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AUGUST 28,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT MIDNIGHT

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN – Gallup on Sunday recorded its lowest ever approval rating for President Obama – 38%.  The previous low was 39%.  We should note that other pollsters have the number somewhat higher, but the RealClearPolitics average stands at 43.6%.  This is a bad, but not a disastrous figure.  Even those who disapprove might vote for Obama next year if the GOP candidate is a disaster.  Also, the political season starts in earnest after Labor Day, and increased public attention may result in changes in approval numbers, up or down.

IS IT TRUE THIS TIME? – The Lockerbie bomber, outrageously released from a Scottish prison several years ago because he was said to be within a few months of dying, is now reported actually to be dying.  It's hard to know whether to accept this at face value, considering Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's miraculous recovery once his Scottish jailers threw away the key.  New documents that have come to light show that the British government was heavily involved in securing Scotland's release of the murderer in order to facilitate commercial transactions with Libya.

PERRY AND BUSH – A number of news stories report a growing antagonism between Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Bush family.  Perry is on record criticizing George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatism," and spokesmen say he won't back down from the criticism.  Bush loyalists are calling Perry an ingrate, for Bush, and Karl Rove, were instrumental in advancing Perry's career.  I would take this split very seriously.  One of the things that plagued Lyndon Johnson through his presidency, and helped bring him down, was the hatred of the Kennedy family, which had allies in the media and the universities. 

August 28, 2011     Permalink

SICKENING – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  We now await, with no eagerness whatever, the inevitable claims that Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene was caused by global warming.  Already The New York Times is exploiting the storm to inform us that some climate scientists believe storms will get worse because of global warming.

Well, there hasn't been any real global warming in a decade.  How do they explain that?  And how about that blizzard in New York last winter? 

Now, Mr. Hot Sky, Al Gore, is out with more vulgarity, placing him squarely in the camp of the new McCarthyites.  From the Daily Caller:

One day climate change skeptics will be seen in the same negative light as racists, at least so says former Vice President Al Gore.

How's that for the grand smear?

In an interview with former advertising executive and Climate Reality Project collaborator Alex Bogusky broadcasted on UStream on Friday, Gore explained that in order for climate change alarmists to succeed, they must “win the conversation” against those who deny there is a crisis.

What conversation is he referring to?  He refuses to have any conversation.  He simply denounces anyone who disagrees as a racist, and that's that. 

“I remember, again going back to my early years in the South, when the Civil Rights revolution was unfolding, there were two things that really made an impression on me,” Gore said. “My generation watched Bull Connor turning the hose on civil rights demonstrators and we went, ‘Whoa! How gross and evil is that?’ My generation asked old people, ‘Explain to me again why it is okay to discriminate against people because their skin color is different?’ And when they couldn’t really answer that question with integrity, the change really started.”

The former vice president recalled how society succeeded in marginalizing racists and said climate change skeptics must be defeated in the same manner.

How awful.  Among the "skeptics" are leading members of the scientific community.  As scientists, they ask questions.  They demand observation and proof.  There's a lot of money being made on "climage change," and government grants are available.  I suspect that cash, rather than reality, is the basis of the passion.

“Secondly, back to this phrase ‘win the conversation,’” he continued. “There came a time when friends or people you work with or people you were in clubs with — you’re much younger than me so you didn’t have to go through this personally — but there came a time when racist comments would come up in the course of the conversation and in years past they were just natural. Then there came a time when people would say, ‘Hey, man why do you talk that way, I mean that is wrong. I don’t go for that so don’t talk that way around me. I just don’t believe that.’ That happened in millions of conversations and slowly the conversation was won.”

“We have to win the conversation on climate,” Gore added.

What a vile man.  What he's really saying is that he's prepared to destroy the reputation of any individual who disagrees with him.  In other words, blacklist that person.

Sadly, it will probably work.  Very few people are willing to fight back.  And many in the sciences depend on government grants to survive. 

Wait 'til Gore's crowd starts asking, "Are you or have you ever been a climate skeptic?"  And watch the silence of the left.

Any decent editorialist, right or left, should be denouncing Gore in editorial columns.  Don't hold your breath.

August 28, 2011       Permalink

NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:  Once again we see signs from the "Arab spring" that aren't very springlike.  We went to bat, seriously, for the Libyan rebels.   But, if you'll notice, Arab nations aren't very big in the "thank you" department.  Consider this, from Fox:

TRIPOLI – Libya's new government will refuse to hand over Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al Megrahi if Britain seeks his extradition, The (London) Sunday Times reported, citing senior officials.

