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MAY 24,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:30 P.M. ET: 

ANOTHER COP EXECUTED – From ABC News:  "A New Orleans police officer was found shot dead in his marked patrol car this morning, city officials said.  The shooting was reported around 7 a.m., the New Orleans Police Department said in a news release. The victim's car rolled forward and struck a curb after the shooting.  The officer's name has not been released, but the New Orleans police identified the victim as a 45-year-old man who worked as a Housing Authority police officer."  Based on first reports, this has the earmark of an execution-style killing.  Let us now measure the outrage.

BIG MISTAKE – Jeb Bush is apparently repeating a mistake that Mitt Romney made in 2012.  From the New York Daily News:  "Jeb Bush is going for Maine over Main Street.  The all-but-certain 2016 candidate is having a huge house built for him at the Bush family compound at Walker’s Point, in Kennebunkport, Maine, the Boston Globe reported Sunday.  The former Florida governor’s new home will be built on a 1.3-acre site worth at least $1.4 million, the Globe reported, and was ordered built by Bush’s parents, former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush.  The 3,000 square-foot, 4-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom “cottage” is expected to have a gorgeous wraparound porch and feature panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean."  Remember that Mitt Romney was having a mansion built during the 2012 campaign?  It only emphasized his wealth.  Same mistake here.  Can't the house wait until the presidential campaign is over?  Doing this reveals a kind of tone deafness on Jeb's part.  Not a good political sign.

CHICAGO STORY – The carnage continues.  I thought black lives mattered.  From the Chicago Sun-Times:  "Six people were killed and at least 23 others—including a 4-year-old girl—have been wounded in shootings across Chicago this Memorial Day weekend, police said.  The 4-year-old, identified by her family as Jacele Johnson, was shot about 8 p.m. Friday in the West Englewood neighborhood.  She and her 17-year-old cousin Romare Wilson were inside an SUV in the 7000 block of South Justine when another vehicle pulled up and someone inside opened fire, according to their family and Chicago Police."  And the weekend isn't even over.  No outrage yet from Reverend Al.  I guess black lives only matter when they're politically useful.

May 24, 2015       Permalink

CLOWNS – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  I'm regularly angered by people who call themselves "peace activists."  Aside from being pompous and presumptuous, these people never do anything that actually advances peace.  They usually advocate policies that lead to war, and then never take any responsibility for it.  And sometimes they are simply people who are siding with the enemy, and using the word "peace" as a shield.  From CNN: 

Paju, South Korea (CNN)An international group of female activists crossed the heavily fortified border between North and South Korea on Sunday in a controversial effort to bring attention to the need for peace between the two nations.

The group of about 30 members, called WomenCrossDMZ, included feminist Gloria Steinem and two Nobel Peace laureates, Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia.

On Sunday morning, a bus picked them up from the North Korean side and ferried them across the Demilitarized Zone that has separated the two Koreas for more than half a century.

"We feel very celebratory and positive that we have created a voyage across the DMZ in peace and reconciliation that was said to be impossible," Steinem said after the group, which had originally planned to walk across the zone, arrived in South Korea.

The activists said they acted as "citizen diplomats" in North Korea, speaking with women at a series of events during their time there.

"We can learn on paper and on screen," Steinem said. "But the ability to understand, not just learn, happens when we are together and able to empathize."

The group says women need to be involved in the peace-building process. It calls for reuniting families divided by the Korean War, and replacing the 1953 armistice with a permanent peace treaty -- demands similar to those made by the North Korean government.

Yeah, and that's the problem.  They're either dupes, or people who want to be dupes.  Sometimes they want very much to be dupes.

Other activists have criticized the event, saying the group is overlooking major problems faced by women under Kim Jong Un's authoritarian rule.

"It is absolutely outrageous that they completely ignore the suffering of the North Korean people, especially North Korean women," said Suzanne Scholte, head of the North Korea Freedom Coalition.

COMMENT:  They ignore these things because people like Gloria Steinem never really believed in human freedom.  They believe in government-controlled societies where "social justice" is delivered by those in power, whether elected or not.  "Equality" is their thing, not freedom.  As long as there's equality of misery, it's an improvement, in their narrow, authoritarian view.

May 24, 2015       Permalink

TRUE WORDS OF WISDOM – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Retired Marine General James Mattis, former head of CENTCOM, has given a very blunt assessment of our situation in the world.  From the Washington Times: 

Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis said the U.S. is suffering “strategic atrophy” that will threaten the long-term security of the nation.

The retired general and former Central Command (CENTCOM) commander made the remarks while speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

“The perception [among allies] is we’re pulling back,” Gen. Mattis said, the U.S. Naval Institute reported Thursday.

The conversation with Gen. Mattis covered a variety of topics, including Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desire “to break NATO apart,” to China, which “is doing a pretty good job of finding friction points between our allies,” USNI reported.

