Best quote on Barack Obama that I've read so far - from Ralph Peters in today's New York Post:

                     America's enemies smell blood and it's type "O."

Read the whole, excellent piece here.

WEDNESDAY,  MARCH 25,  2009

HE'S BACK - AT 11:18 P.M. ET:  Remember Rev. Jesse Jackson?  He's been pretty silent recently, existing in the shadow of Barack Obama.  Now he's back, giving the British some advice, as London's Evening Standard reports:

LONDON will never defeat the scourge of teenage gang killings until it beats poverty, American civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson said today.

In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, the charismatic black activist urged: "There must be a war, not just on knives but on poverty and illiteracy."

He also issued a challenge to next week's G20 summit, gave his verdict on Barack Obama's first two months and revealed why he thinks Britain has yet to have a black prime minister.

Mr Jackson, 67, is in London to give evidence to a home affairs select committee inquiry into Britain's epidemic of knife crime and violent youth gangs.

COMMENT:  The sixties crowd, with its ideas, is trying to make a comeback.  Jackson speaks patent nonsense.  New York City, under Rudy Giuliani, reduced violent crime dramatically by changing police tactics, establishing modern computerized law enforcement techniques and making it clear that crime would not be tolerated.  It's amazing how people's lives suddenly improved.

While there may well be some connection between poverty and crime, we've seen over and over that the connection is greatly exaggerated.  A heavy majority of poor people don't commit violent crimes.  Crime during the Depression era in the United States actually went down.  We're also told, by the way, that the "root cause" of terrorism is poverty and oppression, but that has been thoroughly discredited.  Many terrorists are middle-class and well educated. 

It isn't surprising that some in Britain have sought Jackson's advice.  There is a large element of the British elite that yearns for the simplistic theories of the sixties.  Jackson will provide them.  He should be ignored.  Those looking for the real causes of violence might concentrate on cultural breakdown and appeasement of criminals. 

March 25, 2009

TODAY OBAMA, TOMORROW THE WORLD - AT 7:59 P.M. ET:  From Fox News: 

Only nine months ago, when he addressed an estimated 200,000 people in Germany, Barack Obama was heralded as "president of the world."

But now that he's president of the United States, the world doesn't appear to be following up on its endorsement.

From France to Poland, from the Czech Republic to China, many nations are rebuffing the president and offering little wiggle room for him to negotiate economic and security policies.

Obama faces his first major international test next week when the world's largest economies meet at the G20 summit in London.

"I think as the president heads to Europe, he faces a huge public relations disaster," said Nile Gardiner, director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.

COMMENT:  This is a Fox report.  Let's see how the more establishment press spins it.  It's perfectly obvious from the stories we examine every day at Urgent Agenda that many foreign ministries are underwhelmed by President Obama's policies and his administration.  The president may be impressed by the "soft power" arguments at Harvard's Kennedy School, but softness doesn't win you much respect in the back alleys of international politics.  When you signal that you're punishing your friends and rewarding your enemies, neither friends nor enemies are likely to show much respect. 

March 25, 2009

SHE DID IT AGAIN - AT 6:10 P.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton is back in full 1960s mode:

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - An "insatiable" appetite in the United States for illegal drugs is to blame for much of the violence ripping through Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

Clinton acknowledged the U.S. role in Mexico's drug cartel problem as she arrived in Mexico for a two-day visit where she will discuss U.S. plans to ramp up border security with President Felipe Calderon.

COMMENT:  This is disgusting.  The United States in full grovel.  Strange, but there is no violence ripping through Canada.  Canada's borders are just as close.

March 25, 2009

OBAMA RATINGS DOWN - AT 5:21 P.M. ET:  The show went on, but may need some work:

Most TV shows start strong in the ratings, then decline as their novelty wears off.

Apparently that trend also holds true for the president's primetime telecasts.

According to the national Nielsen ratings, Barack Obama's Tuesday-night press conference lost viewers compared with his two most recent heavily covered evening events.

The news special drew 40.4 million viewers -- down 18% from from his Feb. 9 press conference, and down 23% from his Feb. 24 address to Congress. The numbers are the combined viewership from 11 cable and broadcast networks that carried the event.

COMMENT:  How often can you see the same movie?  They need a sequel, and pretty soon they may need a new star. 