Members of the Transitional National Council (TNC) said they would reject any attempt to return Megrahi to prison in Scotland.

Hassan al Sagheer, a member of the TNC and a legal expert, said, "Libya has never extradited or handed over its citizens to a foreign country. We shall continue with this principle."

That is despite the UK and Libya having ratified an extradition treaty in 2009.

A senior judge who took part in the early stages of the uprising that has toppled dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi emphasized another reason why Megrahi would not be sent to Britain or, as some US politicians have demanded, America -- the bomber is a member of one of the largest tribes that sided with Qaddafi during the revolt.

"Any move to hand him back would cause internal conflict at a time when we are trying to bridge differences," the judge said.

Megrahi, who was controversially released from a Scottish prison in 2009 on humanitarian grounds as he battled cancer, was convicted of killing 270 people in the notorious 1988 Pan Am airplane bombing.

COMMENT:  Thanks, guys.  Next time you get into trouble, how about calling someone else.  Our line is busy.

August 28, 2011       Permalink

GOODBYE, IRENE – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  Hurricane Irene, now Tropical Storm Irene, is passing through the New York area, and I can report, from good sources, that the end of the world has not occurred.  Indeed, New York City is still there, and the outlying areas will live to be soaked another day.

As usual, the storm came nowhere near the hype.  Yes, it's been a bad storm, with wind and rain, but I've seen Nor'easters that are almost as bad.  There's been some flooding, some power outages, and people still aren't venturing out on the street here in White Plains, about 22 miles north of Manhattan.  But I don't see a single tree branch on the ground, and the storm passed my now-famous chandelier test.  We have a chandelier over our dining-room table, and it did not sway even an eighth of an inch.  Absolutely rock solid.  What kind of a storm is that?

The TV networks, and all the big local stations, devoted wall-to-wall coverage to this event, and, obviously, newsmen have to prove their worth by standing near a beach and saying, "Just look at that ocean."  So I looked, hour after hour.  And I saw waves.  But it wasn't exactly a tsunami.

Just peeked outside again.  People are starting to walk their dogs.  The rain has stopped.  I expect that some of the food stores will be open later today.  I've run out of Diet Coke, and I'm advised that this does not rise to the level of a 911 call.  So I'll have to go myself. 

So, it was mostly a good TV show.  Yes, there's quite a bit of damage, but it's low-level stuff, and the area will be past this very quickly.  Actually, blizzards are far more serious because streets can be blocked for days and everyone has to shovel out.

Back to politics.

August 28, 2011     Permalink 

AUGUST 27,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:27 P.M. ET:

IRENE – We await our fate here in New York, where Hurricane Irene is expected to hit early in the morning.  New York City has made extraordinary preparations, including the evacuation of part of lower Manhattan, where Wall Street is located.  It's possible the sea wall will be breached down there, meaning all that money could be soaked.  Even if soaked, the Wall Streeters will fight over it.  All public transportation is also stopped in New York, for the first time in the city's history.  This will have a devastating economic effect for a few days, but will probably also lower the crime rate.  We aren't expecting horrible winds, but the chance for substantial flooding is great. 

ANOTHER AL QAEDA BIG IS GONE – Al Qaeda's second-in-command was killed last week in Pakistan by a CIA drone.  The death of Atiyah Abd al-Rahman is said to be a severe blow to Al Qaeda, which has lost much of its top leadership to American strikes.  Rahman was a key link between the troops of Al Qaeda and its top leadership.  But Al Qaeda of the Arabian peninsula, and Al Qaeda in Africa, with bases in Somalia, are now emerging as major threats.

LIBYA AFTERMATH – The rebels have taken control of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, but public services are breaking down, something that can lead to chaos and rioting, as it did in Iraq.  There are severe shortages of fuel, water, and electricity. Five gallons of gas costs $100.  (Sound familiar?)  Garbage hasn't been picked up for weeks or months.,  At the same time, rebels are preparing for an assault on Gaddafi's home town of Sirte. For the first time the rebels are expressing fear that Gaddafi loyalists might use chemical weapons and long-range missiles against them.  There is a belief, but no proof is presented, that Gaddafi is holed up in Sirte.

