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SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

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

THAT'LL SHOW 'EM – From Yahoo News:   A Minnesota mother of two who missed a relative’s wedding because she and her husband could not find child care says she was “shocked” when she opened the mailbox this week and found a $75 bill from the bride and groom.  The total bill, a precise $75.90, came to the cost of two $30 “Herb Crusted Walleye” entrees plus a “Service & Tax Charge.”  “I just was shocked,” Jessica Baker said of receiving the bill, which included a note that, “This cost reflects the amount paid by the bride and groom for meals that were RSVPed for, reimbursement and explanation for no show, card, call or text would be appreciated.”  A little over the top, methinks, but at least the bride and groom are striking a blow for common courtesy, which has declined considerably.  If you say you're comin', and then you can't, at least let the hosts know.

MITT? – From The Spectator:   The prospect of a third Mitt Romney candidacy hangs like the Sword of Damocles over the head of the GOP.  He wants it. The big time donors want it. The Establishment wants it. And according to Ann Romney, basically everyone she's talked to ever is totally into it, including random strangers who happen to recognize her on the street. And she thinks there's still plenty of time to make it happen.  “All I can say is, we are in New York City, Mitt’s been with me a lot today, over the last few days and we have been walking the streets and people are screaming out there windows, I mean people on the street, people stop us on the street, everyone is saying ‘come, get in, jump in’, we hear it, we get a lot of phone calls, people are calling all the time, from our past donors saying ‘it’s time to think about it again’..."  I don't sense a "wanting" of Romney.  But if the race becomes deadlocked, and a well-orchestrated movement could get launched, Romney might just be able to march in.  He was right on many things in the 2012 campaign, and has an aura of statesmanship about him.  I have no idea how well that would play today.

DOES HILLARY FEEL THE KNIFE? – From Breitbart:  Obama White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett threw Hillary Clinton under the bus Wednesday at the Washington Ideas Forum, where she told interviewer Andrea Mitchell that the White House gave Clinton guidance forbidding her from using private email.  “Yes, there were. Yeah, absolutely,” Jarrett said when asked if the White House sent guidance to Cabinet secretaries about not using private email. “Obviously we want to make sure that we preserve all government records, and so there was guidance given that government business should be done on government emails and that if you did use a private email that it should be turned over.”  “That’s what she’s doing, as you said as recently as a few minutes ago,” Jarrett added. “And I think she has been asked about this multiple times, including by you Andrea. And I think she said, Look to do it again I probably made a mistake and I wouldn’t do it, and she’s working hard to comply with making sure that everything is pursuant to the Federal Records Act.”  Not exactly an endorsement for the 'Ready for Hillary' crowd.  It's been widely reported that Jarrett has been leaking some unkind things about Hillary for months.  She wouldn't be doing it without the boss's permission.

September 30, 2015       Permalink

THE WAR AT HOME – AT 11:34 A.M. ET:  While Obama lectures us on our shortcomings, his home city of Chicago is coming apart.  The carnage in the streets is continuing at a staggering level.  From the Chicago Tribune:

Six people were killed and at least eight people were wounded, including an 11-month-old boy and a 2-year-old boy, during a bloody start to the week in Chicago that saw 10 of the victims shot at two scenes less than 3 miles apart on the South Side.

The first of those shootings occurred Monday evening when a family on its way back from an outing was gunned down in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, leaving a pregnant mother and a grandmother dead and three others -- including an 11-month-old boy -- wounded, police said.

The second multiple shooting occurred about five hours later when two men and the mother of a 4-year-old were killed and two other people were wounded near a playground in the Fuller Park neighborhood on the South Side, according to police. A sister said the woman was killed coming to the aid of a relative.

The burst of violence follows two straight weekends when more than 50 people were shot in Chicago. That's the first time that has happened on back-to-back weekends over the four years the Tribune has been tracking shootings. In August, more than 40 were shot on four consecutive weekends.

So far this year, at least 2,300 people have been shot in Chicago, about 400 more than during the same period last year, according to a Tribune analysis. Through Sunday, homicides have risen to 359, up 21 percent from 296 a year earlier, according to preliminary data from Chicago police.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday addressed the shooting in Back of the Yards, saying he was angry and “enough is enough.”

