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AUGUST 31,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:48 P.M. ET:

NO CIVIL WAR THIS TIME – Our great constitutional crisis is over.  (Please see our 6:57 P.M. post).  President Obama has backed off his request to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 7th, at the same hour of a major Republican presidential debate.  Speaker Boehner had gently advised the president to bug off and come the next night.  The president has now agreed.  Even Rick Perry agrees there will be no secession over this incident.  The  president's request was widely seen as tacky, an attempt to take TV attention away from the GOP.  Now the debate and the speech will occur on separate nights.

A FULLY STOCKED HEADACHE – The major stock averages have suffered their worst August in ten years.  Our general economic problems were compounded by a serious debt crisis in Europe and, of course, by Standard & Poor's downgrading of the credit of the United States, the first time in our history that has been done.  In addition, the housing market, which represents the largest life investment for most Americans, continued awful, and possibly heading for more awful.  Happy days are here again.

HOLLYWOOD TURKEYS – Hollywood flopped again this summer.  While worldwide revenues are up a bit, movie attendance in the United States dropped for the fourth straight year.  Even hardened hype artists concede that this is now a trend in this country.  The reasons?  These are mine:  1) Rotten movies, most of which appeal only to a small, youthful segment of the audience; 2) ridiculously high ticket prices, especially at a time of economic squeeze; 3) a corrupted industry run by its least talented people, who have little understanding of how to put the "show" back in show business;  4) the reality that the most creative people no longer work in Hollywood, or necessarily want to.

FRANCE WARNS IRAN – With President Obama leading from behind, way behind, some other leaders with a higher guts quotient are taking up part of the fight against international thugs.  French President Sarkozy is warning Iran that continued Iranian attempts to build a nuclear bomb, and develop long-range missiles could lead to a preemptive attack by other nations.  Sarkozy said that this could lead to a major international crisis that Paris is determined to avoid.  Sarkozy charged that Iran is not negotiating seriously over the issue.  He did not name the country, or countries, who might launch a preemptive strike, but most observers believe he had Israel, perhaps with US backing, in mind.

August 31, 2011       Permalink

OH, A LOVELY LITTLE FIGHT – AT 6:57 P.M. ET:  How's this for small-timing it?  The White House requested permission for the president to address a joint session of Congress on the subject of jobs on the evening of September 7th.  Piece of cake, right?

Wrong.

The time coincides exactly with a major Republican presidential candidates' debate in California.  This is really tacky stuff.  The White House can't claim it didn't know about the debate.  It's on everyone's political calendar.  Clearly, this was an attempt to knock the Republicans off the air. 

Normally when the president makes such a request, Congress rolls over and plays dead, and the president gets what he wants.  But hero-of-the-hour John Boehner, speaker of the House, simply refuses to go along.  He has sent a very courteous letter back to the president suggesting that the chief executive delay his speech until the next night.  The House returns from vacation on the 7th, after all, said the speaker, and there's just so much to do.  And, you know, all those security checks when the president comes.  Much too much Housework for one day.  Very courteous, but you could feel the blade.

And that's where it stands.  Who will give in?  The president should.  Let's see if that crowd can rise above tackiness.

Stand by.

August 31, 2011     Permalink

WISE PRECAUTIONS – AT 10:14 A.M. ET:  We are just days away from the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  There will be major commemorations, retrospectives, and speeches, both intelligent and not.

The security services are stepping up precautions, concerned that some of our harmless, misunderstood friends from the East might be planning a commemoration of their own.  Now, while we understand their cultural traditions, and we deeply respect them, we must caution our warm friends against excess.  From Fox News: 

WASHINGTON -- The federal government is escalating security around the country in preparation for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and conducting confidential briefings with state and local law enforcement organizations. But officials say there is no specific indication that a terror plot against the U.S. is under way.

Americans can expect more security at airports, mass transit stations, U.S. borders, government buildings and major athletic events over the next month, said an intelligence official who spoke anonymously to discuss sensitive security matters.

The FBI and Homeland Security Department have been briefing state and local law enforcement agencies on potential terror threats to the U.S. and ways to increase security in their communities.

The briefings are routine, and security has been enhanced for other major events in the past decade. But the significance of the 10-year anniversary of the worst terror attacks on U.S. soil is not lost on security officials, who fear that someone with terrorist sympathies might see 9/11 as an opportunity to make a statement.

"It's been a long buildup as we approach the anniversary of 9/11," said Sean Duggan, assistant chief at the Scottsdale, Ariz., Police Department. Duggan said his department gets daily updates from the FBI and Homeland Security Department. But over the past two months, the focus has been on the 10th anniversary of the terror hijackings.

"We know this is a significant date," Duggan said. "Other than taking physical precautions, we have not been briefed on any specific threat other than the obvious -- knowing what this date means in our history.

COMMENT:  I think we should add that lone wolf attacks may well be more of a possibility than something big or organized.  An individual can make a statement with very little preparation, as Major Hassan allegedly did at Fort Hood.

August 31, 2011       Permalink 

IRENE AGAIN – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:  We expressed our skepticism earlier about the overhyping of Hurricane Irene.  Certainly some of the end-of-the-world predictions turned out to be ridiculous.

But we must acknowledge the flooding that the storm left in its wake.  It is very severe in parts of New Jersey and Vermont.   The damage is not in areas that were predicted to be hard hit, but that doesn't lessen our concern for those communities.  Irene turned out to be a horrible storm, just not in ways that were foreseen. 

At the same time, discussion about Irene has, naturally, descended into petty Washington politics.  Some ill-advised comments by Republican leaders – and they have that knack – gave the impression that they were skinflints who would hold back aid to stricken towns until the aid could be offset by savings elsewhere...not the kind of comment that works in an emergency, when people are being forced out of their homes.  Fortunately, the leaders realized their error and moved quickly to explain.  The explanation, from the office of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is thoughtful and correct:

“People and families affected by these disasters will certainly get what they need from their federal government,” Dayspring said. “The goal should always be to find ways to pay for what is needed or to find offsets whenever possible, that is the responsible thing to do. Clearly when disasters and emergencies happen, people expect their government to treat them as national priorities and respond properly. People also expect their government to spend their dollars wisely, and to make efforts to prioritize and save when possible. They aren’t and shouldn’t be considered mutually exclusive concepts.”

That is true, but you've got to get the words right the first time.  Republicans, in my view, still don't understand the impact of a biased press, and how that press will once again do its job for its favorite president.  Any foolish statements by Republicans will be broadcast to every hall closet in the country.  Foolishness by the Dems will be overlooked.  That bias has got to be worth points in an election, and, I believe, had much to do with Obama's victory in 2008. 

Think before you speak, fellas.

August 31, 2011       Permalink

APPALLING – AT 9:23 A.M. ET:  In contrast to the good thoughts reported in our first post this morning, there has been another obscene attempt to play the race card, as we approach the 2012 election.  We'd love to see how the mainstream media responds to this.  From The Politico:

A top lawmaker in the Congressional Black Caucus says tea partiers on Capitol Hill would like to see African Americans hanging from trees and accuses the movement of wishing for a return to the Jim Crow era.

Rep. Andre Carson, a Democrat from Indiana who serves as the CBC’s chief vote counter, said at a CBC event in Miami that some in Congress would “love to see us as second-class citizens” and “some of them in Congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me…hanging on a tree.”

Carson also said the tea party is stopping change in Congress, likening it to “the effort that we’re seeing of Jim Crow.”

The explosive comments, caught on tape, were uploaded on the internet Tuesday, and Carson’s office stood by the remarks. Jason Tomcsi, Carson’s spokesman, said the comment was “in response to frustration voiced by many in Miami and in his home district in Indianapolis regarding Congress’ inability to bolster the economy.” Tomcsi, in an email, wrote that “the congressman used strong language because the Tea Party agenda jeopardizes our most vulnerable and leaves them without the ability to improve their economic standing..."

COMMENT:  I'm afraid we're going to see more of that as the election draws nearer.  It is a device used to bring out the vote, to scare people into rushing to the polls to elect the same old failures and professional politicians.  Carson inherited his congressional seat from his grandmother.  We know of no accomplishment that he can point to as a member of Congress.

August 31, 2011       Permalink

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE – AT 8:55 A.M. ET:  We give credit where it's due here, regardless of party, so we're happy to join Bill Kristol and other conservatives in praising the eloquent speech given by President Obama before the American Legion, in which the president paid tribute to the 9/11 generation of American military men and women:

"Today, as we near this solemn anniversary, it's fitting that we salute the extraordinary decade of service rendered by the 9/11 Generation-the more than five million Americans who have worn the uniform over the past ten years. They were there, on duty, that September morning, having enlisted in a time of peace, but they instantly transitioned to a war footing. They're the millions of recruits who have stepped forward since, seeing their nation at war and saying "send me." They're every single Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine and Coast Guardsman serving today, who has volunteered to serve in a time of war, knowing they could be sent into harm's way....

