Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

OUR DAILY SNIPPETS ARE HERE.

SATURDAY,  JULY 17,  2010

YOU DON'T THINK – NAH – AT 9:51 P.M. ET:  We stress that this is informed speculation, but it should be noted.  A car bomb has gone off in Juarez, a Mexican town familiar to generations of Americans:

Juarez-- People in Juarez are recovering from a car bomb that killed four Thursday night. The victims include two federal agents, an ambulance worker and a doctor who was in the area when the bomb went off.

Tonight, we have learned that it was a car bomb that was detonated with the same kind of sophistication that is used by terrorist groups like Hezbollah.

A number of people were injured during the attack. Today we know that seven federal police agents were severely injured. A news photographer from channel 5 in Juarez remains in critical condition. One woman who owns a business nearby talked to us about her fears.

"As it is, we are not selling much. Can you imagine right now people are scared. We used to have many American customers. Right now that has drastically decreased," says the business owner.

COMMENT:  There have been a number of reports that Mideast terror groups are operating in Latin America, with an eye toward slipping across the Mexican border into the United States. 

The story reports that this bomb "was detonated with the same kind of sophistication that is used by terrorist groups like Hezbollah."  Hezbollah now has alliances, some quite open, with leftist factions south of our border, especially the illustrious Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, hero to American movie stars.

Question:  If a bomb of that sophistication can be set off in Juarez, how long do you think it will be before a similar device finds its way into a crowded American city?

July 17, 2010     Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 7:01 P.M. ET:  We've written before that some of the most astute observations about American politics are being by British reporters.  There was a bit of a lull for some months, but I've noticed that the Brit scribes are sharpening their pencils once more.  Consider, and ponder, this, from Janet Daley of London's Telegraph:

When David Cameron visits the United States this week, he will find a country whose national political argument has become more like our own in Britain than probably he – and certainly I – would ever have imagined. For America has learned, thanks to Barack Obama's crash course in European-style government, about the titanic force of class differences. The president's determination to transform the US into a social democracy, complete with a centrally run healthcare programme and a redistributive tax system, has collided rather magnificently with America's history as a nation of displaced people who were prepared to risk their futures on a bid to be free from the power of the state.

Wonderful, wonderful.  That is a great description of what is happening, and it reflects the growing belief of many Americans, as reflected in polls, that Mr. Obama has socialist (read that "not quite American") leanings. 

A good friend said to me today that Europe is emerging from the socialist tunnel, disillusioned by what socialism has brought.  We are just entering it.  Instinctively, Americans know that socialism will collide with the American character.  But what if we are led by people who reject that character?  That may be the most significant question Americans have to answer in the political days, and elections, ahead.

July 17, 2010       Permalink

CANADA, LIKE BRITAIN, IS CAVING TO LEGAL MADNESS – AT 8:12 A.M. ET:  It is hard to believe some of the court decisions that are coming out of Britain and Canada these days.  We ask:  Are we next?  From NRO:

Putting a Calgary mom who strangled her promiscuous 14-year-old daughter in jail would smack of vengeance, a judge said Thursday, in handing her probation instead.

Justice Sal LoVecchio placed Aset Magomadova on probation for three years ruling the time behind bars sought by the prosecution wasn’t needed.

“The Crown says due to the nature of the act, namely a ligature strangulation and the necessity to address deterrence and denunciation a period of incarceration is necessary to preserve respect for the law,” LoVecchio noted.

“I do not agree,” the Court of Queen’s Bench judge said.

“Deterrence and denunciation may also be addressed without a period of incarceration,” LoVecchio said, in agreeing with defence lawyer Alain Hepner prison wasn’t warranted.

LoVecchio noted Magomadova has complied with strict bail conditions and has shown a willingness to participate in programs which will assist her.

“At this point, putting her in jail would speak more to vengeance than anything else,” he said. . . .

COMMENT:  There are, to some degree, cycles in history.  I often get the feeling that we're reverting back to the irrationality of the late sixties, with political correctness and false concepts of "compassion" overwhelming law and common sense.

The woman murdered her daughter.  She didn't do so because the daughter was suffering from some horrible, painful illness.  She did so because her daughter was "promiscuous."  There is no religious motive reported in the story, but the woman is a Chechen immigrant.  I'd want to explore that if I were the reporter covering the proceedings. 

I'm sure the judge feels very good about himself, and believes that he's "made a difference."