The White House must make these appearances more substantive.  People are getting the sense that no news is made, and that they really don't have to listen.

March 25, 2009   Permalink 

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:03 P.M. ET:  After a see-saw day - see story just below - the Dow closed up 91 points, to 7751.

AUCTION WEAKNESS ROILS MARKETS - AT 3:32 P.M. ET: 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks lost ground Wednesday after a weak auction of U.S. government debt stirred worries about how easily Washington will be able to raise money to fund its economic rescue program.

Investors gave an unexpectedly cool response to a $24 billion auction of 5-year Treasury notes Wednesday, just a day after a $40 billion auction of 2-year notes suggested strong demand. Treasury prices also declined following the auction.

The government is running up record deficits in order to fund an array of plans to provide stimulus to the economy and support to the ailing financial system. Any suggestion that demand for U.S. government debt is weakening would be negative for stocks.

COMMENT:  Not the last word, of course, but in the great Depression there was usually a mixture of good and bad news.  The key issue, at least as far as most Americans are concerned, is the "real" economy, the Main Street economy.  There we've been getting a mixture of good and bad reports.

We are also affected, especially in international trade, by the economies of other countries, and some of the European nations are taking a beating.  One exception is the Czech Republic, where a center-right government, which resigned yesterday, seems to have kept things reasonably stable.

March 25, 2009   Permalink

IRANIAN MOVES - AT 3:26 P.M. ET: 

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Iran has accepted an invitation to a conference on Afghanistan next week that also will be attended by the U.S., the conference's Dutch host said Wednesday.

The invitation to Iran, which was first announced by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, was seen as part of Washington's policy toward greater engagement with the Islamic republic.

COMMENT:  This will be spun as a victory for "engagement," but it is nothing of the kind.  It simply magnifies Iranian "respectability," with us getting nothing in return - exactly the same experience the Europeans have had in talking with Iran.

March 25, 2009   Permalink

DOW UP - AT 10:11 A.M. ET:  The Dow is up 162 points, to 7822.

THE "FAILED" WAR - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Remember when Iraq was "unwinnable," a failed blunder by "neo-cons"?  Jeff Jacoby, who holds forth as the lone conservative at the faltering Boston Globe, gives a more up-to-date perspective:

MARKETS without bombs. Hummers without guns. Ice cream after dark. Busy streets without fear." So began Terry McCarthy's report from Iraq for ABC's World News Sunday on March 15, one of a series the network aired last week as the war in Iraq reached its sixth anniversary.

A nationwide poll of Iraqis reveals that "60 percent expect things to get better next year - almost three times as many as a year and a half ago," McCarthy continued. "Iraqis are slowly discovering they have a future. We flew south to Basra, where 94 percent say their lives are going well. Oil is plentiful here. So is money."

In another report two nights later, ABC's correspondent characterized the Iraqi capital as "a city reborn: speed, light, style - this is Baghdad today. Where car bombs have given way to car racing. Where a once-looted museum has been restored and reopened. And where young women who were forced to cover their heads can again wear the clothes that they like."

But Jacoby also deals with a hard truth:

Even now, with a stubbornness born of partisan hostility or political ideology, there are those who cannot bring themselves to utter the words "victory" and "Iraq" in the same sentence. But six years after the war began, it is ending in victory. As in every war, the price of that victory was higher than we would have wished. The price of defeat would have been far higher.

COMMENT:  Well said.  Now the same intellectually dishonest forces that did everything possible to force a defeat in Iraq are trying to work their magic in Afghanistan.  Instead of victory, they talk of an "exit strategy."  Polls show the left wing of the Democratic Party wants us out of Afghanistan, even though our actions there are a direct result of the 9-11 attacks. 

I wish some of these people would have the courage, and integrity, to admit that they are opposed to any American military operation, and certainly any American victory.  They represent the same kind of intellectual corruption we found in the "anti-war" movement during Vietnam.  The manipulators of that movement "wept" for the Vietnamese people...until the Communists won, and turned Vietnam into a slave state.  Then the weeping stopped.

