable case for murder under the facts as we now know them. You might say conceivably, there is a case for manslaughter,' he continued  He added, 'My prediction—they have overplayed their hand. It is unlikely they’ll get any convictions in this case as a result of this and if they do there is a good possibility they will get reversed on appeal.'" 

KRAUTHAMMER'S VIEW – Charles Krauthammer has weighed in on the Baltimore charges.  From National Review:  "The problem in evaluating, says Charles Krauthammer, is that we know nothing. 'We don’t know if she has the evidence because the report has been given to her confidentially,' Krauthammer said on Friday’s Special Report. 'So we don’t know what happened inside the van. We don’t know what she was told happened inside the van. . . . We will know when the evidence is out, we will know at trial, we will know looking back, if this is warranted.  But I must say,' Krauthammer continued, “'hat the way that she spoke at the very end, in which she essentially said to the mob, "I will speak on your behalf, I will bring you justice, and now you will bring peace," — she doesn’t speak for the mob, and her job is not to bring peace. Her job is to adjudicate these issues without consideration for what’s going to happen outside.  It looks like appeasement of the mob,' said Krauthammer."

REAL CLASS – In the midst of all the depressing news, we are reminded that we still have examples of real class.  From The Hill:  "Former President George W. Bush kicked off an annual 100-kilometer (about 62-mile) bike ride at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on Thursday to highlight support for wounded veterans.  Bush and around 20 service members are taking part in the fifth annual bike ride, which lasts three days on his 1,583-acre Prairie Chapel Ranch and part of the Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative. 'I’ll be riding across the deserts of Texas with wounded warriors to show the unbelievable character of our men and women in uniform,' Bush said in a statement, describing the ride as a way 'to herald people who were dealt a severe blow and said, "I’m not going to let it tear me down.""  We look forward to Barack Obama's next vacation.

May 1, 2015       Permalink

THE REAL WORLD – AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  Protesters in Baltimore are getting a taste of the real world of racial politics, and they're learning it isn't about them.  From the New York Post: 

BALTIMORE — Protesters in Baltimore criticized the Rev. Al Sharpton and other national civil rights leaders Thursday for turning them away from a meeting about the community.

“I wanted to give my voice,” Shamar Gordon, 17, said after being blocked from the summit at the New Shiloh Baptist Church.

After Sharpton discussed protests in Baltimore and New York with Mayor Bill de Blasio, he met at the Baltimore church with the presidents of the NAACP and the National Urban League and “Charm City” Mayor Stephanie Williams-Blake at what was billed as a summit to “support the city of Baltimore” and “improve community-police relations.”

But when a dozen youths and other residents showed up, they were told the meeting was invitation-only.

“Reverend Sharpton?” Gordon said. “Al Sharpton need to roll out!”

After a tense hallway discussion, leaders let the group in and a community representative spoke at the end.

COMMENT:  Chumps, it's never about you.  It's about the leadership and how they can get their TV time and enhance their careers. 

BULLETIN:  We just learned that Baltimore police officers will be "charged" in the Freddie Gray case.  We wait for details and make no judgments, but it seems awfully early to be charging people, without a full investigation first.  We do know that the state's attorney is claiming that Gray was illegally arrested.  That may be very difficult to prove...depending on who's on the jury.  Stand by.

May 1, 2015       Permalink

MARCO vs. SCOTT – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:    It's really too early to make definitive statements, but there are signs that the race for the GOP presidential nomination may well come down to a battle between Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, two fine candidates.  From The Politico: 

ANKENY, Iowa— Republican insiders in early-voting states say a crucial battle is emerging in the 2016 presidential race between Marco Rubio and Scott Walker, competing to establish themselves as the party’s “bridge” candidate who can appeal to both the establishment and grass-roots activists.

As it has become increasingly apparent that they are key rivals, the men have started taking regular, subtle but unmistakable, shots at one another. Walker talks about the need to nominate someone who is not from Washington and implicitly compares Rubio to Barack Obama. Rubio suggests that there is “no way” a governor like Walker is prepared to deal with global crises facing the United States.

Dozens of interviews on the ground in the early states, backed up by recent polling, find many Republicans torn between Walker and Rubio.

A Public Policy Polling survey this week shows Walker and Rubio in first and second place in Iowa. “The key to Walker’s success is that he’s winning both among voters who are most concerned about electability in the general election and among voters who are most concerned with having the most conservative candidate,” the Democratic firm said in a release explaining the numbers. Rubio and Walker tied in the poll for being the most frequent second choice of voters.

COMMENT:  Jeb Bush is also in the running, and John Kasich is getting ready to take the plunge.  We have a good field. 

Compare please to what used to be the party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.  They have:  one zillionaire corruptionist who won't explain her finances; a shrieking senator from Massachusetts who can't get her "native American" background straight; a former governor of Maryland who just got booed on the streets of Baltimore over his failures; and a 75-year-old socialist from Vermont. 

Great slate...if this were Russia.

May 1, 2015       Permalink 

OH DEAR, IT'S MAY DAY – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:   People in most areas won't notice.  But in very specific places in Amerika – the preferred spelling for May Day celebrants – there may be disruptions.  As a public service, Urgent Agenda hereby posts information for residents of the People's Democratic Republic of Seattle, a nation-state and paradise out west.  From king5.com: 

SEATTLE -- Seattle police are warning drivers that May Day means they should be prepared for rolling slowdowns and heavy traffic from planned marches.

May 1 is International Workers' Day. A number of events are scheduled to take place in Seattle.

A Black Lives Matter event is the first of the day, scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. at MLK Memorial Park.

At 1 p.m., a rally for Farm Workers is being hosted by Students for Farm Worker Justice at Casa Latina.

The Marcha Y Manifestacio Anual del 1o de Mayo is a rally and march for worker and immigrant rights that begins at 2 p.m. in Judkins Park.

The march will depart from St. Mary's Church at 3:00 p.m. and end with a rally at the Federal Courthouse at 700 Stewart Street in Downtown Seattle. Those taking part in the rally for farm workers also plan to join this march.

Finally at 6 p.m., the May Day Anticapitalist March is scheduled to start from Seattle Central College. The college has elected to end classes early for the day and will close at 5 p.m.

The Black Lives Matter group plans to join the International Workers and Immigrants Day rally and march as well as the later anti-capitalist march.

Seattle police say they are ready for May Day. In previous years, marches and riots have ended in destruction to local businesses and arrests. In 2014, officers arrested 17 people over the course of the evening...

...Other events are set to take place in Western Washington cities on Friday, including Occupy Bellingham peace vigil set to start at 4 p.m.

COMMENT:  Be there.  Names of those who don't show up will be duly noted.

May 1, 2015       Permalink

AMERICANS BACK DRONE STRIKES – AT 9:06 A.M. ET:  Americans sense the dangers that we face...more than many pundits do.  From The Hill:

A survey released on Friday revealed that nearly 75 percent of U.S. voters favor the use of targeted drone strikes against Americans who have joined terrorist groups overseas.

More than half approve of the use of unmanned aerial aircraft against terrorists in general, according to the Associated Press/GfK poll.

Another 13 percent oppose the use of drones strikes, while 24 percent expressed no opinions either way.

Some 47 percent of those surveyed would back drone strikes where law-abiding Americans were possible collateral damage. Less than half of those who would initially favor using the devices, in fact, would keep the same opinion should they risk innocent American lives.

The AP poll comes after President Obama’s admission on April 23 that drones had inadvertently killed two innocent hostages during strikes on suspected terrorists. In that incident, a strike against al Qaeda accidentally killed Warren Weinstein, an American, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian citizen.

The White House revealed that the incident also resulted in the unplanned death of Ahmed Farouq, a U.S. citizen who had joined the terrorist organization.

The poll additionally found that overall approval of drones as a counterterrorism strategy remains bipartisan.

Nearly 60 percent of Democrats approve of the strikes, it found, while only 16 percent were opposed. Seventy-two percent of GOP respondents back using drones, with 10 percent opposed.

Independents’ support of the vehicles was more measured, the survey found. Of those voters, 45 percent were in favor and 12 percent were opposed. An additional 37 percent remained neutral on the issue.

COMMENT:  Despite occasional wobbling, Americans still want serious action against terror bases, even if there are risks.  That is usually the case in polls about military action.

May 1,  2015     Permalink

APRIL 30,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:19 P.M. ET: 

THERE GOES THE VALUE OF MY DEGREE – From Fox:  "WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has chosen his hometown of Chicago to host his future presidential library, two individuals with knowledge of the decision said Thursday, placing the permanent monument to his legacy in the city that launched his improbable ascent to the White House.  Obama's library will be built on Chicago's South Side, where the University of Chicago has proposed two potential sites not far from the Obama family's home. It was unclear which of the two sites had been selected, but officials were expected to make an announcement within weeks."  Well, I went to that university, and I don't know how I explain this to friends and family.  I thought we had high standards.  They should probably use both the proposed sites – one for hope, the other for change. 

