Redstate

Posted at 1:13am on May 13, 2008 Singing: "They're Out Of Touch/The New York Times . . ."

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The Times has one of its usual, dyspeptic editorials up attacking the Bush Administration for threatening to veto the homeowner bailout bill currently being considered by Congress. At the end, we get this:

The House is to be commended for defying Mr. Bush's veto threat, especially the 39 Republicans who joined all the House Democrats. When the Senate considers a similar measure, Republicans there are likely to face pressure, too. At least the Senate bill will probably not be considered until after Memorial Day. While home for the holiday, senators are sure to hear from constituents about the need for mortgage relief. That might inspire lawmakers to do what Mr. Bush is unwilling to do.

Read on . . .

Posted in Economy | Subprime Mortgage Bailout — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:00am on May 13, 2008 If you have ever wondered what an angel looks like...

...or even if such a wonder could even exist...

By Moe Lane

...then allow me the privilege of showing you one.

Irena Sendler, 1910-2008. More details here, H/T (and photo) AoSHQ.

Posted in Irena Sendler | Miscellanea — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:19pm on May 12, 2008 Open Season on Obama Advisers

Watch Your Own Backs, You’ve Got no Support from the Top

By Mark I

Moe Lane points to a Jake Tapper Piece detailing the numerous times Sen. Barack Obama has placed blame on his advisers for his radical policy positions. Less noticed is the growing tendency for Obama to drop those advisers like hot rocks the minute that their comments explaining Obama’s positions become known.

It all started with the case of Austan Goolsbee, the University of Chicago professor and Obama economics adviser who was caught telling Canadian officials, no doubt in English and French, that Sen. Obama didn’t really think that NAFTA needed to be renegotiated. It was all just campaign rhetoric, Goolsbee helpfully explained. The following week, Samantha Power, Harvard professor (Obama apparently collects university professors) and Obama campaign foreign policy adviser told the BBC that Obama had no intention of following the plan he had campaigned on for close to a year for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. “He will, of course, not rely on some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or a U.S. Senator,” she said. But of course; and pardon me, but would you have any Grey Poupon?

Power resigned from the campaign, allegedly because in the same interview she referred to Sen. Hillary!™ Clinton as a “monster.” But Clinton’s negatives are so high that it would have been hard for most of America to find fault with that statement. No, the more damaging comments, and the ones she was kicked to the curb over, were the ones that exposed Obama’s real position on Iraq, and exposed him as a typical politician saying one thing to get elected while planning to do something else entirely.

Last week, another Obama adviser was unceremoniously dismissed for doing his job. Only this time, Sen. John McCain’s campaign deserves credit for forcing Obama to reduce his adviser corps by one. McCain pushed back hard on the question of Obama’s relationship with the Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, and forced Obama’s hand. The incident is revealed the thin-skinned nature of the Obama campaign, and provided a model that McCain should follow for the remainder of the election.

Read on…

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hamas | John McCain | Liberals | Obama campaign | Obamafiles — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:05pm on May 12, 2008 Hey, a flag pin!

I hope none of his supporters are bitter at him for having it on.

By Moe Lane

The Senator's wearing it in West Virginia - like Allahpundit notes, can't imagine what he's doing there in the first place - which will no doubt allow him to be truly inspiring to the quaint inhabitants thereof. Or at least give him a shot to be not beaten by 40 points (yes, that bad).

Of course, it does sort of shoot down as nonsensical blathering all that stuff before about his resolute refusal to pander by wearing a flag pin. On the other hand, you can argue that it looks more like he was pandering by not wearing a flag pin, which says quite a bit about a large fraction of his base. On the gripping hand, this change back to a flag pin - now that he's assuming that he's both safe and the nominee - actually gives me a small bit of hope: it suggests that he has almost as low an opinion of the collective brain and spine of progressives as I do.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama — Comments (11)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:21pm on May 12, 2008 For Obama, what is a "wound" and a "sore" that "infects" our foreign policy?

By Soren Dayton

Why, our policy with respect to Israel, of course:

JG: Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?

BO: No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable. I am absolutely convinced of that, and some of the tensions that might arise between me and some of the more hawkish elements in the Jewish community in the United States might stem from the fact that I’m not going to blindly adhere to whatever the most hawkish position is just because that’s the safest ground politically.

What kind of solution would that be? As I noted earlier, some of his allies seem to think, to quote the LA Times:

And yet the warm embrace Obama gave to Khalidi, and words like those at the professor's going-away party, have left some Palestinian American leaders believing that Obama is more receptive to their viewpoint than he is willing to say.

