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APRIL 3,  2011

I LOVE IT – AT 10:12 P.M. ET:  Don't you love to be needed?  What a wonderful feeling.  And nations love to be needed, including ours.  And it's oh so nice to be needed by those countries whose elites have sniped at us for sport all these years.  So, we're needed again:

NATO has asked the United States to continue participating in airstrikes over Libya through late Monday, ABC News has learned.

This is after we announced that we were ending strikes on Saturday.

This was done to make up for the bad weather earlier in the week that had hampered targeting of Gadhafi forces and allowed them to push the rebels back to Ajdabiyah.

The United States was supposed to have significantly begun dropping its participation in airstrikes over Libya.

"Due to poor weather conditions over the last few days in Libya, the United States has approved a request by NATO to extend the use of some U.S. strike aircraft," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told ABC News. "These aircraft will continue to conduct and support Alliance air-to-ground missions throughout this weekend."

A U.S. Defense Department official said the aircraft Lungescu was referring to are the A-10 Thunderbolt jets, Marine AV-8 Harrier jets and AC-130 gunships, which are the best suited for striking ground force targets.

The fact is that we're indispensable.  Unlike some European countries, the United States invested appropriately in national defense, especially in the Reagan years.  Therefore, we have forces and equipment in being that can do the job.  Let's see if we get any thanks.  Don't hold your breath.

Still, the Libyan "mission" seems to be "mission undefinable."  What is our actual objective?  And now, with a stalemate brewing, what will we do?

Stay tuned.  This Saturday morning serial will continue.

April 3, 2011      Permalink 

THE DUKE CASE, AGAIN – AT 7:40 P.M. ET:  For those outraged by political correctness and party-line thinking in universities, the Duke lacrosse case is the gift that keeps on giving.    Consider:

DURHAM (WTVD) -- Authorities say former Duke Lacrosse accuser Crystal Mangum was arrested overnight Sunday for stabbing her boyfriend in the chest.

Durham police say Crystal Mangum, 32, was arrested Sunday morning several hours after stabbing and seriously injuring her boyfriend. Investigators say police were called to a stabbing at a home in the 3000 block of Century Oaks Drive around 3 am, Sunday.

When police arrived authorities say they found a 46-year-old male who had been stabbed in the torso.
The man suffered serious injuries and was taken to Duke University Hospital for treatment.

Police say they later arrested Mangum at a nearby apartment, in connection with the stabbing.

Mangum is charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury. She is being held at the Durham County Jail on no bond.

Investigators say Mangum is the victim's girlfriend, and believe the stabbing occurred during an argument.
The Durham Police Department told ABC11 on Sunday, that it has no further comment on the case.

Mangum made national headlines in 2006 when she accused several Duke Lacrosse players of rape. The players were later exonerated and all charges against them dropped.

Last year, Mangum was arrested and charged with attempted murder, arson, and child abuse after a domestic dispute with her boyfriend.

In December, the jury found Mangum guilty of child abuse, but they couldn't agree on a first degree felony arson charge, which could have landed Mangum in jail for seven years.

COMMENT:  You'll recall that the Durham district attorney was disbarred as a result of his behavior in the lacrosse case, pursuing an obviously false series of charges, apparently to curry favor with the African-American community.  He is legal toast.

Not legal toast is Duke University.  Eighty of its "prestigious" faculty signed a statement calling, in effect, for a legal lynching of the three charged lacrosse players.  They have never apologized, and several of the 80 have gone on to even higher professorships at other colleges. 

Duke had suspended the three players when they were charged, but did invite them back when they were exonerated.  I don't believe any of them took Duke up on the offer.  The invitation did result in the head of Duke's women's studies department resigning from all her faculty committees in protest.  Apparently, treating an innocent boy like an innocent boy was beyond her understanding.

The accuser, who has now progressed to more vigorous forms of low lifery, was never a credible individual.  Yet, because of issues of race and gender, she was automatically believed. 

Incidents like the Duke lacrosse case set back legitimate civil-rights and gender equality causes by creating suspicion of any and all charges.  Some have figured this out.  Many colleges have not.

