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TUESDAY,  NOVEMBER 10,  2009

DISGRACEFUL, EMBARRASSING - AT 7:22 P.M. ET:  We noted that President Obama didn't see fit to attend yesterday's ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  He did send a tape, apparently, unlike the DVDs he gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, playable in European machines.  They played it.

What was shocking though, was the absence of any reference to President Reagan.  And..there were no references to John Paul II or Margaret Thatcher, who were instrumental in bringing freedom to Eastern Europe.  From what I see on the internet, there was only a brief mention of President Kennedy, who made defense of Berlin a hallmark of American policy.  And there was no mention of Harry Truman, who ordered the Berlin Airlift, which kept West Berlin free in 1948. 

Who got the highest honors yesterday?

Incredibly, it was Mikhail Gorbachev. 

It was the finale to a day of memorial services, speeches and events that attracted leaders from around the world, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Merkel and 78-year-old Gorbachev stood shoulder to shoulder as they crossed a former fortified border crossing point between East and West Berlin to cheers of "Gorby! Gorby!"

In the twisted logic of Europe, he was responsible for the wall coming down because he didn't order his forces to resist.  Gee, what a concept.  I guess the Japanese were responsible for ending World War II because they didn't shoot at MacArthur when his four-engine transport landed on their soil.

It was up to the United States Government to be sure that three former presidents, instrumental in saving Berlin, were properly honored.  The job wasn't done.

Scott Johnson, at Power Line, comments:

Both Secretary Clinton and President Obama emphasized Obama's world-historic story. Clinton likens Obama's election to the fall of the Wall. Obama draws the moral of the story. "Few would have foreseen ... that a united Germany would be led by a woman from Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent. But human destiny is what human beings make of it."

Obama's brief remarks are an exercise in bowdlerization, circumlocution, evasion. Omitted from the remarks, among other things, is any mention of the Soviet Union or Communism, Harry Truman or Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Pope John Paul. Obama neither decries the villains nor salutes the heroes of the story. Rather, Obama celebrates himself. He is an agent of destiny. He is the fulfillment of history.

COMMENT:  Class shows, as does the lack of it.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:18 P.M. ET:  This one from Cal Thomas, again reflecting the murders at Fort Hood, and what self-deception is costing us:

It’s one thing to be suckered by others. It’s quite another to sucker yourself.

How much longer will we tolerate fighting this war as if it were a minor crime wave? Our enemies are fighting to win and they are fighting everywhere, including within our borders. People trained to appear nonthreatening, until the threat becomes obvious and it is too late to do anything about it, are infiltrating our government and society at every level.

It is irrelevant that some have put the number of radicalized Muslims worldwide at 10 percent. Even if that figure is accurate, one hundred million jihadists can cause a lot of damage, as they plot the destruction of Western democracies. Other wars have been won with far fewer soldiers and far fewer dupes.

COMMENT:  One of my mentors, the late Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois - the oldest man (at 50) ever to go through Marine basic training at Parris Island - loved the familiar quote, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me."'

Shame on us for allowing political correctness to paralyze so many of our institutions.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:04 P.M. ET:  From Wesley Pruden of the Washington Times, commenting on the political correctness that infects the United States Government:

The intimidation of so much of the government becomes total, so great is the fear of being accused of hurting the feelings of evildoers. Winston Churchill got it right in the run-up to World War II, when good people couldn't bear to look evil in the face. "The malice of the wicked," he said, "is reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous."

Indeed.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

ABORTION A KEY ISSUE IN SENATE HEALTH-CARE DEBATE - AT 5:53 P.M. ET:   The upcoming debate over health-care "reform" in the Senate promises to be bitter, with no result guaranteed.  You need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, and the Dems may not have the votes, now or at any time.

Abortion is shaping up to be a key issue for some senators:

A key Democratic senator said Tuesday that he won't vote for an overhaul of the health care system if the bill does not clearly restrict federal funding for ending pregnancies.

The comments from Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska were a sign that the abortion dispute that nearly derailed the House health care bill will play a critical role in the Senate.

Nelson told Fox News that he's "very pleased that the Stupak amendment passed in the House," a reference to a proposal by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., that would toughen restrictions on federal funding for abortions.

COMMENT:  And there are some Democrats in the House who are threatening to vote against the final version of the bill, if it ever emerges from a Senate-House conference, unless funding for abortion is included.

