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NOTE TO SUBSCRIBERS:  THE ANGEL'S CORNER, NORMALLY PUBLISHED LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT, WILL BE PUBLISHED TOMORROW OR TOMORROW NIGHT.  THE DELAY IS CAUSED BY A TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN IN ONE OF OUR KEY COMPONENTS – ME.  ROTTEN COLD, FLU SYMPTOMS.  MY TECH SUPPORT ADVISER, NAMED JANE, HAS PRESCRIBED EARLY SLEEP.  I HOPE TO BE UP AND RUNNING TOMORROW MORNING.

OCTOBER 19,  2011

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:14 P.M. ET:

ETHICAL BREACH – It is a fundamental of journalism ethics that journalists not participate in politics.  Of course, that standard is breached all the time with biased reporting and news stories designed to advance a point of view.  Now National Public Radio is in the news once again for a breach.  It seems that one of its journalists, Lisa Simeone, is acting as spokeswoman for "Occupy D.C.," the Washington branch of the "occupy" movement.  The Daily Caller is on the story, but we no sign thus far that NPR will call Simeone on her violation of the rules.  After all, she's one of the good people.

LIVING STANDARDS DROP – The standard of living for Americans has dropped for a longer period and more sharply during the last three years than at any time since the U.S. Government began recording it 50 years ago.  Americans have, on average, $1,315 less in disposable income than they did when this economic downturn started.  The decline is especially squeezing the middle class, whose numbers continue to diminish.  And prices for necessities continue to rise, just as incomes remain stagnant at best.

UNDERSTANDABLE – The level of antidepressant use among Americans increased 40% in the last two decades.  Some 11% of Americans 12 and older now take antidepressant drugs, which are the most commonly used prescription drugs for those aged 18 to 44.  Women are 2.5 times more likely to take antidepressants as are men, which is entirely understandable when you look at some of the young men available to them.  The researchers, interestingly enough, found no association between income and antidepressant use.  But I'll bet the drugs that billionaires take come in finer bottles.

DISGRACEFUL – The capital city of the United States has become a haven for illegal immigrants, and is now, essentially, a "sanctuary city."  The mayor of Washington has signed an order instructing the police not to question anyone about immigration status, including those arrested, unless the alleged crime is related to immigration.  In effect, this means that federal immigration law will not be enforced in the city that symbolizes the nation. 

October 19, 2011       Permalink

WE'RE FOLLOWING, WE'RE FOLLOWING – AT 8:49 A.M. ET:  One of the first rules of journalism is, "Follow the money."  Too many journalists ignore it.  We don't.  Let's follow some money today.  From Human Events: 

Things are tough all over… except for Washington, D.C. By vacuuming four trillion dollars out of the private economy, President Obama has brought a deficit-fueled boom to the seat of the national bureaucracy he loves. Bloomberg News does the honors as Silicon Valley is dethroned, and America’s new richest city is crowned:

Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation’s greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.

The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046.

This has not escaped the notice of those who concern themselves with income disparity, and they’re feeling a bit queasy about it:

The figures demonstrate how the nation’s political and financial classes are prospering as the economy struggles with unemployment above 9 percent and thousands of Americans protest in the streets against income disparity, said Kevin Zeese, director of Prosperity Agenda, a Baltimore-based advocacy group trying to narrow the divide between rich and poor.

“There’s a gap that’s isolating Washington from the reality of the rest of the country,” Zeese said. “They just get more and more out of touch.”

And...

There is no more concise, and devastating, symbol of Obama’s failure than watching Washington, D.C. become the richest city in the nation, while Gross Domestic Product flounders and 9% unemployment drags on for years. Worst of all, whoever gets the job of cleaning up this mess will be accused of wanting to make unemployment worse, when they start sending those surplus $126,000 bureaucrats home.

COMMENT:  Reminds me a bit of the old Soviet Union, where everyone was equal, but government bureaucrats were more equal than anyone. 

I've never disparaged government employees, but it's become common for a government worker to be paid more than his or her civilian counterpart.   And yet it's the civilian economy that will determine our economic future.

The idea that government city is the richest city in America tell us where we're going.  We'd better stop going there.  Right now.

October 19, 2011       Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 8:29 A.M. ET:  It comes from Nile Gardiner, one of Britain's sharpest observers of American politics.  He discusses Obama's first thousand days in The Telegraph:

If recent polls are any indication, it is doubtful that President Obama will enjoy another 1,000 days in the White House. And looking at his track record over the course of his first 33 months in office, it is not hard to see why. It is hard to think of a presidency in modern times that has done more to damage the United States both at home and abroad than the current one, with the possible exception of Jimmy Carter’s. Like his Democratic predecessor in the 1970’s, Barack Obama has left the world’s dominant superpower on its knees, with faith in US leadership now being questioned across the globe...

...Despite two high-profile successes in taking out al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and more recently Anwar al-Awlaki (both upon the foundations of President Bush’s war on terror), US foreign policy under Obama has been a confusing mess. The shameless appeasement of Iran has allowed the rogue state to advance perilously close to nuclear weapons capability, while the naïve “reset” approach towards Russia has only encouraged a more aggressive and assertive Moscow. At the same time, traditional alliances with Great Britain and Israel have been downgraded, and key allies in eastern and central Europe thrown under the bus to feed the Russian bear. While America’s defences have grown weaker, China’s military might has grown significantly stronger, as have the offensive capabilities of hostile regimes in both Asia and Latin America, including Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela.

COMMENT:  That is a powerful and accurate indictment.  I'm troubled by the fact that foreign policy has gotten such short shrift in the Republican debates thus far.  True, the economy will dominate the campaign, but foreign policy will be critical to this country's survival.

As Gardiner does, we give Obama credit for pursuing the war on terror, essentially following George Bush's script.  But his overall foreign policy is a Jimmy Carter whipped-cream delight.  Especially worrying is Obama's weakness on Iran, where he has had no success at all.  That chicken will come home to roost should Obama win a second term.  As Sinatra might have put it, leave us pray it don't happen.

October 19, 2011        Permalink

INCREDIBLE, AND DISTURBING – AT 7:56 A.M. ET:   We hear stories every day of young people getting out of college or graduate school, burdened by debts that will last a lifetime.  This gives us some example of how bad things are.  From The Politico:

Giving validation to Occupy Wall Street protests over the increasing burdens of student debt, a new report indicates that the amount of total amount of outstanding student loans will exceed $1 trillion for the first time ever this year.

In addition, the amount of student loans taken out last year was greater than $100 billion, another new record, according to USA Today, citing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The $1 trillion of outstanding loans means that Americans now owe more on student loans than on their credit cards. While students have been racking up educational loans, American consumers have been paying down credit cards and home loans.

The average full-time undergraduate student borrowed $4,963 in 2010, up 63 percent from a decade earlier, even after adjusting for inflation, the report says.

Meanwhile, with a greater loan burden, the percentage of borrowers that defaulted on their student debts also rose - from 6.7 percent in 2007 to 8.8 percent in 2009.

COMMENT:  It's very easy to blame the kids who assume these debts, but it's a bit unfair.  Most colleges in America don't have the endowments of the Ivy League, and can't give the lavish scholarships that rich schools can.  So, to get a college education, kids have to borrow.  They're optimistic.  They're idealistic.  They want to be prepared for the future.  So they borrow.

Maybe the staggering numbers will prompt us finally to examine education closely, starting with a cold look at the value of college.  Should most kids go to college?  Are most colleges delivering an education worth the loans?  Why does the bachelor's degree have to require four years?  Wouldn't three years and a summer, if correctly structured, cut down dramatically on debt?  Who is teaching our students?  What are they teaching? 

And why has the cost of a college education risen far more than the rate of inflation? 

We have a young generation living in debt.  And yet, we still treat colleges like sacred cows, and they expect to be treated that way.  People who ask too many questions are denounced as anti-intellectual, or assaulting academic freedom, or McCarthyites.  At the same time, students must be for whole departments that are set up to appease this group or another, or to satisfy some political requirement.

