Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Wall Street Journal’s Political Diary reports that “Republicans won a pair of special elections on Tuesday in Tennessee and Oklahoma, picking up seats held by Democrats for decades. Combined with this month's capture of the Albuquerque mayor's office by a Republican for the first time in 28 years, Democrats have reason to be nervous about the approaching November 3 off-year elections. Given their lackluster performance in these races, they could face serious turnout problems that will boost GOP performance."
One of the Democratic losers quoted in the piece blamed his defeat on the fact that "a lot of people based their opinions on national issues . . . the health care issue was the main one."
CBN News Political Editor John Waage tells me “The thing that's striking is that Republicans are winning seats that Democrats have held for decades. They're also winning with 56 percent of the vote. Too soon to say if it's a trend, but if it continues into November, next year is likely to be a "wave" election
Pundit George Will asked today, “Could a Wave Be Building?" Uh, do you think? Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, seeking a sixth term, has an approval rating of just 43 percent. Nevada's Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, is below 40. Some think Republican Mike Castle will win Joe Biden’s Delaware senate seat. In Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln trails all four of her Republican challengers. And Donald Lambro at the Washington Times thinks "even Mr. Obama's old Senate seat is at risk in heavily Democratic Illinois."
The congressional approval ratings for both parties are in the cellar. But on the question of which party Americans want to run congress, the Democratic lead has been trimmed from 9 percentage points to 3.
Waage says, “If the GOP candidates win in New Jersey and Virginia this November, and especially if Republicans make big gains in the New Jersey State Assembly, it's probably an indicator that voters are expressing their anger against the Dems' excesses.“
And the political ground could really shake next year.
Of course, if the Republican Party had somehow stayed true to the principles of limited government during the big spending Bush years, instead of turning into Fabian Socialists, next fall would be even more interesting. As it is, a lot of Americans now curse both parties.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Remember Al Gore’s predictions of monster hurricanes created by global warming?
You know, that other Nobel Peace Prize Winner?
The silence you hear is the 2009 hurricane season. It was a bust; the least eventful hurricane season in more than 10 years, which in my mind is progress, since I live a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
But for the climate change cult, this is depressing news. A discouraged BBC was forced to ask plaintively, “What Happened to Global Warming?”
Maybe the Left should consider putting the weather on trial; prosecute it for seriously impeding the climate change crusade. After all, human climate change skeptics have already been compared to holocaust deniers and sexual predators. And no person or group is doing more to undermine the cause of climate change and world salvation from carbon than the weather.It’s cold!
Look at the Sun
The sun continues to be extraordinarily quiet. This is a snapshot from today, October 14.
Spaceweather.com says, “Today, the sun is entering its 13th consecutive day without sunspots. Just a few years ago, such a stretch of blank suns would have been unthinkable. Now it's routine. So far this year, the sun has been spotless 79% of the time, topping the 73% mark recorded in 2008. Long after many forecasters thought solar minimum would be finished, the quiet is not only continuing, but actually deepening. Are sunspots gone for good?”
Here is my piece on the lack of sunspot activity and the threat of global cooling. In it, climate expert Dr. Pat Michaels told me, “Most scientists and economists would agree that a moderate warming would probably be beneficial, and a cooling of a couple degrees would probably be very, very bad. Remember that cooling it just a few degrees brings on an ice age, and that's quite a bit different than what would happen if you warmed it a few degrees. “
Don’t think it can’t get much, much colder? The year 1816, toward the end of what is known as Little Ice Age in North America, was called “18-Hunded and Froze to Death,” and “The Year Without a Summer.” In July and August, lake and river ice was observed as far south as Pennsylvania. Crops failed and commodity prices skyrocketed.
So don’t give away those old woolies just yet.
Friday, October 09, 2009
When I saw that President Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize, my reaction was similar to that of two White House aides. When they heard the news,
the aides asked a reporter if it was an April Fools Day gag.
In order to win, Obama had to be nominated for the award before February 1, after just 11 days in office. And he was bestowed the award after a tough week in which
the media questioned, criticized and even mocked him for not accomplishing anything, so far.
A London Times columnist
calls it an “absurd decision.” Even a lowly day laborer on the streets of Baghdad told Reuters that Obama “doesn't deserve this prize. All these problems -- Iraq, Afghanistan -- have not been solved ... man of 'change' hasn't changed anything yet."
Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin, no flaming conservative, told MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough this morning that “not since Marisa Tomei won her best supporting actress award (for "My Counsin Vinny," has someone been less deserving of an award)”. Halperin added, between laughing, that “the best thing you can say about this is, it’s premature.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised Obama for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." This is code for Obama’s efforts to make America more like Europe. European elites don’t like traditional American values and habits like American exceptionalism, driving SUV’s, praying, protecting the unborn, or using our military to actually fight. And European elites are keen on promoting politicians who seem really smart and talk great and don’t actually accomplish a lot, except for making people more dependent on big government. Sounds familiar.
The president would have been better served by refusing this medal, which is going to feel heavier and heavier as the criticism of his administration grows.
Friday, September 11, 2009
I was sent to New York on 9/11 and left from Virginia Beach with a camera crew at mid-day. All flights were grounded, so we drove. We stopped first in a largely deserted Washington. I remember it feeling like I was in a real life Hollywood "end of the world" movie.
We arrived in Newark around midnight and could see from across the river the dust cloud hovering over lower Manhattan, illuminated by the work lights from ground zero. I have said many times that it seemed to me to be a reminder of the presence of God.
The bridges and tunnels into Manhattan were closed, so we continued north some 20 miles, crossing over at Tarrytown and headed back down into Yonkers. We talked our way through some police road blocks and into the Bronx, and then drove down into the deserted streets of New York City in the early hours of September 12.
All of Manhattan smelled of an electrical fire, and that ubiquitous gray dust from the remains of the World Trade Center was blowing through the air and down the streets.
We went to ground zero and interviewed police officers and watched dump truck after dump truck carry debris away from the crater.
The next morning after a live shot we walked to Washington Square and saw all the desperate notices with photos pinned to a wall at the memorial. "Have you seen?" spouses, fathers, mothers, friends, brothers, sisters; all who had worked in the World Trade Center.
I think about that feeling that I was somehow in an "end of the world" movie. It certainly was the end of one world, and the beginning of another. It was the end of a world in which we felt invulnerable to the forces that have for so long wanted to kill us. It was the beginning of a new world in which those of us who experienced 9/11 would never again take national security for granted.
Friday, August 07, 2009
A middle class revolt against the federal government and the Democrats is spreading, and there have been incidents of violence.
Consider that in the past few days, fighting broke out at a Tampa area town hall meeting over healthcare reform, and six were arrested after a St. Louis town hall meeting. Other townhall meetings have seen shouts of “Tyranny,” scuffles and the presence of bodyguards and police to protect lawmakers.
I'm assuming the unrest is actually worse than is being reported, since Big Media wants Obama to succeed and has proven hesitant to report bad news about the administration.
This little piece of guerrilla journalism to the left, which is both effective and troubling, and seems like it could become an icon of the rebellion, has popped up around Los Angeles. It shows the president as "The Joker" from Batman.
You can argue that there’s nothing new about vigorous protest, but let’s be clear: politically related violence by or against our most law abiding and quiet segment of the population, the taxpaying middle class, is a sign of civic breakdown. It’s an important and dangerous threshold for our country.
Sure, citizens feel passionate about a specific issue, healthcare, but it’s far bigger than that.
The posters and the rhetoric show that a growing segment of the middle class believes Washington is THE enemy; a direct threat to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
When the middle class decides that the federal government is going to harm it, to the point that fighting breaks out at meetings with lawmakers, we’re going in the direction of revolution.
The White House has promised to“punch back twice as hard” against the middle class protest. Not a helpful choice of words in the present climate. And may I say, that IS Nazi rhetoric, from the Nazi street fighting era of the 1930's. And it comes from the same Democratic Party trying to paint the middle class protestors as Nazis.
The White House also wants the names and emails of people who actively oppose healthcare reform. A Republican Senator accuses the Obama administration of building an “enemies list.”
Finally, consider that a military man I know of told a friend that he and another officer actually talked about whether they would defend this government if ordered to take action against the middle class protestors that the Democrats have branded “violent mobs.” Sure, it’s a hypothetical, almost silly discussion. But that such a thing should even come up means our society has entered dangerous waters.
Friday, July 24, 2009
I saw this coming, and perhaps you did too; President Obama’s popularity declines because his agenda is too radical for Americans to stomach, and that radical agenda, infused with socialism, stalls out in the face of staunch opposition from Republicans and angry frightened Democrats from conservative districts.
There will be no healthcare reform, no cap and trade, just plenty of bad economic news with a President who will look increasingly in over his head. And payback time is coming. I think it only gets worse for the White House from here. 
The shine is off the apple for a lot of Americans who voted for Obama because they thought he was a centrist. He’s not, and contrary to some of the ridiculous 2008 election post-mortems, the United States did not do a historic lurch toward socialism when it elected Obama. Independents leaned left because they thought Obama was a “new kind of democrat,” and John McCain seemed way too old, dull, unimaginative and business as usual to elect right after a traumatic stock market crash.
