MONDAY,  NOVEMBER 24,  2008

EL RUSHMO

Posted at 9:25 p.m. ET

One thing I'm able to do on days when I have to travel to meetings or briefings is to catch up on talk radio.  As you know, conservative talk radio is threatened by the possible reimposition of the so-called "fairness doctrine," a move some liberals are talking up.  There are also other governmental gimmicks that can threaten its existence, like "localism," where stations would be forced by the Federal Communications Commission to respect "local" interests and views. 

I was listening to Rush Limbaugh on the way into New York City today.  He is, more than anyone else, the symbol of conservative talk radio.  Some like him, others loathe him.  But what struck me today, as it has many times, is what a superb broadcaster Rush is.  What also struck me is how well prepared he is.  Yes, he can be over the top.  Yes, we sometimes wonder if he's serious about everything he says.  But Rush knows his stuff.  He can make an argument based on facts.  He opposes and he can attack, but never viciously.  He goes about his politics with a little twinkle in his eye, which comes through even on radio.  There is substance to his show.  I always feel I learn something.

I simply cannot understand the attacks on Rush as a "hate" broadcaster.  I've never heard hate, whereas I heard it all the time on Air America, the failed liberal talk network.  Rush is entertaining, and informational.  Hate is not part of the package.

At a time when the mainstream press is completely in the tank for President-elect Obama and the liberal legions, we need Rush, and we should defend him against the slurs and false charges of an irrational opposition.  Rush didn't get to where he did by being poor at what he does.  He got to the top by being very good. 

Conservative talk radio is, today, truly "alternative" radio.  It deals with issues that the mainstream media ignore or underplay.  It is important, not just for those of our persuasion, but for the national debate.  Rush is a critical part of that debate, and he must continue.

November 24, 2008.      Permalink           

COLMES AWAY - 8:10 P.M. ET:  Alan Colmes will leave Hannity & Colmes, a staple of the Fox News Channel, at the end of the year, it was announced today.  He will remain with Fox, with which he has a new contract.

COMMENT:  Colmes is a good guy and a good sport.  He's been the liberal half of the program, and I always enjoyed listening to him.  There is no word if he's to be replaced, but I hope they do put in a thoughtful liberal.  Good debate is healthy.

NOW TIGER CAN GET A MERCEDES - 7:32 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:  General Motors and Tiger Woods are ending their longtime endorsement agreement one year early. The automaker is looking to cut costs and Woods plans to spend more time with his family, a General Motors spokesman said Monday.

COMMENT:  Wait, wait.  You mean endorsing Buicks took a lot of time from the family?  Where did he have to go to say, "Buy a Buick"?

THE BUSH GUYS WIN ONE! - 7:27 P.M. ET:  A major legal victory in the war on terror.  The Holy Land Foundation, one of those "charitable" groups, has been found guilty on all counts in a retrial in Dallas.  There was a-weepin' and a-wailin', but not on the government side this time.  The Dallas News account is here.   Scott Johnson's analysis at Power Line is here.  With the evidence, we can win these cases in court.  It's an important day.

MORE DOW - AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  The Dow is now up 351, as Obama is about to announce his economic team on TV.

COMMENT:  Caution.  News like this doesn't have much of an effect beyond a few days. The holiday will intervene.  Let's see what economic developments actually occur.  

HOW THE DOW? - AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  The dow is up 300.  This, we assume, is because Wall Street likes the names of Obama's economic team, and Citigroup will apparently be rescued by the feds. 

THROUGH FRENCH EYES

Posted at 9:01 a.m. ET

Reader Hunter Schultz alerts us to a wonderful - just wonderful - article by a French soldier serving close to American troops in Afghanistan.  Hunter got this from his friend, Renee Nielsen, in Mumbai, India, which shows the power of the internet to bring us material that we'll never see in the mainstream media. 

Some things should not be condensed.  Herewith, the whole piece, at times a bit awkwardly translated, but highly recommended:

“We have shared our daily life with two US units for quite a while - they are the first and fourth companies of a prestigious infantry battalion whose name I will withhold for the sake of military secrecy. To the common man it is a unit just like any other. But we live with them and got to know them, and we henceforth know that we have the honor to live with one of the most renowned units of the US Army - one that the movies brought to the public as series showing “ordinary soldiers thrust into extraordinary events”. Who are they, those soldiers from abroad, how is their daily life, and what support do they bring to the men of our OMLT every day ? Few of them belong to the Easy Company, the one the TV series focuses on. This one nowadays is named Echo Company, and it has become the support company.

They have a terribly strong American accent - from our point of view the language they speak is not even English. How many times did I have to write down what I wanted to say rather than waste precious minutes trying various pronunciations of a seemingly common word? Whatever state they are from, no two accents are alike and they even admit that in some crisis situations they have difficulties understanding each other.

Heavily built, fed at the earliest age with Gatorade, proteins and creatine - they are all heads and shoulders taller than us and their muscles remind us of Rambo. Our frames are amusingly skinny to them - we are wimps, even the strongest of us - and because of that they often mistake us for Afghans.

Here we discover America as it is often depicted : their values are taken to their paroxysm, often amplified by promiscuity lack of privacy and the loneliness of this outpost in the middle of that Afghan valley. Honor, motherland - everything here reminds of that : the American flag floating in the wind above the outpost, just like the one on the post parcels. Even if recruits often originate from the hearth of American cities and gang territory, no one here has any goal other than to hold high and proud the star spangled banner. Each man knows he can count on the support of a whole people who provides them through the mail all that an American could miss in such a remote front-line location : books, chewing gums, razorblades, Gatorade, toothpaste etc. in such way that every man is aware of how much the American people backs him in his difficult mission. And that is a first shock to our preconceptions : the American soldier is no individualist. The team, the group, the combat team are the focus of all his attention.

And they are impressive warriors! We have not come across bad ones, as strange at it may seem to you when you know how critical French people can be. Even if some of them are a bit on the heavy side, all of them provide us everyday with lessons in infantry know-how. Beyond the wearing of a combat kit that never seem to discomfort them (helmet strap, helmet, combat goggles, rifles etc.) the long hours of watch at the outpost never seem to annoy them in the slightest. On the one square meter wooden tower above the perimeter wall they stand the five consecutive hours in full battle rattle and night vision goggles on top, their sight unmoving in the directions of likely danger. No distractions, no pauses, they are like statues nights and days. At night, all movements are performed in the dark - only a handful of subdued red lights indicate the occasional presence of a soldier on the move. Same with the vehicles whose lights are covered - everything happens in pitch dark even filling the fuel tanks with the Japy pump.

And combat ? If you have seen Rambo you have seen it all - always coming to the rescue when one of our teams gets in trouble, and always in the shortest delay. That is one of their tricks : they switch from T-shirt and sandals to combat ready in three minutes. Arriving in contact with the enemy, the way they fight is simple and disconcerting : they just charge! They disembark and assault in stride, they bomb first and ask questions later - which cuts any pussyfooting short.

We seldom hear any harsh word, and from 5 AM onwards the camp chores are performed in beautiful order and always with excellent spirit. A passing American helicopter stops near a stranded vehicle just to check that everything is alright; an American combat team will rush to support ours before even knowing how dangerous the mission is - from what we have been given to witness, the American soldier is a beautiful and worthy heir to those who liberated France and Europe.

To those who bestow us with the honor of sharing their combat outposts and who everyday give proof of their military excellence, to those who pay the daily tribute of America’s army’s deployment on Afghan soil, to those we owe this article, ourselves hoping that we will always remain worthy of them and to always continue hearing them say that we are all the same band of brothers."

It is inspiring to read things like that.  I wish I could read those words in The New York Times or The Washington Post.  Maybe - miracles occur - I will some day.  But let us be grateful to the French soldier who paid such a warm tribute to our soldiers.