We were given the impression, last weekend, that socialized medicine was just around the corner, and some members of the intellectual establishment were walking on air and waving their little red books.  It may have been hot air.  This bill has a long way to go.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

DEFINITIVE ANSWER - AT 5:32 P.M. ET:  We now have a definitive answer as to what caused the Fort Hood massacre.  The answer comes from that well-known philosopher and expert in violence prevention, Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago.  We appreciate the mayor coming forward and finally settling this.  His answer - please takes notes - is that it was all caused by guns.  From Big Government:

“Unfortunately, America loves Guns. We love guns to a point where that uh we see devastation on a daily basis. You don’t blame a group.” 

The Mayor is using a straw-man argument that conveniently provides him with an opportunity to politicize the terrorist attack as part and parcel with America’s love of guns.

Mayor Daley, and other politicians, like to blame gun violence on the guns themselves because that is so much easier than admitting any inconvenient (politically incorrect) truths which might be revealed if they were to place blame where it belongs.

There are many, many people who'd like to sweep Fort Hood under a big rug, the way they have swept the whole idea of global jihad under the rug.  It doesn't fit the party line, it doesn't fit the trendiness of multiculturalism.  It doesn't fit the world of the sixties crowd that now runs many of our institutions.  It's just too much of a pain.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

MOST STILL OPPOSE HEALTH PLAN - AT 10:05 A.M. ET:  Despite House passage of the health-reform bill, with its promise of eternal life and free Alka-Seltzer, most Americans still oppose the plan, according to Scott Rasmussen:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. Most (52%) remain opposed.

Only 25% Strongly Support the plan while 42% are Strongly Opposed.

Support for the plan has remained essentially unchanged for months. Last week, it was supported by 42% and two weeks ago support was at 45%. It has generally stayed between 41% and 46% since July, and support has bounced above that level only in the wake of nationally televised appeals by the president.

As has been the case for months, Democrats favor the plan while Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party are opposed. The latest numbers show support from 81% of those in the president’s party. The plan is opposed by 90% of Republicans and 58% of unaffiliated voters.

COMMENT:  The key figure, as it was in last week's gubernatorial races, is the number of independents who stand opposed - 58%.  Obama and the Dems are losing the independents.  Without them, Democrats face disaster in next year's midterms.  Oh, how I weep.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

GLOBAL WARMING WATCH - WE ARE MELTING, WE ARE MELTING - AT 9:39 A.M. ET:  Well, maybe not.  Apparently, October was the third coldest October on record.  From NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

The average October temperature of 50.8°F was 4.0°F below the 20th Century average and ranked as the 3rd coolest based on preliminary data.

For the nation as a whole, it was the third coolest October on record. The month was marked by an active weather pattern that reinforced unseasonably cold air behind a series of cold fronts. Temperatures were below normal in eight of the nation's nine climate regions, and of the nine, five were much below normal. Only the Southeast climate region had near normal temperatures for October.

COMMENT:  Al Gore is rushing to Washington to challenge the statistics.  He has learned that one of the scientists compiling the data is known to frequent a service station that sells gasoline from a major oil company.  Corruption.  That's what it is.  Corruption.  We're melting.  Feel the heat...or, imagine it.  Or maybe just think warm.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

MORE CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN - AT 9:20 A.M.:   Still one more ethical issue confronting the transparent, idealistic, departure-from-past-practices Obama administration.  From the Washington Times:

President Obama's nominee for a top weapons-buying job at the Pentagon recently served as a paid adviser for a big defense contractor and is declining to disclose whom else he has worked for on a government ethics form designed to help the public guard against potential conflicts of interest.

Frank Kendall III, Mr. Obama's pick for principal deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, received $75,000 in consulting fees last year from defense contractor SAIC Inc., according to his recently filed disclosure form. He also reported fees totaling $8,500 from Centra Technology, another defense contractor.

But he's declined to name six other recent private clients, which were alluded to in the disclosure form but not identified. Federal ethics rules allow nominees to keep clients' identities private in limited circumstances. But ethics analysts say the omission raises questions about whether any of the undisclosed clients are also military contractors.

Yeah, I'd wonder about that, wouldn't you?

"It kind of raises a red flag as far as the Obama administration's efforts to keep contractors out of the Department of Defense," Scott Amey, general counsel to the nonpartisan watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, said of Mr. Kendall's defense consulting work.

