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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

FYI...I will be doing the WGIR Morning Show this Thursday (6/2) from 6-9 AM. The show can be heard locally on 610 AM and online at wgiram.com. I hope you can take a listen. It will be the first time I have been back on WGIR since 2004.

Some interesting things going on today...

Michelle Bachmann talkes to veterans in New Hampshire. She seems to me like a person very close to running for President.

Victor Davis Hanson has a good handle on President Obama's reelection strategy. Essentially, the sluggish economy is Bush's fault, if you criticise the President you are a racist and if you elect Republicans they will push grandma over a cliff.

Michael A. Walsh blasts the Mediscare tactics of the Democrats. Only time will tell whether or not these tactics will work.

Meanwhile, Niall Ferguson says Democrats here do not seem amenable to the true lessons of the economic crisis gathering steam in Europe.

George Will says our military involvement in Libya is now illegal under the War Powers Act, yet no one seems to care.

Here is something Americans do care about...the housing market continues to fall.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Monday...Maine officials grapple with New Hampshire envy. Want our economic growth? Adopt our tax structure. (Prediction...they won't do it).

Egypt is disintegrating.

Putin and Medvedev offer Russians a real choice (maybe).

Cornel West called out as the Ivy League huckster that he is.

Huntsman visits New Hampshire.

Tuesday...Young people flee New York. Want to prevent that from happening? Adopt New Hampshire's tax structure. (Prediction...they won't do it).

Experts baffled by decline in major crimes in the United States. It seems economic distress is not the major factor in criminal activity. Californians will soon discover that crime is caused by criminals.

European leaders at a loss as to what they ought to do about Greece (and, possibly, Portugal, Spain and Italy).

A plan to deal with deficits.

Wednesday...Americans fear the growing debt more than a possible default.

Thursday...Analysis on the special election win for the Democrats in upstate New York here and here. My analysis? One special election taken alone does not necessarily tell us anything. When three or four are strung together and all point in the same direction, then you might have something. Still, a backlash against the GOP on Medicare fits within my grand theory of American voter behavior, which explains the see-saw nature of recent elections as a consequence of ill-informed 'swing voters' entering the fray in unpredictable proportions and behaving in unpredictable ways depending on the circumstances of the moment.

Friday...Is there really water on the Moon? If so, it would make establishing a permanent base much more practical.

Jonah Goldberg says that for the GOP the die is cast. Like Caesar, Republican leaders have crossed the Rubicon with their embrace of the Ryan Medicare proposal. If 'swing voters' are convinced by the Democrats that the GOP is trying to eliminate Medicare, then many Republicans will be defeated in 2012, and Obama may get his second term. Of course, the huge and growing annual deficits and growing mountain of accumulated debt will remain, and whoever wins will still face the unpalatable choice of either cutting cherished benefits or raising taxes.

Paul Krugman relishes the opportunity to bash the GOP over the head with the Ryan plan.

The folks at The Wall Street Journal relish the opportunity to educate voters about the true meaning of a "tax the rich" policy.

Jay Cost analyzes economic data and concludes that we may be in for a long period of minuscule economic growth. If he is correct (and I think he is), then we may reach a crisis sooner rather than later on entitlements, other spending, and taxes.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

At some point in the not-too-distant future a critical mass of Americans will realize that Congress passed a law a few years ago which essentially bans incandescent light bulbs. They will realize that they are being forced to by flourescent bulbs which, at least in the opinion of some, throws off a less pleasing light (these bulbs also take longer to get to their full brightness). They will also find out that the new LED bulbs, which allegedly solve some of the issues of the flourescents as compared to the incandescents, are quite costly. As a student of politics, I wonder what kind of reaction we might see from the masses. After all, this issue hits home...every home. I sense an opportunity.

A story found only in The New York Post reveals that the hotel maid who is accusing the head of the IMF of sexual assault lives in a building that is exclusively for HIV/AIDS sufferers. It appears Mr. Strauss-Kahn's troubles are multiplying.

Caroline Glick believes President Obama is setting up an ambush for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. She thinks Obama will try to corner Netanyahu on the issue of negotiating with Hamas, now that Hamas officials have signed a unity deal with Fatah.

Controversy over a pending bill in the New Hampshire legislature that would require a photo ID to vote as a town clerk posts a request for voters to show their ID at a special election, despite the fact that the bill is not yet law.

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Here is the inside story from The New York Times about how our intelligence services tracked down bin Laden and how our military took him out. President Obama deserves credit for continuing the effort begun under the Bush Administration, and I am glad he chose the more difficult and dangerous option of using special forces to make the raid. I hope everyone notes also when reading the story that the intelligence was derived in part from 'enhanced interrogations' of terrorists held in secret CIA prisons. Despite what candidate Obama and his allies thought and said during the campaign, this is just more proof that there is no 'clean' way to fight vicious, barbarous terrorists like bin Laden and his ilk. Perhaps President Obama is getting the message.

Christopher Hitchens has it right in this piece when he points out that Abbottabad is a town that is owned, lock, stock and barrel by the Pakistani Army. The Pakistanis, like all our other allies in the region, are playing a double game with us.

Monday, May 02, 2011

JUSTICE

In the end, despite the fact that recent political events in the Arab world have made him increasingly irrelevant, the pursuit of Osama bin Laden resulting in his death sends a powerful message to the enemies of the United States. We will not stop. We will not rest. Whether a Republican or a Democrat holds the White House, we will hunt you down no matter how long it takes.

Does this mean that the war on terror is over? I think it will add some powerful political impetus to the notion that we can move on to other things, as there already exists strong sentiment to get our troops out of Afghanistan.

Eugene Robinson expresses the bipartisan pride that I think is the most common emotion in the wake of the news of bin Laden's demise.

David Ignatius says the news puts the lie to bin Laden's belief that the U.S. was the "weak horse".