November 24, 2008.       Permalink          

CHAVEZ SHOVED - AT 8:08 A.M. ET:   CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez’s supporters suffered defeat in several state and municipal races on Sunday, with the opposition retaining power in oil-rich Zulia, the country’s most populous state, and winning crucial races here in the capital.
The losses were Mr. Chávez’s second setback at the polls in the past year, after the defeat of a proposed constitutional overhaul last December that would have enhanced his powers. The results will put opponents of Mr. Chávez in charge of areas with about a third of Venezuela’s 26 million people.

COMMENT:  There is occasionally good news.  Savor it.  Since Hugo Chavez got wounded, I'm sure Jimmy Carter suspects election fraud.

RICE CAKES - AT 7:42 A.M. ET:  From the Jerusalem Post:  The fact that Israel and the Palestinians have not reached a peace agreement and will likely fail to do so by the end of 2008 is "largely due to" political turmoil in Israel, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday night.  "Even though there was not an agreement by the end of the year, it is really largely because of the political situation in Israel," Rice told reporters.

COMMENT:  Leave it to Condi Rice to sour the milk just as she's leaving office.  Like most products of the Bush 41 regime, and like all disciples of Brent Scowcroft, she has trouble distinguishing America's friends from its enemies.  Israeli politics are a factor, but Hamas controls Gaza, Hezbollah is on Israel's northern border, the Palestinian Authority is in chaos, and Iran threatens.  Rice might have mentioned these things.  The chill here is that Scowcroft apparently is influencing President-elect Obama.  Obama can do better.  Much better.   

THE BAMWATCH

Posted at 6:45 a.m. ET

A few words about personnel in a new administration.

The consensus in our precincts is that Mr. Obama has made some good choices thus far to fill the positions in his administration.  No, he hasn't resurrected Milton Friedman, and we can't expect him to try.  But, so far, for a center-left administration, not bad, not bad at all.  If Obama can put up with Hillary's antics and chronic dishonesty, we probably can as well.

But please remember two things:  First, people aren't policies.  We like to think they are, and we satisfy ourselves by saying that "sound" people will make good policy choices.  But history cautions us.  "Sound" people get used to the trappings of office and the great parties in Georgetown salons.  It's amazing how flexible they suddenly become once they take an oath.  They serve at the pleasure of the president, and displeasing him is not an option.  It will be Mr. Obama who sets the policies, and his appointees who carry them out.  We have not heard those policies explained in detail, so we must be careful.

Second, people can be bypassed.  The most glittering names can suddenly find themselves with little to do.  Colin Powell was turned into a messenger by President Bush.  Cyrus Vance resigned as secretary of state in the Carter government because his advice was rejected.  And, of course, Supreme Court justices are famous, or notorious, for going their own way once the robes are fitted. 

So, good people don't necessary translate into good government.  Although I think he overstated the case and went trendy, David Halberstam illustrated that argument in "The Best and the Brightest," about the brilliant stars of the Kennedy and Johnson administration who handled Vietnam in a less-than-stellar manner. 

What will the president do?  What will his appointees be asked to do?  Those are the key questions.

November 24, 2008.      Permalink          

SUNDAY,  NOVEMBER 23,  2008

DIVINE NOTE AT 11:32 P.M. ET:  From The Politico:   President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.  On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.

COMMENT:  Given the church he belonged to in Chicago, with Rev. Wright at its helm, maybe the gym is an improvement.

VENEZUELA VOTES - 3:52 P.M. ET: 

Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan voters choose state and local officials today in elections President Hugo Chavez has turned into a plebiscite on his presidency.

Chavez, 54, whose coalition holds almost every seat in the National Assembly, is seeking a sweep by his Venezuelan United Socialist Party to tighten his grip on regional governments. The opposition is betting that falling oil prices, faster inflation and spiraling crime will erode support for Chavez's socialist revolution.

COMMENT:  "Holds almost every seat in the National Assembly."  I'm sure the elections are fair and honest.

OBAMA WHEELS - 3:39 P.M. ET:   From The Times of London, describing Obama's new presidential limo: 

The armour-plated car, which has a raised roof, windows up to 5in thick, extra-strength tyres and a body made of steel, aluminium, titanium and ceramics, is thought to be based on a GMC 2500 truck that gets less than 10 miles to the gallon. Three cars are believed to be in production so that two can serve as decoys.