Let the market start working in education.  Let's ask some questions. 

October 19, 2011        Permalink

THE DEBATE – AT 7:38 A.M. ET:  We've now had a chance to reflect on last night's profound exchange of ideas and philosophy among the Republican candidates.  Several impressions remain strong:

The loser:  It has to be Herman Cain.  He came in riding a head of steam, with poll numbers rising rapidly.   He knew he would thus get concentrated fire, and he didn't prepare for it.  Every other Republican attacked his 9-9-9 plan, and left it a shambles.  Cain could not defend it in detail.  When Mitt Romney asked if the 9% national sales tax proposed in the plan would be on top of the sales taxes already charged in most states, Cain simply replied that Romney was mixing apples and oranges.  A foolish reply to a very good question.

One independent analysis after another comes to the conclusion that Cain's plan would result in a tax increase for most Americans, which is clearly not acceptable.  Cain is a terrific guy, with a wonderful personality.  But I expect to see him decline after last night's performance.

The maybe:  Rick Perry.  He came alive last night and, for the first time, put some fight into his debating.  But, in doing so, he revealed a dark, vicious side.  His out-of-the-blue attack on Mitt Romney for allegedly hiring an illegal alien was over the top, unproved, and drew boos from the audience.  But at least he's fighting, and he has a large war chest.  He's back in the race, if he can control his lesser instincts.

The fascinating footnote.  People keep making the point that Newt Gingrich is the smartest, best informed candidate up there, and it's true.  He says more things worth hearing than any other participant.   He won't get the nomination, but he's the intellectual leader of the GOP.

The maybe winner:  Mitt Romney.  It wasn't a great performance, but he still comes off as presidential, informed, and even-tempered.  He will probably win the nomination, if only by default.  How will he do in the general?  Impossible to predict.  Voters don't love him, but they may just feel he's more solid and better prepared than Obama.

October 19, 2011     Permalink

OCTOBER 18,  2011

The main idea I'm hearing in some of the post-debate commentary is that Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan is now in trouble.  Every Republican candidate except Cain attacked it tonight, and Cain's defense was not very strong.  He could not, for example, answer Romney's complaint that a 9% sales tax, which is part of the plan, would be imposed on top of state sales taxes, where they exist.  Also, independent evaluators are now saying that the Cain plan would raise taxes on all but the wealthy, something that Americans will not buy.

Is it possible that Cain has peaked?  Hard to say, but he clearly needs to be sharper on the issues, especially in defense of his own plan.  Cain comes off as capable and thoughtful, but not very knowledgeable.  If his 9-9-9 plan comes under even more negative scrutiny, he has to come up with cogent, convincing arguments to support it.

DEBATE OVER.  PUNDITS NOW ON MAKING PROFOUND AND HISTORIC STATEMENTS.

9:44 P.M. ET:  They're back, talking about which candidate would have the best chance to defeat President Obama.  Strangely, each candidate thinks he (or she) is the fairest of them all.  I am shocked.  Perry is up, again attacking Romney.  Romney responds well.  The focus is on these two right now.  Between the two, Romney comes off better because Perry has that knife edge, and this is a debate among Republicans.  Cain up.  Boasts his business experience, and does it with a smile.  Cain has learned a bit of the Reagan style – no matter what you say, never turn ugly.

9:36 P.M. ET:  They're on a break.  The foreign policy segment was indifferent.  A lot of talk, but no one broke through or blundered badly.  At this point we look forward to the end of the debate, which is about 18 minutes. away.

9:31 P.M. ET:  They're onto foreign aid.  They're drifting.  No one is making any significant points.

9:27 P.M. ET:  They're talking about defense.  Nothing new here.

9:20 P.M. ET:  They're back, and getting into other issues.  Should a candidate's religion count?  Perry is up, asked about a major supporter who attacked Romney's Mormonism.  His answer is flat and somewhat vague.  Romney now speaks, and gives a very thoughtful and knowledgeable statement on both religious freedom and the importance of not having a religious test for public office.