April 3, 2011      Permalink

GOP MOVES DECISIVELY ON BUDGET – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  Don't underestimate the political risks here.  Budget cuts can be demagogued easily as "attacks on the poor" or "stealing from children" or "protecting the rich."  But at least the Republicans are willing to come to bat.  From Fox:

The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee said his party's budget proposal for 2012 would cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, vowing to tackle costly entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.

The proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, would serve as the Republicans' official response to President Obama's proposed $3.7 trillion budget for 2012. The White House claims its plan would cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade.

But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with "Fox News Sunday," accused Obama of "punting" and said Republicans' plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president's fiscal commission -- which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.

"We can't keep kicking this can down the road," Ryan said. "The president has punted. We're not going to follow suit."

The GOP proposal coincides with the ongoing debate over the remainder of the fiscal 2011 budget. Both parties are trying to hammer out a half-year budget before the deadline for a partial government shutdown Friday. From there, they move immediately to the 2012 budget debate.

COMMENT:  The Democrats know one important thing politically – that once you give an entitlement it's almost impossible to take it back or reduce it...at least without throwing yourself out of office.  Republicans are acting responsibily, Democrats will not follow.  The Democratic Party is basically one big ATM for its supporters.  The Republicans must devote as much energy and thought to explaining their proposals as they do to formulating them. 

April 3, 2011       Permalink

RUBIO RISING – AT 11:19 A.M. ET:  Okay, I like the guy, so I'm prejudiced.  At the same time, I argue that there's a reason Senator Marco Rubio of Florida is rising as quickly as he is.  Although he's formally ruled out a run for the presidency in 2012, such declarations can easily be shredded if the opportunity presents.

One thing I like about Rubio is his common sense, leading to a clear view of strategy.  Consider this, from The Politico:

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has sent a letter to Senate leaders calling for an explicit approval of American force against Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi in an attempt to force his regime from power.

Rubio told "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace that Qadhafi must be forced from power to avoid either a stalemate that could weaken the state and expose it to terrorist elements, or allow Qadhafi to beat the rebels fighting against him.

Good common sense.

On whether or not the United States should use ground troops, Rubio said: “I don’t think you go into a military engagement saying what you will not do. The United States has plenty of capabilities both overt and covert to help us in this goal of getting rid of Muammar Qadhafi.”

More common sense.  I've been appalled at how Field Marshal Obama has telegraphed every move we've made in Libya, providing foes with an outline of what we will and won't do.  What kind of military strategy is that?

He also said that “as long as Qadhafi is in power, you can’t protect civilians or prevent genocide."

Obvious.

Pressed on whether he’d support ground troops, Rubio said that the Libyan rebels didn’t want them, and that it wasn’t “the ideal scenario.”

COMMENT:  I get reader e-mails claiming that Rubio is too young and inexperienced to run for president.  These are legitimate concerns.  But, I must tell you that, every time Rubio speaks, he does so with a maturity and sense of judgment that outdistances older and more seasoned officeholders.

I believe that the GOP needs an exciting, vote-drawing candidate to win against the Obama machine in 2012.   It is not going to be easy.  Rubio should at least be considered, especially if he builds a solid record in the Senate during this year.

April 3, 2011      Permalink

ANOTHER REMINDER ABOUT THE BRITISH HEALTH SYSTEM – AT 10:43 A.M. ET:   As we move closer to implementation of Obamacare, brought to us by people who believe in nationalized health care, here is a reminder of what we might well face:

A former director of Britain's National Health Service, which runs the country's socialized medicine system, has died while waiting 9 months for an operation. The UK Daily Mail reports:

A former NHS director died after waiting for nine months for an operation - at her own hospital.

Margaret Hutchon, a former mayor, had been waiting since last June for a follow-up stomach operation at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.

But her appointments to go under the knife were cancelled four times and she barely regained consciousness after finally having surgery.

Her devastated husband, Jim, is now demanding answers from Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust - the organisation where his wife had served as a non-executive member of the board of directors.

COMMENT:   One of the curses of socialized medicine is long wait times.  And, since the centralized system has no competition, there's usually nowhere else to go...unless one is very rich and can fly abroad.  As usual, programs designed to help "the common people" wind up hurting them.

