SATURDAY,  APRIL 4,  2009

LAUNCH IMMINENT? - AT 10:42 P.M. ET:  From AP:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has begun activating observation cameras and radars around the coastal site in the northeast, a South Korean report said Sunday, as the communist country prepares to launch a rocket in defiance of international warnings.

The top part of the rocket mounted at the Musudan-ri launch pad has also been uncovered, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed South Korean official. The report did not say whether a satellite was mounted on top.

COMMENT:  The president is still in Europe, with a major visit to Turkey coming up.  It's doubtful he will break off his trip and return home if the launch occurs.  But it will mark the first major foreign test of his presidency.  We can only hope that the media, which has gone gaga over the glamour aspects of his trip, will calm down and examine how Obama handles himself when faced with the real world, not the make-believe ballroom he's in right now.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

OH, COME ON - AT 7:21 P.M. ET:  We want the president to succeed, and we have no problem with his being popular around the world.  However, we do have a problem with groveling, not standing up appropriately for the United States, and handing out praise when it isn't due.

Thus, we're disappointed with Mr. Obama's stated satisfaction with the NATO summit, as reported by CNN:

STRASBOURG, France (CNN) -- President Obama hailed the NATO summit in Europe on Saturday, calling the meeting "very productive" and praising the alliance's commitment to the fight in Afghanistan.

"Today I'm confident that we took a substantial step forward to renewing our alliance to meet the challenges of our time," said Obama.

Speaking to reporters as demonstrators protested against more involvement in Afghanistan, Obama said he was "pleased NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support" for America's new strategy in Afghanistan -- which calls for more troops, trainers and civilian workers.

COMMENT:  Now look, NATO nations have pledged an additional 5,000 troops.  However, the United States is pledging an additional 21,000, including trainers.  That is completely lopsided.  The president is being gracious, but more pressure must be placed on NATO to come up with greater contributions.  So far, we're getting tokens.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

NEW NATO CHIEF - AT 7:18 P.M. ET:  A piece of good news, for a change.  NATO has chosen, as its new secretary-general, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who had the courage to stand up for the right of Danish cartoonists to publish depictions of the prophet Muhammad that so angered the Muslim world.

As reported here earlier, only Turkey, NATO's single Muslim country, objected to Rasmussen.  Since unanimity is required, Turkey could have vetoed the choice.  However, according to AP there was some last-minute negotiating, and Turkey withdrew its objection.  Please note:

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that his government's requests had included the closure of a Kurdish satellite television broadcaster based in Denmark; the establishment of contacts between NATO and Islamic countries; appointment of a Turk as an aide to Fogh Rasmussen and senior NATO command positions for Turkish generals.

He said Obama had been heavily involved in the negotiations.

"Our president gave his approval after receiving information that our reservations have been addressed under the guarantorship of Obama," Erdogan said. "We hope our concerns will be met."

COMMENT:  We have no details on this.  We're delighted that Rasmussen is the choice, but I want to know just what was promised to Turkey.  Obama has spent a good part of the week making concessions and delivering apologies.  Precisely how did he get Turkey on board?  I wonder if any MSM journalists will ask.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

PROGRESS, WE HOPE - AT 9:19 A.M. ET: 

KABUL (AP) -- Responding to criticism from around the world, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that a new law that critics say makes it legal for men to rape their wives will be studied and possibly sent back to parliament for review.

Karzai said he ordered the Justice Ministry to review the law, and if anything in it contravenes the country's constitution or Shariah law, ''measures will be taken.''

The law, signed by Karzai last month, is intended to regulate family life inside Afghanistan's Shiite community, which makes up 10 percent to 20 percent of the country's 30 million people.

COMMENT:  This is a classic example of what media exposure can do, and bloggers played a major role.  We'll follow this to be sure the obnoxious legislation dies a fast death.  Americans are not going to have their troops defend the indefensible.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  From superb reporter Joel Mowbray, via Fox News:

An Iraqi translator who has earned commendations for risking his life repeatedly to save the lives of many American soldiers in combat has been denied a visa to live in the United States because of nonviolent actions he took to overthrow Saddam Hussein — at the same time the U.S. government was calling for regime change in Iraq.

Jasim, whose name is being withheld for his safety, has received strong support from the U.S. military, and the Department of Homeland Security approved his application for a visa. But the State Department has denied Jasim a visa because he was arrested in 1996 for actions against the Saddam dictatorship.

COMMENT:  This cries out for justice, and for immediate intervention by Hillary Clinton.  Republicans should create an uproar, if they're capable of any emotion at all.  This may well be the result of a bureaucratic glitch.  Whatever the reason, this man must get his visa, and fast!

