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SUNDAY,  APRIL 25,  2010

THE ULTIMATE HYPOCRISY – AT 7:39 P.M. ET:  Is nothing sacred?  Even a memorial for the coal miners killed in that recent West Virginia accident becomes an exhibit for the phoniness of this administration.  Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit reports the vulgarity:

During the 2008 election Barack Obama admitted that the Democrats' cap and trade energy plan would cause electricity rates to necessarily skyrocket and would kill the coal industry.

Today Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden, along with Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller and Robert Byrd, and Democratic Governor Joe Manchin III held a memorial/rally for the 29 miners who perished in the nation’s worst mining disaster in 25 years earlier this month.

During the 2008 election Barack Obama admitted that his cap and trade bill would kill the coal industry. Today at the coal miners memorial in West Virginia he praised the coal miners for the energy they bring to America.

COMMENT:  It would have been more dignified for the president and vice president to stay away.  But dignity isn't their game. 

We may not always realize it, but events like this are studied at foreign embassies, analyzed, and the analyses flashed to home governments.  That's partly how, over time, a foreign nation gets a picture of the kind of people running things in America.  What a picture we now present.

April 25, 2010     Permalink

NOTHING DIES IN WASHINGTON EXCEPT SANITY – AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Just when we think a bad idea is dead, disciples of the new religion of environmentalism start getting all hot and bothered.  The Politico reports:

Backers of a bipartisan climate change bill are scrambling to revive efforts to pass legislation before the November midterms — even as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sticks by plans to slow-walk the measure behind immigration reform.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham’s decision to pull out of the high-stakes energy negotiations Saturday dealt a major blow to prospects that the once-in-a-generation legislation will be passed before the midterms.

But as tempers cooled Sunday, the White House and Senate Democrats who back the effort worked behind the scenes to defuse tensions between the South Carolina Republican and Reid (D-Nev.) over the bill’s timing, according to people close to the talks.

“Reports of the demise of climate change legislation have been greatly exaggerated,” said a senior Democratic aide involved in the talks on condition of anonymity.

COMMENT:  The Dems know they have between now and the end of the year to spend as much money and do as much damage as they have wanted.  Why let a dream escape? 

The sudden interest in immigration reform reflects Democratic concerns that Hispanic citizens are becoming disenchanted with their party, which promises much and delivers little. 

You'd think they'd put off the climate change thing until the scientists agree on the technical points.  But the "man is bad, the oceans are good" crowd won't let them.

April 25, 2010     Permalink

THE REAL NIGHTMARE – AT 6:59 P.M. ET:  This is important.  We have, for some time, been warning at Urgent Agenda that the most pressing threat from Iran lies not in nuclear-tipped ICBMs, but in the possibility of a device being smuggled into a harbor or launched from right offshore.  Now comes this, from The Telegraph:

Defence experts are warning of a new danger of ballistic weapons proliferation after a Russian company started marketing a cruise missile that can be launched from a shipping container.

It is feared that the covert Club-K missile attack system could prove "game-changing" in fighting wars with small countries, which would gain a remote capacity to mount multiple missiles on boats, trucks or railways.

Iran and Venezuela have already shown an interest in the Club-K Container Missile System which could allow them to carry out pre-emptive strikes from behind an enemy's missile defences.

Defence experts say the system is designed to be concealed as a standard 40ft shipping container that cannot be identified until it is activated.

And...

Some experts believe that if Iraq had the Club-K system in 2003 it would have made it impossible for America to invade with any container ship in the Gulf a potential threat.

Club-K is being marketed at the Defence Services Asia exhibition in Malaysia this week.

COMMENT:  Incredible.  It's being marketed in the open at military shows.  Let's see how much interest there is among those in America who are obsessed with gun shows.  I hear silence. 

April 25, 2010     Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:27 A.M. ET:  From Rich Lowry at NRO.  Remember the time when Dems were the "common man" party and the GOP was the "business" party?  Ah, those were the days.  And a movie ticket was seventy-five cents.  Now, apparently trying to return to their roots (or cover their tracks), the Dems are bashing Wall Street.  Uh, a little late, as Lowry points out:

The Democratic majority was bought and paid for by Wall Street and corporate money. The Masters of the Universe helped give us the Masters of the Beltway, in a synergistic exercise that would have dumbfounded even Lenin. When he famously said capitalists would sell the rope to hang them with, he was at least talking of a commercial transaction — not maxing out to a campaign committee.

