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THURSDAY,  AUGUST 12,  2010

SEXIST, RACIST, ANTI-GAY, IMPERIALIST, MILITARIST, ISLAMOPHOBIC AMERICA (WHICH ELECTED A BLACK PRESIDENT) OPPOSES THE MOSQUE AT GROUND ZERO – AT 7:49 P.M. ET:  From CNN:

A proposed mosque to be built two blocks from the World Trade Center has little support nationwide, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll suggests.

According to the new survey out Wednesday, nearly 70 percent of all Americans oppose the controversial plan to build the mosque just blocks away from the solemn site in lower Manhattan while just 29 percent favor the construction.

Broken down by party affiliation, 54 percent of Democrats oppose the plans while 82 percent of Republicans disapprove. Meanwhile, 70 percent of independents said they are against the proposal.

The poll also showed opposition did not vary widely by age.

"Support for the controversial project is slightly higher among younger Americans than older Americans, but even among those under the age of 50, six in ten oppose the plan," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Plans to build the $100 million, 13-story 'Cordoba House' three blocks from the site of the attacks on September 11, 2001 have sparked an emotional debate throughout the city.

COMMENT:  We learned this week that the man behind the mosque has been selected by the U.S. State Department to be sent to the Middle East to represent multiculturalism in the United States, despite having said that 9-11 was partly America's fault, that Osama bin Laden was created in the U.S., and that he didn't know whether Hamas is a terrorist organization.  It would be nice if our own government would check in occasionally with the American people.

And, of course, the tone-deaf mayor of New York City, who is in his last term and doesn't seem to care about public opinion, says that those opposing the mosque should be "ashamed" of themselves.  So 70 percent of Americans should be ashamed of themselves.

We oppose the mosque because it is insensitive to the feelings of victims, and because we find offensive the statements of the man supervising it.  We also would like further information on who is financing it.  Are we terrible people?  I really don't think so.  I think we are people with common sense, people who understand what the word "human" is all about.

August 12, 2010     Permalink

BULLETIN!  OBAMA VACATION PLANS ANNOUNCED – AT 7:33 P.M. ET:  Amidst all the gloom and heartbreak there comes a story of sunshine, fun and ice cream.  The Obamas are going on vacation.  The long-laboring first family is finally getting some time off.  I know this will unburden your hearts:

Here’s a report from U.S. News, discussing the announcement of a new 10 day trip to Martha’s Vineyard starting August 19. For those of you keeping track, that’s the fifth vacation since the start of last month:

-Three days in July in Maine, primarily tony Bar Harbor.

-Last week, the president traveled to Chicago for a birthday party with Oprah and others.

-Michelle and Sasha spent much of last week on Spain’s southern coast, ending it with a trip to Majorca to meet the king and queen of Spain.

-Florida this weekend for a night on the Gulf Coast.

-August 19-29 on Martha’s Vineyard.

And once again, the first family isn’t exactly showing any sensitivity to the fact the rest of the country is coping with some serious economic hardships. “The first family has set plans to board Air Force One for a frilly vacation, a 10-day return trip to exclusive Martha’s Vineyard where they are expected to stay at the 28-acre oceanfront Blue Heron Farm that rents for up to $50,000 a week,” reports U.S. News.

COMMENT:  Can you just imagine if this had been George W. Bush?  It is hard to believe that a man whose approval ratings hover in the low 40s, and who may want a second term, is shoving such mud in the faces of the American people.   It isn't as if he doesn't know anything about getting elected.  (Or was that just his staff?)

The amusing entry is "Florida this weekend for a night on the Gulf Coast."  The president condescends to visit the hard-hit Gulf Coast, which is being damaged further by the irrational moratorium on offshore drilling ordered by his administration to satisfy the enviro-nuts.  One night, one night only.  Mustn't give those non-Ivy-League locals too much attention.

August 12, 2010       Permalink

BIO-SCARE – AT 9:10 A.M. ET:  We don't want to cry "wolf," and I do wonder whether all the terrorism stories since 9-11 have dulled our senses.  But this seems particularly important, from The Wall Street Journal:

Rapid advances in bioscience are raising alarms among terrorism experts that amateur scientists will soon be able to gin up deadly pathogens for nefarious uses.