April 4, 2009   Permalink

ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING, AND FROM A LIBERAL NEWSPAPER - AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  This remarkable analysis of Obama's performance abroad, from Jackson Diehl of the Washington Post:

Barack Obama has proved in the past few days that he can work smoothly and productively with a wide range of foreign leaders -- provided that he allows them to set the agenda.

The president's whirl of bilateral and multilateral meetings in London, Strasbourg, Baden-Baden, Prague and Ankara produced a string of glowing communiques announcing "real and lasting progress on a host of these issues," as Obama proudly put it...

...What's striking about Obama's diplomacy, however, has been his willingness to embrace the priorities of European governments, Russia and China while playing down -- or setting aside altogether -- principal American concerns.

And get this:

From Washington's perspective, stopping Iran's nuclear program is far more urgent than agreeing on the next incremental reduction in Cold War warheads. Yet Obama essentially consented in his first summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to devote the next four months of U.S.-Russian relations to an intensive effort to complete a new START treaty. No such cooperation on Iran is on the horizon.

COMMENT:  Diehl absolutely nails it.  Negotiations always succeed as long as one side is willing to surrender.  Obama the celebrity is doing great.  Obama the president is blundering.  America the nation is losing.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

MORE NEWSPAPER NEWS - AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  From the Boston Globe:

The New York Times Co. has threatened to shut the Boston Globe unless the newspaper's unions swiftly agree to $20 million in concessions, union leaders said.

Executives from the Times Co. and Globe made the demands Thursday morning in an approximately 90- minute meeting with leaders of the newspaper's 13 unions, union officials said.

COMMENT:  The Globe is one of the most liberal papers in the country, spiritually saved only by the presence of columnist Jeff Jacoby, who is often quoted at Urgent Agenda.  Maybe if the paper expanded its horizons a bit, and realized that not everyone in Boston veers left, its prospects would improve.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

CAREFUL ON THIS - AT 8:26 A.M. ET:  From Fox News:

A Pakistani Taliban militant leader has claimed responsibility for the attack on a U.S. immigration center in New York state in which 13 people were killed, Reuters reported.

"I accept responsibility. They were my men. I gave them orders in reaction to U.S. drone attacks," Baituallah Mehsud told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location on Saturday.

U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment about Mehsud's claim, Reuters reported, and one Pakistani security analyst dismissed the claim as a publicity stunt.

COMMENT:  We seriously doubt this claim.  It does indeed sound like a publicity stunt, although the claim must be investigated.  Earlier in the week this same terrorist bragged that he would strike the United States, and specifically mentioned Washington.  He has made claims in the past, which have turned out to be false.

I say, give President Obama's vetting team - the same people who vetted his Cabinet nominees - a chance to examine this guy for integrity and competence.  Just kidding.

April 4, 2009   Permalink

FRIDAY,  APRIL 3,  2009

TRAVEL REPORT - AT 11:22 P.M. ET:  From BBC:

Preparations in North Korea for a satellite launch are complete and lift-off will take place "soon", state media has reported.

A carrier rocket was ready to lift an experimental communications satellite from a base on the country's east coast, state news agency KCNA said.

Pyongyang's neighbours suspect the launch is a cover for a missile test and have urged it not to go ahead.

Correspondents say it remains unclear when exactly the launch will be.

North Korea has told international organisations it will carry out the launch between 4 and 8 April, during the hours of 1100 to 1600 (0200 to 0700 GMT).

COMMENT:   Obama and Clinton have promised a tough response if North Korea presses the button.  Let's see if they mean it, and if their definition of toughness matches that of most Americans.  I don't consider an anguished protest to the UN very tough, but that's where our reaction is likely to begin.

This could be Obama's first foreign crisis.  Stand by.

April 3, 2009   Permalink

FRANCE TO THE RESCUE - AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  This just in, via AP:

STRASBOURG, France – In a symbolic gesture, French President Nicolas Sarkozy says he will accept one terrorist suspect being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

COMMENT:  But only if he dresses well and appreciates fine wine.

April 3, 2009   Permalink

TURKEY DEFIES CHOICE OF NATO CHIEF - AT 7:06 P.M. ET:  Lost in all the celebrity-style reporting over the president's trip to Europe is a rather ugly split that's developed in NATO, as reported by London's Telegraph:

Turkey's prime minister has warned that the favourite candidate to take over as Nato leader, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is unsuitable for the position.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, said that Mr Rasmussen had repeatedly failed to address the concerns of his country and the Muslim world over Danish newspapers printing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that caused widespread offense. Mr Rasmussen had also rejected Mr Erdogan's protests over radio broadcasts by a Kurdish terrorist group.