"A generation of innovators, they've changed the way America fights and wins its wars. Raised in the age of the Internet, they've harnessed new technologies on the battlefield. They've learned the cultures, traditions and languages of the places they've served. Trained to fight, they've taken on the role of diplomats, mayors and development experts, negotiating with tribal sheikhs, working with village shuras, and partnering with communities. Young captains, sergeants and lieutenants have assumed responsibilities once reserved for more senior commanders, reminding us that in an era when so many other institutions have shirked their obligations, the men and women of the United States military welcome responsibility.

"In a decade of war, they have borne an extraordinary burden, with more than two million of our service members deploying to the warzones. Hundreds of thousands have deployed again and again, year after year. Never before has our nation asked so much of our all-volunteer force-that one percent of Americans who wears the uniform..."

COMMENT:  In each generation, the elders express skepticism about the young ones.  Are they good enough?  Will they meet the challenge?  Frankly, since the 1960s, it's been rather easy to be skeptical. 

But the fact is that, especially in America's heartland, we still have young people with excellent values who are willing to put themselves on the line for their country.  Even a corrupt educational system has not deterred them.  Even the ridicule they often receive from "sophisticates" has not held them back.

We wish the rest of President Obama's policies were as supportive of the military as his speech was.  But the speech is a good start.  To carry out the spirit of that speech, he might examine some of the appointments he's made to his administration, like Samantha Power, or some of the foolish things he's done, like compromising the space program or refusing to develop domestic energy resources. 

Occasionally he strikes the right tone, and he did in his American Legion speech.

August 31, 2011     Permalink

AUGUST 30,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:06 P.M. ET:

AL GORE WILL EXPLAIN – It turns out that a good part of Britain is suffering its coldest summer in almost two decades.  This, of course, is due to global warming.  And Hurricane Irene?  Global warming.  What we need is a Challenger-style commission, presided over by a retired scientist of impeccable reputation, to finally examine what the "science" of global warming is really telling us.  I suspect political forces will make such a commission impossible.  When Al Gore tells us that global-warming skeptics are the equivalent of racists, it's pretty hard to get a commission together to examine the issue.  The labels are already sewn on.

HOUSE GOP TARGETS UN – House Republicans have introduced legislation that would use America's substantial payments to the UN as a club to force changes in the ethically challenged world body.  Among other changes, the proposals would permit the U.S. to fund only programs that it supports.  It's unlikely the bill, even if passed by the House, would win in the Democratically controlled Senate.  The administration opposes the legislation, arguing that it favors reform at the UN, rather than punishment.  The left always says this, but there is never any reform. 

IRAN CLAIMS IT HELPED LIBYAN REBELS – An Iranian official claims that the Tehran regime has been in touch with rebel groups in Libya, and has sent aid to them.  There have been a number of reports of Iranian backing for some rebels, raising the same questions we face in Egypt:  Who are the revolutionaries?  What do they actually want?  President Obama's allies in the media are already claiming Libya as an Obama success, but other observers aren't so sure.  The New York Times reports major schisms among the rebels, with no clear indication of the kind of Libya that will emerge from the fighting.

SARAH'S TRAVEL PLANS – Sarah Palin will be in Iowa this weekend, and it's being reliably reported that she will immediately thereafter fly to New Hampshire.  There is speculation that she may announce her presidential candidacy in one of those two states.  Some pundits are saying that, if she enters the race, she could hurt Rick Perry, since both draw from the same constituency.  Rudy Giuliani meanwhile announced that he has yet to decide whether to run.  Earth to Rudy:  It's getting tiresome.

August 30, 2011       Permalink 

TRYING TO SELL A LEMON – NO SALE – AT 11:12 A.M. ET:  A new survey shows that support for Obamacare has reached an all-time low.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Americans' opinion of Obamacare has reached an all-time post-passage low according to the Kaiser Health Tracking poll. Only 39% of those surveyed have a favorable view of the law, two points below the previous nadir of 41% first set in May 2010. Forty-four percent of Americans have an unfavorable view.

While there continues to be a sharp partisan divide over the law, the Kaiser poll shows Americans' views converging. Democratic and Independent support for Obamacare has fallen to all-time lows of 60% and 33% respectively. But Republican support for the law is at an all-time 24% high.

