SUNDAY,  JANUARY 18,  2009

GOOFY 101 - AT 10:28 A.M. ET:  Just watched President-elect Obama and Vice-president-elect Biden laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington.  The president-elect has style, Biden does not.  Mr. Obama knew that, once you lay the wreath, you step backward, never turning your back on the tomb.  Biden, who didn't get the word, stepped back a few steps, then turned around, his back to the tomb, and walked away, with Obama, doing it correctly, beside him.  They're going to have to lock Joe in a box, or send him to a finishing school.   

MORE BAD VETTING - AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  It is remarkable how the image of the perfect presidential transition has been tarnished by the day-by-day reports of incompetent vetting by the Obama team - from the failure to detect Bill Richardson's legal problems to the failure to understand the significance of Timothy Geithner's tax headaches.

Now comes the latest - the participation in the inaugural ceremony of Ingrid Mattson, the president of the Islamic Society of America.  It now turns out that the society was linked in federal documents to Hamas. 

But that isn't all.  It also turns out that Mattson, who is Canadian-born, is a convert from Catholicism.  That is an insult to the nation's Catholics.  If there's one rule of thumb in inviting religious speakers to political events, it's that you stay away from converts...because they've turned their backs on another great religion. 

Someone didn't do the required homework here.  Mattson won't be dropped - that would inflame Muslims - but it's a debacle.  The Obama team is now in the major leagues, and some of its members must learn to play major-league ball. 

SHAKY CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA - AT 9:54 A.M. ET: 

GAZA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Hamas said on Sunday it would cease fire immediately along with other militant groups in the Gaza Strip and give Israel, which already declared a unilateral truce, a week to pull its troops out of the territory.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier that if a ceasefire held in the Hamas-ruled enclave, Israel could start the process of withdrawing its forces.

COMMENT:  A lot of "ifs" here.  If Hamas keeps firing rockets into Israel, what will Israel do?  And what will President Obama do as of Tuesday?  If Israel is pressured to continue its cease-fire and withdraw, even in the face of rocket fire, that is the worst possible signal to send to Hamas.

PRESS NOTES

Posted at 8:58 a.m. ET

The state of the liberal press is reflected this morning in two stories.  From NewsMax:

Battered by a one-two punch of declining readership and ad pages, Newsweek magazine is getting an extreme makeover this year that will include a large circulation reduction, deep cuts in operating costs, and a new effort to attract advertisers by concentrating on an elite audience.

According to The New York Times, executives at Newsweek say the retooled magazine will focus on being a "thought leader" that focuses on telling readers how to think about news, rather than telling people what happened in the last week.

They don't understand their problem.  They've been telling people how to think about news, and what to think, for years.  That's one reason they've lost subscribers, including me. 

And from the New York Post:

The embattled New York Times Co., trying to wriggle out from under a pile of debt as advertising revenue dries up, is talking to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim about making a sizeable cash investment in the company.

Slim, said to be the world's second-richest person with $60 billion, bought a 6.4 percent common share stake in the Times Co. in September for about $118 million, but is interested in gaining a larger share of the company, according to a report last night in The Wall Street Journal.

Ditto The New York Times.  Journalism is a profession (or calling) known for its arrogance.  Many of our press lords don't seem to understand that the quality and credibility of their product has cost them support.  After all, they've been through recessions before, and have survived.  When news pages are turned into editorials, half the country falls away.  Some of the most prominent newspapers in trouble today - The New York Times, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, have become infamous for their front-page editorial slant.

January 18, 2009.       Permalink          

THE COUNTDOWN

TWO DAYS TO THE AGE OF OBAMIUS

Posted at 8:31 a.m. ET

Is it not written?  The bitter cold over the northeast this weekend clearly is Divine cleansing of the air in preparation for the coming of Obama in two days.  The nations of the world wait, ready to feed the hungry and cure all disease within a week.  Soccer teams in Europe, and football teams in America, are declaring an end to brutal competition, and announcing new rules making every team a winner.  Harmony and love are about to break out, and Chris Matthews will be there to cover it.

Just feel the wonderfulness, as the Age of Obamius comes even closer.

We can report the following developments:

- In a bid toward diversity, the United States Marine Corps Band announced that "Hail to the Chief'" will be renamed "Hail to the Main Man."

- Mr. Obama confirmed that he'll take the oath on Abraham Lincoln's Bible.  He wanted other symbols at the ceremony, but the Ark of the Covenant wasn't available.

- CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta was gently escorted from a Washington bar last night after demanding that his glass of milk be "shaken, not stirred."

- Hillary Clinton said in an interview that she agreed with every aspect of Obama's foreign policy, and would be a dedicated, loyal subordinate.  She was then rushed to Georgetown Hospital, suffering from uncontrolled fits of laughter.

- President-elect Obama reaffirmed his intention to negotiate even with bitter enemies, the people he expects will give him the most trouble.  He immediately entered into talks with Democratic leaders of Congress.

- In the Lincoln tradition, the theme of his inauguration, President-elect Obama put finishing touches on his inaugural address by the light of a candle.  But he complained that he ran out of cartridges for his quill.

January 18, 2009.      Permalink          

SATURDAY,  JANUARY 17,  2009

IT'S STARTING - AT 7:05 P.M. ET:  Look, I can't summarize this piece, but for sheer intellectual presumption, it must get some kind of prize.  At our Angel's Corner we give out the Pompous Fool Award.  This article would qualify, but I'm afraid we'll have a flood of candidates this week, so I'm noting it here.  It's about the impact, the feeling, the brilliance, the religious character, the spiritual purity, the absolute wonderfulness, of Obama's speeches.  It's in The Washington Post.  It's here.  You must not miss it.

Yuch.

ANOTHER EMBARRASSMENT FOR OBAMA - AT 5:48 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:

One of the religious leaders invited to address Barack Obama’s inaugural prayer service Wednesday heads an Islamic group named by federal prosecutors as a co-conspirator in a terrorism-fundraising trial in Texas.

Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, is scheduled to join Christian ministers and Jewish rabbis offering prayers for the new president and his family during a service at the National Cathedral in Washington, organizers announced Friday.

Mattson’s group calls itself “the largest Muslim umbrella organization” in North America. However, in May 2007, federal prosecutors included ISNA on a list of nearly 300 co-conspirators filed in a criminal case charging that the Holy Land Foundation of Richardson, Texas, funneled more than $12 million to Hamas.

The U.S. government designated Hamas as a terrorist group in 1995.

COMMENT:  Another example of the Obama team's now legendarily poor vetting procedures.  But you can be sure that, with the possible exception of Fox News, this story will be buried fast.  Hey, who are we to question another culture?

THE MAYBE CEASE-FIRE - AT 5:30 P.M. ET: From The Jerusalem Post:

The cabinet on Saturday night voted in favor of an Egyptian-backed, unilateral 10-day cease-fire, ending Operation Cast Lead three weeks after it began.

At a press conference directly following the meeting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the aims of the operation in the Gaza Strip had been "met in full," and that the cease-fire would be observed from 2 a.m. on Sunday.

If Hamas continues to fire on the South, however, Israel will reserve the right to return fire, the prime minister said. "If [Hamas] return to their unruly attacks they will be surprised again by the hand of Israel - I don't advise them to try it," he said.

Hamas leaders have repeated, however, that the group will not respect any cease-fire as long as Israel remains inside Gaza.   

COMMENT:  It's hard to know exactly what this means.  Is it a real cease-fire, or a P.R. effort to mollify "critics"?  On Tuesday this becomes Obama's problem, and I suspect there's some stalling going on in diplomatic circles until the new administration takes over.

HILLARY?  WHO'S SHE? - AT 5:20 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:

Soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's expected approval by the Senate Tuesday has just hit a small speed bump that could delay her appointment for a day.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn, the incoming head of the GOP's Senate campaign committee, has penned a letter to the incoming SoS saying he's "deeply troubled that America’s foreign policy and your diplomatic mission will be encumbered by the sweeping global activities of the Clinton Foundation."

Like Dick Lugar, John Kerry and David Vitter, Cornyn wants increased transparency of Bill Clinton's charitable fundraising.

Cornyn can, though parliamentary tactics, delay a vote on Clinton until Wednesday.  But she will be confirmed.

COMMENT:  What is remarkable is the sheer number of Obama appointees with ethical problems.  But the press seems not at all interested.  Compare with the media's put-on hysteria over the "outing" of CIA employee Valerie Plame.  The role of the media during the Obama years will be one of the great stories.  Will we have anything approaching a professional, balanced press, or a series of royal servants?  The hints so far are not encouraging. 