April 3, 2011      Permalink

WHAT A THOUGHT FOR A SUNDAY MORNING – AT 10:25 A.M. ET:  There's an old saying that if you talk about a bad dream, it won't come true.  So let's talk about this, as much as we can:

A flattering New York Times profile has increased speculation that Samantha Power, the Dublin-born aide to President Obama, could be his next Secretary of State or National Security Adviser.

She has been the main architect, along with Hillary Clinton, of the Libya policy and has an increasing influence in the White House inner circle.

No Irish-born person in recent history has had such influence on a president. Power, now 40, moved to the US from Ireland at age 10.

With Hillary Clinton due to step down after Obama’s first term, she would be a live candidate to succeed her if Obama wins re-election.

And the kiss of death:

She is clearly the foremost voice for human rights within the White House,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, told the New York Times “and she has Obama’s ear.”

COMMENT:  I must take my pills.  Samantha Power was ordered to stay out of the 2008 Obama campaign after she called Hillary Clinton a monster.  We're told that they've kissed and made up.  But that comment should indicate the level of her diplomatic skills.

As far as her influence on Libyan policy is concerned, that policy is totally confused and contradictory. 

Power is an amateur who won a Pulitzer Prize for a book on genocide.  That's pretty much it. 

Obama won't select a new secretary of state until after the election, assuming he's reelected.  That frees him of political pressure.  First, let's hope he's not reelected.  Second, if he is, let's hope he's developed at least some common sense.

April 3, 2011     Permalink

APRIL 2,  2011

CONTROL YOUR EXCITEMENT – AT 10:05 P.M. ET:  I know how much all of us anticipate having Barack Obama for another four years.  Oh, the progress, the vision, the intellect, the...fill in your own depressing thoughts.  Now, apparently, the anointed one will announce this week that, after much thought and prayer, he is willing to sacrifice four more years to the undeserving and unworthy American peope.  From The Politico:

President Barack Obama plans to announce his reelection campaign early next week in an electronic message to grass-roots supporters, Democratic sources tell POLITICO.

Obama launches with a recovering economy and a weak, fractured Republican field, but with chaos in the Middle East that adds unpredictability to an environment that points to likely reelection. Obama’s campaign, which could raise $1 billion or more, will be based in Chicago, just a few blocks from the headquarters of his historic 2008 race.

The most likely day for the campaign to file registration papers with the Federal Election Commission is Monday, but officials are not committing to a specific date in case some transcendent event in the world would overshadow the kickoff. Obama aides want to tell their supporters first, and so are not encouraging preview stories by the press.

The president’s announcement will be transmitted directly to supporters through text messages, email and social media, not with an appearance by Obama, the sources said.

Yeah, man, we want to be cool, right, man?

The launch could come any time, according to the sources. The website is ready, the donation button has been tested, and call sheets to key political supporters are set.

COMMENT:  It was clear during the midterm campaign, concluded in November, that Obama's base has lost a great deal of enthusiam.  But it can be fired up again by painting the opposition as monsters intent on ripping children from their parents and dismantling the Constitution.  Coming soon to a press release near you.

And let us not forget that the media will be even more in the tank for Obama than it was in 2008.  It has an investment in this inept man, and doesn't want that investment challenged or lost.  Obama is their 1960s dream, the culmination of a lifetime of leftist fantasy.  People love their fantasies.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

OUR WORST FEARS – AT 9:33 P.M. ET:  Are you getting the same sinking feeling that I am, that some of those leading the Mideast "revolutions" are not exactly in the same league as Jefferson, John Hancock, and Benny Franklin?  The Wall Street Journal reports:

DARNA, Libya—Two former Afghan Mujahedeen and a six-year detainee at Guantanamo Bay have stepped to the fore of this city's military campaign, training new recruits for the front and to protect the city from infiltrators loyal to Col. Moammar Gadhafi.

The presence of Islamists like these amid the opposition has raised concerns, among some fellow rebels as well as their Western allies, that the goal of some Libyan fighters in battling Col. Gadhafi is to propagate Islamist extremism.

Abdel Hakim al-Hasady, an influential Islamic preacher and high-school teacher who spent five years at a training camp in eastern Afghanistan, oversees the recruitment, training and deployment of about 300 rebel fighters from Darna.

