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WEDNESDAY,  JUNE 9,  2010

ADDING INSULT TO INJURY – AT 8:32 P.M. ET:  Since Barack Obama came to power, Iran has not only expanded its nuclear program, it has expanded its diplomatic clout – while the president of the United States engages in deep thoughts and profound philosophy.  The Persians traditionally have been superb diplomats.  Thanks to Ed Lasky of American Thinker for alerting us to this piece from the Washington Post:

TEHRAN -- A year ago, Iran was on its way to becoming a pariah state. Dozens of governments accused Iranian leaders of stealing the presidential election and condemned the brutal crackdown on protesters that followed. The country faced sanctions and international scorn over its controversial nuclear program.

Now, even as the U.N. Security Council prepares to impose its fourth round of sanctions on Iran with a vote slated for Wednesday, Tehran is demonstrating remarkable resilience, insulating some of its most crucial industries from U.S.-backed financial restrictions and building a formidable diplomatic network that should help it withstand some of the pressure from the West. Iranian leaders are meeting politicians in world capitals from Tokyo to Brussels. They are also signing game-changing energy deals, increasing their economic self-sufficiency and even gaining seats on international bodies.

NOW, A QUESTION:  Do you think any of this would be possible without the weakness demonstrated by Obama?  Other nations feel they can cozy up to Tehran because there are no consequences in their relations with the United States. 

Now, weren't we promised something else during the 2008 campaign?  Weren't we told that Obama understood the world, understood how attitudes toward America could be changed?  Well, they have changed.  They're filled with more contempt.  The adolescents of Europe may still be in love with The One, and may even envy his rock concerts at the White House.  But the grownups realize the damage that Obama is doing. 

Iran will get the bomb.  As it's getting it, it's strengthening ties around the world.  It has outclassed us at every turn with its determination and its diplomacy.  We couldn't even get Brazil to agree to sanctions on Iran at the UN today. 

We are becoming a financially bankrupt nation.  And we're becoming morally and diplomatically bankrupt as well.  Who could have thought, as we watched the Berlin Wall come down, that we would someday elect a president who would strengthen the very forces in the world that built it in the first place?

June 8, 2010     Permalink

FINE PRINT ALERT – AT 7:41 P.M. ET:  The UN Insecurity Council passed new sanctions on Iran today.  The Obamans are strutting around as if this were the end of the Cold War and World War II combined.

Buyer beware.  You have to look at the fine print.  First, the sanctions were approved by Russia and China, both of whom issued statements essentially gutting them.  They were opposed in the Council by Turkey, which is rapidly becoming an enemy state, and Brazil, which is now run by a Marxist who has delusions of intelligence.  Brazil was run by that same Marxist when Bush was president, but, isn't it amazing, the Brazilian government didn't do much defying of the United States.  Amazing what a new oath of office does.

The sanctions were whittled down to some steps that, Iran has already announced, will have no effect on Tehran's nuclear program or nuclear plans. 

Here's the New York Times report.  And this is the money quote:

The United States had sought broader measures against Iran’s banks, insurance industry and other trade, but China and Russia were adamant that the sanctions not affect Iran’s day-to-day economy. Washington and Beijing were wrangling down to the last day over which banks to include on the list, diplomats said, and in the end only one appeared on the list of 40 new companies to be blacklisted.

Yeah, that's our new diplomacy.  These sanctions are so soft you can dress a newborn baby in them.

I can't wait to hear Ambassador John Bolton talk about this.  I'm sure he'll be on Fox in the next few days.

June 9, 2010      Permalink

SISTER SARAH PULLS IT OFF – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  One of the big behind-the-scenes winners in yesterday's primaries was Sarah Palin, as The Politico points out:

Some of Sarah Palin’s riskiest endorsements scored major victories Tuesday for the former Alaska governor, showing off her power in Republican primaries.

Palin had four primary endorsements in play – Carly Fiorina, Nikki Haley, Terry Branstad and Cecile Bledsoe – and three won or moved on to a runoff...

...Perhaps Palin’s most powerful demonstration came in South Carolina, where her endorsement propelled a major swing in the polls for Haley’s primary campaign for governor and sustained the state representative through accusations of two separate affairs.