As he often does, Emanuel railed against the poor values of gangbangers. “Wherever you live, you should be able to get out of your car and go to your home,” said Emanuel, who attended the opening of a renovated Red Line CTA station at Clark and Division streets.

COMMENT:  Crime is dramatically rising in the United States, especially in Chicago.  We are returning to the bad old days, before Rudy Giuliani proved in New York that crime could be broken. 

I'd love to know where the "Black Lives Matter" crowd is, in the midst of this carnage.  Apparently, the only black lives that matter are those that are politically useful.

September 30, 2015        Permalink

STUNNING – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  I sincerely hope this isn't true.  If it is, it's a major setback for our side.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Rep. John Fleming, R-La., said Wednesday morning that Tea Party favorite Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., won't run for a fourth term, and instead plans to retire at the end of the current Congress to return to his home state.

"Trey wants to go back to South Carolina, and God bless him for that," Fleming said on C-SPAN. When asked if that's what Gowdy has told other Republicans, Fleming confirmed it.

"At the end of his term, yes," he said. "He plans to go back home, and he wants to finish his work on the Benghazi special committee. But he loves South Carolina and he loves his family, and he wants to go back and spend the rest of his life there."

"He'll be sorely missed," he added.

Gowdy has become a favorite of conservatives for his precise legal attacks against Obama administration officials and congressional Democrats, which are often delivered in the style of a litigator. His work on the House Select Committee on Benghazi has been credited by some for uncovering former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email system.

COMMENT:  He has also been seriously mentioned as a possible new speaker of the House.  And so I am utterly stunned by this news.  Why would a man, at the top of his game, choose to leave?  Maybe he's fed up with Washington, as so many are.

September 30, 2015       Permalink 

RUSSIANS IN AIR ACTION IN SYRIA – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  But, really, it's okay.  We have a reset with Russia.  We must understand them, and what bad Bush and Cheney did to them.  That's right, isn't it?  Barack says so.  From Reuters: 

MOSCOW/WASHINGTON - Russia said it launched air strikes against Islamic State in Syria on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin secured his parliament's unanimous backing to intervene to prop up the Kremlin's closest Middle East ally.

Moscow gave Washington just an hour's notice of the strikes, which set in train Russia's biggest play in the region since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, a US official said.

The US official told Reuters that Russia's airstrikes in Syria so far do not appear to be targeting Islamic State-held territory, a crucial detail which could complicate any potential cooperation with the United States in the war.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia was carrying out the strikes in the vicinity of Homs and perhaps other areas in Syria as well, noting that all US information on Russian activity was still preliminary.

Russia cautioned the United States to clear Syrian airspace ahead of the strikes, the US official said, adding, however, that the US-led coalition was "continuing to fly missions in Syria."

The Russian Defense Ministry said however that its attacks were directed at Islamic State military targets.

Putin said the only way to fight "terrorists" in Syria was to act preemptively. Russia's military involvement in the Middle East would only involve its air force and would be temporary.

The Homs area is crucial to President Bashar Assad's control of western Syria. Insurgent control of that area would bisect the Assad-held west, separating Damascus from the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, where Russia operates a naval facility.

COMMENT:  Russia moves right into the Mideast, as it did in Ukraine, and gets no serious opposition from the United States, except some staged glaring from Obama when he met with Putin.

The United States, under Obama, is losing...all over the world.  Why do I think the forces behind Obama are privately cheering.  Because they are.

September 30, 2015       Permalink

GO DAVID! – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  The Free World really doesn't have a leader right now, Field Marshal Obama having abdicated.   But if we had an election for one, I'd vote for British Prime Minister David Cameron.  Like Churchill, he speaks truth to jerks.  From the Washington Times:

British Prime Minister David Cameron challenged President Obama with some blunt talk on Islamist extremism Tuesday during a U.N. summit to develop an international strategy for defeating the Islamic State and other terrorist groups.