While security is paramount - the car is built to survive roadside bombs as well as gunfire - there are hybrid four-wheel drives on the market, such as Ford’s Mercury Mariner, which some critics believe could have been adapted for the president.

COMMENT:  Watch the environmental press spin this.  After Al Gore with his huge house and private jets, they can't exactly advocate leading by example.

SLEEPER CRISIS - KOREA - AT 9:49 A.M. ET:    SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea made clear on Sunday it will not back down in mounting tensions with North Korea, which has threatened to shut their heavily armed border next week over what it sees as Seoul's antagonistic approach to relations.

COMMENT:  Watch this one.  A crisis can erupt on the Korean peninsula at any time.  South Korea now has a non-appeasement government, and the North clearly doesn't like it.  In addition, there are signs that North Korea is trying to get around its international commitments regarding its nuclear and arms-sales programs.

A KEY POST - EDUCATION - 9:38 A.M. ET:  The Washington Post, while generally praising Obama's appointments thus far, points out that a key position is unfilled:

Another selection that will merit scrutiny is Mr. Obama's education secretary: Will the choice reflect his stated commitment to reform? Will it be someone with hands-on experience in education and a proven willingness to experiment? While the new president's attention is understandably focused on the economy, not to mention the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's critical to have someone who comes to the education post with those credentials.

COMMENT:  Dead on.  Our educational system is overwhelmed with mediocrity, political correctness and careerism.  The Democratic Party is overwhelmed with the teachers' unions.  The president-elect clearly values education.  The question is whether he can overcome his party's special-interest mentality and appoint someone who reflects the needs of children, not the needs of the educational establishment.

OBAMA'S CHOICES

Posted at 8:56 a.m. ET

Reflecting on President Kennedy yesterday, on the 45th anniversary of his death, I recalled a story told in David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest."  After an early cabinet meeting in the new Kennedy administration, Vice President Lyndon Johnson took a trip up to Capitol Hill to see his old friend, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn.  Johnson expressed amazement at all the Ivy League professors and Ph.D.'s in the Kennedy White House.  Rayburn leaned back, with a look of worry on his face, and replied that, while that was impressive, he wished that just one of them had run for sheriff.

The moral, of course, is that practical experience, experience close to the people, was also important in government.

The Rayburn story has special significance now, in light of the president-elect's recent and rumored appointments.  David Brooks of The New York Times commented:

This truly will be an administration that looks like America, or at least that slice of America that got double 800s on their SATs. Even more than past administrations, this will be a valedictocracy — rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes. If a foreign enemy attacks the United States during the Harvard-Yale game any time over the next four years, we’re screwed.

Over-intellectualizing a problem is always a danger.  However, so far, the Obama team does pass muster in the practical experience department.  An economic team with Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Larry Summers at the White House is sound.  Look, Obama is not going to appoint candidates from Newt Gingrich's Rolodex.  But, so far - and we reserve the right to scream loudly - I don't see any nut cases.  From our viewpoint, we're probably getting as good as can be expected. 

Concerns about Eric Holder at Justice, yes.  Concerns about Queen Hillary at State, of course.  But Cindy Sheehan will not be national security adviser and Code Pink will not have an office in the West Wing.  At least that's a cause for relief.

Now the team, and the ones to join it next, must perform.  In this they will need the help of the sub-cabinet and staff officials.  We should look as carefully at those appointments as we do at the ones at the top.  We must also look at those who are not appointed, but are called upon to give the new president advice.  Here I must express concern, as I have before, over the presence of Brent Scowcroft, Bush 41s national-security adviser, and a man Mr. Obama apparently consults fairly often.  An American security policy must always be, to satisfy the demands of this nation, a combination of idealism and realism.  Scowcroft, in my mind, is a bit too much of a realist, and, despite his military background, never seemed to believe much in the unique qualities of his own country.  But those qualities are what make us America, and I hope the new president keeps that critical notion in mind.  We are not France, and we are certainly not Germany.

November 23, 2008.      Permalink