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SUNDAY,  DECEMBER 28,  2008

TEMPER, TEMPER, TEMPER

Posted at 9:41 p.m. ET

I personally find this story very distressing.  One of the things some reporters noticed during the campaign was that Barack Obama did not do well under pressure.  He seemed to get testy, even rude.  You think about that when you realize the kind of crises he may have to face.

The problem has resurfaced.  I get the feeling that some in the press, no matter how in the tank their organizations may be for Obama, are not pleased by what they see.  The Politico reports:

HONOLULU – The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone – it’s been closing in on Barack Obama for some time...

...Obama even took the unusual step Friday morning of leaving behind the pool of reporters assigned to follow him, taking his daughters to a nearby water park without them. It was a breach of longstanding protocol between presidents (or presidents-elect) and the media, that a gaggle of reporters representing television, print and wire services is with his motorcade at all times.

Not exactly a good start for a "transparent" presidency.

After ordering a tuna melt on 12-grain bread, Obama approached reporters and placed his hand on the shoulder of pool reporter Philip Rucker of The Washington Post, who was scribbling away in his notebook.

“You don't really need to write all that down,” Obama said.

Whoops.  The reporter determines that, Mr. President-elect, not the person being covered.

All presidents and would-be presidents struggle with “the bubble” – the security detail and the always-there reporters that impose barriers to any spontaneous interaction with the outside world.

But Obama seems to be struggling particularly hard, particularly early.

Wait 'til he has to deal with the Arabs and Israelis.

Four years ago Obama was an Illinois state senator who was on his way to the U.S. Senate. Next month, he will become one of only a handful of modern presidents who has not endured a similar bubble as a governor or top U.S. official before taking office.

Hmm.  The experience thing.  Not relevant, not relevant.

And even though the pool photographers remained out of sight and without an image of these private moments, Obama seems to be tiring of the journalists who have followed him daily since the campaign.

“OK, guys, come on," Obama said last Sunday, looking toward photographers clicking away as he warmed up before a round of golf. “How many shots do you need?”

It’s been a progression. And Obama’s frustration shows in waves.     

How long do you think it will be before he blows up at a press conference?  On live TV?

Look, we can all sympathize with a young guy who has young kids, and wants some privacy.  That's fine.  But a low frustration tolerance isn't very healthy in a president.  He will have to make life-and-death decisions, and may have to do so in the glare of publicity. 

Eisenhower had a famous temper, but he kept it private.  Bill Clinton was known to go over the top, but generally in private.  If a president shows stress and anger in public, he starts to lose the aura that surrounds the office.  He can even begin to look weak.

Obama may need some good advice on this.

December 28, 2008.      Permalink          

SHOOTING CAROLINE DOWN

Posted at 8:58 a.m. ET

We've given considerable attention to the Caroline Kennedy saga in New York.  It's important for many reasons.  First, the successor to Hillary Clinton in the Senate is important by definition.  Second, if appointed to Clinton's seat in the Senate by the governor, Kennedy will be the subject of instant presidential talk for 2016.  Third, having endorsed Obama and helped defeat Clinton in the presidential primaries, Kennedy's appointment would be a direct insult to Clinton, just as Hillary is becoming secretary of state.

But the Caroline boomlet is running into stiff winds.  There is resentment.  There is talk of dynasty.  There is ridicule.  Michael Goodwin of the Daily News has written the most stunning rebuke of the once first daughter.  This is very strong stuff, especially in liberal New York.  His piece is called "Say goodnight, Caroline: How JFK's daughter flubbed the audition to become the next Senator Kennedy."  Pretty much says it, doesn't it?  Read on:

...a strange thing is happening on the way to the coronation. The wheels of the bandwagon are coming off. Fantasy is giving way to inescapable truth.

That truth is that Kennedy is not ready for the job and doesn't deserve it. Somebody who loves her should tell her.

Her quest is becoming a cringe-inducing experience, as painful to watch as it must be to endure. Because she is the only survivor of that dreamy time nearly 50 years ago, she remains an iconic figure. But in the last few days, her mini-campaign has proved she has little to offer New Yorkers except her name.

Yikes.  That is heresy.  People have been burned at the stake in New York for less than that.

Camelot must be Gaelic for chutzpah.  New York can do better.

And...

