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OCTOBER 8,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:24 P.M. ET:

THE REAL ENEMY – The National Air and Space Museum in Washington had to be shut down after a confrontation between museum guards and protesters associated with the Occupy Wall Street movement.  I'm surprised the museum wasn't better prepared for the conflict since everyone knows that the real culprits in America are the Wright Brothers, who are alive and well and living in the museum's basement. 

CAIN ATTACKS AGAIN – Well, no one can call him a softie.  Herman Cain, rising in Republican polls, has Rick Perry in his political sights, apparently believing that Perry is his main rival.  He is attacking Perry relentlessly, and is expected to do so in the next GOP debate Tuesday night.  Analysts point out that former supporters who fall away from Perry are going to Cain, and that Cain is aware of that.  You go, as they say, where the ducks are.  But the Perry camp is aware, too, of the erosion.  So look for Perry to attack Cain on Tuesday.

LOBSTER WITH POLI SCI, A DELICIOUS COMBINATION – The Washington Post reports that the newest hot item on college campuses is...fine dining.  Provided by the college.  A far cry from the cafeteria food we used to gobble between classes, food now served on campus has become an attraction, and a sales point for applicants.  “I just had the honey-glazed ahi tuna and it was great," exclaimed one student at the University of Maryland.  Actually, this might be a good thing.  If we can get students to concentrate on the chow, maybe they'll forget what they're learning from the left-wing historians.

UN FRUSTRATES US DIPLOMATS – American diplomats are expressing increasing frustration with budget games at the UN.  The UN claims to be making financial cutbacks, but isn't.  American officials are also indignant over a pay raise given to UN staffers at a time of austerity, even as the US government has in place a pay freeze.  The US diplomats are aware of growing anger at the UN in Congress, and Congress must appropriate our share of the UN budget.  A number of members have threatened to withhold funds if the UN doesn't shape up, which it apparently has no intention of doing.

October 8, 2011     Permalink

BIG EASY MAKES SCHOOLS TOUGH – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  Is there anything good about hurricanes?  Apparently there is.  It seems that Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, had one positive side effect – for some reason it reduced opposition to school reform in a city notorious for mediocre schools and overall corruption.  From The Wall Street Journal:

At John McDonough High School in this city's Esplanade Ridge district, the new superintendent points to a broken window boarded up with plastic. Nobody thought to fix it properly. "Why? Because these are the poor kids," says John White, who arrived in New Orleans this spring. "The message is: 'We don't care.'"

And...

You have these kids doing sixth-, seventh-grade math in a normal and typical school system [and here] in a 12th-grade year. And not doing it well. Well, we're going to change that."

More than any other superintendent in America, Mr. White can make good on this promise. He heads the Recovery School District, which includes most schools in New Orleans and surrounding areas, and has broad powers over them. Hurricane Katrina wiped out resistance from politicians and unions and improbably made the Big Easy a national laboratory of educational reform.

Four out of five kids in New Orleans attend independent public charters. The schools under Mr. White's supervision are open to all students no matter where they live. "In other cities, charter schools exist in spite of the system," Mr. White says. "Here charter schools are the system."

The results are encouraging. Five years ago, 23% of children scored at or above "basic" on state tests; now 48% do. Before Katrina, 62% attended failing schools; less than a fifth do today. The gap between city kids and the rest of the state is narrowing.

But New Orleans schools still have a ways to go. A state report this week based on scores, graduation rates and attendance records said the majority of the city's schools merited a D grade or worse.

And...

Over the longer run, the challenge is to make the changes stick. No urban, minority school district has shown that in the face of political opposition a freer market for schools can endure.

White comes from New York City, where he was instrumental in improving a once-great school system that had fallen on hard times.

New York taught him "mainly that the school is the unit that matters," Mr. White says, "and that great schools often exist in spite of unsupportive, often intrusive, school district offices." Traditional government agencies find it hard to muster "the intensive strategic focus" needed to fix bad schools, he adds.

For generations, money was thrown at urban school systems; regulations were strengthened; school boards were empowered. Unions won tenure and other great benefits for their teachers. All of these efforts came from the top down. None improved outcomes for minority students. "We have tended as a country to solve problems like this more through generating energy by way of our entrepreneurs," says Mr. White. "The approach [in New Orleans] is just government facilitating an entrepreneurial solution to this inequity."