Well aware that Mr. Obama shuns the term “Islamist extremists,” Mr. Cameron reacted strongly at the meeting when the president advised the assembled foreign leaders to avoid profiling Muslims because “violent extremism is not unique to any one faith.”

“Barack, you said it and you’re right — every religion has its extremists,” Mr. Cameron said. “But we have to be frank that the biggest problem we have today is the Islamist extremist violence that has given birth to ISIL, to al Shabaab, to al Nusra, al Qaeda, and so many other groups.” ISIL is an acronym for the Islamic State, also sometimes referred to as ISIS or Daesh.

ISIL, ISIS and Daesh are alternate names for the Islamic State, and the others mentioned by Mr. Cameron are Islamist terrorist groups operating in Syria, Somalia and other countries.

He rebuked Mr. Obama during a difficult week for the president’s anti-terrorism strategy in the Middle East. Mr. Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to bridge wide gaps in a private talk Monday on how to defeat the Islamic State in Syria and on the fate of Moscow-backed Syrian President Bashar Assad.

COMMENT:  We have a pathetic, somewhat anti-American president, and the rest of the world knows it.  Republicans know it.  Democrats know it, but don't care. 

Go David! 

September 30,  2015     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 29,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 4:40 P.M. ET:

PHONIES I – From Fox:  Despite Hillary Clinton's coming out against the Keystone XL pipeline, the Democratic presidential candidate appeared at a fundraiser Friday with major Democratic donors who are heavily invested in the oil and gas industry.  The event for Hillary was held at the $8.2 million home of hedge fund manager Cliff Robbins in Greenwich, Connecticut. Robbins is the founder and CEO of the Blue Harbour Group, a company that has invested a significant amount of money in the oil and gas sectors. Robbins and his wife Debbie have contributed nearly $200,000 to Democratic candidates over the past decade.  Hillary's hypocrisy doesn't shock me.  I'd be shocked if we saw honesty.

PHONIES II – From the Washington Times:   How would you like a free butler, maid, chef and chauffeur? Try that and the Department of Labor will sue you for violating the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act — unless you are Justice Sonia Sotomayor. That’s right. Since 2010, she has hired unpaid interns as her servants. No other justice does this.  Justice Sotomayor’s job description, posted on a Latino Facebook page and other places, tells us that applicants do not need a law degree, but “a driver’s license is a must” because the intern’s duties will include running “errands outside of the Courthouse.” The intern will prepare “lunch and snacks for the Justice,” photocopy, and answer the phone. The intern is responsible for his own living arrangements and transportation. She pays them nothing.  But don't you peasants see?  By freeing up Sonia's time, you help her to advance social justice?  Working for nothing is really good for you.  And for society.

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – From Daily Caller:   An outer suburb of Atlanta is the latest locale in America where some parents are expressing alarm because their middle school-aged children are learning about Islam but, the parents say, the school is pointedly ignoring Christianity.  Ryan Breece, a Christian father of three who has a sixth-grade daughter at Youth Middle School in Loganville, Ga., told local Fox affiliate WAGA-TV his daughter recently came home with a social studies assignment all about the core teachings of Islam.  According to Breece, the taxpayer-funded assignment meticulously instructs students about Islam but almost entirely ignores Christianity.  “We are seeing one page, five statements of Christian faith and we see five or 10 pages of Islamic faith,” the mad dad told WAGA-TV. “So we have no accountability to make sure that it’s equal.”  This requires a call to the thought police.  Obviously, we have an Islamophobe here.  Alert the president.  Alert Imam Kerry.  When will we ever learn?

THE KNIFE GOES IN – Michelle Obama appeared on Stephen Colbert's show.  From the Daily Beast:  Laura Bush had left her a letter, Colbert said. If we have a female president next, would Mrs. Obama leave her husband a letter?   Mrs. Obama said she would.  “I would say, ‘Follow your passion, just be you,’” she replied very safely.   “I think he does,” Colbert said, to roaring laughter from those imagining Bill Clinton’s famously philandering past.  “I think he would,” she replied, flashing a smile at Colbert and chuckling as he clenched his fist in a display of mock-virility.  “I mean that in the best possible way,” Colbert said hurriedly.  “I didn’t say… I’m just sitting here,” Mrs. Obama said, washing her hands of the germs of innuendo.  Yeah, right.  There are new reports, following old reports, of intense dislike between the Obamas and the Clintons.  The Obamas clearly don't want the Clintons back in the White House.  And if you can get in a dig on a talk show...

September 29, 2015       Permalink

ISIS HAS PLANS FOR US – AT 10:40 A.M. ET:   It is a frightening prospect.  From the Washington Times:    

Nuclear annihilation across the globe. This is what a German reporter who successfully embedded with the Islamic State says the terror group is planning. Jurgen Todenhofer released his findings in a book titled “Inside IS - Ten Days in the Islamic State,” reports the UK’s Daily Express.

“The terrorists plan on killing several hundred million people. The west is drastically underestimating the power of ISIS. ISIS intends to get its hands on nuclear weapons,” says Todenhofer, calling the group a “nuclear tsunami preparing the largest religious cleansing in history.”

“They now control land greater in size than the United Kingdom and are supported by an almost ecstatic enthusiasm the like of which I’ve never encountered before in a war zone. Every day hundreds of willing fighters from all over the world come. They are the most brutal and most dangerous enemy I have ever seen in my life. I don’t see anyone who has a real chance to stop them. Only Arabs can stop IS. I came back very pessimistic.”

With the ink not yet dry on the “Iran nuclear deal,” Middle Eastern states opposed to Persian domination of the region now are actively pursuing a nuclear weapons capability of their own. President Obama’s deal could literally mean an arms race that could lead to nuclear devastation as Saudi Arabia and others look to get the bomb as well to counter Iran. With more countries obtaining nukes, the greater the possibility terrorists could obtain a weapon, which could be used to attack Israel or the West.

COMMENT:  Every weapon in history that's been developed has eventually been used.  I find this story entirely credible.  A force like IS would consider it entirely logical to wipe out whole populations of the infidels.  Who could ask for anything more?

September 29, 2015       Permalink

MEDIA FAILS TRUST TEST – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Trust in the media is tying all-time lows, according to Gallup.  Anyone surprised?

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Four in 10 Americans say they have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. This ties the historical lows on this measure set in 2014 and 2012. Prior to 2004, slight majorities of Americans said they trusted the mass media, such as newspapers, TV and radio.

Americans' confidence in the media has slowly eroded from a high of 55% in 1998 and 1999. Since 2007, the majority of Americans have had little or no trust in the mass media. Trust has typically dipped in election years, including 2004, 2008, 2012 and last year. However, 2015 is not a major election year.

This decline follows the same trajectory as Americans' confidence in many institutions and their declining trust in the federal government's ability to handle domestic and international problems over the same time period.

And...

For more than a decade, Republicans and independents have been significantly less likely than Democrats to trust the media. This pattern continues in the latest survey. In 2014, Gallup found that trust among Democrats fell to a 14-year low of 54%, and this figure is essentially unchanged at 55% this year. While more Democrats than Republicans continue to say they trust the media, the percentage of Republicans who report that they trust the mass media increased slightly this year, from 27% to 32%. This increase was offset, however, by a decrease in independents reporting trust, from 38% to 33%.

COMMENT:  You'd think media would want to do something about this, but I see little interest in trying.  If the ratings or sales are good, the product seems to take second, third, or fourth place.

It's clear that perceptions of media bias play a major role with Republicans and Independents.  Too many "journalists" aren't reporting the news, they're "making a difference."  The difference they make tilts left.

September 29, 2015       Permalink

PUTIN TRIUMPHANT – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  Benny Avni, one of the sharpest international-affairs writers around, says it bluntly in the New York Post.  There's a new big guy on the block, and it isn't the American president: 

The baton was officially transferred Monday to the world’s new sole superpower — and Vladimir Putin willingly picked it up.