You don't say.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Israel — Comments (18) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 5:13pm on May 12, 2008 Another Reply To Newsweak

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Regarding this story discussed here, we have this reply, which lists the salient objections in short and sweet fashion. In addition, the McCain campaign has taken action against the smear and you can find a reply to Newsweek's Jon Meacham from Mark Salter of the McCain camp underneath the fold.

Read on . . .

Posted in 2008 | In The Tank for Barack Obama — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:43pm on May 12, 2008 Josh Bresnahan: Dip Shtick

By Erick

I don't think anyone really expects anything less from the Politico whose "journalists" did multiple hatchet jobs on Fred Thompson that, when video surfaced, were directly contradicted by facts.

There is also the famous Thompson to drop out article that appeared just as voting was starting in Iowa and which proved bogus.

Then, of course, there is the Hillary doesn't have a lock on Pennsylvania story that you had to read multiple times to even posit a guess as to why they thought so.

So today Josh Bresnahan, one of the Politico's "journalists" pours out his sarcasm on Human Events' Jed Babbin for calling Steny Hoyer "Boss Hoyer." Jed's article focuses on Hoyer's testimony before a House committee looking into Democrat violations of House rules.

Bresnahan casts aspersions on Jed's journalistic integrity while seeking to downplay what the House is looking into -- whether or not a vote was closed and then reopened in violation of House rules to ensure a Democrat win. Along the way, the "journalist" identifies Babbin as

an unsuccessful Republican congresssional candidate and former undersecretary of Defense under the first President Bush

Well, he got the "undersecretary of Defense" part right, but Jed has not run for office since high school, and he won that race.

Glass houses, stone throwing, and all that.

Posted in Miscellanea | Politico — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:22pm on May 12, 2008 Jake Tapper defends Senator Barack Obama's staff.

Oddly, he's defending them from Senator Barack Obama.

By Moe Lane

[Whoops! H/T Instapundit]

This will do for quote of the day: it's the culmination of an entertaining little post about the number of times that the junior Senator from Illinois has courageously explained how a particular gaffe, mistake, lie, oopsie, and/or omission was clearly the responsibility of a staff member* (he counts 14, and the primary's not even over yet). Tapper can't help but speak truth to power, here:

And for the record, yet again, let me state that I find Sen. Obama's staff unfailingly competent and polite, courteous and efficient, and I once again express my regret that Sen. Obama does apparently not feel the same way.

I'm not going to even try to beat that one, Jake.

Moe Lane

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:40pm on May 12, 2008 Yes, Experience Matters

The Green Candidate

By Dan McLaughlin

Does Barack Obama's inexperience matter - and should it?

Who ya gonna call?

I. Experience Matters In The Presidency

The presidency is an enormous, complex and dangerous job. The president's first and foremost responsibility is as the Commander-in-Chief, with responsibility for reacting, sometimes without time to exhaustively gather and sift the best possible information and explore all the alternatives, and with the need at times to rally the nation to do difficult and painful things. The president is also the head of the vast, sprawling executive branch, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, the head of his or her party, the appointer of life-tenured federal judges and scores of influential bureaucrats, the submitter of budgets and proposer of legislation. No president comes to the job fully prepared for all its demands. But the more of those demands the president comes truly unprepared for, the more difficulty he or she will have in mastering them all at once.

While there are a variety of life experiences that are useful for a president to have, to my mind there are five types of experience that are particularly important:

Read On...

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | John McCain | Obamafiles — Comments (30)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:47pm on May 12, 2008 The Sadrist/Iraqi Government "Truce" -- A play for peace, or a quick time out to rearm and catch their breath?

Time will tell, but for now the bullets are still flying

By Jeff Emanuel

Note: More background is provided in this Human Events column.

Over the weekend, spokesmen for the Iraqi government and the Sadrist political bloc confirmed what our own lovable fuzzball Moe Lane posted here Friday night: that a cease-fire agreement concerning Sadr City had been reached. A large Shi'a district northeast of Baghdad, Sadr City has been the site of intense fighting between Jaish al Mahdi (JAM, or "Mahdi Army") militants and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and coalition forces for the last six weeks or so. During that time, JAM has lost exponentially more of its fighters than the ISF and coalition forces have.

Sadrist leaders made a series of concessions in their rush to get a peace deal inked -- though whether or not that deal will actually be honored is another question. The deal and the likelihood of its being lived up to are explored below the fold.

Read on.

Posted in Iraq | Mahdi Army | Muqtada al-Sadr | Nouri al-Maliki | Sadr City | War — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:54am on May 12, 2008 China Overheats

No End In Sight

By blackhedd

Several worrisome trends in the Chinese economy that have been in place for nearly a year and a half are charging ahead with no end in sight. Here’s a news story about it.