Actually, reforms began before White and before Katrina.  But Katrina was instrumental in clearing the field:

...in 2005, Katrina closed the schools for the fall term. All teachers were let go, and as kids have returned about one in five has gone back to their jobs.

Suddenly it was a different place. Schools started from scratch under new management with broad authority to hire and fire their staff. Teachers lost collective-bargaining rights. Strange bedfellows—older African-American principals, civic activists, business people—came together to rebuild the schools. Charter boards filled up with local notables. "Success in education reform created confidence that other reforms could be done," says Greg Rusovich, a prominent businessman and Republican donor. He mentions the overhaul of the New Orleans police, the levee board and city procurement.

COMMENT:  Great story.  But there may be clouds ahead.  Mr. White is...white, as is the mayor.  The racialists are out there peddling resentment rather than reform.  So far, parents are supporting White.  He believes his aces in the hole are black mothers who want their kids to go to good schools.  Whether that will be enough to overcome objections from the poverty industry is yet to be seen.  But we can cheer John White from the sidelines.

October 8, 2011       Permalink 

BUILD THE PIPELINE! – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  We haven't covered this before, but the Obamans will soon make a final decision on whether to permit a major oil pipeline to be built from Canada deep into the U.S.  Naturally, the usual suspects are out in force, with two elements of the Obaman base on opposite sides – labor unions that want jobs, and environmentalists who want the 17th century. 

Greens held a rally in D.C. Friday to protest a proposed U.S.-Canada oil pipeline. Earlier that day, unions rallied half a block away in favor of the Keystone XL project, which would create 20,000 jobs.

As liberal protesters watched forlornly from across the street, a loud, rowdy crowd of about 300 in downtown Washington, D.C., demonstrated in favor of a major oil industry pipeline project...

...Was this the Tea Party counter-protesting against the Occupy Wall Street crowd? Nope. The rally was held by the Laborers International Union of North America. The union was there to back TransCanada’s (TRP) Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion project that would bring oil from Alberta to Texas...

...The liberal protesters — in town to mark the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan war — were mostly silent, but one shirtless dreadlocked fellow crashed the union rally. “These (oil business) people will poison you and steal your money!” he shouted.

He was quickly surrounded by union members who shouted “Jobs! Jobs!” drowning him out.

“These people — with the best of intentions — are being misled,” the anti-pipeline protestor, who identified himself as Carlos Reyes, later told Capitol Hill.

Just two hours later, about the same number of green protesters organized just half a block away to oppose the pipeline project. This time it was LIUNA members’ turn to watch and hold their tongues.

COMMENT:  We go with the unions, and the American interest, on this one.  The greens simply can't accept that true "green energy" is a long way off, and many of the sources and devices under development will no doubt fail in some major respect.  We will be an oil-based economy for decades to come.  The pipeline gives us a reliable supply of petroleum from an ally and neighbor, and it will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, as will further development in the United States.

The greenies scream that there are environmental hazards, namely from possible spills.  There are, and yes sabotage is an issue.  But there are hazards in aviation, car travel, and crossing busy corners.  Hazards with pipelines can be controlled quickly by cutting off the flow.  The Alaska pipeline has worked.  It is in our national interest, and our commercial interest, to build the line.  We weigh the benefits against the risks, and the benefits win.

Let's see if the Obamans get this one right.  I'm guessing that they will.  Jobs trump everything these days.

October 8, 2011       Permalink

PRESIDENT ROMNEY? – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  Mitt Romney continues his strategy of projecting full confidence that he'll be the nominee, and the next president, and delivered a fine foreign policy speech at the Citadel yesterday: 

"I believe we are an exceptional country with a unique destiny and role in the world," Romney said, with an audience of cadets sitting behind him. "Not exceptional, as the president has derisively said, in the way that the British think Great Britain is exceptional or the Greeks think Greece is exceptional. In Barack Obama’s profoundly mistaken view, there is nothing unique about the United States."

Romney criticized the president on cutting the defense budget, as well. "I will reverse President Obama’s massive defense cuts," he said. "I will begin reversing Obama-era cuts to national missile defense and prioritize the full deployment of a multilayered national ballistic missile defense system."

In his closing argument, Romney contrasted his vision of America's role in the world with that of Obama. "I will not surrender America’s role in the world," he said. "This is very simple. If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today." The cadets applauded.