July 17, 2010      Permalink

GOVERNOR SPARK PLUG STRIKES BACK – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:  If there's one hero to come out of the Gulf oil spill disaster, it's Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who's been on the case since hour one, and has been hyperactive.  The mainstream media tried to ignore him – he's seen as a potential GOP presidential nominee – but the truth comes out.

Now Jindal is taking on the Obama administration's decisions, and slicing them up.  From WaPo:

By now, everyone no doubt realizes that I am not a fan of the pace at which the federal government has worked to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sadly, federal officials were slow to act and overly bureaucratic. They have never really understood the urgency of the situation down here. I'm not raising a question of motive; it's simply a function of the federal government being a slow-moving albatross. The only way to attack a crisis like this is with the urgency of a military mind-set.

A statement like that might result in Jindal's garbage being gone through by reporters for mainstream publications.  The man is dangerous to the establishment.

Against this backdrop, the federal government unwisely chose to add insult to injury by decreeing a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the gulf. This ill-advised and ill-considered moratorium, which a federal judge called "arbitrary" and "capricious," creates a second disaster for our economy, throwing thousands of hardworking folks out of their jobs and causing real damage to many families. Now this federal policy risks killing 20,000 more jobs and will result in a loss of $65 million to $135 million in wages each month.

The great thing about Jindal is that he comes equipped with facts.  That makes him doubly dangerous. 

Let's be clear: This moratorium will do nothing to clean up the Gulf of Mexico, and it is already doing great harm to many hardworking citizens. The effects will extend well beyond Louisiana. Since the moratorium was announced, America has already lost two rigs to foreign countries. More drilling companies are negotiating right now to work elsewhere. Every time we decrease our level of production, we make America more dependent on foreign sources of energy.

The moratorium has already lost in federal court, but, as Jindal points out, the Obamans responded by issuing another moratorium, with slightly different wording.  What we're dealing with here is not thoughtful public policy, but the fanaticism of the American socialist left, which sees the spill as an opportunity to cripple America's energy industry.

We don't want to see the federal government create a second disaster, an economic disaster, for the people of our state thanks to its "capricious" and "arbitrary" actions. The bottom line is this: Thousands of Louisianans shouldn't have to lose their jobs just because the federal government can't do its job.

COMMENT:  Governor, do you think the Obamans care about the people of Louisiana?  Privately, they probably call them racists. 

Jindal is telling basic truths.  But he's facing an ideological steamroller that must forge ahead until stopped by the secret ballot.

July 17, 2010     Permalink

HOW MANY MONTHS DID THIS TAKE? – AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  America's anti-terror bureaucracy swings into action.   From Fox:

The Obama administration added a U.S.-born, al-Qaida-linked cleric to a terrorism blacklist Friday, targeting him with sanctions aimed at cutting off his financial support.

The Treasury Department placed Anwar al-Awlaki -- accused by officials of helping plan the failed Christmas Day airline bombing -- on its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. That means any bank accounts found in the United States belonging to him are frozen. Americans are forbidden from doing business with him. And, it bans him from traveling to the U.S.

Was that the Christmas Day bombing?  Like, more than six months ago? 

Despite ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers and the Fort Hood gunman, al-Awlaki has avoided terrorism charges over the years because he never crossed the line into being an active member of al-Qaida -- someone who recruits and trains terrorists and plots attacks on the U.S.

So, uh, maybe the line is in the wrong place and needs to be moved.  Y'think?

COMMENT:  Things are taking a big too much time in the Department of Manmade Disasters Having Nothing to Do with Islam.  The enemy is going to try another attack, and we're still looking at paperwork.

July 17,  2010     Permalink

FRIDAY,  JULY 16,  2010

PLEASE NOTE THE DATE – AT 7:47 P.M. ET:  Today marks the 65th anniversary of the era of nuclear weapons.  The world's first "nuke" was set off on this date in 1945, in the New Mexico Desert.  Called the "Trinity Test," the event forever changed the level of destruction possible in warfare. 

Only weeks later, on August 6th, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.  Three days after that, a second was dropped on Nagasaki.  On August 14th, Japan surrendered.  An Asian/Pacific war that had begun some 14 years earlier with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria took less than a week to bring to a close.

Much has been written about our use of the bomb, a lot of it by revisionist "historians" eager to discredit the United States.  To my knowledge, none of these scribes had lived in a Pacific foxhole, or had been slated to be a soldier in the invasion of Japan, had the war not ended abruptly.

One point, though, is often overlooked by commentators, and it is relevant to today:  The core of the bomb was carried to the test site in the back of a car.  The entire explosive "device" – and this was 1945, please remember – could be placed in the back of a small truck. 