"Her decision to get - and stay - involved in the race here in South Carolina was a huge boon to our campaign, because it caused a lot of South Carolinians to take a second look at a rising in the polls but once-little known state legislator who was fighting to give them back their government,” Haley spokesman Tim Pearson said of Palin.

For Fiorina, Palin bucked some of her own supporters in choosing the former Hewlett Packard chief executive over tea party favorite Chuck DeVore in the California Senate race.

And...

Palin also surprised some conservatives with her endorsement of Terry Branstad in the Iowa gubernatorial race over Bob Vander Plaats, a top aide to Mike Huckabee’s 2008 operation in the state and a grassroots favorite.

As with Fiorina, Palin was able to successfully reassure many of her troubled fans that Branstad was indeed a strong conservative amidst protests on Facebook.

Palin frequently uses the Susan B. Anthony List as barometer of suitable conservative candidates, and, as with Fiorina, the group’s support of Bledsoe led Palin to the Arkansas House candidate.

Palin labeled Bledsoe one of the “mama grizzlies” the former governor contends are leading a new feminist movement, and the Arkansas state senator turned a distant second place showing a month ago into what looked like a narrow defeat at the hands of Rogers Mayor Steve Womack.

COMMENT:  Not bad, not bad.  If Sarah doesn't run for president herself in 2012, her endorsement may turn into campaign gold in the primaries.  Of course, that cuts both ways.  She's a controversial character, and that very endorsement might prove problematical in attracting centrists in a general election.  We should get a better idea of that in November of this year, when Sarah's people are on the ballot.

June 9, 2010      Permalink

NO TURKISH DELIGHT – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  Turkey, a member of NATO, has been drifting further and further away from the West, into the vast nothingness of Islamic extremism.  Its secular nature is fading away.

Although the code language of diplomacy often has politicians regretting Turkey's drift away from Israel, with whom it once enjoyed warm relations, its drift away from the United States is really the key issue:

Turkey's apparent shift in orientation away from Europe and its values towards greater cooperation with Islamist leaders and countries in the Middle East is being cautiously watched by the US, Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated on Wednesday.

"The deterioration in the relationship between Turkey and Israel over the past year or so is a matter of concern," Gates was quoted by Reuters as telling reporters in London.

There's the code language, followed by this:

Gates also told the reporters at the same London meeting that UN Security Council would likely pass a tougher Iran sanctions measure today, paving the way for additional measures against the Iranian nuclear program.

Problem:  Turkey, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, is leading the fight against those sanctions.  As one observer noted, as soon as the Turkish representative raises his hand to vote against sanctions on Iran, Turkey's relationship with the United States will profoundly change.

I would not be shocked to see Turkey drifting out of NATO in the next few years, or even a situation where NATO members refuse to give Turkey full access to the alliance and its classified information.  Turkey has chosen Islamism for its future, rejecting the secularism that worked so well for the country for half a century and more.  Choices have consequences.

June 9, 2010     Permalink

MORE BUZZ FOR MITCH – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  Political buzz around Republican Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana is increasing.  It's perfectly clear that Republicans aren't pleased with the 2012 offerings they're getting, and are looking elsewhere.  From The Politico:

In a wide open field, the GOP governor’s name keeps popping up despite the fact that — unlike many other potential candidates — he hasn’t aggressively promoted himself. Daniels hasn’t recently visited Iowa or New Hampshire, and his name isn’t always surveyed by national pollsters looking at the prospective field.

Daniels, however, has a following among those Republicans more focused on budget cuts than abortion and attracted to business acumen rather than ideology.

And...

“Daniels’s appeal is this — he’s the no BS candidate, the no-frills guy who doesn’t come off as a PR firm executive and intentionally doesn’t speak in poll-tested sound bites,” veteran Republican pollster Curt Anderson said. “Against the backdrop of the current president, this gives him tremendous appeal; that and the fact that he has an accomplished record as governor.”

With conservatives still sampling the unsettled 2012 field, Daniels’s two terms as governor have caught the attention of both Washington insiders and grass-roots leaders looking for competence and managerial skills, along with the political ability to compete against President Barack Obama.

Since Daniels became governor in 2004, Indiana has turned its $200 million deficit into a $1.3 billion surplus, paid all outstanding debts, doubled venture capital investment in the state and increased employment. All while reducing the number of government jobs in the state by about 15 percent by not filling vacant positions.

And...

Those close to Daniels say his casual Midwestern mien will prove to be an advantage over some of his prospective GOP opponents.

“Mitch’s appeal comes largely because he’s willing to talk to voters as adults,” Indiana Republican Party Chairman J. Murray Clark told POLITICO. “He doesn’t shy away from tackling big issues, and he doesn’t talk down when he explains his policies for tackling them.”

“The idea that someone who has worked at the highest levels of business and government could also so deeply and personally understand the feelings of everyday real people is a combination [that] makes for a unique capacity to lead,” Clark said. “He’s also willing to admit if something doesn’t work out the way he planned, and he course corrects from there. That forthrightness and adherence to results-driven policies earns him a lot of respect, even from people who may disagree ideologically.”

COMMENT:  The key here is that competence has to be sold.  Daniels is genuine, and his record is solid.  However, he isn't the most interesting speaker, and he's got to make his plain-spoken style an asset, and not get lost in the crowd.  He has a Calvin Coolidge quality.

Is he the "somebody" to beat the "almost somebody" in the White House?  He's surfacing now, and will be tested.  There's a big fundraiser planned for him in Washington.  That's his coming-out party.

June 9, 2010     Permalink

NOTHING LIKE IGNORING A WARNING – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  Absolutely fascinating story of one of the two sweet, multicultural innocents arrested on terror charges last week, while trying to make it to Somalia.  From Fox News:

An administrator at a New Jersey high school says one of two terrorism suspects over the weekend was considered so dangerous as a student that he was taught outside the classroom with a security guard present.

North Bergen High School spokesman Paul Swibinski tells the New York Post and the Record of New Jersey that Mohamed Mahmood Alessa was placed "on home instruction" three months after starting at the school in 2004.

Swibinski says administrators feared for the safety of other students and staff. He did not say what made them consider Alessa to be dangerous.

Authorities say the 20-year-old Alessa and 24-year-old Carlos Eduardo Almonte tried to fly out of New York's Kennedy Airport on Saturday in hopes of getting terrorism training in Somalia.

COMMENT:  So they had all that warning, and apparently not much was done about it.  When a studnet needs a security guard present to receive his education, maybe the case should have gone further up the line.  We'll see if this comes out at his trial.

June 9, 2010      Permalink

REPUBLICAN WOMEN TRIUMPH –  AT 8:19 A.M. ET:  Hey wait.  I thought all legitimate women were Democrats.  What changed?

Well, strangely, a lot of women didn't get their orders from Liberal Central.  Meg Whitman will be the GOP candidate for governor of California; Carly Fiorina will be the GOP candidate for U.S. senator from California; Sharron Angle will take on Harry Reid in Nevada; and Nikki Haley, although she must fight a runoff, will almost certainly be the GOP candidate for governor of South Carolina.

We're also happy to say that two Democratic women, Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, and Congresswoman Jane Harman of California, have won their primaries against challenges from the left.  In Arkansas, Lincon defeated a candidate backed by MoveOn.org and national labor unions.  In California, Harman defeated a challenger who made Joe Stalin look like Barry Goldwater. 

With these results, ancient Gloria Steinem may have to seek political asylum in North Korea.

Not all these women are beloved within their parties.  Nikki Haley, in particular, is no favorite of the South Carolina GOP establishment, which she regularly challenges, Sarah Palin style.  Sharron Angle, in Nevada, needs some coaching in gaffe avoidance.  But the fact that they all won indicates that women refuse to follow the script written in Manhattan and Beverly Hills.  In fact, radical-left women of the old Bella Abzug stripe seem to be in the political shadows.

We'll have more on the primary results later.  But what was clear last night was the sheer enthusiasm on the Republican side.  Final figures aren't in, but turnout in GOP primaries was dramatically higher than usual, a good sign for November.

June 9, 2010      Permalink

TUESDAY,  JUNE 8,  2010

WE'RE LIVE BLOGGING THE PRIMARY RETURNS IN KEY RACES.