A plurality of Americans, 47%, believe the law "won't make much difference" in their own lives while 31% believe it will help and 14% say it will hurt. Asked how the law would help, a respondent told Kaiser, "Coverage will be available to me and my family." A respondent who believed the law would hurt explained that the law is "going to increase taxes a whole lot and make it difficult to find a job and take more paperwork and take decisions out of doctors [hands]."

COMMENT:  There has been remarkably little discussion of Obamacare in the mainstream media since the law was passed.  And I have yet to see a full, graphic, factual, complete presentation of exactly what the law will do.  We get it in bits and pieces, consistent with modern journalism's demand for speed and summary. 

At the same time, Republicans have not come up with a convincing alternative, which is one of the problems they face in presenting themselves to voters – much criticsm of Obama, few specific alternatives.  Michael Barone has complained about this.  So have others on the right.  Paul Ryan's plan for the future of Medicare went nowhere because it placed too much power in the hands of the much-disliked insurance companies.

Health care is one of the most important issues before the electorate.  A convincing alternative is needed to make Obamacare part of history.

August 30, 2011     Permalink 

EXCUSE OUR IGNORANCE – AT 9:42 A.M. ET:  Please remember that we on our side must apologize each day for our ignorance, our anti-science attitudes and our general lack of appreciation for the intellectual establishment that has done so much to enhance our universities and our media. 

Not.

Being "anti-science" has now become the trendy charge launched at conservatives, or, indeed, at anyone who dares to question the accepted scientific truths of the political left.  Rich Lowry is having none of it.  Frankly it's about time our side started snapping back at the trendies who believe they have the intellectual high ground, which they've actually never even visited.  From NRO:

The last time Republicans were roundly condemned as anti-science, it was for their resistance to destroying human embryos for stem cells. Their crude religiosity supposedly blocked imminent leaps ahead in medical progress.

Then-vice-presidential candidate John Edwards went so far as to predict in 2004 that because of “the work we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheelchair, and walk again.”

In other words, as a major figure in the self-styled party of science, Edwards made an outlandish assurance worthy of a faith healer. For the Left, science is as much a branding device and political bludgeon as a serious commitment. Edwards didn’t know the first thing about spinal-injury research and didn’t care — so long as he could sell demagogic flimflammery under the banner of glorious science.

Recall please that it took the National Enquirer to bring down John Edwards, a lowlife who'd made his fortune as an ambulance-chasing lawyer, using the worst of junk science in the courtroom.  But Edwards is a liberal, and so was never questioned on his shady past or bizarre present.

Lowry notes that Texas Governor Rick Perry "is portrayed as the worst threat to science since the Inquisition had a few words with Galileo, or as they say in Texas, 'treated him pretty ugly.'"

In no sense that the ordinary person would understand the term is Rick Perry “anti-science.” He hasn’t criticized the scientific method, or sent the Texas Rangers to chase out from the state anyone in a white lab coat. In fact, the opposite. His website touts his Emerging Technology Fund as an effort to bring “the best scientists and researchers to Texas.” The state has a booming health-care sector composed of people who presumably have a healthy appreciation for the dictates of science.

And...

An Al Gore makes it sound as if there is no scientific alternative to his policy preferences. They are believers wrapping themselves in the rhetoric of science while lacking all the care and dispassionate reasoning we associate with the practice of it.

COMMENT:  I've always believed that the climate-change skeptics are intensely pro science.  They're asking for real scientific proof, not theories and projections dressed up as "science."  They want to know whether the vast investments demanded by the climate-change lobby will actually produce any legitimate results.  For asking these questions they're branded as flat Earthers and even the equivalent of Holocaust deniers or racists.

This has happened before.  In the Dark Ages those who asked too many questions were burned at the stake.  Today the in-crowd ruins their reputations.  And people are indeed afraid.  Fortunately, the brave continue to speak out, on behalf of real science.

August 30, 2011       Permalink

ROMNEY PLOTS HIS STRATEGY – AT 8:59 A.M. ET:  Well, he'd better, because Rick Perry is having him for lunch, according to all the recent polls.  Romney apparently has a strategy to fight back.  From The Washington Post:

Romney has been criticized for refusing to engage Perry, but his campaign advisers see no need to do so now. They point out that the Democratic National Committee is going after Perry, hundreds of reporters hoping to make names for themselves are scouring his life and record, and other candidates that Perry has passed in the polls are determined to take him down. Why should Romney attack Perry directly when the Democrats, the liberal media and Michele Bachmann will do it for him? Romney’s strategists note that Perry will have to survive five debates in six weeks — ample opportunity for Bachmann to “rip his eyes out” (as she did to Tim Pawlenty) or for Perry to blow himself up.