Mr. Hasady's field commander on the front lines is Salah al-Barrani, a former fighter from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which was formed in the 1990s by Libyan mujahedeen returning home after helping to drive the Soviets from Afghanistan and dedicated to ousting Mr. Gadhafi from power.

Sufyan Ben Qumu, a Libyan army veteran who worked for Osama bin Laden's holding company in Sudan and later for an al Qaeda-linked charity in Afghanistan, is training many of the city's rebel recruits.

COMMENT:  What a great bunch of guys.  I can just see some of them invited to address a joint session of Congress.

In the Mideast, nothing is as it appears.  Reports out of Egypt, which we quoted here this morning, indicate a rise in the power of Islamists.

We were in the frying pan in the region.  Now we have to avoid diving into the fire.

April 2, 2011      Permalink

OH, THE TRUTH IT DOES COME OUT – AT 1:13 P.M. ET:  There has probably been more bluntness in Britain about press bias than in the U.S.  In Britain the discussion centers around the BBC, possibly the most overrated broadcaster in the world. 

Audiences, especially in the U.S., get taken in by those British accents.  "Sophisticated" Americans watch the BBC on public television, believing they're getting the truth because the reporters sound so good.  Ah, but the facts are different.  From London's Telegraph:

BBC presenter Michael Buerk has criticised the corporation for being "out of touch" with public opinion.

The veteran journalist accused BBC staff of making the left-wing Guardian newspaper their “bible” and political correctness "their creed”.

Mr Buerk, who presents Radio 4’s Moral Maze, was reviewing the memoir of his former colleague, Peter Sissons, who also attacks the BBC for having “institutional bias”.

Writing in political magazine Standpoint, Mr Buerk said: “What the BBC regards as normal and abnormal, what is moderate or extreme, where the centre of gravity of an issue lies, are conditioned by the common set of assumptions held by the people who work for it.”

He added: “It’s all very well-meaning, and painstakingly even-handed, but often notably adrift of the overriding national sentiment.”

Although he praised some BBC managers, including Mark Thompson, the director general, Mr Buerk said some of his bosses were “totally transparent t******.”

He concluded: “For those of us who love the place, and what it should stand for, these are worrying times.”

COMMENT:  These are worrying times indeed for those of us who love journalism.  Bias is far worse in other countries than in the U.S., with the rabid European left still having a lock grip on many news outlets in Europe, but some in the American media seem determined to catch up.

It's good to see BBC people speaking out about the Beeb's biases.  They've been evident for some time. 

April 2, 2011      Permalink

WORRY IN EGYPT – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:   Despite assurances from many "experts," the Islamists are apparently making their move in Egypt, which could have frightening implications for the region, and for the United States.  From The New York Times:

NAHIA, Egypt — Abboud al-Zomor — the former intelligence officer who supplied the bullets that killed President Anwar el-Sadat and is Egypt’s most notorious newly released prisoner — waxes enthusiastic about ending the violent jihad he once led.

“The ballot boxes will decide who will win at the end of the day,” Mr. Zomor said during an interview in his large family compound in this hamlet on Cairo’s western edge. “There is no longer any need for me to use violence against those who gave us our freedom and allowed us to be part of political life.”

In its drive to create a perfect Islamic state, his Islamic Group and other groups like it were once synonymous with some of the bloodiest terrorist attacks in Egypt. But they are now leaping aboard the democracy bandwagon, alarming those who believe that religious radicals are seeking to put in place strict Islamic law through ballots.

The public approval of the constitutional amendments on March 19 provided an early example of Islamist political muscle, the victory achieved in no small part by framing the yes vote as a religious duty. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Islamist campaign was the energy invested by religious organizations that once damned the democratic process as a Western, infidel innovation masterminded to undermine God’s laws.

COMMENT:  Let us not forget that a "democratic" election brought Hitler to power, brought Chavez to power in Venezuela, and brought Hamas to power in Gaza.   Free elections do not guarantee great results, nor do they even guarantee the election of those who would preserve the freedom.

And the question of the day still remains, "Who are the rebels of Libya?"  CIA operatives have been placed on Libyan soil to try to determine who.  It is a question we'll be asking throughout the Mideast.  A sectarian Egypt, led by or heavily influenced by, the Muslim Brotherhood would be a tremendous setback for American influence in the region.  Remember that we're still the Great Satan.