March 25, 2009   Permalink

AGAIN WE ASK, DOES HE GET IT? - AT 8:17 A.M. ET:  Reader Jean Spik alerts us, ah the repetition, to still one more slight that President Obama has apparently directed at our closest allies.  It was expected by NATO that Mr. Obama would name General James N. Mattis as supreme allied commander in Europe.  But Obama pulled a switcheroo, naming Admiral James Stavridis instead.  Why is this important?  Germany's Spiegel Online explains:

In Brussels, though, many felt bluffed. "America treats this like it's purely an American matter -- and they didn't even give any hints about the appointment," one NATO employee said. "The conspiratorial manner of the personnel search was almost reminiscent of the way the pope is selected," Stefani Weiss, a NATO expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung foundation in Brussels, told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

COMMENT:  You know, pretty soon our allies may secretly wish for the days of George Bush.  Bush may have been blunt, but Obama is insulting.  Which would you prefer?

March 25, 2009   Permalink

DOES HE GET IT? - AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  Related to our Iran story just below is President Obama's comment at last night's press conference:

Unprompted by reporters, Obama also defended himself from accusations that his recent overtures to Iran - most notably, a video-taped New Year's greeting - hadn't succeeded since Teheran had dismissed them.

"Some people said, 'Well, they did not immediately say that we're eliminating nuclear weapons and stop funding terrorism.' Well, we didn't expect that. We expect that we're going to make steady progress on this front," Obama maintained.

He pointed to Iran as one area among many where "persistence" will be key, and suggested it would be a mantra of his administration.

"That whole philosophy of persistence," he said, "is one that I'm going to be emphasizing again and again in the months and years to come as long as I'm in this office. I'm a big believer in persistence."

COMMENT:  Oh please.  I mean, really.  This is the new mantra?  Does it replace last week's mantra?   Hey, the president is a big believer in persistence.  Pass it on.

The problem is that persistence is what we don't need right now, in dealing with Iran.  We need speed.  That nuclear program isn't going to stop because of our "persistence."  The more we "persist," the more time they have.  And there doesn't seem to be any kind of policy to back up the "persistence."  More and more, the president sounds like he's running an elementary school, with moral lessons for eight-year-olds.  He's running a country, and life and death are involved.

March 25, 2009   Permalink

WEIRDNESS - AT 7:26 A.M. ET:  The man in charge of stopping nuclear proliferation, and who has failed at it, now speaks out, giving us his profound view of President Obama's outreach to Iran.  The sheer depth of his remarks may be too much of an intellectual challenge for us:

The UN's chief nuclear inspector applauded Barack Obama for extending an olive branch to Iran, calling the US president's offer of diplomacy an important gesture toward resolving Iran's dispute with the West over its nuclear program.

"Obama is talking about direct negotiation without preconditions based on mutual respect, and he's extended his hand to the Iranian people," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday in Ecuador. "I hope it's reciprocated by the Iranian people."

COMMENT:  Say what?  The Iranian people?  What do they have to do with this?  So ElBaradei tells us that the Iranian people should reciprocate?  What do they do?  Hold up placards so our satellites can read them?

It's the Iranian government that counts, Mr. Nuke.  It's the Iranian government that's developing atomic weapons, intercontinental missiles, and God knows what else.  It's the government that denies the Holocaust and takes aim at the United States, Europe, and Israel. 

These UN guys - they speak a language of their own.  And it isn't ours.

March 25, 2009   Permalink

PRESS BIAS?  WHAT PRESS BIAS?- AT 7:06 A.M. ET:  Do you doubt that there is press bias?  If yo have any doubts at all, please read the opening paragraph on this New York Times story:

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s economy is being dragged down by the recession to the north. American addicts have turned Mexico into a drug superhighway, and its police and soldiers are under assault from American guns. Nafta promised 15 years ago that Mexican trucks would be allowed on American roads, but Congress said they were unsafe.

United States-Mexican relations are in the midst of what can be described as a neighborly feud, one that stretches along a lengthy shared fence. That border fence, which has become a wall in some places, is another irritant.

COMMENT:  In other words, it's all America's fault.  This is journalism at its shabbiest - pure leftist propaganda in the form of a news story, and printed in our "leading" newspaper.  It is a disgrace, and should have been stopped by any competent editor.

Strange, but we have a neighbor to the north.  It doesn't spill violence over our borders.  It isn't wracked by drug wars.  It doesn't flood us with illegals.  And we don't even need a fence.  It's called Canada, and maybe the writers of this impossibly slanted story might contemplate the contrast between the northern and southern borders. 

