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MARCH 22,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

THE DISGRACE – Yesterday we saw the president of the United States pose for a picture in Cuba in front of a huge portrait of Che Guevara, a common murderer.  Today we saw the president go to a baseball game in Cuba with Raul Castro, after learning of the Brussels attacks.  He did the wave with Castro.  He looked right at home in the people's republic.  He is a disgrace to the presidency, and makes Donald Trump look like a statesman.  I think a lot of the anger we see in America is a direct result of the divisive, failing, and corrupt Obama presidency.

TERROR WARNING – From Newsmax:   Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels that killed more than 30 people and wounded more than 200 may signal a coming wave of terror from the Islamic State (ISIS), NBC News reports.  ISIS has claimed credit for the attacks.  NBC's Richard Engel reported Tuesday on "The NBC Nightly News" that a senior U.S. counterterrorism official says Brussels was "likely just the beginning" of an ISIS terror wave.  U.S. intelligence officials told NBC they are working on the assumption that the same ISIS network that carried out the coordinated attacks in Paris in November is responsible for the attacks on Brussels Airport and a subway station.  Aside from the human tragedy, which is the most important factor, of course, this could have a profound effect on who becomes the next president.

THE NEXT GENERATION – From the College Fix:   Approximately 40 students at Emory University were disturbed — disturbed, I tell you — about “pro-Donald Trump for president chalkings” that had appeared Sunday night throughout campus, and hence protested at the college administration building yesterday afternoon.  Student Jonathan Peraza, who led the protesters, shouted to administrators “You are not listening! Come speak to us, we are in pain!”  You read that right: “In pain.” Because of chalk graffiti which says “Trump 2016.”  “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains,” Peraza and the activists chanted, quoting Assata Shakur, who was sentenced to life in prison for her role in a cop killing.  Not exactly Marine Corps material.

March 22, 2016       Permalink

BRUSSELS – AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  There has been a major terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium.  Two bombs went off at the city's main airport and another in a subway station.  At least 26 are dead, many more injured.

The attacks come only days after one of the masterminds behind last year's Paris attacks was captured in Brussels.  Some terror experts speculate that these attacks may be retaliation for the arrest.  Others speculate that these attacks were long planned, but that their timing may have been accelerated out of fear that the man captured might be spilling the beans and exposing other members of his terror network.  From Fox: 

At least 26 people were killed and more than 100 injured as coordinated terrorist attacks rocked the Brussels airport and subway system during rush hour Tuesday morning in the Belgian capital.

Bombings at Zaventem Airport and the metro station in the heavily Muslim section of Maelbeek were almost immediately confirmed as terror attacks. The attack at the airport was reportedly accompanied by shouts in Arabic and gunfire.

"What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks," said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.

The attacks came four days after the main suspect in the November Paris attacks was arrested in Brussels, and even as Brussels was braced for new attacks.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. A source told Fox News that a credible ISIS social media account posted the message, “Mosul revenge for the Kuffar capital Brussels,” but it was not definitive that the terror group was behind the attacks.

The bombings in the European Union capital are certain to add new fire to the raging debate over refugees from Muslim nations where terrorist groups are active. Europe has taken in more than a million refugees, and terror groups including ISIS have said they are infiltrating the wave of migrants.

COMMENT:  At least the Europeans, not always stalwarts in the war on terror, immediately nailed this as a terrorist attack.  In Obamaland, as we've seen recently, every effort is made to downplay terror involvement in anything. 

Major cities around the world are now on heightened alert.  But Brussels was on heightened alert before these attacks.  It's the old story.  If someone is determined to carry out a terror attack, and has not been detected, the attack will probably succeed.

It was the Paris attack that propelled the campaign of Donald Trump forward, as he was seen as "tough."  We will see if this latest incident has an effect on our presidential campaign.

March 22, 2016       Permalink

UTAH AND ARIZONA VOTE TODAY – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  And the outcome could affect the Republican presidential race.  Ted Cruz is favored to take Utah, but Donald Trump is expected to take Arizona.  Of course, voters can sometimes surprise us, and neither state has been polled extensively.

The anti-Trump people are putting up a fight.  From the Boston Globe: 

A vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich—the only Republican candidate “with a real track record,” according to Mitt Romney—would be a vote for Donald Trump, according to Mitt Romney.

Or at least that’s what the former Massachusetts governor is telling voters in Utah and Arizona in a pro-Ted Cruz robocall. Audio per ABC News:

“This is a time for Republicans across the spectrum to unite behind Ted. He is the only Republican candidate who can defeat Donald Trump,” Romney says in a Cruz campaign robocall, first reported Monday by the Daily Caller.