Back in 2006, Democrats began a hard sell on Wall Street led by New York senator Chuck Schumer and then-representative Rahm Emanuel, now White House chief of staff. The basic pitch was that Democrats were taking Congress, and the financial world should get on board — surely delivered with all the bare-knuckled subtlety for which those two are justly renowned.

We are all warmongers of Wall Street now. 

In the 2008 election cycle, Democrats garnered 73 percent of the political donations of Goldman Sachs, as well as the majority of donations from other financial giants such as UBS and Citigroup. They soaked up most of the hedge-fund money, and won the battle for donations from industries as varied as health care, defense, and law.

This is choice:

“Democrats have an enormous lead in almost every business sector they denounce,” NR’s Kevin D. Williamson noted in January.

COMMENT:  What will the result be?   Okay, think back again.  Remember when the Dems were embracing civil rights, and virtually every committee chairman in Congress was a segregationist Democrat?  We may see something as ridiculous as that as the "party of the people" rakes it in from those who regard "the people" as the masses they fly over.

But it's a great opportunity for Republicans to separate themselves from the obese cats, those bigger than the fat cats, and really champion "the people."  They did it with health care; they can do it again. 

April 25, 2010     Permalink

BUT WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE TORPEDO CULTURE – AT 10:57 A.M. ET:  From The New York Times: 

SEOUL, South Korea — A torpedo attack was the most likely cause of the sinking of a South Korean warship near a disputed sea border with North Korea last month that killed at least 40 South Korean sailors, the South Korean defense chief said Sunday.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young was the first South Korean official to publicly blame a torpedo as a likely cause of the March 26 explosion that split the 1,200-ton corvette, the Cheanan, in half. There has been a growing suspicion that the ship may have been hit by a North Korean torpedo or mine, although South Korea has not yet blamed the North and Pyongyang has denied any involvement.

“A bubble jet caused by a heavy torpedo is thought to be the most likely thing to be blamed, but various other possibilities are also under review,” Mr. Kim told reporters on Sunday.

And...

A bubble jet effect occurs when a torpedo or mine detonates near or under a ship. The change of pressure creates a “bubble” underwater whose tremendous force as it expands and collapses can break the ship apart, according to defense ministry officials.

This theory appeared to be supported by Yoon Duk-yong, head of the government team of military and private investigators, who said on Sunday that the ship was likely broken in half “by a non-contact explosion, rather than a contact explosion.”

Tensions are growing between North and South Korea.  And why not?  Nothing the North Koreans do results in any serious punishment, and that includes nuclear weapons tests. 

Washington has shown little interest in the ship sinking.  But it's huge news in South Korea, and puts further pressure on the United States finally to produce something from its "engagement" policies.  That is unlikely.  The Obamans project an image of weakness.  In most of the world that's damaging, in Asia, where "face" is so important, it's devastating.

April 25, 2010     Permalink

SOME GOOD NEWS FOR OUR SIDE – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Although it took Barack Obama four days to mosey up to a microphone to denounce the suppression of democracy demonstrators in Iran, some Iranian scientists and officials are showing considerably greater guts.  From the Washington Post:

Iran's political turmoil has prompted a growing number of the country's officials to defect or leak information to the West, creating a new flow of intelligence about its secretive nuclear program, U.S. officials said.

The gains have complicated work on a long-awaited assessment of Iran's nuclear activities, a report that will represent the combined judgment of more than a dozen U.S. spy agencies. The National Intelligence Estimate was due last fall but has been delayed at least twice amid efforts to incorporate information from sources who are still being vetted.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair said in a brief interview last week that the delay in the completion of the NIE "has to do with the information coming in and the pace of developments."

Some of the most significant new material has come from informants, including scientists and others with access to Iran's military programs, who are motivated by antipathy toward the government and its suppression of the opposition movement after a disputed presidential election in June, according to current and former officials in the United States and Europe who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence gains.

