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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17,  2010

BULLETIN:  COURTROOM DISASTER – AT 7:15 P.M. ET:  Conservatives warned and warned and warned, but The One, and his attorney general, The Other One, wouldn't listen.  Now we have, late this afternoon, a courtroom disaster.  From The New York Times:

The first former Guantánamo detainee to be tried in a civilian court was acquitted on Wednesday of all but one of more than 280 charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1998 terrorist bombings of the United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Unbelievable.  Acquitted of all but one charge.  What an embarrassment to this country.

The case has been seen as a test of President Obama’s goal of trying detainees in federal court whenever feasible, and the result may again fuel debate over whether civilian courts are appropriate for trying terrorists.

Yeah.  I'd imagine so.

The defendant, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to destroy government buildings and property. He was acquitted of six counts of conspiracy, including conspiring to kill Americans and use weapons of mass destruction...

...The unexpected verdict by the six-man, six-woman jury came in the fifth day of deliberations and followed a four-week trial in which prosecutors built a circumstantial case to establish that Mr. Ghailani had played a key logistical role in the preparations for the Tanzania attack.

I'd love to know who was on that New York jury.  We can almost see their bleeding hearts.

He helped to buy the Nissan Atlas truck that was used to carry the bomb, and gas tanks that were placed inside the truck to intensify the blast, the evidence showed. He also stored an explosive detonator in an armoire he used, and his cellphone became the “operational phone” for the plotters in the weeks leading up to the attacks, prosecutors said.

Minor things, minor things.  Don't we all do that?

The fact is that the civilian trial rules in place prevented some of the best evidence against this bird from being used. 

Just last month, for example, on the eve of trial, prosecutors suffered a major setback when the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan of Federal District Court, barred them from using an important witness against Mr. Ghailani because the government had learned about the man through Mr. Ghailani’s interrogation while he was in C.I.A. custody, where his lawyers say he was tortured.

The witness, Hussein Abebe, would have testified that he had sold Mr. Ghailani the large quantities of TNT used to blow up the embassy in Dar es Salaam, prosecutors told the judge, calling him “a giant witness for the government.”

This defendant was a soldier at war against the United States, but he was tried like a shoplifter.  Our enemies, both foreign and domestic, will have a field day with this verdict.  They will use it to cast doubt on the guilt of every Gitmo detainee.  (Imagine holding civilian trials of Nazi prisoners in the middle of World War II.) 

We need a new attorney general, and we need to try these perps in military tribunals, where the rules of evidence are more suited to the occasion.

November 17, 2010      Permalink

SARAH:  "YES I CAN" – AT 6:27 P.M. ET:  Day by day, Sarah Palin gets closer to a run for the presidency, and now she's stating that she can beat Obama.  From ABC News:

Sarah Palin says she is seriously considering a run for the White House, and she believes she could beat President Obama in 2012, the former Alaska governor told ABC News' Barbara Walters.

"I'm looking at the lay of the land now, and ... trying to figure that out, if it's a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it's a good thing," Palin said in an interview scheduled to air in full Dec. 9 on ABC as part of Walters' "10 Most Fascinating People" of 2010.

Asked Walters: "If you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?"

"I believe so," Palin said.

COMMENT:  Obviously, she'll get plenty of dissent on that.  Recent stories report that, even in the Tea Party movement, most members are opposed to her because they think there are stronger candidates out there.  Sarah is up against perceptions, which have translated into negative poll numbers.

But that is now.  The election is two years away.  It will be hard for her to overcome the image that has stuck to her, but, with the rapid communications techniques we have now, and the 24-hour news cycle, she might just be able to pull it off.  The key:  Convincing people that she knows the issues in some depth, and can handle them. 

November 17, 2010       Permalink

GROUP THERAPY – AT 9:35 A.M. ET:  Well, look, this is part of the grieving process, and we must respect the privacy and feelings of our Democratic friends.  From The Hill:

House Democrats held a marathon venting session Tuesday as they tried to come to grips with a devastating midterm election that swept their caucus out of power.

