Part I of "The Angel's Corner," originally scheduled to be sent tonight, will be sent tomorrow, Thursday. 

WEDNESDAY,  APRIL 1,  2009

NOTE FROM A READER - AT 8:53 P.M. ET:  Reader Tom Saunders sent the following provocative e-mail about the coming launch of a North Korean missile.  I thought you'd be interested:

Secretary Clinton said the Japanese would be justified in defending themselves, but not a word about our  part.
 
Japan has been essentially cut  loose to fend for themselves against a nuclear North Korea.  I'm am sure  the nuance was not lost on either the Koreans nor the Japanese.
 
The Japanese have a widely held opinion about America's strongest personality trait: We do not  and will not stick to anything.  I was stationed in Japan from mid-1976 through 1979, and worked with Japanese military personnel virtually every day.  The lesson of Vietnam was not lost  on them, and they frequently looked askance at America's commitment to her "friends."  They will read this through that  prism.

COMMENT: Mr. Saunders is reflecting on a truth we refuse to face - that America has periodically turned its back on friends, as it did with Vietnam.  And there is another truth implied here:  Losing has consequences, and they last for years.  I'm not sure the Obama administration understands.

April 1, 2009   Permalink
 

MORE DIPLOMATIC VICTORY - AT 7:59 P.M. ET:  From AP:

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran dismissed American government reports that senior U.S. and Iran envoys had a cordial — and promising — face-to-face exchange at an international conference, saying Wednesday that no "talks" took place. The competing accounts of Tuesday's encounter in the Netherlands appeared to reflect the different approaches to overtures to end the United States' and Iran's nearly 30-year diplomat standoff.

Washington has seemed eager to build on President Barack Obama's surprise video message last month to seek engagement with Iran's ruling clerics. Iran has — in public, at least — been far cooler to making immediate contacts, but has not fully rejected some openings in the future.

COMMENT:  Oh, isn't this rich.  They can't even agree on whether talking took place.  Did mouths move?  Were sounds made?  Was there a smile?  A wink?  If they can't agree on this, imagine what happens when they try to decide who sits where at the table, and what kind of flowers to use in the centerpiece.  What do you think?  A two-year negotiation?  Three years? 

We're playing softball.  Our enemies are playing hardball.  The hardball does more damage.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

ANOTHER FAMOUS OBAMA VICTORY - AT 7:24 P.M. ET:  For an administration that hasn't scored a single foreign-policy success, despite all the hype, the Obamans can't seem to stop marketing ridiculous ideas:

KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban insurgents reject a U.S. offer of "honorable reconciliation," a top spokesman said on Wednesday, calling it a "lunatic idea" and saying the only way to end the war was to withdraw foreign troops.

With the Afghan conflict now in its eighth year, NATO-led forces and the Taliban are locked in a bloody stalemate with violence set to rise further this year as more U.S. troops arrive and seek to contain the insurgency ahead of August elections.

COMMENT:  Earth to Hillary Clinton:  These people don't like us, and won't make peace with us until they win.  Got that?

April 1, 2009   Permalink

OBSERVATION - AT 7:14 P.M. ET:  I've returned from a meeting of the Hudson York briefing council (which is why you haven't heard from me).  Tucker Carlson spoke, and made a fascinating observation.  He noted that people never turn down anything that's free, and never give it up.  His fear is that all the "benefits" in President Obama's stimulus plan will become permanent, no matter how much damage they may eventually do, simply because people won't give up something that they think isn't costing them anything. 

Carlson is right.  The history of Europe in the last 60 years shows that benefits and government "gifts," once given, are never given back.  The term "creeping socialism" applies here.  We can indeed become Sweden.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

DOW CLOSE - AT 7:12 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed up 153 points, to 7762, despite grim unemployment news. 

UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES - AT 8:24 A.M. ET:

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Companies in the U.S. cut an estimated 742,000 workers in March, pointing to no relief in sight for the labor market amid the longest recession in seven decades, a private report based on payroll data showed today.