COMMENT:  Rasmussen's crime, as prime minister of Denmark, is apparently that he stood up for Western concepts of free speech.  Turkey's prime minister is an Islamist, who clearly does not appreciate our concept of freedom.

Turkey, if it wishes, can veto the choice.  We would hope that President Obama, who will soon visit Turkey, will have a heart-to-heart with Erdogan, and will fully support the choice of Rasmussen.  If Obama bends on this, we can conclude that he has very little regard for the Western values he's pledged to defend.

April 3, 2009   Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 5:25 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed above 8000.  It closed up 40 points, to 8018, as many "investors" were apparently unbothered by the stark unemployment numbers.  Who needs people with money to spend?

COMRADE? - AT 3:50 P.M. ET: 

LONDON (AFP) - - Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as "my new comrade" Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president "can listen" -- even if little progress was made on substance.

The Russian president contrasted Obama as "totally different" from his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the "mistake" of US missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow.

COMMENT:  Yuch.  Bush was correct on the missile shield, and East European countries took the risk of signing on to the Bush program.  Words like this from Medvedev, no matter how well he smiles, will not go down well in the capitals of our East European friends.

April 3, 2009   Permalink

OBAMA DOWN IN RASMUSSEN POLL - AT 3:11 P.M. ET:  The Rasmussen daily tracker on presidential approval has 56% of Americans approving of Mr. Obama's performance, 44% disapproving.  That's fairly consistent with Rasmussen's numbers recently, except for a brief uptick earlier this week.

However, Rasmussen has a "Presidential Approval Index," which reports the gap between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove.  That number has shrunk to three points, the smallest gap yet for Mr. Obama.  Some 35% strongly approve, whereas 32% strongly disapprove.

April 3, 2009   Permalink

DOW NOW - AT 3:01 P.M. ET: The Dow is up 14 points, to 7992, despite distressing unemployment numbers.  Now, higher unemployment, which is often accompanied by salary cuts for those still working, means that people have less money to spend.  If they have less money to spend, the very companies represented in the Dow index will probably have less business.  So why is the Dow stable or rising?  Because the stock market has very little to do with the real economy, as we learned during the Depression, when a four-year rally (1933-37) went ahead as the country's economy went down the drain.     

UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  This certainly hasn't been a morning for good news:

April 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. unemployment rate climbed in March to the highest level since 1983 and the economy lost more than 650,000 jobs for a fourth consecutive month, a sign renewed reductions in spending might slow a recovery.

The jobless rate increased to 8.5 percent, as forecast, from 8.1 percent in February, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. Employers cut 663,000 workers from staff, bringing total losses since the recession began to about 5.1 million, the biggest slump in the postwar era.

Evaporating jobs and declining pay mean President Barack Obama's pledge to create or save 3.5 million jobs through tax cuts and government spending may fall short of what's needed to revive the world's largest economy. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has conceded joblessness could top 10 percent under a worst-case scenario.

COMMENT:  And there are many states, like Michigan, where unemployment is already in double digits.  However, at one point in the great Depression, unemployment stood at 25%, and we didn't have a social safety net.  So we haven't come anywhere near that horrible situation yet.

April 3, 2009   Permalink 

WE REALLY NEEDED THIS - AT 8:26 A.M. ET:    From The Times of London: 

President Karzai of Afghanistan provoked international outrage yesterday with draconian Taleban-era restrictions on women and laws that explicitly sanction marital rape.

A leaked copy of the laws obtained by The Times details new strictures for Afghanistan’s Shia minority. Women are banned from leaving the home without permission. A wife has the absolute duty to provide sexual services to her husband, and child marriage is legalised.

Details of the legislation emerged as President Obama and other world leaders wrapped up the G20 summit to fly to a Nato summit marking 60 years of the alliance. Mr Obama is pushing for an increase in Nato troop numbers in Afghanistan, but many allies have already rebuffed his calls. The new laws may provide an excuse for remaining waverers to join them.

COMMENT:  This is very bad.  We obviously cannot go along with this sick, medieval nonsense.  And, yes, it's going to complicate our attempts to get further allied support for our Afghanistan efforts.  If anything, these new laws show us what we're fighting - radical Islam at its worst.

We have to find a way to advance our legitimate interests in Afghanistan and Pakistan without endorsing this stuff.  Karzai should be ashamed, but he seems to be a politician first:

Opponents of the Afghan President accused him of selling out basic human rights for women in return for the votes of hardline Shia conservatives for the presidential election in August.