“And at this point, a vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump,” Romney adds.

Romney announced Friday he himself would be voting for the Texas senator when he casts his ballot Tuesday in Utah’s caucuses. Arizona also votes Tuesday.

COMMENT:  Last week Romney was saying that Kasich was the only candidate in the race who had a real track record.  That just shows how confused and embarrassing the Republican race has become.  The Republicans are eating their own.

Trump had an interview with the Washington Post editorial board yesterday, and the results were less than stellar, especially in foreign policy.  The Post, unlike The New York Times, has a fair-minded editorial board.  Trump did not come off as a president, as a man who knew his stuff.  The anti-Trump forces are still reported to be determined and even optimistic that they can stop Trump from getting the GOP nomination.  But if the numbers say otherwise, the party can easily split into factions, with a number of embittered people staying home on election day.

March 22, 2016        Permalink

WARNING FROM A DEMOCRAT, NO LESS – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  Mr. Putin is playing games with his submarines, and even a Democratic senator from the northeast has noticed.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is deploying nuclear-armed submarines "dangerously close" to the United States and European allies, a Senate Democrat said following a trip to the Arctic Circle.

"No one is suggesting that Putin is contemplating a nuclear launch against a NATO country, but it's not clear how tethered to reality Putin is," Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters Monday. "And it should make us nervous that many of his submarines are starting to get dangerously close to the U.S. and our allies."

Murphy made the comments while arguing that the U.S. Navy needs to pursue an aggressive plan to replace aging submarines, which can thwart rival countries from gathering intelligence and maintain the security of global shipping lanes.

In recent years, Putin's navy has pursued a more aggressive strategy than even during the Cold War, Murphy said. "Russian submarines have been pushing out to the very precipice of NATO-ally waters," he said. "We have seen Russian boats coming closer to the U.S. and to our European partner ports than ever before, in immensely provocative ways — in ways that were rare even during the days of the Cold War."

COMMENT:  Of course, it should be pointed out that Murphy represents the submarine-building state of Connecticut.  But he's also right.  Both Russia and China are outbuilding us, and have become extremely aggressive.

I doubt if Murphy will get any satisfaction during the Obama administration, which has little interest in national defense.  Our equipment budgets have been cut to the bone.  But plenty of money has been found for "diversity" training in the armed forces. 

March 22,  2016     Permalink

MARCH 21,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 7:09 P.M. ET: 

RENT CONTROL – From AP:  GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A Colorado landlord will let dogs with good references live in the apartment he rents, but not anyone who backs Donald Trump.  Mark Holmes warned Trump voters not to call in an ad he placed last week for the two-bedroom apartment that’s part of his home in Grand Junction.  The 62-year-old told The Daily Sentinel that he doesn’t know what to do anymore about the possibility of the GOP front-runner getting elected but that he doesn’t want to live upstairs from someone who backs Trump.  How would he know who backs Trump unless the person told him?  And what would he do about an African-American lesbian woman who appeared with a DONALD button?  I see a beautiful court case.

WOW! – This is starting to make waves on the internet.  I'm sure an explanation is coming.  From the Washington Examiner:   Former President Bill Clinton asked Democratic voters on Monday to shrug off the "awful legacy" of President Obama's years in office in a speech Monday to support Hillary Clinton's campaign.  "Now if you don't believe we can all grow together again, if you don't believe we're ever going to grow again, if you believe it's more important to re-litigate the past, there may be many reasons that you don't want to support her," Clinton told a Spokane, Wash. audience.  "But if you believe we can all rise together, if you believe we've finally come to the point where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us and the seven years before that where we were practicing trickle-down economics with no regulation in Washington, which is what caused the crash, then you should vote for her," he added.  Trashing Barack Obama may not be the wisest thing for Hillary's campaign right now.  I don't understand this.  As noted, I expect an explanation to be issued.

WHAT'S THIS? – Donald Trump, expert on everything, said on CNN that the U.S. should rethink its role in NATO, and let the European countries defend themselves and pick up the tab.  This is stunning.  Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois came on refuting Trump, pointing out that, while we should insist Europe pay a larger share of its defense bill, this is hardly a time to threaten to pull out of NATO, with Russia in the Ukraine and menacing other countries in Europe.  Trump seemed to be going back to the disastrous periods of American isolationism, which always ended badly.  His statement stunned interviewer Wolf Blitzer.  It calls into serious question whether Trump can be trusted on critical issues of foreign policy. 