Today we're being sold a bill of goods that it will take Iran a certain number of years to have an "operational" nuclear weapon that can be placed on the tip of a missile.  Such an "operational" device is not necessary.  A rudimentary gadget, like the one we exploded 65 years ago today, could simply be placed in the hold of a ship, sailed into an American harbor, and set off by a suicide team.  Or, parts can be smuggled into a target city.  I worry that it isn't only illegal labor being transported across our Mexican border. 

So, when you think of the nuclear threat to America, think not only of a sleek missile with a nuclear warhead.  Think of a crude device, using wires patched together with tape, easily transported in sections, and producing a blast so great that it can be felt hundreds of miles away.  This isn't fear mongering.  That's what happened 65 years ago. 

July 16, 2010      Permalink

HARD TO BELIEVE THIS – AT 7:09 P.M. ET:  Here are three African-American women who did the right thing, and look what happened:

TAMPA — At the store, walking down the street and at local clubs, Renee Roundtree hears the comments.

Snitch. Why'd you help them?

"I even had an ex-friend call and say, 'That was f------ up. You turned my boy in,' " said Roundtree, 37.

But she didn't turn in Dontae Morris, the man accused of shooting Tampa police Officers David Curtis and Jeffrey Kocab on June 29. She simply tried to help the two officers as they lay shot on the ground outside of her friend's apartment. She checked their pulses and stayed on scene with Delores Keen — who called 911 — and Rose Dodson until police arrived.

On Wednesday, the three women were praised by Hillsborough County commissioners for rushing to try to help the officers.

But two of them say they're concerned for their safety. They say they've received dozens of negative comments since that morning, many from strangers who recognized them from television news interviews.

COMMENT:  A phone call from the president of the United States thanking these women for their decency might be nice.  And maybe a follow-up from the attorney general of the United States pledging all federal support if their civil liberties are violated might also be in order.

How about it guys.  Terrorists aren't the only people with rights.

July 16, 2010      Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  From Wesley Pruden in The Washington Times, on the contrast between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama:

As anyone who knew Ronald Reagan would tell you, Barack Obama is no Ronald Reagan. Mr. Obama, smooth and eloquent though he on occasion can be, reassuring us that "it's morning in America" would be no reassurance at all. Actor or not, the Gipper believed his lines.

Mr. Reagan, a son of the heartland, celebrating America as a nation forged in the melting pot, understood America in a way that Barack Obama, who boasts that he is descended from "generations of Muslims" and seems puzzled that this evokes no applause at home, never could. Mr. Obama has never been more eloquent, or sounded more like his heart was in his message, than in Cairo where he apologized for America's "sins" against the Muslims. Ronald Reagan never sounded more like his heart was in the message than in Europe singing a familiar hymn to America's virtues and its sacrifices on behalf of others. Mr. Obama was raised in the third world and through no particular fault of his own never absorbed the words and music of "morning in America."

COMMENT:  That certainly says it, and well.  But remember, Obama has some built-in constituencies that will never leave him, even if their enthusiasm has dimmed.  He will not be easy to beat if he runs for reelection.  And if you think the press was biased last time, you ain't seen nothin' yet.  Obama is the press's creation, to a large degree, and it will fight to preserve what it has created.  Besides, 2012 means four more years of the media hiring a new generation of journalists who want to "make a difference."  That "difference" doesn't include free enterprise or victory in war.

July 16, 2010      Permalink

UNDER THE RADAR – AT 8:43 A.M. ET:  We sometimes forget that the nomination of ultra-liberal Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court is in progress.  She will clear the Senate Judiciary Committee within about a week.  And then the full Senate will probably confirm her.

As usual, the Republican opposition is lazy and disorganized.  There are serious questions about Kagan, but they were hardly raised during her confirmation hearings.  Now, though, one GOP senator, showing a heartbeat, is threatening to escalate the fight:

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) told HUMAN EVENTS that he would not rule out filibustering Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court. In an exclusive interview, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee said that a "filibuster is not off the table," but cautioned that such a procedural tactic would only be employed under "extraordinary circumstances." Asked if Kagan's penchant for judicial and political activism hit the benchmark of "extraordinary circumstances," Sessions wouldn't commit, but noted how Kagan did not "help herself in her testimony."