Fears of bioterror have been on the rise since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, stoking tens of billions of dollars of government spending on defenses, and the White House and Congress continue to push for new measures.

But the fear of a mass-casualty terrorist attack using bioweapons has always been tempered by a single fact: Of the scores of plots uncovered during the past decade, none have featured biological weapons. Indeed, many experts doubt terrorists even have the technical capability to acquire and weaponize deadly bugs.

The new fear, though, is that scientific advances that enable amateur scientists to carry out once-exotic experiments, such as DNA cloning, could be put to criminal use. Many well-known figures are sounding the alarm over the revolution in biological science, which amounts to a proliferation of know-how—if not the actual pathogens.

"Certain areas of biotechnology are getting more accessible to people with malign intent," said Jonathan Tucker, an expert on biological and chemical weapons at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Geneticist Craig Venter said last month at the first meeting of a presidential commission on bioethics, "If students can order any [genetic sequences] online, somebody could try to make the Ebola virus."

COMMENT:  It is far easier to acquire biological subtances than nuclear material.  While a bio-weapon might have an uncertain effect, that will not discourage terror groups.  Uncertain doesn't mean failing.  After all, the murder of a few hundred people in a subway or office building could start the 9-11 fear cycle all over again, which is what terror is about. 

I would take this seriously.  Further, many forms of technology are becoming simpler, and far less expensive.  It will not be many years before a number of "developing" countries will have, in at least one lab, research center, or university, the capacity to build some pretty awful things.  Nor will it be long before some third-world countries, equipped with nuclear weapons, will possess more firepower than we did in World War II.

We will have our hands full, and our weak economy will, no doubt, compromise our efforts.  This is a time for great leadership.  See any?

August 12, 2010      Permalink

FOUAD FOR THOUGHT – AT 8:44 A.M. ET:  Fouad Ajami, of Johns Hopkins University, is one of the most perceptive writers around today.  His Wall Street Journal article called, "The Obsolescence of Barack Obama," is all over the internet.  Here are some gems, each one a quote of the day:

A broken link with the public, and a war in Afghanistan he neither embraces and sells to his party nor abandons—this is a time of puzzlement for President Obama. His fall from political grace has been as swift as his rise a handful of years ago. He had been hot political property in 2006 and, of course, in 2008. But now he will campaign for his party's 2010 candidates from afar, holding fund raisers but not hitting the campaign trail in most of the contested races. Those mass rallies of Obama frenzy are surely of the past.

And...

It was canonical to this administration and its functionaries that they were handed a broken nation, that it was theirs to repair, that it was theirs to tax and reshape to their preferences. Yet there was, in 1980, after another landmark election, a leader who had stepped forth in a time of "malaise" at home and weakness abroad: Ronald Reagan. His program was different from Mr. Obama's. His faith in the country was boundless. What he sought was to restore the nation's faith in itself, in its political and economic vitality.

Big as Reagan's mandate was, in two elections, the man was never bigger than his country. There was never narcissism or a bloated sense of personal destiny in him. He gloried in the country, and drew sustenance from its heroic deeds and its capacity for recovery. No political class rode with him to power anxious to lay its hands on the nation's treasure, eager to supplant the forces of the market with its own economic preferences.

And...

The country has had its fill with a scapegoating that knows no end from a president who had vowed to break with recriminations and partisanship. The magic of 2008 can't be recreated, and good riddance to it. Slowly, the nation has recovered its poise. There is a widespread sense of unstated embarrassment that a political majority, if only for a moment, fell for the promise of an untested redeemer—a belief alien to the temperament of this so practical and sober a nation.

COMMENT:  Ah, it's wonderful to read good writing.  Please read the whole thing.

August 12, 2010     Permalink

DO YOU THINK THIS PARTY HAS AN IMAGE PROBLEM? – AT 8:35 A.M. ET:  Well, Charlie Rangel isn't exactly Jack the Ripper.  But still...  From the New York Post:

A who's who of Democratic officials turned out to celebrate scandal-scarred Rep. Charles Rangel's 80th birthday last night -- whooping it up as if he didn't have an ethics charge in the world.

In fact, former Mayor David Dinkins, 83, went so far as to flip the bird to a protester who called Rangel a "crook" outside The Plaza hotel gala.

Not everyone matched Dinkins' gusto, but the New York political establishment did turn out in force.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor Bloomberg all took turns at the mike to heap praise on the longtime Harlem legislator.

A jovial Gov. Paterson emceed the fund-raising bash and paid tribute to the embattled congressman's "dedication to public service."

Rangel lapped it up, telling the crowd, "This damn sure ain't no funeral, is it?"
At the end of the festivities in the Grand Ballroom, an emotional Rangel told the audience, "Please remember me in your prayers. It helps."

Rangel -- who has been slapped with 13 ethics charges by the House ethics committee -- called the occasion "an experience I'll never, ever forget.

"I can't tell you how moving this has been," he said.

He left the stage dancing.

COMMENT:  Ah, New York politics.  Item:  More people are leaving New York than any other state.  Yup, we're number one! 

If they'd thrown this party when Rudy Giuliani was mayor, half the crowd would probably be in jail by now.

August 12, 2010      Permalink

THE NATIONAL MOOD – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  Do you recall a time when the national mood was darker?  There was certainly a bad time during Vietnam, in the late sixties, but the "mood" was as much a perception ginned up by the media as by reality.  This time, the foul national mood seems based on things that are very real, as The Wall Street Journal notes:

Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.

Underpinning the gloom: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the economy has yet to hit bottom, a sharply higher percentage than the 53% who felt that way in January.

The sour national mood appears all-encompassing and is dragging down ratings for the GOP too, suggesting voters above all are disenchanted with the political establishment in Washington. Just 24% express positive feelings about the Republican Party, a new low in the 21-year history of the Journal's survey. Democrats are only slightly more popular, but also near an all-time low.

The results likely foreshadow a poor showing in November's mid-term for Democrats, whose leaders had hoped the public would grow more optimistic about the economy and, as a result, more supportive of the party agenda. Now, despite the weak Republican numbers, the survey shows frustrated voters on the left are less interested than impassioned voters on the right to in the election.

COMMENT:  This provides both opportunity and danger for the GOP.  The opportunity is in the November elections.  The danger lies from the first day after election day.  If Republicans take over one or both houses of Congress, they will be held responsible for congressional performance, and Obama in 2012 can do a repeat of Truman, 1948, who ran against the "do nothing Republican Congress." 

When we look at the Republican congressional leadership, fine fellows all, the word "imaginative" does not spring immediately to mind.  The congressional party must have an agenda ready to roll out if they can grab the power.  And they must constantly present that agenda, and its benefits, to every microphone and TV camera in sight.

Obama isn't Truman, and 2012 doesn't have to be 1948.

August 12, 2010     Permalink

WEDNESDAY,  AUGUST 11,  2010

REID TAKES HEAT – AT 7:31 P.M. ET:  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking much heat today for an outrageously patronizing statement he made about Hispanic Americans.  Fox News has the story:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking heat after he told a crowd of supporters Tuesday that he doesn’t know "how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican."

Reid's comments were quickly criticized Wednesday by one of the GOP’s rising stars — Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles who is running for U.S. Senate in Florida.

In an interview with Fox News, Rubio called Reid’s remarks "outrageous" and "ridiculous" and said "this kind of outrageous speech in politics is continuing to spread."

"You know, Americans of Hispanic descent, you know what the strongest issue there is? That is economic empowerment, upward mobility," Rubio said. "There’s only one economic system in the world that that’s possible in, time and again, and that’s the American free enterprise system.

"And the reason why Americans of Hispanic descent should be Republicans is because the Democratic leadership is trying to dismantle the American free enterprise system," he continued. "The point is he’s wrong."

Reid's comments reflect the "identity politics" mantra of the Democratic Party:  You vote only as a member of a group, not as a concerned American. 

Reid's campaign, meanwhile, has defended his remarks, saying in a statement Wednesday that "Sen. Reid has long enjoyed the support of many Hispanic Republicans in Nevada and he appreciates that support.

"Sen. Reid’s contention was simply that he doesn't understand how anyone, Hispanic or otherwise, would vote for Republican candidates because they oppose saving teachers’ jobs, oppose job-creating tax incentives for small businesses, oppose investments in job-creating clean energy projects, and oppose the help for struggling, unemployed Nevadans to put food on the table and stay in their homes."

Harry, when you're in a hole, don't keep digging.

It's hard to assess how much damage this comment will do, if any.  I suspect there'll be some polling among Hispanic citizens of Nevada to see how they react.  Reid is in a tough fight for reelection with Sharron Angle, a less-than-stellar Republican who has allowed Reid to close the polling gap.  We'll follow the race to see if Reid's gaffe causes him to slip back once more.

And I'll be looking for comments by my conservative Hispanic friend, Silvio Canto Jr.

August 11, 2010     Permalink

AND NOW WE EXPLAIN THE PRESIDENT'S LOW RATINGS – AT 7:20 P.M. ET:  We're now well familiar with Mr. Obama's tin ear.  Sending Michelle on a lavish trip to Spain isn't the work of a man who has that ear to the ground.

Well, welcome to Tin Ear City.  The president has just issued his presidential statement on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.  Here's a quote from it:

These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings. Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity and racial equality. And here in the United States, Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been part of America and that American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.

Uh, yeah.  I was just thinking yesterday about Islam's great respect for diversity – like forcing President George W. Bush, who was visiting Saudi Arabia, to go to an American aircraft carrier offshore to celebrate Christmas, not allowed in "the kingdom."

Look, you want to be courteous in these statements.  You want to be gracious.  But couldn't the president rephrase that message, and speak of the "goals" of justice, progress, tolerance and dignity?  As Christians and Jews, people who've been called crusaders, cross worshippers and the sons of apes and pigs by radical Muslims, we think a groveling, over-the-top message to the Muslim community is inappropriate.  There are certainly many Muslims who do practice a tolerant and decent form of Islam.  But we tire of having to show "respect" for the Islamic world, when no respect is returned.  There are ways to say that in a message while being respectful.  I wish the president would have found the route.

August 11, 2010      Permalink

YIKES – AT 9:36 A.M. ET:  Rasmussen's daily tracker has some very grim news for the president: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -22 (see trends).

This matches the lowest Approval Index rating yet measured for this president.

I have to believe that Michelle's excellent Spanish adventure played a role here.  It did not go down well with the public.  She should consider weekend outings with lunch boxes the next time she gets the urge to travel.  Bus trips are available.

I can't imagine the president's "strongly approve" number getting much below 24%, because you're down to the president's hard-core, kamikaze base.  If he starts losing the true believers, he's lost forever.

Overall, 43% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-six percent (56%) disapprove.

Rasmussen cautions that these are one-day numbers.  They can be higher or lower tomorrow.  Still, they paint a portrait of a president in deep trouble. 

Rasmussen keeps track of press coverage of Mr. Obama, and reports that this coverage got dramatically more favorable in the past week.  Can't figure that.  Maybe the media is falling in line to support the Dems during the upcoming election campaign.

August 11, 2010      Permalink

I'M AFRAID THIS IS RIGHT – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  The Politico tilts liberal in its analyses, and that must be considered when reading.  However, I think this analysis of yesterday's primaries is largely true, and should be unsettling to our side:

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, who have been starved for good news through much of 2010, finally received a generous helping Tuesday night.

Republicans, meanwhile, were left with several new reasons to wonder whether all the favorable national trends showing up in polls are enough to overcome local candidates who are inspiring little confidence about their readiness for the general election 12 weeks from now.

In each of the four states that held primaries Tuesday, the GOP either nominated or gave an overnight lead to candidates tarnished by scandal, gaffes or some other significant vulnerability.

Sorry to say, but that is correct, as we noted last night, when early returns were coming in.  In Colorado, where a Democratic Senate seat is very vulnerable, the GOP could have nominated the solid Jane Norton, but instead chose the buffoon Ken Buck, who should not be allowed near a microphone.  In Connecticut, the GOP voters had a choice of some decent candidates for the Senate seat being vacated by Chris Dodd, but chose Linda McMahon, an entrepreneur from the pure, saintly world of professional wrestling.  Connecticut could conceivably have elected a Republican to the Senate.  The state regularly elects Republican governors.  But McMahon may tip too far on the embarrassment scale.

