A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention updated throughout the day…so check back often. This is a weekend edition so updates are as time and family permits.
In the News: (Registration may be required to read some stories)
Paulson Upbeat on Economy and Markets, but Not Housing - Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said yesterday that financial markets have stabilized since March, when the collapse of investment house Bear Stearns roiled Wall Street, and said he expects economic growth to rebound by the end of the year. (READ MORE)
Obama Strikes Back at Bush On Diplomacy - WATERTOWN, S.D., May 16 -- Sen. Barack Obama pushed back Friday against President Bush's implicit criticism of his approach to foreign policy, condemning his administration for not capturing Osama bin Laden and blaming its Iraq war policy for strengthening and emboldening Iran. (READ MORE)
End FBI-ATF Rift, Senators Urge - Battles between the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives threaten national security and are reminiscent of the poor information-sharing that failed to detect the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, two U.S. senators said in a letter... (READ MORE)
Bounties a Bust in Hunt for Al-Qaeda - SANAA, Yemen -- Jaber Elbaneh is one of the world's most-wanted terrorism suspects. In 2003, the U.S. government indicted him, posted a $5 million reward for his capture and distributed posters bearing photos of him around the globe. (READ MORE)
How to Enrage a Democrat - If nothing else, we now know what it takes to make a Democrat go nuts. One word: "appeasement." Notwithstanding that President Bush named no names in his speech to Israel's Knesset on Thursday, Barack Obama instantly called it a "false political attack." On him, of course. To House Speaker Nancy Pelosi it was "beneath the dignity of the office of the President." (READ MORE)
Beseeching the Saudis - We don't know who advised President Bush to go on bended knee to Saudi Arabia yesterday, to plead with King Abdullah to ramp up oil supply and ease prices at the American gas pump. But about that adviser, our suggestion to the President is: Fire him – or her. A cardinal rule of presidential diplomacy is never to ask publicly for favors unless you know in advance they will be granted. (READ MORE)
An Unhealthy Merger - Hospitals are big business, even when the companies that run them are "not for profit." So it's not surprising that some of them would seek to restrict competition, assuming they can get away with it. That seems to be the case with Inova Health Systems of Northern Virginia, which was sued this week by the Federal Trade Commission. (READ MORE)
On the Web:
Sigmund, Carl and Alfred: Sunlight In Canada - A few days ago, Toronto Star columnist Haroon Siddiqui wrote Harper’s Extreme Position No Way To Support Israel, in which he takes Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to task for remarks he made in support of Israel. What did Mr Harper say that Mr Siddiqui found so outrageous? “‘Unfortunately, Israel at 60 remains a country under threat – threatened by those groups and regimes who deny to this day its right to exist,’ he told a Toronto celebration marking the anniversary. ‘And why? Look beyond the thinly veiled rationalizations: Because they hate Israel, just as they hate the Jewish people.’” Siddiqui takes great offense when Harper does no more than state the obvious. (READ MORE)
Some Soldier's Mom: Answering Email - I received this via email from a kindly Congressional staffer who wanted to make sure I had seen it. "Hi Carla – I read your blog post on veterans' mental health, and thought you might be interested in this story. Best, K" K, Thank you for thinking of me. I admire and am deeply appreciative of the [legislator]'s work on behalf of Veterans. However, I have concerns about straight statistics and the twisting (the magic of bad statistics) that occurs when released (and used inappropriately as in the past.) By that I mean that data is used to promote political bashing rather than reflect a true and sincere attempt to analyze why and how [fill in the blank] is occurring -- including how to "fix" the problem -- if, in fact, there is a problem and if is fixable at all. (READ MORE)
Marc Ambinder: Hillaryland: What The Heck Happened? - In a brilliant article, the New Republic's Michelle Cottle lets Hillaryland advisers, aides and adjuncts speak for themselves. Here are the insights I find to be most accurate or not so accurate. "Devastating vulnerabilities such as Obama's associations with Wright and Ayers were not unearthed by the campaign's vaunted research team in time to be fully taken advantage of--despite being readily available in the public domain." This relates to the larger problem of not having taken Obama seriously and then, when the time came to take him seriously, being trapped in the wilderness of racial politics. (READ MORE)