COMMENT:  Good stuff.  And Romney looked and sounded good...like a president, not a candidate.  I don't think his nomination is inevitable, but, as one who's been lukewarm about him, I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with his candidacy. 

Rick Perry continues to falter, not quite knowing how to bounce back from his early blunders and assert himself as the successful governor he's been.  Herman Cain, who's been the focus of much attention because of his rise in the polls, continues to be, well, Herman Cain.  Terrific spirit, but mixed with a lot of statements that sound like they come from the hip.  He's simply got to think before he speaks.  It's unlikely that Cain will be the nominee, but he's said he could be vice presidential nominee for anyone but Rick Perry, whom he plainly doesn't like.  Trouble is, you have to be selected as v.p. nominee, and the guy at the top will be reluctant to select anyone who can't control his mouth.  Loose cannons tend to be fired in the wrong direction.  Discipline, Herman, discipline.

October 8, 2011      Permalink

OCTOBER 7,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:44 P.M. ET:

OBAMA NOT GALLOPING – President Obama's standing in the Gallup Poll is grim at best.  The poll of 1,500 adults (so they say) shows 38% approval, 53% disapproval.  By contrast, Rasmussen has 42% of likely voters at least somewhat approving, with 57% somewhat disapproving.  These two polls are showing some of the worst numbers ever for Obama.  But remember, when Obama is matched head-to-head with named Republican opponents, he actually does quite well.  The unpopularity of the Republican Party nationally is dragging down its candidates.

RUMBLINGS IN EUROPE – Fitch Ratings has now downgraded the financial standing of both Spain and Italy, two countries in serious financial trouble, and Europe's fourth- and third-largest economies.  Greece is already sinking.  Americans have not yet focused on the impact that European defaults can have on the international financial system, and ultimately on the United States itself.  Indeed, financial markets around the world watch the European situation closely, and so should we.

MORE SMEARS ON PERRY – As we wrote earlier today, many of the attacks on Rick Perry have been grossly unfair, twisting his words or his record.  One thing he hasn't been accused of, until today, is being anti-Latino.  In fact, some Republicans think he's entirely too liberal on illegal immigration.  But along comes Texas Democratic leader Boyd Richie today to accuse Governor Perry of, yes, being anti-Latino.  We have no idea what will come next, but we hear that Perry has said some very bigoted things about space aliens. ( Pass it on.)  At the same time, Perry's response to the assaults against him has been entirely too weak, betraying his reputation as a hard-nosed fighter.  Let's see that nose, Rick. 

OH THANK YOU, DEAR LEADER – Once-famous filmmaker Michael Moore is riding to the rescue of the "Occupy Wall Street" crowd.  He announces before the world that he will donate some of the proceeds from his new book, "Here Comes Trouble" to the cause.  Now, given Moore's current status, the total proceeds from the book may come to $8.95, and "some" isn't all.  So maybe five bucks will help.  Oh, Moore also says he wants to help bring wi-fi to the demonstrators.  Nothing like devoting yourself to major social needs.

October 7, 2011     Permalink

THE SPIN IS IN – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:   New jobs figures are out, they appear good at first look, and some in the mainstream media are already spinning this as proof that we're recovering.  But the devil, as always, is in the details, and the devil lives.  From Bloomberg:

Employers added more payrolls than forecast in September, job gains were revised up in the prior two months and hours and earnings increased, helping ease concerns the U.S. labor market is deteriorating.

Payrolls climbed by 103,000 workers after a revised 57,000 increase the prior month that was more than originally estimated, Labor Department data showed today in Washington. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey called for a rise of 60,000. The gain reflected the return to work of 45,000 telecommunications employees. The jobless rate held at 9.1 percent.

Whoops.  Little problem there.  Those 45,000 returnees really shouldn't be counted because they don't really represent job growth.  And the jobless rate wasn't dented at all.

Faster job growth is a sign employers remain confident the U.S. will avoid a renewed slump, even as unemployment is forecast to remain above 8 percent through 2013. The risk that the world’s largest economy may fall back into a recession has prompted the Federal Reserve and President Barack Obama to announce further measures to sustain the expansion.