9:14 P.M. ET:  They're on a break.  Impression so far:  Romney stands out as the most presidential, as he's unflappable.  Perry may well have succeeded in establishing an identity tonight, but he did it at the expense of a "nice guy" image.  Cain is holding his own, but not much more.  When the going gets rough, Herman just doesn't have the breadth.  Advantage:  Romney, but not by a great deal.  There are too many candidates up there anyway.

9:09 P.M. ET:  They're now talking about the "occupy" movement.   Herman Cain repeats his condemnation of the protests, and gets much applause.  The problem with that is that there is an appearance of coldness toward people are truly hurting out there, something other candidates are now saying. 

9:05 P.M. ET:  The debate is starting to drift.  There's a point in every debate when the eyes start to glaze over.  That point is very close.  They need to change the subject and the moderator needs to ask for detailed answers.

9:03 P.M. ET:  Romney again makes a good statement, this time on energy and economic policy.  Perry replies, but is calmer than before, and avoids attacking Romney. 

9:01 P.M. ET:  The debate is half over, and has been the liveliest one that we've seen.  It's clear that no one intends to drop out.  It's also clear that Rick Perry intends to fight.  Herman Cain, who's had some good debates, has been buried a bit tonight.  His focus is somewhat narrow, and he's not speaking about broader issues. 

8:53 P.M. ET:  Perry up and actually makes a good statement.  But, once again, he's been compromised tonight by a certain nastiness that the audience senses. 

8:47 P.M. ET:  They're now formally on immigration policy.  Perry makes a strong, coherent statement, as does Cain. Perry is having his best night, but it's being hurt by his showing a darker, almost vicious side.  Romney makes a reasoned statement and sounds presidential. He knows how to maintain an image.  Whether it's genuine or not is another story.  Now, again, Perry attacks Romney again on immigration and the audience boos. 

8:38 P.M. ET:  They're back, and talking health care.  Cain has a detailed answer to what he would do to replace Obama care.  Now, stunningly, Perry accuses Romney, out of the blue, of hiring an illegal immigrant as a domestic worker.  The audience is shocked.  Romney parries the charge without completely denying it, but Perry is getting very tough, and a little surly.  This is very tough stuff.  Perry is trying to stand out and show some life, but I'm not sure this is the way to do it.

8:34 P.M. ET:  They're on a break.  The debate is far more ferocious than the previous ones.  They're going at each other with real vigor, and some anger.  I think Cain was hurt by the relentless attacks on him, and his failure to reply to specific criticisms of his plan.  Perry is alive, but we have to see much more.  Romney has taken some blows, but he fights back with detail and with good cheer.  I don't think he's advanced, but he hasn't been hurt. 

8:29 P.M. ET:  Rick Perry comes alive in a statement on energy policy.  Suddenly he sounds vigorous and certain.  The problem, of course, is that a Texas governor talking about energy is commonplace.  He's still got to show that he knows something else.  He said he'll have a tax plan out this week.  Too late.

8:15 P.M. ET:  They're debating taxes, and the focus is on Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan.  The other candidates are attacking it.  They're all over Herman.  Herman is fighting back with some good answers, but they are vague.  Rick Perry's attack on Cain was particularly vicious, and didn't do him any good.

8:10 P.M. ET:  The candidates are introducing themselves.  Standard opening lines.  I think Herman Cain got the most applause, but not by much.

8:05 P.M. ET:  So it begins.  Anderson Cooper introduces the candidates.  This is more like a sports event than a debate.  Maybe we'll see the Olympics.

WE ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN OUR LIVE BLOGGING OF THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, FROM LAS VEGAS.  IT IS CARRIED ON CNN.

October 18, 2011     Permalink

SNIPPET OF THE DAY – AT 9:54 A.M. ET:

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The couple who bought the Los Angeles Dodgers seven years ago announced Monday they've agreed that the husband, Frank McCourt, will get the baseball team in their pending divorce.  With the marital spat settled, McCourt still must persuade a judge to let him keep the team, which he placed into bankruptcy after Major League Baseball blocked him from signing a television deal to provide it with the cash needed to meet its payroll.