President Obama (remember him?) embraced the ideals espoused by the United Nations’ founders 70 years ago: Diplomacy and “international order” will win over time, while might and force will lose.
Putin, too, appealed to UN laws (as he sees them), but he also used his speech to announce the formation of a “broad international coalition” to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

“Similar to the anti-Hitler coalition, it could unite a broad range of forces” to fight “those who, just like the Nazis, sow evil and hatred of humankind,” he said.

And who’d lead this new coalition? Hint: Moscow has always celebrated the Allies’ World War II victory as a Russian-led fete.

Oh, and if anyone wondered which Syrian players the coalition would rely on as allies, Putin made it clear: “No one but President [Bashar al-]Assad’s armed forces and Kurd militia are fighting the Islamic State.”

That, of course, isn’t Obama’s view. America’s president said he opposed the “logic of supporting tyrants.” After all, Assad “drops barrel bombs on innocent children.”

But Putin has troops in Syria, is arming Assad to the teeth and signed a pact of anti-ISIS intelligence-sharing with Assad, Iran and the leaders of Iraq (the ones America fought to put in power).

And after meeting Obama for the first time in two years Monday, he spoke vaguely about future “joint air attacks on ISIS.” But no agreement on Assad was reached in the 90-minute meeting.

Meantime, if Obama has any realistic Syria plan of his own — beyond having Assad magically “transitioned” out of the country and simultaneously fighting ISIS — he failed to present it during his UN speech. Or any other time.

COMMENT:  What a pathetic defeat for the United States.  And yet, who really cares?  The Democrats will support anything Obama does, as they demonstrated in their sickening behavior regarding the Iran nuclear deal.  They put party ahead of country, for the greater glory of Barack.

And the Republicans?  They need an energy drink.  Maybe they'll get it delivered with the change of House leadership.  But they should be appalled, and shout their contempt during the 2016 election.  Will they?  Depends on who gets nominated. 

September 29, 2015       Permalink

A WARNING – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  Russia is now in Syria – to stay.  It is a vast setback by a United States led by a profoundly leftist president who doesn't care.  The views of a top American general.  From the Jerusalem Post: 

Russia is building advanced, long-range air defenses in its new air base on the Syrian coast, which could disrupt the military activities of the US and its allies in the sector, NATO's top commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, warned on Monday, according to a report that appeared in the Breaking Defense website.

Breedlove is Commander of US European Command, and the 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO Allied Command Operations. He spoke of a new Russian bubble of anti-access/area denial [or A2/Ad, as it is known in the Pentagon] in the eastern Mediterranean. This can be used to try and keep Western militaries out of the airspace over and near Syria.

"From where NATO’s top commander Gen. Philip Breedlove sits, the Russian forces flowing into Syria don’t look like counter-terrorists out to stop the Islamic State, which Vladimir Putin has said is his highest priority. They look like the first pieces of a layered 'anti-access/area denial' system that could complicate US and allied operations in Syria and well beyond," the Breaking Defense report said.

Breedlove spoke to the German Marshall Fund on Monday afternoon, and warned that anti-access/area denial is "a growing problem." In Syria, "we see these very capable air defense [systems] beginning to show up," the general cautioned, adding, "We’re a little worried about another A2/AD bubble being created in the Eastern Mediterranean. We see some very sophisticated air defenses going into these airfields. We see some very sophisticated air-to-air [fighter] aircraft going into these airfields.”

Two other such Russian "bubbles" already exist; In Kaliningrad, between Poland and Lithuania, where Russian missiles can reach "well into Polish airspace and could shut down NATO reinforcements," and in the Black Sea, where Russia's occupation of Crimea has resulted in the creation of a "very strong A2/AD capability," Breedlove said.

COMMENT:  We're assured by the Obama press that the president "confronted" Putin at the UN.  Aren't you proud?  That's like a championship boxer being confronted by a toddler.   Field Marshal Obama can confront all he wants.  He never does anything, and the credible use of force, the basis of all successful diplomacy, is absolutely missing.

Only two forces in the world have grown on Obama's watch – militant Islam and Communism.  Obama comes from a Muslim and Marxist background.  Gee, what a coincidence.  Anyone in the press interested?

September 29,  2015     Permalink