No, she didn't, and I suspect that some of her testimony was dishonest.  When she solemnly said that the recent Court decision overturning Chicago's draconian gun-control law was settled precedent, I almost fell off the chair laughing.  You can be sure that she, like Sotomayor, was told not to antagonize the Second Amendment fans.  Sotomayor said something very similar when she was up for confirmation, then reversed herself as soon as she could.  Kagan will do the same.

If confirmed, Sessions said that Kagan could very well be one of five judges "who can actually redefine the meaning of those words [the Constitution] that protect our liberties."

"Frankly, I don't think she assuaged our concerns at the [confirmation] hearing."

COMMENT:  Good for Senator Sessions.  Kagan comes from my old neighborhood.  I know just the mentality there.  I don't want it on the Court.

July 16, 2010       Permalink

AND NOW FOR BAD GOVERNMENT – AT 8:15 A.M. ET:  In contrast to the spectacular success of Virginia under conservative government, as noted in the post just below, we have New York, where this is being written.

Behold, another piece of "progressive" government, and all in the name of "civil liberties."  From the New York Post:

Gov. Paterson today is expected to sign a controversial bill that would delete an NYPD database with the names of hundreds of thousands of people who were stopped and frisked but never arrested, sources said.

The measure -- reviled by law enforcement and Mayor Bloomberg -- has been strongly favored by minority lawmakers in the state Legislature.

This week, all five Democratic candidates for attorney general called on Paterson to sign the bill to nix portions of the "250 database," so called because of the number on the form filed to the database.

Three sources told The Post last night that the governor was expected to sign the bill this morning at a planned event in Manhattan.

"Albany has robbed us of a great crime-fighting tool, one that saved lives," Commissioner Ray Kelly fumed.

"Without it, there will be, inevitably, killers and other criminals who won't be captured as quickly or perhaps ever. They'll be free to threaten our neighborhoods longer than they would have been otherwise."

Kelly is one of the all-time great police commissioners.  You'd think his words would be taken more seriously.  The greatest beneficiaries of New York's spectacularly successful crime-fighting program have been minorities.  And yet, minority "representatives," still living in the 1960s, fight the program at every turn.

While some 12 percent of stop-and-frisks wind up with an arrest or summons, Kelly insisted the database has been invaluable in crime-fighting.

That info has been important in identifying suspects in 178 criminal cases -- including 17 murders -- over the last 18 months, he said.

COMMENT:  This is so typical of New York, a state still wallowing in its liberal past.  Who cares about murders?  Who cares about life?

In the time since liberals were ousted from New York City's mayor's office, murder has declined 80% in the city.  You'd think some of these self-appointed bleeding hearts on the left would finally notice.

July 16, 2010     Permalink

CARRY ME BACK TO OLD VIRGINNY, AND MAKE IT FAST – AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  I'll bet you haven't read this story anywhere, but it's important and instructive.  There are political leaders who actually succeed.  From the Washington Examiner:

Virginia will end up in the black for fiscal 2010 after reporting surprisingly robust revenue from tax receipts and cutting government spending, Gov. Bob McDonnell said Wednesday.

McDonnell estimated that the surplus for the fiscal year that ended June 30 will be at least $220 million after miscellaneous interest payments are made. The final figure will be made official in August after year-end adjustments.

"We didn't overbudget; we didn't overspend," McDonnell said at a news conference Wednesday.
In January, the commonwealth had been facing a $1.8 billion budget shortfall for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ended June 30.

"It's certainly good news," said Del. Kirk Cox, R-Chesterfield, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "We tried to be very prudent."

About $82 million of the surplus will go toward a one-time, 3 percent bonus for state employees, who haven't received a raise in nearly four years. Ten percent will be set aside for Virginia's Water Quality Fund, about $19 million will go toward K-12 education, and two-thirds of the undesignated balance will go toward transportation, McDonnell said.

COMMENT:  Now let us consider the questions the liberal media will ask of the governor:  1)  How many people did you kill to make this possible?  2) Isn't this so-called "success" all due to your bringing back slavery?  3)  Is it true that you hate children?  4)  How can you live with yourself?

You know, considering the state of the press, those questions aren't so farfetched.

But Virginia is making it, under solid conservative leadership.  Indiana, under Republican Governor Mitch Daniels, is also making it.  New Jersey, under its new, incredibly dynamic Republican Governor Chris Christie, is starting to come back from laughing-stock status. 

And my state, New York?  With liberals firmly in charge, New York has become the largest out-migration state in the nation.  In other words, more people leave New York every year than leave any other state. 

Do you see a lesson here?

July 16,  2010     Permalink