We hope the Arab spring doesn't turn into the Islamist winter, but don't bet your living room on a good outcome.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

MIDEAST ERUPTIONS – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  Demonstrations continue throughout the Mideast in what is being called "the Arab spring."  And, increasingly, Western observers are worrying about what comes after the spring.  Democracy...or something else?

One of the most critical Arab nations is Syria, where the government doesn't hesitate to turn guns on its people.  Predictions of mass demonstrations after Friday prayers yesterday did not disappoint, and death occurred:

(CNN) -- At least seven people died and dozens were injured as Syrian troops assaulted demonstrators who took to the streets after Friday prayers, witnesses and activists said.

Troops used gunfire amid protests in the Damascus suburb of Douma, according to witnesses and opposition sources, and one witness saw at least six dead demonstrators taken into a hospital morgue. Witnesses also said a man was shot in the head with a rubber bullet and dozens were injured.

Another death and 10 injuries occurred when troops shot at protesters marching toward the southern town of Al Sanameen, witnesses said.

Protests also were reported by witnesses in the cities of Daraa, Latakia, Homs, Baniyas and Kamishli, sources said. Opposition sources cited witnesses in Homs as saying thousands of people had gathered around a mosque. 

And...

One witness said security forces attacked thousands of protesters at the "big mosque" in the center of Douma with electric batons, tear gas and live ammunition.

"I have never in my life seen such violence: men shooting guns into an unarmed crowd without a thought," said the eyewitness, who had been hurt in an electric-baton beating and taken to the hospital for a head injury.

Along with the six dead, he said, he saw dozens of wounded, many of whom were seriously injured.

The American response to violence in Syria has been a mild rebuke to the government, but nothing even approaching the intervention we've mounted in Libya.  Our inconsistency and lack of a guiding policy is being duly noted.  Amateurs are at work.

Look for more violence next week, especially on Friday, the major day for Arab demonstrations.

April 2, 2011       Permalink

THE RIGHT THING – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  Occasionally, an Ivy League school does the right thing.  Now, you have to look carefully for these rare events, but they do occur. 

About a month ago Harvard announced the return of NROTC to its exalted campus.  Applause, applause.

But no Ivy symbolized resistance to the military more than Columbia University in New York, where members of my family have put in ample time pursuing their degrees.  The Columbia student riots of the late sixties are still recalled, with pain by grown-ups, and admiration by children who remain children.

But there is good news from the Columbia lion today:

More than four decades after Columbia University, the heart of the Vietnam-era student movement, banned R.O.T.C. from campus in a moment of 1960s antimilitary rage, the University Senate voted overwhelmingly on Friday to support efforts to bring the group back. 

The vote — 51 to 17, with 1 abstention — came in support of a Senate resolution to “explore mutually beneficial relationships with the armed forces of the United States, including participation in the programs of the Reserve Officers Training Corps.” It followed a series of sometimes venomous campus meetings and found its impetus in President Obama’s signing three months ago of a bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuality.

Dissenters, both on- and off-campus, dissented with their usual reflection and wisdom:

One former Weatherman, Brian Flanagan, who still lives in the Columbia area, was unrepentantly critical of the military and the R.O.T.C. in a brief interview on Friday.

“The U.S. armed forces are a blight on the planet,” Mr. Flanagan said. “I don’t support soldiers — I think they’re war criminals. So obviously, I’m against R.O.T.C. coming back.”

Well, there goes the neighborhood.

Columbia, before the sixties, contributed enormously to national defense.  That contribution was heralded in Herman Wouk's great novel, "The Caine Mutiny."  Naval midshipmen in World War II lived in Furnald Hall, where I later lived.  More naval officers in that war were produced by Columbia than by the Naval Academy.  The Manhattan Project, the drive to produce the atomic bomb, was so named because Columbia, which played a critical role, is in Manhattan.  And, of course, as the story points out, Dwight D. Eisenhower served briefly as president of Columbia in the late 40s, although his tenure is ridiculed by the society of smugness at Columbia, which still resents the presence of a mere "Army man."

It's good to see Columbia taking the first steps to return to its former tradition.  The sixties be damned.

April 2, 2011     Permalink