RIDICULOUS – From Fox:  "The head of a law school in the Washington, D.C., area told students Tuesday that they would be able to defer an exam if they offer legal advice to protesters in Baltimore.  The Washington Post reported that Dean Shelley Broderick from the David A. Clarke School of Law told the students that many of them have ties to the city and the school would like 'to support this activism.' She said that the school would help interested students find groups at the protest they could assist.  'The police accountability movement needs and will continue to need the best lawyers that we can train,' she wrote."  Just a second.  These aren't lawyers, they're law students.  They haven't passed the Bar exam.  Would you have surgery done by someone who hasn't finished med school?  It's the same principle.  Can't they supply real lawyers?

OH, PLEASE – From Bloomberg:  "One day when he’s done wrangling with the Iranians and congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama plans to get back to where he once belonged.  The most powerful man in the world wants to return to community organizing after he hands over the keys to the White House in 2017, he told middle-school students at a public library in Washington’s Anacostia neighborhood today."  Yeah, right.  Based on his record as president, the community might turn him down.

NO LEADERSHIP – From NBC:  "Nearly 100 officers have been hurt since violence broke out in the city on Monday, Baltimore Police said.  Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said Thursday afternoon that more than 40 officers required some sort of treatment at the hospital. Protesters have been throwing bricks, bottles and other items at officers trying to contain demonstrations after the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who suffered critical injuries while he was in police custody."   An awful casualty rate for a police force.  I don't see much interest on the part of the city administration, which has not let the police enforce the law.  If the chaos continues, the governor of Maryland, who is a Republican, may have to use National Guard troops under state control.

April 30,  2015     Permalink

A REMINDER OF FAILURES PAST – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  Remember the nuclear agreement with North Korea that was supposed to curb its nuclear-weapons program?  It was negotiated by Wendy Sherman, who's also negotiating our nuclear agreement with Iran.  The North Korea deal failed spectacularly.  I guess Sherman has now failed upward. 

And North Korea continues its rogue status.  From, ironically, Britain's left-wing Guardian: 

Satellite images taken between January and April show a North Korean nuclear reactor that can yield material for atomic bombs may be operating again at low power or intermittently, US experts said on Wednesday.

A report from David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini at Washington’s Institute for Science and International Security said the imagery also suggested that a centrifuge plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex had been operated and that North Korea may be preparing to conduct renovations at this plant.

The ISIS think tank said last year that satellite imagery from late August and late September indicated the Yongbyon reactor may have been partially or completely shut down.

The latest ISIS analysis comes at a time of rising concern about North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities.

The experts based their latest assessment on observation of melting snow patterns on the reactor and turbine buildings at Yongbyon, indicating that the insides of the buildings may have been hot. They also pointed to signs of warm water being discharged from the reactor.

North Korea has a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon and the reactor has previously been used for plutonium production. Both materials can be used to make atomic bombs.

In February, Albright was among experts at the US-Korea Institute who presented three scenarios for North Korea’s nuclear capability, predicting its stockpile of weapons could grow to 20, 50 or 100 within five years.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that Chinese nuclear experts had warned that North Korea may already have 20 nuclear warheads and the capability to produce enough weapons-grade uranium to double its arsenal by next year.

These estimates, relayed to U.S. nuclear specialists, exceeded most previous US forecasts, which ranged from 10 to 16 bombs currently, the report said.

Early this month, US Admiral William Gortney, commander of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, said the US military believes North Korea has the ability to miniaturize a warhead and mount it on a ballistic missile, although there had been no tests.

North Korea is under an array of international sanctions for nuclear bomb and ballistic missile tests. It has conducted three nuclear detonations, the most recent in February 2013.

COMMENT:  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Notice the complete lack of interest by the Obama administration.  By the American media.  By the public.

But one day we may wake up and get a very big surprise.  Recall that mushroom cloud over Atlanta that Condi Rice warned about years ago?  She was laughed at.  Laugh no more.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

TELL IT, RUDY, TELL IT – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:  Rudy Giuliani analyzes Baltimore.  His analysis will not win him a place in the Diplomacy Hall of Fame.  From Newsmax: 

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said three decades of liberal Democrats running Baltimore have done little to help the plight of minorities.

Appearing Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity," Giuliani said he was able to bring communities such as Washington Heights back to prosperity after a riot in 1992 and a blackout in 1999.

"That community went from being very high crime community to being a good community," Giuliani said. "I would ask all those politicians you saw there talking about the terrible conditions, economic conditions, they have been in charge of Baltimore for the last 30 years. This is a Democratic city."