Information Dissemination: Same Message On Iran in America - Barak Obama may be coming out of his shell regarding foreign policy. About time, he has been obviously absent from the discussion, relying solely on talking points. Because Barak Obama is an excellent communicator, he has the ability to do one thing the other candidates cannot, explain the difficulties of foreign policy in a way that Americans understand. Contrasted with the last 8 years, it will be enlightenment to many. Foreign Policy is the most important responsibility for the President of the United States. Barak Obama doesn't have a lot of experience in this field, which should be a VP consideration. His inexperience was highlighted today in his statement following the overreaction to yesterday's comment, and it drives home a point we have covered on this blog that America has few options with Iran right now. (READ MORE)
Humbled Infidel: May 17, 2008 Armed Forces Day - On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days. The single-day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under one department -- the Department of Defense. Each of the military leagues and orders was asked to drop sponsorship of its specific service day in order to celebrate the newly announced Armed Forces Day. The Army, Navy and Air Force leagues adopted the newly formed day. The Marine Corps League declined to drop support for Marine Corps Day but supports Armed Forces Day, too. In a speech announcing the formation of the day, President Truman "praised the work of the military services at home and across the seas" and said, "it is vital to the security of the nation and to the establishment of a desirable peace." (READ MORE)
Dr. iRack: A New Tone from Tehran? - Dr. iRack has been traveling, so he's just now catching up with some reading. This story from the Christian Science Monitor a few days ago stands out as particularly intriguing. It provides new details on Iran's interventions to broker ceasefires in Basra and Sadr City. The most interesting part of the story is a previously unreported secret April 4 meeting between Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Quds Force Commander Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. “In that meeting, General Soleimani ‘was deeply concerned’ and ‘promised to stop arming groups in Iraq and to ensure that groups halt activities against US forces,’ according to a description given by a US official to the Monitor. Soleimani gave Mr. Talabani a ‘message’ for US Gen. David Petraeus, too. He noted that his portfolio includes Iraq, Gaza, and Lebanon and that he was willing to ‘send a small team’ to ‘discuss any issue’ with the Americans.” (READ MORE)
Thus Spake Ortner: The Mojave Desert Cross - I am reticent to post this, since no doubt our newest bestest buddy Anon will accuse me of posting something serious in response to him. However, S6R and I discussed this issue this morning and it does warrant some discussion. The 9th Circuit decided yesterday against rehearing the case of the Mojave Desert memorial Cross. That means the previous order to remove the cross will stand. The 9th Circuit opinion is directly contrary to the 7th Circuit on the question of whether transferring land containing a memorial cross from government to public control will negate the First Amendment problems. (READ MORE)
This Ain't Hell: 46Q refuses deployment to Iraq (UPDATED 2X) - Actually, I read this yesterday at the IVAW OneStop about Matthis Chiroux who refused to go to Iraq, but I’d had enough of IVAW for one day. But now it won’t seem to disappear. Zero Ponsdorf sent me this Breitbart link; “‘I stand before you today with the strength and clarity and resolve to declare to the military, my government and the world that this soldier will not be deploying to Iraq,’ Chiroux said in the sun-filled rotunda of a congressional building in Washington. ‘My decision is based on my desire to no longer continue violating my core values to support an illegal and unconstitutional occupation… I refuse to participate in the Iraq occupation,’ he said, as a dozen veterans of the five-year-old Iraq war looked on.” (READ MORE)