Gen. Mattis praised the United Arab Emirates and Jordan for aiding the U.S. coalition in its fight against the Islamic State group. He added that he has “no doubt” that any foreign policy missteps can be rectified with the right leadership.

COMMENT:  That, of course, is the key.  The right leadership.  Mattis was plainly calling for new leadership in the United States.  We will have the chance to answer his call next year.  We'd better answer it correctly, for the future of this country is very much on the line. 

Mattis also said, "“The greatest generation taught us that if you don’t talk about something then things will go wrong fast."  So true, so true.

May 24, 2015       Permalink

WHY WE'RE LOSING – AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  There are reasons why nations lose battles and wars.  On this Memorial Day weekend, we might contemplate how many troops we have lost with confused or losing strategies.  From the Washington Times: 

Special operations forces are aggravated over being largely held back from the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

Top U.S. special operations commanders say they are building forces for a multi-generational fight — not a war that will be won in the next few years.

“We recognize this is a longterm prospect,” Gen. Joseph Votel, the leader of U.S. Special Operations Command told The Daily Beast during a special operations forum in Tampa, Florida. “We’re patient.”

Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, who heads the Air Force Special Operations Command estimated that the fight could be “a 15-year struggle,” the Daily Beast reported Friday.

Special operations officers and troops in Tampa and Washington expressed their frustration over having to fight remotely in Iraq and Syria; advising Iraqis, Kurdish Peshmerga, and rebel Syrian fighters from afar instead of joining in the battle.

“We are doing everything through cellphones … It’s hard to do much when you can’t go outside the wire,” one special operator said, The Daily Beast reported.

And...

“You can’t say ‘We’re with you every step of the way, except when you are going on combat operations,‘“a former senior special operations official told The Daily Beast.

Many of the officers at the Tampa conference said that both Mosul and Ramadi, the two cities taken over by the terrorist group, could have withstood the sieges if U.S. military advisers had been working with Iraqi forces on the ground.

COMMENT:  We appear to be losing almost everywhere in the world.  In the Mideast, certainly.  In Ukraine, definitely.  In our confrontation with the new Russia, of course.  And in facing the Chinese military buildup in the Pacific, jury out, but "win" doesn't seem to be a word in the Obaman vocabulary.

We are cutting our forces when our enemies are building theirs.  The president seems at best indifferent to the plight of allies or potential allies.  Military defense seems a distraction to him and to the left wing of the Democratic Party that supports him.

The general who spoke of a 15-year struggle is probably being optimistic.  It took us 40 years to win the Cold War.  Our children, and their children, may well pay the price for the policies the United States is pursuing today.

May 24,  2015     Permalink

MAY 23,  2015

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

FRENCH MILITANT ON SYRIA – From Reuters:  "PARIS - Most French people are in favor of military intervention by France in Syria, a poll showed on Saturday, a sharp reversal from a survey in 2013 when the majority opposed government plans for air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  France has been providing weapons to opposition Syrian Kurdish forces but has repeatedly ruled out a military operation in Syria without a United Nations mandate.  It was the first country to join the US-led coalition carrying out air strikes on Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria, but ruled out taking part in strikes on targets inside Syrian borders for fear it would benefit Assad."  MacArthur said that all military disasters begin with two words:  too late.  It may already be too late for Syria.

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – From The College Fix:  "An upcoming workshop scheduled to take place at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to teach campus radicals and socialists how to manipulate campus resources to advance their agenda.  'Undercommoning: A workshop on becoming a thief in the university,' was the exact wording of the subject line in a recent group email sent to University of Wisconsin-Madison scholars and others announcing the event, set for June 4.  The symposium, which will also be transmitted to a wider audience via Google Hangout, is described as a chance for campus radicals – students and scholars alike – to brainstorm ideas among their 'newly formed Undercommoning Collective' on how to influence university resources and advance their socialist agenda and provocative causes.  Organizers did not respond to repeated requests for comment by The College Fix."  State university.  Receives federal aid.  Your tax dollars at work.

LEGAL NEWS – The art of the shakedown, learned from the master.  From the New York Post:  "Al Sharpton's daughter reportedly is suing New York City for $5 million after she fell in the street and sprained her ankle.  According to the New York Post, Dominique Sharpton, 28, says in court records she was 'severely injured, bruised and wounded' after tripping on uneven pavement in downtown Manhattan in October.  Sharpton says she still suffers from the injury, the Post reported.  She reportedly was pictured in a walking boot in the weeks following the fall, but participated in a National Action Network March in December and was pictured climbing a ladder to decorate a Christmas tree."  No settlement, no peace!

May 23, 2015       Permalink

SICKENING – AT 12:18 P.M. ET:  We learn more about what living under ISIS is really like.  From The Times of Israel: 

A UN envoy has returned from a tour of Iraq and Syria with harrowing reports of the sexual violence systematically committed by Islamic State militants against women and girls.