In a word: inflation. China simply has too much money, and not enough economy. That’s putting tremendous strain on the government, which controls the economy tightly. And it’s opening up big questions about whether the country can continue its historically-unprecedented rate of change.

More…

Posted in China | Economy | foreign exchange | inflation | Olympics | yuan — Comments (15)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:24am on May 12, 2008 Obama, Hamas, Obama's circle, and Iran's grand strategy

By Soren Dayton

Much has been written about the firing of Bob Malley by Barack Obama's campaign. Commentary's Jen Rubin asks one of the most important questions. What do Obama's statements on Iran and the Palestinian question have to do with expressions of support?

Hamas endorsed Obama. It is worth considering why. Is it because he favors direct, presidential talks with Hamas’ sponsor Iran? Or because Hamas sees him as lacking resoluteness or as excessively sympathetic to the Palestinian cause? And it’s not as if Hamas is an isolated case of fringe groups and individuals favoring Obama.

Consider Jen's first question in the context of this from today's Washington Times, quoting a Hamas official:

"What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It's going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it's going to happen in 2010 in Egypt," Sheik Khader said in an interview. "We are seeing a redrawing of the map of the Middle East where the forces of resistance and steadfastness are the ones moving the things on the ground."

An Israeli legislator sees something quite concrete in this "redrawing":

"What is going on in Lebanon at this hour is actually the overthrow of Lebanon by Hezbollah. The democratic Lebanese government will become a puppet government — an Iranian dream," said Ze'ev Boim, a lawmaker from Israel's governing Kadima party. "It is particularly awful to see an Iranian battalion on the northern border of Israel."

Note that Hamas sees "the forces of steadfastness ... advancing" while an Israeli legislator sees this in terms of "an Iranian battalion on the northern border of Israel." A fundamental question for the next President is how he will respond to this "steadfast" pressure from Iran. Enter a view of Barack Obama that has currency in Arab and pro-Palestinian circles, courtesy of an LA Times story entitled "Allies of Palestinians see a friend in Barack Obama":

And yet the warm embrace Obama gave to Khalidi, and words like those at the professor's going-away party, have left some Palestinian American leaders believing that Obama is more receptive to their viewpoint than he is willing to say.

It is important to consider how a view of Barack Obama that has currency in the Middle East connects with Iran's strategy on the ground. Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hamas | Rashid Khalidi — Comments (16) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:09pm on May 11, 2008 Getting just a little testy about West Virginia and Kentucky, are we?

Dueling. Banjos. Ye gods, and little fishes.

By Moe Lane

Those two particular states? Just not down with the narrative. You know, I'm reminded of a poem... one which it would seem that the progressive movement has finally decided to take to heart:

The Solution

After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

- Bertolt Brecht

Ironic, really: Appalachia has always been where the hard work's been. Coal, iron, steel... you can talk about the railroads, you can talk about the truckers and stevedores, you can talk about the textile mill workers and the garment makers; but this is where the labor movement - the real one, the true one, the one that existed before the 1960s mucked it up like everything else - built its spine. And if there really are two Americas, Appalachia's in the one that the progressives so often insist that they're worried about.

But I guess that we know how seriously to treat that pious assertion of theirs now, huh?

Moe Lane

Posted in 2008 | Appalachia | Kentucky | Obamafiles | West Virginia — Comments (33)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:50pm on May 11, 2008 It's On

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Morgan Tsvangirai will contest the runoff in Zimbabwe:

Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's opposition leader, on Saturday sought to reclaim the initiative in his country's political crisis, saying he would return to his homeland in the next two days to contest a run-off election against President Robert Mugabe.

His pledge ended several weeks of public equivocation within the opposition Movement for Democratic Change over whether to take part in a second round in the face of a campaign of violent intimidation of MDC activists by Mr Mugabe's supporters.

Addressing a press conference in Pretoria, the capital of neighbouring South Africa, Mr Tsvangirai sounded a defiant note.

"I am ready, the people are ready," he said. "I intend to return as shortly as possible and intend to begin a victory tour."

Read on . . .

Posted in Begone I Say And Let Us Have Done With You | Foreign Affairs | Robert Mugabe | Zimbabwe — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:45pm on May 11, 2008 The Audacity Of Naïveté

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I am sure that if someone has the temerity to point this out, then he/she will be accused of conducting a savage and vicious and horrible and not-very-nice-at-all "onslaught" on the likely Democratic nominee for President. And yet, I can't help but wonder why it is that more people aren't pointing out that Barack Obama's knowledge of the situation in Lebanon is--how to phrase this?--deficient.

Posted in Barack Obama | Don't Know Much About The Middle East | Foreign Affairs | Lebanon — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »