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MARCH 29,  2016

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

HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A GLEE CLUB BEFORE? – From Breitbart:   The FBI is now investigating a group of 17 Middle Eastern men camping in the Mojave Desert who were briefly detained on Easter Sunday, then released, after a 911 phone call was made to the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station alleging that they had fired over 100 shots in the area.  “They were up all night chanting ‘Allah akbar’-type stuff,” an unidentified police officer was heard saying on an audio recording from a police scanner that was posted online.  It's a routine Mojave Desert function.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.

IT'S ALL FOR THE CHILDREN – From Fox:   Twelve current and former Detroit school principals were among 14 people accused of bribery and other crimes Tuesday by federal officials.  Investigators allege that Norman Shy, the owner of longtime Detroit Public Schools vendor Allstate Sales, would submit fraudulent invoices for chairs, paper and other supplies. To ensure the invoices would be approved, prosecutors claim Sly paid out more than $900,000 in cash, gift cards and checks to school officials.  In return, Sly's company received $2.7 million from the district for supplies that were delivered in far lesser quantities than promised or were never delivered at all.  Minority kids were the ones most hurt, but I guess their lives don't matter.

THE CRUZ SURGE – There's growing evidence that Ted Cruz is surging, but the continued presence of John Kasich in the raise is limiting the effects of the surge.  From Newsmax:  Billionaire developer Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz are virtually tied in a head-to-head race among Republican presidential voters, according to a national poll released Tuesday.  Here are the results of the latest Public Policy Polling survey of 505 GOP voters, conducted between Thursday and Saturday:  Trump: 46 percent.  Cruz: 44 percent.  However, in a battle involving Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the New York developer leads the field:
Trump: 42 percent.  Cruz: 32 percent.  Kasich: 22 percent.  The survey also found that 51 percent of Kasich supporters would back Cruz, versus 23 percent who said they would vote for Trump.  "The Republican race nationally would be a toss-up if it was just Trump and Cruz," said Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, in analyzing the results.  "But as long as Kasich stays in there splitting the anti-Trump vote, Trump continues to be in a good position," he said.  I'll speculate that Governor Kasich will get a phone call in the next few weeks from some influential chap urging him to get out of the race for the good of the party, and recommending that he run again in 2020, with establishment backing.  Might be an offer he can't refuse.

March 29, 2016       Permalink

TRUMP'S COMPLAINT – AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  I know we have Trump supporters among our very high-level readership, but frankly I'm tiring of the man.  He lowers the level of every argument he enters.  Last week, as we watched Brussels explode, as we saw our president humiliate this country and himself in Cuba and Argentina, Donald Trump was involved in a trivial debate over who insulted whose wife in the Republican nomination process.  I can't say that Ted Cruz was that much more impressive, but at least Cruz knows the issues.

A new tack by Trump is that the whole nomination process is unfair (to him), and he's promising trouble.  Lawsuits, to be specific.  It's the way the real-estate business is done in New York, but it's not usually the way we conduct a national campaign.  Rich Lowry, in the New York Post, explains just why Trump's position is weak. 

Donald Trump has made his first threat to sue over the procedures for selecting delegates to the Republican convention. It surely won’t be his last.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Ted Cruz may come out of Louisiana with as many as 10 more delegates than Trump, even though the mogul narrowly beat Cruz in the popular vote there. In a tweet, Trump pronounced it “unfair,” and worthy of litigation.

The Louisiana delegate picture isn’t evidence of anything untoward. Trump and Cruz both won 18 delegates on election night. Marco Rubio, who has since dropped out, won five, and another five are uncommitted. The Cruz campaign has done the nitty-gritty work to see that those delegates are likely Cruz supporters.

The only scandal here is that the Cruz campaign, built on grass-roots organizing muscle, knows the process and is working hard for every advantage. Trump’s plaint is a little like showing up at a Cricket match and crying foul because the opposing team knows the rules and all you know is that you swing a bat.