The drop in the ADP Employer Services gauge was larger than economists forecast and the most since records began in 2001. February’s reading was revised to show cut of 706,000 workers, up from a previous estimate of 697,000.

Companies are slashing staff as tight credit conditions and shrinking household wealth cause sales to shrink. The Labor Department may report in two days that employers cut payrolls in March for a 15th consecutive month, putting jobs losses in the current downturn at more than 5 million, according to a Bloomberg survey.

COMMENT:  It's the human toll that's far more important than the money lost. 

April 1, 2009   Permalink

DIDN'T THEY USED TO MAKE CARS? - AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

The government may seek to ease General Motors into what it calls a “controlled” bankruptcy, somewhere between a prepackaged bankruptcy and court chaos, by persuading at least some creditors to agree to a plan that would cleave the company into two pieces, according to people briefed on the matter.

Instead of signing on every creditor as is typically required in prepackaged deals, administration officials are using as leverage the promise of taxpayer financing. Many regard the government as the only lender willing to step up with money — in bankruptcy or out.

“They’re going to have tremendous power,” said Lynn M. LoPucki, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. “They can call off the money and the whole thing fails.”

COMMENT:  This is just chilling.  Say what you want about the management of GM, or any other corporation, but the idea that Washington knows more about manufacturing cars is laughable.  At some point this is going to hit Americans very hard.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

GRIM FORECAST - AT 8:05 A.M. ET:   From The Washington Times:

The U.S. economy will contract this year much more sharply than the Obama administration has forecast, and next year's U.S. unemployment rate will reach double digits, far higher than the White House has predicted, according to a report issued Tuesday by a group representing the world's most advanced economies.

The U.S. recession "has deepened sharply, with output contracting at an alarming pace and the labor market weakening rapidly. Since December 2007, nearly 4.5 million jobs have been lost," the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its report. "The financial system remains fragile and some parts of the banking sector are under considerable stress."

COMMENT: Let's hope this doesn't come to pass, but, if it does, I fear there'll be an even greater economic power grab in Washington.  Many Americans can easily be deceived by some short-term economic news, and especially by a rising stock market.  But we had a rising stock market during the heart of the great Depression, and it had no effect on the real economy. 

I'm especially concerned about the psychological impact of a GM bankruptcy, which now seems to be in the cards.  When that name goes under, watch for one news story after another, with documentaries.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

MORE THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA - AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  From the Washington Post:

TOKYO, April 1 -- Having alarmed much of the world with its planned launch of a long-range missile, North Korea is showing no signs this week of wanting anyone to calm down.

The government of Kim Jong Il warned Wednesday in a radio broadcast that its forces "will relentlessly shoot down" U.S. reconnaissance aircraft that monitor preparation for its missile launch, which could occur as early as this weekend.

That warning against "brigandish U.S. imperialists" came on top of North Korea's announcement on Tuesday that it would put on trial for "hostile acts" two American journalists who were detained in mid-March after they apparently crossed from China into North Korea.

COMMENT:  Hillary Clinton tried to talk tough to the North Koreans yesterday, but her threats essentially amounted to taking the Koreans to the U.N.  What punishment!  What firmness!

Let's see how much the North Koreans get away with before the Obama administration puts some teeth into its threats.  The whole world, including Iran, will be watching.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

ANOTHER MINNESOTA STANDOFF - AT 7:08 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times: 

A mere 65 votes separated the two candidates late Tuesday in a Congressional contest in upstate New York that received national attention and was widely seen as a referendum on the Obama administration’s economic recovery efforts.

With all precincts reporting, the Democrat, Scott Murphy, a 39-year-old venture capitalist, led 77,344 to 77,279 over his Republican rival, Assemblyman James N. Tedisco, 58, for the seat vacated by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, a Democrat. The turnout was surprisingly strong for a special election.

But 10,055 absentee ballots were issued — and 5,907 received so far, state election officials said — meaning the election cannot be decided until the paper ballots are counted.

COMMENT:  We said before that the importance of this election was greatly exaggerated.  Now it's essentially a tie.  When the final result is announced it will be an astirisk to history.