Oh my, oh my.  This used to be my beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, whose owner betrayed us by leaving sainted Brooklyn in 1957 for some place at the end of civilization.  And look at the result.  The Dodgers – once home to Reese, Robinson, Snider, Campanella, Hodges – now a mere chip in a divorce settlement.  I will spent the rest of the day contemplating man's downfall.

WE HOPE HER EYES ARE OPEN – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton has arrived in Libya on an unannounced visit.  Remember Libya?

Clinton arrives bearing aid and good will toward the rebels.  Why do I sense, though, that we're about to be burned again, just as we've been burned by the deteriorating situation in Egypt following the "Arab spring"?   From The New York Times:

TRIPOLI, Libya — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed here on Tuesday to demonstrate support for Libya’s new transitional government even as a senior administration official expressed concern that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi remained a “lethal nuisance.”

Mrs. Clinton, the administration’s most ardent champion of the NATO-led intervention year, arrived here from Malta at noon to meet with the country’s new leaders, including the chairman of the Transitional National Council, Mustafa Mohammed Abdul Jalil.

And...

Mrs. Clinton is expected to discuss a range of issues with Mr. Jalil and other Libyan leaders, including consolidating political control over the country and unifying the myriad rebellious militias into a new security structure. “Not all of the militias have yet come on board,” a senior official travelling with Mrs. Clinton said ahead of her arrival. “More are. More still need to come.”

Mrs. Clinton, the official said, would also continue to urge the new government to keep its promises not to unleash retaliatory violence or tolerate abuses of the sort Human Rights Watch has documented.

COMMENT:  We seem to know so little about the rebels and their leaders.  Gadaffi is bad news, but I hope the news doesn't get even worse.  Al Qaeda has a presence in Libya, and thousands of Libyan missiles are missing.  Islamist organizations, suppressed under Gadaffi, are coming to the fore, as they are in Egypt.  Democracy, as we define it, seems a long way off.  In the Mideast, democracy often means "one man, one vote, one time." 

We led from behind during the Libya campaign, with NATO in charge.  Now we're trying to exert some influence on people who don't see us as necessarily friendly.  Results are not guaranteed. 

October 18, 2011       Permalink

BROTHERS AND SISTERS UNITED – AT 8:09 A.M. ET:  What has so moved me about the "Occupy Wall Street" protests is the cameraderie, the trust, the friendship, the sheer humanity, as the New York Post joyously reports:

It’s a den of thieves!

Occupy Wall Street protesters said yesterday that packs of brazen crooks within their ranks have been robbing their fellow demonstrators blind, making off with pricey cameras, phones and laptops -- and even a hefty bundle of donated cash and food.

“Stealing is our biggest problem at the moment,” said Nan Terrie, 18, a kitchen and legal-team volunteer from Fort Lauderdale.

“I had my Mac stolen -- that was like $5,500. Every night, something else is gone. Last night, our entire [kitchen] budget for the day was stolen, so the first thing I had to do was . . . get the message out to our supporters that we needed food!”

Crafty cat burglars sneaked into the makeshift kitchen at Zuccotti Park overnight and swiped as much as $2,500 in donated greenbacks from right under the noses of volunteers who’d fallen asleep after a long day whipping up meals for the hundreds of hungry protesters, the volunteers said.

“The worst thing is there’s people sleeping in the kitchen when they come, and they don’t even know about it! There are some really smart and sneaky thieves here,” Terrie said.

“I had umbrellas stolen, a fold-up bed I brought because my back is bad -- they took that, too!”

Security volunteer Harry Wyman, 22, of Brooklyn was furious about the thievery -- and vowed to get tough with the predatory perps.

“I’m not getting paid, but I’m not gonna stand for it. Why people got to come here and do stupid stuff? All it does is make people not wanna come here anymore,” Wyman fumed.