The Louisiana flap is a window into the intricate, state-by-state process of picking delegates to a convention in Cleveland where the allegiance of every last delegate might matter. If there is an open convention, Trump will argue that the voters should rule, not delegates no one has heard of, selected at obscure precinct, county, district and state meetings. He will, in short, declare the entire exercise of a contested convention illegitimate.

And...

Trump has thrived so far without an extensive, traditional political operation. But politics isn’t only about TV interviews and big rallies.

There’s a reason that the system also rewards candidates who can motivate and muster people to do the grass-roots activism involved in winning small victories at local meetings. This is literally getting people involved in the process, and it could take on an outsized significance in deciding the immediate future of the Republican Party.

Trump would be well-served to complain less about the rules, and learn more.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's a good primer on convention politics.  Lowry, of course, is correct.  Conventions matter.  They're the critical components wherein delegates can step in and name a candidate if no one has a majority, based on primaries and caucuses.  That's why they hold conventions.

Abraham Lincoln came into the 1860 Republican convention well behind.  He emerged as the nominee.  The 1976 Republican convention was contested, and Ronald Reagan almost upset incumbent President Gerald Ford.  It was at the 1952 convention that Dwight Eisenhower became the GOP nominee, not before.

I'm hoping for a contested convention.  It would be a breath of fresh air, and exciting.  And the best candidate might actually emerge. 

March 29,  2016     Permalink

ANOTHER CONFIDENCE BUILDER – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  British authorities openly fear a major terrorist attack, perhaps ten attacks simultaneously  This may be one of the reasons why.  From London's Telegraph: 

Fifty of Europe's most dangerous offenders including murderers, rapists, paedophiles and one of the world's most wanted terrorists have slipped into Britain undetected, a new analysis has found.

Vote leave, the eurosceptic campaign group led by Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, warned that foreign offenders are using EU freedom of movement laws to enter Britain despite being convicted of serious crimes.

At total of 45 of them have gone on to commit further crimes in Britain, including 14 who have gone on to kill, 13 who have committed sex offences and nine who carried out violent assaults. 

The cases include that of Arnis Zalkans, a Latvian suspected of murdering 14-year-old schoolgirl Alice Gross before killing himself. Before entering Britain he served seven years in prison in his home country for murdering his wife.

In another high-profile case Adelhamid Abaaoud, a Belgian citizen who orchestrated the Paris terror attacks, entered Dover last year despite being subject to an arrest warrant.

In several of the cases senior judges expressed their astonishment that the offenders had been allowed into Britain despite the severity of their offences.

COMMENT:  The policies that allowed these savages into Britain are the result of the relentless, ideological pursuit of power and influence by the political left.  Even under conservative governments, it is the left that often controls the everyday workings of many government offices.  That is true throughout Europe. 

As Toynbee said, great civilizations aren't murdered, they commit suicide.  These porous-border policies are part of the West's suicide.  If not stopped, we know what the result will be a generation from now.  Will the next generation forgive this one?

I hope Britain votes to get out of the EU, with its unaccountable, faceless bureaucrats.  Then maybe it can become Britain again.

March 29, 2016       Permalink

THE NEW NANNY STATE, WITH FISTS – AT 8:04 A.M. ET:  It seems that government nutrition "recommendations" are becoming more than recommendations.  Eat your tofu, or else.  From the Washington Free Beacon:

The federal government is taking steps to fine schools that do not comply with first lady Michelle Obama’s school lunch rules.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service issued a proposed rule Monday to codify parts of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was championed by Mrs. Obama.

The regulation would punish schools and state departments with fines for “egregious or persistent disregard” for the lunch rules that imposed sodium and calorie limits and banned white grains.

A West Virginia preschool teacher was threatened with fines for violating the rules by rewarding her students with candy for good behavior in June 2015. The teacher ultimately did not have to pay, but the school had to develop a “corrective action plan” with training on the policies.

The government now seeks to make fines enforceable by regulation. Section 303 of the law requires that the federal government “establish criteria for the imposition of fines” for all the Department of Agriculture’s child food programs.

