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OCTOBER 16,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:

CANTOR MODERATES HIS STAND – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has seemingly moderated his stand on the "occupy" movement, which he'd compared to a mob last week.  Now Cantor is saying that, yes, America needs greater income mobility.  This is a smart move.  There are things some of the "occupiers" are saying that resonate with the American people.  Republicans can acknowledge them, even embrace them, while rejecting the radical nature of the movement itself.  Both FDR and Reagan acknowledged an ideological debt to certain movements, yet kept their physical distance from those movements.  It's good politics and good government.  Sympathize with an idea, like income mobility, but keep away from the extremists.

FEINSTEIN WARNS – Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says that the U.S. and Iran are on a "collision course," but that now is not the time for military action.  She confirmed what others had suspected, that the information that led Washington to charge Tehran with trying to murder the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. on American soil came from extremely solid sources.  Her terminology suggested communications intelligence.  In other words, intercepts.  Feinstein is considered one of the Democratic adults on national security.  The term "collision course" is chilling.  However, non-military means have not worked up to now.

CAIN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE – A good chunk of talk-show chatter on Sunday dealt with Herman Cain and his readiness to be president.  Cain will come under certain fire at the next Republican debate in 48 hours.  His "9-9-9" tax plan is only one of the targets.  The other major one will be his zero experience in foreign policy.  He said today he would depend on advisers, and mentioned Henry Kissinger, John Bolton and K.T. McFarland, a former Pentagon official.  But Cain's comments did not inspire much confidence, and he has to do better, lest he turn into the next Rick Perry, who has seemed at times uninformed.  Cain said he wasn't familiar with the neoconservative school of foreign policy, which seemed stunning.  I like Herman Cain and think he has great potential.  He is rising in the polls.  It's time for him to avoid the "authority" trap by becoming thoroughly informed on a range of issues.  So far, not much evidence of that.

October 16, 2011       Permalink

THE USUAL COURSE – The "occupy" movement had a big day yesterday, demonstrating in this country and around the world.  But the big day fell strangely flat.

The demonstration in Rome was particularly violent.  In New York, 70 were arrested, and many demonstrators were arrested around the country.

The signs displayed are getting uglier and uglier.  In Washington, Frances Fox Piven, a Marxist academic, called for revolution.  She and her late husband are "credited" with developing a plan to flood governments with welfare applicants in an attempt to bring down the "system."

Dan Rather threw his support behind the "anti-greed" campaign of the protesters yesterday.  Does anyone remember Dan Rather?

Again, in New York, demonstrators have amassed a considerable war chest, so money does not seem to be an object.  You can be sure that more will be coming from Hollywood stars eager to polish their radical credentials.  From the New York Post:

The Wall Street protesters have amassed a $230,000 war chest and a warehouse full of supplies for their long-haul campaign.

And the money continues to pour in -- through online donations, money orders and about $1,000 a day dropped in a plastic jug and paint buckets in Zuccotti Park.

Occupy Wall Street has also been flooded with goods -- everything from peanut butter to tampons -- at a rate of about 100-400 new packages a day that has overwhelmed the local UPS branch.

Most of the supplies are being stashed in a United Federation of Teachers storage facility near the park.

Those are the people who teach our children.

The movement’s CFO is a 21-year-old art student at Cooper Union with no financial experience -- though it’s unclear how Victoria Sobel wound up with the lofty post.

But she has plenty of help with money matters, as any expenditure greater than $100 requires a vote by the hundreds who gather for daily “general assembly.”

COMMENT:  There are plenty of things to criticize about Wall Street.  We've published our fair share of criticisms here.  But this crowd will come up with nothing because they've thought nothing through.  They have no real solutions that Americans will accept.  These mass movements make the same mistakes every time.  They think they know, vaguely, what they're against, but they never know what they're for.  And, along the way, they make some ugly alliances. 

I don't see, yet, that this "movement" is catching fire.  But, with the help of the press, they may be able to go on through the election.

October 16, 2011       Permalink

KING DEDICATION TODAY – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  The Martin Luther King Jr. memorial will be formally dedicated today.  I recall King quite well.  Despite his personal flaws, and some political opinions that were too far left, he was one of the better civil rights leaders, and it is appropriate to have a monument to him.

At the same time, the memorial itself is troubling.  The statue of king is disgraceful, making him look like some Communist-era apparatchik standing in front of a government bureau.  And the choice of a sculptor from Communist China, a dictatorship, is equally troubling.  The sculptor should have been American, reflecting American values and ideals.  Reportedly, the sculptor brought with him a number of laborers who were housed in a local hotel, under orders. 

Sadly, the civil rights movement, which was needed, was riddled with hard leftists, a fact whose implications have never been confronted.  Paul Robeson, a great artist, was also a dedicated Communist and front man for the Soviet Union.  Today, Harry Belafonte fronts for Castro.   Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus, past and present, like Cynthia McKinney and Barbara Lee, have clear affiliations with dictatorships.

I could never understand the failure to comprehend the contradiction between calling for freedom on the one hand, and backing enslavers on the other.  The press, naturally, has never confronted the issue.