The sad decline of The New York Times continues.

March 25, 2009  Permalink 

TUESDAY,  MARCH 24,  2009

THE PRESIDENT'S PRESS CONFERENCE - AT 9:02 P.M. ET:  I just watched Mr. Obama's press conference.  Press conferences tend to be greatly overrated.  News is not generally made at these affairs.  The questions are often weak.  The answers are often canned and dull.

And that's pretty much what it was.  The president, of course, speaks well.  He has a wonderful voice and a command of the language.  But he really doesn't say much, and after a time his monotone has the same effect as warm milk.  I suspect he will get a small bump in the polls over the next few days, and that will be the only result. 

The press conference has now been over for about ten minutes.  I've already forgotten what was asked and answered.  We weren't listening to Lincoln.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

DRAMA IN ISRAEL - AT 7:32 P.M. ET:  There was significant political news out of Israel today.  The Labor Party, Israel's founding party but now only its fourth largest, agreed to join a coalition government to be led by hard-liner Binyamin Netanyahu.  This saves Netanyahu's neck and guarantees that he will have the parliamentary votes needed to become prime minister.  It also gives him political cover.  Absent the Labor Party, he would have had to go for a government coalition entirely from the hard right.  That government would probably have collapsed quickly, and its makeup would have damaged Israel's standing with the United States.

There are plenty of people around Obama who would like the United States to distance itself from Israel (and apparently most other allies), as we grovel to our "misunderstood" enemies.  With Labor in the Israeli government, softening the edges, their argument that Israel is overly rigid loses some steam. 

At the same time, it's clear that Israel suffers from a surplus of democracy.  Its proportional representation system gives small groups inordinate power to block the formation of governments.  Electoral reform is due, moving the country closer to a two-party system.  In a country where the national government is essentially local, this may raise some hackles, but it is necessary for stability.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

MORE OBAMAN WORDPLAY - AT 7:08 P.M. ET:  Reader Jean Spik alerts us to this, from the Washington Post:

The end of the Global War on Terror -- or at least the use of that phrase -- has been codified at the Pentagon. Reports that the phrase was being retired have been circulating for some time amongst senior administration officials, and this morning speechwriters and other staff were notified via this e-mail to use "Overseas Contingency Operation" instead.

"Recently, in a LtGen [John] Bergman, USMC, statement for the 25 March [congressional] hearing, OMB required that the following change be made before going to the Hill," Dave Riedel, of the Office of Security Review, wrote in an e-mail.

"OMB says: 'This Administration prefers to avoid using the term "Long War" or "Global War on Terror" [GWOT]. Please use "Overseas Contingency Operation.'"

Riedel asked recipients to "Please pass on to your speech writers and try to catch this change before the statements make it to OMB."

COMMENT:  I can see what's coming.  A terrorist attack on the United States would be "an ethnic expression of frustration."  Obama appeasement of sworn enemies would be "realistic recognition of legitimate grievances."  An Iranian nuclear weapon would be "an inspiring achievement by a previously oppressed people."

Didn't Orwell write about this kind of thing?

March 24, 2009   Permalink 

DOW CLOSE - AT 4:03 P.M. ET:  The Dow closed down 116 points, to 7660.

OBAMA'S MONEY TROUBLES - AT 3:54 P.M. ET: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama is preparing for one of the toughest fights of his young presidency as Congress begins work on a budget that may trim his spending plans but back his healthcare, energy and education proposals.

Obama will meet fellow Democrats in the Senate on Wednesday to try to shore up support for a budget blueprint that likely would increase the deficit more than initially estimated by the White House -- it was forecast at $1.4 trillion for next year...

...Republicans say Obama's budget plan expands government and raises taxes on the rich and small businesses at a time when the country is mired in a deep recession. Obama, for his part, is trying to keep fiscally-conservative Democrats on board.

COMMENT:  This is the time for Republicans to take a stand, and come up with their own budget, creative and responsible. 