COMMENT:  So, contrary to the smug opinions of new-style "realists" in Washington, the democracy movement in Iran is indeed producing results. 

When you hear the word "realist" these days, better consider getting some immunity shots.  They're available through many doctors, but, unfortunately, aren't covered by Obamacare. 

April 25, 2010    Permalink

WHAT A DANCE WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  After abusing and insulting the prime minister of Israel at the White House, President Obama has now invited the head of the Palestinian Authority to visit as well.  The PA leader, like a street gang, only controls parts of Palestinian lands, but apparently met some secret minimum standard.  From Fox:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted an invitation to visit the White House for a meeting with President Obama, senior Palestinian officials told Fox News.

The invitation was extended by Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell during a weekend visit to the region where he was trying to restart indirect peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Mitchell is expected to return next week, signaling he is making progress.

The visits come amid rising tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. But the State Department reported that Mitchell had "positive and productive talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders" during his three-day visit.

"His meetings continued our efforts to improve the atmosphere for peace and for proceeding with proximity talks," spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a written statement.

Abbas needs to decide whether to engage with Israel, with Mitchell as a go-between, even though Israel has rejected his demands to freeze new construction for Jews in east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas was inclined to agree to the talks, in large part because of personal appeals in recent days from Obama, Mitchell and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Palestinians have low expectations of the U.S.-brokered talks, but also want to avoid offending Obama and do not want to be cast in the role of naysayers.

Ah, watch the body language when Abbas finally shows.  Will he be greeted with smiles or frowns?  Will he get the joint news conference denied to Netanyahu?  Will he be fed?  The Israeli leader wasn't.  Look, finger sandwiches would do.  Hashish better. 

In the last two weeks, the Obamans have been on a major fence-mending mission with the Israelis, apparently realizing that The One's rudeness backfired.  Also, it's an election year...and get this:

A national Quinnipiac University survey found that 44 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama’s handling of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, with 35% approving, the poll’s only foreign policy question with negative results.

This administration has been notoriously aloof to the opinions of Americans who don't have Ph.D.'s, but maybe a change is coming.

Can't wait for Abbas to arrive.  I'd love to see how these diplomatic geniuses in Washington handle it.

April 25, 2010   Permalink

SATURDAY,  APRIL 24,  2010

ANOTHER ILLINOIS DEM GETS SET TO EXPLAIN – AT 8:01 P.M. ET:  There's something about the Democratic Party of Illinois.  It remembers no further back than yesterday afternoon.  And so it keeps nominating the same thrift-shop rejects over and over. 

Oh yes, it did boost the fortunes of one Barack Hussein Obama Jr., but, given his current poll numbers, it looks like Illinois Dems produced another clunker. 

So now a new chapter in the epic history is added:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Chicago's Broadway Bank, which is owned by the family of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, was closed by regulators on Friday.

Broadway Bank had roughly $1.2 billion in assets and $1.1 billion in deposits as of Dec. 31, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The bank's failure will cost the deposit insurance fund $394.3 million, the FDIC said.

Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat and the Illinois state treasurer, is running for the Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama. His Republican opponent, Rep. Mark Kirk, is running as a fiscal conservative, and has made Broadway Bank a campaign issue.

The seat is held by Democrat Roland W. Burris of Chicago, who was appointed in 2009 but has announced he won't seek election to a full six-year term.

Yes, we recall Burris's appointment.  May the best hack win.

In an advertisement, Kirk's campaign noted Giannoulias' attempts to "downplay" Broadway Bank's problems, and cited reports of alleged lending by the bank to "convicted felons."

Well, in some Illinois neighborhoods they think "felon" is like "fellow," so I don't know how much punch that charge has.

Demetris Giannoulias, Alexi's brother and the chief executive of Broadway Bank, wrote a commentary article in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday warning of the bank's possible closure, and arguing that "Wall Street banks got taxpayer money to survive -- all we seek is a chance to pull ourselves up."

The four branches of Broadway Bank will reopen as branches of MB Financial Bank on Saturday, the FDIC said.