This setback will, of course, provide fodder to our political left, which has not shown any particular interest in the rights of Muslim women.  They may now conveniently notice, as a means of getting us out of Afghanistan.  You watch.

April 3, 2009   Permalink   

GM DOWN THE DRAIN? - AT 7:51 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

DETROIT, April 2 -- The leaders of General Motors have been uncomfortable for months even mentioning the word "bankruptcy." The very idea would scare off customers, they said, and ravage car sales.

But on March 27 it became clear that the American corporate icon would have little choice.

Steven Rattner, chief of the President Obama's auto task force, instructed GM officials to give serious consideration to the tactic.

"They basically indicated it may well be that bankruptcy is the right strategy," Fritz Henderson, the company's new chief executive, said Thursday in an interview.

COMMENT:  This reminds me somewhat of the old practice, in some dictatorships, of people being "suicided."  They're simply forced into it, or murdered in such a way as to make it look like suicide. 

Go to sleep with the government, you wake up with bankruptcy.

April 3, 2009   Permalink 

DISGUSTING - AT 7:38 A.M. ET:  You're going to be reading about this - how the UN Human Rights Council, that vastly corrupt gang of dictators and their friends - has shown ultra-fairness by appointing an esteemed "Jewish" judge to investigate war crimes charges against Israel.  From the Jerusalem Post:

The United Nations on Friday appointed a former chief prosecutor for war crimes in Yugoslavia and Rwanda to lead a high-level mission to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip

Richard Goldstone, a Jewish judge from South Africa, was named to head the investigation ordered by the Human Rights Council in January.

According to the mandate, the investigation will focus only on Palestinian victims of the three-week IDF operation against Hamas terrorists.

COMMENT:  This is cynical to the core.  First, note paragraph three.  The "Human Rights Council" has restricted the "investigation" only to Palestinian "victims."  In other words, the probe is rigged in advance.  Second, note paragraph two.  This guy is a judge in South Africa, a country whose foreign policy is militantly anti-Israel.  How did he do so well in South Africa? 

Now add this:  The same "Jewish" Richard Goldstone recently signed a petition calling for an investigation of the Gaza operation.  The signatories said they were "shocked to the core" by Gaza.  In other words, Goldstone has already expressed an opinion.  Other signatories were the usual anti-Israel suspects.

The "Human Rights Council" has done this before, appointing the despicable Richard Falk, a "Jewish" former Princeton professor to head another probe into Israeli actions.  The mainstream media never noted that Falk had a lifetime record as an America hater and Israel hater, and had become a 9-11 conspiracy theorist. 

We've seen that not all "Christians" are very Christian, and not all "Jews" are particularly Jewish.  Back in 1940 there were "Jews" who supported the Hitler-Stalin pact, long after the synagogues of Germany started to burn.  These "Jews" had found a new religion in Marxism.  And we've seen "Christian" groups, some associated with the National Council of Churches, who take some very un-Christian positions, like fronting for dictators.  Religious labels are very dicey.  You have to look at the individual and his or her record. 

Oh, among the other signers of the petition that Goldstone signed are Desmond Tutu, a professional Israel hater, and Mary Robinson, who presided over the UN's now infamous Durban conference of 2001, which degenerated into an anti-Western and anti-Semitic hatefest.  Goldstone certainly has great company.

Maybe Goldstone will rise above the UN and do a fair job.  But he'll have to show us.

April 3, 2009   Permalink 

THIS ALMOST GOT MISSED - AT 7:06 A.M. ET:  From The Wall Street Journal:

Please pass Al Gore a Valium -- and better make it a double -- because his cap-and-trade dreams just took a dive in the U.S. Senate. In a vote late Wednesday, no fewer than 26 Democrats joined all 41 Republicans to insist that any new cap and tax on carbon energy would require at least 60 votes.

Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander called it "the biggest vote of the year" so far, and he's right. This means Majority Leader Harry Reid can't jam cap and tax through as part of this year's budget resolution with a bare majority of 50 Senators. More broadly, it's a signal that California and East Coast Democrats won't be able to sock it to coal and manufacturing-heavy Midwestern states without a fight.

COMMENT:  This is big news, buried by the president's trip to London.  It's also a solid example of representative democracy.  Midwest Dems, who have less interest in being invited to parties in Manhattan and Beverly Hills than some of the others, are representing their constituents' interests, and American manufacturing generally, in opposing a damaging tax.  We do want to develop new energy sources, but we can get there without wrecking our own people.  And, once again, proposed legislation is based on global-warming "science" that is increasingly under thoughtful attack.

April 3, 2009   Permalink