12:39 a.m. ET:  Sharron Angle has won the GOP Senate nomination in Nevada, and will face Harry Reid in November.  As we've reported, many GOP strategists are uneasy with Angle, believing her an amateur with a loose mouth.  She'll need coaching, but of course we wish her well.

12:32 a.m. ET:  We are awaiting results from the Democratic primary in California's 36th congressional district, pitting veteran incumbent, and pro-defense Democrat Jane Harman against political fringe operator Marcy Winograd.  The California Democratic Party is very extreme, probably the most extreme "mainstream" party organization in the country.  It produces nut cases like Maxine Waters and Pete Stark.  Winograd is a "progressive" (read socialist, and probably Marxist) who, if elected, would become the new Cynthia McKinney.  For example, she doesn't even believe Israel should exist.  But Winograd is given a good chance of defeating Harman, whose pro-defense stand and grown-up approach to her job doesn't sit well with the later-day flower children of her district.  We'll be watching.

12:24 a.m. ET:  Sharron Angle is building up a strong lead in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate.  With 45% of precincts reporting, Angle has 37.4% to Sue Lowden's 29.4%.  Not all Republicans are jumping for joy at this, believing Angle, because of a certain kookiness, might not be the strongest candidate against Harry Reid in November.

12:17 a.m. ET:  Carly Fiorina has won the Republican nomination for the Senate in California.  She will oppose incumbent Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, renowned for having a brain that operates on one cylinder.  However, California is a Democratic state and Boxer is a fierce campaigner.  This will be a tough, probably close race.  Ironically, former Republican Congressman Tom Campbell, whom Fiorinia defeated, was running more strongly in the polls against Boxer than was Fiorina, but many Republicans considered him too moderate, and some past associations with pro-jihadist elements in the American Muslim community hurt him. 

11:47 p.m. ET:  Carly Fiorina is off to a commanding lead in the GOP Senate primary race in California.  Money talks in the golden state, which requires huge campaign expenditures.  Fiorina has the cash, as does Meg Whitman, who just won the GOP primary for governor.  Not a great comment on our politics.  Personal money ("buying the election") will probably become a campaign issue.

11:46 p.m. ET:  Associated Press has just declared Meg Whitman, former CEO of Ebay, as the winner of the GOP primary for Governor of California.  She will face former governor and 72-year-old elder statesman Jerry Brown in November.  Ebay will be taking bids for the governor's mansion.  (No, no, no.)

11:26 p.m. ET:   Tea-party favorite Sharron Angle has a slight lead in the Nevada GOP Senate primary, with Sue Lowden just behind.  Both candidates have about 34%.  This is a complicated story.  Angle has run a come-from-behind campaign, with vigorous tea-party support, but she is an untried candidate with a history of making kooky remarks.  As former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum said tonight on Fox News, she hasn't been fully vetted, which is not a compliment.  The primary winner will face Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Conventional wisdom has it that Angle would be the easiest candidate for Reid to defeat. 

11: 03 p.m. ET:  Polls in California are just closing.  We'll be looking at these races:  The GOP gubernatorial primary; the GOP Senate primary; the GOP primary for secretary of state, where a "birther" candidate, who doubts President Obama's birth claims, is running, and is considered an embarrassment to the party, and a Democratic congressional primary pitting veteran pro-defense Congresswoman Jane Harmon against a real, genuine hard leftist, Marcy Winograd.

11:01 p.m. ET:  BULLETIN:  Associated Press is declaring Sen. Blanche Lincoln the winner in the Arkansas Democratic primary runoff for the U.S. Senate nomination, over Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.  We'd said earlier that the trend was in Halter's favor, but that trend apparently wasn't enough to overcome Lincoln's small lead.  Lincoln currently has 52%, Halter 48%.  This is a major victory for "moderates" in the Democratic Party.  Halter was backed by the strong-arm tactics of leftist groups and public-employee unions, who essentially created his candidacy as a means of punishing Lincoln because of suspicion of moderation.  That Halter came so close in a moderate state indicates both Lincoln's unpopularity and the clout that leftist groups still have.