But the radical elements of BHO’s legislative agenda have cost him the support of an increasing number of independents. Historically, that precedes political disaster.
Meanwhile, the Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have been trying to ram through sweeping legislation as quickly as possible and have governed rather undemocratically, as if there was never going to be another election held in America. But the 2010 elections have not been cancelled, and the Democrats and Obama face a stunning, historic political reversal. Folks out there in what the Left derisively calls “fly-over country” are ticked. And they vote.
Obama has been, like Bill Clinton especially, but also others, enabled and setup by a media establishment that desperately wants him to succeed. But all those softball questions and glowing puff pieces lead men like Obama to decide they’re even smarter and more skilled than even they thought they were. Over reach and blunders usually follow.
Btw, it’s a little creepy to hear the press laugh so heartily at BHO’s “jokes”---as if on cue—it happened again today in the briefing room with Obama’s saying he wanted to bring together Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and that brave Cambridge cop for “a beer “ in the White House It's a loud, forced-sounding laughter. It’s like watching the North Korean press laugh at the Great Leader’s jokes. But of course the press doesn’t fear Obama. They adore Obama and want him to succeed, at least for now.
But the silent partner of idealism is cynicism, especially among journalists, and at some point the Media establishment, that thing I've dubbed "The Blob," will decide that Obama is not the political messiah after all, and that he is--gasp!---flawed, and perhaps doesn’t have what it takes to be great. And if past press behavior is a guide --Bill Clinton comes to mind again—The Blob will begin to turn on Barack Hussein Obama.
And then the bottom could really drop out of this “fairytale presidency.”
Monday, July 13, 2009
Thank You America – And Damn You, You Bastards
By Jabr Al Jabouri
Al-Bayyna Al-Jadida [Baghdad]
July 1, 2009
Translation byCenter for Islamic Pluralism
America chose to save us from the most evil party, and the most despicable President in the universe [Saddam]. Meanwhile, the Arab powers stood firmly against the American project. They used all means to thwart them, but Allah’s will had another say in this matter. America turned the Ba’athists into the world’s laughing stock by showing them fleeing in their underwear on live television. Meanwhile, the Arab powers turned those cowards into national heroes on their satellite channels.
America gave the lives of 4,000 of its people to Iraq’s land to instill security and democracy, while the Arabs sent us their filthy mercenaries who mercilessly murdered, bombed, and slaughtered the Iraqi people.
America came bearing democracy for Iraq, while the Arabs brought us the new religion of the Wahhabis and Salafists. This religion aims to destroy Iraq and return it to the days of minority rule.
America canceled all of our debts and urged the rest of the world to do so, while the Arabs refused to do so and they even demanded payment for every Iraqi citizen living in their countries.
America allowed Shias to practice their religion while the Arabs bombed the Askari shrine. America proposed that the Iraqi President be Kurdish – so that we can prove to the world that Iraq has entered an age of freedom and respect for ethnic minorities. Yet, the Arabs have “removed Iraq from the Arab map,” pointing to the fact that the President is a non-Arab. America urged all honorable Sunnis to take part in the political process, while the Arabs issued a fatwa to kill every Sunni Iraqi who works with the government.
America opened the world to us, while the Arabs slammed their doors in our faces. America urged the world’s countries to open embassies in Iraq. Thus far, the Arabs have not opened embassies… or even acknowledged Iraq’s new democratic regime. America is carrying the burden of removing Iraq from Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, while the Arabs – led by Saudi Arabia – are doing their best to obstruct these efforts.
America urged the Gulf States to allow Iraq to return to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), while the Arabs refused to allow Iraq to join the GCC. The Americans sponsored Iraq membership in international, political, and cultural organizations, while the Arabs expelled the Iraqi Authors and Writers Union from the Arab Writers Union.
America decided to withdraw from Iraq cities and hand these cities over to the Iraq forces on June 30 in preparation for the final withdrawal from Iraq. The Arabs decided to hinder the withdrawal so that their excuse for fighting the occupier and killing the Iraq people can remain.
America signed the Strategic Framework Agreement with Iraq, which includes all political, cultural, military, and technological fields. The Arabs issued a decision stating that Iraq is “officially occupied” because we signed the security agreement. Never mind that all these Arab countries have agreements with America. The Arabs decided that every American soldier in Iraq is an occupier that must be killed, while if an American soldier was to be in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, or Egypt he would be considered as a friendly ally that must be treated with respect. The Arabs decided to consider every Iraqi living in America to be a traitor and spy, even though Iraqi people living in America are fewer in numbers than all other Arab nationalities. The Arabs consider every Iraqi who works as a translator for the American forces to be a traitor…
This is how Arabs are, and this is just a drop in a vast ocean. All this is what the Arabs do in public. What they do behind the walls is another matter entirely.