COMMENT:  Yeah, I'd say that robbing people blind could discourage new people from coming.  Look, I'm sure most of the people down there aren't thieves.  But this kind of thing always happens.  Young, naive, and immature idealists are ripped off by those in their ranks who have other motives.  It happened in the sixties as well. 

The demonstrations are being hyped by a sympathetic press, but I really wonder whether they have the kind of steam they claim.  We'll know as the cold weather moves into New York.

October 18, 2011       Permalink

DEMS:  START WORRYING – AT 7:56 A.M. ET:  Wolf Blitzer, still the most solid rock at CNN, blogs that Democrats have plenty to worry about in new poll numbers.  Their situation is not improving:

Las Vegas (CNN) – There are some numbers in our new CNN-ORC International poll that should seriously worry President Obama and the Democrats.

Republicans are right now a lot more enthusiastic about voting in the next election than Democrats. Some 64% of Republicans say they are extremely or very enthusiastic compared to only 43% of Democrats.

Of course, there are some places where Democrats don't have to vote.  Their deceased relatives do it for them.

There were similar numbers in the 2010 mid-term elections and we know how well the Republicans did in Congress, including re-taking the majority in the House.

Democrats, by contrast, were much more enthusiastic in 2006 and 2008, and that certainly showed in the elections then.

But for the president, there may be an even more alarming number.

Among all voters, 59% think that President Obama’s policies will fail compared to only 36% who say they will succeed.

COMMENT:  Blitzer makes sense, but we should not underestimate Obama as a campaigner.  Nor should we discount the possibility that some international event could intervene, causing Americans to rally 'round the president. 

The economy is key.  If it slips further, it's hard to see how Obama can survive.  But even a modest uptick can rebound to the favor of a president Americans like personally.

October 18, 2011        Permalink

TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT – AT 7:29 A.M. ET:   Game on for the Republican presidential candidates tonight in Las Vegas.  The debate will be carried on CNN. 

Anderson Cooper will moderate, which gives cause for concern.  Cooper has done some good journalistic work, but his liberal biases are not hidden.  He is a left-leaning gay activist, and in recent nightly broadcasts has gone after Herman Cain.  He won his journalistic spurs for his reporting of Hurricane Katrina, though his reports turned out to be substantially exaggerated.

However, maybe Cooper will play it down the middle tonight.  We hope so.

The intrigue tonight surrounds Herman Cain.  Polls show Cain rising in popularity among Republicans, but substantial doubts remain about his electability, about his shoot-from-the-lip statements, and his lack of a real campaign organization:

Las Vegas, Nevada (CNN) - What's the secret to Herman Cain's recent surge in polls in the race for the GOP presidential nomination?

A new national survey out hours before a CNN/Western Republican presidential debate points towards likeability and the businessman and former Godfather's Pizza CEO's much touted "9-9-9" tax reform plan.

Programming note: GOP presidential candidates next face off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 18, in the CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas, Nevada. Submit your questions for the debate here.

According to the CNN/ORC International Poll released Tuesday morning, 34% of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say that Cain is the most likable candidate in the race, putting him at the top of the list a few points ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

"The same pattern holds when we ask about the economy," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Among Republicans, 33% say that Cain is most likely to get the economy moving, again putting him in the top spot."

But electability may be Cain's Achilles heel. Only 18% of Republicans say that Cain is most likely to win the GOP nomination, and only a quarter say he has the best chance of beating President Barack Obama in the general election.

Who is the most electable candidate, according to GOP voters?

"Mitt Romney - and it's not even close," says Holland.

COMMENT:  I'm afraid that's the bottom line.  Cain must make a convincing argument that he can win a general election against Barack Obama.  We'll be looking for that argument, and it begins with Cain occasionally keeping his mouth shut.  He's had a series of gaffes during the campaign, most recently referring to an "electrocution fence" he'd like to build on our southern border.

Romney must crown himself tonight.  The next president...

If Rick Perry can't reverse his decline, he's out, the Fred Thompson of 2011.  Much promised, little delivered. 

I'm looking forward to sparks.  I hope Anderson Cooper survives.

October 18, 2011     Permalink