I love it when we learn that Congress may trim spending, but back the Obama vision of health care, energy and education.  Consider the last:  I maintain that we spend too much money on education in this country, and get too little for it.  Education is not underfunded.  The funds are, too often, poorly used.  But the Democratic Party is heavily influenced by teachers' unions, who want the check writing to go on, unquestioned.  Let Republicans come up with an education alternative that is responsible, and demands accountability.

March 24, 2009   Permalink 

MORE SPINE IN NATO THAN HERE - AT 3:25 P.M. ET: 

BRUSSELS (AP) -- A Dane who infuriated Muslims by speaking out in favor of freedom of speech during an uproar over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and who sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan is emerging as the frontrunner to be NATO's next secretary-general.

Europeans and Americans are forging a broad consensus over tapping Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is likely to be named at NATO's upcoming summit in April, according to two NATO officials who spoke on condition anonymity because negotiations are ongoing.

One obstacle to his candidacy: Opposition by Turkey, a key strategic player in the alliance and its only predominantly Muslim member.

COMMENT:  Turkey is expected to go along eventually.  It's good to see NATO standing up for free speech, and for a defender of free speech.  Compare please with the general run of leftist politicians and "multiculturalists" who populate the intellectual landscape, in Europe and here.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

BRITAIN ON GUARD - AT 3:10 P.M. ET:  From London's Daily Mail:

Sixty thousand civilians are being trained to spot terrorists, Gordon Brown revealed yesterday.

In the latest Labour anti-terror initiative, huge numbers of staff on rail networks, at airports, shopping centres, public buildings and sports venues have been picked out by MI5 and the police to be taught how to watch for 'suspicious behaviour' and respond swiftly in the event of an atrocity.

The Home Office plans are likely to raise questions over the effectiveness of an army of amateur 'terrorist-watchers'.

There are fears they will swamp the police and security services with spurious alerts or single out law-abiding British Muslims, which could also inflame religious tensions.

COMMENT:  Well, there may be "fears" and "concerns."  There always are.  But at least the British are taking this seriously, a lot more seriously than we are. (Please see our posting at 8:42 a.m. called, "This is Not the Politics of Fear.")  In fact, there's a clear level of urgency in British planning, which, I assume, means that the Brits have credible information about planned attacks.  In Washington we have just put in place a decidedly left-wing top tier at the Justice Department, and planning for terror attacks appears to be far down on the priority list.  Kindness toward detainess, and being loved in the Muslim world, are much higher up. 

March 24, 2009   Permalink 

LITERARY NEWS - AT 2:55 P.M. ET:  From the Arts Beat at The New York Times:

Since his last book did not single-handedly solve the world’s environmental problems, Al Gore will return to the subject of global warming in a new book to be released by Rodale Inc., the publisher said in a news release. The book, “Our Choice,” will return to the milieu of Mr. Gore’s 2006 bestseller, “An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.”

COMMENT:  Medical note:  For those of you suffering from insomnia, a book by Al Gore can work wonders.

March 24, 2009  Permalink

RALLY FIZZLES - AT 2:53 P.M. ET:  Yesterday's spectacular rally on Wall Street was short-lived.  The Dow is now down 18 points, to 7757.

THIS IS NOT THE POLITICS OF FEAR - AT 8:42 A.M. ET:  From The Jerusalem Post:

Although al-Qaeda is probably not going to survive the coming years, a nuclear or chemical weapons attack on British soil is becoming increasingly likely, according to a new report by the British government. The report, quoted by the British Independent on Tuesday, warned that a "dirty bomb" attack was "more realistic" then ever.

"Contemporary terrorist organizations aspire to use chemical, biological, radiological and even nuclear weapons," the report said. "Changing technology and the theft and smuggling of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) materials make this aspiration more realistic than it may have been in the recent past."

COMMENT:  This comes at a time when our own secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, refuses to use the term "terrorism," claiming it advances "the politics of fear."  She prefers "man-made disasters." 

Can someone please explain why some of our allies have become tougher on terrorism, and more outspoken about it, than we have?  Napolitano's absurd choice of words would be fine for an elementary-school principal trying to comfort young kids.  It's outrageous for a cabinet secretary in the United States government.  I wonder what Mr. Obama thinks about this.  Maybe someone will ask him tonight.

March 24, 2009   Permalink 

RETREATING TO THE BUNKER - AT 8:10 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

At a time when his Washington honeymoon is turning into a hazing, President Barack Obama and his team are launched on a strategy to sail above the traditional White House press corps by reaching out to liberal commentators, local reporters and ethnic media.