According to American news sources, Saudi Arabia has been trying hard to convince America to return the Ba’athists to power in Iraq. However, the American Administration does not care about what Saudi Arabia thinks or wants in this country. Today, our American friends are true to their word. They have handed over security responsibilities to the Iraq forces, and they decided to withdraw from the Iraqi cities.
I wonder when the American forces in Saudi Arabia – estimated at 80,000 troops – are going to withdraw. When are the 30,000 U.S. soldiers in Kuwait going to withdraw? When are the American bases in Qatar, Egypt, Oman, Yemen, and all other Arab countries that live off American aid going to be shut down?
The geographically close, but, in humanitarian terms, distant Arab Nation does not deserve any political, cultural and commercial ties with us. Nations that are completely different from and unrelated to us are racing to assist us.
After six years of liberation, we now know who our friend is and who our foe is. We should not give a chance to those idiots who claim that Iraq is part of the Arab Nation. These idiots should understand that Iraq is part the federal, free and democratic world.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, John Kerry, compares climate change to 9/11 or a nuclear strike.
It’s amazing stuff, for the wrong reasons. The powerful Massachusetts Democrat and decision maker says global warming is a grave national security threat that we ignore at our peril. Does this mean our military could someday be out in the fields fighting bovine flatulence? What about about containing volcanic eruptions? The entire Industrial Revolution can't hold a candle to a single major volcanic eruption when it comes to dumping so-called greenhouse gases, also known as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere.
Kerry also fears climate change will make Al Qaeda even more dangerous when all the ice melts in the Himalayas. Sounds like a really bad movie script.
Mr. Kerry says to consider his words our "warning memo." The good news is we only have to listen to this for 10 more years, which is when the Earth won’t end as Kerry fears.
Hmmm...why do I suspect this silly rhetoric won't end in 10 years?
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
The talking heads of Big Media, that perfidious symbiotic blob that despises the likes of Sarah Palin and what she stands for, largely dismissed her resignation as Alaska governor as the stupid move of a washed up politician.
David Letterman, who last month joked about the statutory rape of Palin’s 14-year old daughter, attempted to stick in another dagger Monday night, saying that Palin, a former Miss Alaska contestant, would be replaced by Miss Congeniality.
He then played a clip of Palin saying, "The world needs more insane governors."
But two articles about the Sarah Palin resignation from credentialed political veterans take different angles toward a different conclusion: Palin is still a major political force.Former Nixon aide Roger Stone compares the Palin move to Richard Nixon’s 1962 moment when, tired of the media attacks, he left politics with the famous words…"You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference."
Six years later Nixon was President.
Former Reagan aide and Gingrich press secretary Tony Blankley, writes that “Professional politicians and political journalists don't waste energy on political corpses. They reserve their energy -- positive or negative -- for viable politicians.”
A Gallup/USA Today poll shows 72% of Republicans are still very likely or somewhat likely to vote for Palin if she runs in 2012.
It certainly looks as if the blob has written a very premature political obituary.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
The Competitive Enterprise Institute today charged that a senior official of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency actively suppressed a scientific analysis of climate change because of political pressure to support the White House agenda of “cap and trade.” (Cap and trade is essentially a tax on carbon dioxide, nature’s best fertilizer and the diabolical “greenhouse gas.”)
A CEI press release says,
As part of a just-ended public comment period, CEI submitted a set of four EPA emails, dated March 12-17, 2009, which indicate that a significant internal critique of the agency’s global warming position was put under wraps and concealed.
The study the emails refer to, which ran counter to the administration’s views on carbon dioxide and climate change, was kept from circulating within the agency, was never disclosed to the public, and was not added to the body of materials relevant to EPA’s current “endangerment” proceeding. The emails further show that the study was treated in this manner not because of any problem with its quality, but for political reasons.
As independent science keeps taking more chunks out of a particular religion (the environmental doomsday brand of religion) and its sidekick, politicized science, my gut says the environmentalists and their financiers and fellow travelers in Washington and at the UN will eventually drive their solar-wind hybrid moped of a movement right off the cliff, all by themselves. They're in the process of wrecking it through overreach, and will shatter public and government trust in any more expensive environmental doomsday “solutions.” If this congress passes cap and trade, it will only create more angry voters.