Previously, GOP voters chose the semi-whacked out Sharron Angle for its Senate candidate in Nevada, running her against Harry Reid.  Harry Reid's defeat had been a foregone conclusion.  It no longer is.  And the nomination of Rand Paul in Kentucky is a further embarrassment to the party, since Paul is a libertarian, not a Republican. 

Congressional seats are obtained one by one by one.  People in each state or district size up their local candidates.  No matter what national trends are in play, a party has to have good candidates running locally to win.  My fear is that we'll wake up the morning after election and find that the Democrats still control the Senate because the Republicans blew key races with nutso candidates.  That does not seem to be a major problem in the House, but the Senate is pretty important.  Think Supreme Court nominations. 

Overconfidence is rushing over the GOP.  Let's get rid of it, fast.  There's a lot of work to do, and some of the people up front may not have been the best choices.

August 11, 2010       Permalink

NOW JUST WHO DO YOU THINK IS MAKING MONEY ON THIS? – AT 8:34 A.M. ET:  We now have some actual engineering tests on that menace of the road, the Toyota.  Remember Toyota?  Unintended acceleration?  The end of civilization?

Think again.  From The New York Times: 

DETROIT — The government’s investigation into complaints of sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles has found no evidence of flawed electronics in 58 of the vehicles that crashed, federal regulators said Tuesday.

An examination of the crashes also found only one instance in which an accelerator pedal became trapped under a floor mat, and none in which a pedal became stuck or sprang back too slowly, according to a preliminary report to Congress.

Oh dear, what will a trial lawyer do?

Toyota has recalled nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus vehicles worldwide to correct problems involving floor mats and sticky pedals, and lawmakers and some drivers have long suggested that a malfunction in the electronic throttle control system of the vehicles might explain some of the reports of sudden acceleration.

Though federal officials said the investigation was continuing and they had not yet drawn conclusions, the raw findings support Toyota’s contention that electronics were not at fault and that many of the reports of sudden acceleration might actually have been instances of human error — drivers mistakenly pressing the gas pedal instead of the brake.

Yeah.  Maybe that's why we don't hear much about "unintended acceleration" any longer.  The accelerators have had their 15 minutes of fame.

Ah, but the other side:

Toyota’s critics remained skeptical. Sean Kane, a Massachusetts safety consultant working on behalf of plaintiffs in lawsuits against the carmaker, said the event data recorders in the crashed vehicles — known as E.D.R’s and the primary source of information for the federal investigators — were unreliable and not scientifically validated.

Lawsuit?  Did I hear lawsuit?  Why do I think that's what this whole "scandal" is about?

The public wants to believe that E.D.R.’s are independent witnesses,” Mr. Kane said. “These are not aircraft black boxes, and they rely on the same electronic systems that are suspect to begin with.”

It's the black boxes!  That's what it is!  Let the lawsuits begin!

There are millions and millions of Toyotas on the road.  If they really had a problem with the dreaded unintended acceleration, we'd be hearing of cases every day. 

I'd also like the names of those drivers who don't know that you can stop a car by putting it in neutral and applying the brake, or even shutting off the ignition. 

And, by the way, I've never heard of a case of a reporter's Toyota going out of control.  It's always those people out there, who want money damages.

August 11, 2010      Permalink

CALIFORNIA, HERE I...ON SECOND THOUGHT, I WON'T BE COMING – AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  The whole image of California used to conjure up images of optimism, good weather, movie stars, and aircraft plants that actually made things.   Consider California today:

The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis said personal incomes of Golden State workers fell by that amount in 2009 compared with the previous year – the state's first year-to-year decline since World War II. In the Sacramento region, income was off about $800 million.

The bureau said 2009 income statewide totaled $1.56 trillion, down about 2.5 percent from $1.6 trillion in 2008. The 2009 level also came in just under the 2007 total.

California's decline was a third more than the national 1.8 percent personal income drop, reflecting the relative intensity of the state's recession.

COMMENT:  And the fact is that there's nothing on the horizon that will save California.  One of the state's greatest burdens, illegal immigration, does not look as if it's going to be fixed soon. 

Oh, and by the way, where are California's colleges and universities in all this mess?  Are there no practical ideas coming out of those great centers of dissent and obnoxia? 

They used to say that what happened in California would soon sweep across the country.  I hope it's no longer true, but I fear that it might be.

August 11, 2010     Permalink