...the minute she faced the routine questions that help define a candidate for virtually any office, she had nothing to say. There was no "there" there.

It gets worse:

"As a mother, as an author, as an education advocate and from a family that really has spent generations in public service, I feel this commitment," she said. "This is a time when nobody can afford to sit it out, and I feel I have something to offer."

The "sit it out" part is revealing. Among those who want the job, she has done the least public service by any measure. She didn't even vote in about half the contested elections in the last 20 years.

Finally...

Limousine liberals are a dime a dozen, and carpetbaggers are nothing new in New York. And with the social scene constantly churning out the old for the next new thing, there's no reason middle-aged dilettantes can't also try their hand at politics.

They just can't start in the Senate.

That, from Goodwin, is a public knifing.  It is also a rebuke to President-elect Obama, who certainly had to approve this foray into politics by Caroline Kennedy, who headed his vice-presidential search team.

December 28, 2008.      Permalink                

GAZA - DAY TWO

Posted at 8:14 a.m. ET:

The Israeli operation in Gaza becomes more intriguing.  It no longer looks like a one-dimensional retaliation for Hamas rocket fire.  It looks like an attempt to bring down the Hamas government in Gaza - which seized control of the Gaza Strip by force - and replace it with the more moderate Palestinian Authority.

Despite the pro forma statements from Arab capitals, and their amen corner in the world's leftist precincts, other Arab statements are remarkable for what they say and don't say.  The Jerusalem Post reports:

Hamas could have prevented the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday in Cairo.

"We spoke to them and told them 'Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,'" Abbas said during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas called on Hamas to renew the cease-fire with Israel to avoid further bloodshed in Gaza.

Hmm.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the "dear Palestinian brothers."

And the foreign minister of Egypt, the most important Arab country, weighed in:

Aboul Gheit also attacked Hamas, saying the group had prevented people wounded in the Israeli offensive from passing into Egypt to receive medical attention.

"We are waiting for the wounded Palestinians to reach Egypt. They aren't being allowed to go through," he said.

Asked who was to blame for the dire situation in Gaza, the foreign minister replied: "Ask the party that controls Gaza."

No one is suggesting that these two worthies have become instant Zionists.  But their statements are stunning.  Clearly, neither has much use for Hamas.

This is speculation, but I wonder whether this whole Israeli operation is being coordinated with Washington, and even with the Obama people.  If Obama comes in and Hamas is driven from Gaza, his job in Middle East negotiations becomes that much easier. 

We'll see.  This could be a decisive moment, unless the rug is pulled out from beneath Israel by the usual forces of "realism" - read that "defeat" - in Western foreign ministries. 

December 28, 2008.       Permalink               

SATURDAY,  DECEMBER 27,  2008

FASCINATING TAKE ON GAZA - AT 9:55 P.M. ET:  From The Jerusalem Post:   Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah said Saturday that they were prepared to assume control over the Gaza Strip if Israel succeeds in overthrowing the Hamas government.

"Yes, we are fully prepared to return to the Gaza Strip," a top PA official told The Jerusalem Post. "We believe the people there are fed up with Hamas and want to see a new government."

COMMENT:  This is by far the most interesting statement on today's major combat in Gaza.  What follows is speculation, but the statement suggests that the Palestinian Authority isn't exactly anguished over Israel's air raid in Gaza, despite the usual condemnation it issued.  There might have even been some collusion between Israel and the PA.  Peace prospects would be far better if Hamas were driven out of Gaza.  It has not won many friends.

MORE ON CAROLINE - AT 8:43 P.M. ET:  The case of Caroline Kennedy gets curioser and curioser.  She's now sitting down with various, apparently friendly news organizations to discuss her bid to be appointed to succeed Hillary Clinton in the Senate.  But the results are less than spectacular.  This quote from today's New York Times:

After weeks of criticism that she had not opened up to the public or the press, Ms. Kennedy has embarked on a series of interviews. But in an extensive sit-down discussion Saturday morning with The New York Times, she still seemed less like a candidate than an idea of one: forceful but vague, largely undefined and seemingly determined to remain that way.

If that's The New York Times talking, the lady is in some trouble. 

By the way, there's a joke now circulating: 

Question:  After interviewing Caroline Kennedy, what do journalists call Sarah Palin?

Answer:  Genius.

By every account, Caroline Kennedy is a lovely woman, a class act, dignified and honorable.  I like her.  But appointment to the Senate is a serious step, and it's pretty clear she's on a sharp learning curve.  We're in perilous times, and I get the sense that most New Yorkers feel that we need a stronger voice.  I have no doubt that Mr. Obama can find some useful work for Caroline in his administration.

YOU KNOW, I JUST FORGOT - AT 8:51 A.M. ET:  From an AP interview with Caroline Kennedy: 

Kennedy offered no excuses for why she failed to vote in a number of elections since registering in New York City in 1988, including in 1994 when Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan was up for re-election for the seat she hopes to take over.

''I was really surprised and dismayed by my voting record,'' she said. ''I'm glad it's been brought to my attention.''

COMMENT:  Oh dear.  She is being supported by the same people who trashed Sarah Palin.  She makes Sarah look like a genius.

LET FREEDOM RING? - AT 8:47 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Times:  Last week, the European Parliament, meeting in Strassbourg, France, gave its Sakharov Prize honoring free speech to Chinese freedom campaigner Hu Jia. Bravo. The same day, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament cancelled a screening of the Dutch film "Fitna" on the grounds that criticizing Osama bin Laden and other terrorists is tantamount to "racism" against Muslims (never mind that the film is not a hate product and that Islam is a religion, not a race). Boo, hiss.

COMMENT:  The European Parliament, and the EU structure generally, are filled with politically correct types, many of them socialist bureaucrats who drank the anti-free-speech Kool-Aid long ago.  Their attitude is sickening, but not surprising.

OPEN THE CASH REGISTER, MABEL - AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  From The Washington Post:  COLUMBUS, Ohio -- As the economy sputters and tax revenue plummets, governors and mayors across the United States are lining up to ask President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress for hundreds of billions of dollars to plug holes in their budgets, arguing that services will suffer and joblessness will rise if Washington does not come to the rescue.

COMMENT:  Remember, it's for the children.  We certainly don't welcome suffering, but maybe some cost-cutting is in order.  Also, it's time governments looked at those "services" to find out exactly who's being served.  Often, it's only the people running the programs.  Some discipline is in order.

COMBAT IN GAZA

Posted at 7:38 a.m. ET

After days of warning that it would do so, Israel launched simultaneous air assaults into Gaza, retaliating for the scores of rockets fired into Israel earlier in the week.  The New York Times is doing some reasonably balanced early reporting on the action:

GAZA CITY — The Israeli Air Force on Saturday launched a massive attack on Hamas targets throughout Gaza in retaliation for the recent heavy rocket fire from the area, hitting mostly security headquarters, training compounds and weapons storage facilities, the Israeli military and witnesses said.

I'm glad The Times said "heavy rocket fire."  The accepted narrative of the leftist press usually plays down the rocket fire, asserting that the rockets aren't very accurate - as if that matters to the family that gets hit.

Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the head of emergency services at the Gaza Ministry of Health, said at least 140 Palestinians were killed in the raid.

Most were members of the security forces of Hamas, the Islamic group that controls Gaza, but a few civilians were also among the dead, including children. Scores more Palestinians were wounded.

Casualty figures are notoriously inaccurate from that region, but the report that most casualties involved members of Hamas security forces is an unusual admission. 

The air attack came after days of warnings by Israeli officials that Israel would retaliate for intense rocket and mortar fire against Israeli towns and villages by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza. On Wednesday alone, more than 60 rockets and mortars were fired, some reaching further than previously. While the rockets are meant to be deadly, and several houses and a factory were hit, sowing widespread panic, no Israelis were killed or seriously injured in the recent attacks.

Fair, well-written statement.  It's the terror factor that dominates.  When you have 60 rockets a day fired into an area, that's sheer terror. 

Expecting some kind of Israeli response, the Hamas leaders in Gaza had already been in hiding for two days.

Pretty much tells the story of these heroes.  They leave their people exposed and go into hiding.

We now await statements from the president-elect and his transition team.  Let's hope they don't issue one of those "both sides must exercise restraint" releases, and, instead, demand that Hamas in Gaza stop its rocket fire into Israel, which would end the threat of Israeli retaliation.  There is no rocket fire coming from the West Bank, which is run by the Palestinian Authority. and where the security situation seems to be improving. 

Story is ongoing.

December 27, 2008.       Permalink