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FEBRUARY 6,  2011

EGYPT UPDATE – AT 8:21 P.M. ET:  There is some sporting contest going on, but I understand there's an intermission of a sort, so we'll use this time to update readers on the situation in Egypt.  We'll of course have more tomorrow morning.

It appears the regime may have made some progress toward staying in power during the transition to what is being sold as a more democratic form of government.   From WaPo:

CAIRO - The main Egyptian opposition groups eased up on their insistence that President Hosni Mubarak step down immediately, agreeing instead on Sunday to join in talks toward overhauling the country's political system at a more gradual pace while Mubarak remains in office.

The shift suggested that Mubarak and his allies may have succeeded in defusing the fiercest of cries from opponents who had insisted that the president resign as a precondition for any talks. It followed the clearest signals yet from the Obama administration that its call for a quick transition in Egypt did not include a demand that Mubarak step aside before elections this fall.

It is impossible to know whether the opposition is sincere, or whether it's some kind of tactic.  Included in the opposition talks with the government are leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, an outlawed organization.  There is now a concerted effort among the Western mainstream media to sanitize the Brotherhood and assert that it has become more moderate.  That is nonsense.  Its tactics may have become more sophisticated, but its fundamentalist, extremist views have not changed.  It still favors the spread of Sharia law, even to the United States, and favors scrapping the Egyptian peace treaty with Israel, which could plunge the region into another war.  Some moderates.

At the same time, Egyptian street demonstrators are poised to enter day 14, although they're showing signs of weariness.  Regimes can sometimes wait out these revolts. 

More coming.

February 6, 2011       Permalink

WHERE OBAMA STANDS – AT 11:01 A.M. ET:  Scott Rasmussen reports that President Obama, during the last week, has begun to slip back again in public approval.  And early matchups with some Republican presidential candidates are not encouraging for the incumbent:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 24% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Thirty-eight percent (38%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14 (see trends).

And...

Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

Obama is slipping back to where he was most of last year.  And get this:

An early look at potential 2012 match-ups indicates that the election is likely shaping up as a referendum on President Obama. That’s typical when an incumbent runs for reelection.

The numbers show that Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee essentially run even with Obama at this point. Romney is nominally up two points, 44% to 42%, while Huckabee is tied with the president at 43% apiece.

Three other well-known potential candidates, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul trail the president. Palin is down by 11 points, 49% to 38%, Gingrich by eight, 47% to 39%, and Paul by nine, 44% to 35%.

While these early numbers are just vague indicators at this moment, they do point to a vulnerable president, and yet a president who will be hard to defeat.  I wouldn't take the Ron Paul number seriously.  Once people get a whiff of his real politics, he'll be down to eight percent. 

Election year is only 11 months away.

February 6, 2011      Permalink

OUTRAGE – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  There's another former president we have a right to be proud of, and he's being treated rather badly by the usual suspects.  From Fox News:

GENEVA — A visit former U.S. President George W. Bush planned to make to Switzerland next week has been canceled because of security concerns, after left-wing groups called for mass protests and rights activists proposed legal action against him for allegedly ordering the torture of terrorism suspects.

Bush's spokesman David Sherzer said the two-term president was informed Friday by the United Israel Appeal that his Feb. 12 dinner speech in Geneva had been called off.

"We regret that the speech has been canceled," Sherzer told The Associated Press in an e-mail Saturday. "President Bush was looking forward to speaking about freedom and offering reflections from his time in office."

Saturday's edition of Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve quoted the Jewish charity's lawyer, Robert Equey, as saying the visit was canceled because of the risk that protests by left-wing groups could result in violence.

"The calls to demonstrate were sliding into dangerous terrain," Equey told the newspaper. "The organizers claimed to be able to maintain order, but warned they could not be held responsible for any outbursts."

The creeps are out in force:

Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International and the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, had planned to ask Swiss prosecutors to open a criminal investigation against Bush over the admission that he personally authorized the waterboarding of terrorism suspects.

I object when news organizations, including Fox, refer to rackets like this as "human rights groups."  The Center for Constitutional Rights is a Marxist organization, and Amnesty International, while occasionally doing some good work, is essentially a leftist stalking horse.  The ACLU was, naturally, also involved in this.

I wonder how many of these "human rights" activists showed the slightest interest in the rights of the Egyptian people before, say, two weeks ago.  Hmm.

February 6, 2011       Permalink

ONE HUNDRED YEARS – AT 10:24 A.M. ET:  Ronald Reagan would have been 100 today.  You will read many articles about him, some knowledgeable, some not, some favorable, some not.  This is a day when die-hard liberals stay indoors and hope there's something on TV besides the Super Bowl.

I won't write a long philosophical essay here.  Let me just recall for you the only time I saw Ronald Reagan "in person," and up close.  My wife, younger daughter, and I attended a Broadway musical in 1993 called "Crazy for You," based on the songs of George and Ira Gershwin.  We were sitting in the audience, waiting for the show to begin, when in walked Ronald and Nancy Reagan, two friends, and a bunch of Secret Service Guys.  Mr. Reagan had been out of office almost four years.  There was no announcement of his arrival, no "Hail to the Chief" from the orchestra, just a gasp from the audience, followed by wild applause.  It was a mixed New York and tourist audience, so I assume the applause came mostly from the tourists.

The Reagans didn't sit in a special box, but in an ordinary row in the orchestra, with everyone else.  We were directly behind them, about four rows back.  And as the musical proceeded, you could see members of the audience glancing back, trying to catch the former president's reaction to a particular song or line.

It was, however, during the intermission, that we got a glimpse of the Reagan magic.  Mr. Reagan never left his seat, instead greeting each member of the audience who came up to say hello.  He never seemed to tire.  And he had about him a kind of American openness, a graciousness.  The guy seated next to me mentioned, with a grim face, that he'd never liked Reagan policies.  You can always tell the liberals.  They never smile.  This gent could have taken a lesson from the president sitting four rows ahead.

To watch Mr. Reagan interact with his fellow citizens was one of the great pleasures of a lifetime.  He was indeed "different."  He was different because he was us, not above us.  He was part of the American people, and he was proud of it.  And we were proud of him.

February 6, 2011     Permalink 

FEBRUARY 5,  2011

REPLY TO A STORY – AT 8:04 P.M. ET:  We reported yesterday the explosive charge that the U.S. was giving away British military secrets in order to obtain a treaty with Russia.  Now the U.S. and British governments are replying to that charge, and we are obligated to publish their replies.  From ABC News:

Both the U.S. and British governments disputed on Saturday a London Telegraph report asserting that the "U.S. secretly agreed to give the Russians sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent to persuade them to sign a key treaty."

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley called the report "nonsense," saying the information sharing about U.S. transfers of nuclear weapons to the U.K. dates back to the original START treaty, an assertion backed up by the White House and British government officials.

The report, based on a Wikileaked cable from February 2010 during negotiations over the U.S.-Russian New START nuclear disarmament treaty, discussed an agreed statement on the transfer of Tridents II SLBMs to the United Kingdom.

The parties agreed that "in order to increase transparency in relation to the use of "Trident-II" SLBMs, transferred by the United States of America to equip the Navy of Great Britain, the United States of America shall provide notification to the Russian Federation about the time of such transfer, as well as the unique identifier and the location of each of the transferred missiles. The Parties agree that, upon conclusion of the life cycle of 'Trident-II' SLBMs transferred by the United States of America to equip the Navy of Great Britain, the United States of America will send notification to the Russian Federation about the time and method of elimination, as well as the unique identifier for each of the transferred missiles."

Crowley emailed ABC News that "Under the 1991 START Treaty, the U.S. agreed to notify Russia of specific nuclear cooperation with the United Kingdom, such as the transfer of SLBM's to the U.K., or their maintenance or modernization. This is under an existing pattern of cooperation throughout that treaty and is expected to continue under New START. We simply carried forward and updated this notification procedure to the new treaty. There was no secret agreement and no compromise of the U.K.'s independent nuclear deterrent."

COMMENT:  Whether that puts the matter at rest will be determined by further reporting.  The issue may well rest on whether the U.S., to entice Russia into a treaty, transferred more information to the Russians than what was agreed to in our discussions with Britain.  The British, however, are not showing any distress, so it's possible the Telegraph story was exaggerated.  We hope so.

February 5, 2011      Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 7:25 P.M. ET:

From AP:  Car clubs from across Southern California will pay tribute to the owner of "Gypsy Rose," a 1964 Chevy Impala adorned with roses and upholstered in plush pink, with a funeral procession across East Los Angeles.

I hope the hubcaps are insured against theft.

February 5, 2011       Permalink

SHOW SOME CLASS, GRANT THE WAIVER – AT 11:25 A.M. ET:  I was angered by this story.  Tell me if you were, too:

Washington (CNN) -- The family of a man who fought alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam have been told their relative will not be allowed to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Major General Vang Pao led thousands of Hmong soldiers as they fought alongside the United States against the North Vietnamese Army during the war in Southeast Asia, according to a news release from Congressman Jim Costa of California.