10:23 p.m. ET:  With 49% of the precincts in, incumbent Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln is leading her primary challenger, Bill Halter, by only two points, 51-49%.  Despite Lincoln's lead, the trend is in Halter's favor.  As we reported earlier, Halter, the lieutenant governor, is a creation of left-wing political groups and public-service unions.  Arkansas is the last place you'd expect a guy like that to win, but remember that this is a Democratic primary. 

9:53 p.m. ET:  Polls close in Nevada in seven minutes.  The key race will decide who will face Senate Majority Leader Harry "Mr. Excitement" Reid in November.  Polls close in just over an hour in hugely important California, where GOP candidates for governor and U.S. senator are being chosen.

9:52 p.m. ET:  In Arkansas, with 20% of the vote in, incumbent Dem. Senator Blanche Lincoln is only leading her primary challenger, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter by four points, 52-48%.  Looks like a long night. 

9:46 p.m. ET:  Associated Press is declaring that Nikki Haley will not get the 50% needed to avoid a June 22nd runoff for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in South Carolina.  However, with about 84% of the vote in, Haley has 48%, her nearest competitor 21%, so Haley is pretty much assured of winning the nomination in two weeks, unless the charges of marital infidelity she's battled during the primary can be proved by 3-D videotape.

9:22 p.m. ET: With 70% of the votes in, Nikki Haley has 49% of the vote in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff against Gresham Barrett, who has 21%.

9:02 p.m. ET:  With only four precincts in, incumbent Senator Blanche Lincoln, generally a moderate, leads Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, 54-46%, for the Democratic Senate nomination.  Halter is a creation of unions and leftist activist groups.

8:52 p.m. ET:  With 42% of the vote in, Nikki Haley continues leading with 46% of the vote in the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary.  Gresham Barrett has 25%.  But, as we've said, Haley needs 50% to avoid a runoff.

8:38 p.m. ET:  With 28% of the vote in, Palin-endorsed Nikki Haley is well ahead with 46% of the vote.  Her nearest competitor is Gresham Barrett, with 24%.  But Haley needs 50% to avoid a runoff.  She's been harassed by charges of marital infidelity, but polls do not show that the charges have hurt her.  She is from a family that immigrated from India.

8:36 p.m. ET:  Polls in Arkansas have just closed.  This runoff will decide the fate of Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln.  See our post, "The Liberal Sandbox," below.

THE LIBERAL SANDBOX – AT 7:23 P.M. ET:  Don't you love it when politicians fight over nothing, like an almost-worthless Senate nomination?  Watch that play out tonight in Arkansas. 

Incumbent Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln is in the fight of her life, competing in a runoff for renomination against Lt. Gov. Bill Halter.  What makes the race interesting is that Halter is running well to Lincoln's left in a decidedly unliberal state.  He is a creature of a national campaign organized by ultra-lefty MoveOn.org, one of the most oddly named political groups I've ever seen, and major public-employee unions, determined to punish Lincoln for frugal thoughts.

Lincoln has not been an outstanding senator.  Representing a state with little in common with New York, Massachusetts or California, she's had to balance the required moderation with the demands of a "progressive" national party.  She usually winds up botching it, but has tried to appear at least somewhat centrist.  That is not sufficient for the party's ultras, who prefer candidates with the mentality of Japanese kamikaze pilots.  Just crash your campaign.  You will meet Karl Marx in socialist heaven, which is located above Sweden.

So Halter, beneficiary of a huge national effort, and funding to match, may actually win the Deem runoff tonight. 

But then comes November.  Republican candidate John Bozeman is well ahead of both Lincoln and Halter in the polls.  Someone would have to prove that Bozeman does strange things with antelopes to dent his lead.  So the Deem nomination, decided tonight, will probably be worthless.

But if Lincoln is defeated, the crazies in the party will have proved their clout.  They're willing to destroy the house just to prevent anyone else from living in it.  They've gotten behind Halter as a warning to anyone who plans on challenging the public-employee unions.  After all, why stop at bankrupting New York and California?

June 8, 2010     Permalink

WAKE UP, BARACK – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:   One thing about weakness in foreign policy – it produces immediate results.  Barack Obama, bringer of peace and good will, hasn't quite cut it on the international circuit, and others are filling in the vacuum that he leaves.  From The New York Times:

ISTANBUL — Leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran convened at a security summit meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday in a display of regional power that appeared to be calculated to test the United States just days before a scheduled American-backed debate in the United Nations Security Council on imposing tighter sanctions over Iran’s nuclear program.

When will Barack Hussein Obama Jr. realize that Turkey is no longer an ally, but an increasingly Islamic state, that relations with Russia have not been "reset," and that Iran will not change a thing?  He will probably never realize these things because Obama's beliefs amount to a religion, not subject to facts, judgment or maturity.  The president increasingly acts like a character in "Hair."

In remarks at the gathering of regional leaders, the third of its kind dedicated to increasing cooperation and security in Asia, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran said a nuclear agreement brokered by Turkey and Brazil last month was a one-time opportunity and other countries had called to express their support for it.

“We’ve seen a lot of support from the international arena,” he said, according to the Turkey’s official Anatolian News Agency. “This is the voice of everyone’s heart.” Mr. Ahmadinejad also maintained a defiant posture toward the United States.

“If the U.S. and its allies think they could hold the stick of sanctions and then sit and negotiate with us, they are seriously mistaken,” he told a news conference, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV satellite broadcaster. European and American officials say the vote on sanctions could come as early as Wednesday.

Yes, sanctions will probably be voted on at the UN this week.  But what kind of sanctions?  It is highly unlikely that anything acceptable to China and Russia, who have veto power, would have any effect on the Iranians.

Other nations have sensed Obama's weakness, his Carteresque foreign policy, and are establishing their own arrangements.  But Obama hosts really good music concerts at the White House.

June 8, 2010     Permalink

WHERE IS HE NOW? – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  We cannot confirm this story, but there have been other stories to this effect, and I think it's wise to present it as part of the conversation.  The translation comes from MEMRI: 

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa reported on June 7, 2010, that Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and five other high-ranking Al-Qaeda figures have been hiding for five years in the mountains of Sabzevar, a city in Khorasan province in northeastern Iran (220 km west of Mashhad).

According to Al-Siyassa, the information, which came from a source linked directly to Iranian security apparatuses, was that bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri had entered Sabzevar at the invitation of Iran and through the mediation of Lebanese Hizbullah.

COMMENT:  If true, and we stress that we can't back it up, that might explain the baffling disappearance of bin Laden from Afghanistan, and our difficulty in finding him.

This is absolutely intriguing, and I hope journalists pursue it.  If Iran is protecting bin Laden, it will challenge the conventional wisdom about relations between terrorists and their supporters.

June 8, 2010    Permalink

OFF THEIR MEDS AGAIN – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:  The "progressive" movement in America can be compared to a rejected suitor who stalks a woman thinking that, if he's around enough, she'll come to love him.  Don't these people get the message?  From WaPo:

Progressive movement activists gathered in Washington on Monday declared themselves dismayed, even angry, at President Obama and Democrats in Congress for being too timid and compromising in pursuing change on issues from health care to the environment to the economy.

These are the kind of people who'd rather have a pure nothing than an impure 50%.

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the liberal news Web site the Huffington Post, referred to Obama's 2008 campaign message by saying: "It's clear that 'hope' is not enough. What we need is Hope 2.0, and that is taking matters into our own hands."

If this woman hadn't married the fabulously wealthy Mr. Huffington, and gotten a huge divorce settlement, do you think she'd be anybody?

By seeking bipartisanship, Huffington said, Democrats have made too many concessions on legislation. She invoked the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by saying bipartisanship resulted in lax government oversight of BP. "We are seeing bipartisanship," she said. "Washing on the shores of Louisiana every day we see more pictures of pelicans and dolphins covered in bipartisanship."

Yeah, right.  The Gulf oil spill was caused by bipartisanship.  The American people will really believe that.  And the environmental extremists, who force oil companies to drill in dangerously deep water, where accidents are more likely, have no blame at all. 

This is pathetic stuff.  This crowd represents maybe 20% of the electorate, but they truly believe that the army of the people is behind them, marching forward, chanting odes to tofu.

The problem is that these people have an inordinate influence in education, which is why we must still be on guard for our future.  They grab our kids and teach them.  Otherwise, the "progressive" movement, which isn't very progressive, is perpetually out of synch with America.