Democrat Martin O'Malley was the governor for eight years and mayor of Baltimore eight years before then, Giuliani noted.

"If those people are suffering from economic depravation, then what the heck have they done?," he asked. "What has (Rep.) Elijah Cummings done for his city? … What kind of economic development have they done?"

COMMENT:  You would think there'd be more study of Giuliani's remarkable success as mayor New York.  But there isn't because the journalistic left doesn't want to give a Republican mayor credit, even though his record is clear.

To get credit these days you must be a member of the correct party, and you must prove, to a legal standard, that you are absolutely useless.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

BERNIE?  YOU DON'T SAY – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:   Bernie Sanders for president?  A socialist?  I mean, you gotta be kidding.  But Byron York thinks Bernie will be a serious candidate, if only because he's an alternative to Hillary.  From the Washington Examiner: 

As he formally announces his run for the presidency, it is nothing short of astonishing that Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont socialist who will be 75 years old on Inauguration Day 2017, has emerged as Hillary Clinton's leading opponent in the race for the Democratic nomination. But that is what has happened.

A new Iowa survey by the Democratic polling firm PPP finds Clinton with an overwhelming lead over the Democratic pack — no news there. But PPP also found that, while the former secretary of state is the choice of 62 percent of Democrats surveyed, Sanders is now in double digits, with 14 percent saying they support him. (Martin O'Malley is at 6 percent, Jim Webb at 3 percent, and Lincoln Chafee at two percent, while 13 percent say they are not sure who they support.)

Given the peculiar character of the Democratic race, just being in double digits qualifies a candidate as a legitimate opponent of Clinton. And PPP numbers also put Sanders in double digits in New Hampshire. "We've now found that in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders is the second choice," says PPP director Tom Jensen. "If there really is a desire on the far left for anyone else — now that they're not going to get Warren — Sanders may be their guy."

What appears to have happened is that Sanders has become a stand-in for Warren among those Democrats who wanted the Massachusetts senator to run and are disappointed that she has declined. They have now transferred their support to the next-best candidate to represent their point of view, and that is Sanders.

One indication of that is in the PPP data from Iowa Democrats who describe themselves as "very liberal." Among them, Clinton's lead over Sanders is 55 percent to 29 percent — still a big lead at 26 points, but far less than Clinton's 48-point lead among Democrats overall.

COMMENT:  Look, you never know.  Bernie, a decent man with whom I disagree on almost everything, has a certain appeal within the Democratic Party.  Look, this is a party, in its modern incarnation, that does odd things.  It nominated George McGovern.  It nominated the terminally obnoxious Jimmy Carter, who won and turned out to be one of the worst presidents in history.  It nominated John Kerry.   Bernie's a card-carrying socialist.  The Dems might find that just charming enough to cheer.  What chatter at Manhattan cocktail parties!

This could be fun.

April 30, 2015       Permalink

WITH CHARITY FOR ALL? – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  Well, bottom line, the Clintons are not inspired by Abraham Lincoln.  Turns out their super-charity, the Clinton Foundation, hasn't been overly generous with the poor and needy.  From Fox: 

The charity run by the Clintons has raised $2 billion since it was founded in 2001 -- $144.3 million in 2013 alone -- but only a small fraction of the take went to its “life-saving work,” according to analysts who monitor non-profits.

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation claims 88 percent of the money it raises goes to actual charity work, but experts who have looked at the books put the number at about 10 percent. The rest, they say, goes mostly to salaries, benefits, travel and fund-raising.

“That claim is demonstrably false, and it is false not according to some partisan spin on the numbers, but because the organization’s own tax filings contradict the claim,” said Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, a conservative online magazine.

The foundation, originally called the Clinton Global Initiative, has come under close scrutiny as Hillary Clinton prepares for a presidential run. Revelations in the soon-to-be-released book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” by Peter Schweizer, have spurred numerous media investigations into the relationship between Hillary Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State, the foundation’s solicitation of foreign money and the ex-president’s lucrative speaking engagements around the world.

COMMENT:  Where there's smoke, there's Clinton.  We have all heard of "charities" that actually disburse very little of their income to those they claim to help.  This looks like one of those organizations.  The word "scam" comes to mind. 

The fact that the analysis is coming from experts in non-profits, and not from a partisan source, is particularly compelling.  It just keeps getting worse for Hillary.  When she spoke at Columbia today, you had the feeling that a farce was in progress.  Is this corrupt individual really going to be president?

April 30,  2015     Permalink