August 27, 2011       Permalink

MICHELE SLIPPING – AT 11:34 A.M. ET:  One of the more interesting developments in the several weeks since Rick Perry declared his candidacy is the slippage of Michele Bachmann in the GOP polls.  It's clear that Perry has stolen a good part of her thunder, and her electorate.  I suspect it's permanent, unless Perry self-destructs.

Bachmann made a serious political mistake in Iowa on the first day that Perry appeared there.  They both were scheduled to speak at the same dinner.  Perry arrived and worked the room, speaking with people, pressing the flesh, as old Lyndon used to say.  But during Perry's brief speech Bachmann stayed outside the hall in her campaign bus.  Only when Perry finished did she make her entrance, a grand entrance, and spoke, not even acknowledging Perry and refusing to stay and move around the room.

This did not go down well with the Iowa crowd, and now we hear that Iowa GOP pros are telling Michele to knock off the "rock star" act.  She hasn't helped herself.

The coming months will tell.  But Michele has a hard climb.  While she remains viable in Iowa, she doesn't have much backing in New Hampshire, and South Carolina is Perry country.  I'd imagine Michele will stay in until the end, but Perry's entrance has shaken her campaign badly.

August 27, 2011       Permalink

ECHO OF EGYPT – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:   The Egyptian revolution has turned sour, with some pretty bad actors coming onstage.  There are increasing demands from the newly empowered extremists to scrap the peace treaty with Israel, which would be devastating to American policy in the region.

One thing that's happened in Egypt is the freeing of Islamic militants, many of whom will undoubtedly return to their former profession – killing.  Now there is an echo:

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Hundreds of Islamist militants were among the prisoners freed from a notorious Tripoli prison this week, according to a former Libyan jihadist.

The freed militants had been imprisoned in Tripoli's Abu Salim prison by Moammar Gadhafi's regime during the height of the insurgency in Iraq, according to Noman Benotman, once a senior figure in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group. Benotman said he believes as many as 600 militants may have been among the prison population at Abu Salim.

It's not known how many prisoners were held in the vast facility. Human Rights Watch said Gadhafi's prisons "have been filled to the limit in the last few months with thousands of people who were arrested for taking part in the anti-Gadhafi protests, or because of their suspected support for Libya's democratic opposition."

The human rights group, which recently had a team visit the prison, estimates that before the uprising, there were a few hundred Islamists held at Abu Salim.

Benotman said many of the militants released are pro-al Qaeda.

"Nobody knows what these released prisoners are going to do next," he said. "Will they take part in the fighting and if they do will they join pre-existing rebel brigades or form a separate fighting force?"

Benotman, now a senior analyst at the Quilliam Foundation in London, said the freed prisoners are Salafists, embracing a puritanical interpretation of Islam that has gained ground in Libya in recent years.

COMMENT:  Once again we see that the aftermath of revolutions can be ugly, and that the glowing promise of revolt is often snuffed out by extremist elements.  Hey, the French did it, didn't they?  It is appropriate to worry about what happens next throughout the Arab world.  We cheer on genuine democrats.  But how many are there in these countries?  The Iranians are active throughout the region, trying to turn the revolts to their advantage.  And the area is one huge stockpile of weapons.

August 27, 2011       Permalink

ABOUT TO SAIL – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:  To answer the question I'm getting from readers, yes, I did finish the ark, in anticipation of Hurricane Irene.

I was ordered by the federal government to build an ark, and was able to finance it under the wonderful cash-for-old-arks program, for which I thank our visionary president.  The ark conforms to EPA standards, was built from scrap wood, rather than sacrifice new trees, and is, of course, powered by sails bought from GoreSail, a company operating from the basement of a Tennessee mansion.

I was ordered to fill the ark with two of each kind of species, with the exception that certain species, because of past exclusion from other arks over the centuries, could be overrepresented as an affirmative gesture of remorse.  My ark is free of society's usual bigotries.  The navigator is a penguin of color.  Of course, should there be a disciplinary infraction, Sharia law will apply if the defendant wishes. 

We will sail before Irene hits.  Our first stop will be Gaza, where we will deliver medical supplies to the guests of the two new luxury hotels that were just built there.  There has been an emergency call for caviar. 

Oh, by the way, our ark features free wi-fi, so we'll be on the air during our voyage.

Should you form a new species over the weekend, and wish to be included, please let us know, but first get approval from the Ark Rights division of the Justice Department. 

Must go.  I see two liberals getting on board, hoping to preserve their species.

August 27, 2011     Permalink