The gathering was the first for the entire caucus since the election, and lawmakers described a solemn mood under which defeated members stood up, one by one, and delivered farewell speeches to their colleagues.

Yeah, and most of those defeated members are moderates, who lost in swing districts, while their liberal colleagues, who caused the disaster, retained their safe seats.

While many Democrats offered kind words, thanks and support for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), defeated Reps. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Travis Childers (D-Miss.) and Bill Foster (Ill.) called for new leadership, lawmakers said.

Boyd told The Hill that leaving Pelosi as the public face of the caucus would undermine candidate recruitment efforts in 2012.

But the liberals just don't care.  They just don't give a hoot. 

Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) called the outpouring “cathartic.”

She comes from the city rated "most stressful," so she should know about "cathartic."

The caucus gathering was one of several meetings planned for this week where House Democrats are airing their frustrations with the party message, strategy and leadership. Pelosi is trying to hold onto power despite the Democratic defeat, arguing that the election results were a reflection of an ailing economy and not her own low standing with the public.

While the liberal Speaker retains broad support within a smaller and more left-leaning caucus, a smattering of lawmakers from both sides of the ideological spectrum have said she should step aside. The conservative dissidents are now led by Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), who confirmed on Tuesday that he would challenge her for minority leader.

According to reports, the liberals believe their problem lies in "selling" their message, not the message itself.  May they continue to believe that.  It makes our job that much easier.

November 17, 2010      Permalink

AND WE'RE OFF – AT 8:42 A.M. ET:  The 2012 race has begun.  As the unsainted Richard Nixon liked to say, "Make no mistake about that."  Traditionally, and boringly, the Republican Party nominates "the next guy in line," even if that person is moribund.

However, the times they are a-changin'.  Gallup finds that there is no Republican frontrunner, as of now, according to National Journal:

The race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination is wide open, according to a just-released Gallup poll.

Of the GOP's most talked-about potential presidential contenders, none was able to break the 20 percent threshold. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led the pack with the backing of 19 percent of those surveyed, followed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 16 percent apiece.

All three candidates benefit from high name recognition, as all ran for either president or vice president two years ago. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was the only other candidate in double figures, at 13 percent.

No candidates have yet formally announced that they are running for president, but Romney has been very active in key states including Iowa and New Hampshire.

COMMENT:  It's good that there's no frontrunner.  I hope there isn't one for a long time.  Let this all shake out, with new people added to the mix. 

If the economy improves, toppling Obama, like toppling any incumbent president, will be very difficult.  If the economy continues in recession, the job will be far easier...but only with the right candidate.  Many Americans seem to feel they were burned by Obama, which they were, and they don't want to be burned by another unknown.

November 17, 2010      Permalink 

NEW TERROR ALERT IN GERMANY – AT 8:27 A.M. ET:  The terror alert in Germany has been raised.  We're seeing more and more stories like this.  From Fox:

BERLIN – Germany's interior minister says he is ordering increased security in the country in light of what he says is a heightened threat from terrorism.

Thomas de Maiziere pointed Wednesday to the recent interception of mail bombs sent from Yemen, to a subsequent tip from another unspecified country about a suspected attack planned for the end of November, and to German information on "sustained efforts" by Islamic extremist groups to plan attacks in Germany.

At the same time, we Americans are embroiled in a debate over intrusive airport scanners.  This debate could be lessened considerably if we adopted the common-sense Israeli system and targeted the terrorists rather than the weapons they might be carrying.  Yes, that involves profiling.  Yes, that involves the possibility of extended interviews.  And yes, it works.

But political correctness – every passenger is equal to every other passenger, including the Middle Eastern guy wearing a parka in July – has sent us in strange directions, like overly instrusive scanners.

We will learn, but it will be the hard way.

November 17, 2010      Permalink

THE SPARKS WILL FLY – ROGER AILES, THE MAN WHO BUILT FOX NEWS, HAS RENDERED HIS OPINION OF PRESIDENT OBAMA.  WATCH THE "SHOCKED" REACTION OF OTHERS IN THE NEWS BUSINESS, WHO WILL BE "DISMAYED" THAT ANY NEWS CHIEF HAS AN OPINION.