Yuh think?

This nomination should be withdrawn unless the nominee is more cooperative.  We're talking billions of taxpayer dollars here.  Don't hold your breath.

November 10, 2009   Permalink

AND IN ANOTHER CASE - AT 8:27 A.M.:  The beltway killer, who terrorized the Washington, D.C. area, is scheduled to be executed this evening.  The Washington Post reports:

If attorney Jon Sheldon's final plea to save the life of John Allen Muhammad fails, he will go to Virginia's death chamber Tuesday night to watch the sniper die.

Most of those who will gather at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt readily see the execution as just punishment for the man who masterminded a wave of random shootings that left 10 people dead and terrorized the Washington region for more than three weeks in October 2002.

COMMENT:  I am not indifferent to the moral concerns regarding the death penalty.  The questions involving the state putting an individual to death are profound. 

That having been said, this is another case where we were not permitted to ask questions.  Why would a man named "Muhammad" do this?  Why would he engage in mass murder?  I am not suggesting that I know the answer, or have any private information, but surely we were due a more thorough investigation of the influences over him.   Just "catching the guy" and his accomplice was not enough.

In no way does this cast aspersions on any other Muslims.  Indeed, Muhammad's victims were chosen at random, and some could easily have been Muslims.  But questions should have been raised.  If a member of the Ku Klux Klan, which misuses Christian symbols, had done this, you would have seen whole newspaper series devoted to the ideology of the Klan.  But here, silence.  Once again.

Maybe Fort Hood will wake us up to the fact that the people do in fact have a right to know the extent to which a great religious tradition is compromised by a hateful ideology.

November 10,  2009   Permalink

OBAMA TO FORT HOOD - AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  The president goes to a memorial service at Fort Hood today.  We assume he'll make a few remarks. 

Let us hope that Obama can control his instinct for pontificating.  Let us hope that he remembers who the real victims of the massacre are.  They are the dead and wounded and their families.  They are not those whose feelings might be hurt by some tough questions.

Obama, whose bizarre behavior after the shootings is now a matter of record, should be seeking redemption.  Let's see if he knows how.

Bill Kristol, in the Weekly Standard, tracing the administration's constant missteps concerning Fort Hood, comes to a conclusion that puts additional pressure on the man who presumes to be the commander in chief: 

It was too much to hope, I suppose, that Army Chief of Staff George Casey, appearing on the Sunday talk shows, would signal a re-thinking of the regime of political correctness that seems to have penetrated the Army. It was disappointing that he reinforced that regime with his silly—and offensive—remarks about not letting “diversity” be a further casualty of the events at Ft. Hood, and his warning against a backlash directed at Muslim soldiers. A little more concern for the real casualties of jihadism, and a little less finger-wagging about a hypothetical backlash, would have been nice. As it was, Casey’s remarks merely reinforced the sense that the Army has a political correctness problem...

...Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in Abu Dhabi, said something very similar to what Casey had to say the same day. So there was clearly administration coordination from high-up at the White House with respect to the diversity/backlash message.

That’s fine. Administrations are entitled to coordinate messages coming from different cabinet agencies. But let’s be clear: The diversity/backlash message is President Obama’s, not merely that of General Casey or Secretary Napolitano.

Your turn, Mr. President.  Don't blow it.

November 10,  2009   Permalink

MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 9,  2009

FORT HOOD PROBE GROWING, AS IS ANGER - AT 9:51 P.M. ET:  We are fortunate to have some gutsy legislators, and some journalists who still seek the truth.  They will not let the forces of political correctness, including some in the Army and the FBI, to bury the Fort Hood incident with its victims.  There are truths coming out, and we hope they will wake up this nation.  From tomorrow's Washington Post: 

FORT HOOD, TEX. -- Maj. Nidal M. Hasan exchanged e-mails late last year and this year with a radical cleric in Yemen, but the contact did not lead to an investigation, federal law enforcement officials said Monday.

Can you imagine if, during World War II, an Army officer had contact with Nazi groups, and no one saw fit to investigate?

Hasan, an Army psychiatrist suspected of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian here last week, will be tried in military court, the officials said.

U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted 10 to 20 e-mails from Hasan to Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen who once was a spiritual leader at the suburban Virginia mosque where Hasan had worshiped, said Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.), the top Republican on the House intelligence committee.