We wish the memorializers well.  I wonder what King would have thought, though, about the current state of his movement.  It seems today to often be more of an employment agency for activists than an effective device to raise up a people.  Eric Hoffer, the famous longshoreman philosopher, once said that all movements become businesses, then they become rackets.  There are still some final organizations and individuals working on behalf of African Americans, and Herman Cain is one of them.  But the businessmen and racketeers are at the gates, and some have gotten through.

October 16, 2011       Permalink

WHO, US? – AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  Iran is shocked, shocked, that anyone would charge it with planning an assassination in Washington.  From Fox:

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed Sunday U.S. accusations that Iranian government agents plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in the United States.

"Iran is a civilized nation and doesn't need to resort to assassination" Ahmadinejad was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying Sunday. "Terror belongs to you," he said, addressing the United States.

Two men, including a member of Iran's special foreign actions unit known as the Quds Force, have been charged in New York federal court with conspiring to kill the Saudi diplomat, Adel Al-Jubeir.

Iranian officials have consistently denied the allegations since they first emerged last week.

Ahmadinejad's statements, and similar Saturday remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are the first comments made by the country's two highest leaders.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, had said that the U.S. seeks to bring greater pressure on Iran through making unsubstantiated allegations.

COMMENT:  The vigorous Iranian denials, apparently in the face of substantial evidence, may well indicate that Iran is becoming very nervous about possible American retaliation.  While the plot, as described by Eric Holder, does seem amateurish, it wouldn't be the first time a major sponsor of terror has placed its fortunes in the hands of amateurs.  The 19 hijackers of 9-11 weren't exactly pros.  And think of the underwear bomber. 

The Iranians are getting support in their position from the usual suspects in Washington – a claque of regime supporters and those who believe the Iranians are just misunderstood.  It recalls the pro-Nazi Americans and Brits from the 1930s, who fronted for Hitler's regime, even when the ugly facts began to come out.  Included among them was the head of the United States Olympic Committee, Avery Brundage.   So don't be shocked if you see a series of articles in the American press expressing skepticism of the American government's claims.

October 16, 2011     Permalink

OCTOBER 15,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:25 P.M. ET:

BRILLIANCE – Formerly famous filmmaker Michael Moore is urging the police to join the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, the way some Egyptian soldiers joined the protest movement in their country.  Is this man serious?  One of the gems of our democracy is that the military and the police are not involved in politics.  Indeed, we pride ourselves on civilian control of both the military and the police.  Apparently, Moore, a highly uninformed man, prefers the Middle Eastern example.  Maybe he dreams of being information minister in the next junta, led by Field Marshal Harry Belafonte.

DISGRACE – We're often reminded of how deeply the far left has penetrated key American institutions, like the schools and the media.  In Somerville, Massachusetts, a school principal is banning celebrations of Columbus Day, Halloween and...Thanksgiving.   "When we were young we might have been able to claim ignorance of the atrocities that Christopher Columbus committed against the indigenous peoples," wrote Kennedy School Principal Anne Foley.
"We can no longer do so. For many of us and our students celebrating this particular person is an insult and a slight to the people he annihilated. On the same lines, we need to be careful around the Thanksgiving Day time as well."  This is the standard leftist line.  We're evil, and everyone else is wonderful.  Sickening.

WE WONDER WHY – Movie grosses this weekend are projected to be 35% below last year's at this time.  Gee, I wonder why.  You don't think it could have anything to do with the rotten movies that are being turned out, do you?  Nah.  Why, isn't Hollywood filled with Ivy Leaguers?  Don't these smart people know?  No they don't.  Hollywood has completely detached itself from the country, has utter contempt for the audience, and believes anyone over 25 is suspect.  There was a time, especially in the golden age that spanned the thirties through the fifties, when Hollywood executives were close to the audience, had some self-respect, and turned out many marvelous films.  Adults were welcome in the theaters.  Today, young urban males are the target audience.  And these Hollywood types call themselves educated.  They may be, but too many lack talent, taste, and vision.  But who needs that stuff?

MOVE AGAINST IRAN? – The New York Times reports that President Obama is pressing the UN to release intelligence that proves Iran is designing and experimenting with nuclear weapons technology.  This, combined with the very public release of charges that Iran was involved in an assassination plot and possible bomb plots to be executed on American soil, has some speculating that Obama may be planning some kind of major move against Tehran in the coming months.  We will back the president on this – it's long overdue – but taking major action in an election year will unquestionably lead to speculation about political motives. 

October 15, 2011     Permalink

OBAMACARE HIT BY FISCAL REALITY – AT 11:20 A.M. ET:  Is this a sign of something coming?   A major component of the Obamacare (let's make our health system as bad as everyone else's) program is being abandoned, at least temporarily.  You know, it's really better when these things are thought through before they're passed.  From WaPo:

The Obama administration cut a major planned benefit from the 2010 health-care law on Friday, announcing that a program to offer Americans insurance for long-term care was simply unworkable.

Although the program had been dogged from the start by doubts about its feasibility, its elimination marks the first time the administration has backed away from a key piece of President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.

Republican critics of the law immediately said the decision proved that the legislation is unsound and unsustainable. Every major GOP presidential candidate has pledged to work to repeal it.

Because the insurance program had been projected to reduce the federal deficit by $86 billion over the next 10 years, terminating it complicates the nation’s budget picture. It is now estimated that the health-care law will cut the deficit by $124 billion from 2012 to 2021, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

COMMENT:  Uh, what about long-term care?  Here you see one of the major problems with central planning.  If the central plan fails, millions have nowhere to turn...having depended on the central plan. 

However, it will not be enough for Republicans to gloat because people will be hurt.  The idea is to come up with a fiscally sound alternative to present to the American people.  I'm not so sure anyone has that plan just yet. 

October 15, 2011      Permalink

FAMILY MATTERS – AT 11:01 A.M. ET:  It is brutal stuff, but the United States continously to pursue, very seriously, the remnants of the Al Quada leadership.  Two big scores today.  We don't celebrates the deaths of our fellow man, but we have the right, it seems to me, to preempt attacks on our own people.  The ACLU will disagree.  From Fox:

SANAA, Yemen – American drone strikes in southern Yemen have killed nine Al Qaeda-linked militants, including the media chief for the group's Yemeni branch and the son of a prominent U.S.-born cleric slain in a similar attack last month, government officials and tribal elders said Saturday...

...The airstrikes late Friday in the southeastern province of Shabwa pointed to Washington's growing use of drones to target Al Qaeda militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have said is the terror network's most active and most dangerous branch.

The Yemeni Defense Ministry identified the slain media chief as Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana. Tribal elders in the area also said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful Al Qaeda recruiting tool in the West. He, along with another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in a Sept. 30 U.S. drone attack.

And here's another:

CAIRO – A U.S. drone strike killed a son of Egyptian-born Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman in Afghanistan, a radical Islamist group said.

Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, had posted on its website on Saturday a notice mourning the death of Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the son of the "Blind Sheik" now serving a life sentence in the U.S. for his involvement in a plot to blow up New York city landmarks.

Abdel Rahman was the spiritual leader of the Gamaa, as well as of the men convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

The group said that Ahmed had gone to Afghanistan at the age of 14 with the sheik's other sons to fight against the Soviet Union, which occupied the country in the 1980s. The others eventually left, but he remained.

COMMENT:  Give credit where it's due.  Even strong conservatives are praising President Obama for keeping the heat on Al Qaeda.  And credit must be given to our intelligence community, which clearly has the right people in its crosshairs.

We will get some backlash on this from the left.  They are to be ignored.

October 15, 2011      Permalink

THE SKY IS NOT FALLING – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:  We are informed that the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are "going global."  Is the revolution at hand?  Well...  From Financial Times:

The protests against the global financial system that have swept across the US in the past month have spread to the international stage, inspiring offshoot occupations in London, Sydney, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Toronto and other cities.

A “global day of protest” is planned for Saturday in at least 868 cities in 78 countries. Organisers say they are broadly in favour of greater democracy in global financial and political systems.
“Undemocratic international institutions are our global Mubarak, our global Assad, our global Gaddafi,” said a statement from Egality, an activist group that is helping co-ordinate the global protests.

Shimri Zameret, a co-ordinator for Egality, said that events such as the Arab spring, the student-led protest movement in Chile and Spain’s indignados , or outraged, who have been demonstrating against joblessness and austerity measures, were all part of the same global movement demanding greater democracy and fairness.

The inspiration for Saturday’s protests is the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US, which began in New York last month with the occupation of Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan, but has since spread to cities including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco.

COMMENT:  One nasty thing about television – it has the capacity to make minor events into huge ones, simply by focusing a camera.  Please note that the size of these demonstrations is very small.  In an act of extreme recklessness, the Democratic Party, once a great institution, has tried to hitch itself to the protests, the better to gather their "energy" to the Democratic cause. 

There is no evidence that the demonstrators have any widespread support.  But the media, which mocked the much larger Tea Party movement, is promoting this one because it fits their vision of society.

We see no evidence that the "occupy" movement has galvanized the middle class, as claimed.  Yes, there are legitimate arguments that the movement makes – about crony capitalism and the vast overpayments to some executives.  Even conservatives like Sarah Palin are arguing that.  And yes, the very people who caused the 2008 financial crisis retained their power and are making out like bandits.  But these things require correctives, not revolutions.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that the "demonstrators" are the usual suspects on the left.  They can scream "democracy," but they always wind up supporting dictatorships.  They can scream "equality," but they always seem to develop "leaders" who benefit from the movement.

We are getting some corrupt reporting, and I'm sorry to say that CNN, which has improved in the last year, is once again part of the problem.  The only thing that will cure this will be both management and personnel changes, and that's not going to happen.

So be careful.  These "demonstrations" have yet to prove themselves anywhere, except in the minds of journalism school professors.

October 15, 2011     Permalink