And think of  it.  The bank is owned by the family of the state treasurer and Dem candidate for Barack Obama's Senate seat.  Careful handling of money seems to run in the family.  That is a joke.

April 24, 2010     Permalink

AH, FOR A HAPPY SATURDAY NIGHT – AT 7:46 P.M. ET:  Two New York Times writers deliver the grim news to the wine and Brie crowd, although this story appeared in another paper:

ASHLAND, Wis. | Rep. David Obey has won 21 straight races, easily prevailing through wars and economic crises that have spanned presidencies from Nixon to Obama. Yet the discontent with Washington surging through politics is now threatening not only his seat but Democratic control of Congress.

And...

The fight for the midterm elections is not confined to traditional battlegrounds, where Republicans and Democrats often swap seats every few cycles. In the Senate, Democrats are struggling to hold on to, among others, seats once held by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Democrats are preparing to lose as many as 30 House seats - including a wave of first-term members - and Republicans have expanded their sights to places where political challenges seldom develop.

I think the writers are being gentle with their prissy readers, and treading softly as they raise the delicate issue: 

Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he would consider anything short of taking back the House a failure. Republicans say they have not recruited strong candidates in all districts, but both parties agree that Republicans are within reach of capturing the 40 additional seats needed to win control. Republicans also are likely to eat into the Democratic majority in the Senate, though their prospects of taking control remain slim.

Control of both houses would bring the same contentment as a warm puppy on a cold night.  But even if the GOP should edge closer, effective control would transfer to a coalition of moderates and conservatives, with liberals left checking hats, coats and carbon content.

Democrats worry that some lawmakers who have avoided tough races in the past could be at added risk of defeat because they are out of practice, slow on their feet and often reluctant to acknowledge the threat they are facing. The chairman of the House re-election effort, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, has called mandatory face-to-face meetings with vulnerable members to monitor their campaigns.

COMMENT:  Kind of a teacher-knows-best approach. 

But the story is correct.  This could be a big Republican year, unless the GOP works hard to wreck it, or the press charges every Republican with crimes against decency. 

We're six months away from change we can really believe in.

April 24, 2010    Permalink

THE MOTHER COUNTRY WILL VOTE – AT 12:04 P.M. ET:   If your people came here on the Mayflower, or even on a Carnival liner, you're not eligible to participate, but our elders will vote on May 6th.  British elections affect the transatlantic alliance, an alliance our current Dear Leader is trying to ignore.  The race in Britain is three-way, and brutal:

In the latest Sunday Telegraph/ICM opinion poll, the Conservatives are up two points on 35 per cent, the Liberal Democrats are up one on 31 per cent while Labour is down two on 26 per cent – compared with the last poll by ICM last week.

While giving the Tories a clear lead, the poll shows that they are still well short of where they need to be to win an overall majority.

With less than two weeks to go before 6 May, the figures also suggest the Lib Dem bubble has not burst. All respondents were polled after the second televised election debate between the three main party leaders last Thursday.

If the figures were repeated on polling day, they would give the Conservatives 284 seats, Labour 232, and the Lib Dems 102 seats. The Conservatives would be the largest party but still 42 seats short of a majority.

Labour and Liberal Democrats would be able to form a majority coalition – but only just.

COMMENT:  Worrisome, but still hopeful.  The Lib Dems are the Obamans of London, and Labour doesn't know what it is.  We still prefer the Conservatives, although some of them may never have heard of Churchill.  If the Lib Dems and Labour form a coalition, Nancy Pelosi can lead it and feel right at home.  Barney Frank could wear one of those funny red suits with leggings.

April 24, 2010    Permalink

THIS MAY BE THE ONLY TIME THAT GM WILL HAVE TO RECALL AN AD – AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  We've all seen it – that nice guy with the wholesome heartland accent assuring us that GM has paid back its federal loans.  Well, as the Brits say, there's a bit of bother.  From Fox:

General Motors is running ads on all the major networks this week claiming it has repaid its bailout from the taxpayers "in full." But the claim isn't standing up to scrutiny from lawmakers and government watchdogs who have found that the automaker was able to repay the bailout money only by dipping into a separate pot of bailout funds.