FROM RENEE NIELSEN - AT 10:22 A.M. ET:  Wonderful Renee Nielsen, who did that superb reporting from Mumbai during the recent terrorist siege, alerts us to another commendable part of the Bush legacy - our relationship with India, the world's largest democracy, has never been better.  From the American Enterprise Institute:

Bill Emmott, a former editor of the Economist magazine, has written that George W. Bush's "bold initiative" to strengthen U.S. relations with India "may eventually be judged by historians as a move of great strategic importance and imagination." It "may turn out to be the most significant foreign policy achievement of the Bush administration," says historian Sugata Bose, an India expert at Harvard...

...Barack Obama will inherit a dangerous situation in Pakistan, but he will also inherit a U.S.-India partnership that is stronger than ever. Over the coming decades, as global power continues shifting to Asia, the importance of that partnership will only increase. Embracing India may indeed prove to be a significant part of President Bush's legacy."

COMMENT:  I'm sure we'll be reading similar praise in The New York Times.  Right.  When elephants fly. 

THE PROBLEM THAT WON'T GO AWAY - AT 9:39 A.M. ET:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Saturday its priority is to build up its ''nuclear deterrent force'' to protect itself and not to normalize diplomatic ties with the United States.

Pyongyang last week said it would not give up its nuclear weapons until after Washington alters its ''hostile policy'' toward its government and proves it does not pose an atomic threat.

The cryptic statement was the first to lay out the communist nation's nuclear stance since the last round of international disarmament talks stalled in December.

COMMENT:  Wasn't this the problem that was supposed to have been solved?  We have been given so many stories about the latest "agreement" with North Korea.  In the end, though, all the agreements seem to unravel.  Another item for Mr. Obama's list.

THE WELL-KNOWN ASTERISK - AT 9:14 A.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Barack Obama is preparing to prohibit the use of waterboarding and harsh interrogation techniques by ordering the CIA to follow military rules for questioning prisoners, according to two U.S. officials familiar with drafts of the plans. Still under debate is whether to include a loophole that would allow exceptions in extraordinary cases.

COMMENT:  Get the last sentence.  Of course there'll be exceptions.  Obama is too smart to have the deaths of thousands on his head.  So where's the change?

IRAN, THE NIGHTMARE - AT 8:59 A.M. ET:  From AP:

U.S. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell on Friday said that Iran is two to three years away from having a long-range missile that could reach Europe and is continuing to produce low-enriched uranium, the raw ingredient for the fissionable material needed for a warhead.

As he prepares to leave office, McConnell told reporters that U.S. intelligence agencies lack enough evidence to prove Iran has decided to build a nuclear warhead, but he shares the alarm of outgoing CIA Director Michael Hayden that the possibility may come soon.

"I'm very concerned Iran will continue down a path that will result in a nuclear weapon," he said.

COMMENT:  Do you remember, about a year ago, when an American intelligence report, circulated with glee by the mainstream media, said that Iran had stopped development of nuclear weapons in 2003?  So what happened?  Honest people happened.  Greater precision happened.  The contradiction between that bizarre intelligence report and current comments about Iran cries out for a journalistic investigation.   We won't get one. 

WEATHER - AT 8:48 A.M. ET:  It's three degrees in White Plains, New York, where this is being written.  Al Gore has been rushing around, pleading with people to turn their heat up to 90 so they'll remember what the truth really is. 

THE COUNTDOWN

THREE DAYS TO THE AGE OF OBAMIUS

Posted at 8:38 a.m. ET

The Bush days dwindle down to a precious few.  Purity is coming on Tuesday.  School children are being taught to prepare for the new age.  Everywhere on Earth there is the feeling that, come Tuesday night, all problems will be on their way to solution.  There are rumors that Obama carols are being written.  Wise men are heading for Washington.  True, they're generally called lobbyists, but they're now wise men.

We can report the following developments:

- CIA Director-designate Leon Panetta, who reported yesterday that he'd successfully penetrated Fox News, now claims that Bill O'Reilly is trying to develop a nuclear weapon.  The president-elect is said to be concerned.

- A team of Berkeley scientists reports that every time Obama speaks, the Earth cools a bit.  This same team reported last year that Che Guevara is alive and is living with Elvis in Monterey.

- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had to withdraw his nomination for commerce secretary because he's under investigation, has asked for political asylum in Illinois.

- Obama still has no replacement for Richardson.  He says he wants someone who built a business based on creativity and trust - but the producer of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos turned him down.

- Mr. Obama apologized after an aide referred to Cabinet members as "the disciples."  Obama said it was premature, and that the exact relationship is still to be worked out.

- An informed source reports that Hillary Clinton will attend the inaugural ball with a blind date. 

January 17, 2009.      Permalink