Zainab Bangura, who had set out for the region in April to address the rampant cases of rape, sex slavery and other sexual violence in the areas under IS control, said the extremists were “institutionalizing sexual violence” as a tactic to terrorize the local populations.

In an interview this week with the Middle East Eye, a UK-based news site, Bangura recounted chilling tales she had heard from refugees.

“After attacking a village, IS splits women from men and executes boys and men aged 14 and over. The women and mothers are separated; girls are stripped naked, tested for virginity and examined for breast size and prettiness. The youngest, and those considered the prettiest virgins fetch higher prices and are sent to Raqqa, the IS stronghold,” she said.

“There is a hierarchy: sheikhs get first choice, then emirs, then fighters. They often take three or four girls each and keep them for a month or so, until they grow tired of a girl, when she goes back to market. At slave auctions, buyers haggle fiercely, driving down prices by disparaging girls as flat-chested or unattractive.

COMMENT:  This is revolting.  But notice the silence, once again, of so-called "feminist" groups.  Their betrayal of women is a major story, yet is ignored by the mainstream media.   ISIS is growing in power.  Among other things, it is a ghastly threaten to women throughout the Mideast.  It is a far more extreme version of the already-extreme Taliban.

May 23, 2015       Permalink

DEMS SCARED OF MARCO – AT 11:34 A.M. ET:  And they should be.  Democratic operatives are starting to realize what a threat Marco Rubio is to Hillary Clinton.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — They use words like “historic” and “charismatic,” phrases like “great potential” and “million-dollar smile.” They notice audience members moved to tears by an American-dream-come-true success story. When they look at the cold, hard political math, they get uneasy.

An incipient sense of anxiety is tugging at some Democrats — a feeling tersely captured in four words from a blog post written recently by a seasoned party strategist in Florida: “Marco Rubio scares me.”

What is so unnerving to them at this early phase of the 2016 presidential campaign still seems, at worst, a distant danger: the prospect of a head-to-head general-election contest between Mr. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Yet the worriers include some on Mrs. Clinton’s team. And even former President Bill Clinton is said to worry that Mr. Rubio could become the Republican nominee, whittle away at Mrs. Clinton’s support from Hispanics and jeopardize her chances of carrying Florida’s vital 29 electoral votes.

Democrats express concerns not only about whether Mr. Rubio, 43, a son of Cuban immigrants, will win over Hispanic voters, a growing and increasingly important slice of the electorate. They also worry that he would offer a sharp generational contrast to Mrs. Clinton, a fixture in American politics for nearly a quarter-century who will turn 69 before the election.

COMMENT:  The worries are legitimate.  Rubio is a terrific campaigner, and knows the issues cold.  Put him on a stage next to Hillary Clinton, whose image is increasingly one of an aging corruptionist, and Rubio shines. 

The Dems may counter with a Hispanic vice-presidential nominee, but it's the top of the ticket that decides the election.  It's often said in presidential politics that a vice-presidential selection can only hurt, never help.  That's not completely true, as vice-presidential nominee Lyndon Johnson did effective work for Jack Kennedy in 1960, but it's largely true.

May 23, 2015       Permalink

DOWN AND DOWN – AT 11:15 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton's favorability ratings continue to decline, but Democrats still seem ready to nominate her for the highest office.  Hey, what's a little corruption to worry about?  From the Washington Examiner: 

As Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton fights through several mini-scandals, her approval rating has been skidding, sending her "favorability" rating to a seven-year low.

In a new report, Pew Research Center said that her rating crossed the 50 percent mark this month and now sits at 49 percent. It was lower, at 48 percent, way back in May 2008 when she was being pushed out of the presidential race by then Sen. Barack Obama.

It has been a steady fall from the 66 percent favorable rating she had as secretary of state in November 2009.

Pew's report provided a graph of her favorability ratings dating back to when she was the first lady of Arkansas and before her husband Bill Clinton was elected president.

Of her recent numbers, Pew said: "Hillary Clinton's favorability rating has fallen since last August, when 58 percent had a favorable impression of her and 41 percent held an unfavorable view. Today, views of Clinton are divided: 49 percent have a favorable opinion of the former secretary of state; 47 percent have an unfavorable opinion.

COMMENT:  And this is even before the Republicans turn up the heat.  It's not hard to imagine what a campaign against Hillary will be like.

The wild card, though, is the media.   We know it tilts left, and "tilts" is a soft description.  Will it automatically fall in line behind Hillary?  I believe most journalists will, but I think we're also seeing a mini-revolt on the part of some reporters, even at The New York Times.  I mean, how much treachery can you take in a presidential candidate?  Also, the thought of a female president is not as compelling to the left as the thought was of a black candidate, meaning Obama. 

The question is whether there'll be enough media dissent this time to make a difference.  I have no idea.

May 23,  2015     Permalink