Aulaqi responded to Hasan at least twice, Hoekstra said, but he described the responses as "innocent," and a terrorism expert cautioned that the exchanges may have been part of Hasan's academic research.

Academic research?  Really?

The FBI determined that the e-mails did not warrant an investigation, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Obviously, a very bad decision, especially when you look at the rest of Hasan's troubling record, especially the poor evaluations he'd received.

"For me, the number of times that this guy tried to reach out to the imam was significant," Hoekstra said in an interview, adding: "Al-Qaeda and radical jihadists use the Internet to spread radical jihadism. . . . So how much of his lashing out is as a result of . . . his access to radical messages on the Internet and the ability to interact?

"I believe that the responses from Aulaqi were maybe pretty innocent," Hoekstra continued. "But the very fact that he's sent and communicated to this guy and got responses would be quite a concern to me."

Correct.  It's the contact, and its voluntary nature, that's troubling.

The revelations came as Hoekstra and other congressional leaders complained about a lack of information from the intelligence community in the days since Thursday's shootings and raised questions about whether government agencies had paid sufficient attention to warning signs about Hasan.

Does the term "cover-up" come to mind?

On Capitol Hill, several investigations of the shootings are taking shape, with the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee announcing the first public hearings on the matter. Federal authorities are continuing to review Hasan's computer and electronic correspondence.

COMMENT:  Ironic, but I have greater faith in Congress to conduct a good investigation than I have in the intelligence agencies.  Our intelligence agencies continue to have a worrisome record, and not much is being done about it.

November 9,  2009   Permalink

GREETINGS FROM THE EMPIRE STATE - AT 7:57 P.M. ET:  Ah, New York.  My home state.  Home of Wall Street...which is booming, and generating enormous tax revenue.  Why, all is well, all is well.  The market is back.

Not so fast, Jones.

According to the governor, we're a month away from going broke: 

ALBANY (CBS) — Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.

To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.

"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.

And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature.

The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else. The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.

COMMENT:  Why do I burden you with our woes?  Because there's an ominous sign here:  If we're in trouble, with all the revenue being generated by Wall Street, we can only imagine what's happening in other states.

And what will have to happen here?  Budget cuts...or tax increases.  New York is already facing an outmigration of some of its most talented people, fed up with high taxes, poor services, and a cost of living that's through the roof.

Welcome to the recovery.  Not on my block, I'm afraid.  Both New York and California, profligate states where policy is often made by political elites meeting in lavish apartments or mansions, are warning signs for the rest of the nation.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BRITISH INTELLIGENCE HELPED CRACK A TERROR PLOT AGAINST AMERICA - AT 7:45 P.M. ET:  Maybe Barney Frank (see story just below) should read this piece from London's Telegraph before giving military advice:

British spies have foiled a terrorist plot by a suspected al Qaeda operative to blow up the New York subway.

The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email.

The force alerted the FBI, who launched an operation which led to airport shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi, 24, being charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

The Afghan is alleged to have been part of a group who used stolen credit cards to buy components for bombs including nail varnish remover.

The chemicals bought were similar to those used to make the 2005 London Tube and bus explosives which killed 52 people.

Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet.

COMMENT:  We stopped that one.  We didn't stop the massacre at Fort Hood, which is looking more and more like an act of terror, even if it was self-generated terror influenced by an ideology.

And yet, there are congressmen who think that all we can do is fix bridges in their districts.  Shame.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

GENERAL OF THE ARMY BARNEY "FIVE STAR" FRANK SPEAKS ON AFGHANISTAN - AT 7:38 P.M. ET:  This is what's become of the party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy:

Rep. Barney Frank said he would oppose a troop increase in Afghanistan because people in his district face greater threats than al Qaeda.

Frank (D-Mass.), the House Financial Services Committee chairman, said that the federal government needs to spend its funds on domestic priorities rather than on foreign wars in light of the nation's record $1.4 trillion budget deficit. Frank said that domestic problems, such as crime and global warming, pose a greater "threat" to citizens in his district than al Qaeda does.

"There are cops in my districts who have been laid off. And there are people in my district who need more protection from criminals than they need from al Qaeda," Frank said during an appearance at Cornell University on Sunday. "That's just a fact of life."