Maddening journalism.  The fact is that, even if you take these numbers at face value, they don't come close to reversing our economic decline.  This country must produce 150,000 new jobs each month just to keep pace with the growing population.  So I see no reason for cheering.  But we're approaching an election, and some members of the media will cheer the news that a local diner hired an extra part-time waitress. 

In the real world, there is this, from London's Telegraph:

The world is facing the worst financial crisis since at least the 1930s “if not ever”, the Governor of the Bank of England said last night.

Sir Mervyn King was speaking after the decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to put £75billion of newly created money into the economy in a desperate effort to stave off a new credit crisis and a UK recession.

Economists said the Bank’s decision to resume its quantitative easing [QE], or asset purchase programme, showed it was increasingly fearful for the economy, and predicted more such moves ahead.

Sir Mervyn said the Bank had been driven by growing signs of a global economic disaster.

“This is the most serious financial crisis we’ve seen, at least since the 1930s, if not ever. We’re having to deal with very unusual circumstances, but to act calmly to this and to do the right thing.”

COMMENT:  Pretty blunt talk, reflecting the possibility of a series of European national defaults.  The Chinese have an old curse:  "May you live in interesting times."  And we do.

October 7, 2011       Permalink

MORE BACK TO THE SIXTIES – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  Amazing, isn't it?  Our politics are really rewinding to the 1960s as liberals fight a rear-guard action.  Note our first two stories this morning.

Now President Obama adds his voice, endorsing the protest movement that is growing in America's cities, even though some of the protests are directed against his own inaction.  From Fox:

Three weeks into a growing protest movement targeting Wall Street and the nation’s financial services sector, President Obama expressed empathy Thursday for the demonstrators, even going so far as to elevate them as a force in the 2012 election cycle.

“I think part of people’s frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of [lending] practices that should not have been allowed weren’t necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact,” the president said at a midday news conference Thursday.

No doubt about that.  But a lot of those practices began with two Democratic institutions, Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.  No mention of that.

The protestors, he added, “are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works…and that's going to express itself politically in 2012 and beyond.”

The remarks represented Obama’s first public comment on the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, which is now in its third week, and has led to more than 700 arrests in New York and elsewhere.

Yup.  Watch what happens outside the Republican convention next year.  You may well see a repeat of the chaos that surrounded the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968.  History doesn't repeat itself, but the psychology and tactics of history repeat themselves.  The Democrats, a regressive party, are determined to go back in time.

But Rep. Peter King , R-N.Y., who sits on the House Financial Services Committee, blasted President Obama for siding with the protesters.

“What they're doing is disgraceful,” King said in an interview with Fox News. “They should be denounced; they're breaking the law; they're serving no real purpose at all….And for the president or anyone else to give them any credence or credibility is also irresponsible.”

Asked by the liberal website Slate.com if he sees the Occupy Wall Street protests as helpful in moving the president's jobs bill through Congress, White House Chief of Staff William Daley -- a former executive at J.P. Morgan Chase, one of Wall Street’s most prominent investment houses -- proved more circumspect than his boss.

"I don't know," Daley said.

Daley's father was Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago, who had to contend with the organized mayhem at the Democratic convention of 1968.  Thus Bill Daley might be a little more reluctant than his boss to praise out-of-control demonstrators.

Soon the Dems will try to resurrect Walter Cronkite.  Why not go the whole distance?

October 7, 2011     Permalink

AND NOW PERRY – AT 7:52 A.M. ET:  Like many others, I've been disappointed in Rick Perry's efforts in his run for the Republican presidential nomination.  At the same time, I think he's been treated with gross unfairness by the establishment media and some of his opponents.  Like Scott Brown, he's been the subject of a 1960s-style smear...that he's a closet racist.

The Washington Post ran a poorly sourced story claiming that a large rock (actually a boulder) outside a hunting ground that the Perry family leased had a racially offensive word written on it.  Perry has explained that his family, upon taking the lease, immediately had the word painted over.  Not good enough say those who've made their careers out of practicing their modern-day McCarthyism, planting ugly labels on any member of the opposition. 

Now Perry has replied to the smear on camera:

Call Al Sharpton and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.

Rick Perry went on camera yesterday to address the Washington Post story about an offensive rock on land leased by Perry's father for hunting.