April 1, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 6:59 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has decided to drop all charges against former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens amid charges of prosecutorial misconduct, NPR reported on Wednesday, citing Justice officials.

Stevens was convicted last fall of seven counts of lying on a Senate disclosure form to conceal $250,000 in gifts from an oil industry executive and other friends. Allegations of prosecutorial misconduct have delayed his sentencing.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has decided not to continue to defend the conviction in the face of persistent problems stemming from prosecutors' actions, NPR reported on its web site.

COMMENT:  As another Republican once said, after finally being exonerated after years of smears, where do you go to get back your reputation?

Charges of prosecutorial misconduct do not mean, of course, that Stevens was automatically innocent, but in our democracy the government must prove its case without resorting to improper actions.

Now, the question:  After all the screaming about George Bush and his "threats" to "our precious civil liberties," will we hear any concern expressed about the treatment of Ted Stevens?  Stevens's career is ruined, and we don't even know if he was guilty.  I only hear silence.

April 1, 2009   Permalink 

TUESDAY,  MARCH 31,  2009

ANOTHER SARAH FLAP - AT 7:39 P.M. ET:  From Fox News:

Sarah Palin is out and Newt Gingrich is in.

Congressional Republicans Tuesday decided to ditch the former GOP vice presidential nominee in favor of the former Speaker for the critical House-Senate fundraising dinner in Washington June 8. It's the marquee Republican event to raise money for GOP House and Senate candidates.

Just weeks ago, the House and Senate Republican campaign committees were giddy at securing the telegenic Palin for the dinner. But then things grew murky. At the time, the Alaska governor's office told FOX News that Palin was still considering the invitation and had not yet made a decision. Meantime, spokespersons for the committees insisted that Palin was scheduled and it was just a misunderstanding between the Alaska governor's office and Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, that accepted the invite.

Sources familiar with the Palin snub fumed openly about how the governor handled this.

"She was a disaster," one Republican source told FOX News. "We had confirmation."

COMMENT:  I hate to say it, but this may be the kick in the shins that Sarah needs.  I like her, but she is deeply flawed and often amateurish.  She also seems to think of herself as a kind of queenly figure.  She is not.  She's engaged in a number of antics more suitable for a Hollywood diva.  This is not appreciated in politics, and her welcome is being worn out.  I hope she makes corrections because she has real talent.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

WHAT IS IT WITH THIS CROWD? - AT 7:33 P.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding ''unintentional errors'' -- the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee.

COMMENT:  Imagine if she'd found "intentional errors."  How does Obama manage to pick so many people with tax problems?  He has a special knack.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

IS THIS SERIOUS? - AT 7:21 P.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will seek election to the U.N. Human Rights Council this year, the State Department said Tuesday, announcing the Obama administration's latest reversal of former President George W. Bush's foreign policies.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said in a statement that the administration will join the council to help make it more effective as part of President Barack Obama's desire to create a "new era of engagement" with the international community.

The Bush administration had boycotted the council over its repeated criticism of Israel and its refusal to cite flagrant rights abuses in Sudan and elsewhere abroad.

"Human rights are an essential element of American global foreign policy," Clinton said. "With others, we will engage in the work of improving the U.N. human rights system to advance the vision of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights."

COMMENT:  A depressing decision, signifying more groveling.  The council is a waste of time and space.  It won't be improved by our presence because the dictatorships and Muslim religious states that dominate it will simply ignore what we say.  All we're doing is adding credibility to a morally bankrupt instrument.  President Bush was right.  By boycotting the council, it became a marginalized laughing stock.  Of course, this decision will please the political left.

I find it amusing that Secretary Clinton now says that human rights are an essential part of our foreign policy.  She sang a different tune in China, when she downplayed human rights as an element in our relations with the Chinese.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

HILLARY THREATENS N. KOREA.  DOES THE BOSS KNOW? - AT 7:12 P.M. ET:  From Fox News:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that North Korea's preparations to launch a missile are another example of it provocative behavior and Japan would have every right to defend itself.