Frank continued that "they need protection [inaudible] from urban areas where there have been foreclosures on the fire department. And they need more protection from bridges falling down when they drive over them. And from pollution in the water, et cetera."

COMMENT:  This is considered strategic thinking in some circles.  In World War II we fielded a force of 16 million, out of a population of 130 million.  Today we field a force of 1.5 million out of a population of 306 million.  And Barney Frank thinks we can't afford it.

I wish these people would just admit that they're leftists, and think the problems of the world are our fault.  I'd have more respect for them.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:23 P.M. ET:  Historian Ron Radosh, an academic who's had the courage to take on the history of Communist subversion in America, turns his attention to the flood of politically correct comments that have followed the Fort Hood murders.  He finds the worst in, no shock here, The Nation, where P.C. is standard fare:

But perhaps the single most egregious post on these events comes, rather predictably, from those good folks at The Nation magazine, in which John Nichols writes “the incident inspired an all-too-predictable explosion of Islamophobia.” Nichols perceives that what triggered Hasan’s attack was that he feared getting combat related stress as he had observed in the soldiers he had treated. Of course Hasan would have been assigned to a medical unit treating soldiers in need of psychological counseling, and he himself would not have been in a combat situation.

Yet Nichols is sure that his action “might well be the latest in a series of stress-related homicides and suicides involving soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” or who are dispatched to what Nichols terms “occupied lands.” He is sure that in fact no one knows what motivated Hasan. He acknowledges only that the Major was “deeply troubled,” and that he might have been an “imperfect follower of Islam.”

COMMENT:  After World War II, Germans who were asked about their knowledge of the Holocaust often said, "I saw nothing."  There are plenty of souls on the American left who, today, see nothing.  They are exactly what those Germans were - collaborators.  And that's what we should call them.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 10:09 A.M. ET:  Fort Hood shooter attempted to contact Al Qaeda.  From ABC News:

U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News.

It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said.

One senior lawmaker said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan's efforts.

CIA director Leon Panetta and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, have been asked by Congress "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, according to the lawmaker.

COMMENT:  This is a can of worms.  The attempted cover-ups will fly all over the place.

Obama, obviously, wants the public to believe that this was just one stressed-out guy.  No ideology, folks.  No beliefs.  Nothing to see here, nothing to see.

And if the facts lead elsewhere?  And if someone dropped the ball because of political correctness?

You're about to see Washington at its ugliest.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

BULLETIN - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  From CNN:

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iran will charge three American hikers who strayed into the country with espionage, a Tehran prosecutor said Monday.

The announcement comes only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with the families Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who were detained along the Iran-Iraq border at the end of July.

COMMENT:  Another slap in our faces by the government in Tehran.  Effectively, these three are now hostages.  So we have another hostage crisis with Iran. 

How will Obama react?  How would you think?

Yawn.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

MORE OBAMA GENEROSITY - FOR ENEMIES - AT 9:01 A.M. ET:  The seemingly endless generosity of Barack Obama toward enemies of the United States continues this morning, with another "understanding" statement on Iran by an American diplomat.  The warmth, the kindness, the just gosh-darn decency toward a regime that shoots demonstrators in the streets:

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States is willing to give Iran time to decide whether to accept a U.N. draft deal that is meant to defuse nuclear tensions with world powers but has drawn Iranian objections, a U.S. diplomat said on Monday.

Sure.  Take all the time you need.  No hurry here, no hurry.

The proposal for Iran to part with stocks of potential nuclear explosive material in exchange for fuel to keep a nuclear medicine facility running has stumbled on Iranian calls for amendments, but Iran has not rejected it outright.

No, and the Japanese never rejected peace outright either.  In fact, they were negotiating with us when their planes made a wrong turn and wound up over Pearl Harbor. 

...Tehran has yet to give a full, official reply on the proposal drafted by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei three weeks ago after consultations with Iran, France, Russia and the United States.

"There have been communications back and forth. We are in extra innings in these negotiations. That's sometimes the way these things go," said Glyn Davies, U.S. ambassador to the IAEA.

Yeah, that's the way they go.  I mean, what's really involved here?  Anything important?

"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, quite obviously, and we're hoping for an early positive answer from the Iranians."

I just love that.  I really love it.  "It's a tough issue for them..."  This guy was probably instructed by the White House to "show empathy," one of Obama's favorite words. 