If Perry fails to implode and continues to surge in the polls, Romney eventually will have to go on the attack — an assault his advisers say will commence “at a time of our choosing.” Romney strategists are quick to note that in his book, “Fed Up!,” Perry writes that “By any measure, Social Security is a failure” and calls the program “something we have been forced to accept for more than 70 years now” that was created “at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government.”

Look at what happened to Paul Ryan when he proposed a plan to save Medicare, they say. Romney’s campaign will argue that Perry is against the very idea of Social Security and Medicare, and that he will use Perry’s book to scare seniors in early-primary states with large retiree populations, such as Florida and South Carolina.

And...

The Romney campaign also plans to use immigration to drive a wedge between Perry and his conservative base, by highlighting Perry’s opposition to a border fence and legislation he signed in 2001 allowing the children of illegal immigrants to attend Texas colleges and universities at in-state tuition....Romney strategists believe the immigration issue will be devastating for Perry with Tea Party Republicans across the country — and especially in important primary states like Arizona.

And...

The Romney campaign will argue that Perry repels independents and can’t win in key swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan — while Romney can.

COMMENT:  As a political strategy, that isn't bad at all.  If I were running against Perry, that's pretty much what I'd do.  The problem, of course, is one of time.  Perry, who excites elements of the GOP base, may be so far ahead of Romney by the time Romney fights back that the race will essentially be over. 

The Romney people point out, correctly, that Perry is a very flawed candidate, easy to run against in a general election.  "Unelectable" will be the key word, and used often.  But parties regularly choose unelectable candidates when no one is strong enough to challenge them for the nomination.  The question is whether Romney, basically everyone's second choice for prom date, has that strength, and whether, indeed, he can convince people that a man like Perry, who's never lost an election, is unelectable.

August 30, 2011       Permalink

THE NEW DISGRACE – AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  This administration has the word "failure" written all over it.  And one of the greatest failures may be in its handling of the American space program.

Did you ever think you'd see the day when Americans would have to depend on Russian rockets to get astronauts into space?  Well, that day has arrived with the retirement of our space shuttles, which have been hurried off to museums around the country.  And the Russian rockets?  Well, one unmanned model just blew up, placing the international space station in jeopardy.  It's hard to believe this is happening.   Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times's Top of the Ticket blog, has the infuriating story of American decline:

Will the International Space Station actually be abandoned this fall after $100 billion and 10 years?

That's one of the questions being pondered by NASA and Russian space experts following last week's failure of an unmanned Russian cargo rocket. The U.S. fleet of space shuttles is retired and the Obama administration has no American alternative coming online for years.

So, dubious Russian rockets are the only means of replacing the crew.

A computer detected an anomaly in the Russian rocket's third stage Wednesday and shut down the engine prematurely after barely five minutes of flight, dooming the orbital attempt. The vehicle and nearly three tons of supplies were incinerated in reentry and the crash in Kazakhstan.

With the U.S. space shuttles decommissioned, Russian rockets remain the only means to reach the space station orbiting at about 220 miles altitude with fresh crew members.

Officials said the six-man crew on the station now is not endangered, having sufficient supplies from the last shuttle delivery of Atlantis in July to make it to the next supply mission with a European rocket in early 2012

Two Soyuz spacecraft are docked at the station, enabling the international crew to return to Earth as their permissible limits in the weightlessness of space are reached.

However, arrival of new crew members is delayed indefinitely pending a Russian commission's investigation and resolution of last week's engine failure.

The fall's entire space schedule is now under review. And if new launches are delayed past mid-November, the huge orbiting complex could be abandoned for an indeterminate time.

COMMENT:  Maybe the administration should have extended its "cash for clunkers" program to Russian rockets.  It is embarrassing to this country that we've reached this moment.  Could we not have kept some capacity to get into space until the next generation of American rockets is ready?

We point out that one of the missions given NASA by the current administration was "Muslim outreach."  Maybe that mission can be put off for a bit in favor of something more, oh, nuts-and-bolts. 

One reason for our current predicament is budget cutting.  And it demonsrates that you can't just take an ax to the federal budget.  There are priorities.  Budgets should be cut, but carefully, and with common sense. 

August 30, 2011       Permalink