"It is an unfortunate and continuing example of provocation by the North Koreans," Clinton told a news briefing at a conference in The Hague, Netherlands.

"There will be consequences" if North Korea launches a missile, she said, noting possible U.N. Security Council actions. "Japan has every right to protect and defend its territory."

COMMENT:  This is the kind of talk that is rare in this administration.  Is the secretary speaking for herself, or for the president?  Let's see exactly what Obama does if the missile is launched, which it almost certainly will be.  The North Koreas have announced their intent, and would lose face if they backed down.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

DOW UP - AT 1:22 P.M. ET:  The Dow is up 142 points, to 7664.  But a Bloomberg story reads:

Confidence among U.S. consumers stayed near a record low and a survey of purchasing managers showed business deteriorated further in March, indicating the economy remains deep in a recession.

So go figure the stock market.

March 31, 2009

DEFENSE CUTS - AT 1:19 P.M. ET:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate defense committee chairman says the Pentagon budget will include large, painful cuts. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said Tuesday that major program cuts will not be pushed off until the 2011 budget, but will be included when Defense Secretary Robert Gates sends his spending plan to the president later this month.

COMMENT:  We are handing trillions over to failed corporations, but we're cutting our defense budget in the face of threats that are rising, not falling.  Will Republicans object, or sleepwalk through it?  The impression of Carter II continues to grow.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

OBAMA APPROVAL UP - AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen is reporting a dramatic upturn in the president's approval rating.  A 13-point spread between those who approve and those who disapprove, registered only last week, has now turned into a 20-point spread, with 59% approving and 39% disapproving.

Rasmussen's presidential approval index - the spread between those who strongly approve and those who strongly disapprove, only four points on March 28th, has now grown to 11 points, only three days later.

Statistical fluke?  I don't know.  The dramatic upturn follows the stock-market advance, before yesterday, of the last two weeks.  It also follows the president's constant appearances on television to sell his programs.  It will take weeks more of measurement to see if this is a real trend for the president.

March 31, 2009   Permalink 

WARNING FROM THE TALIBAN - AT 8:49 A.M. ET:  From the AP:

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility Tuesday for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the U.S. capital.

Baitullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head from the U.S., said Monday's attack outside the eastern city of Lahore was in retaliation for U.S. missile strikes against militants along the Afghan border.

"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world," Mehsud told The Associated Press by phone. He provided no details.

Mehsud and other Pakistani Taliban militants are believed to be based in the country's lawless areas near the border with Afghanistan, where they have stepped up their attacks throughout Pakistan.

COMMENT:  Of course, this could be bravado.  But, if anyone told us before
9-11 that a ragtag group of fanatical Muslims could attack the United States and kill 3,000 Americans, we would have called that bravado as well.  This threat deserves the most careful scrutiny. 

March 31, 2009   Permalink

GETTING THE MESSAGE - AT 8:17 A.M. ET: 

March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. may have this response to the U.S. government’s offer of $7.2 billion for high-speed Internet projects: Keep it.

Unlike the businesses that welcomed the $787 billion stimulus package approved by Congress last month, the two biggest U.S. phone companies have reservations. They’re urging the government not to help other companies compete with them through broadband grants or to set new conditions on how Internet access should be provided.

“I don’t think there’s much for them to gain financially from going after this money,” especially if the government attaches strings to it, said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Washington.

COMMENT:  Maybe some American corporations are getting the message.  You lie down with bureaucrats, you wake up with socialists.  But the question is when the American people are going to start to resist the greatest power grab we've had in Washington in generations.  I certainly don't mean to defend some of the companies that have gotten help.  Some of them have been horribly and cynically run.  But we should be extremely careful about transferring private control to public control, assuming, as some Americans apparently do, that Washington will be wiser, more competent, or more honest.  There isn't much history to back up that assumption.