June 8, 2010     Permalink

A JOKE – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:  There's this rich guy in Australia who wants to do good, and started this foundation that rates countries according to their peacefulness.  You know exactly what's coming, don't you?  From the Washington Times:

America, land of peace? Forget about it.

The United States is just the 85th most peaceful nation on earth, according to the fourth annual Global Peace Index (GPI), a statistical ranking based on a spectrum of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators — from political stability and military expenditures to gun sales, violent crime and "respect for human rights."

Well, we know exactly where these chaps are coming from.  Military expenditures make a country less peaceful.  No, military expenditures, when correctly applied, help keep the peace.  Most people with a mental age above 12 understand that.  Unfortunately, that rules out a number of the world's self-proclaimed "intellectuals."

The 85th position does not even rank the U.S. in the upper half in the 149-nation list, which was released Tuesday.

But some of the countries ranked ahead of the U.S. may raise a few eyebrows: China, Cuba, Libya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Chile and the United Arab Emirates are among them, based on their relative peacefulness within their own borders and with neighbors. At its most basic, the GPI simply defines peace as "an absence of violence."

Look at that list of peace-loving states.  Can't wait to settle down in peace-loving Libya, China, and Cuba.  Might even live to see an election.

The top 10?

For the second year in a row, New Zealand is in first place, followed by Iceland, Japan, Austria, Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden.

When countries don't have external challenges, when they appease threatening immigrant populations, when they choose not to live up to their international responsibilities, they sure can seem "peaceful."  And some of those, like Denmark, are fine countries.  Others, like Sweden, are "peaceful" because they don't lift a finger to keep international peace, and buy off their own populations.

The bottom 10 countries are North Korea, Congo, Chad, Georgia, Russia, Israel, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia and, in very last place, Iraq.

That tells the story.  Put Iraq, now a liberated and struggling country, in last place.  Must slap down those Americans.  And of course, Israel, with one of the lowest crime rates in the world, must also be near last, to satisfy the international left.

The sad thing is that lists like this are believed.  They're read in "intellectual" and academic circles, and reprinted in magazines. 

It's interesting how low we rank after 17 months of Obama.  I guess he hasn't made that much of an impression.

June 8, 2010     Permalink

AS MICHIGAN GOES? – AT 8:13 A.M. ET:  Michael Barone examines his home state of Michigan as a possible bellwether for national politics, and finds the results troubling for the Democrats.

Michigan, with its auto industry, has been severely hit by the national recession.  Its governor is an Obama-supporting Democrat. 

In 2008 Michigan was 4% more Democratic than the national average: 57%-41% for Barack Obama....

...Standard political analysis would suggest that Michigan should have moved even farther toward the Democrats since 2008. In the deep recession Michigan has consistently been the nation’s number one unemployment state. And the federal government under the Obama administration bailed out General Motors and Chrysler, two of Michigan’s largest employers.

The standard analysis fails:

But Michigan voters have been moving right, not left. A recent poll taken for the Detroit Free Press poll showed that only 43% of Michiganians support the Obama Democrats’ health care bill and 53% are opposed.

And...

Moreover, Republicans have been consistently leading in the open race for Michigan’s governorship...This poll also shows negative job ratings for Barack Obama (44%-54%) and Jennifer Granholm (28%-71%).

And most important:

While the Obama Democrats’ ratings remain relatively high in New York and California, where affluent secular liberals are one of the largest Democratic constituencies, they certainly are not doing so in Michigan, where such voters are a much smaller part of the electorate. Tentative conclusion: rich liberals may be able to afford Obamastimulus and Obamacare, but voters with modest incomes don’t think they can.

Yes, I'm afraid we see it here in New York:  Liberals of a certain class continue to cling to Obama the way they cling to global warming and the UN.  New York is losing more residents through out-migration than any other state, because of high taxes and high living costs, its state government is collapsing, and its political leadership is a joke...but liberal Democrats remain near shoo-ins for high state offices.  In New York, liberalism is the state religion.

We hope trends in Michigan point the way to the future, and that New York and California fall, politically I mean, into the sea.

June 8, 2010     Permalink