Of course, if it were a liberal chief, that would be a different story.  Double standards, anyone?  From The Politico:

President Obama “has not been very successful” and has a “different belief system” than most people in the country, the chairman of Fox News, Roger Ailes, tells the Daily Beast in an interview.

“He just got kicked from Mumbai to South Korea, and he came home and attacked Republicans for it,” Ailes said. “He had to be told by the French and the Germans that his socialism was too far left for them to deal with.”

Ailes claimed in the interview that Fox News hasn’t singled out Obama, and that it challenges presidents. But he adds of the White House’s current occupant, “He just has a different belief system than most Americans.”

“He’s had 3,000 press secretaries since he got into office,” Ailes said, but now, “he’s making it harder for the press to make him look good. ... When the press falls in love, they fall in love hard. They’re like teenagers in love. It’s like the old Frankie Lymon song, ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love?’ ”

Finally, Ailes offered a critique of Obama’s formal remarks: “I literally never heard an Obama speech that didn’t blame Bush.”

COMMENT:  I just can't wait to hear the MSNBC crowd on this.  And Ted Koppel will no doubt somberly weigh in, as he somberly addresses the somber issue of press bias, in his somber way. 

November 17, 2010     Permalink

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16,  2010

GREAT MOMENTS IN JOURNALISM – AT 8:44 P.M. ET:  General Electric has sold NBC, which is a good thing, because the conflicts of interest between the parent and NBC News have become flagrant.  NewsBusters reports:

On Sunday, NBC Universal launched its annual "Green Week," as part of the company's "Green is Universal" environmental awareness campaign.

As NBC embarks on yet another week of "environmentally themed programming," it falls to media watchdogs to point out the massive conflict presented by NBC parent company General Electric's significant financial interests in the policies "Green Week" indirectly advances.

GE stands to make millions from Democrats' "clean energy" agenda. The company has invested massive amounts of money in technology that can only be profitable through government intervention or subsidization.

Chief among federal policies from which GE would enormously benefit is cap and trade.

A cap and trade regime would establish a previously-nonexistent market for carbon credits. GE, which was a lead lobbying force for cap and trade and is a member of the pro-C&T "Climate Action Partnership," established what it called "Greenhouse Gas Services," a venture that invested in carbon credits. Those credits are completely useless unless the government, through a cap and trade scheme, establishes a market for them by requiring that all carbon-emitting businesses buy those credits to be allowed to pollute.

In other words, GE spent millions of dollars on a venture whose profitability depends on policies that its media arm, NBC Universal, shills for under the guise of "environmental awareness."

COMMENT:  NewsBusters nails it, as it usually does.  You'd think there'd be greater outrage over this clear-cut conflict, but ethical standards in mainstream media aren't exactly rigid.  (You may have noticed.)  Also, most people in media think of environmentalism as a religion, not a business, and therefore entitled to a special place.  Other religions, like Christianity or Judaism, don't rank quite so high.

Well, NBC will soon be operating under the Comcast label, so the particular conflict noted above may not apply.  There is, of course, the matter of collusion with liberal Democrats, and being in the tank for Obama, and being a decidedly left-wing outfit.  You may be sure those things are not on NBC's "to take care of" list.

November 16, 2010       Permalink

ELITES OUT OF TOUCH – AT 7:25 P.M. ET:  Dem pollster Mark Penn, in a Politico column, reveals a shocking Obama "reelection" number, and notes how out of touch the elites in Washington are:

The midterms not only dealt a big shock to Democrats but also sent a message to President Barack Obama. According to the new POLITICO Power and the People poll, only 26 percent of the public believes he will be reelected as president in 2012. Inside the Beltway, however, expectations are quite different, with D.C. elites saying he will have a second term by a reverse 2 to 1 margin. (49 percent say re-elected; 23 percent say not).

This difference in expectations could mislead the president if he is listening to the Beltway chatter — right here in D.C., he may just find a lot of comfort in this assessment by insiders, and that may lead to actions that don’t fully adjust for the sea change that has occurred among the general public.