COMMENT:  This is pretty chilling.  The intrusion of the federal government into our lives, our schools, grows greater every day.  And the dream of the current Democratic Party is to extend that control.  We are in danger of losing our very freedoms, but we seem indifferent.  The Republican Party would be the logical organization to depend on for a reversal, but would you depend on the Republican Party?

March 29,  2016     Permalink

MARCH 28,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:05 P.M. ET: 

FBI CRACKS TERRORIST'S PHONE – From Fox:   The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday it has successfully accessed data stored on the iPhone that belonged to the San Bernardino gunman without Apple's help, ending the court case against the tech company.  The surprise development effectively ends a pitched court battle between Apple and the Obama administration.  The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Apple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary.  The court filing in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how. Apple did not immediately comment on the development.  I'm glad they got the data.  It's important that we know how terrorists operate.  But there should be some protocols for problems like this, so the government doesn't have to sue a company.

A VERY BIG DEAL – From The Hill  A new report says 147 FBI agents are involved in the investigation surrounding Hillary Clinton.  The Washington Post reports that the large number of agents have been deployed to run down leads in the investigation, citing a lawmaker briefed by FBI Director James Comey.  The Post reported that the FBI has accelerated its investigation as officials want to avoid potentially announcing any action close to the November election.  Comey has signaled that he is personally close to the probe into Clinton's personal email account used during her time as secretary of State that was revealed last year.   The Clinton side is starting to leak all kinds of arguments about this case, the latest being that we shouldn't divert all these resources to investigating Hillary in light of the threat of terrorism.  We are moved to see their sudden interest in national defense.

THE COST OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS – From London's Mirror:   A German train operator has announced it is introducing women and children-only train carriages amid fears over sex attacks in the country.  The Regiobahn line between Leipzig and Chemnitz will introduce the carriages to increase security for women.  The carriages will be next to the train conductor in a bid to make women feel more safe.  A spokesman for the railway said: “The local proximity to the customer service representative is chosen deliberately.”  Germany is still reeling from a a string of sex attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve, allegedly carried out by dozens of migrants.  That's what it's come to.  But if someone suggests a change in immigration policy, he's called a racist, an Islamophobe, a hatemonger.  So-called "women's" groups have been generally silent on the rape epidemic, as they follow whatever leftist party line is fashionable.  Women are way down the list of priorities.

March 28, 2016       Permalink

FIDEL LECTURES OBAMA – AT 11:20 A.M. ET:  Fidel Castro – he's the older brother – has now responded to President Obama's visit to Cuba.  He's taken a page from the Iranian playbook, and spoken down to the president, showing how our gestures of friendship are regarded by petty dictators.  From The Politico: 

President Barack Obama did not meet with Fidel Castro during his historic visit to Cuba last week, but apparently that does not mean that Castro did not have any thoughts about el presidente norteamericano in his country.

Castro ripped into the president and his words during the visit in El Granma, the official state newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, bringing up Obama's relative youth, the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the role of both countries in ending the apartheid in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent in an article titled "El hermano Obama."

"Native populations do not exist at all in the minds of Obama," Castro wrote. "Nor does he say that racial discrimination was swept away by the Revolution; that retirement and salary of all Cubans were enacted by this before Mr. Barack Obama was 10 years old."

Referring to the 1961 failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs, Castro wrote of the U.S.' "mercenary force with cannons and armored infantry, equipped with aircraft ... trained and accompanied by warships and aircraft carriers in the U.S. raiding our country. Nothing can justify this premeditated attack that cost our country hundreds of killed and wounded."

Castro referred also to Obama's invocation of both countries' role in the end of apartheid in South Africa, remarking upon his country's 1975 intervention in Angola backing the leftist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola against other U.S.-backed revolutionary forces. Ridding apartheid South Africa of nuclear weapons "was not the goal of our solidarity," he wrote, "but [rather] to help the people of Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and other fascist colonial rule of Portugal."

COMMENT:  It just rambles on and on.  The Castros have been in power in Cuba for more than half a century, with no free elections.  There are no basic human rights.  The economy is a mess, which the Castro brothers conveniently blame on the United States.  The Castros have also given aid and comfort to a variety of leftist dictators around the world.  And they lecture us.