The TV spot may land GM in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission over its truth-in-advertising laws, which prohibit ads that are "likely to mislead consumers."

"We have repaid our government loans in full — with interest — five years ahead of the original schedule," says Ed Whitacre, chairman and CEO of General Motors Company, asking Americans to give the bankrupt company another look.

But a top Senate Republican has accused GM of misleading taxpayers about the loan repayment, saying the struggling auto giant was able to repay a $6.7 billion bailout loan only by using other bailout funds in a special escrow account.

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's charge was backed up by the inspector general for the bailout — also known as the Trouble Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Watchdog Neil Barofsky told Fox News, as well as the Senate Finance Committee, that General Motors used bailout money to pay back the federal government.

COMMENT:  Aw shucks, do we have to be such sticklers for the truth?  I mean, this is th e age of Obama.  All those jobs created by the stimulus package.  All those foreign-policy victories.  What's a little hedging about which drawer the money comes from?  Give those Oldsmobile (deceased) and Pontiac (deceased) and Saturn (deceased) people a little break.

You know, for years we've urged GM to be creative.  Now that they're creative, we slam them.  What kind of people have we become?

April 24, 2010     Permalink

ANOTHER INDICATOR OF OBAMA TROUBLE – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  North Carolina suddenly became a shining city on the hill during the 2008 election – at least for Democrats.  Obama took the traditionally Republican state.  What a difference a year and half makes, as the L.A. Times points out:

Asheville, N.C  After falling in love with this Blue Ridge Mountain city on the campaign trail, the White House said, President Barack Obama was eager to return for a weekend getaway.

But the erosion of Obama's support in North Carolina — a critical swing state that he captured by the slimmest of margins in 2008 — may have made this weekend's holiday here an even easier call.

Obama is visiting a state that he won by 3/10 of a percentage point, the first Democrat to take North Carolina in a presidential election since 1976.

But now the state is anxious about rising deficits and the federal government's activist posture, political analysts said. North Carolina's unemployment reached 11.2% in February, one point higher than in the recession of the early 1980s. The sour economy has turned voters against incumbent politicians, Obama included.

His overall approval rating in North Carolina is just 46%, with 50% disapproving of his performance as president. The numbers are worse among independents, with nearly two-thirds unhappy about the job he has done, according to a survey conducted this month by Public Policy Polling.

"People are in a bad mood," said Gary Pearce, a North Carolina Democratic political consultant. "People like Obama personally. They want him to succeed. They're just not happy with where the country is right now."

COMMENT:  I love the "they want him to succeed" line.  Who doesn't want the president to succeed?  And of course they "like Obama personally."

Hey fella, it ain't about that.  It's about jobs.  It's about foreign policy.  The little stuff.

North Carolina voting is heavily influenced by a large African-American population and a huge army of university-based Northern aggressors.  Those are the Obama legions, and they seem to be weakening in the fight.

April 24, 2010     Permalink 

BUT WAIT, AREN'T WE ABOUT TO BE ROASTED BY THE SUN AND FLOODED BY THE SEA? – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  I don't know about you, but I'm disgusted by the lack of urgency by members of Congress over the proved, absolutely certain, unquestioned, inconvenient truthy science of global warming.  The Politico has the whole rotten story of betrayal:

The bipartisan climate bill to be unveiled Monday isn't dead on arrival but it's not likely to be taken up this year — and not before an immigration bill comes to the Senate floor, according to Democratic aides.

As staffers for Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) prepared for a long weekend hammering out a compromise bill in time for Monday's unveiling, leadership aides not involved in its drafting cautioned against its prospects of quick consideration before this year's midterms.

"It's not fair to say it's dead, but it's on the back burner... It could happen this year, but at this point it's not likely," said a senior Democratic aide familiar with Reid's thinking.

It's "unlikely" to be considered this year, said another.

COMMENT:  Translated into American English:  There are more Hispanic votes than environmental votes, and this global warming scandal is a mite embarrassing.  Thus, immigration reform takes priority.

April 24,  2010    Permalink