The highest-profile moments in the new approach have been well-noted, such as the president giving an interview to progressive radio host Ed Schultz and Obama calling on a reporter from the liberal-leaning Huffington Post at his first news conference.

But those moves are only part of a much larger strategy aimed at communicating directly with audiences the White House believes are more sympathetic to the president’s agenda — and one in which much of the work is being done by Obama’s top advisers.

COMMENT:  Say what?  An audience more sympathetic than the Washington press corps?  Is the White House serious here?  These are the guys who put Obama in the Oval Office.  And they're not sympathetic enough?

This is a sign of trouble because it's a sign of paranoia.  If it continues this way, Obama will out-Nixon Nixon.  These guys must calm down, take the little white pill, and ride with the punches.  Circling the wagons just doesn't happen this early in an administration - unless it's one run by amateurs.

Hmm.

March 24, 2009    Permalink       

THE OBAMA SCHEDULE - AT 7:48 A.M. ET:  From The Politico:

Obama will be meeting with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd later this morning to discuss the international financial crisis, climate change, Afghanistan and Pakistan policy and nuclear nonproliferation.

COMMENT:  Now, Mr. President, with respect I offer this advice:  Australia is in the southwest Pacific.  It is an ally of the United States, one of our best, but that doesn't mean you should insult the prime minister.  Make an exception this time.  His name is Rudd, not Rude.  Australia's most famous song is "Waltzing Matilda," not "Steppin' out with Maddy."  And, by the way, if you give him a gift, don't get it at the last minute from the White House Gift Shop. 

Oh, another thing:  It's not necessary to say that you have great respect for kangaroos and their culture.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

OBAMA ARMY LOSING CLOUT? - AT 7:31 A.M. ET:  From the McClatchy Newspapers: 

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's army of canvassers fanned out across the nation over the weekend to drum up support for his $3.55 trillion budget, but they had no noticeable impact on members of Congress, who on Monday said they were largely unaware of the effort.

"News to me," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, a House Budget Committee member, of the canvassing. Later, his staff said that his office had heard from about 100 voters.

This dovetails well with a report by Michael Barone, noting that the Democratic Party seems to be losing favor:

Last Wednesday, I noted that Republicans are now running even or slightly ahead in the generic vote for Congress in two respected national polls. On Friday, Charlie Cook noted the same results. He pointed out that the NPR survey shows Independents favoring Republicans 38-24 percent and that Republican pollster Glen Bolger says this is the first time Independents have favored Republicans since 2004.

What is going on here? One thing we know is that these results represent more of a decline in the Democrats' numbers than an increase in the Republicans'. Some significant bloc of voters, heavily loaded toward independents, seem to have soured on the Democrats since Barack Obama took office and the 111th Congress went to work.

COMMENT:  The problem, hinted at by Barone, is that Republican numbers have not improved.  It's the Dems who have sagged.  Republicans can take advantage of this trend, but only if they develop a coherent, positive program to present to the American people.  Being against things just won't cut it.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

ABOUT THAT POLL - AT 7:01 A.M. ET:  The big polling news of the day is a new Zogby survey that, when published today, will apparently show an approximate 50-50 split in the president's approval ratings - half approving, half not.

Look, this pol is an outlier, and Zogby wasn't terribly accurate last year.  No other poll shows the president this low.  The closest is Rasmussen, whose daily tracker shows presidential approval running at about 56-43.  Other polls show Mr Obama even stronger.

No matter which poll you believe, though, the trend for the president is downward.  That can change, of course, but his first 60 days have not been a big hit.  The sequel might be better.  The scriptwriters are at work right now.

March 24, 2009   Permalink

ANOTHER OPENING, ANOTHER SHOW - AT 6:54 A.M. ET:  The president holds a televised press conference tonight.  Yes, another one.  The man is overexposed.  If he had something to say, I wouldn't object.  But he never says much of anything, and his appearance with Jay Leno last week diminished his stature.  He lacks the seriousness of a president facing a crisis, and it's showing more and more.  Yes, the press conference may well increase his poll ratings a few points, which is what it might really be about.

March 24, 2009   Permalink