The Midnight Sun: Muslims who just don’t understand the true meaning of ‘Jihad’ - Yesterday I watched a hilarious video of Mark Steyn [Hat tip Hang Right Politics] debating a couple of angry, unwilling Muslims. I managed to find it on Youtube as well, there are 5 parts, well worth the time folks. The Muslims like leftists were quite angry that Steyn was sounding the alarm about the problem of intolerance amongst, shall we say a growing minority, of Muslims. They keep insisting everywhere you turn that there isn’t a problem, Islam is peaceful and it’s only a few crazies, the Christians are just as terrible if not worse and that if only we’d all just shut up and sing kumbaya it would all just magically go away. No matter how many examples of jihad and violence are given, these deniers accuse us of xenophobia, Islamophobia, homophobia and arachnophobia. Oh alright I just threw the last two in because I’m cheeky, although if they could get away with it I’m sure the deniers would be happy to throw those slurs our way too. (READ MORE)
Lorie Byrd: More Distortion from the Left - Obama was all over the television today in a speech telling his audience that John McCain was guilty of what he accused Obama of doing. Jamie Rubin referenced an old McCain interview he claimed showed that McCain would be softer on Hamas than Obama would be and Obama ran with it. Surprise, surprise -- not true. Rubin left out a bit of the interview in his account. [...] I thought it was clear enough from the edited portion Rubin did quote that McCain was not talking about taking the kind of stance on Iran that Obama did. McCain's statement, "They're the government and sooner or later we're going to have to deal with them in one way or another," is not the same as what Obama has said and even posted on his own website about talking to Iran "without preconditions." The full excerpt makes it absolutely clear that McCain would only do so after Hamas had met certain conditions. (READ MORE)
Ron Winter: What If Clinton Forces Second Convention Vote on Obama? - I am not by any means an expert on political convention procedures, Republican or Democrat, but I do know that somewhere in the process, if a first vote doesn't produce a clear nominee, pledged delegates are released to vote their own minds. What happens to the ever so well-crafted numbers that the media has been throwing at us for months now if the first vote doesn't produce a nominee? What happens if Hillary Clinton gets enough delegates in the remaining primaries to deny Barack Obama the majority he needs to claim victory? (READ MORE)
Winds of Change: Lebanon's Future - Lebanon will not become the next Gaza. Commenters both inside and outside the country compared Hezbollah's invasion of West Beirut last week to the Hamas takeover of Gaza last year, which is perhaps understandable: that's what it looked like. If Lebanon's mainstream Sunni-dominated party—Saad Hariri's Future Movement—has a militia that is able and willing to fight, it didn't make much of an appearance. Hezbollah seized the western half of the city in a walk. Most journalists focused on this portion of the conflict because West Beirut is where almost every journalist in Lebanon lives and where almost every hotel for visiting journalists is located. (READ MORE)
Neil Netanel: Blood Libel or Just Libel? - France’s public broadcaster, France 2, has sued blogger-media critic, Philippe Karsenty, for libel. The lawsuit centers on Karsenty’s allegation that the scene, which France 2 broadcast in September 2000, of twelve-year old Muhammad al-Dura crouching behind his father in a Gaza intersection moments before he was reportedly shot and killed by Israeli gunfire was staged by Palestinians on the street and that France 2 and its Jerusalem bureau chief, Charles Enderlin, are now covering up the hoax. The France 2 broadcast, filmed by France 2’s Palestinian cameraman, Talal Abu Ramah, with Enderlin’s voiceover stating that the father and son "are the target of fire from the Israeli positions" and that the son was shot dead, helped to fuel the Second Intifada in September 2000 and became an incendiary icon throughout the Middle East and beyond. (READ MORE)
The Tygrrrr Express: RJC in DC–Wisdom from the White House - I had the pleasure recently of attending the most recent leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition. This meeting was held in Washington, DC. It was held at the St. Regis Hotel on K Street, across the street from the White House. The initial plan was to meet people at the White House, but due to logistics, the members of the President’s staff came to the hotel instead. There were fine minds as always, and it was an absolute thrill meeting Sir Charles of Krauthammer. Given the substance of these meetings, more than one day is required to give the events justice. Also, for reasons of confidentiality, some information is redacted. Nevertheless, below are some remarks from some of the speakers, all of whom contributed to a quality conference. (READ MORE)
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