“I think there were very much, some strong inconsistencies and just misinformation in that story,” Perry told Fox News Channel reporter Juliet Huddy in an interview this morning. “I know for a fact that in 1984, that rock was painted over. It was painted over very soon, my family did that.”

The interview was aired on Bill O'Reilly's show last night.

When asked about the Washington Post story that cited several sources who said they had seen the carving on the rock, Perry responded,“We painted over that rock and it stayed that way. I have no idea where or why people would say that they had seen that rock, because that’s just not the fact.”

Al Sharpton demanded earlier this week to stop "hiding behind a spokesman" and address the issue personally. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. sponsored a House resolution on the floor yesterday calling for Perry to publicly apologize.

COMMENT:  Oh,  you can be sure Jesse Jackson Jr., one of the more ethically challenged members of Congress, introduced his resolution.  What else does he have to do?  What else has he ever done?

Rick Perry may be many things, but he's no racist.  He appointed the first African-American chief justice of his state's highest court. 

But we are getting a taste of the 2012 campaign.  And it will be very, very ugly.

October 7, 2011        Permalink

REAL WOMEN – AT 7:19 A.M. ET:  It is simply remarkable to watch liberals who can't get their heads out of the 1960s.  They call themselves "progressive," but in fact they're reactionary, tired, unimaginative, and sometimes plain dishonest.

Thus we see the hypocritical reaction of self-described "women's" groups – read that leftist groups – to an understandable wisecrack by Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts.  Brown, on a radio show, was responding to a snotty comment by ultra-lib Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, who will probably be Brown's Democratic opponent in next year's Senate election.  When describing her own college experience, Warren said, "I kept my clothes on."  It was a reference to the fact that Brown, who had to work his way through college, and who had a tumultuous family life, once did an unrevealing "centerfold" for a magazine, a fact well known.  When told of the remark, Brown replied, "Thank God."

Well now!  You can just hear the uproar from groups that have remained incredibly silent on the real oppression of women in Muslim countries, and right here in America, where honor killings of women have occurred.  Mustn't criticize other "cultural expressions."  Get this, from the head of an organization that used to be important:

“This is the kind of sexist misogynistic attack that we have very sadly come to expect from politicians whenever there is a strong woman who is capable and really dedicated to the betterment of all the people,” Terry O’Neill, president of National Organization for Women, told POLITICO.

“And I really think that the biggest apology he owes is not to Elizabeth Warren — she is strong, trust me, she can take it — he owes an apology to the women of Massachusetts,” she said.

Brown’s comment, O’Neill added, is reason for Brown to “reconsider whether he should be a United States senator,” and “he should seriously consider dropping out of the race,” she said.

Yeah, let's emphasize the really important things in politics.

Fortunately, two female senators – real, gutsy women – have come immediately to Brown's defense:

Two prominent female Republican senators defended Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) on Thursday after the Massachusetts freshman came under intense fire for cracking a joke about his leading opponent Elizabeth Warren.

But Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) defended Brown and his comments in statements to POLITICO.

“I know Scott Brown’s story, and I know that he had many obstacles to overcome in his youth,” Ayotte said. “It’s inappropriate to make light of his personal circumstances, or to disparage or belittle him for the decisions he made to improve his life. Scott is one of the best guys to work with in the Senate, and I am proud to call him my colleague.”

Collins similarly turned the spotlight on Warren, saying Brown was “merely responding” to comments first made by the Harvard professor, in which she “made light of the difficult choices in his life...”

If anyone deserves an apology here it is Scott Brown.  The so-called "women's" groups are using the same, tired tactics of the past.  Say something they don't like and you're either a "racist," a "misogynist," or an overall threat to society.  You're seeing it today in attempts to label the Tea Party as "racist."  Brown's campaign has fired back:

Jim Barnett, Brown’s campaign manager, told POLITICO earlier on Thursday: “It’s elitist of Professor Warren to look down at the decisions Scott Brown made to put himself through college and rise above the circumstances of his life. Scott has fought and scraped for everything he’s got."

I think Warren's attack will backfire.  In attacking Brown these elitist groups are attacking women who've made difficult choices at stressful times in their lives, choices they'd prefer to forget. 

This country is in trouble, and it isn't in trouble because of Scott Brown's wisecrack.  It's in trouble because of the policies of the very administration these groups helped put in office.

Comment, Professsor Warren?

October 7, 2011       Permalink