We certainly got a good deal with Cuba, didn't we?

March 28, 2016       Permalink

TRUMP WOBBLY? – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:  We noted last night that Trump and Cruz are close in California.  The question is whether this is a serious national trend.  From Paul Mirengoff at Powerline:

The pattern has been the same throughout this campaign season. After each big primary, I look at the polling for the next major contest — e.g., Florida, South Carolina, or Michigan — and see Donald Trump leading by around 15 points. As the primary approaches, there is talk that the gap might be narrowing, and on election day we hear that the late voters have broken in favor of a non-Trump option. Yet in the end, Trump wins comfortably.

But now, a look at polling for Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, two huge upcoming primaries, suggests that Trump is vulnerable. Moreover, one national poll indicates the same thing.

The next big primary will be in Wisconsin on April 5. A poll by Basewood Research conducted for the Washington Free Beacon shows Ted Cruz in the lead at 36.2 percent, compared to 31.4 for Trump and 20.8 percent for John Kasich. The margin of error is 4.4 percent.

In a head-to-head race between Cruz and Trump, the Texas man leads 47.8 to 36.2. To be sure, Kasich isn’t going to drop out before the Wisconsin race. However, perhaps some of his backers will vote “strategically,” in other words for Cruz — the candidate who can defeat Trump in this particular contest.

Wisconsin is an open primary. Trump has had the edge in such races thanks to his comparatively strong support among Democrats and independents. Republicans made up only 72 percent of the Free Beacon’s sample, yet Cruz still outdistanced Trump.

In another survey of Wisconsin, conducted this week by Emerson, Cruz leads Trump, albeit by only one point. The poll also puts Cruz just one point behind Hillary Clinton in a general election match-up. Trump, by contrast, trails Clinton by 9 points.

COMMENT:  It's those Trump/Clinton matchups that are generating a lot of second thoughts among Republicans.  In virtually every poll, Trump is shown as the weakest Republican candidate against Clinton.   And Trump's antics aren't doing him any good.  His chiding of Heidi Cruz, Ted Cruz's wife, in the last week, will not help him with women, a group with which he trails Clinton badly. 

March 28, 2016       Permalink

NEW DEFENSE WARNING – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Obama has gutted our national defense.  It's a hard thing to keep in mind day by day, but the impact has been dramatic.  He just doesn't care.  He really doesn't.

And I'm sorry to say that there are too many Republicans who seem not to care as well.  The zealous pursuit of a strong national defense, which marks the Reagan Republicans, has faded somewhat.  John McCain, though, is issuing another warning.  From Rowan Scarborough at the Washington Times:

Some lawmakers are warning that budget cuts, a troop drawdown and a decade and a half of wars have created spotty combat readiness, overburdened forces, more fatal accidents and beat-up weapons.

Weeks of congressional testimony from the top brass on next year’s $524 billion defense budget shows that many Army brigades and Air Force squadrons are less ready. The Marine Corps lacks sufficient aircraft to fully train pilots. The Army and Marine Corps can wage small wars but doubt they can meet the demands of a major conflict against, say, China or Russia, in a time frame called for in official military strategy.

After this sober news, the House Armed Services Committee sounded the alarm: “Concerns are growing louder and more frequent about the real-life consequences of cuts to personnel, training, equipment and other military resources as the security situation around the world becomes more precarious by the day.”

Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas Republican and committee chairman, issued scary statistics. The Marine Corps’ major, or “Class A,” accident rate has shot up from an average of 2.15 per 100,000 flying hours to 3.96.

“We track this very closely, and the simple fact is that we don’t have enough airplanes to meet the training requirements for the entire force,” said Gen. Robert Neller, Marine commandant. “The force that’s deployed is trained and ready.”

COMMENT:  Ashton Carter, Obama's fourth secretary of defense, is a good man, but national defense is not a priority for his bosses in the White House.  They believe in "smart" power, which means applying their graduate-school degrees to combat conditions.  Not a good idea.

We hope the next president will take this more seriously.

March 28,  2016     Permalink