Costa, on behalf of Pao's family, asked the Army to grant an exception to Arlington's rules to allow Pao to be buried in the nation's most hallowed burial ground.

Pao died recently of complications from pneumonia, according to Costa.

"The Vang Pao family's request for an exception to the burial policy was thoroughly reviewed by a board comprised of senior military and civilian officials. ... After a comprehensive analysis, the board unanimously recommended denial of the request for exception to policy. Upon receipt of the board's input, the Secretary carefully reviewed and deliberated on this matter and accepted the board's recommendation," according to a statement from the Army released Friday evening.

According to the cemetery's policy, Pao would have had to have served in the U.S. armed forces to be eligible for the honor.

The family can still ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Obama to make an exception. A Pentagon spokesman said he did not know if any request regarding Pao's burial had reached Gates as of Friday afternoon.

COMMENT:  In 1975, in what President Ford correctly called an act of dishonor, Congress cut off assistance to the South Vietnamese, leaving them to their fate at the hands of the North.  The result was a complete dictatorship in South Vietnam, and an American humiliation.

We have not treated our former allies well.  Unless there's something negative we don't know, granting a waiver in this case would be appropriate, symbolizing our gratitude toward people who fight beside us.  Of course, there are no doubt elements in the Obama administration who are ashamed of our role in Vietnam, so don't hold your breath.

February 5, 2011      Permalink

CHEERS, CHEERS, AND MORE CHEERS – AT 10:51 A.M. ET:  At least a few Western leaders do get it, unlike our clueless president.  First it was Angela Merkel of Germany speaking out.  Now British Prime Minister David Cameron is taking on the corrupt forces of blind multiculturalism.  This report, ironically, is from the Independent, one of the U.K's most left-leaning papers:

David Cameron launched a devastating attack today on 30 years of multiculturalism in Britain, warning it is fostering extremist ideology and directly contributing to home-grown Islamic terrorism.

Signalling a radical departure from the strategies of previous governments, Mr Cameron said that Britain must adopt a policy of "muscular liberalism" to enforce the values of equality, law and freedom of speech across all parts of society.

He warned Muslim groups that if they fail to endorse women's rights or promote integration, they will lose all government funding. All immigrants to Britain must speak English and schools will be expected to teach the country's common culture.

The new policy was outlined today in a speech to an international security conference in Munich and will form the basis of the Government's new anti-terrorism strategy to be published later this year.

Isn't it incredible that the Brits and Germans are ahead of us on this?  We're still crying "racism" toward people who objected to a mosque at Ground Zero.  And our own Defense Department whitewashed the radical Islamic beliefs of the Fort Hood killer, who murdered American soldiers on our own soil.

I have no doubt that Cameron's speech was prompted, at least in part, from recent warnings by British intelligence services of the threats posed by radical Muslims inside Britain.

Of course, it's only a speech.  Already, Muslim groups are crying "victim," and you may be sure that the multiculturalist left will swing into action to prevent Britain from being British.  Cameron has got to show a Churchillian backbone.  Like Churchill, his enemies are both within and without.

February 5, 2011      Permalink 

EGYPT THIS MORNING – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  Egypt is calm this morning, with demonstrators not resorting to any violence.  At the same time, there is no clear direction to political events.

Mubarak remains in power, seemingly indifferent to international calls for him to step down before his stated intention to leave in September.  Secretary Clinton is quoted as saying the U.S. thinks Mubarak's newly minted vice president, Omar Suleiman, a friend of the West, should handle the transition. 

Observing closely, we wonder whether Clinton and her boss are on the same page.  While the secretary is calling for a moderate to lead the transition, Obama's White House is issuing statements that appear to invite the Muslim Brotherhood to be part of any new Egyptian regime.  And CBS Radio's Mark Knoller reports that Obama has asked for advice and help from Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is somewhat like President Roosevelt asking for help from Emperor Hirohito of Japan.  Erdogan has taken Turkey from being a firm, secular ally of the United States to an Islamic nation hostile to our interests and friendly to Iran.  Any "help" he gives us would probably be a helpful knife in the back.

Former International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei still appears to have the best chance to lead a transitional government before elections are held, but his grip on leadership is tenuous at best.  He has announced that he will address the demonstrators today.  We hope he knows where to go, or has a good tour guide, as he hasn't lived in Egypt for years.  Another great revolutionary. 

Events are fluid.  Nothing is decided. 

February 5, 2011     Permalink