TAKING ABUSE FROM DICTATORS – From CNS:   (CNSNews.com) – In a joint press conference with Cuban dictator Raul Castro in Havana, Cuba, on Monday, President Barack Obama said he welcomes Castro’s criticism of the U.S.  “I actually welcome President Castro commenting on some of the areas where he feels that we’re falling short, because I think we should not be immune or afraid of criticism or discussion as well,” Obama said.  Oh please.  I'm happy to take criticism, but not from a thug.  I have no interest in hearing a career criminal critiquing the way I raise my children.  Obama is a real leftist, and proving it.

March 21,  2016     Permalink

CONVENTION RULES – AT 10:22 A.M. ET:   With so much buzz about a possible open Republican convention, we're starting to learn the intricacies of the convention process.  This whole thing could come down to a handful of votes.  From The Hill:

The possibility of a contested convention has put the spotlight on the unbound delegates who could determine the Republican presidential nominee.

Several unbound delegates told The Hill they are beginning to feel the pressure, now that party leaders are talking about a convention scenario that could prevent Donald Trump from winning the nomination.

"I’ve received hundreds of emails and I’m getting phone calls from people telling me who they think should be president and why," said Steve House, the chairman of the Republican Party in Colorado and an unbound delegate.

Under Republican Party rules, delegates from states that hold presidential primaries must be bound by those results. Those delegates must back their candidate for at least the first ballot at the GOP convention in Cleveland in July.

But many delegates — potentially close to 200 — are not bound by those rules.

A handful of states and territories — Colorado and North Dakota among them — chose not to hold a vote at all, which means most of their delegates will arrive at the convention free to cast their ballot for any candidate.

And in some states, the delegates who were bound to candidates no longer in the race — such as Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio — are unbound as well.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's a good primer.  Open conventions are great fun, and you may be sure the TV journalists are praying for one, but they can embitter a party to the point where the national campaign is fatally damaged.  It happened to the Democrats in 1968.  And the anger in the Republican Party today is already boiling over.

March 21, 2016       Permalink

TRUMP MAKING NICE? – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  Donald Trump may be starting a charm offensive to convince angry Republicans that he is a civilized grown-up.  From Fox:

Donald Trump will reportedly meet Monday in Washington with nearly two dozen influential Republicans, with the apparent hope of improving relations with the GOP establishment.

The Republican presidential front-runner will be in the nation’s capital to speak at the annual policy conference for AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a major pro-Israel group.

Trump’s meeting with Republican lawmakers and other party leaders, as first reported by The Washington Post, will be his first major discussion with them since last fall, when he was on Capitol Hill to protest President Obama’s Iranian nuclear agreement.

The off-the-record meeting was reportedly organized in part by Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions, who has endorsed Trump.

The names of the attendees have not been released, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told “Fox News Sunday” that he’ll be in his home state of Kentucky on Monday, while Congress is on a two-week recess.

COMMENT:  There are all kinds of reports about this meeting popping up on the internet.  One has it that anti-Trump Republicans will try to infiltrate it to confront Trump.  Other reports say that the make-nice meeting will have no effect, that angry Republicans with deep pockets are serious about trying to deprive Trump of the Republican nomination.

Stand by.  This is becoming an intriguing story.  If Trump fails at making peace with his opponents within the party, the combat could get much worse.  Trump fights.

March 21, 2016       Permalink

WARNING – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  The nuts are out in force again in the Mideast, and their targets are American soldiers.  From the Jerusalem Post:

Hezbollah fighters in Iraq have threatened to attack the American soldiers stationed in the country, following the decision by the US army to send reinforcements to Iraq to support the international coalition in its fights against ISIS.

In a statement released Sunday, the organization claimed: "the United States increasingly intervenes in Iraq's issues with its presence in the Iraqi joint operations command."

While the US army says it is sending reinforcements to Iraq to help the international coalition vanquish ISIS, Hezbollah's statement claimed the opposite.

"ISIS, the stepdaughter of the Americans, is taking its last breaths, so the Americans dispatched their ground troops to protect the "clinically dead" body of ISIS," Hezbollah's statement read.

"We have vanquished the American occupation with our quality and quantity in the past and we will continue attacking them, with our resources significantly increased. Iraq's streets are still filled with the ruins of their vehicles that destroyed our explosive devices, and those injured by their soldiers are still hospitalized.

"The occupation's coward soldiers should understand that however protective their vehicles are, these vehicles will become an obstacle for them and they will burn to death inside them," the statement read.

COMMENT:  Isn't Obama the president who claims he ended two wars?  Where are these wars?  Haven't found them.

We are sending a small number of American troops back into Iraq, and they're clearly in danger.  One was killed just a few days ago.  We can expect further casualties in a region that is on fire.

March 21,  2016     Permalink