This big difference can partially be explained by the different ways that the two groups see the economy and the world today. Seventy percent of D.C. elites admit that they have been affected less than the average citizen when it comes to the economic downturn. The elites see the tea party as purely a fad (70 percent). In contrast, those who say that the president will not be reelected see the country as headed in the wrong direction by 82 percent, see the economy as headed in the wrong direction by 81 percent and overwhelmingly want repeal of the health care law at the top of the agenda. The quarter of the public who consider Obama's reelection probable see the economy turning around by nearly 3-to-1. They are the outliers of the electorate, suggesting that the president has a lot more work to do to get back on track for a second term.

COMMENT:  Aren't you glad that D.C. doesn't have voting senators or congresspeople?  Sometimes I wonder whether D.C. is the capital of the United States, or some other country unlisted in the phone book. 

The problem, of course, is that Obama listens to the D.C. elites because he feels comfortable with them.  He doesn't feel comfortable with we rabble, we gun and religion clingers. 

John F. Kennedy is remembered partly by the song "Camelot," from the musical of the same time.  Jackie Kennedy thought it summed up her husband's time.  But there was another song from that musical play called "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" sung by the king.  Barack Obama might check out the lyrics.  Then start singing.

November 16, 2010      Permalink

MAKING A BIG DIFFERENCE – AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  President Obama wants to see his new nuclear treaty with Russia ratified, but one Republican senator is, thank goodness, standing in the way.  Senator John Kyl of Arizona, a stand-up guy on national defense, is demanding concessions from the Obamans before he gives his approval, which will heavily influence other Republicans.  This is what a good, alert senator does.  From WaPo:

As President Obama pushes for ratification of his signature nuclear treaty with Russia in coming days, all eyes are on one Republican.

Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) has been his party's leading voice on the treaty and has pressed the administration to commit to a major modernization of the country's weapons labs in exchange for approval of the pact.

The administration sent a delegation that included Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of U.S. nuclear forces, to Arizona to woo Kyl on Friday, and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will meet with Kyl this week to try to seal a deal, according to two officials.

Why does it take a GOP senator to demand modernization of our weapons labs?  Huh?  That should have been done already.  Americans would be shocked to know just how far behind we've fallen in modernizing our nuclear arsenal.

The high-octane lobbying - and the administration's offer to spend an extra $4 billion on the nuclear complex - reflect Obama's belief that the treaty is crucial to his nuclear agenda and the U.S.-Russia relationship. The effort has taken on even more urgency because Democrats will have fewer seats in the next Senate.

Well, at least we've got the four bil.  More is needed.  Obama has no emotional commitment to this improvement in our weapons program.  None.  It has to be pulled out of him.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) said Kyl was working with the administration on how to modernize the aging labs and to ensure the ratification resolution clarified that the treaty didn't inhibit U.S. missile defense.

"If those two issues are resolved - and I think they can be resolved - then I think we could move forward with the ratification to the START treaty," McCain said at a conference sponsored by the Foreign Policy Initiative, a think tank.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on ABC's "This Week" that if those two issues were addressed, "I would vote for the treaty."

And...

The administration has said the treaty doesn't limit U.S. missile defense, but some senators are worried by Russian statements suggesting otherwise.

Let's nail these things down before we start committing slow suicide.  Kyl is performing a superb service by blocking ratification of the treaty until he is satisified that it is in our interest. 

I don't see any similar concern from the Democratic side.  The Dems don't have any Henry Jacksons, of Washington state, anymore.  That state just reelected Patty Murray, who, I assure you, doesn't sit up nights worrying about the strength of our nuclear deterrent.

November 16, 2010      Permalink 

GREAT REPORTING – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  The new conservative site, Daily Caller, does some superb reporting on a story we carried last week – that the Justice Department seemed to be going after Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, in an attempt to destroy him before he became a major candidate for president.  This is what solid journalism is about:

The Daily Caller has learned that the author behind the recent report from the Department of Justice that targeted five former U.S. attorneys for excessive travel expenses has had, according to our sources, a troubled history in the DOJ and attempted in the past to use her position to smear conservatives.