March 31, 2009   Permalink 

DID OBAMA BLUNDER? - AT 7:50 A.M. ET:  The New York Times, to its credit, has recently run some surprising critiques of the Obama administration.  This morning, an op-ed piece by William J. Holstein, author of "Why G.M. Matters: Inside the Race to Transform an American Icon," raises the possibility that the president's drastic decisions regarding G.M. are wrongheaded:

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S stunning decision to demand that Rick Wagoner resign as chairman and chief executive of General Motors was based on the wrong set of premises and raises the prospect that the administration will intervene too deeply in the automaker, seriously jeopardizing a transformation effort that has come a long way in the right direction...

...Mr. Obama indicated he did not believe G.M. had moved fast enough in facing up to global competition. But the company is coming close to achieving the cost structure of Toyota’s assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky. — largely because Mr. Wagoner and his team stripped thousands of dollars out of the cost of every vehicle...

...Mr. Wagoner also encouraged G.M.’s adoption of Toyota’s lean manufacturing techniques and quality control. So much so that Buick tied with Jaguar for first place in the latest J. D. Power ranking of dependability, coming in ahead of Toyota and its Lexus brand.

And...

The Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu both won car-of-the-year awards last year and the newly revived Camaro — which is hitting the roads just as Mr. Wagoner is being ousted — represents the high-water mark of revitalized American car design...

...Mr. Obama has not only failed to understand these contributions, he has also deprived G.M. of Mr. Wagoner’s presence on the board...

...Mr. Obama’s intervention does not stop there. His aides were quoted as saying they are going to remake the entire G.M. board. But deciding which director should go and which director should be added is far beyond the competence of any government.

And the president's mouth:

Mr. Obama also failed to end the bankruptcy talk that has hung over G.M. and hurt its sales. In his statement on Monday he admitted that “I know that when people even hear the word ‘bankruptcy’ it can be a bit unsettling.” He’s right — and that’s exactly why he shouldn’t have said it was a possibility.

Finally...

It may have been politically expedient for Mr. Obama to give Mr. Wagoner the pink slip. But politics in Washington have real world consequences. Before he goes too far, Mr. Obama should recognize the huge distance that G.M. has traveled and strike the right balance in respecting the role of the private sector. Unlike the insurance giant A.I.G. or Wall Street’s failed banks, General Motors consists of real factories where real people make real things. As it looks to micromanage an entire industry, let’s hope the administration doesn’t lose sight of the human side of things.

COMMENT:  This is a powerful, well-written indictment by an expert on General Motors.  We, the American people, have a right to ask what's going on here.  Do the people in Washington know what they're doing?  Who decided to oust Rick Wagoner, and why?  Who made him a villain, when, apparently, he was doing many right things? 

The people in the president's "auto task force" - do they know anything about cars?  About manufacturing?  Or are they numbers crunchers who went to the right schools?  Steve Rattner, who heads the task force, is a financier and investor, an Ivy Leaguer, and a former reporter for The New York Times.  (I didn't know a man could have that many strikes against him.)  Three members of the auto "team" are climate-change experts.  I am not kidding. 

This calls for a major congressional investigation.  It won't happen because Democrats control Congress.  But the president may have killed General Motors just when its engines were beginning to roar again.

March 31, 2009   Permalink

HANSON ON "THE ONE" - AT 7:27 A.M. ET:  Victor Davis Hanson detects an excess of me, me, me, in Mr. Obama's public statements, and wishes he would change:

I think our president needs to invest more in the use of the third-person "government," since his speeches more and more center on the narcissistic "I" and "me." Even the car-takeover speech was "I-ed" to death. E.g.

My Auto Task Force

And so today, I am announcing that my administration will...

In this context, my administration will offer General Motors adequate working capital over the next 60 days. During this time, my team will be working closely with GM to produce a better business plan.

I am committed to doing all I can to see if a deal can be struck...

Now, I know that when people even hear the word "bankruptcy" it can be a bit unsettling, so let me explain what I mean. What I am talking about is..

COMMENT:  Cult of personality?  What cult of personality?  Do you see it?  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Move on, please.

At least he hasn't said, "I am America.  I am the state."  Coming soon.

March 31, 2009   Permalink