We have gotten nowhere.  Iran has negotiated for seven years over this issue, without making a single concession.  If you were Iran, would you give up anything significant when faced with the Empathy Action Doll in the White House?

November 9, 2009   Permalink

THIS IS FROM...WHERE? - AT 8:40 A.M. ET:   This will do your heart good, and may even make your day.  We have done our share of press bashing here, and with great pleasure.  A good part of the media deserves bashing.  But, occasionally, even the worst sinners make an attempt at redemption.

We have a sinner that has come forward.  The Boston Globe, one of the most liberal papers in the country, owned by The New York Times, a bastion of the Obama creed, has actually gone after Barack Obama for his behavior after the Fort Hood massacre.  I never thought I'd see this day.  It proves the value of faith and hope: 

IN TIMES of national tragedy, Americans expect their president to capture the mood and moment with the right blend of emotion, empathy, and urgency. It’s a delicate act of timing and tone. And President Obama, despite his eloquence and dignity, has yet to master it, as illustrated by his awkward response to the deadly shootings at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas.

What?  WHAT?  This is the Boston Globe?  And notice that the paper even refers to what happened as "deadly shootings."  Exactly right.  Could we be seeing conversion here?

The stage was set for the president to quickly and somberly address the tragedy. Instead, a serene-looking Obama offered light introductory comments, keyed to those attending a Tribal Nations Conference that was hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. His introduction included a convivial “shout-out’’ to one of the conference attendees.

Several minutes in, Obama finally called the Fort Hood shootings “a horrific outburst of violence.’’ The words he spoke next were respectful and appropriate. But it took him too long to get to the point of delivering them.

Exactly.  The man is cold as ice.

It takes more than scripted eloquence for presidents to connect with their fellow Americans. It requires a visceral ability to grasp the scope of tragedy, calculate its impact on the national psyche, and react swiftly to it. Ronald Reagan did it after the Challenger explosion took the lives of seven crew members on Jan. 28, 1986.

Yes, the Boston Globe praised Reagan.  Please mark this day on your calendar.  Remember it every year.

When a gunman fired those shots at Fort Hood, the country immediately felt the pain. Obama missed the first moment to show he understood just how much it hurt.

Yes, and he revealed that, just maybe, he didn't feel much at all, which is the heart of the problem.

November 9, 2009   Permalink

THE HISTORIC DAY - EXCEPT FOR ONE GUY - AT 8:03 A.M. ET:  Germany today celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Many world leaders will be there.  The president of the United States is too busy.  It is a disgrace, but it reflects his real views.  The New York Post has a hard-hitting and accurate editorial on the subject this morning:

World leaders past and present will be in Berlin today for the 20th anniversary of the fall of communist repression's most visible symbol: the 112-mile concrete wall that split the city for more than a quarter-century.

Conspicuously absent: the president of the United States, Barack Obama.

Obama's folks say he's too busy to accept German President Angela Merkel's invitation to attend today's festivities

It's pathetic that Obama won't be there -- and telling, as well.

Very telling.  But the sad fact is that there's a large chunk of the American elite that has no problem with Obama's not going to Berlin.  In fact, this crowd is gleeful.  They had contempt for Kennedy, for Reagan, for so-called "cold warriors." 

Reagan understood that the United States was locked in an ideological battle with the Soviet Union, and that the defining issue was human freedom.

It was also, he understood, the triumph of American exceptionalism, leadership and strength.

All of which runs counter to Obama's view of America's global role -- and how to deal with adversaries.

For Obama, America is but one nation among many, no different -- or more exceptional -- than any other. Its record is one that, increasingly, he has felt compelled not to extol but to apologize for.

And, for this president, ideologies bent on America's destruction must be met not with resistance but with rhetoric, outreach and "understanding."

Well said.  But the sad fact is that, again, elements of our elites have no problem with that.

Gone, it seems, are the days when America championed freedom, led by presidents whose oratory was matched by commitment and determined action.

It's not only shameful -- but dangerous.

COMMENT:  And I fear that we're going to see more incidents like this.  The worst part would come if Obama is elected to a second term, and doesn't have anything to lose politically.  He could easily veer the foreign policy of the United States sharply left, making common cause with some of the worst dictators in the world, with the full support of the liberals in his party.  We never thought that could happen, but Carter came close.  Obama is finishing the job.

November 9,  2009   Permalink