When the report surfaced last week, the investigation’s timing and targeting especially of New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, who has steadily been raising his national profile, raised red flags.

And...

The report’s author, Maura Lee, began her DOJ career in the civil rights division, but now works in the DOJ Office of Inspector General. Hans von Spakovsky, former counsel to the assistant attorney general for civil rights, supervised Lee and told TheDC that he was “astonished” when he found out she was the author of the report.

According to von Spakovsky, Lee was “one of the most belligerent, unprofessional lawyers” he encountered during his time at the DOJ. “Because of her,” he said, “we had to completely change our security protocol.”

Von Spakovsky described one case where Lee was caught breaking into the e-mail of a colleague, Joshua Rogers, specifically because Rogers was conservative and Christian. “Lee was radically left. She made it plain that she didn’t like Rogers,” von Spakovsky said.

COMMENT:  Read the whole story.  It is startling, and another reason for Attorney General Eric Holder to be replaced.  Too often in our history, attorneys general have been appointed primarily to protect the president.  That was certainly the case when Jack Kennedy named his baby brother to the post, despite Robert Kennedy's lack of experience.  We have that situation again today.

We're hoping, and expecting, that the new, Republican-run House Judiciary Committee will begin oversight hearings aimed at the Justice Department as soon as the new Congress is sworn in.

November 16, 2010       Permalink

WELCOME TO SANITY – AT 8:26 A.M. ET:   We've never quoted Bob Herbert of The New York Times, the reliably left-wing African American op-ed columnist.  But today Herbert writes a satisfying column that squarely tells the truth about the tragedy of black America.  He sounds like a...a...I'm choking....a conservative:

The first and most important step would be a major effort to begin knitting the black family back together. There is no way to overstate the myriad risks faced by children whose parents have effectively abandoned them. It’s the family that protects the child against ignorance and physical harm, that offers emotional security and the foundation for a strong sense of self, that enables a child to believe — truly — that wonderful things are possible.

All of that is missing in the lives of too many black children...

...Black men need to be in the home, providing for their children. The community at large — including the many who have done well, who have secured a place in the middle or upper classes — needs to coalesce to provide support and assistance to those still struggling.

Dorothy Height, the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in April at the age of 98, always insisted that blacks “have survived because of family.” And she counseled: “No one will do for you what you need to do for yourself.”

And...

Black children can’t wait for Washington to get its act together. They don’t have time to wait for the economy to improve. They need mom and dad and the larger community to act now, to do the right thing without delay.

This is not a fight only for blacks. All allies are welcome. But the cultural imperative lies overwhelmingly with the black community itself.

Thank you, Mr. Herbert.  Now if you can only get white liberals, safe in their homes and universities, to agree, maybe we'll make some progress.

And, by the way, maybe you should now go on to confront frankly and honestly the subject of crime, and ask readers, "Why is it that New York has substantially solved its crime problem, but Chicago hasn't?"  A tale of two cities, one that threw the libs out of City Hall many years ago, and Chicago, which didn't.

November 16, 2010     Permalink

WELCOME TO THE RECOVERY – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  This story is coming in under the radar.  People aren't noticing.  From Fox:

WASHINGTON -- The disarray stemming from flawed foreclosure documents could threaten major banks with billions of dollars in losses, deepen the disruption in the housing market and hurt the government's effort to keep people in their homes, according to a new report from a congressional watchdog.

Revelations that several big mortgage issuers sped through thousands of home foreclosures without properly checking paperwork already has raised alarm in Washington. If the irregularities are widespread, the consequences could be severe, the Congressional Oversight Panel said in a report issued Tuesday. The full impact is still is unclear, the report cautions.

COMMENT:  It was the mortgage crisis, created in part by the reckless mortgage policies of liberal icons Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that helped bring on the 2008 financial panic.  Looks like the dry rot has not been dealt with by this administration.  Watch out for tomorrow.

November 16, 2010     Permalink